Binder1

States’ allocations delayed due to cash shortage –Minister

... N160bn arrears may be paid today TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

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he inability of the Federal Government to pay out-

Okonjo-Iweala

Vol. 3 N0. 646 ROTIMI FADEYI, INUSA NDAHI AND OMEIZA AJAYI

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t least 23 persons including nine students and one examination official were yesterday killed by gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect in separate attacks in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The incidents came barely 24 hours after seven students and two teachers of Government Secondary CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

standing arrears of the February allocations to the state governments was due to a cash shortage that hit the national treasury, the Minister of State for

Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, said yesterday Ngama said the depletion of accruals to the Federation Account was reCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

Sanusi

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Boko Haram:

Illicit sale of new naira notes thrives despite CBN ban P.2

N150

9 students, 14 others killed in fresh attacks Terrorists open fire in NECO exam hall Four protesting students shot in Lagos

Amaechi

NGF legitimacy:

Court rejects govs’ bid to stall trial Northern youths threaten mass protest over Amaechi

P.7,12

L-R: Leader of delegation from the Presidency and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; former Federal Commissioner for Works and Housing, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN); Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun; National Leader, Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the special prayer for the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

PDP crisis: I won’t resign as chairman, says Tukur

2000 CCTVs installed in Lagos, Abuja Robbers kill seven persons in Oyo

P.4,6

Abubakar

Jonathan heads reconciliation team P.5,13 SFU arraigns MD over N1.7bn oil subsidy fraud P.8

News

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Illicit sale of new naira notes thrives despite CBN ban UDO ONYEKA

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he sale of new naira notes in the open market and motor parks appears to be on the increase with ‘dealers’ charging as much as 20 per cent commission to change used notes to crispy mint ones.

This is happening despite the subsisting legislation banning such activity in Nigeria.

National Mirror investigations revealed that the sale of freshly minted notes is largely driven by the culture of “spraying” at social functions in which relatives, friends and well-wishers shower celebrants and musicians with naira notes as a mark of solidarity and to underline their status as well-to-do.

This practice has long been classified as “abuse” of the national currency but sustains a micro-industry of its own run by un-

scrupulous bank officials who sell the notes to dealers at a 10 per cent premium of face value. The dealers in turn sell at an extra 10 per cent to willing patrons.

For example, a bundle of N100 notes with face value of N10,000 is sold for N12,000 in used notes. Alternatively, a patron will get N8,000 in mint notes for N10,000 used notes.

Investigations also showed that the illegal trade is being carried out in the public, even in the presence of police officers at event centres, hotels and motor parks where people travelling to attend social functions “load” themselves with mint notes ready for spraying.

Our correspondent observed that currency notes favoured by patrons were the lower denominations such as N10, N20, N50, N100 and N200, depending on the spending power.

As a result of the illicit trade, bank custom-

ers hardly get paid in new notes even if they make such specific demands.

Some hawkers selling new naira notes to guests attending a wedding reception around St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, penultimate Saturday told our correspondent that they got the new naira notes

from the banks through a special arrangement.

“This is my business so I know where to get my goods. I have somebody that assists me to change my money to new notes,” one hawkers said on inquiry by our correspondent.

Another woman naira note hawker at Oshodi Mo-

tor Park, who did not mention the bank or the price the new notes are being supplied to her, said that she got her supply from the banks.

A note hawker, who gave her name as Kudirat, says she is a widow and has to do the business to survive.

She explained that she paid as much as 10 per cent

of the value of the money they changed at the bank.

A source close to the banks told our correspondent that there is a cartel involved in this unwholesome business.

A staff of a new generation bank on Broad Street, Lagos, told our corresponCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

L-R: President, General Electric Africa, Mr. Jay Ireland; Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom; VicePresident Namadi Sambo and Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke, at the groundbreaking ceremony of GE’s $1bn manufacturing facility in Calabar, yesterday.

9 students, 14 others killed in fresh attacks CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

School, Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, were killed.

The killings appear to mark the resumption of the sect’s murderous campaign, which has been largely put on hold by military operations in the North following President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Our correspondent gathered that the nine students killed were candidates writing the ongoing National Examination Council, NECO, exams.

The gunmen, it was learnt, stormed Ansarudeen Private Primary and Secondary School in Jajeri ward of the metropolis and opened fire into the hall a minute after the examination started.

An eyewitness, who did not want his name mentioned, told our correspondent that one of the victims went to write the exams for somebody else, before he met his untimely death at about 3p.m. when the gunmen struck.

“I saw five students sitting for the exams killed on the spot. Four others were killed as they were entering

the school premises,” Ibrahim Mohammed, an eyewitness, said on the phone yesterday.

Alhaji Baba, a mortuary attendant at the State Specialist morgue in Maiduguri said he counted nine corpses after the attack.

Further details were still unclear as at the time of filing this report.

In a related development, about 13 people, including fishermen and tea vendors, were killed on Monday at the Alau Dam on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected members of the sect.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that the gunmen ambushed the people around the dam and before they opened fire. They told their victims: “You are those exposing our activities to security agencies, today your days are over, as we will kill all of you.”

Alau Dam is one of the biggest dams and its water treatment plant supplies water to people of Maiduguri and its environs.

It also has vast agricultural land for irrigation to farmers living around the riverine area.

Those killed included some youths of Gwange ward of the metropolis,

who had went to Alau Dam to buy fish for domestic consumption.

A resident of Gwange and a neighbour of one of the slain victims, Mallam Mohammed Musa said: “One of my neighbours was among the 13 people killed by suspected Boko Haram in Alau Dam on Monday.

“It was yesterday after Magreb prayers that the news of the killings filtered into our community. As I left my house now, I just came to report in the office before going back home to attend the burial.”

Meanwhile, some residents of Maiduguri have started to express fear over the fresh killings.

They called on the security agencies to allow GSM operators resume their services after one month of total blackout.

Two of the residents, Mallam Ibrahim Modu and Mamman Elbadawi, said that since the declaration of the state of emergency rule in the three states, the JTF had ordered the shut down of telecommunication services and the blockade of some major federal roads to tame the menace of Boko Haram.

They said that the kill-

ings of innocent people had remained unabated in the state, citing the recent Yobe and Borno killings.

Due to lack of telecommunication service for the past one month in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the JTF spokesman, Lt.Col. Sagir Musa, and the Police Public Relations Officer, Gideon Jubrin, could not be reached for confirmation.

A top security official, who did not want his name mentioned, confirmed the separate attacks and killings in Borno State.

He said that apart from the killing of the NECO candidates and the 13 people in Alau Dam, another female NECO official was killed on her way to administer questions to candidates in one of the schools in the metropolis.

A volunteer youth group in Bulumkutu area of the Maiduguri metropolis captured one sect member yesterday and handed him over to the JTF. However, members of the sect yesterday declared war against youths in the two states following the arrests of dozens of their members in Borno and Yobe states in the last two

weeks.

The group, which said it was waging a war against the Nigerian state to establish a Sharia legal system, said it had added youths to the list of targets for assassination.

Our correspondent reports that angered by the lingering crises that crippled social and economic life in Borno and Yobe states as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, hundreds of youths organised themselves into vigilante groups, captured scores of insurgents and handed them over to security operatives.

Abu Zinnira, the acclaimed spokesman of the Boko Haram, said in a statement made available to newsmen in Maiduguri that they would also launch a manhunt of their hunters (youths), known as the ‘Civilian JTF’.

He said: “We have established that youths in Borno and Yobe states are now against our cause.

“They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight

back.”

However, some of the youths who promised to continue to fight the Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri said they would not be deterred from carrying out their mission.

A leader of the youth group said: “What the Boko Haram said is an empty threat because the time of war of terror, war of attrition and killing of innocent people with impunity is over.

“We, the youth, have resolved to take our destiny in our hands and will continue hunting the insurgents.”

Also, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday restated his call for greater global cooperation and coordination in the war against terrorism.

Speaking at separate audiences with the new ambassadors of Israel, Russia, Greece and Algeria, who presented their letters of credence to him at the Presidential Villa, Jonathan said that Nigeria would welcome increased cooperation from countries that are more experienced in such matters for its ongoing operations against domestic terrorist CONTINUED ON PAGE 50>>

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Midweek Interview For eight years, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu had a remarkable stint as First Lady of Lagos State with charity works between 1999 and 2007.

In 2011, she towed the path of her husband and leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to be elected as a senator.

In the past two years, Senator Tinubu has been representing the Lagos Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly. In this interview, she shares her mission, experience, and challenges. AYODELE OJO reports.

I’m not interested in Lagos governorship –Remi Tinubu

President Goodluck Jonathan?

What can I say? Being in opposition whatever your views are, they are not even respected. To me, that is the way they want to see it because one day, Senate will be crying foul, the next minute you don’t understand what is going on. So, they go forward andbackward with the budget. And the budget that is passed, does it translate into anything? At the end of the day, they end up declaring state of emergency, so I am just as confused.

If just one man could transform Dubai, it doesn’t take a lot of people to make a change. That is why Nigerians must look critically at President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 or whoever Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chooses.

Lagos is Lagos today because somebody sacrificed. You all know what Lagos looked like after the military government, but we tend to forget. We see the bridge that Governor Babatunde Fashola has just commissioned and we think that is how Lagos used to be. No, it wasn’t.

In the last two years, you have been in the Senate, did you actually prepare for this job?

I am from a political family. There is no time that we are not ready to serve. We have been serving at the state and national levels for a long time now, so we have been in the process trying to bring succour to the people and I don’t know how more ready you want me to be. For one, my husband has been a very visible active player, but if he hadn’t gotten the support from home and the understanding, I don’t think he would have been able to go this far.

So, is it a familiar or an unfamiliar terrain? It is a familiar terrain for a long time now. We have paid the price to even be here today. I will tell you it’s like maybe this battery that they used to have in the U.S. that is Ever Ready; so, it is like where you want to be and what capacity you want to serve. So, I am always ready.

What is your primary concern in the Senate?

My primary concern is one; the rate of the poverty level of our people. This wasn’t the Nigeria that I grew up to love. I keep saying it that I was not from a very wealthy family, but we were comfortable, we were the then middle class, we could aspire, we could dream to be whatever we want to be. I am here today because that dream kept me, but when I look at what we have today; I look at the young people and my concern is for the young, not for the old. What kind of Nigeria do we want to leave for them? A good parent would leave an inheritance for the children, but what inheritance, what legacy do we want to leave for the upcoming generation? What they see is corruption. We see our children doing a lot of this yahoo yahoo business, a lot of kidnapping, cultism and I am worried.

If we go wrong, we should be honest enough to say that we have gone wrong. The German Chancellor was saying recently that her generation had done wrong to the young generation. If Europe is saying they have sinned by accepting that they didn’t create jobs for the young people and we Nigerians are still lying under SURE-P, we are still lying under Sovereign Wealth Fund. I am concerned and my primary concern is respect for the rule of law.

Do you encounter any challenge in the Senate?

My greatest challenge in the Senate is that out of the 56 committees, the ACN only has three chairmanships. I am the vicechairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity and some people would say, oh do labour people who are in the struggle dress the way I am? But I say, this is the new face of labour, and it is in my blood. If you fight for the common good, for the people you don’t have to dress in towels and deceive them, but they know who are theirs and you can see me with the rapport I have with the common man and my heart is saying, who is going to give them justice? Who is going to fight their cause? So, I want to see where social security is directed to the young person. I want to see them have access to free health care, to go to school, to have three square meals on the table.

So my request is very simple. My request is that people can live like very decent human beings. They don’t have to keep begging for food, they don’t have to sleep under the bridge. That is my concern.

You are the one pushing for the bill for a special status for Lagos. How far with the bill?

Tinubu

You know the Senate Committee on Constitution Review said special status cannot be included in the constitutional amendment, but by the grace of God, we will have it. When we have the right government for Nigeria, they will know the need why Lagos should be given that special status as General Murtala Muhammed recommended years ago for Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano.

What is your reaction to the threat by the British Government to cut off assistance to Nigeria on account of the bill prohibiting same-sex marriage?

I don’t see any reason why any government would talk down on the government of another country. Is it not the freedom of choice? Why should you now breathe down a country’s neck and give them ultimatum? We are Africans and we never ask them to wear some of our traditional clothes. We have culture and we also have tradition and this is according to our tradition and culture. Even their gay right is even conflicting and now, I don’t know whether they will give us another Bible and send new missionaries to us because the Bible they left with us says it is wrong and I think in the Koran it also says it is wrong.

What is the fate of the 2013 budget with the refusal of the National Assembly to pass the amendments sent from Mr.

MY HUSBAND DID IT FOR EIGHT YEARS AND I WAS NOT OUTSIDER TO IT. IT IS NOT A PLACE FOR THE TENDER-HEARTED, IT IS A LOT OF WORK TO GOVERN LAGOS AND I AM NOT THE TYPE THAT DON’T PUT HARD WORK INTO WHATEVER I DO. I DON’T THINK I HAVE THE STRENGTH TO SAY THAT I WANT TO GOVERN THE PRESENT STATE OF LAGOS

Why are senators always desirous of getting juicy committee positions in the Senate?

If I wanted a juicy committee I wouldn’t be in the Labour, Employment and Productivity Committee. I can only speak for myself and I have been a rookie in the Senate and I don’t know about the juiciness of the committees until I learn. I think one of the things that the chairman of a committee gives is to wield more powers to work.

For me, I am quite satisfied wherever the Senate President has put me, but for us in the ACN, we want to work.

Do you support the state of emergency declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states?

The state of emergency came rather too late, after security votes had been wasted and could not be accounted for.

To me, when I look and see the pretence, these are not the things you would want to say.

It is still the more you look, the less you see and I just pray that a lot of innocent lives are not lost. So, it is still chasing shadows. The problem with Nigeria and terrorism is the level of poverty. Until it is addressed, people are still going to be aggrieved; they are still going to be angry.

So, I never supported state of emergency and I still don’t.

I don’t believe in it.

But ACN senators voted for it?

They voted for it for their own reasons, but I didn’t vote and you can count this as my vote.

Would you agree with the suggestion by the ACN national leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, that the work of the legislature should be made part time?

Governance truly is expensive. When you look at the national budget, it is mainly on paying salaries. If my husband (said that) I think he misses me too (Laughter). If it is part time, it would be nice so that credible people can go into the Senate and go back to their daily chores.

There are speculations that you are running for the Lagos State governor in 2015?

Even to run for this office, it is this press that started it. So, don’t start it oh! Truly speaking, it is never my ambition to run for governor of Lagos State. Remember, my husband did it for eight years and I was not outsider to it.

It is not a place for the tender-hearted, it is a lot of work to govern Lagos and I am not the type that don’t put hard work into whatever I do. I don’t think I have the strength to say that I want to govern the present state of Lagos. There is still a lot of work to be done in Lagos, a lot of work.

It is not a child’s play. I am still in training as far as I am concerned. My first love is charity work. So, I don’t have such an ambition.

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Photo News

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: Deputy Managing Director, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Special Guest of Honour and Director, UBA Plc, Mrs. Onari Duke; Chief Executive Officer, Fine and Country, Nigeria, Mrs. Udo Maryanne Okonjo, at the presentation of Ruby, a Current Account for Women, held at UBA House, Marina Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda and Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, briefing newsmen on Federation Account in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Managing-Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim; former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Jos, Prof. Bashir Ibrahim; Director, Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasida, and representative of Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Benson Ajisegiri, at the Fountain Water Seminar in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

L-R: Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC, Mr. Obinnia Abajue; Head of Human Resources, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Kunle Olaifa and Director of Hand Held Products, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Emmanouil Revmatas, at the formal unveiling of Samsung’s new range of ‘Timeless Design’ products in Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday.

National News

NCP carpets INEC on party de-registration ADEOLU ADEYEMO OSOGBO

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he National Conscience Party, NCP, has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on de-registration of political parties.

National Chairman of the party, Dr Yinusa Tanko, who kicked against the stand of INEC while speaking at the party’s congress held at the Freedom Park, Osogbo, Osun State yesterday, argued that it was unconstitutional for the commission to deregister a political party on the grounds that it did not win a House of Assembly election.

According to him, Section 77 of the Electoral Act, which stipulates winning of a House of Assembly seat as a prerequisite to exist as a political party contravenes the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.

“The existence of a political party should be viewed from the grassroots-local government and wards, where party members do meet and contribute to finance the party. De-registration of a political party goes against the spirit and principle of democracy and since the Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of association, INEC lacks the power to de-register any political party,” he said.

Also speaking, the former Chairman of the NCP in Osun State, who is the incumbent National Vice Chairman of the party in the South-West, Alhaji Waheed Lawal, said: “There is need for change of leadership at the Federal Government for rededication to the development of the country.

“It is unfortunate that President Goodluck Jonathan, who we thought would alleviate the sufferings of the masses and address series of identified

problem militating against the development of the nation, has been carried away by his greed for power and the bid to secure the PDP presidential ticket for second term.

“The selfishness of the President has blindfolded

him to recognise projects and programmes that will develop the country.

President Jonathan’s administration has even worsened the condition of the country, considering the spate of insecurity, corruption, inter-

national embarrassment and increase in the cost of living, ever since he became the President.

“Nigeria needs no weak, clueless and impractical president. We need a leader that is proactive, progressive and one

that can restore patriotism in the hearts of Nigeria. We need a leader that can bring back patriotism among Nigerians and damn the consequence of good governance. Nigeria, as at present is nothing but a failed nation.”

Robbers kill seven people in Iseyin KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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rmed robbers, who laid siege to Iseyin Maya Road in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State, have killed seven indigenes of Iseyin community.

It was learnt that the victims, who were returning to Lagos after attending social functions in Iseyin on Saturday, ran into a gang of armed robbers operating near Maya junction.

The driver of the Space bus vehicle which the victims were travelling in

reportedly hit one of the robbers in an attempt to escape.

This infuriated the robbers immediately opened fire on all the occupants of the bus when the vehicle eventually got stuck inside a gutter.

The victims, among them a member of the board of a community bank in Iseyin, were said to be prominent in the town and had, in one way or the other, contributed to the development of the town.

The incident, which has become the talk of the town in Iseyin and the en-

tire Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, has drawn flak from the apex socio-cultural organisation in Iseyin known as Iseyin Elders’ Council.

The council has sent a “Save Our Souls” message to security agencies in the state over security challenges on all roads leading to Iseyin and the entire Oke- Ogun area.

The Secretary of the council, Alhaji Bolaji Kareem, who issued a statement on the incident, called for increase in the number of security operatives manning all the roads in the area.

Kareem said the murder of the seven indigenes of the town was just one of several incidents being recorded in the area owing to activities of armed robbers and Fulani herdsmen.

He said: “The roads leading to Iseyin are no longer safe for commuters. The council equally calls for tighter security along Iseyin - Maya Road, Iseyin -Moniya Road, Iseyin - Oyo Road and Iseyin - Saki Road to curb activities of armed robbers killing innocent people and stealing property worth millions of naira.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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States’ allocations delayed due to cash shortage –Minister CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

sponsible for the scuttling of last Thursday’s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee’s meeting after representatives of the state governments stormed out in anger when it became clear that their outstanding February arrears were not ready for disbursement by the Federal Government as earlier agreed.

However, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee constituted to resolve the face-off between the Federal Government and the states over the matter, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, has re-assured that the committee had resolved the grey areas and the payments would be made after the rescheduled meeting of the FAAC slated to hold yesterday in Abuja.

Ngama, who was responding to media enquiries after the meeting, said that contrary to insinuations that the Federal Government had denied the states their entitlements, there was not enough money to pay the outstanding arrears to all tiers of government.

He said: “We don’t have any debt issue at hand, and there’s nothing like an agreement.

“The main issue is we have shortages in revenue.

So we are short of the amount that we are sup-

posed to statutorily distribute to the three tiers of government including the federal government itself.

“The time we are supposed to pay that shortfall is the issue, whether on credit or whether we pay immediately, that’s the only issue.

“When we say we have resolved it means we have resolved how we’ll pay. The payment is going to the Federal Government, state governments including the local governments.

“What we are trying to say is that some arrears are due that were not cleared, while we were trying to put our accounts together, we are now going to clear them.”

The minister, who is also the chairman of FAAC, said there was no agreement signed between the Federal Government and the states since it is a Federation Account issue in which all the tiers of government are involved.

According to him, “It is not that the Federal Government owes the states, so we’ve agreed now on what the arrears are and how much they and we are going to share.”

Briefing the media after the committee’s meeting, Yuguda said that agreement had been reached on the Federation Account to resolve all outstanding issues.

He said, “As part of this,

a commitment to settle the arrears of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, payments has been agreed. This was the key development from a meeting of the Committee set up by Mr. President to resolve this issue today.

“The committee also resolved to tackle the root causes of the revenue challenges facing the country including illegal bunkering and oil theft in a decisive and sustainable manner.

“The meeting, which was held in a positive and constructive atmosphere, reaffirmed the determination of the Federal Government and the governors to continue working together

for the common good of the country. To underscore the commitment reached at the meeting, it was also resolved that FAAC meeting will reconvene immediately.”

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said there was no cause for alarm as the planned FAAC meeting would finalise the decisions and make the timely disbursement of the contentious arrears to the tiers of government.

Attempts by journalists to ascertain to know how much had been agreed upon to be disbursed immediately and how the amount would be sourced were rebuffed, as none of the Committee members agreed to

speak on that issue.

With the disclosure of paucity of funds in the Federation Account, there are strong indications that the only choice open to the Federal and state governments to end the fiscal logjam would be to draw down, once again, on the Excess Crude Accounts, ECA. The management of the ECA has been a source of serious disagreement between the federal and state governments over the past year, as the states demanded its closure on the grounds that the account is illegal.

It will be recalled that the FAAC meeting was aborted last week following failure by the Federal Government to

accede to state governments’ demands that the February arrears be paid them.

The Committee headed by the Bauchi Governor was subsequently set up to look into the issue. Other members are Governor Peter Obi (Anambra), Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Rabiu Dankwabo (Gombe).

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Okonjo-Iweala; the Minister of State, Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama; the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Jonah Otunla and the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu are also members of the Committee.

L–R: Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha; Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, at the closing ceremony of the international conference on emerging democracies in Africa in Abuja, yesterday.

Illicit sale of new naira notes thrives despite CBN ban CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

dent that she had attempted to get new notes in her own branch for a friend but could not.

The source revealed that a bundle of N100 notes (N10,000) was being sold at N11, 000 while a bundle of N200 notes (N20,000) was being exchanged for N22, 000 within the bank.

National Mirror also gathered that contrary to expectations, higher denominations are also being demanded by rich Nigerians who preferred new notes.

“You will hardly see higher denominations on the streets, they are sought after by rich people who prefer to go about with large denominations because of the huge amount of money they carry about,” the source said.

However, the managements of some banks told our correspondent that they were not aware that staff sold new naira notes to hawkers.

The corporate affairs manager of a second generation bank, who did not want his name mentioned, advised members of the public to report any bank official selling new naira notes to hawkers to the management or to the police, stressing that “it is an illicit business and no law- abiding bank operator would engage in such”.

Some stakeholders, however, said that the abuse and sale of naira notes is on the increase because the campaign against naira abuse by the CBN lost its steam shortly it started.

President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, PSAN, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said that the apex bank needs to step up its monitoring in this area.

“I know one may say that the CBN is not an enforcement agency but I do know that with proper monitoring of the banks this ugly trend will be minimised.

The new notes move out from the CBN and from commercial banks, so with effective supervision those behind this business could be traced,” Okezie said.

Reacting to the rise in sales of naira notes, a Lagosbased legal practitioner, Mr. Bisi Sanyaolu, said that naira spraying is a culture that would take time to die. According to him, the culture was deep rooted and it would take time before it would finally be dropped. He called on the CBN and the enforcement agents to intensify their efforts in getting people to stop.

The CBN Act 2007 however prescribes a six-month jail term or a fine of N50, 000 or both for such an offence.

The law also outlaws stomping on, spreading, scattering or littering of any surface with naira notes or coins and stepping thereon, regardless of the value, volume, occasion or intent.

“By this Act, spraying of naira notes at private or

public functions becomes a punishable offence. This also includes adorning, decorating or spraying anything or any person or any part of any person or the person of another with naira notes or coins or sprinkling or sticking of the naira notes or coins in a similar manner regardless of the amount, occasion or the intent,” a section of the law states.

The Deputy Governor, Operations, of the CBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo, called on law enforcement agencies in the country to step up actions in the enforcement of the law against abuse of naira while speaking in Abeokuta last week at a sensitisation tour on the commencement of the cashless policy.

He absolved the apex bank from blame over the issue, saying the CBN was handicapped.

“The Central Bank is a regulatory institution. It is not a law enforcement agency. You know it is criminal to spray money in

Nigeria, yet nobody has been arrested by law enforcement agencies in spite of the fact that abuses still go on, particularly at social gatherings.

“The CBN cannot go out to arrest people over abuse of naira, we can’t do the job of law enforcement, it is not part of our mandate,” Lemo had said.

Speaking to National Mirror on the matter, the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor,

said, the apex bank has put a machinery in motion to reduce selling of new naira notes by collaborating with the police.

He also denied that the allegations that the CBN was engaged in the practice of hoarding new currency notes only to release same to agents, who paid its officials commissions after selling the mint notes at a premium on face value to interested members of the public.

PDP crisis: Jonathan heads reconciliation team ROTIMI FADEYI ABUJA

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resident Goodluck Jonathan is leading a reconciliatory team to resolve the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. This was part of the resolution taken at the

meeting of the PDP caucus presided over by the President last night.

Those who attended the meeting include PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, leadership of the National Assembly and some cabinet members.

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News

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

$620,000 bribe: Lawan asks court to stay proceedings FG commissions 2,000 CCTVs in EMMANUEL ONANI ABUJA

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ormer Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Adhoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy Regime, Hon. Farouk Lawan, has filed a motion on notice before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to stay proceedings on his ongoing trial, which resumes today.

Lawan and secretary of the Ad-hoc committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, are being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly collecting $620, 000 as bribe from the Chairman of Zenon Oil and Gas, Mr. Femi Otedola, ostensibly to delete the names of the latter’s companies (Zenon Petroleum and Gas as well as Synopsis Enterprises Limited) from the list of firms allegedly found to have defrauded the Federal Government of billions of naira.

The offence is contrary to Section 26(1) (c) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under section 8(1) of the same Act. However, their efforts to have the court quash the seven-count charge preferred against them by the anti-graft agency failed on

May 10, when Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi held that the accused persons had a case to answer, against the backdrop of the proof of evidence which established a prima facie evidence against them.

On Lawan’s argument that the court lacked the jurisdiction to try him, Justice Oniyangi said the court had the inherent jurisdiction to hear the suit, even as he added that Section 185 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which the defence relied heavily on, did not require the prosecution to attach to proof of evidence, all witness’ statements.

The judge said: “The posi-

tion of Section 185, to me, is as clear as crystal. It does not suggest that written statements of all witnesses; it is proof of evidence. I, therefore, hold that the requirement of section 185 is proof of evidence, not written statement of witnesses.

“To me, once there is evidence that will suggest to the court that the accused has some questions to answer in the proof of evidence, then there is a prima facie case.

“I am left with no doubt that a prima facie case has been established by the prosecution against the accused, having regard to the proof of evidence and witness statement.”

Consequent upon the rul-

ADO EKITI

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renowned poet, Prof.

Niyi Osundare, has described the Ikogosi Graduate Summer School (IGSS) initiative of Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi as a tonic for the much-needed restoration in the education sector.

Osundare, who said the initiative was a potent weapon capable of tackling the menace of brain-drain in Nigeria, canvassed support for its sustenance.

The Professor of Literature at the University of Orleans, United State, spoke at the opening of the first IGGS at Ikogosi-Ekiti, saying: “Ekiti is gradually being returned to the path of glory and high academic attainment which it is noted for.

“IGSS is a very noble initiative. One thing makes it significant; foreign based

Abuja, Lagos soon

OMEIZA AJAYI ABUJA

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he Federal Government plans to commission 2,000 Closed Circuit Television Camera (CCTVs) in Abuja and Lagos State in few weeks time.

Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), said yesterday in Abuja that some components of the projects were very sensitive and that it was not in the nation’s security interest to disclose certain details

Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Alhaja Khadijat Dawodu, flanked by principal officers of Saint Saviour’s School, Ebute Metta; Lagos cutting the tape to commission the school’s Diamond Jubilee Building in Lagos, yesterday.

Ekiti graduate summer school, tonic for education growth –Osundare ABIODUN NEJO

ing, the lawmaker filed a notice of appeal before the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal where he is praying the appellate court to set aside the verdict ruling on the ground that “the honourable trial judge erred in law” when he assumed jurisdiction over the case.

Lawan is also contending that “the honourable trial judge erred in law when he held that the requirements of section 185 (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and order 3 rules (1) and (2) (a) and (b)...were complied with by the prosecution in preferring the charge and thereby occasioned a miscarriage of justice.”

Nigerian scholars were invited to teach. Very soon, our brain-drain will become brain-gain.”

The poet urged governments at all levels to invest in the education sector, saying: “No country can ever develop more than its mental capacity.”

Osundare said that the programme would help in exposing Ekiti graduates and future scholars to culture of research and scholarship and, as well, mentoring.

The IGSS, which commenced with 50 graduate students of Ekiti origin, is an arrangement whereby Nigerians scholars abroad are being brought in to interact with postgraduate students in Nigerian universities with a view to convert the braindrain plaguing the country to brain-gain.

Governor Fayemi said he initiated the programme as

part of the ways of keeping with Ekiti people’s heritage as trailblazers in education advancement.

The governor said: “IGSS will be a pillar of support for the university system, providing flexible services where identities or other traditions stand in the way.

“It will also promote what can be called learning without boundaries, a new culture of inquiry in which endless interrogation is an article of faith and multidisciplinarity is the rule rather than the exception”.

The governor said the decay in the education sector in the state which he met on assumption of office in October 2010 portended that “we had to act fast and decisively to address the issues, but not before we consulted widely as our participatory governance ethos required; at least for the purpose of validating our concerns before taking far reaching

about their completion or otherwise.

He, however, said the President would soon be commissioning some of the projects in Lagos and Abuja.

The minister identified indiscipline, corruption, lack of training and poor funding as some of the major challenges facing the Nigeria Police.

Olubolade lamented that the lack of forensic laboratory had affected the police negatively, especially in the area of investigation.

According to him, the none passage of the Reform Trust Fund Bill initiated by the Federal Government in 2010 had been a major constraint in terms of funding the Force, stressing that more emphasis is being placed on inter-agency cooperation to rid the country of criminal elements, such as kidnappers, armed robbers, assassins, human traffickers and terrorists.

He said the ministry complements the Police in terms of training, adding that last year alone, 529 officers and men were trained as Explosive Ordinance Technicians; 2, 490 in peacekeeping operations and 649 personnel in intelligence policing.

Nwabueze, Ezeife, others urge Igbo unity TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE

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ome prominent South-East leaders, including constitutional lawyer Prof.

Ben Nwabueze; former Anambra State Governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Chairman of the SouthEast Forum, Revd Emeka Nnorom, yesterday called on Ndigbo at home and abroad to work towards the unity of the region.

Speaking at a special symposium held in Lagos in honour of a former governor of old Imo State, the late Chief Sam Mbakwe, the Igbo leaders said the unity of the South-East should be paramount at the moment than any personal or group agenda.

They also appealed to the President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately convene a national conference or national dialogue for all ethnic nationalities

Ezeife

to discuss Nigeria’s unity before the proposed centenary celebration.

Prof. Nwabueze extolled the virtues of the late Mbakwe and other prominent Igbo leaders who impacted Ndigbo positively during their lifetime.

He said convoking the sovereign national conference would solve all the major challenges militating against the unity of Nigeria.

Ezeife decried lack of unity among government

officials and groups in the South-East and called on all Igbo leaders to come up with a credible organisation that all the governors in the region and other stakeholders would look up to.

He also asked the people of the South-East to ensure that credible people are voted into public offices starting from the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election.

Nnorom and many other speakers praised the late Mbakwe’s leadership qualities.

A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, said having Igbo presidency is not the solution to the problems of the South-East and therefore asked Ndigbo to push for power for autonomy and true federalism that would pave way for the development of the region with or without input from the Federal Government.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

7

Lawmakers back financial autonomy for state Assemblies UDO ONYEKA

L L-R: Ministers, Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd); Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson; Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr. Kabiru Turaki and Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, at the 2013 Ministerial PHOTO: NAN Platform in Abuja, yesterday.

NGF legitimacy: Court rejects govs’ bid to stall trial

ISE-OLUWA IGE

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n Abuja federal high court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, yesterday rejected a request by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, to stop the hearing in a constitutional lawsuit challenging its legitimacy.

The trial judge, who refused the invitation by the NGF, said abandoning the substantive suit for an application to stay proceeding would not only scuttle the court’s business of the day, but also run contrary to the provision of Order 29 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules.

The Network for Defence of Democracy and Good Governance, NDDGG, had sued the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, for allegedly registering in error

the NGF as a legal body.

The pressure group, which joined NGF as codefendant in the case, is urging the court to declare the NGF an illegal body and issue an order deregistering it.

It will be recalled that the court had on April 29, rolled together the preliminary objection and originating summons, fixing yesterday to hear them.

Yesterday, parties were expected to argue both applications.

But, Israel Olorundare, representing the NGF and Nasiru Tijani, representing the CAC objected, insisting that the court must first hear their objections.

Olorundare, who said he held the brief of Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, also told the court that he had filed an application before the court seeking a stay of its proceedings pending

the determination of an appeal he lodged against the April 29 ruling, rolling both the substantive and the objection together.

He urged the court to either hear his preliminary objection first or hear his application for stay.

Plaintiff ’s lawyer, Tubotamuno Dick, described Olorundare’s argument as part of the defendants’ antics to frustrate the prompt hearing of the case.

He argued that the court’s decision to hear both the substantive suit with the objection was in line with the provision of Order 29 of the court’s Civil Procedure Rules.

Dick urged the court to discountenance the defendants’ argument and proceed to hear the case the way it had planned.

Ruling, Justice Ademola held that his decision to hear the applications together was informed by

13, 000 new teachers get appointment letters in Rivers

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bout 13, 000 teachers who successfully passed the teachers recruitment exercise conducted by the Rivers State government will today receive their letters of appointment from the state government.

Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Alice Lawrence Nemi, disclosed this when she received a UNESCO delegation in her office. She said the appointment was part of moves by the current administration to ensure quality education in the state.

Alice, at the occasion,

also commended Governor Rotimi Amaechi, for giving much attention to the education sector, stating that UNESCO will assist the state government to undertake an assessment of the number of children that are out of school in the state.

She further warned that every teacher employed by the state government must be committed to their assignments and professional calling towards ensuring quality education in the state.

“For us in Rivers State, we believe that for you to be a teacher, you must be committed, and as I speak

to you, the teachers we have are very much committed and they are also appreciating what Governor Amaechi has done, particularly in the education sector”, Alice said.

She added that by September this year, about 250 model primary schools in the state will be functional.

Earlier, the Director and Representative of the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, Prof. Hassana Alidou, said she was in the state to examine what the Ministry of Education is doing in promoting quality education.

the provision of Order 29 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules.

The judge held that Olorundare’s argument, supported by Tijani, was a ploy to stall the court’s business for the day.

Justice Ademola overruled Olorundare’s argument for being misconceived.

He adjourned to July 4 for hearing of the defendants’ objection with plaintiff ’s originating summons.

awmakers in the South-West have declared their support for financial autonomy for state Houses of Assembly saying that they would unanimously vote ‘yes’ to the recommendation of the National Assembly seeking a constitutional back up on the issue.

The latest campaign to drum support of members of the state Houses of Assembly across the 36 states of the federation is championed by the Conference of Speakers and supported by State Accountability and Voice Initiative, SAVI, a DfID good governance programme in the country.

The campaign is aimed at educating the lawmakers on the benefit of being financially independent of the executive for effective discharge of their legislative duties.

Speaker of the Ekiti House of Assembly and Vice-Chairman of the Conference of Speakers, Hon. Albert Adewale Omirin, who received a team of SAVI members who were on sensitisation campaign in the South-West, said the failure to secure

financial autonomy for the states’ legislature in the past, had gravely affected the oversight functions of the lawmakers.

Omirin regretted the ignorance exhibited by some members of the state legislature when the first move was initiated to entrench it in the constitution.

He said the executive had often treated genuine requests from the legislature with levity, resulting in ineffective discharge of duties.

The Speaker appreciated the efforts of SAVI in convening a meeting of the executive committee of Conference of Speakers to discuss ways of ensuring that financial autonomy of state assemblies was integrated in the ongoing constitution review.

“In 2010, the 1999 Constitution was altered for the first time. Efforts were made at that time to give financial autonomy to national and state assemblies as required by the constitution, the state legislative houses voted for the financial autonomy of the National Assembly, but unfortunately turned its back on itself by voting against financial autonomy at the state level,” he lamented.

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South West

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

SFU arraigns MD over N1.7bn oil subsidy fraud K AYODE KETEFE

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he Special Fraud Unit, SFU, of the Nigeria Police yesterday arraigned the Managing Director of an oil company, Stonebridge Oil Limited, Samuel Owa, before a Federal High Court in Lagos.

He was accused of fraudulently collecting N1.7 billion fuel subsidy from the Federal Government.

Owa and his company were arraigned alongside Vibrant Ventures Limited and a cargo surveyor with

the firm, Olori Onassis Wajutom, on a four-count charge.

After hearing from the prosecutor, Mr. Effiong Asuquo, and lawyer to the accused, Mr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN), the presiding judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, ordered both Owa and Wajutom to be remanded in prison custody, pending the hearing of their bail condition scheduled for June 20.

In count one of the charge, the SFU alleged that the accused conspired among themselves to commit felony to wit obtaining money under false pretext

from the Federal Government, an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, Cap. A6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

In count two, the SFU alleged that the accused fraudulently obtained N1.7 billion from the Federal Government, while in count three, they were said to have falsely claimed to have imported and discharged 15,000 metric tons of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol.

In count four, it was

alleged that Vibrant Ventures and Wajutom, while acting as Eco Bankappointed cargo surveyors, aided Stonebridge Oil and Owa to obtain the said N1.7 billion from the Federal Government as subsidy claim on the false pretext that 15,000 metric tons of petrol had been imported and discharged via M.T. Brave, Ex M.T. Starling and Ex M.T. Pyxis Delta.

The accused pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

The court consequently adjourned the case till June 20 for hearing of their bail application.

L-R: Chairman, Osun Support Group, Lagos chapter, Mr. Abolarinwa Oladele; Organising Director, Mufula Akodu; Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State; Chief Solomon Ogundola; Mr. Bayo Osungbohun and others, during the group’s visit to the governor in Osogbo, yesterday.

Hire purchase: Transport unions owe Ekiti N550m –Commissioner ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

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kiti State Government has accused transport unions of refusing to pay for the cars and buses distributed to them under a hire purchase arrangement to facilitate transportation in the state.

The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr. Sola Adebayo, who made the allegation, said the transport unions saw the government

resources on the buses as “their share of democracy dividends”.

Adebayo disclosed that the unions were owing the government over N550 million.

The commissioner said at a Stakeholders’ Forum in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that the government procured and distributed 100 Suzuki Alto cars and 40 Nissan Urban buses worth N653 million to the three transport unions in the state, adding that the

unions repaid about N100 million.

He, however, appealed to the transport unions to consider others and pay back so that the ministry could extend the gesture to others in the interest of smooth transportation of passengers, goods and services in the state.

Adebayo, who said his ministry was working round the clock to ensure smooth vehicular movement, disclosed that the Governor

Kayode Fayemi administration was currently constructing over 337 kilometres of roads awarded at over N26 billion.

The commissioner, who said the administration had completed 10 road projects covering 88.6 kilometres valued at N5.5 billion, listed the projects to include 122.9 kilometres inherited from the previous administration and 151.1 kilometres road projects initiated by the administration.

Arms importation: FG withdraws charge against nine Russians KAYODE KETEFE

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he Federal Government yesterday withdrew charge against nine out of 15 Russians being tried before a Federal High Court in Lagos for illegal arms importation into the country last year.

The Russians, who had all earlier been arraigned before Justice Okechukwu Okeke (now retired), are Myre Sead-

iver, Zhelyazkov Andrey, Savchenko Sergel, Chichkanov Vasily, Varlygin Igor, Komilov Alexander, Lopatin Alexey and Baranovskly Nikolay.

Others are Mishin Pavel, Llia Shubov, Dimitry Bannyrh, Alexander Tsarikov, Kononov Sergel, Vorobev Mikhail and Stepan Oleksiuk. They had all been arraigned on a four-count charge comprising the alleged offences of entry into the Nigerian territorial wa-

ters without due clearance and licence and illegal importation of firearms and ammunition into the country.

At the resumed hearing of the proceedings yesterday, the Federal Government, represented by Mrs. J. I. Igurnumbe, disclosed that those that would be discharged are Zhelyazkov Andrey, Savchenko Sergel, Varlygin Igor, Lopatin Alexey and Baranovskly Nikolay.

The others are Llia

Shubov, Dimitry Bannyrh, Alexander Tsarikov and Kononov Sergel.

The prosecutor did not state the reason why it wanted to withdraw the charge against some of the accused, but the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde, however, disclosed that at the last adjourned date the charge would be withdrawn because some of the expatriates had been wrongly charged.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ajimobi has done well –Adedibu’s widow

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he widow of Chief Lamidi Adedibu, Bose, has said the Governor Abiola Ajimobi administration in Oyo State in the last two years had done well, particularly in the areas of security, urban renewal and environmental sanitation.

Mrs. Adedibu, like the late strongman of Ibadan politics, is a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which ruled the state between 2003 and 2011.

But featuring on a Yoruba weekly television programme on the state-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, on Monday, she said the Ajimobi administration had been able to restore the peace which had eluded the state for some years.

She said: “I am not a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, but a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party and I am not leaving the party. But I cannot say because I am a PDP member, I will not acknowledge good performance.

“In all honesty and without being unnecessarily biased, Governor Abiola Ajimobi is doing well. There is peace and security now compared with the violence and brigandage that used to be perpetrated by street urchins.

“I remember vividly

that... the people of Oyo State used to live in perpetual fear of insecurity. But now, everywhere is peaceful and people are going about their business without fear of molestation.’’

Adedibu also acknowledged that the entire state was now wearing a new look owing to the massive urban renewal programme of the government.

She dismissed insinuations by the opposition that shops were being demolished and that traders were being subjected to unnecessary pains, saying that it was only those plying their trades on the streets that were being relocated by government.

“The traders that had been relocated were those trading on the streets and what the government has been doing is to ensure their safety and prevent avoidable accidents and loss of lives,” she said.

Adedibu said despite of that, the government had been building shops for traders on the streets who were removed from roadsides.

She said: “And I understand the government has been building some shops for the traders. I think they should bear with the government and see it as part of their own sacrifice to ensure a cleaner and tidier environment.’’

Fashola, Sagay, others to attend NBA Law Week WALE IGBINTADE

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overnor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, are among dignitaries expected at the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, (Lagos Branch) 2013 Law Week.

The annual Law Week will hold between June 23 and 27 in Lagos.

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Lagos, the Chairman, Organising Committee, Mrs. Tolani Edun-Adeola, said the theme for this year’s Law Week was: “Corruption, Insecurity, Ethics and Legal Practitioner.”

According to her, while Fashola would be a guest of honour during one of the sessions slated for June 25, Sagay would deliver the opening speech.

Also, former Vice-Chancellor, University of AdoEkiti, Prof. Akin Oyebode and Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN) are to deliver papers

on “Money Laundering Vs the Legal Profession.”

Part of the activities for the event is the interaction between the Bar and the Bench to be moderated by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Philips, Justice Olatunde Oshodi, and Mrs. Titi Akinlawon (SAN) among others.

The interaction would afford the judges and member of the legal profession to rob minds on the administration of justice in Lagos State.

Edun-Adeola said the former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko and Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey would deliver papers on “National Security - Matter Arising.”

Also expected at the event are the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaje, and the former NBA President, Mr. Bayo Ojo, former NBA Chairman, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN).

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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N135m fraud: EFCC removes WEMA Bank from suit WALE IGBINTADE

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he Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) yesterday told a Lagos High Court that it had removed WEMA Bank from a criminal suit filed against some defendants.

EFCC had sued the bank, one Faniran Olubanji Samuel and Ariel Investment Management Limited for alleged conspiracy, fraud and stealing.

But at the resumed hearing of the suit, counsel to EFCC, Miss O Odiri, told Justice Samuel CandideJohnson that the prosecution had amended the charge and removed the name of the bank from the suit.

The removal of the bank’s name was sequel to a preliminary objection dated May 6, 2013 filed by counsel to the bank Mr. O Arulogun (SAN).

Arulogun had in his preliminary objection, urged the court to strike out the

name of the bank from the suit.

Strangely, the bank objected to the procedure adopted by EFCC, adding that amendment of the charge was not the answer.

Arulogun argued that it was wrong for EFCC to come under Section 115 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State which empowered the prosecution or the Attorney General to amend its charge or discontinue it entirely.

He argued that under Section 115, an amendment cannot be used to discontinue a charge and that such withdrawal must come under Section 73 (1) Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State.

Arulogun said that EFCC needed the consent of the court for such withdrawal to be valid.

He said: “If an amendment is made in such a way as to withdraw a suit against a defendant, such amendment cannot come by merely filing amended

L-R: Wife of Ekiti State Governor and Founder, Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), Mrs. Bisi Fayemi; Deputy Governor, Prof.

Modupe Adelabu and Commissioner for Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola Richie-Adewusi, during the launch of Soup Kitchen/Free Meal initiated by the EDF in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday.

charge. It must come by formal application. There must be an application and the court must give its consent.’’

It will be recalled that the suit was based on a petition dated January 2009 and written by Plethora Solicitor on behalf of its client, APT Securities & Fund Limited to the EFCC. In the petition entitled: “The fraudulent clearance of cheque by WEMA BANK

NDLEA arrests man for ingesting 126 wraps of narcotics OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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suspected drug trafficker has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The suspect was said to have ingested 126 wraps of narcotics.

NDLEA said that the drug, which weighed 2.225kg, is the highest ingestion since January.

A statement signed yesterday by the NDLEA Head of Public Affairs,

Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, stated that the officials placed the suspect on observation when he tested positive to drug ingestion.

Ofoyeju gave the name of the suspect as Nweke Gabriel Nwobodo, stressing that the case is under investigation.

He said the 33-year-old suspect sells electronics at Trade Fair Complex and Computer Village in Lagos and confessed that he wanted to raise money from drug trafficking after he was duped of a huge amount of money by some unscrupulous persons.

The suspect was allegedly to have said: “I sell

electronics in Lagos, but I lost $11,200 to fraudsters.

This affected my business and in the process of trying to get money to revamp my business, I was introduced into drugs.

“If I had succeeded, I would have been paid N1.8 million. I spent only one week in Pakistan. My only regret is my pregnant wife who is due to put to bed soon.”

Nweke hails from Ebonyi State. He is married with two children.

In his reaction, NDLEA Chief Executive, Ahmadu Giade expressed concern on the risk of drug ingestion.

2015: Eze Ndigbo seeks support for South-East KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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he Eze Ndigbo of Ibadanland and Oyo State, Dr. Alex Anozie, yesterday said the people of the South-East would support any political party that picks its presidential candidate from the region in 2015.

Anozie said in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan that the South-East should be allowed to produce the next Nigeria’s president in 2015

in the interest of justice and fairness.

He said: “There are many good presidential materials from the South-East who will make this country proud if given the opportunity.

“Ndigbo will be glad to vote for any political party that picks its presidential candidate from the SouthEast in the next general election.

“Sorry to say what that I want to say now and do not mind my language, if there is anything like con-

science still in existence in our country, then we do not need anybody to tell Nigerians this bitter truth that it is justifiable that Ndigbo should be given the opportunity to produce a Nigerian president.

“There are very many good presidential materials from the South-East who will make this country proud when given the opportunity. I am very sure that we have many credible Igbo sons and daughters who are fit to rule this great country.”

Plc,’’ the petitioner said that on or about May 12, 2008 a Guaranty Trust Cheque No 00005784 dated March 28 valued N135 million issued by APT Securities & Fund Limited to Food Concept Limited\FBN Capital Limited was fraudulently lodged into WEMA account belonging to Ariel Investment Management Limited.

The petitioner also told the court that the cheque

was allegedly cleared by the bank without consent of its client (APT Securities & Fund Limit).

The petition reads: “The ease which the cheque, which was presented as a third party cheque, was cleared without the consent of our client or the payee and the attempt by WEMA Bank officials to cover their tracks and protect the perpetrators of this crime leaves

us with only one dispassionate conclusion that not only was the crime aided and abetted by WEMA Bank top management, including but not limited to its Managing Director, Executive Director Operations and Head of Inspectorate Division, Inclusive of Ikoyi Branch manager and its branch head of operation, thus the fraud was hatched in the vouch of the bank’’.

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South East

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Geometrics begins power generation, distribution next month GEORGE OPARA ABIA

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L-R: Chairman, South-East Forum, Revd. Austin Nnorom; former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Guest Lecturer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, at a symposium in honour of former Governor of old Imo State, late Chief Sam Mbakwe, held in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Ohakim accused of masterminding attack on Okorocha’s convoy CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

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ormer Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were yesterday accused of masterminding the recent attack on Governor Rochas Okorocha’s convoy at Awa community in Oguta Local Government Area of the state.

Sources said that the attack was deliberately hatched to humiliate the governor ahead of the forthcoming Oguta House Assembly seat election scheduled to hold on July 29, 2013.

A Government House source, who did not want his name mentioned, said the attack was part of the plots embarked upon by the PDP to discourage the governor

from seeking support for the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate before the election.

The source added that Senator Hope Uzodinma, former Chairman of Imo Traditional Rulers’ Council, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya and former Governor Ikedi Ohakim allegedly asked the PDP candidate, Mr. Eugene Dibiagwu, to recruit some hoodlums to attack the governor’s convoy.

The source said: “Those who masterminded the attack were jealous of Okorocha’s achievements in the area of infrastructure and others.

“They deliberately hatched the attack to discourage the governor from using some of the projects he had implemented in Oguta Local Government Area to

campaign for the APGA candidate.”

Meanwhile, Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, described the attack as condemnable and gross disrespect to the governor.

Addressing journalists in Owerri, the state capital, Ohiri said the attack was carried out by those who were not comfortable with the governor’s achievements in the last two years.

But the PDP candidate, Dibiagwu, debunked the allegation, saying he did not organise any attack on the governor.

He said: “Nobody approached me to attack the governor, what happened was a mere accident. In fact, Okemezie Ejike Christian, a commercial motorcyclist hit

by the governor’s convoy, is still lying critically ill in the hospital. They are only using the accident as a cheap blackmail and campaign of calumny against me.”

Dibiagwu, who Ohiri’s comment, disclosed that governor had given a marching order to traditional rulers in Oguta and civil servants to support the APGA candidate in the forthcoming election or lose their stools and jobs.

He said: “I don’t know why the governor is desperate about Oguta state constituency election; he should allow the people to make their choice, that was how he emerged as governor. But the governor has forgotten that his election was act of providence, he should not make the election a do-or-die affair.”

Ebonyi shuts 700 adult education centres ALIUNA GODWIN EBONYI

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he Ebonyi State Government yesterday shut over 700 private adult education centres in Abakaliki, the state capital.

The government said it shut the schools because of their non-functionality.

Addressing journalists in his office, the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Ndubuisi Chibueze-Agbo, said the government revoked the licences alleged to have been given to the private adult education centres so as to sanitise education sector.

He said: “Information available to the Ministry of

Education indicates that we have approved 700 private adult education centres by the Adult Mass Literacy and Non-formal Education parastatal of the ministry.

“Our investigation shows that 99 per cent of these centres are no more functional, they exist only on paper. We hereby revoke any approval purported to have been given to them.

“Any individual or organisation that wishes to operate such centre should provide the requisite infrastructure and apply to the relevant agency for inspection and approval. Our resolve to sanitise the system is total. There is no going back”.

The commissioner alleged that some proprietors and proprietress of primary and secondary schools in the state were now operating under pseudo names and locations in order to escape the consequences of their action.

He said the government would not relent in its efforts shut illegal and substandard schools. The commissioner said: “No matter the level of cover-ups and strategies put in place by operators of illegal and substandard schools across the 13 local government areas, the weight of the law will certainly catch up with them.

“Today, I make bold to state without any fear of con-

tradiction that the positive impacts of our modest efforts are beginning to blossom and flourish.

“It is against this backdrop that it must be reiterated that we are still concerned as ever about the quality of education given to our children, hence the resolve to flush out all illegal and substandard schools. This policy is irreversible and irrevocable “We are surprised that they now hide under new names and locations. Let me assure them that our dragnets have been spread to fish and flush them out no matter the names they bear and the locations they are operating from.

ecades of perennial epileptic power supply in Aba, the commercial and economic hub of Abia State, will soon be history as an indigenous company, Geometrics Limited, begins generation and distribution of power next month.

Addressing journalists yesterday after hosting the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Mr. Joe Ajaero, Chairman of Geometrics, Prof. Bath Nnaji, said all arrangements had been put in place for the commencement of the power distribution.

He said while Geometrics generates power at Osisioma area of Aba, distribution would be under Aba Power Limited.

Nnaji said while the generation and distribution of electricity would begin next month, the company would be commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan in August.

The former Minister of Power said: “141 megawatts of electricity will be gener-

ated at the plant from where the power needs of Aba will be supplied first, while the excess will be supplied to the national grid.”

Experts said Aba needs about 50 megawatts of electricity to sufficiently satisfy consumers in the commercial city.

Nnaji said the major target of the project, which started in 2004, was to make Aba become the industrial capital of Nigeria, as the problem of power failure would be completely eliminated by the time the company started operations.

Over $46 million, according to him, was spent on the project.

Stressing that the company was committed to revolutionalising power sector in Nigeria, Nnaji said it would create 400 direct jobs on merit and created thousands of others indirectly by the multiplier effect of chains of industries that would be supported by the company.

He commended the Abia State Government for its continued supports particularly for constructing an access road to the plant and for granting the company “many waivers.”

APGA sure of victory in Anambra 2014 poll CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

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nambra State Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr. J. Okoli Akilika, has predicted victory for the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in next year’s governorship election.

He asked the people to support efforts aimed at making the poll violence-free.

Akirika told National Mirror that his belief in APGA was boosted by the achievements of Governor Peter Obi in the last seven years.

The commissioner said that the party has qualified men and resources to win the election, aside Obi’s achievements.

He said: “Obi’s achievements are welcome advantage for APGA. The achievements constitute what I may call APGA’s weapons of war, a mantra and our electoral passports. If APGA demonstrates the achievements of Obi, we will the 2014 governorship election.”

Speaking on the qualities the next governorship candi-

date must possess, Akirika said: “The person must be competent, he must have the means, he must have the contact and must electable.”

He said the qualities had been revealed to those seeking to contest the governorship poll from the Anambra North Senatorial District.

The commissioner said APGA decided to zone the governorship ticket to the Anambra North in order to address the issue of marginalisation, but added that the party may reverse the decision if it found out that the zone failed to produce a credible candidate.

He said: “We added the caveat that they must produce a candidate who has these capacities, We don’t want marginalisation to persists in the politics of Anambra State, we want to shift power to the North as a veritable vehicle of checking extreme options in the pursuit of power by people of the North.”

Meanwhile, a technical committee constituted by the Olu Na Adagbe Peoples Assembly to screen aspirants from the North has submitted its report for final action.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

11

Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo road ready soon –Amaechi

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ivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has said that the 42-kilometre Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity Road being constructed by his administration would soon be ready.

Amaechi, who spoke during an inspection tour of the road project said the road has 11 bridges, and that presently, two more

bridges are needed to link Opobo town with the other parts of the state.

The governor is optimistic that the road project will be delivered in December, while one of the bridges that connects Ikuru town to Opobo should be ready in August, this year.

He further stated that his administration has built the road and bridge

linking Bolo town in Ogu/ Bolo Local Government Area to the rest of the state, which has also increased economic and social activities in the area.

“People can now travel to Bolo by road; I was very pleased that the people of Bolo can now go by road.

We have done the same thing in the Okrika Ring Road area,” Amaechi said.

Speaking on some of the achievements and prospects of his administration, the governor said apart from the provision of power, the training and retraining of teachers is important in the education sector.

“Because we are looking at content, and we have also employed doctors twice, in the health sector.

We are looking at health in-

stitutions, and we have decided that nobody will go to the secondary health care without passing through the primary health care system.

“We are providing as many health care centres as possible, already, we have about 140 to 145 health centres in the state,” he said.

Governor Amaechi also restates his adminis-

tration’s commitment to build new tertiary health institutions in the three senatorial districts, while a fourth hospital will be built in Etche.

Meanwhile, the governor has assured the residents of Elioparanwo community and its environs that the Elioparanwo road will be completed before the end of the next raining season.

Police to check use of explosive materials –Olubolade inister of Police sives such as radioactive, bio-

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Students of Ewet Technical College learning under a palmtree in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Report facts, get N1m, Speaker tasks journalists

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he need to reposition the media for greater challenges through veracious reportage, has been adduced as the factor that informed the resolve of the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei, to institute an annual one million naira prize for the best investigative journalist in the state.

The Speaker, who had,

during an interactive session with journalists as part of activities marking the second anniversary of the fifth Assembly of the Delta State legislature, challenged the media to eschew speculative journalism, which he said lacks the essentials for societal development.

Ochei further urged media practitioners to embrace factual reportage,

as against sensationalism, adding that while truthful presentation stands the test of time, fallacious journalism pales into insignificance, which in the final analysis, takes the journalism profession to task.

According to him; “Journalists as members of the fourth estate of the realm and dependable partners of government, owe it a duty to society

to always present facts as they are, in line with their expected functions in any society.”

The lawmaker also pledged to assist the media in ensuring that prospective winners of the prize will be afforded the opportunity to improve on their skills by way of trainings ,which will offer them a platform for global recognition.

I have no quarrel with Dickson, says aide EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

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ormer Chief of Staff in Bayelsa State Government House, Yenagoa, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, yesterday denied claims that he had quarrels with his boss, Governor Seriake Dickson, culminating in his redeployment to Abuja.

Ikiogha said he has been appointed Chief of Staff by the governor at the state’s liaison office in the Federal Capital Territory, stating that the appointment was made in good faith after proper consultation.

The governor’s aide broke his silence yesterday at an interactive session with journalists in Yenagoa. He

said his relationship with his boss was perfect and cordial, in spite of the speculations that they were having squabbles.

While adding that he had handed over to the new Chief of Staff, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, he said he has the confidence that Walson-Jack would perform creditably.

He said: “For the past one year that I have been the Chief of Staff, I’ve been doing my best; I’ve seen all what they are doing. We have been together, apart from one or two issues. I want to really emphasise that it was done in good faith and with proper consultation at all levels before the announcement was made. I even participated in the drafting of the said

announcement.

“When the announcement was made, there were lots of mixed feelings and interpretations. I was posted to go and serve and I accepted it. It was not done with any ill-feeling or to degrade my personality. I will not go into the genesis and details of how the appointment came.

My relationship with the governor is perfect and 100 per cent cordial, contrary to what people will say,” he explained.

Ikiogha said his new assignment in Abuja was an enormous challenge, even as he was prepared to serve humanity.

He continued: “It was properly done with the purpose of enhancing the status

of the state in Abuja. Our son is the President of the nation, we will be there to show him support .Though, the entire country is his constituency, but, he came from a place. That support should be there.

“We have a President, but when you look round the entire state, you can hardly see one federal presence. We cannot continue to remain like that. We cannot say we have a President and nothing is here. We have to be close to him so that we, like any other state, can enjoy federal presence in Bayelsa State,” the Chief of Staff said.

The governor’s aide promised to market the state by attracting both local and foreign investors to the state.

Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, yesterday said 10 new sub-units of Explosive Ordnance Departments, EODs, have been set up to check the illegal use of explosive materials.

Olubolade made this known at a mid-term report of the ministry at the 2013 Ministerial Platform held in Abuja yesterday.

He said the establishment of the units followed a presidential directive that all companies involved in the use of explosive materials, should be registered.

According to him, the units are located in Bauchi, Birnin Kebbi, Dutse, Gombe, Gusau, Lafia, Jalingo, Lagos, Minna and Umuahia.

“We have been able to have a database on companies involved in the use of explo-

logical and chemical materials in the country,” he said.

Olubolade said that the measure was to guard against illegal use of the materials in view of the emerging crime of terrorism in the country.

The minister said pragmatic steps have also been taken to transform the police and also to address insecurity in the country in the last two years.

He said the steps included the provision of logistics for the police and promoting better cooperation and intelligence exchange with sister security agencies.

Olubolade also said that the installation of CCTV cameras in Abuja and Lagos in the last two years, was to provide the police with modern means of fighting crime in those cities.

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North

A ZA MSUE KADUNA

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orthern youths under the auspices of the Arewa Integrity Group, AIG, and the Wamakko/Amaechi National Enlightenment Council, yesterday called for the removal of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, together with the entire members of the party’s National Working Committee, NWC, with immediate effect.

Addressing a joint press conference on the suspen-

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PDP crisis: Tukur must go, Northern youths insist •Threaten mass protest over Amaechi

sion order slammed on the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and his Sokoto State counterpart, Governor Aliyu Wamakko, in Kaduna, AIG’s National Chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Ladan, insisted that if the party wants to remain in power in 2015, Governor Amaechi, who they said they recognised as the authentic chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, must be recalled ur-

gently without delay.

The group said even though the Sokoto State governor’s suspension has been lifted by the party, the leadership as well as the NWC of the party must write a letter of apology to the people of the state for the embarrassment caused by the suspension of the governor.

They also alleged that the national chairman was responsible for the crisis rocking the party as well as the

suspension of some of the party members.

The group threatened that after seven days, if the suspension on Governor Amaechi was not lifted, the group would occupy all the zonal offices of the party in the north, adding that Tukur has been a curse rather than a blessing to the party as he has almost succeeded in destroying the party.

The youths argued that the national leadership of

the PDP has no powers under the party’s constitution to suspend a party leader in his state without recourse to a complaint or allegation from his ward executives, local government party executives, states zonal party executives and the national executives.

“The National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, should be removed because he is causing a lot of crisis in the party. We are here to organise our party, so Tukur must go. How can

he lift the suspension of Wamakko without also lifting that of Amaechi of Rivers State?

“Based on the aforementioned and many more, the national chairman of PDP and his cohorts has no legal or moral right to suspend our leaders who are believed to have taken the party to greater heights in their respective states and are seen to be delivering the dividends of democracy to the citizens of Sokoto and Rivers States.

SURE-P: House passes no confidence vote on commissioner

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Flood victims in Bauchi State waiting to cash their money at a bank in the state capital, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Caution your wife over Rivers’ politics, NDF tells Jonathan PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

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civil rights group, the National Democratic Front, NDF, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to stop his wife from using her position to attack perceived political opponents of his administration.

Rather than meddling in issues that could further overheat the Rivers State polity, the organisation advised that the first lady should focus her attention on assisting the less privi-

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head of the ICT empowerment initiative of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, the state government is set to officially flag off the first phase of the state proposed ICT empowerment programme.

Tagged; “One Teacher One Laptop,” the flag-off of the programme is the initiative of Governor Wada’s administration in demonstration of his com-

leged ones in the society, “who have no shoes unlike the first family, with golden shoes now.”

Mrs. Jonathan was said to have noted that the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has made the state unattractive to everyone, last weekend during a visit to the state.

The NDF through its National Coordinator, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, speaking to journalists in Minna, Niger State said; “To us, the Presidency under President Jonathan has also succeeded in making Nigeria unat-

tractive to the people, this is because his government has no people-oriented programmes for the masses, if the comments of the First Lady on Governor Amaechi is anything to go by.”

He argued; “Nobody voted for her, and therefore, she has no constitutional right to condemn any serving governor just because of perceived envy or personal interests. And that is why Mr. President should prevail on his wife not to further aggravate the already bad situation in that state.”

On the recent state of emergency declared in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States by the Federal Government, Vatsa asked; “Why the declaration, after many innocent people have been killed and property worth billions of naira destroyed in the affected states?”

He lamented that despite the magnitude of the havoc wrecked, the insecurity has caused the northern part of the country a lot and the Federal Government is yet to fish out the sponsors or arrest any person connected with the menace.

Wada flags off ICT empowerment programme mitment to the full empowerment and capacity building of not only Kogi State teachers, but also its citizenry as a whole.

The flag-off, which will witness the free distribution of 17, 000 laptops to school teachers in the state, is scheduled to hold at the state Teachers’ House, which also coincides with the official commissioning

of the new ultra-modern Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers’ complex in Lokoja.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Lords Promotions Limited, Olusegun Okeowo, consultant to the Kogi State government as regards the laptop facilitation; “I think the Kogi State governor, Wada Idris, should be high-

ly commended for this initiative on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) empowerment scheme.

“It is a bold testament to the governor’s commitment to consolidate his transformation agenda mission through the policy of ensuring that an average Kogi indigene is I.T. compliant.”

he Kaduna State House of Assembly has passed a vote of no confidence on the Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr John Ayuba, over the poor implementation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P. Ayuba was the commissioner of finance responsible for the implementation of the programme in the state before his recent deployment to water resources in a cabinet reshuffle.

The Assembly at its sitting yesterday presided over by the Speaker, Hon. Mu’azu Gangara, accused the commissioner of failing to properly account for the money spent on the programme.

The Assembly, which adopted the report of its AdHoc Committee that investigated the implementation of SURE-P in the state also berated the former finance commissioner for failing to provide expenditure details

on how the money was spent.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls that the House had on May 23, 2013 mandated the ad-hoc committee under Hon. Kantiok Ishaku, to carry out full investigation into the programme.

Submitting the report, Ishaku said the committee was unable to trace the money received by the state government for the SURE-P between January and April, 2012.

According to him, there was also no detail on how another N560 million received by the government for the programme was utilised.

He said the committee was, however, able to determine N2.24 billion that accrued to the state between May and December, 2012 for the programme.

Ishaku said out of the amount, N903.9 million was expended on the procurement of 700 tri-cycles, 40 taxi cabs, 35 mini-buses and 15 luxury buses.

‘Selection of perm secs now to be on merit’ OMEIZA AJAYI ABUJA

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ead of Service of the Federation, HoSF, Bukar GoniAji, has said that from now on, selection of prospective federal permanent secretaries would be strictly based on merit.

He said before now, the system was such that the HoSF usually reserved 10 per cent of the marks allotted for the examination of would-be permanent secretaries, explaining that the process was vulnerable to abuse.

He, however, lauded the immediate past Head of Service of the Federation, Ibrahim Sali, for review-

ing the procedure. He said the new process allows the President to make informed choices in the appointment of permanent secretaries.

Goni-Aji spoke yesterday in Abuja at an interactive session with federal civil servants on Grade Levels 04 to 17, ahead of this year’s Civil Service Week.

“The appointment of permanent secretaries is now strictly based on merit. All directors are eligible to become permanent secretaries. Before now, the examination was 90 per cent of the marks while the Head of Service of the Federation was free to do justice to the remaining 10 per cent,” said Goni-Aji.

Wednesday June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

13

Politics

LG: Between autonomy and true federalism

Day Sokoto stood still for Wamakko

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15

PDP crisis: I won’t resign as chairman, says Tukur Jonathan meets NASS leaders

ROTIMI FADEYI ABUJA

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ational Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, yesterday said that no amount of pressure would make him step down or resign as the chairman of the party.

President Goodluck Jonathan had directed members of the National Working Committee, NWC, to resign in order to save the party from imminent collapse.

Speaking with State House Correspondents shortly af-

ter members of the NWC of the party met with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Tukur confirmed that there are some national officers of the party who are to resign because of some irregularities noticed in their coming into office.

Tukur, however, stressed that he was not among the affected officers and therefore he would stay in office as the leader of the party.

On whether the President has actually asked him to resign from office, Tukur said, “ I dey dam dam.”

He explained that the

meeting with the President was about regularising the family of PDP because of the observation by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that some members of the NWC were not properly elected so it has to be regularised.

Tukur said: “Those who have not been elected will resign and they will go back, they will have opportunity to regularise.

“About eight people are affected. They are three people that are not affected, they are the National Chairman, the National Financial Secretary, National Auditor and of course Na-

tional Secretary which is vacant now.

“The other eight people, all the deputies, and ex-officios and the rest of them whose election in the convention was not voted for. It is not true that I am resigning. Resign for what? It is not true at all. We are here to run the PDP and we have done so and we will continue to run the PDP. “We are going to have our caucus tonight (yesterday), we are going to have Board of Trustees meeting today, we are going to have our NEC on Thursday.

“It is not true, the chairman is there dam dam. The

L-R: President Goodluck Jonathan; National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Oghiadomen, at the meeting of the party’s National Working Committee in Abuja, yesterday.

OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

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he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will tomorrow at its National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting approve the re-zoning of its office, an exercise likely to lead to the North-East losing the chairmanship to the North-Central.

The NEC which is the highest decision organ of the party will also formally dissolve the present National Working Committee, NWC, after it must have tendered its resignation as directed by the Presidency.

It is believed that a caretaker committee will be appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the

…Party set to re-zone NWC offices leader of the party to oversee its activities until the mid-term election, which will be slated for later.

The North-East produced the Chairman of the party shortly after President Jonathan got the presidential nod of the PDP in 2011, while the South-South got the Deputy National Chairman. The North-West produced the National Organising Secretary while the South-East had the National Publicity Secretary and the Woman Leader. The North-Central produced the Youth Leader and Legal Adviser.

However, following the anticipated resignation of the NWC members, the President is said to have

been advised that it was necessary to change the status quo to restore sanity to the party which is presently engulfed in crisis.

The decision for the change was reached last night after it was impressed on Jonathan by some stakeholders in the PDP that some party stalwarts being tipped for the post of the chairman from the NorthEast would only ignite fresh trouble for the party as the governors and some chieftains are still not in the best relationship, and will thereby restart the war that led to the “Bamanga situation,” a reliable source had told National Mirror.

Sources say the party

may hand over the chairmanship from the NorthEast to the North-Central, swapping the position with that of the National Legal Adviser. Also, the position of National Organising Secretary and that of the National Publicity Secretary may also be swapped between the North-West and South-East.

Meanwhile, ahead of the NEC meeting, the National Caucus of the party, which met last night and that of the Board of Trustees (BoT), which meets today, are set to ratify some decisions to be reached at the NEC which include the acceptance of the resignation of the NWC, appointment of a caretaker committee and re-zoning of offices.

chairman is not only in office, he is in power in PDP, there is no vacancy in the national chairmanship.”

National officers of the party who are expected to resign because of some irregularities in their coming into office include National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh; Deputy National Chairman, Sam Sam Jaja; National Organising Secretary Abubakar Mustapha; Deputy National Organising Secretary, Okechukwu Nnadozie; Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Binta Goje and National Youth Leader, Garba Chiza.

Others include Deputy Youth Leader, Dennis Alonge Niyi; Deputy National Auditor, Umar Ibrahim; National Women Leader, Kema Chikwe; Deputy National Women Leader, Hannatu Ulam; Deputy National Treasurer, Claudus Inengas; and National Legal Adviser, Victor Kwom.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan yesterday held a meeting with National Assembly leaders.

The meeting between Jonathan and the National Assembly leaders followed a similar meeting the President earlier held with members of the NWC of the party.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Dep-

uty Senate President, Ike Ekwueremadu, said the PDP would come out of the present crisis a stronger party.

According to him, the meeting was a routine consultation between the President and the leadership of the National Assembly, stressing that it has to do with some issues to be resolved in the party.

He said: “It is a routine consultation between the President and the leadership of the National Assembly. But this one has to do with our party’s issues because we are of the same political party. It is essentially a party affair.”

Speaking on reports that Tukur and some NWC members should resign, Ekwueremadu said: “We are still consulting. In the evening, we are going to have a meeting of the national caucus of the party, look at all the options available to the party. This is party of consultation so that we have a position of the PDP on this issue.”

Others National Assembly leaders who attended the meeting were the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, Deputy Majority Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi and Deputy Majority House Leader, Leo Ogor.

S’West PDP adopts Jonathan for 2015 AYO ESAN

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he South-West chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at a stakeholders meeting yesterday in Lagos announced the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office in 2015 just as it announced former President Olusegun Obasanjo as its grand patron.

Also announced as patrons are Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, Chief Olabode George, Chief Clement Awoyelu, Tunde Osunrinde, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo, Senator Bode Olajumoke, Alhaji Rashidi Williams, Senator Jubril Martins Kuye, Senator Yinka Omilani, Chief Al-

ani Bankole, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Chief (Mrs) Mobolaji Osomo and Chief (Mrs) Aduke Maina.

A Stakeholders’ Council was also announced as part of efforts to bring the party back to its rightful position in the zone.

The adoption of Jonathan for a second term in office in 2015 was by majority of voice votes.

Announcing the appointment of the Stakeholders’ Council, the Chairman Caretaker Committee, PDP South-West, Chief Isola Filani said the council would be chaired

by Senator Lekan Balogun, while Dr. Abayomi Finih will serve as Vice- Chairman and Dr. Wale Oladipo as Secretary.

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Politics

Wednesday June 19, 2013

Day Sokoto stood still for Wamakko

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n 2007, Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko inherited a “dead PDP” in Sokoto State. Indeed, he revived the party from its state of coma and brought it out of the intensive care unit (ICU – politically then). Governor Wamakko has indeed being strenuously making sure that the PDP in the state and nationally, thrives and flourishes successfully.

It was indeed Wamakko who made sure that the PDP won all the elective positions in Sokoto state. This is from the councillorship to the governor. All the national and state assemblies’ members and everybody in the state are PDP. This is indeed a rare feat which only a man of the people and a committed, dexterous and patriotic democrat can achieve.

That was why all tongues wagged when penultimate Wednesday, when the PDP’s undemocratic National Working Committee, NWC, announced that Governor Wamakko has been suspended from the PDP; a house he helped built.

Expectedly, the action stirred the hornet’s nest. The extremely vexing action has been trailed with myriad of reactions as the action has been vehemently rejected.

Former Sokoto State chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Muhammadu Arzika Tureta, who is the incumbent Commissioner for Agriculture, described the suspension of Governor Wamakko from the PDP as a breach of the party’s constitution .

His words: “The PDP members in the state felt betrayed by the decision taken at the national level of the party in suspending the leader of the party in Sokoto State without recourse to procedures, justice and equity as enshrined in article 21 of the PDP constitution.”

Tureta’s position represents that of the PDP leadership and the entire membership of the party in the state.

Indeed, it was heart warming when on Wednesday, June 12, Sokoto stood still for the people’s governor, when he returned to Sokoto from his official visit to Netherlands. He was even out of Nigeria when he was unjustly suspended by the PDP’s NWC. All roads in the state on that historic day led to the Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto to give a heroic welcome to Wamakko. Thousands of PDP supporters and indeed the people who are in the PDP, courtesy of Wamakko, thronged the airport, chanting, “Ai in rana ta fito , tafin hannu baya iya rufe ta (meaning, if the sun is rising, the palm cannot cover it.”

The enormity of the number of the teeming supporters of Wamakko, both the young and the old, men and women, only came to the fore at some minutes after 4p.m. when the charted aircraft which conveyed Governor Wamakko and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and others ( including all the National Assembly members from the state) could not land at the airport as the tarmac was hugely overwhelmed by the supporters who were happy to receive their governor.

The sight of the governor as he alighted from the aircraft was indeed electrifying.

The thousands of the supporters who had waited patiently all-day to welcome back Wamakko chorusly shouted, “Sai Alu and Allahu Akbar – God is great.” The echo was depeaning and the action of the supporters was heart-warming and consoling.

AHMED MOHD, a public affairs analyst in Sokoto writes on the heroic welcome given Governor Aliyu Wamakko after the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, suspendend him from the party, before it made a U-turn.

LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL AND SUNDRY THAT NEITHER

SOKOTO

NOR ITS GOVERNOR AND PEOPLE CAN BE INTIMIDATED,

HARASSED, COERCED INTO SUBMISSION IN ANY FORM EXCEPT ON THE BASIS OF MUTUAL RESPECT Wamakko

The governor was received at the airport by his deputy, Alhaji Mukhtari Shagari, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Lawalli Zayyana, members of the state and National Assemblies, members of the state executive council, the state PDP Chairman, Alhaji Sabo Madawaki Yabo, local government chairmen and thousands of supporters from across the 23 local governments of the state.

The airport reception over, the surging crowd moved to Government House, Sokoto where hordes of other PDP supporters had waited patiently for several hours to listen to Governor Wamakko and Tambuwal.

Governor Wamakko praised Almighty Allah and thanked the people of the state for their sustained support and their fervent prayers for him, the state, PDP and the nation at large.

His words: “I can see the concern in your faces and various reactions on my purported suspension by some Abuja opportunists.

Please be assured that their action is illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

“The action is a display of ignorance of the rules involved and in total disregard to the provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 40. They are mere opportunists and sycophants who do not mean well for the PDP and Nigeria.”

He wondered how a person who made the party to clinch 100 per cent of all the elective positions in 2011 from its dead and zero posts in 2007 could be suspended by some erratic and careless individuals. He also recalled how he strenuously worked to stabilise the PDP. A shining example here was in 2007/2008 when Governor Wamakko and others helped to proffer solution to the impasse which later led to the emergence of Hon. Dimeji Bankole and Usman Nafada as the speaker and deputy respectively of the House of Representatives. That was when the nerving crisis was threatening the soul of the PDP. Wamakko just did several other diplomatic manoeuvres in the bid to

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ensure that the PDP kept afloat.

“Therefore, let me challenge Mr. Bamanga Tukur and his boss, Ahmed Gulak to tell the world what they have done for the PDP that we will be able to judge as to who is really more PDP between Bamanga Tukur and myself and his ignorant team,” the Sarkin Yamman Sokoto averred.

Wamakko also advised President Good luck Jonathan to, according to the constitution of the PDP, order for the convening of the party’s National Executive Coucil (NEC) meeting immediately to remove Tukur from PDP chairmanship before he succeeds in destroying it .

According to Wamakko, the message and call to the President is sequel to the glaring fact that, Tukur is incompetent and he is running the party from his private home. Wamakko said: “Up till now, Bamanga did not see the wisdom in going round the states in this country to say thank you to those who voted him. Tukur is running the party as his private business.

Gulak should be sacked from being your (President’s) Political Adviser as he lacks the relevant credentials to be so. He is only gaining more enemies day by day because of his incompetence and arrogance.

“Mr President sir, may I appeal to you to please prevail on Dr. Ahamdu Ali or Abukakar Kawu Baraje to come back and take over the PDP with a view to saving it from collapse in the hands of the Tukur-led NWC. He also declared: “For the avoidance of doubt, let it be known to all and sundry that neither Sokoto nor its governor and people can be intimidated, harassed, coerced into submission in any form except on the basis of mutual respect.”

Tambuwal also told the mammoth gathering that the entire National Assembly members from the state were in Sokoto to restate their loyalty to the PDP and Governor Wamakko. He stated that the PDP under the indefatigable leadership of Governor Wamakko has remained a united political family.

“Let me assure the people of the state and Nigerians that the purported suspension is of no effect on the people of the state and there is no retreat or surrender.”

Meanwhile, PDP has withdrawn the suspension order slammed on Wamakko.

My withdrawal from NSGF, not a mistake –Suswam OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

T

he Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, has reiterated that his withdrawal from the Northern States Governors’ Forum, NSGF, is not a mistake, adding that he stood by his decision to abstain from the NSGF’s meetings henceforth.

Suswam was reacting to the comments made by the Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, that Governors Isa Yuguda and Suswam of Bauchi and Benue states respectively, made “the biggest political mistakes of their lives” by their decision to, henceforth, stop attending meetings of the NSGF. Governor Kwankwaso was also quoted in the report to have threatened that neither of the two governors nor their candidates would win elections

again in the North.

In a statement made available to National Mirror and signed by the Media Adviser to Suswam, Dr. Cletus Akwaya, the governor described the statements credited to Kwankwaso as “misleading as they are intended to undermine the integrity of Governor Suswam by portraying him as a leader who is against the interest of his people and the political interests of the North. This is certainly untrue and a total misinterpretation of the decision of Governor Suswam on the subject matter under discourse.”

Saying that Suswam is a leader who weighs the implication of a decision on his people before taking it, the statement added that “his decision to withdraw from meetings of the NSGF was also well thought out and taken in the overall interest of the people of Benue State,

who he represents as well as the people of the old Northern Region of which Benue people are a proud part.”

The Benue governor added that he took the decision because of the “mistrust created by the betrayal by some members of the forum,” saying that he would maintain that stance for as long as the unacceptable situation prevails.

He said that rather than been a mistake as construed

by Kwankwaso, his decision was “informed by the principle which places personal and institutional integrity far and above other political considerations such as the personal desire to win elections.”

Believing that only people of integrity should aspire to positions of leadership through elections and that the true test of integrity requires that leaders stand by joint decisions rather than betray col-

lective positions for personal and selfish gains as displayed by some of his colleagues in the selection process of the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, Governor Suswam added that he “prefers to stand by the truth at the expense of electoral victory, which unfortunately seems to be the concern of Governor Kwankwaso.”

Akwaya added: “For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Suswam wishes to make it abundantly clear that his decision to stop attending NSGF meetings neither amounts to a repudiation of the wisdom behind the formation of the forum nor the withdrawal of Benue State from its membership. Rather, it is a principled protest against the recent development which has threatened to impugn on the hard-earned integrity of the body in particular, and the leadership of the North in general.”

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Politics

Wednesday June 19, 2013

M

ost Nigerians have over time craved for change in the local government system as presently constituted in order to bring it in conformity with present day realities as well as to make the councils live up to the expectations of the people who have continued to yearn for grassroots development.

The need for change was occasioned by the failure of the nation’s 774 local government areas which are supposed to be the closest tier of administration to make positive impact in the lives of more than half of the country’s population who live in rural communities.

While most analysts blame the nation’s faulty federal structure for the failure of the councils, the joint accounts run by the respective 36 state government and their local governments are seen by many as the major reason for the inability of past and present administrations at the councils to meet the two primary objectives spelled out in the Local Governments’ Reform of 1976, which are: to promote participatory democracy and ensure rapid socio-economic development at the local level.

Section 7(1) of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees a system of local government by democratically elected government councils. However, the second component of the section makes the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of the local governments dependent on state laws.

Besides the guarantee, the constitution however, inadvertently makes it possible for state governments to “cripple” the local governments financially by routing funds standing to their credit in the Federation Account through the States/Local Governments’ Joint Accounts rather than directly to them.

Whereas the Federal Government argued then that the operation of the Joint Account was meant to bring even development to all parts of the country as well as to forestall a situation where no single government official at the state or local level corruptly enriches himself from the commonwealth, the arrangement has over time, adversely affected the financial viability of the councils as some state governments have continued to make inexplicable deductions from the accounts.

Section 162 (8) of the Constitution which explains how the amount standing in the Joint Account should be distributed to the local government councils in each state, states that “the amount standing to the credit of local government councils of a state shall be distributed among the local government councils of that state on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of the state.”

But rather than ensure fiscal responsibility, the law has provided a window for state governments, which are constitutionally required to fund the local government councils to instead hold them (the local governments) hostage and make them their appendages. In practice, the operation of the Joint Account has denied local governments their financial autonomy.

It was against this backdrop that some stakeholders converged on Lagos last week at a national public discourse organised by the Public Affairs Directorate of CMC Connect in Association with O’Ken Ventures.

The event had the theme: “Local Government Authority: How Autonomous?”

Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, who was the keynote speaker at the forum, noted that the local government autonomy will remain impracticable except there is a

Aregbesola

Sagay

LG: Between autonomy and true federalism The proposed autonomy for local governments dominated discussion last week as stakeholders converged on Lagos at a national public discourse, FELIX NWANERI reports. fundamental restructuring of the federal system of government.

According to him, Nigeria is the only country with a federal system of government but still runs a three-tier of government. His words: “There is no provision for the local government system in a federal structure. It is only the government at the centre and the state government that exist in a federal system of government. Local government should not be seen to be outside the state government.”

He added: “I don’t believe in the current structure in Nigeria. Allocation going direct to local governments defeats the principle of federalism but that doesn’t mean that the councils should not enjoy some level of freedom. The local governments must be the creation of the states and supervised by them, including their structures.”

Aregbesola drew inference from the federal systems in the United States, Switzerland, Austria and Germany to buttress his position, noting that “autonomy only makes sense in the relationship between the states and the centre.”

The governor maintained that in a true federal system, there is no provision for local governments as federating partners, saying “to talk of one is to engage in peddling federalism fallacy.”

Decrying the uniform structure of local governments across the states of Nigeria, Aregbesola argued that it is the states that the constitution empowered to make laws for the establishment of the councils and not the Federal Government and therefore advised the centre not to meddle in the affairs of states; since local governments should be one of the units under the states.

“Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution enjoins the states to make law for the establishment, structure, composition, etc of the local government councils. The Osun State government pursuant to this provision enacted the Local Government Law (CAP 72 LOS 2002),” he noted.

The Osun State governor also lampooned the Federal Government for arrogating so much power to itself, especially the 51 per cent of the federal allocation it

receives without corresponding development across the country.

Citing pending court cases as the reason local government elections have not been held in his state, Aregbesola described as mischief, allegations by some people that the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN-led government in the state is imposing its own people on the local governments.

According to him, “some mischievous persons had been insinuating that Osun State government is guilty of imposition of government on the local councils without election. The truth is that members of the Osun State Electoral Commission who were dismissed by the court as having been improperly constituted exercised their rights of appeal to the Court of Appeal and having lost, they have proceeded to the Supreme Court.

Since this matter is subjudice, we need to be careful not to go against the court.”

Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), who corroborated Aregbesola’s views, maintained that the listing of local governments in the constitution negated the principle of true federalism.

Noting that autonomy for the councils meant “kissing federalism goodbye,” Sagay described as “error of madness,” the pro-

A LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS PART AND PARCEL OF

A STATE AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. SO, THE LISTING OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE CONSTITUTION IS AN ABERRATION.

ORDINARILY, THE

COUNCILS SHOULD BE AGENCIES OF THE STATES FOR DEVELOPMENT

15

posal by the National Assembly that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should be responsible for the conduct of local government elections.

His words: “A local government is part and parcel of a state and therefore should not have any relationship with the Federal Government. So, the listing of local governments in the constitution is an aberration.

Ordinarily, the councils should be agencies of the states for development.

“So, the question of having autonomous local governments is out of it. Listing of local governments in the constitution is peculiarly a Nigerian problem. The involvement of the National Assembly in local government creation is wrong.”

While making reference to Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, Sagay maintained that issues of local government creation and maintenance is a responsibility of the state and that where this is altered, it is no longer a federal system.

“Every state should decide how many local governments it wants to create and fund them. The councils should not be mentioned in the constitution. The idea of a federation account is a problem. Why do we have to share from one account and still say we are a federation?”

He blamed the anomalies in the system on the people making laws for the country whom he said have some form of “insecurity in their thinking,” arguing that in a true federal system, the states are free to create and use the local government as it wishes.

“In a true federal system, the state can adopt parliamentary system; the local government can even have sub-local government within the system. The straight jacket system is not the best,” he said.

Sagay also called for a return to regionalism, saying: “What the National Assembly should be doing is to turn the zones into powerful regions to reduce the powers of the Federal Government and make Abuja less attractive because as it is, the Federal Government is the most inefficient government and that is because it has too much money and too much powers.”

The Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Onyekachi Ubani, who also spoke at the event, however proposed the enactment of a law that will stop the payment of allocation to any local government area under a caretaker committee.

This, according to him, is in line with Section 7 (1) the 1999 Constitution, which states that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed.”

On the States/Local Governments Joint Accounts, Ubani decried that whereas the state governments were not meant to be beneficiaries of the joint accounts but trustees, the governors have through them, cornered funds meant for the councils, only to hand out pittance to them.

“The intent of the law was for the states to maintain the account for the benefit of the local governments by ensuring that the amount allocated for this third tier of government is equitably and fairly shared among the councils, adhering strictly to constitutionally stipulated criteria.

“However, reports across the country indicate that most state governments implement the Joint Account contrary to its intention. Instances abound where some governors hand out only wage bills to the various council chairmen in their respective states,” he said.

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Editorial

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, OFR PUBLISHER

STEVE AYORINDE

MD/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

YELE AKINROLABU

ED OPERATIONS

SEYI FASUGBA

DAILY EDITOR

BOLAJI TUNJI

SUNDAY EDITOR

GBEMI OLUJOBI

SATURDAY EDITOR

DOZIE OKEBALAMA

COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD

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CONTROLLER, PRODUCTION

CALLISTUS OKE

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

ISE-OLUWA IGE

ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

KAYODE BALOGUN JNR

SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT

FRANK OBOH

HEAD, GRAPHICS

Beyond the massive Kano armoury discovery T W

ith the recent busting of an armoury in Kano by the Nigerian Army, one could say the intensified war against terrorism is beginning to yield positive results. The army discovered a large ammunition depot in Bompai, a busy metropolis in Kano, Kano State. The large cache of arms was found in a bunker built inside a bungalow housing a shopping complex on Gaya Road in Bompai. Interestingly, however, the building is curiously within a very close distance to the headquarters of the Kano State Police Command and also that of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Items recovered from the military operations included 40 air-to-surface missiles, 50 cluster bombs, 103 packs of Slap TNT dynamites (with each pack containing 16 pieces) used in preparing explosives, 76 military hand grenades, 200 rocket-propelled launchers, 44 AK-47 rifles, 200 military hand grenades, 11, 433 rounds of 7.62mm Special and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ammunition, 16 RPG charges, one RGP tube, nine pistols, one sub-machine gun, two sub-machine gun magazines, and certain other military hardware that could be deployed to destroy Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs).

In a televised interaction with journalists, the Commander of

HE EPISODE

MIGHT BE PART OF A LONGER CHAIN

OF INTERNATIONAL KIDNAPPING SYNDICATES AND

QAEDA

AL

the 3rd Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Kano, Brigadier-General Ilyasu Abbah, disclosed that the arrested suspects, Fauzi Fawaz, Abdullahi Tanini and Talal Roda had been moved to Abuja for thorough investigations. Reports also indicated later that the suspects, believed to be having strong links with the Islamist Lebanon-based militant group, Hezbollah (notorious for targeting Israeli and western interests all over the world), went to court, seeking N1 billion in compensation from the Federal Government, purportedly for unlawful incarceration.

While the military deserve commendation for living up to public expectation, the discovery of such sophisticated weapons is, nonetheless, a strong evidence of the worrisome security lapses at the nation’s borders, a development responsible for uncontrolled and embarrassing inflow of all manner of illegal weaponries into the country. Coming at a time

when the nation was still reeling in the pains inflicted on it by the vicious Boko Haram terror group, the massive weapons’ discovery seemed a pointer to highbrow, local and international connection of terrorist groups operating in Nigeria, and their unhindered access to arms and ammunition.

The discovery portrayed Nigeria, and very sadly too, as the playground and stronghold of international terror groups. We recall that in July 2009, a Ukrainian cargo plane carrying deadly weapons was impounded by security operatives at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. Similarly, sometime in 2010, an Iranian, Azim Aghajani and a Nigerian accomplice, Ali Jega, were apprehended at the Lagos port for importing 13 containers of firearms. Last year, 15 Russians were arrested for importing arms into the country.

And just last Monday, reports again had it that an arms-laden Russian aircraft and its crew members were detained and later released in Kano.

With this extremely dangerous trend, the security agencies should wake up and be more potent in containing the menace, with adequate attention to growing the capacity for intelligence gathering. Such agencies as the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) must desist from

their known, yet condemnable preference of always closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Proactive measures need to be taken in securing the nation’s borders and checking illegal immigrants. It is no longer in doubt that terror groups are capitalizing on the lapses in the country’s immigration policy and the inept, carefree attitude of immigration officers to group and regroup, and unleash ferocious attacks on the country.

But beyond the discovery of the arms cache and the arrest of the Lebanese Hezbollah suspects, the FG should probe deeper. For, the episode might be part of a longer chain of international kidnapping syndicates involving Al Qaeda. There is also the need to investigate the immigration officers who pamper the Lebanese nationals in the country to the detriment of Nigerians.

Hezbollah has a political party in Lebanon, contests local elections and provides social services to Lebanon and Palestine.

Consequently, Hezbollah would most probably deny the tag of terrorism. Therefore, the actual connection kept by the suspects should be painstakingly unraveled, meaning that a thorough investigation of the matter is inevitable to determine the extent of damage they might have caused to the country, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

ON THIS DAY June 19, 2009 Mass riots involving over 10,000 people and 10,000 police officers broke out in Shishou, China, over the foul circumstances surrounding the death of a local chef. The incident was a popular protest and riot in the city of Shishouin the Hubei Province of central China between June 19 and 21, 2009. The protests were the result of the controversial death of 24-yearold chef, Tu Yuangao, of the local Yonglong Hotel.

June 19, 2007 Bombing of the Al-Khilani Mosque in the north of Baghdad, capital of Iraq, claimed the lives of 78 people and injured 218 others. The explosion occurred just two days after a four-day curfew banning vehicular movement in the city was lifted. Because the site was a Shiite mosque, the bombing is presumed to have been the work of Sunnis.

The Sinak area where the explosion took place was also the target of a suicide car bomber on May 28, 2007.

June 19, 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day delay in the United States’ Senate. The Act was a landmark piece of legislation in the US that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.

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Views

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

17

Reliving June 12 Anniversary PUBLIC DOMAIN

DELE

SETEOLU

deleseteolu@nationalmirroronline.net (08033137577 SMS only)

T

he General Ibrahim Babangida Transition Programme culminated in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, generally believed to be the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s political history. Basorun MKO Abiola, the Social Democratic Party candidate upstaged Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention to become the President-elect. Unfortunately and to the chagrin of most Nigerians and the world, military President Babangida annulled the election. The concomitant result was a harvest of popular protests in the nooks and crannies of the country, which involved labour, students’ organizations, intellectual class, human rights and pro-democracy organizations.

Fractions of the political elite under the aegis of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) returned to the trenches to challenge the annulment and demanded for the restoration of Abiola mandate.

Ever since then, each year social and human rights activists, civil society groups and politicians have always observed the June 12 anniversary. The 20th anniversary held in different parts of the Southwest last week. The states in the region except

Ondo, declared a public holiday to commemorate the occasion.

The Kudirat Abiola Initiative on Development (KIND) had a breakfast parley at the Ikeja residence of the late politician.

As usual, the political elite and activists gathered to review the events that culminated into the annulled election, the struggles to de-annul, and the future of democracy in Nigeria. The June 12 coalition held its activities at the Lagos Television premises. The lead speaker was Dr. Lanre Fagbohun, of the Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.

The Lagos House of Assembly held the second special parliamentary session of the 7th Assembly to commemorate June 12 with the theme, ‘June 12 and the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria’.

It hosted two distinguished intellectuals, Prof. Pat Utomi and Prof. Abubakar Momoh who profoundly discussed issues on local politics, economy and governance.

There were reactions from the members of the House.

The Lagos Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) held a public lecture too with the theme, ‘Post June 12: The Good and the Bad’, to commemorate the epochal event. The guest lecturer was Chief Frank Kokori, former General Secretary, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). The union was very much in the struggle of June 12, but the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) led by the late Pascal Bafyau, surprisingly compromised.

Chief Kokori bemoaned the overheating of the polity through the divisive

IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN HAS DESCRIBED JUNE 12, 1993 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AS A WATERSHED IN

NIGERIA’S HISTORY politics in the Nigerian Governors Forum, collapse of education and poor social provisioning. He challenged the younger generation to sustain the struggle to reclaim the country from a jaundiced, predatory, and self serving governing elite. The discussants were Mr. Femi Adesina, National President, Nigerian Guild of Editors; Mr. Kayode Komolafe, Deputy Managing Director, ThisDay Newspapers, and legal luminary and activist, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).

The Oodua People’s Congress (0PC), Gani Adams faction, was not left out as it held a lecture with the theme, ’20 years after June 12: Options for Survival’. The guest speaker was Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor of Abia State. This writer was dissatisfied with the choice of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu. The former Governor of Abia State has been described as a beneficiary of military dictatorship in Nigeria. He, however, differed with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on his third term bid.

Meanwhile, NADECO held its 19th an-

niversary of June 12 at Epetedo, Lagos, where Basorun Abiola, declared himself President. NADECO had emerged in the context of the struggle against military rule and later joined the Campaign for Democracy (CD) to demand for the revalidation of the mandate. In Ogun State, the governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, led by a walk through major streets in the capital, Abeokuta, which ended at the Moshood Abiola Stadium. It was a tumultuous walk that attracted different segments of the civil society and underscored the continued relevance of June 12 in their consciousness.

It is noteworthy that President Goodluck Jonathan has described June 12, 1993 presidential election as a watershed in Nigerian history. He should recognize this election and declare the winner as a former President of Nigeria.

He should also have a rethink on the country’s Democracy Day. June 12, as the watershed of our democracy, should be recognized a departure point for sustainable democracy in the country.

He should follow appropriate legal procedures to renaming the University of Lagos as Moshood Abiola University.

The renaming of UNILAG will not lower the stature of the university and the late Abiola. This writer is aware that the bill to rename UNILAG is at the second reading in the Senate. The bill should be expedited in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This honour, when accorded Chief Abiola, will not diminish the University of Lagos.

PDP’s moral burden NA-ALLAH MOHAMMED ZAGGA

I

sn’t the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pushing its luck too far by its arbitrary use of power against members that express legitimate dissent against injustice or the abuse of democratic values? In the words of the former South African President and nationalist, Mr. Nelson Mandela, “power may belong to the strong, but this is only for a while.”

The suspension of Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State and his Rivers State counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has enkindled public debate about the sincerity of the party leadership’s drive to enforce discipline among members. Both Wamakko and Amaechi were suspended for alleged antiparty activities. Wamakko, who was the latest victim of this hasty and ill-motivated suspension, was accused of not recognizing the Godswill Akpabio-led PDP Governors’ Forum.

Nobody is in doubt about the power of the PDP juggernaut, but we should also be concerned about how that power is used against dissenting members who have chosen to follow their convictions about certain democratic issues. Governors who are elected in their own right just as the President should be treated with respect. Despite officially denying the allegation earlier that he never once told anybody that he didn’t recognize Akpabio as the chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, PDP still went ahead to suspend Wamakko.

While it is not our business to meddle into the party’s internal politics and intrigues, we should not, however, support moral hypoc-

HUMILIATING GOVERNORS THAT WORKED STRENUOUSLY FOR THE PARTY’S VICTORY IS

POLITICALLY TACTLESS AND UNWISE risy, which seems to have become its middle name. George Washington, one of America’s founding fathers, said that “no man is good enough to govern another without his consent.” Freedom of choice is therefore, the soul of democracy. Once you tear it apart, democracy dies.

How can a party that produces leaders by imposition expect to exercise moral authority? Which of the current members of the National Working Committee of the party was properly elected, including its chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur? At the Northeast zonal congress to elect leaders of the party, Tukur was resoundingly defeated by Babayo from Gombe State. Being President Jonathan’s candidate, Tukur’s defeat threw the party hierarchs into discomfiture. His defeat was seen as a humiliation of the President and to save their faces, Babayo was pressured to give up his victory so that Tukur could become chairman through the so-called “consensus arrangement”.

Chief Tony Anenih, current chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, also emerged in similar arrangement. His emergence

as BOT chairman was a carefully choreographed political charade. Party leaders were cocooned in the Presidential Villa, and since Anenih was the President’s candidate, they found themselves confronted with a fait accompli. Everybody must bow to the wishes of the President, whether they are just or not.

In this regard, how can leaders that emerged through unfair means command the moral authority to discipline anybody?

How can you be a beneficiary of injustice and then expect to be taken seriously? As Sheikh Usmanu Danfodio, the Islamic reformist famously said, “A society can endure unbelief but it cannot endure injustice.” How can a political party that is allergic to free and fair election to produce its leaders take the moral high ground to preach about discipline?

Once you are imposed on others, you may automatically live with a moral and psychological burden of unease. The feeling of being tolerated rather than loved is not worth the unfair “victory” you gained over others.

For a political party enmeshed in the cobweb of moral double standard, how can the PDP leaders justify suspending its members for the so-called anti-party activities? How can you continue to produce leaders by unfair means and expect the party not to run into troubled waters of acrimony and division?

The outcome of the election of the NGF was a big shame. How can you deny your members the right to vote according to their conscience and then punish them for doing so? Democracy is central to the PDP identity and slogan. Ironically, however, the party’s leaders hate freedom of choice with passion.

Achieving power by unfair means is a moral pyrrhic victory. Therefore, a party

ruled by such order cannot effectively control dissent. If the so-called PDP National Working Committee suspends more and more governors for alleged “indiscipline,” it may only make the party more fissiparous and vulnerable; especially with the 2015 general elections just two years away.

Humiliating governors that worked strenuously for the party victory is politically tactless and unwise. How can you be a master that destroys his slaves without ultimately provoking revolt and fissures?

Most of the influence peddlers around the President cannot deliver even their wards in their immediate neighbourhoods. The PDP elements in Sokoto who are fighting Wamakko were the same fellows that couldn’t deliver the state to the party in 2007. Impressed by Wamakko’s enormous popularity, former President Olusegun Obasanjo lured him away from ANPP into the PDP. And that political masterstroke had done the trick. Without Wamakko, the Sokoto State chapter of the PDP had no candidate with enough formidable popularity to unseat former Governor Bafarawa’s party (DPP) from power in 2007.

Zagga, muhazagga@yahoo.com, is an Abuja-based journalist Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs.

Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

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Mail Mirror

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Kudos to Aregbesola on Gbongan-Akoda road Lagos and its

I Amosun’s giant strides in Ogun State

I

t is not for nothing that Ogun State is called the ‘Gateway State’. Anyone who has been there in the last two years would not fail to fell the frenetic pace of development activities taking place there. In fact, it would not be out of place to emphasise that the state has become one giant construction site as men and machines work relentlessly to meet deadlines.

Last week, Governor Ibikunle Amosun embarked on state wide tour for the purpose of commissioning some of the completed projects in the 20 local government areas of the state. Before then, he had made a broadcast to the citizens on the second anniversary of his administration. In it, he enumerated the challenges and successes recorded in the 5- Cardinal Programme to Rebuild Ogun State.

Some of the achievements include free education in all public primary and secondary schools, purchase of textbooks, exercise books and all instructional materials for all primary and secondary schools.

In addition, the administration has invested N120 million on bursary, scholarship and grants to 10,770 students of the state origin. Also, the sum of N5.44 billion was paid as subvention to all state owned tertiary institutions since 2011. The sum of N112million was spent to offset the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 Junior School Certificate Examination fees. Also, it paid N1.1 billion as WASC Examination fees for all final year students in public secondary schools since 2011 till date.

But it is in the area of infrastructure that the state has stood out of the pack. For example, it plans to expand the Sagamu-Benin Expressway Junction of 7km to a six lane highway. Also, the Ilo-Awela road (4.8Km) will also be expanded to a six-lane road. When completed, the six kilometer NNPC-Moshood Abiola Way will be a six-lane road.

John Lagos

Okechukwu,

Ijesa,

crave your permission to use your wellregarded newspaper to express my delight with the comforting piece of news that Osun State under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola has awarded the contract for the construction of a 30kmdual carriage way from Gbongan to Akoda in Ede. As a businessman resident in Osogbo, I travel nothing less than two times every week to Lagos. This simply presupposes that I can’t avoid the GbonganAkodo single-lane road.

From my experience, I can reliably inform that it can be very uncomfortable navigating through the road, what with its narrowness and bumpy nature.

Therefore, it is a soothing relief that the Osun state government has decided to put a permanent end to the nightmarish experiences of motorists on that road. To be sure, it is

I

construction.

I am inclined to maintain that the socio-economic benefits of dualising that motorway are not lost on Aregbesola government. Like the massive rural/urban road rehabilitation and constructions his government is unyieldingly given to across the state, this dual-carriage way will equally redound in many ways to the efficient improvement of socio-economic activities in the State of the Virtuous – a goal the ACN government is stridently continuously championing with different resounding, wellreceived programmes.

As any informed mind would readily concur, the provision of viable road infrastructure and the accordance of quality periodic maintenance to it are very critical and inexorable to the actualisation of lasting and advantageous socioeconomic advancement.

This explains why I of-

ten get deeply horrified each time I travel on that highly portentous death path many occluded minds happily regard as Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

In conclusion, Ratcon Construction Nigeria Limited must get cracking on the Gbongan-Akoda Motorway post-haste. As the construction company moves men and material to site, it must adhere strictly to the specifications handed down to it by the state Ministry of Works. At the expiration of the 18-month period it agreed to get the job done, the construction company should be delivering nothing short of excellent work. And while I applaud the State Government of Osun for this significant move, I encourage it to keep hoisted aloft the expansive banner of distinguishing governance.

Gbenga Awodele, Osogbo, State of Osun

cremation law

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espite the protracted controversy that trailed its passage by the House of Assembly, The Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) has taken a sure footed step in signing into law last Monday the bill legalising cremation of bodies in the state. By this act, he has laid to rest the controversy over the utility value of the piece of legislation.

I commend both the state lawmakers and the governor for their forward looking approach to governance. Extreme religious cravings by people will stall progress and take us back into the stone age. A case in point is the application of Sharia jurisprudence in cases of theft and adultery among the Muslims. What we have are people deprived of their hands or legs. I am surprised that there are still people angered by the new law, even when its voluntary status has been highlighted.

The area I feel should be addressed is the short notice given before unclaimed corpses are cremated. The 14 day notice appears to short in a society where information dissemination is still slow.

Those who will be badly affected will be the families and relatives of accident victims, especially relatives who might be nursing the fears that the victims fall into the category of missing persons.

All things considered the law is a good piece of legislation.

Akinjo Andrew, Ikorodu, Lagos State

Adieu Fatai Rolling Dollar

L

Youth conference debate on scarcity of water in our society.

INEC as busybody ndications from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) are that Nigeria may be in for an era of guided democracy.

Or how do you feel about the recent warning from the nation’s apex electoral body against early cam-

the duty of government to build infrastructure and construct roads for the enhancement of socio-economic development and the wellbeing of a vast majority of citizens. By reaching the decision to expand the road, construct about four pedestrian bridges at Gbongan Junction; erect streetlights, road markings and signs; build culverts and ditches; and do landscaping with quality aesthetics, this government has yet again demonstrated its unparalleled attentiveness to the yearnings and collective wishes of the people who by votes engineered its existence.

From the reports I read about the project, the State Government is just not contented with expanding the GbonganAkoda Motorway, it is very genuinely interested in doing it with strict compliance with standard practices such that the road can endure for another 30 years after

paigns for the 2015 general elections? Let the Commission clearly state what it means by campaign and how it would go about establishing the breach of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) against people ‘campaigning.’

Professor Attahiru Jega

Letters to the Editor

and the eggheads at INEC must distinguish between theory and practice. Politics is infectious; it is intoxicating, so it is an uphill task asking politicians not to gamble politically and publicly. The poster war, which people have dismissed as illegal, and the bad bloodletting in the ruling PDP over the propriety or otherwise of nursing po-

PHOTO: BAYOOR EWUOSO

litical ambitions, are legal political acts that cannot be treated under political campaign.

All these are ‘unbanable’. The build up to the Second Republic showed the futility of such exercise when the military found it difficult to cage the politicians who had formed series of social clubs, organized birthday parties sole-

ly for politicking in order to circumvent the military’s ban on politics.

As long as we have freedom of movement and association, politicians will continue to project their political preferences, including giving vent to their ambitions.

Comrade John Akpothu, Abuja

ast Wednesday dealt a lethal blow to Nigeria’s entertainment industry when the long hand of Death snatched octogenarian Fatai Olanrewaju Olagunji aka Rolling Dollar.

Still playing and waxing stronger at over 80 years, Rolling Dollar defied all entrapments of nature, thus confirming the age longed perception that age is really in the heart. He was the last link with the 1950s and 60s of Nigerian music.

During his last playing years he was never short of social engagements.

Rolling Dollar got a second chance after his music was dwarfed by the innovativeness of the likes of music maestros like Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade and Dele Abiodun in the 1960s and 70s, through the intervention of the French Cultural Centre and unqualified support from the then Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Since his rehabilitation, there was no looking back for him.

May his soul respect in perfect peace.

Aina Anjorin, Mushin, Lagos

Send your letters or mails to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mirrorlagos@yahoo.com and info@nationalmirroronline.net or 08056180209, 07033375481 (SMS only).

The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject letters or photographs. Psuedonyms may be used, but must be clearly marked as such.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

19

Health & Wellbeing Blood donation: Safety takes centre stage, globally

Chloroquine, Artesunate, others thrive in Nigeria, 2 years after WHO ban

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21

How diabetes causes blindness SAM EFERARO

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or the diabetics – experts say there are about twelve million of them in Nigeria – how they will control the disease to ensure that they avoid complications often associated with it is one big battle they have to fight all their lives. Diabetes mellitus is a condition which impairs the body’s ability to to use and store sugar. Elevated blood sugar levels, excessive thirst with an increase in urine excretion and changes in the body’s blood vessels are all characteristics of the disease.

One serious complication which the individual has to watch however is the effect of the disease on the eyes. This is because diabetes, according to experts, may cause serious changes in the eyes. Conditions such as cataract. glaucoma, occasional blurring and most importantly, changes in the blood vessels at the back of the eye may all affect the sight.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the eyes. It is caused by the deterioration of the blood vessels nourishing the retina at the back of the eye. These weakened blood vessels may leak fluid or blood, develop fragile brush-like branches and become enlarged in certain places.

The retina is that part of the eye where light filtering through the lens is focussed.

The focussed light or images are then carried to the brain by the optic nerve. When leaking blood or fluid damages or scars the retina, the image sent to the brain becomes blurred.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology says the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy is high for patients who have had diabetes for a long time. About 60% of patients having diabetes for 15 years or more, says the academy, have some blood vessel damage in their eyes.

When diabetes develop at an early age in childhood or teenage years, according to the Academy, it is known as juvenile diabetes and patients in this category are likely to develop diabetic retinopathy at an early age.

“Only a small percentage of those developing retinopathy however, have serious problems with vision and an even smaller percentage ever become blind.”

In spite of this, the Academy says diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of new blindness among adults in the United States and diabetic patients are said to be 25 times more prone to blindness than non-diabetics.

Experts say there are two forms of diabetic retinopathy. In one form known as background retinopathy, blood vessels within the retina change. Some vessels decrease in

Diabetic retinopathy

size and others enlarge and form balloonlike sacs which obstruct the flow of blood through the vessels. These vessels leak and bleed, causing swelling of the retina or forming deposits called exudates.

Background retinopathy is considered an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. Fortunately, according to the experts, sight is usually not seriously affected and the condition does not progress in about 80% of diabetic patient. In some cases, however, leaking fluids collect in the macula, the centre position of the retina which is responsible for central vision. Straight ahead images, reading and close work may then become blurred and loss of central vision can result in blindness.

Background retinopathy, according to experts is a warning sign and can progress to more serious sight-endangering stages.

The second form of diabetic retinopathy, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, is proliferative retinopathy. This begins in the same manner as background retinopathy with the addi-

tion of new blood vessel growth on the surface of the retina at the optic nerve. This fragile new blood vessel may rupture and bleed into the vitreous, the clear gel-like substance that filtrates into the centre of the eye.

Experts say the cause of diabetic retinopathy is not completely understood, however, it is known that diabetes weakens small blood vessels in various areas of the body.

Pregnancy and high blood pressure may worsen the condition in diabetic patients.

However, diabetes retinopathy can be detected before it causes blindness. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, says a comprehensive medical eye examination by an ophthalmologist, the eye specialist, is the best protection against the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic patients, according to the Academy, should therefore be aware of the risks of developing sight disturbances and should

have their eyes examined regularly. Even non-diabetics will also benefit from such eye examination as this may help in detecting the presence of diabetes and other diseases.

To detect diabetic retinopathy, the ophthalmologist painlessly examines the interior of the eye using an instrument known as ophthalmoscope. The interior of the eye may also be photographed to provide more information.

When diabetic retinopathy is diagnosed, the ophthalmologist considers the patients age, history, lifestyle and the degree of damage to the retina before deciding on a line of treatment.

Diabetics and other individuals who may want their eyes tested for diabetic retinopathy should however note that only an ophthalmologist is trained and adequately equipped to conduct tests and treat diabetic retinopathy.

It is not a condition that can be treated by the “ eye specialists” along Broad Street in Lagos!

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SCIENCE

Sibling aggression linked to poor mental health

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t’s not fair!” “ “You’re not the boss of me.” “She hit me!” “He started it.” Fights between siblings -- from toy-snatching to clandestine whacks to being banished from the bedroom -- are so common they’re often dismissed as simply part of growing up. Yet a new study from researchers at the University of New Hampshire finds that sibling aggression is associated with significantly worse mental health in children and adolescents. In some cases, effects of sibling aggression on mental health were the same as those of peer aggression.

“Even kids who reported just one instance had more mental health distress,” says Corinna Jenkins Tucker, associate professor of family studies at UNH and lead author of the research to be published in the July issue of the journal Paediatrics’. “Our study shows that sibling aggression is not benign for children and adolescents, regardless of how severe or frequent.”

The study, among the first to look at sibling aggression across a wide age and geographic range, is unique in its size and

scope. Tucker and her co-authors from UNH’s Crimes against Children Research Center -- center director and professor of sociology David Finkelhor, professor of sociology Heather Turner, and researcher Anne Shattuck -- analyzed data from the center’s National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), a national sample of 3,599 children, ages one month through 17.

The study looked at the effects of physical assault with and without a weapon or injury, property aggression like stealing something or breaking a siblings’ things on purpose, and psychological aggression such as saying things that made a sibling feel bad, scared, or not wanted around.

The researchers found that of the 32 percent of children who reported experiencing one type of sibling victimization in the past year, mental health distress was greater for children (1 month to age 9) than for adolescents (age 10 - 17) who experienced mild sibling physical assault, but children and adolescents were similarly affected by other psychological or property aggression from siblings.

Weight loss improves memory, alters brain activity in overweight women -study

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emory improves in older, overweight women after they lose weight by dieting, and their brain activity actually changes in the regions of the brain that are important for memory tasks, The results were presented recently at The Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, USA. “Our findings suggest that obesity-associated impairments in memory function are reversible, adding incentive for weight loss,” said lead author Andreas Pettersson, MD, a PhD student at Umea University, Umea, Sweden.

Previous research has shown that obese people have impaired episodic memory, the memory of events that happen throughout one’s life, a new study finds.

“Our findings suggest that obesity-associated impairments in memory function are reversible, adding incentive for weight loss,” said lead author Andreas Pettersson, MD, a PhD student at Umea University, Umea, Sweden.

Previous research has shown that obese people have impaired episodic memory, the memory of events that happen throughout one’s life.

Pettersson and co-workers performed their study to determine whether weight loss would improve memory and whether improved memory correlated with changes in relevant brain activity. A special type of brain imaging called functional magnetic resonance imaging (functional MRI) allowed them to see brain activity while the subjects performed a memory test.

The researchers randomly assigned 20 overweight, postmenopausal women (average age, 61) to one of two healthy weight loss diets for six months. Nine women used the Paleolithic diet, also called the Caveman diet, which was composed of 30 percent protein; 30 percent carbohydrates, or “carbs”; and 40 percent unsaturated fats.

The Health Beat Sam Eferaro

eferaro@yahoo.co.uk 08094082123 (sms only)

No overseas treatment for Mandela!

P

a Nelson Mandela, to address him the Nigerian way, has got the world talking and kept newsmen around the world very busy in the last couple of weeks - either speculating or watching out for his inevitable but glorious exit.

This is his fourth spell in hospital since December but our interest here is not really about Mandela’s health though we sincerely wish he will overcome his recurring lung infection and go back home to the embrace of his loving family and doting compatriots.

I see Mandela’s health and treatment in his native South Africa as something deserving of our interest and deep thoughts here in Nigeria.

First, there has been no doubt whatsoever about the cause of his ill-health. His lung infection was not mistaken for something else. He was not initially treated for typhoid, malaria or some extraneous condition before the infection was detected, probably by experts from other land.

For Mandela, there were adequate facilities and expertise to diagnose his ailment. This may not be a big deal in South Africa but in Nigeria, accurate diagnosis is always a major hurdle a patient must cross to be able to talk of recovery.

I should know. My wife spent over three months in a teaching hospital and no one was able to tell what exactly was wrong with her. We spent so much money on tests, many of which I think were needless and the doctors came up with all sorts of diagnosis from ulcer to varicella (chicken pox) and became so confused that they later agreed on TB. At a point, the consultant told me she had a viral infection and no one could tell the name of the infection or how to manage it! It was therefore a huge relief for me when an uncle, also a medical practitioner, came visiting from Warri and advised that my wife be discharged.

After signing necessary papers, I took her to his Warri clinic and guess what, she regained her health the moment my uncle stopped the TB medications and several others prescribed by the doctors at the teaching hospital!

That’s diagnosis the Nigerian way. Pa Mandela is lucky he’s not here, otherwise, the South African President, Jacob Zuma would have been singing a different tune instead of expressing confidence on how he (Mandela) is being managed.

Secondly, even at his age (94), he could still be managed in South Africa. In Nigeria, we would have had to either fly in geriatricians – experts in the care of the elderly – or have him flown to them. Nigeria does not have a

I SEE MANDELA’S HEALTH AND TREATMENT IN HIS NATIVE

SOUTH AFRICA AS SOMETHING DESERVING OF OUR INTEREST AND DEEP THOUGHTS HERE IN

NIGERIA

single geriatrician to take care of senior citizens like Nelson Mandela.

It was just about a year ago that the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, established a geriatric unit but I’m not so sure it will be considered suitable for a former president of this country.

You don’t even have to be old in Nigeria to get overseas treatment.

Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Suntai, for instance, has been in Germany since October 2012 because we couldn’t manage his injuries from a fatal air crash here at home.

Of course, like in South Africa, the government would have exploited Mandela’s illness fully to its benefit.

There would have been church services and Jumat prayers towards his recovery. But that’s where the similarity ends. We’ll never hear that Mandela is flown to Saudi Arabia, India, Germany or any other country. In my beloved country, we see nothing wrong in ferrying our leaders to other lands for medical treatment. We had to fly Late Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu to London where he died. Former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua shuttled between Germany and Saudi Arabia for treatment from Aso Rock Villa until his death on May 5, 2010. Before him, First Lady Stella Obasanjo had died in a German hospital.

Makes you wonder if we will ever develop our health care delivery system to a level where we can safely treat our leaders at home when they are ill.

Just what manner of independent nation sends her leaders to another land for medical treatment? Can you imagine President Obama being taken to a Cuban or Russian hospital? There’s just no reason any Nigerian, not to talk of our leaders, should be travelling abroad for medical care. This is not a story we should be telling after 52 years of independence. We really need to wake up.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

21

Blood donation: Safety takes centre stage, globally MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

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s global calls for blood donation grow by the day, safety of such blood now generates concerns, worldwide.

Currently, unsafe blood transfusion infects about four million people with HIV, worldwide, according to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu.

Donors give blood either voluntarily and unremunerated or with some forms of financial gratification.

According to the Minister, about 92 million units of blood are collected yearly, worldwide stressing that, while national blood supplies are based on 100 percent voluntary unpaid donations in about 62 countries, about 40 countries collect less than 25 percent of their blood supplies from voluntary unpaid blood donors. Approximately, half of these, he added, are collected in high-income countries which are home to only 15 of the world’s population.

HIV/AIDS has remained a health burden in Nigeria with about six million (representing 4.1 percent) of its estimated 170 million population living with the disease. The country is second most-burdened with HIV/ AIDS, globally. the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) is an agency of government vested with the responsibility of regulating blood donation in the country. But, it is yet to have a regulatory framework that will empower it carry out its mandate.

However, to ensure improved safety of donated blood in the country, the National Council on Health (NCH) at the last meeting held in July, 2012, approved the utilization of the appropriate ELISA technology as the minimum standard for screening blood for transfusion purposes, nationwide.

Nigeria is yet to meet its required blood donation, according to Prof Chukwu, NBTS under his watch attained 52 percent of its set target last year and is poised to achieving 100 percent this year should it receive necessary encouragement and cooperation from stakeholders.

He appealed to Nigerians to show greater interest in voluntary, unremunerated blood donation and also to health workers and health institutions to embrace the decision by cooperating with the NBTS to achieve zero transmission rates of HIV and other blood borne infections through the adoption of safe blood transfusion practices.

Nigeria is assisted by international partners to raise awareness on donation and safety of blood donated.

One of these institutions is US-owned Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria (IHVN).

About a hundred people turned out at IHVN’s office in Abuja, last week, to donate blood during the commemoration of World Blood Donor Day. IHVN Director, Laboratory Services, Dr. Sam Peters said that the day was an opportunity to create awareness on the need for voluntary blood donation. “There is the need for individuals to see it as a responsibility to donate blood. It is being your brother’s keeper,” he said.

He added that with more blood donation, the country could get to the point where there would be sufficient blood for emergencies.

He urged people to debunk the myth that giving of blood equals transferring of one’s spirit to another person and the belief that they do not have sufficient blood to donate even without being checked. “If you give blood, you are saving lives. In fact, new cells are produced to replenish the old ones if you do it regularly,” he said.

One of the blood donors, Mr. Patrick Apollos said that it was his first time of donating blood. “What motivated me is that I want to save people’s lives. My sister once had an operation and she got blood. That encouraged me,” he said. Another donor, Dr. Teniola Akerodolu stated that donating blood was not as scary as people think as he urged people to voluntarily donate blood.

Health Minister Prof. Chukwu donating blood at the 2012 World Donor Day, in Abuja

DONORS: L-R, Nathan John, Ebaloghemen Sarah with a recipient Elizabeth Ogidan

NBTS Donor Recruiter, Mr. Peter Ehigie said that donors have the additional privilege of having concessions whenever their relatives are in need of blood. He also noted that NBTS had 17 centers spread across the six geopolitical zones where donors could give and receive blood. “Some of the states that have NBTS centers are Kaduna, Katsina, Taraba, Adamawa, Port Harcourt, Imo, Lagos, Plateau, Ekiti, Enugu and Ibadan,” he said.

Some Nigerians have been outstanding in the donation of blood. The highest donors, male and female, were part of the event in Abuja to mark this year’s World Blood Donor Day. Nathan John has donated 35 times while Ebaloghemen Sarah has donated 19 times.

The recipient of blood with highest number of times is Elizabeth Ogidan; she received 27 pints at a go. The two donors said they were being driven with the passion to donate blood to save lives.

John told National Mirror in an interview, “I am so excited, first of all, I want to thank God for keeping me healthy all these years. Donating blood is like living your life for another person. Putting the person in your shoe; understanding somebody such as an accident victim requiring much blood. The life of that person at that time needs your assistance. At that time, you see that the blood that he is receiving totally depends on the blood that you donate.

“Probably, if the blood is not safe, it is affecting the person, even with the pains of that accident. Donating blood is one of the things that I always like to do. Now, it has become a passion to me and I feel comfortable; no

side effect,” he added.

Mrs Ogidan said she received 27 pints of blood in July, 2008, at University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada (UATH), as a result of excessive haemorrhage after delivery.

In an address at the last week event in Abuja, Country Director, Save Blood for Africa Foundation, Mr Saliu said donating blood enhances living. “The very first time that this occasion was celebrated in this county, my organization Save Blood for Africa introduced it and we led that occasion. Today, we think sustainability has come. The WHO directives are being followed to the letter by the NBTS; that we support. And, we should be in the accelerating phase of the development of blood service in Nigeria. But, unfortunately, while Nigeria was the first African country to have a policy drafted for blood safety that led to the establishment of the National Blood Transfusion Service, we still don’t have the legislation that puts the blood service at the right place in the helms of affairs of the Ministry of Health,” he said.

Similarly, at the event, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, said nearly 3.6 million units of blood are collected each year in WHO Africa Region and that voluntary and unpaid blood donations represent more than 80 percent in only 21 out of the 46 countries in the region. “For more than half of the countries, blood is still collected from a majority of family or replacement donors. Despite these efforts, the amount collected is far less than the estimated eight million blood units needed.

“Making sufficient blood available, while also ensuring its quality and safety remains an issue of concern in the region. Regular voluntary blood donors are the safest source of blood, as there are fewer blood borne infections among these donors than among people who donate for family member in emergencies or who give blood for payment. Providing safe and adequate blood through well-organized, national blood systems should be an integral part of every country’s national healthcare policy.”

Dr. Sambo called on government to strengthen the NBTS as, according to him, enhanced capacity will increase the number of voluntary and unpaid blood donors and facilitate implementation of a programme for quality testing of the blood units collected.

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Health & Wellbeing

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Chloroquine, Artesunate, others thrive in Nigeria, 2 years after WHO ban MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

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igerian markets are still flooded with anti-malaria drugs such as Chloroquine, Artesunate, Sulphadoxine pyremethamine among others, two years after they were banned

by World Health Organization (WHO) for being used for the treatment of malaria.

The global health agency had in 2011 banned the drugs from being prescribed for the treatment of the disease “in order to delay or prevent the development of drug resistance malaria”.

WHO says treatments that use only artemisin need to be taken for

seven days to kill all parasites, but, according to the agency, patients often stop treatment after a few days when they begin to feel much better. This, it stresses, leaves the remaining parasites in contact with low levels of the drug – a recipe for resistance. Hence, it recommends the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) which are to be taken within three days.

Conveying the message to journalists in Lagos, former WHO Country Representative, Dr David Okello said: “WHO has recommended the ban of the production, importation and prescription of artemisinin monotherapies. It has also launched a global plan to contain or control

the spread of arteminsinin-resistant malaria. There is no place for the use of Chloroquine and sulphadoxine pyremethamino in the treatment of malaria in Nigeria. Artesunate alone cannot treat malaria. Sulphadoxine pyremethamine are no longer recommended in the treatment of malaria.”

National Mirror investigations revealed that some or all of these drugs are still on sale in virtually every chemist shop across the country and are taken by Nigerians who are affected by malaria, even as over 97 of the country’s population, according to the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, are at risk of having malaria.

National Mirror observations also showed that many people affected by the disease do not consult physicians but are fond of self-prescription and treatment.

Nigeria currently contributes 25 global burden of malaria while the disease is responsible for 30 percent of under-five mortality and 11 percent of maternal mortality. It is estimated that malaria costs Nigeria N450billion in terms of money spent on treatment and prevention taken by individuals and families, yearly.

Meanwhile, Director General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii recently, in Abuja, told our re-

porter that “until the decision is approved by the National Council on Health (NCH), WHO it will be difficult to enforce the ban. National Council on Health has to ratify the decision before it can be operational in Nigeria,” he said.

He stated that government was carrying out different studies to know the extent of ineffectiveness or otherwise of the drugs.

He added that “NAFDAC is just an implementing agency. Until the Council takes a decision on it, it will be difficult for NAFDAC to enforce it, he said.”

National Council on Health meets yearly, and has met twice since the international health agency ordered the ban.

FCT Municipal Council moves to prevent health crises, flooding MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

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n a bid to prevent possible health disaster and flooding that could arise mainly from environmental abuse in the Federal Capital Territory, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has embarked on general sanitation and sensitization of residents on flood prevention in communities within the Area Council.

AMAC, which controls major part of the FCT, has been under intense criticisms in the past years over environmental abuse.

Most of the scores of its satellite communities in the FCT grow in filth with experts cautioning on possible accompanying disasters. They also call for urgent intervention by appropriate authority.

The new Head of Department of Environmental Sanitation in the council, Hajia Abubakar Mamunat , said she would strengthen sensitization campaigns in the council and that she would ensure residents comply with environmental laws.

She noted that the local council would set up mobile courts in strategic parts of the city to try environmental offenders.

Speaking with National Mirror at Gwa-Gwa, where general cleaning of wastes in Karimo, Dei-Dei, Jiwa axis took off recently, she decried the attitude of the residents over indiscriminate dumping of refuse.

“It is really painful the way our people dump refuse indiscriminately. See everywhere littered with refuse. By the time heavy rains begin to fall, the drainage will be blocked and there will be no passage for flood which results in flooding.

Everybody knew what happened in this country last year. We need to learn from experience to prevent avoidable disasters.

Not only flood, our health is also affected when we cannot ensure cleaning of our environment”.

She complained over shortage of environmental staff to help ensure the people comply with environmental laws. She however commended the council boss for making sanitation a priority.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Femi Olugbile; Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris and Chairman, Lagos State Blood Transfusion Committee, Dr. Adetoun Agbe-Davies, during a conference in commemoration of the World Blood Donor Day in Lagos, recently.

World population to increase by 1 billion by 2025

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he current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050, according to a United Nations report launched recently, which points out that growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa.

The report, World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision, notes that the population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050. In contrast, the

L-R: MD, Benjamin Michaels Ltd, Mr. Adeyemi Amuwo; Pharmacist Temitayo Alegbejo and COO, Olagbuyi Oduniyi during a briefing on the introduction of Omega H3/Folic Acid packed-Pharmaton Matruelle Multivitamin Supplement in Lagos.

49 least developed countries are projected to double in size from around 900 million people in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2050.

“The projections indicate rapid population growth in the least developed regions. However, these trends are not inevitable and can be guided by policies that enhance individual choices, such as expanding access to reproductive health services,” said UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. “This underlines what UNFPA has been stressing all along: We should invest more in expanding voluntary family planning to all those who need it. For 222 million women, largely in the developing countries, having children by choice and not by chance is still a dream. That is why we welcome the report’s call for expanding access to family planning, especially in the least developed regions. This is not just a human rights issue; it’s also smart economics.”

Compared to previous assessments of world population trends, the new projected total population is higher, mainly due to new information obtained on fertility levels of certain countries. For example, in 15 high-fertility countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated average number of children per woman has been adjusted upwards by more than 5 per cent.

Changes in fertility rates over the next few decades could have major consequence for population size, structure and distribution in the long run, according to the report.

“In some cases, the actual level of fertility appears to have risen in recent years; in other cases, the previous estimate was too low,” said the Director of the Population Division in the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, John Wilmoth, during a press conference in New York last week.

“The report shows that the numbers of children and young people in the less developed regions are at an all-time high,” said Dr. Osotimehin. “Adequate investments in their health, education and job opportunities, and ensuring that girls, in particular, are not left behind, will help them fulfill their potential and boost their nations’ economies.”

Overall, life expectancy is projected to increase in developed and developing countries in future years. At the global level, it is projected to reach 76 years in the period 2045-2050 and 82 years in 2095-2100. By the end of the century, people in developed countries could live on average around 89 years, compared to about 81 years in developing regions.

Wednesday, June June 19, 12, 2013 2013 Wednesday,

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Arts Lounge

Acting didn’t affect my education –Chiege

Award cancelled for Fatai Rolling Dollar

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Hope, as children shine on live drama stages The live theatre arena is beginning to witness the debut of young thespians. Although largely untrained, but brimming with talent and enthusiasm, these fledglings are symbols that the performing arts in Nigeria may yet experience a renaissance and engorged vibrancy, 20 years down the lane.

Young actors in a scene from the play; ‘The Labour of our Heroes’

ADEBIMPE OLATUJA AND JERRY ADESEWO

F

rom the celebration of Children’s Day on May 27 to Democracy Day on May 29 and more recently, to the June 5 finale event which crowned the National Schools Dramatised Storytelling Competition for 2013, young actors – within the Primary and Secondary School levels– have brought stages across Nigeria alive in emotive dramatisation and intense stage craft which belies their experience and exposure to theatre practice.

Similar threads ran through the different works presented by the young thespians in Lagos and Abuja– beautiful rendition, energetic delivery, appropriate costumes which fitted the characters and storyline and most of the pupils were confident in their delivery, making their presentation convincing.

Nigeria’s foremost theatre group, National Troupe of Nigeria, NTN, in collaboration with Beeta Universal Arts Foundation (a non-governmental organisation run by Bikiya Graham-Douglas) and with support from other arts loving organisations, debuted the drama/storytelling competition for school children last year.

The success of the first edition held solely in Lagos, necessitated NTN to expand the competition’s scope in 2013 to include participants in the nation’s capital, Abuja.

In Abuja, over 50 schools took part in the preliminary stage which climaxed on Friday, May 31 with the Abuja grand finale featuring six of the top primary and secondary schools that made it to the finals. Government Secondary School, Lugbe presented a centenary play titled ‘Our Journey Here’ and it was adjudged the best out of the six schools. Other schools which made it to the finals included Crest International School Mararaba; School for the Gifted Gwagwalada; Government Secondary School, Garki and Federal Government Girls College, Bwari. Ideal Basic School, Kubwa emerged winner in the primary school category.

Meanwhile, in Lagos, more than 80 schools participated in this year’s competition. A total of 13 finalists emerged (for the Primary and Secondary categories) including Grandmates Secondary School; Muritala Mohammed Airport School; King’s College; University of

Lagos Women Society School, Akoka; Marywood Girls College, Ebute-Metta; Starfield College, Agege; Liham Preparatory School; Golden Bells N/P School, Orile-Iganmu; Ijero Baptist Church N/P School; St. Bernadette N/P School, Akoka; Mind-builders N/P School; Brilliant Child College and Model International College. Liham Preparatory School emerged the winner (primary) and Brilliant Child College (secondary).

Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of NTN, Martin Adaji, disclosed that plans were underway to extend the programme to more states of the federation, adding that the vision was to have a national dramatised story telling competition for schools and colleges in the country. “The importance of this programme to national development cannot be over emphasised. Apart from encouraging the preservation and promotion of Nigeria culture, which is one of our key mandates, storytelling tradition which we are inculcating in our youth through this programme could be effectively utilised to achieve national integration”.

Meanwhile, stakeholders who are stimulating the engagement of young children in live theatre and providing platforms for this forms of expression from the youngsters have marvelled at the latent creative talent in Nigerian children given the right motivation.

During the last Democracy Day commemoration in Abuja, an Abuja based outfit, Our Village Square Children Theatre seized the opportunity to return to the stage with their play, “The Labours of Our Heroes”. After their performance, the Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Mr. Izuchukwu Okeke could not hide his admiration for the excellent show put up by the kids. “For me, it is a mind-blowing experience and a testament to the abundance of raw talents that exists in this country. I must commend the organisers and encourage them to keep up the good work of engaging these young ones in positive creative ventures like this”.

“The Labours of Our Heroes” was produced by Victor Maji, as one of Sledge Media’s annual children theatre initiative, and directed by Ter Akaa, who ensured the actors attained the best element both in characterisation and interpretation of the different roles. Perhaps, the evidence

Pupils of Liham Preparatory School on stage

STAKEHOLDERS HAVE MARVELLED AT THE LATENT CREATIVE TALENT IN

NIGERIAN

CHILDREN that they were kids and not professionally trained actors was not in their act but in their stature and size.

With the full complement of costumes, make-up and light, the show turned out to be a delight and the audience, among who were the representatives of the Ministry of Women Affairs and the National Orientation Agency, could not stop commending the effort of the kids.

The play opened in different homes and playgrounds where young children were seen hurrying up their household chores in other to make it down to the Village Square where they, in the “Tales

by Moonlight” format, listened to various tales and fables.

Deploying the multiple narrating approach, the students soon take up roles as actors in the own story, dramatising the story as narrated by the three narrators. It was a mixture of good and bad moments of the Nigerian history.

The close to one-hour play chronicled Nigeria’s journey as a nation, from the pre- Lord Lugard era, to the present day government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, clearly depicting such periods in our history, such as the various military coups, the Option A4, June 12 and so on.

The part of the play which depicted the

second coming of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the emergence of late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua as his successor, and of course the latter’s eventual death while still in office drew a thunderous applause from the audience in appreciation of the various actors that played those roles with artistic brilliance.

Theatre, over time, has been proved to be a veritable means of entertainment and education and children are drawn to programmes and events which allow them room to showcase their creativity.

Likewise, during last month’s Children’s Day, House of Phoebe, a children’s talent enhancement company based in Lagos organised a programme tagged ‘ArtsFun’ where over 50 schools converged at the SOS Children Village, Isolo to be trained in photography, creative writing, drama and visual arts. One of the facilitators of the programme, Olayiwola Awakan, a poet and playwright, expressed amazement at the turn out of children who were simply eager to learn new creative skills.

“I saw the passion in the children as they exhibited their innate potentials... and as a facilitator, one of the major things that I emphasised on was that “Nigerian children need to rise up to their responsibility by connecting with their creativity. It is their right! This, I believe, should be the basis for the commemoration of Children’s Day and not mere festivity where the children would merry and continue wallowing in the hardship and threat posed to them by the nation.

I hope there would be a rethink and next year’s commemoration will be tailored towards creativity enhancement”.

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Are record labels endangered species?

KENNY ‘KEKE’ OGUNGBE

E

ntertainment, according to Wikipedia, is something that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It manifests in two forms- an idea or a task.

Succinctly put, the operative words and concepts in the above definition are: ‘Pleasure’ and ‘delight’. An intellectual analysis of the idea and task that ultimately give pleasure and delight suggest a peep into the omnipotence of the Almighty and His creative ingenuity. The capabilities of intrinsic efforts to elicit pleasure and delight which also is capable of holding the interest and attention of an audience is then not restrictive to humanistic capabilities alone but it is also inclusive of earthly resources and other creations. Nature and animals are equally capable of being sources and forms of entertainment.

Based on the above, we can itemise both human endeavours and nature’s resources that are entertainment related i.e. storytelling, cultural performance, games, sports, dance, musical performance, comedy, magic, fireworks, rallies, puppetry, animal shows, tourist sites, cinema and films amongst others.

The topic is suggestive of two things.

One; the ingenuity and the explorative capability of man in making a hitherto hobby; metamorphose into becoming a source of revenue. In the second half of the 20th century, sequel to the technological revolution which gave rise to the impressive and the remarkable growth in the media industry most especially the broadcast sector due to the audio-visual capabilities, natural talents of man in entertaining his community evolved into an industry thus giving birth to the entertainment industry.

The Fatai Rolling Dollars, the Kokoros, the Dan Maraya Jos and others began to earn revenue from their talents and intrinsicness. The Ali Babas out of the talent of jokes which was hitherto fantasy for children, meant to instil values and discipline through the mental artistry of romantising personalities and situational conflicts for instructional purposes, is today one of the biggest industry in the country –comedy.

In his tribute to Chinua Achebe published in a newspaper, the cerebral Odia Ofeimun had this to say on society’s utter disregard for the impact and contribution of entertainment/music to the society: “For instance, one of the least celebrated characters in **Things Fall Apart** is actually the most serious and most important character – Unoka, the father of Okonkwo. Everybody remembers that musician, who like Ulysses, could play flute and every-

VOICES

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS TRANSITED FROM BEING A MERE COMMUNALLY DOMESTICATED ENDEAVOUR INTO

A GLOBAL MULTIDOLLAR BUSINESS thing could either go to sleep or wake up; depending on what the flute meant to do. He was so good at it that his only problem was that he couldn’t do what everybody in the society was doing. He was not a farmer; he did not want to be judged in accordance with the standards of the farmer. He was a musician and as an artiste, he did so well”.

From the above, Odia Ofeimun amplified the society’s error of judgement in professional ranking and estimation.

Heroism and professional egoistic tendency have eclipsed intrinsic talents and passion. In Things Fall Apart, everybody applauded Okonkwo’s valour and heroistic capabilities which unfortunately led to his down fall. The musician who was humble and dexterous to the extent that whenever his son, Okonkwo, was on a heroic mission, the sound of his father’s flute invigorated him to his greatest possibilities. Paradoxically, the same society saw his father as a weakling. He, it was, who entertained the entire community at social events, he was the unsung hero who nurtured their emotions; whenever he blew his flute the community was joyous. In the natural law of division of labour, he was not a good farmer but an exceptional musician who others were incapable of replicating, copying and ‘pirating’.

The music industry has transited from being a mere communally domesticated endeavour into a global multidollar business. The entertainment industry/music is the blood of any nation; when a person suffers from anaemia the chances of death is apparent. From the Stone Age, man has been known to have created and engaged in one form of entertainment and the other. From storytelling to cultural festivals, there have existed artistes who have contributed greatly to societal good, pleasure and well-being through their various dexterousness in either drumming, singing or dancing.

In modern society which is premised on technological revolution, the media has made the entertainment industry gain global acceptance and recognition.

Today, products now have universal appeal and global markets. Jeans is worn globally; Prof Wole Soyinka is a global citizen due to his exceptional literary proficiency. Late Prof Chinua Achebe’s

Ogungbe

seminal book – Things Fall Apart sold about 12 million copies worldwide and has been translated in to more than 50 languages; possibly the only book with such global feat in recent history. The music works of Fela Kuti is today a global brand. Our own Omotola Jolade Ekeinde was recently voted amongst the top 100 most influential personalities in the world.

From the above, we can appreciate and acknowledge the impact of the entertainment industry and the entertainment professionals in the global scene.

The monetary worth of the various personalities is better imagined and their contribution to the national economy is also better left for posterity.

No doubt, the music industry is facing serious challenges which are not restrictive to the sector alone but other professions too, the nation and global obstacles that are inimical to the attainment of the inherent capacity of the realisable potential therein. The problem of infrastructural deficiencies, lack of capital, operational structures, effective management of the industry and most regrettably, the monstrous problem of piracy. These challenges are attitudinal, institutional and sometimes a function of sheer ignorance on the part of the artiste themselves. Collectively, we can improve on the situation and ultimately make things better for our society.

After taking a holistic view of the entire entertainment Industry, l wish to now focus on ‘record labels’. In the 60 s, foreigners owned record labels due to the technological requirements germane for the production and replication of musical works into forms that could be owned by majority of the people that could afford them –albums.

Natural talents abounded then and now. The discovery of talents now is very easy and the opportunity for talents nurturing to national and global lime light is very easy considering the avalanche of radio and television stations operating in the country. Music today is one of the most fundamental elements and sine-que-non in content aggregation by broadcast media operators.

The role being played by some corporate bodies in talent discovery is indeed commendable. Every year, we are glued to our television sets watching budding talents being discovered and exhibiting

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admirably their potentials. As a record label owner, my only advice is that budding talents should get good education first and foremost. Competitiveness is a function of core value and uniqueness.

Great musical works is lyrics driven next to the voice quality. I am greatly worried with the present situation of ‘one-song’ stars. Why are we not able to replicate the great artistry, resourcefulness and the creativity of the King Sunny Ades, the Ebenezer Obeys, the Felas and others?

Record label owners today see music as bad investment due to the monstrous problem of piracy. It is time practitioners of the industry rise up to the challenge posed by piracy as it is killing the artiste, the record label owners, the investors and the economy. As a people, we deserve the best and quality product. We should never compromise quality on the altar of cheapness. Pirated works can never stand the test of time because the quality is embarrassingly poor.

Record label owners should make the works of the artiste on their labels available at designated markets/shops; scarcity sometimes encourages piracy. The strategy is to make the product available when the product is accessible, the likely hood of pirated copy consumption will be low. I am encouraged by the recent development in the music industry as it relates to royalty; the tempo should be sustained. When a musician knows that the more air time his work gets, the more income he earns, artistes and producers are challenged to produce good works that have followership.

The various governmental agencies that are saddled with the responsibility of supervising the music industry should live up to their expectation and duties. The works of arts/entertainment is now a universal product with global appeal. Musicians are national brands. The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC; the Nigerian Copyrights Council, NCC; the National Film and Video Censors Board, NFVCB, amongst others should ensure that all the artistic works emanating from Nigeria are of world standard because mentally, such works have assumed the role of being national brand ambassadors.

Our own Lagbaja was amongst the few selected African musicians that made the continent proud with the epic song – ‘So Why’.

Lucky Dube was a pride to Africa. He was a global musician; he was to Africa what Jimmy Cliff was to Jamaica. Eedris Abdulkareem through his musical works rose to world recognition when he joined the greatest African of our time –Nelson Mandela to receive the Olympic Torch in Egypt when it was brought to Africa the very first time. Is there any recognition that is greater than being selected to part of the greatest and the best from a continent? The entire human race watched the historic event. That is the power and the influence of being an artiste and being good. That is the power, the impact, the influence and the potency of the entertainment industry.

Ogungbe is the founder/CEO of Kennis Music. This speech was delivered at the inaugural edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference held in April in Lagos.

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

25

ARTISTE UNCENSORED

Acting didn’t affect my education –Chiege MANY PEOPLE WHO

After a broken marriage which took a toll on her movie career, Chiege Alisigwe-Clinton, one of Nollywood’s most recognisable actresses, is getting her groove back with a new union and bigger platform to project her creativity.

JOINED THE MOVIE INDUSTRY BEFORE ME NEVER WENT BEYOND A CERTAIN LEVEL

NGOZI EMEDOLIBE

H

er recipe for success will obviously baffle a lot of artistes, who despite their talent have spent years of hard work without any recognition.

It took, Chiege Alisigwe (now Chiege Alisigwe-Clinton) just two extra roles to clinch a lead role in a feature movie.

That was in 1998 at Enugu State; she was a teenager, fresh out of Secondary School and had been hooked up to some Nollywood producers by Kevin Ugwu, but she does not see this in the light of her talent only.

“It is essentially the grace of God. So many people who joined the industry before me never went beyond a certain level. In my case, I was out of Secondary School and was looking for something I would be doing while writing my University Matriculation Examination, UME. But all of a sudden, I got a lead role and that transformed a lot of things. Scripts started coming from right and left; that is the story of my stardom. But I was careful not to allow it affect my decision to proceed to the higher institution where I studied Fine Arts. After leaving the set, I would come back to school and continue with my studies. I never had a ‘carry over’ for once. People were asking how I made it. I would say, ‘oh because I am known everywhere, you expect me to put my education aside and start focusing on acting alone?’ No, I was not brought up like that”.

Of course, with the success, came attention, especially from the opposite sex.

This would culminate in her first marriage which failed to avail Chiege the

Chiege

kind of happiness she anticipated. It not only made her a sad woman, but took a toll on her career after it crumbled. For over four years, while Chiege tried to get over the trauma, her fans were left wondering what had become of their favourite actress, notable for portraying emotional characters almost flawlessly.

“I have not been consistent for a while, but I have done some new movies. Some

are out and some are still at the production level. I have other things that are taking my time now because I am building up a lot of other things”.

One of these new things is her ‘new husband’, whom she discusses in measured words. “When I first met him, there was nothing that really attracted him to me because we started from being friends. I never felt anything or had it in

mind that I wanted to date him. But God destined us to be together. My husband stays in Lagos. I have to be with him here; we can’t be living far from each other. I love him so much and so, I decided to be with my family. He is a man in the real sense of being a man, from head to toe”.

Chiege, who has acted in over 80 movies including commercial hits like **End of Money, Under Fire, Not Your Wealth** and **Terrible Sin**, has also fashioned a new way of living in Lagos, by closing down her business outfit ‘Mercato Di Muna’ in Enugu.

In its place, she has floated ‘Little Spaces’, a multifaceted equipment leasing outfit. The outfit is into equipment rentals and studio services for TV programmes and movie productions. It is equally involved in sales and supplies of real quality fabrics, towels, bedding and bathroom accessories, very good for creating the necessary ambience at locations and homes. “You will get items like shower caddy, bath caddy, sink organisers, air beds and scented candles”, she says.

This new venture will not see her dumping her acting career. “No, I will always remain an actress, but there will be limitations on the kind of roles I will be doing from now on. But I have always longed to do this. I want to make people realise that you don’t have to spend so much to get good comfort and we ensure our clients get quality products and services. I am trying to ensure that it grows because since I have been shuttling between locations, I have not been able to stay back, concentrate and build it up”.

Will this production house undertake the making of Chiege’s movies? “Yes, I have a production house and I am expecting that it will kick off fully next year with our own movies”.

MIDWEEK JUMP Yes! holds 2nd anniversary lecture

Art institutions celebrate Highlife legend

Y

es! International Magazine is two years, and will today hold its second anniversary lecture at the Nite Shift Coliseum, Opebi, Ikeja.

The event which kicks off at 11.00 a.m. will have Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, the former Minister of External Affairs as chairman, while guest speaker is Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Zinox Computers. The theme of the anniversary lecture which will have in attendance media personalities, entertainment

T Akinyemi

stars and policy makers is: “Running a Successful Business in Nigeria: My Experience”.

oday, iREP Documentary Film Forum, iREP; Committee for Relevant Art, CORA and Freedom Park will celebrate legendary Highlife musician, Fatai Olagunju aka Fatai Rolling Dollar, who died at 86 years, last Wednesday, June 12.

The event is titled: ‘Fatai Rolling Dollar: Celebrating the Essence of the Legend’ and it holds at culture hotspot, Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos by 6.00 p.m.

Fatai Rolling Dollar, FRD,

was one of the few Kokoma musicians, whose main instrument was the agidigbo (the thumb piano) coupled with the palmwine-type guitar playing style, that embraced the new fusion of traditional beat and western form; and thus influenced and shaped the direction of Highlife music as it is known today.

He was affiliated to these three institutions in the last years of his life and they have resolved to celebrate the essence of the legendary musician through a night of reflec-

tion on his life and career.

This would involve reviews of his career; screening of perhaps the only documentary film on his life titled Rolling Dollar: A Legend Unplugged, produced and directed by Femi Odugbemi and released in March. There would also be a session of musical tributes by his fellow veteran highlife musicians and many young ones whose careers he affected.

Attendees are enjoined to come with a one-minute tribute –in poem, song, chant, reflection or in other forms.

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Arts Lounge

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

FAR AND NEAR

Nigerians Kan, Adebayo make Kwani Prize shortlist

Award cancelled for Fatai Rolling Dollar TERH AGBEDEH

C

elebrity Lagos restaurant, O’jez, which organises the monthly entertainment awards, has cancelled this month’s edition billed to hold on Sunday, June 30 in honour of the veteran highlife musician, Fatai Rolling Dollar, FRD, who passed on last week aged 86.

In a statement titled ‘O’jez Mourns’, signed by O’jez Entertainment Limited media Company, Media Image Managers, MIM, the MD/CEO of the outfit, Chief Joseph Odobeatu, said this month’s award had to be cancelled as a mark of honour for the fallen legend who died in a Lagos hospital after a brief illness.

“We cannot be celebrating while a key member of the O’jez Entertainment Awards has just passed on. Baba Fatai Rolling Dollar was not just an artiste who had performed for over a decade on the O’jez stage, he was family to the O’jez group”, the statement said.

Odobeatu explained that it was very sad to hear the news of the demise of the legendary musician and that the O’jez family is still

in shock since he had very much been a part of the family for over 12 years.

Rolling Dollar had been with O’jez from inception at the Iwaya Road outlet down to National Stadium where he performed on Fridays and every last Sunday of the month.

The record label owner, who said the death was a big loss for the Nigerian entertainment industry and the entire country in general, explained that the award recipient for this month had been informed of the development a day after the veteran artiste passed on.

“She saw reasons with the decision of the awards committee to cancel this month’s ceremony and assured she would make herself available when called upon next time. That is the spirit as every Nigerian has been paying his last respect to the Agidigbo Master”.

He assured that O’jez would play an active role in the 40 day burial rites. “We would assist the family in the little way we can when the time comes as FRD. When all this is done, we will organise a special tribute night where only FRD’s music will be performed by younger highlife musicians”, Odobeatu said.

Late Rolling Dollar

Adebayo

ADENRELE NIYI

T

he Carnivorous City and Stay with Me, two manuscripts by Nigerian writers Toni Kan and Ayobami Adebayo, respectively, have been shortlisted for the Kwani Manuscript Prize 2013, a new one-off literary prize for unpublished fiction from African writers.

The works are on the shortlist of seven titles selected from a long list of 30; others shortlisted writers are: Ayesha Harruna Attah, Saturday’s People (Ghana/US); Stanley Gazemba, Ghettoboy (Kenya); Timothy Kiprop Kimutai, The Water Spirits (Kenya); Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, The Kintu Saga (Uganda/UK) and Saah Millimono, One Day I Will Write About This War (Liberia). The top three manuscripts will be announced on Monday, July 1 and will be awarded cash prizes totalling $6000. In addition, Kwani Trust plans to publish three to five of the shortlisted manuscripts by April 2014.

Kan is the author of the poetry collection When a Dream Lingers too Long, the novella Ballad of Rage, and most recently the short story collection Nights of the Creaking Bed. He is one of Nigeria’s most anthologised poets and short story writers.

Adebayo’s short stories have appeared in Farafina Magazine, Saraba Magazine, East Jasmine Review and African Writing Online.

Her work was highly commended in the 2009 Commonwealth short story competition.

She is the fiction editor for Saraba.

The shortlist was selected (without the author’s name attached) by a high-profile panel of judges including internationally renowned Nigerian writer, Helon Habila, Deputy Editor of Granta Magazine, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey; leading scholar of African literature, Prof. Simon Gikandi; Chairman of Kenyatta University’s Literature Department, Dr. Mbugua wa Mungai and Editor of Zimbabwe’s Weaver Press, Irene Staunton.

The Chair of Judges, award-winning Sudanese novelist Jamal Mahjoub, said: “The five judges carefully worked through a long list of 30. These showed a wide range of styles, sub-

Benue warms up to Princess of the Harmattan IZUCHUKWU OKEKE

I

t was a day to savour by poetry and literature lovers in Makurdi, Benue State on Saturday, June 8, as the Princess of the Harmattan, a collection of poetry by Abuja based author and medical doctor began its much advertised reading tour.

The Benue reading began what will be a year-long tour of states in Nigeria and some other cities in Africa, like Accra, Monrovia and Cape Town to promote the book and get readers familiar with this enchant-

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ing poetry collection.

Held at the Symbols Cuisine, Markudi, the event welcomed an appreciable number of book lovers including members of Purple Silver Arts group, Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA and students of Benue State University.

The book author, Seyi Adigun, read excerpts from the beautiful collection and afterwards, there was opportunity for a critical appreciation of the poems. Many of the speakers highlighted the literary and aesthetic beauty of the collection. Some of them asked questions related to the theme and style the author adopted in writing the poems.

Adigun took time to clarify some issues surrounding previous reviews of the book, important of which was that he dedicated the work to his wife.

“When the manuscript was completed, I had not even met my wife”, he said.

The work, therefore, he averred was dedicated to womanhood, though saying “I am not a feminist. I do not carry these ideological issues in my mind when I write. I love poetry and I concentrate on the craft instead of theories”.

There was also open-mic session where young and upcoming poets took turns to entertain the audience with fascinating performances.

jects and regional concerns. The judges were primarily looking for works that show promise in terms of the writing itself as well as the breadth and depth of vision brought to bear by the authors. The final shortlist of seven entries reflects the overall consensus of the judges and summarises their individual interests”.

These seven novels from five African countries go through the underbelly of Lagos, class divisions in Nairobi and war-torn Monrovia, through families cursed, self-destructing and reuniting, bringing new scrutiny to the epic, dictatorship and points-of-view in stories that are brave, tender and beguiling.

The Kwani Manuscript Project was launched in April 2012 and called for the submission of unpublished novel manuscripts from African writers across the continent and in the Diaspora.

JUMIA gives kids books for 1st anniversary

J

UMIA, Nigeria’s No. 1 online retailer, celebrates its first year anniversary this month recording milestone achievements since the company started the largest e-commerce website in the country 12 months ago.

In line with educational/literary activities themed ‘Delivering Smiles’ to commemorate the anniversary, JUMIA will donate one book to a child in partner schools, for every book bought on the companies’ website. In addition, JUMIA will visit schools with the ‘1 Child 1 Book’ foundation and the CSR co-sponsor DHL to give out books to less privileged pupils. In addition, JUMIA will team up with ACE Africa Charity, www. aceafricacharity.org and sell its ACE wrist bands and all returns will go to the charity.

Other 1st anniversary activities include an e-commerce conference, various fashion events, special discounts, new partnerships and new changes to its website.

Co-founder Tunde Kehinde had this to say: “After this tremendous one year run, we want to say thank you to our employees, customers, partners and all Nigerians. Since our creation we have supported education programs to empower children and we want to use this anniversary to give back to society”.

Since inception, JUMIA has served over half a million customers -changing the way people shop in Nigeria and making www. jumia.com.ng the fourth most visited Nigerian website.

Recently, JUMIA secured with its affiliated companies a further $35m in funding from MILLICOM. This funding comes in addition to recent investments from J.P. Morgan and Summit Partners. The funding, which represents the largest investment in a Nigerian e-commerce start up, allows Jumia to continue its rapid growth and serve even more customers across Nigeria. Concurrently, JUMIA announced its move to move to a new 90,000 sq ft warehouse in Lagos which will house 500 employees and create the largest e-commerce campus in West Africa.

Also speaking, co-founder Raphael Afaedor said; “In the beginning we were three employees dreaming of being the largest ecommerce retailer in Nigeria. Now, we have more than 500 employees and offer the Nigerian youth a unique opportunity to work in a fast-paced, world class start up”.

27

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Pillars emerge first round kings

30

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

I will buy because there is still a need to buy. But I will not compromise quality in doing this - ARSENAL MANAGER, ARSENE WENGER

My best yet to come – Oduamadi

S

Tahiti’s Jonathan Tehau rising to nod home the lone goal his team scored against Eagles on Monday.

Forget Tahiti win, Maigari charges Eagles EVEREST ONYEWUCHI

P

resident of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has charged the Super Eagles to forget Monday’s 6-1 thrashing of Tahiti and focus on tomorrow’s clash with South American champions, Uruguay, in the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil.

“The Eagles have started well, and they are perching on top of the table as expected. We believe they have the strength and the savvy to go all the way and do our country and Africa proud.

“I want them to forget about

EVEREST ONYEWUCHI

A

s the Super Eagles continue to raise Africa’s flag at the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil, and thinking of qualifying for the World Cup next year, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Namibia, Ambassador Biodun Olorunfemi, believes that the team can win the Mundial.

Dr. Olorunfemi says that Ni-

…Team arrives in Salvador the win over Tahiti and appreciate that Uruguay is a different ball game. They should work very hard and come out on top on Thursday,” Maigari said as the Eagles arrived in Salvador, north-eastern Brazil yesterday afternoon ahead of their muchhyped clash with Uruguay.

Salvador, the capital of Bahia State, is home to about 2.7 million people and is Brazil’s third most populous city. It was Brazil’s first capital city until 1763. It is also regarded as the black capital of Latin America, as more than 80 per cent of its inhabitants are of African de-

scent.

In other words, Eagles will not lack support inside the renovated Arena Fonte Nova when they clash with the Uruguayans starting from 7pm Brazil time (11pm Nigeria time) on Thursday.

Nigeria is majestically topping Group B after the 6-1 trouncing of Tahiti in Belo Horizonte on Monday night.

Spain who edged Uruguay 2-1 in the first match of the pool on Sunday night, are second behind the African champions on goals difference.

While the Spaniards will look to pile up the goals against Ta-

You can win the World Cup –Envoy geria will be the first African country to win the FIFA World Cup, insisting that the unexpected will happen in Brazil next year.

“We will win the World Cup by the grace of God, He will do the impossible,” the envoy said while hosting the Eagles to a dinner at the Nigerian House in Windhoek, after the team forced

the Brave Warriors of Namibia to a 1-1 draw in their last World Cup qualifier played at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.

He charged the Eagles to remain focused to pick the World Cup ticket and to be good ambassadors of Nigeria at the ongoing Confederations Cup in Brazil.

“Football has raised our profile globally and forged unity

PHOTO: DAILY MAIL

hiti tomorrow, the Eagles have confidence they can overpower Oscar Tabarez’ La Celeste and earn a semi-final ticket ahead of their final group phase tango with world champions, Spain, in Fortaleza on Sunday.

Coach Stephen Keshi has also been telling his boys to believe in their ability as the Eagles checked into the Hotel De Ville yesterday.

“Nobody gave us the chance to triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. We love the status of underdogs that we have here and it will help us to achieve our objective of making Nigeria and Africa proud,” Keshi said yesterday. among our people. We can also use it to create jobs and employment with greater funding,” the ambassador added.

The High Commissioner charged football club managers in the country to try and build clubs that would rival the best in Europe and other developed countries.

“Super Eagles came to Namibia and played draw. It’s a great day for me; very exciting in my 35 years in service”.

uper Eagles’ winger, Nnamdi Oduamadi, believes he is yet to achieve the peak of his powers playing for the African champions.

Oduamadi capped a brilliant performance with a hat-trick as Nigeria trounced minnows, Tahiti 6-1 in the Confederations Cup on Monday.

The AC Milan forward, currently on loan at Serie B club, AS Varese, took to the social networking site, twitter, to rate his performance against the Islanders.

“Wanna say a Big tank u to you all.

We gonna make Nigeria and Africa proud. My best is yet to come. Jesus is Lord,” he tweeted via @Oduamadi7.

Oduamadi also went into the record books as the first African to score a hat-trick in the history of the FIFA Confederations Cup. He is also the first Nigerian to hit a treble at a senior FIFA international tournament.

Yesterday, FIFA praised Oduamadi for being at the top of the Castrol Index.

“Almost half of the 16 goals seen so far in Brazil came in the one match – Nigeria’s 6-1 win over tournament newcomers Tahiti – and the hat-trick scored

by Nnamdi Oduamadi in Belo Horizonte has made him the Index’s early frontrunner,” FIFA said.

The world soccer governing body added, “What was impressive about Oduamadi’s contribution was his finishing accuracy. While Nigeria’s six goals came from 17 shots, the 22-year-old – who spent last season in Italy’s Serie B with Varese – scored with three from four.

In fact he had just three goal attempts inside the Pacific Islanders’ penalty box but was in the right place to put the ball in the net on each occasion.”

Oduamadi

28

Sport

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tranfers…

W/Cup 201 upbeat for C

Z

ambia Football Ass President Kalusha Bw confident the Chipolop beat Ghana in their final Wo qualifier in September to ad the next stage.

The 2012 African champio toppled at the top of Group drawing 1-1 with Sudan at h Saturday and Coach Renar and his charges have no optio record a win at the Baba Yara in Kumasi.

The odds appear to be aga

Torres denies Barca switch

Mexico’s forward, Hernandez

Mexico dares in-form Brazil A

fter Sunday’s defeat to Italy, Javier Hernandez and his Mexican team mates cannot afford another slip up against an increasingly confident host nation.

The two sides have made contrasting starts to their campaigns.

While Brazil brushed aside Japan 3-0, a late Mario Balotelli goal condemned the Mexicans to a 2-1 defeat against Italy, leaving them with little room to operate.

Another reverse today, coupled with an Italian win over the Japanese will see them exit the competition. But they face a stiff test against a side that is slowly but surely coming together under Luiz Felipe Scolari and intent on making further progress in front of their fans in Fortaleza.

Jose Manuel de la Torre’s side emerged with a 2-0 win in the last full international between the countries in Texas last June. The Mexicans can also take heart from last August’s 2-1 defeat of the Brazilians in the final of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012 at Wembley.

Fourteen players from that gold-medal match will be on duty in Fortaleza, eight of them Mexican, namely Jose Corona, Hiram Mier, Diego Reyes, Javier Aquino, Carlos Salcido, Hector Herrera, Giovani dos Santos and Raul Jimenez. Six members of Brazil’s squad on the day, namely Thiago Silva and Marcelo, midfielder Oscar, and the strike trio of Neymar, Lucas and Hulk will also be available.

“Mexico are always a tough side to beat,” Thiago Silva, who captains Brazil, said yesterday.

“They had me choked up a few months back but I’m not looking at this game like a revenge match. To my mind it’s an important game for my career and for the team.

“I’m sure it’s going to be an even tougher match than the Olympic final because they’ll have more experienced players in the side.”

Mexico’s centre half, Francisco Rodriguez, is also upbeat.

“I think we’re playing well and showing everything we’ve got,” he said.

“We just need to stay calm and work hard you get what we deserve.

“We’re not giving up and we have prepared for this as a tough nut.”

Chelsea striker, Fernando Torres, has brushed off speculation linking him with Barcelona, insisting he is looking forward to hearing Jose Mourinho’s plans for him.

Speculation surrounding Torres refuses to go away, with Chelsea’s interest in a new striker seemingly leading many people to presume that the Spaniard will not be in Mourinho’s plans.

Mourinho has even admitted in recent days that Torres’s form for Chelsea had been ‘so-so’ but the striker is ready for talks.

“I look forward to talking with Mourinho and to know what plans he has for me,” Torres, who is with the Spain squad at the Confederations Cup, said yesterday.

“The first thing I am aware of is he will expect much more from me, I expect more from me. Now I have pressure Mourinho adds and that’s a challenge for a player.”

Asked about his links with Barcelona, he insisted there was nothing in it, despite his own personal relationship with their president.

“I have known Sandro Rosell for a long time,” he said.

“There is a personal relationship, but nothing more than that. My head is now in the Confederations Cup, immediately after that Chelsea.

“I want to talk with Mourinho and then prepare for the coming season.”

Tit bits...

Kaka

Ronaldo

Fabregas

Kagawa

Corinthians Director, Duilio Monteiro Alves, has denied reports of a move for Real Madrid midfielder Kaka.

“There is nothing about it, just speculation,” Alves insisted yesterday.

“I don’t know where that story came from, but it didn’t start at Corinthians and we haven’t even talked about him.

“He’s a fantastic player but we don’t need him.”

Real Madrid has received an offer over €100 million cash to sell want away star Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to latest reports, the offer is closer to €150 million, though the club has not been identified, even as rich Monaco is said not to be the club.

Madrid has told Ronaldo he won’t be sold for less than €100 million this summer, although he has two years left on his current deal.

Barcelona midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, says Real Madrid will be paying over the odds if the club goes to 100 million for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale.

“I think a €100 million for Gareth is a lot. I do not know who is worth that kind of money,” Fabregas contended yesterday.

“He is a good player with good physical condition.

You can see that, when you consider Madrid want to sign him.”

Manchester United midfielder, Shinji Kagawa, has no plans to take a summer break after the Confederations Cup. Kagawa, who had a mixed debut season at Old Trafford, is due to be given extra time off in July.

But reports said he has offered to join Moyes and his squad for the Japanese leg of United’s preseason tour as a gesture of goodwill.

Kondogbia Chelsea is launching a bid for Sevilla midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia.

Reports yesterday said Kondogbia has emerged as a key Blues target as they seek to secure a defensive midfielder as part of their summer strengthening programme.

The player, seen as a cheaper option in that position than more experienced players, should be available for around £10 million.

Midfielder Rainfold Kalaba and Z

Ayew brothers, Boateng to wait –Ghana coach

B

lack Stars Coach, Kwe Appiah, yesterday sa there will be no guara teed places in his team for th trio of Kevin-Prince Boaten and the Ayew brothers, And and Jordan, who ended the self-imposed exiles last week.

AC Milan forward Boaten who quit the national in Se tember 2011, announced h availability for internation football before the end of th season, could however hav been named in the squad fo the just ended double qua fiers this month but for a to injury.

It is expected that the playe will rejoin their teammates fo September’s Group D decid against Zambia at home but A piah said their starting statu could not be ascertained.

“I always believe it is impo tant all Ghanaian players mak themselves available for sele tion,” Appiah remarked.

“I will decide whether I nee any player at a particular tim and it depends on the gam that we want to play and th tactics and if they can fit in he added.

Ghana will need a draw the Baba Yara Stadium to se a place in the third qualifyin round which will consist of a ten Group leaders.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

29

4 qualifiers: Bwalya Chipolopolo

sociation walya is polo will World Cup dvance to

ons were p D after home last rd Herve on but to a Stadium

ainst the

Chipolopolo but Bwalya is adamant they will prevail.

“We still believe that we can finish at the top of our group as the final game in Ghana will be a different match from what we had against Sudan,” Bwalya said yesterday.

“Our strategies going into that game will obviously depend on what we will be required to do and we will deploy the appropriate strategy.

“We have made a number of changes to the squad. This has regenerated and that is good for the Team.”

Zambia have an uphill task enroute Brazil next year

Ethiopia admits using t banned player

esi aid anhe ng dre eir

ng, ephis nal he ve or lioe

ers or er Apus

P

resident of the Ethiopia Football Federation, Sahilu Gebremariam, has admitted that his side used a suspended player in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

If Ethiopia lose the three points from their win over Botswana on June 8 it means South Africa can still progress.

Gebremariam has told BBC Sport that Minyahil Teshome Beyene should have missed the match, having picked up two yellow cards in previous qualifiers.

“We’re not going to appeal, it’s a management blunder. We have accepted the FIFA discipline issue,” he said.

FIFA announced on Sunday that they would be investigating whether Ethiopia used an ineligible player.

It means that Ethiopia are almost certain to lose the three points from the win over Botswana, who will be awarded a 3-0 victory.

Gebremariam, however remains confident that his side can still reach the play-offs.

“We made a mistake, but we are leading the group and we need to concentrate on the future. We’re very much motivated and we know we can qualify.”

orke ec-

ed me me he n,”

at eal ng all

Beyene

Serena thrilling Delta Airlines’ customers at the Heathrow, London yesterday

Serena shines in Delta’s table tennis AFOLABI GAMBARI

WITH AGENCY REPORT

W

orld number one, Serena Williams, yesterday greeted customers checking in for Delta flight DL06 from Heathrow Terminal 4 to New York-JFK playing on a pop-up table tennis court, situated in the Sky Priority business class checkin area at Heathrow’s T4.

Delta customers were also invited to pick up paddles and test their ping-pong skills

against the current Wimbledon Champion who arrived in London in an overnight 3, 740 miles flight from New York ahead of the 2013 Wimbledon Championship.

“I’m excited to be back in London and return to Centre Court to play on a grass surface I love, and Delta’s table tennis event was a fun way to get ready for Wimbledon,” the American said.

Williams appeared refreshed from the long haul after apparently enjoying the treat on the

flight which the officials said had been arranged for top personalities as the tennis star.

“We have gone flat-out to give customers a great night’s sleep on board our flights into London, and Serena’s form on the table tennis board shows the quality in the flight,” the airline’s Senior Vice President for Marketing, Tim Mapes, said.

“We are delighted to welcome Serena for today’s event and wish her every success for this year’s Wimbledon tourna-

Abarowei floats academy

F

ormer player, Steve Abarowei, has joined the league of retired footballers who have founded academies after their active days.

Abarowei, who played for defunct National Bank FC and ACB FC of Lagos, as well as Julius Berger, said yesterday that academy would focus on players between 16 and years.

“The essence of this effort is to discover talents that abound in the country with a view to helping them to attain their aspiration of playing for the national team and overseas,” he explained.

Abarowei, who was in

the Nigerian Under-23 team that won the ECOWAS Cup in 1990 and in Abidjan Ivory Coast in 1991, also represented the country at the FIFA 5-Aside World Cup in Hong Kong in 1992, after which he played in Europe and Asia between 1995 and 2004.

Notable among his during active days include Henry Nwosu, Austin Eguavoen, Edema Benson, Monday Odiaka, Chidi Nwanu and Willy Opara.

He is currently a striker with the All Stars International FC Lagos, a team that comprises ex-national and international footballers.

Abarowei

ment,” he added.

The younger of the Williams sisters is eyeing glory at the forthcoming Wimbledon event having already competed at two Grand Slam events in Melbourne and Paris.

Observers believed, however, that yesterday’s table tennis event enabled Serena begin her warm-up for the tennis’ most prestigious tournament at Wimbledon, as well as to interact with the Heathrow community and some of its frequent travellers.

Sport

30

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Nigeria Premier Nig League

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cricket

with

IIKENWA NNABUOGOR ikenwa.nnabuogor@gmail.com Glo League Standings – Week 7 Pos

Team

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts

1

Kano Pillars

18

10

3

5

23

19

4

33

2

Kwara United

17

8

4

5

19

11

8

28

3

Heartland

17

8

2

7

25

15

10

26

4

Bayelsa United

17

8

2

7

18

21

-3

26

5

Enyimba

17

7

4

6

13

9

4

25

6

Dolphins

17

7

4

6

15

14

1

25

7

Nasarawa United 17

7

4

6

15

18

-3

25

8

Gombe United

17

8

1

8

16

22

-6

25

9

Rangers

14

7

3

4

23

12

11

24

10

Sunshine Stars

17

7

3

7

19

13

6

24

11

Warri Wolves

17

6

6

5

21

18

3

24

12

Akwa United

17

7

2

8

19

21

-2

23

13

Nembe City

17

7

2

8

18

22

-4

23

14

Kaduna United

17

7

2

8

15

20

-5

23

15

3SC

16

7

1

8

20

19

1

22

16

ABS F.C.

17

6

4

7

16

16

0

22

17

Lobi Stars

17

6

4

7

14

18

-4

22

18

El-Kanemi

16

5

4

7

16

19

-3

19

19

Wikki Tourists

16

5

2

9

13

21

-8

17

20

Sharks

16

3

5

8

7

17

-10

14

Foreign clubs court Gombe goleador

G

ombe United could be without their top scorer Bishop Onyeudo before the season ends as clubs in Europe have made enquiries about the Enugu-born striker, National Mirror has gathered.

It was learnt last week that top Camerounian agent based in France was making arrangements to link the former Rangers striker with a club believed to be in Germany. Onyeudo, who was also billed to travel to Azerbaijan for a trial few weeks ago, could be on his way to Germany to

begin a trial at an unnamed club.

The former Rangers striker leading Gombe United’s scorers’ chart with seven goals, has also tested with clubs in Qatar but failed to land a contract.

He trained with Rangers on his return to Rangers but was not offered a contract. He turned his search light at Gombe where he was snapped by new coach Maurice Cooremans. His goals and assists helped lift the beleaguered side to ninth position as the first round ended last weekend.

Ogbu finally lands in Egypt

H

eartland’s striker Brendan Ogbu has finally jetted into Egypt to begin a trial with an Egyptian club. Ogbu, who refused to name the club he’s testing with told National Mirror that he was doing well and could land a contract at the end of the trial session.

Media reports had indicated earlier that the former Rangers striker had begun his Egyptian trial but on the contrary he was in Abuja to sort out his travelling arrangement.

“The trial is going well, and I’m doing my best but the club officials have the final say,” Ogbu told National Mirror.

“The identity of the club is still under wraps as my agent directed but I believe things will be sorted out soon, then I will reveal it to the press.”

Ogbu also revealed that his Russian dreams have not ended as he could be heading back to Alannia for a fresh opening.

“All is still not yet over at Alannia, I could end up signing a contract there but things are still being worked out.

“Let me finish with the Egyptian first and let’s see how it goes.”

Ogbu

Kano Pillars team photo

Pillars emerge first round kings

J

ust like last season, Kano Pillars have emerged champions of the first round of the 2013/14 season, topping the log with 36 points from 19 games. Pillars, top contenders for the league title this season, will only have to consolidate their summit position to retain the league title they won last season.

Pillars showed champions stuff beating El-Kanemi 2-0 in the Week 18 tie at home to emerge tops on the log as the first round drew its curtains, to open a four-point lead over Kwara United, who are placed second on the log. Pillars have remained one of their most invincible home sides, winning nine of the home ties and made commendable effort by winning two games on the road for overall 11 wins in the first round.

Despite losing top stars Gabriel Rueben and Papa Idris to Scottish side, Kilmarnock, the club from the Groundnut Pyramid town proved worthy champions by maintaining a stranglehold at the top of the log. However, Pillars did not breast the tape off the mark as the first round ended, but came back gamely to depose Rangers and later Heartland at the top of the log. The rescheduled game against Heartland in Abuja on May 31 which the champions won 1-0 was the turning point. They have also maintained top position with three wins out of four games.

Coach Baba Ganaru was so full of praises for his charges but warned that the game was not over yet, maintaining they would step up the challenge with a view to retaining the title they won last year.

“It’s not yet party time but there’s still a lot of job to do and my players are aware of this,” he sounded.

“But I must commend them for doing well and emerging tops in the first round but we must continue to do well, maintain our position till the end of the season.

“As champions, all eyes are on us, all oppositions get stiffer but we’re equal to the task.

We will have to be at our best to finish the good work we have started.”

The windows have also opened for clubs to replace departing players, fortify the team for the remainder of the season. As the Nigeria

Professional Football League (NPFL) mid season transfer window opened yesterday Monday 17th of June 2013, many coaches and agents of NPFL clubs will visit various venues of Federation Cup games to see players they can possible buy to help fill some vacuum in their various clubs.

National Mirror gathered that clubs’ officials have concluded plans to storm the venues of the Federation Cup first round fixtures this weekend to fish for players to fortify their clubs.

Sunshine Stars striker Dele Olorundare fired in his 11th goal of the season after a brace in a 2-0 win over Nembe City last Wednesday, to emerge top scorer of the first round. The Jazzy Stars of Jos discovery now has 11 goals to lead other goal getters in the league.

Olorundare’s double included a spectacular overhead kick, which was warmly received by the fans in Akure.

The stocky striker was full of delight for emerging top scorer and promised to continue to do his best.

“I am happy with my form and that my goals are coming. I will keep doing my best to get more goals,” he promised.

Week 18 Fixtures Today Sharks

v

Enyimba

3SC

v

Kaduna Utd

Wikki Tourists

v

Dolphins

Kano Pillars

v

Lobi Stars

El-Kanemi

v

Rangers

Tomorrow Heartland

v

Nasarawa United

Sunshine Stars

v

Nembe City

ABS FC

v

Warri Wolves

Akwa Utd

v

Kwara Utd

Bayelsa Utd

v

Gombe United

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

31

Business & Finance Africa can only prosper through far-reaching economic transformation.

Please note that the Federal Ministry of Finance makes payments based on batches of claims as submitted by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)

DEPUTY GOVERNOR, FINANCIAL SYSTEM STABILITY, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, KINGSLEY CHIEDU MOGHALU

Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala

Construction begins on N158bn GE’s manufacturing plant in Calabar OLUFEMI ADEOSUN

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday officialy flagged off the construction of General Electric’s N158bn service and manufacturing facility in Calabar.

The groundbreaking ceremony followed the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and the Global Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of GE, Mr. Jeff Emmelt, in January.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo, who stood in for the president, said the groundbreaking would not only boost the administration’s Transformation Agenda, but also further strengthen the improved confidence in the Nigerian business environment by both local and foreign investors.

He reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to revitalising the Nigerian economy within the lifetime of the current administration through policies and projects that would pave the way for increased production activities, job creation and wealth generation.

In his remarks, Aganga said the ground breaking further demonstrated that the current administration was not just interested in investment commitments, but in

monitoring the processes to the execution stage.

He noted that GE had, over the past 125 years, swiftly evolved to seize new opportunities created by changes in technology and the economy as a frontline multi-business organisation.

He said, “It is therefore not surprising that the company has moved smartly to explore the favourable investment opportunities that abound in Nigeria. Today, the company is building new platforms in industries and markets with GDP growth that provide opportunities to apply acquired

technology and management expertise to accelerate development and growth in both developed and emerging economies.

“The decision made in recognizing the potential of Nigeria becoming your base, where other African Countries would be served, will give a greater opportunity to demonstrate your innovation capabilities and home grown solutions to other African countries’ problems.”

In 2009, GE signed a landmark Country-to-Company agreement with the Federal Government of Nigeria, aimed at forging a stra-

tegic partnership that would see the two parties working together on high growth opportunities and investment in support of Nigeria’s transformation objectives.

The minister also noted that in 2012, as part of the Country-toCompany agreement, GE and the Federal Government of Nigeria signed three Memorandum of Understanding agreements (MOUs) for the energy, healthcare and rail transportation sectors.

Aganga said, “Recently, precisely on 31st January, 2013, the nation recorded a milestone in its investment drive as the Federal Government of Nigeria and Messrs GE sealed an investment deal of $1bn (N158bn) on the establishment of a best-inclass assembly in Calabar.

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended deadline on directive to all banks and other financial institutions (OFIs) to update their

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L-R: Former Super Eagles player, Yisa Sofoluwe; Managing Director/CEO. Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; another ex-Super Eagles, Mr. Nduka Ugbade and Chief Sales Officer, Airtel, Mr. Inusa Bello, during the launching of Season 3 of Airtel Stars in Lagos, yesterday.

CBN extends deadline on additional KYC requirements UDO ONYEKA

Arik Air

Know Your Customer (KYC) to December 2013.

The CBN said the additional KYC requirement was to enable it accommodate designated non financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) and in consideration of some challenges encountered by SCUML as a result of the number of persons seeking to enjoy late compliance.

In a circular to banks

dated June 17, 2013 and signed by acting Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Mr A.O Ikem, the CBN recalled that banks had previously received a circular dated August 2012 with reference FPR\ CIR\GEN\ VOL.1\028 on the above subject. The circular had directed DNFBPs who are exiting financial institutions custom-

ers to update their account information with evidence of registration with the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) within six months from August 2012.

The CBN bank said following the expiration of the initial deadline and representations made by some stake holders the apex bank vide its circular of Feb-

ruary 25, 2013 , extended the deadline by three months from February 1, to April 30, 2013.

“DNFBPs who have not registered with SCUML may take advantage of this further extension to do so and update their bank accounts information with the required evidence of registration on or before December 31, 2013, failing which they would not be allowed to operate such accounts”

Lagos-Abuja 7.30 8.30 7.45 8.45 09.30 10.30 10.30 11.30 12.30 13.30 14.30 15.30 16.30 17.30 Lagos-Kano 08.00 09.15 10.30 11.45 14.30 15.40 18.15 19.30 Los-Maid&Yola (Mon-Thur) 09.30 11.30 Fri- Sun 10.30 12.30 Kano-Lagos 07.30 08.45 14.00 15.15 17.30 18.45 Kano-Abj 10.45 11.30 Abj-Lagos 09.00 10.30 11.00 12.00 12.00 13.00

Porting: MTN, Etisalat’s tussle over Saka deepens

West Africa piracy overtakes Somali ship attacks

Nigeria, OPEC, disagree with oil importing nations over green tax

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Finance

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

174 labour disputes resolved in 2 years, says minister

Porting: MTN, Etisalat’s tussle over Saka deepens KUNLE A ZEEZ

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TN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecoms operator at the weekend replied the Etisalat Nigeria, another operator, on the switch of popular comic actor, Hafiz Oyetoro better known as Saka from Etisalat commercial advertising to appear as a model in MTN’s mobile number portability (MNP) commercials.

Industry watchers say MTN’s reply has brought a new dimension to the pent-up clash between the two telecommunications companies, now in a tugof-war over Saka.

According to MTN, the purported move by Etisalat to ‘port’ Saka back to the UEA operator’s network after a ‘marketing coup’ which saw Saka

porting from MTN to Etisalat, is ‘wishful thinking.’

Speaking on the matter MTN Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Wale Goodluck told National Mirror that MTN management had read in some dailies and online platforms that an operator was planning to port Saka to its network.

“This move is extremely unlikely that Saka will port back because he is comfortable with MTN network. He’s got a contractual commitment with MTN and on the basis of that, I don’t see Saka breaching that contract,” he said.

Etisalat set the stage for the brewing crisis at a forum in Lagos to the ‘marketing coup’ staged

by MTN to woo Saka from Etisalat to MTN when Etisalat broke several weeks of silence on the switch of

popular comic actor saying it was ready to ‘port’ Saka back to its network.

Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Steve Evans, had said, “If Saka decided to come back to Etisalat, Etisalat is ready to welcome him.”

He also suggested within three moves efforts would be made to woo Saka back to its network.

Evans, however, described the controversial switch of Saka to MTN as a great blunder for the comic actor. “Sake made a terrible mistake,” he said.

Saka had been popular as a model with Etisalat, especially with the series of adverts he did for Etisalat before his sudden resurface in a commercial being run by MTN on mobile number portability service.

His comic delivery of the adverts campaigns for Etisalat had endeared him

MESHACK IDEHEN

into the hearts of the people with his unique way of delivering his messages on television screen and radio.

MTN engaged Saka through its agency, DDB to promote the new Mobile Number Portability (MNP) service recently launched by the Nigerian Communications Commission.

MTN employed the services of Saka to achieve its campaign of attracting customers, a move that has been described as a ‘coup’ for Etisalat, which had been using Saka as its brand ambassador for about two years.

However, in spite of the brewing crisis between MTN and Etisalat, uptake of mobile number portability continues to witness unimpressive trend among telecoms subscribers, according to telecoms operators.

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he Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu, said 174 complaints and disputes between employers of labour and their work force have been resolved in the past two years.

The minister said the decision to intervene promptly in workers versus employers disputes, is part of measures to ensure labour friendly work environment which in turn can lead to national productivity.

Presenting the ministry’s scorecard and midterm achievements, Wogu explained that 213 of labour complaints and trade disputes were declared, out of which 174 were resolved through mediation and conciliation.

Making reference to the President Goodluck Jonathan’s intervention

in the minimum wage issue, the minister said the President Jonathan himself have had to wade into some of the knotty disputes, which were usually resolved after such intervention.

However Wogu explained that 25 of such cases that could not be resolved by the ministry got the intervention of the National Industrial Court, (NIC).

Speaking further, Wogu said unknown to many, that conflict resolution between employers and employees occupies a sizeable proportion of what the ministry handles, saying the ministry has continued to create jobs through National Directorate of Employment which had over the years provided vocational skills acquisition training to school leavers and provided entrepreneurial training to graduates of tertiary institutions.

NDIC boss tasks banks on sustainable principles UDO ONYEKA

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he Managing Director/Chief Executive of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alh. Umaru Ibrahim has called on financial institutions in the country to imbibe sustainable banking practices in their operations.

Ibrahim, who made the call in Abuja while declaring open a lecture on “The Implementation of The Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles for Senior Bank Examiners”, noted that the

importance of a sustainable banking culture required banks to uphold environmental and social standards by not granting credits or supporting business activities that would harm the environment.

He also advised that financial institutions should promote gender equality and promote ethics, fairness and anti-corruption activities, adding that the principles expected banks to gear their operations toward enhancing development that would not only be economically profitable but also en-

vironmentally and socially responsive.

According to him, the Bankers Committee had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on how to implement the guidelines on sustainable banking practices. He also said that the NDIC in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had put in place supervisory framework by setting up sustainable banking desks in their respective institutions that would facilitate the implementation of sustainable banking principles.

New aviation policy will boost Nigeria’s revenues – FAAN OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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he Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, yesterday assured that the full implementation of the new National Civil Aviation Policy, NCAP, 2013, which was launched in April this year will allow Nigeria to participate in the multi billion naira cargo business being transacted across the continent.

The General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati told journalists in La-

gos that the policy, which has an in-built strategy to encourage the establishment of perishable cargo terminals across the country also have favourable incentives that will drive private sector investments into this key revenue earner.

Dati explained that in the year 2010 alone, total perishable air freight exported out of Africa exceeded N245bn, which he said were generated from the exports of fruits, fresh fish, vegetables and flowers by air freight.

He mentioned Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt as some of the continent’s countries which have benefited from cargo exportation, but decried that Nigeria was totally absent despite the abounding evidence that such commodities litter our landscape in abundance.

“As a matter of fact, available statistics reveal that the country consumes only 30 per cent of such produce, leaving 70 per cent to wallow as waste.

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TENDER NOTICE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA ON BEHALF OF DMO NIGERIAN TREASURY BILLS Notice is hereby given by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of DMO that the Federal Government of Nigeria Treasury Bills of 91, 182 and 364-day tenors amounting to N31, 838,514,000, N42, 729,220,000 and N60, 000,000,000, respectively would be issued by Dutch auction on Thursday, June 27, 2013.

All Money Market Dealers should submit bids through the CBN TEMENOS INTERNET BANKING between 9.00a.m and 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 2013.

Each bid must be in multiple of N1, 000 subject to a minimum of N10, 000. Authorized Money Market Dealers are allowed to submit multiple bids. A bid may be for authorized Money Market Dealers own account, Non – Money Market Dealers or interested members of the public. The result of the auction would be announced by 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. The Bank reserves the right to reject any bid.

Allotment letters would be issued for successful bids on Thursday, June 27, 2013, while payment for the successful bids should be made to your account with Central Bank of Nigeria not later than 11.00am on Thursday, June 27, 2013.

The Bank reserves the right to vary the amount on offer in line with market realities prevailing as at the period of auction of the Nigerian Treasury bills.

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES OFFICE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA ABUJA.

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Business Finance

West Africa piracy overtakes Somali ship attacks FRANCIS EZEM

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iracy off the coast of West Africa has now overtaken Somali piracy, a report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and other seafarers’ groups says.

It says 966 sailors were attacked in West Africa in 2012, compared with 851 off the Somali coast.

West African pirates mostly steal fuel cargo and the crews’ possessions, often resorting to extreme violence.

Five of the 206 hostages seized last year off West Africa have been killed, the document says.

The report monitored on BBC also says that maritime piracy off West Africa differs from that off Somalia and may eventually prove harder to deal with.

In the Somali Basin there is a

large concentration of patrolling warships - from the US Navy 5th Fleet, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the European Union and others - as well as reconnaissance aircraft, all acting in coordination. But in the Gulf of Guinea there is not one but several national coastlines to patrol with no single unified policing body.

Somali pirates generally aim to capture a ship with minimum casualties then hold the vessel, its crew and cargo to ransom for millions of dollars, sometimes for as long as two years. West African pirates tend to be land-based criminals, mostly from Nigeria, who look to steal the cargo and any valuables they can find in a quick grab-and-dash operation, often staying onboard for less than a week.

International efforts to tackle piracy off West Africa have been

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 slow to take effect.

The report, entitled The Human Cost of Maritime Piracy 2012, was released by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP).

It says that despite the growing number of pirate attacks in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea region “the area has not received the attention that was brought to Somalia”.

Pirates typically target fuel cargo, selling it on the lucrative black market.

“In Nigeria, money moves quite quickly, unlike in Somalia,” one seafarer is quoted as saying in the document.

“In Somalia, it would take months. In Nigeria, the pirates take our (oil) cargo and the money of the shipping company. It would take only weeks, it is quite fast.”

The highest risk area for pirate activity in West Africa is off the coast of Nigeria, by far the biggest country, and oil producer, in the region.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

SON goes tough on sub-standard products WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

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he Standards Organisation of Nigeria, (SON) has said in Ilorin that all sub-standard products in the country and their manufacturers would by the end of this year be wiped out with serious sanctions against their agents.

Director General of the Organization, Dr, Joseph Odumodu made this known in Ilorin, Kwara State on Tuesday while giving an award to a pharmaceutical firm for excelling in its productions which were said to meet standard.

Odumosu said the health hazard fake products are constituting to the; [populace of this country had drawn grave concerns to the agency which is prompting this aggressive action.

Odumodu also warned

SITA keeps mum over court order on Maevis OLUSEGUN KOIKI

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arely 24 hours after the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos described the agreement between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and the Societe International Telecommunication Aeronautiques, SITA, illegal and ordered the latter to pay the sum of N5bn compensation to Maevis Nigeria Limited, SITA has suddenly become unreachable.

When National Mirror visited the office of the company yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, L-R: Principal, Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted Children, Sister Jane Onyeneri; Stu- Lagos, nobody was on hand to dents of the school, Tosin Olalere and Jacob Abednego and Chief Information Officer, MTN, Mr. Molapisi Charles, during the donation of Desktop PCs, Braille books by MTN as part of its annual staff volunteerism talk to our correspondent.

However, our correspondent initiative, 21 Days of Y’ello Care, in Lagos, yesterday. observed that work was going

Lagos markets remain shut in honour of Mogaji DAMILOLA AJAYI

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

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ll major markets in Lagos Metropolis were on Tuesday shut in honour of the late Abibat Mogaji who was the President-General, Association of Nigerian Market Women and Men. The development came on the heels of a partial closure which had been observed on Monday, when several markets were shut in her honour.

Mogaji, mother of a former governor of the state, Sen. Bola Tinubu, died on Saturday evening at her Ikeja residence at the age of 96.

She was buried on Sunday at a private cemetery in Ikoyi and her third day Fidau prayer was held yesterday When National Mirror visted

the popular Baolgun market on Lagos Island yesterday, all shops were closed and the whole area was looking deserted.

Despite the closure however, some shop owners were seen selling their wares discreetly as they took customers indeed their shops to trade.

According to a footwear dealer who identified himself simply as John said he closed his shop because he heard that all shops should be closed apart from offices around the area.

Also, Mrs Nneka Akpan a cloth seller whose shop was closed but stood outside to call customers said she had to come out because she couldn’t stay at home because she needed the money but has not made sales since she opened.

This also affected food vendors.

They couldn’t cook because they couldn’t get food stuffs apart from

those who had gotten it before the announcement. This left many people hungry throughout the whole day.

“I couldn’t get meat and food stuffs to buy that why i was not able to cook today” said a food vendor, said Mrs Jemila Oyetunde.

A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited some major markets in the metropolis also reports that all shops and stalls were locked.

The usual throng of customers at the Rauf Aregbesola Market, Iyana Ipaja, was completely absent as only a couple of traders were seen standing in front of their locked shops.

One of the traders, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that she was at the market, not for business, but to keep an appointment with a family friend.

manufacturers across the country to endeavour to get all their products registered with MANCAP even as he assured Nigerians of the total commitment of SON in the struggle to ensure sanity in the manufacturing sector of the economy.

He who was represented at the ceremony where a revalidation certificate was presented to Ayo-Ayodele Pharmaceutical industry by the Kwara State Head of the organization, Mr. Musbau Popoola said: “Among the over 400 industries in Kwar State, I am happy to inform you that Ayo-Ayodele is outstanding among all.”

He urged Nigerians to always watch out for the NIS mark which indicates the genuinely and authenticity of both consumable and non-consumable products in the market before use.

on as usual at the SITA office, contrary to the order of the court.

When our correspondent probed further and insisted he must speak to someone on the issue, a staff who could only be identified as G. Orukotan through his identity card said that the international office of the concessionaire to FAAN was just an implementation office, adding that no one in the office was authorised to speak to the media.

Orukotan, however, directed our correspondent to FAAN’s headquarters in Lagos.

At FAAN, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Yakubu Dati could not be reached as calls made to his mobile phone was not responded to.

Cashless: E-PPAN hosts payment summit for MDAs KUNLE A ZEEZ

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s part of measures to deepen the infusion of cashless transaction initiative in government, the EPayment Providers Association of Nigeria said it has concluded arrangement to host the second annual e-Payment summit for government ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs. The E-payment for Government Summit 2013 themed “E-Payment: A Step Forward in Government Efficiency” is billed to hold at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja next month.

Announcing this in a statement, the Chief executive Officer, E-PPAN, Mrs. Onajite Regha, said the forum is an in-

vitation-only event for only the most senior government officials from the MDAs of all tiers of government and the private sector.

“It is an innovative initiative of E-PPAN designed to drive the efficiency of Government services through e-payment systems. Resting on the resounding success of the maiden edition, this year’s event will focus on the strategy of aligning people, policies and technology to further assist the government to deliver fast, secure, efficient and fully transparent services to its citizenry,” she said.

Regha explained further that the summit provides an avenue for fostering dialogue among providers of electronic payment, the regulators and public officers.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Energy Week

udemea@rocketmail.com 07031546994

Nigeria, OPEC, disagree with oil importing nations over green tax For the past few months, major oil importing nations have called for increased imposition of green tax in many economies.

UDEME AKPAN, who has been following the trend, reports that the stage is set for battle as producers and exporters, including Nigeria are not keeping mute.

Gas flaring

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t was Nigeria’s first Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, the late Chief Meshack Feyide that said petroleum has become a powerful political instrument which presence or absence determines whether nations would take to war or remain at peace with their neighbours. The meaning of this aphorism has played out in many communities, states and even nations. For instance, major oil consumers have renewed their battles against producers for alleged pollution of the environment. They maintained that it is crude oil and natural gas that are responsible for the pollution of not only their respective nations but also the global community.

The petroleum importing nations that do so through the platform of International Energy Agency, IEA has launched a programme known as, “The Sustainable Energy for All initiative” to boost the development of renewable and eliminate the application of fossil fuels which they

THESE TAXES ARE LEVIED SOLELY ON OIL PRODUCTS AND ACCOUNT FOR AROUND 70 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL PRICE OF PRODUCTS SUCH AS GASOLINE AND DIESEL alleged to be responsible for pollution in different parts of the world. The Executive Director of the IEA and a member of the Advisory Board of the SE4ALL initiative, Maria van der Hoeven stated that, “The Sustainable Energy for All initiative is a rallying cry to tackle the twin crises of energy poverty and climate change, and this Global Tracking Framework is an important first response,” The importing nations whose members included: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Slovak Republic,

Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom stated that: “By measuring the scale of the challenge, it provides a crucial reference against which the partners of the SE4ALL initiative, and all of us, can track progress towards building a cleaner energy system for all. The IEA has advocated stronger action to tackle energy poverty for more than a decade as part of its World Energy Outlook, but more needs to be done to tackle the problem. It is a moral imperative and we cannot afford to ignore it.

The executive director stated that global action is required, but the nature of the challenge differs across countries and, for each of the SE4ALL goals, the report identifies 20 “high-impact” countries that are

crucial to making major progress. She stressed that: “The achievement of the SE4ALL goals requires energy investments to increase by at least $600 billion per year until 2030, compared with the level currently expected. But the costs are not spread evenly, with universal access to modern cooking needing an additional $4.4 billion per year and electricity access needing $45 billion per year, while renewables need an additional $174 billion per year and energy efficiency $394 billion per year. This investment must be accompanied by a comprehensive package of policy measures, including fiscal, financial and economic incentives, phasing out fossil-fuel subsidies, and pricing of carbon.

But oil and gas producing nations think differently. The thinking of these nations is captured by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, which members included the Islamic Republic CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

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Energy Week

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria, OPEC, disagree with oil importing nations over green tax CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon and Angola.

The organisation made it known that it is not unmindful of the environment.

For instance, the cartel maintained that it recognizes the realities of global climate change and supports comprehensive, fair and realistic efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of global energy use. It stated that the Organisation and its member countries have been active participants in the long-standing UN-sponsored negotiations on climate change since they began formally in 1992.

Specifically, the cartel stated that: “In addition, OPEC actively supports the expanded use of the existing technology of carbon, capture and storage (CCS), which has the potential to reduce emissions by 40 per cent by the middle of the century.

While several commercial CCS projects are currently underway using existing technology, there is a need to learn more about the CCS process and the different technologies that may be used. The organisation thus advocates further development of CCS technologies and where possible, in conjunction with CO2-enhanced oil recovery.

OPEC which noted that the realities of living in a carbon-constrained world have also led to changes in policy priorities in industrialised countries remarked that it supports the use of resources and technology to reduce gas flaring, which has long been recognized as an environmentally damaging activity. The cartel stated that: “OPEC member countries have already invested billions of dollars over the last few decades to pursue flared-gas recovery projects. These have included either reinjecting associated gas into oil reservoirs or ‘monetising’ associated gas through liquefaction. The net result has been a 50 per cent reduction of the amount of gas flared from each barrel produced since the early 1970s. And OPEC has continued to seek op-

Alison-Madueke

Hadiza Mailafia

Andrew Yabuku

IT STATED THAT MAKING IMPROVEMENTS TO THE QUALITY OF PRODUCTS LIKE GASOLINE AND

AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL, BY LIMITING THEIR SULPHUR CONTENT, FOR EXAMPLE, WILL SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVE AIR QUALITY portunities to form partnerships with other stakeholders — most recently becoming an active participant in the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) sponsored by the World Bank.

The organisation remarked that it OPEC supports the development of stricter product quality standards as part of overall efforts to reduce atmospheric fossil fuel emissions. It stated that making improvements to the quality of products like gasoline and automotive diesel, by limiting their sulphur content, for example, will substantially improve air quality.

It stated: “A number of Gulf countries have already introduced improved product quality specifications. However, significant additional investments — an estimated $30 billion over the next 10 years — are still needed in the region’s

refining sector to expand such quality standards. In addition, the organisation urges developed countries to shoulder the historic responsibility for the environmental impacts of industrialisation.

To this end, OPEC urges such countries to take the lead in providing cleaner oil products.

The cartel also stated that: “OPEC urges a broad reconsideration of the scope and use of “green taxes” in developed countries. Too often, these taxes are levied solely on oil products and account for around 70 per cent of the final price of products such as gasoline and diesel. Instead, OPEC believes that a more equitable and useful approach would be to adopt a pro rata tax system that levies taxes on all forms of energy — not just oil — according to their carbon content. In addition, the

revenues generated by such taxes do not specifically help the environment. Some governments use revenues to subsidise domestic coal production (which produces even more CO2 than oil).

It stated that it is committed to making funds available to support ongoing efforts to achieve cleaner and more efficient technologies in the energy field is also supported by OPEC. The cartel explained that: “At the Third OPEC Summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2007, member countries highlighted the importance of financing and promoting R&D collaboration in the petroleum industry. Collaboration with international science and technology centres, and other industry actors, was also sought. To support these goals, several OPEC member countries announced the creation of a special $750 million fund to invest in clean technology ventures. Saudi Arabia pledged $300 million while Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates pledged $150 million each.

The Secretary General of OPEC, Abdalla Salem El-Badri stressed that: “And of course, back when OPEC began the issue of the environment was not viewed as central to the energy industry.”

NEITI audit: FG orders agencies to recover $9.6bn UDEME AKPAN

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has directed all agencies affected by NEITI audit reports to recover the outstanding $9.6billion uncovered by NEITI audit reports of the Oil and Gas sector.

The president gave the directive in Abuja while receiving the Board and Management of NEITI at the State House.

Jonathan requested the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to immediately set in motion the process of reconstituting the Inter Ministerial Task Team on implementation of NEITI findings and recommendations with requisite high ranking officers with the appropriate levels of authority.

He commended NEITI for its courage, diligence and commitment to transparency and accountability in the management of the extractive sector which has resulted in the exposure of under payments and under assessments of what companies in

the sector ought to pay to the Federation coffers.

Jonathan also directed that NEITI principles and operations be fully integrated into the on-going government’s economic reform agenda.

He commended NEITI for winning the global award for Nigeria as the best implementing country of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to sustain Nigeria’s ranking by the global body.

Earlier, the Chairman of NEITI Board, Mr Ledum Mitee, called for the President’s intervention to address the funding challenges facing the organisation.

Ledum Mitee noted that, “NEITI’s budgetary provision has continued to dwindle whilst its activities remain on steady expansion and the situation has worsened to the extent that it now threatens the agency’s continued performance of its core functions” Mitee also appealed to the President to

ensure that all outstanding NEITI findings and recommendations in the extractive industry are implemented as “This would not only help a great deal in the revenue drive of this administration but would help to underline the fact that NEITI exists mostly for the purpose of helping to remedy identified gaps and not just fault finding.”

Reacting to NEITI’s presentation, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, promised to ensure that NEITI’s intervention in the extractive sector would be adequately aligned with on-going economic programmes especially on extractive revenue resources management.

She affirmed that, “NEITI’s activities and benefits are critical to government’s reform initiatives. We can no longer ignore the need to work closely with NEITI to achieve integrated approach to our economic reforms.’’

The Minister of Mines and Steel De-

velopment, Arc. Musa Mohammed Sada, said that NEITI’s outing at the recent EITI global conference in Sydney Australia was impressive. He noted that EITI provides a rare opportunity which Nigeria must explore positively in the on-going reforms. The Global Conference was a big forum where NEITI made Nigeria proud.

The Minister of Petroleum Mrs Deziani Allison-Madueke who was also at the meeting commended NEITI for the quality of its work and engagements in the industry and called for closer cooperation with her ministry and affiliate parastatals. She welcomed NEITI’s sustained interest in the Petroleum Industry Bill.

Other notable government functionaries present at the meeting were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Director General Budget Office of the Federation, Dr Bright Okogwu and Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Mike Ogiadome.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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OPEC daily basket price hits $101.64 per barrel

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he price of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC basket of 12 crudes has risen from $100.93 to $101.64 per barrel, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The new price recorded over the weekend which showed an increase of 71 cents was attributed to an increase in demand for crude at the global market.

The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

Market watchers said the development has raised hope for the generation of adequate foreign exchange which exporting nations, including Nigeria need to execute their 2013 budgets.

Despite the threat of increasing oil production in some nations, especially United States and China, the prices of crude oil continue to rise at the market.

There are indications that prices would likely remain stable in the coming months. For instance, OPEC has predicted that: “World economic growth is forecast at 3.2per cent in 2013, following growth of 3.0 per cent in the previous year, unchanged from the last report. The US housing and labour markets continue to show a recovery, but given persistent fiscal uncertainties, the US growth forecast for 2013 remains unchanged at 1.8per cent.

It stated that Japan’s forecast has been revised to 1.1per cent from 0.8per cent, on support from recent monetary stimulus. The Euro-zone’s forecast remains unchanged, with an

El Badri

expected contraction of 0.5per cent.

The cartel has it that slowing exports have impacted China’s economy and growth has been revised to 8.0per cent from 8.1per cent, while India’s forecast is unchanged at 6.0per cent. A fragile recovery in the global economy has been visible since the beginning of the year, but momentum has started slowing again and growth risks are skewed to the downside.

The organisation stated that: “World oil demand growth in 2013 remains unchanged from the previous report at 0.8 mb/d, broadly in line with the estimate for 2012. However, the performance of the first quarter of this year has been revised down based on actual data. A large portion of the growth is seen coming from China, with a 0.4 mb/d increase.

It also stated that the other non-OECD countries are expected to add some 0.8 mb/d, with the Middle East region accounting for around 0.3 mb/d, followed by Other Asia and Latin America with growth of about 0.2 mb/d each. In contrast, OECD demand is ex-

pected to see a contraction of around 0.4 mb/d, which is slightly less than in 2012.

The cartel stated that Non-OPEC supply is forecast to grow by 1.0 mb/d in 2013, following an increase of 0.5 mb/d in 2012, broadly unchanged from the previous report. OECD Americas remain the driver of growth in 2013, while OECD Europe is seen experiencing the largest decline. OPEC NGLs and nonconventional oils are expected to increase by 0.2 mb/d in 2013.

It stated that: “In April, total OPEC crude oil production, according to secondary sources, was estimated to average 30.46 mb/d, an increase of 0.28 mb/d over the previous month. Product markets continued losing ground in April due to sharp declines in light and middle distillate cracks, which have been pressured by rising supplies along with weaker demand worldwide.”

UK High Commissioner makes case for energy policy UDEME AKPAN

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ritish Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Carter has said that only a robust gas policy with strong legal framework could help the country harness its abundant gas deposits.

Carter said apart from supporting the country’s power growth initiative the policy will provide the necessary framework that will ensure clement environment for operators to maximise and utilise the commodity for pure eco-

nomic value.

The envoy disclosed this in an with newsmen at a Climate Change Retreat organised by the Policy Advocacy Project Partnership on Climate Change (PAPCC) in Lagos that the monumental environmental degradation going on in the Niger Delta Region was as a result of absence of clear cut gas policy to guide utilisation of the product.

He absolved the Multi-national oil companies prospecting oil in the region from blame on the vexed issue of gas flaring stating that the country has not taken pro-active measures to address the issue.

Carter explained that even as the Inter-

national Oil Companies (OIC’s) flared the gas from their fields, government should be able to identify key economic areas where it could be put into proper use.

He said companies from United Kingdom have been encouraged to invest in small electricity generating stations to help in gas utilisation efforts but wondered if present energy policy is capable of ensuring its availability.

The deputy high commissioner lamented the quantum of gas flared in the country adding that such wasted commodity could be converted to economic development as the country needed such

Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Contract

Time(ET)

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

95.81

-0.35

-0.36%

Jun 13

09:46:01

Crude Oil (Brent)

USD/bbl.

105.61

+0.15

+0.14%

Jun 13

09:41:00

TOCOM Crude Oil

JPY/kl

62,490.00

+290.00

+0.47%

Oct 13

09:38:33

NYMEX Natural Gas

USD/MMBtu

3.99

-0.02

-0.60%

Jun 13

09:41:07

Source: Bloomberg

Source: Oilprice.com

money to provide infrastructures.

Speaking on the global climate change efforts, he acknowledged certain efforts initiated by government toward addressing climate change and reaffirmed his home government commitment toward assisting Nigeria manage its challenges.

“The UK is keen to work with you in the public and private sectors in addressing the local challenges faced due to climate change,” he assured.

He said one of the efforts was the sponsorship of a Nigerian delegation by the UK Trade and Investment to attend the Green Technology Roadshow in London where forward looking Nigerian businesses were able to increase their knowledge.

He further said: “I’ve said that Nigeria is taking positive steps. But Nigeria shouldn’t just content itself with taking actions at home.

“This is a powerful country with one of the strongest voices in Africa. The evidence you develop here and the practice that you adopt should be shared with other African countries”.

38

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Many projects are ongoing to improve electricity supply in FCT –Umar Recently, the management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company hosted the Abuja Bureau of National Mirror.

The Chief Executive Officer; Engr. Abdulganiyu Umar spoke on challenges of electricity distribution in the FCT during the visit. Below are excerpts of the interview as recorded by CHIDI UGWU. What is the infrastructural capacity of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company in delivering the required electricity to the ever growing city of Abuja?

The Abuja city is rapidly growing as we all know. There is a continuous effort to expanding electricity infrastructure to meet the needs of the society. If you know the city very well, you will notice it was developed along district lines with most infrastructure put in place by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). As we speak, they are still doing some infrastructural development in some new districts that are coming up. But the challenges that we face are enormous. We have over the years done a lot to match the pace of development.

However, in some of the satellite areas of the Federal Capital, we are not really matching the pace of development because the developments in satellite areas are not structured. They are spontaneous and rapid. So, those are the areas that we truly have challenges.

If you have been here long enough, of course you know that the FCT has three angles of satellite development. For instance, you have the Karu, Kubwa and then Gwagwalada axis. It is good to go back into history. Most of those places used to feed right from the city.

The first one that got some kind of independence is Kubwa when we got a transmission station there. We were able to increase the capacity of our equipment. From there, we took out lines, high tensions, 33KV lines to build some injection sub-stations in that area.

Right now, the same case of development is going on towards Karu axis. We have recently commissioned a new 2x60MVA transmission station there. A number of injection sub-stations have been put in place to take the power infrastructure closer to the people. Of course, we need to distribute transformers to match the pace development because like I said, the population density in these areas is quite high.

So, we are trying to match the pace of development. We have gotten a lot of assistance from the Federal Government and other stakeholders, especially the World Bank. A lot of work has been done.

But more work still need to be done.

The last is Gwagwalada axis where we are also lucky we have some expansion programmes there.

You are aware that through the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) and Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), we have a new line that has come in from Geregu Power Station as an alternative

it at a steady level so that when our new partners come, they will just take it to the next level. That is what we want to do. Yes, there are challenges but they are not insurmountable. There are financial and budgetary challenges but we have received a lot of help. Like I always say, you need to look back in time to see where we are coming from to know whether we have made progress. It is not sufficient to say we do not have enough.

Yes, we do not have enough. But we have made progress.

Umar

feed into Abuja. The main 330KV substation that will be in that Gwagwalada is under construction as we speak. We expect that God willing, by the fourth quarter of this year that station should be energised. Of course, there are some other downstream sub-stations that are also being built to bring power into the city and guarantee security of supply.

So, work is going on. That last cluster will get a major relief when those stations eventually get energised. When this becomes a reality, areas like Kuje, Kwali, Abaji will experience almost instantaneous improvement. Right now, they are not where we want them to be.

They are not enjoying the stability that others enjoy. But in a short while, they will experience improvement because a lot of projects are going on to improve supply.

There were complaints some time ago that some parts of Karu experienced shortfall in power supply, is it still persisting?

I will urge you to make enquiries. Up to middle of last year, it was really bad.

We could hardly guarantee six hours of continuous supply in Karu axis. But right now, we have gone beyond that.

Consequently, supply has improved tremendously because we have 2x60MVA transmission station. We used to have only one line from Apo transmission going towards Karu, which could only take only 20mw. Now, we have 2x60MVA transmission station.

We have dramatically changed the architecture of that place. So, supply has improved. However, like I told you earlier, there are certain clusters where we still need to provide small distribution transformers in order to fill certain areas that are having over load. Aside from the medium voltage injection substation that are under construction, we have about three injections sub-stations

WE HAVE GOTTEN A LOT OF ASSISTANCE FROM THE

FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT AND

OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, ESPECIALLY THE

WORLD BANK. A LOT OF WORK HAS BEEN DONE.

BUT MORE

WORK STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE that are under construction right now.

We hope that before the end of the third quarter we will commission them. That will bring more relief for consumers.

Electricity business is without doubt capital intensive, what has been your challenge in terms of finance?

Well, I started by explaining that Abuja is a rapidly growing city so it is not like every other city. The pace of development is quite rapid. If you step out of Karu going towards Mararaba, they are basically in Nasarawa State.

But, it is still part of our business area.

From Karu up to Keffi now is almost one contiguous area of development.

You can hardly see any open space any longer. That tells you that something is happening. That means that we need to do a lot more.

The Federal Government has over the past four years been supporting us with budgetary provisions except this year which we did not get. But some other assistance is coming to enable us keep up the level of supply we are giving to customers. This is because we do not want to transit in such a manner that everything is crashing. We want to keep

How did you manage to sustain the tempo without budgetary allocation?

We are doing our best in the present circumstances. We are doing the most we can and we are getting support in so many other ways. The reason government is offering to sell electricity firms is to bring in investors. Government is like a father that has so many children; it has a lot of responsibilities. So, it believes either that it required additional investment or that it is best managed by the private sector. That is what the whole power sector reform is about. So, when these people come, it is going to be like a baton exchange. They will continue from where we stopped. All we want is for our people to have electricity in a stable, affordable and a predictable manner.

How has security challenges affected your operations?

For us, we are lucky in Abuja and its environs. We do not have too many security breaches. However, we do have challenges with people tampering with facilities even in their neighbourhood.

People have gone to cart away cables from our sub-stations. What we generally term as network vandalism. I would use this opportunity to appeal to the public to be vigilant because we cannot be everywhere at all times. I mean, we cannot be at substations somewhere in Mararaba or even in Karu watching over the substations all the time. So, people need to exercise a little bit of vigilance so that when vandals are doing things that are unwholesome, they will ask questions.

This is because we hardly have enough to go round let alone replacing the equipment vandalised by some hoodlums. We also need the media to help sustain this campaign against network vandalism. Also, quite a lot of people are doing well in terms of payment for services but a lot more need to be done.

Electricity is not cheap business it is a very important part of our national life.

So, people should take it seriously and pay for what they consume. Some think it is smart to cut corners but it is not smart to bypass meters or tamper with meter. But in all honesty, a lot of people are very responsible.

We need to give kudos to our citizens that are diligently striving to pay their bills. Our pledge is that we will always be there to provide services and where we have difficulties sometimes we challenge our managers to visit consumers and explain issues to them. We also use the radio, pamphlets and public address systems to reach consumers.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Lawmakers plan to strengthen Local Content Act UDEME AKPAN

T

he House of Representatives has unveiled plans to strengthen the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act and help to create an enabling environment for partnership and business growth.

Chairman of House Committee on Local Content, Mr. Asita O Asita, made this disclosure recently at an investment forum hosted by Shell and the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI), as part of their effort to forge partnership among businesses in the two countries.

He explained that the Nigerian Content Development is a programme that is close to the heart of the committee and that they want to see Nigeria move from being a consuming nation to a producing nation.

“We import almost everything, and this local content board is the catalyst required to drive manufacturing and participation of Nigerians in the manufacturing sector. We wish we had started much earlier,” he said.

Asita assured that the committee would support the policy in ensuring more indigenous participation in the Nigeria oil and gas industry.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr. Ernest Nwapa, commended Shell for the “sustained interest in the Nigeria/UKTI investment forum.

“Since the first summit, we’ve seen a significant number of companies participating at the event and we hope they will focus on areas that will improve their capability. It is good to see that other International Oil Companies are beginning to follow Shell’s example by organising similar engagements,” he said.

Nwapa said since the Nigerian Con-

T

Frequently asked questions When was the EPSR Act, 2005 enacted?

The Electricity Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 was enacted on March 11th 2005.

The Act is the legal framework through which government intends to address the country’s power problems to ensure that power is adequate, safe, reliable and affordable.

Why the need for Power Sector Reform?

Oil workers at work

tent Law was passed three years ago, the nation oil industry has not been the same again, adding that so many milestones have been achieved.

He lauded the huge support the board had received both from the executive and legislative arms of government which according to him, had boosted its effectiveness in regulating local content development and enforcing compliance of the law by operators in the nation oil and gas sector.

Nigeria, he said, would soon join the league of big industrialised and producing nations when the industrial parks being planned by the board comes on stream.

Nwapa, explained that the board would collaborate with major operators, service companies and relevant state governments to build industrial parks to support operations of the industry and help achieve service efficiency through shared services.

He listed other benefits of the industrial park concept to include the reduction of start-up investment cost for new business, stakeholders’ collaboration and industry commitment to utilise manufactured products from the parks.

The parks are expected to host manufacturing activities driven by the oil and gas industry demand, and service other sectors of the economy as they grow organically into integrated industrial zones.

Welcoming participants, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Chike Onyejekwe, said Shell is committed to further developing local content in Nigeria.

Last year, Shell companies in Nigeria awarded contracts worth $2.4 billion to Nigerian companies, one billion dollar more than the amount in 2011. “Local content is good for Nigeria and for the business and we’re determined to raise the game,” he added.

Cartel forecasts 3.2 per cent economic growth in June he global economic growth for the month of June has been forecast at 3.2 per cent. The Organisation of petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, that made the forecast in its June, 2013 report stated that projections remained unchanged.

The cartel stated that: “World economic growth is forecast at 3.2per cent for 2013, unchanged from the previous month, although with some revisions to the individual forecasts. Japan’s forecast has been revised higher to 1.5per cent from 1.1 per cent amid ongoing stimulus efforts.

It stated that the Euro-zone’s challenges continue, with the forecast now showing a deeper contraction of 0.6per cent, although a recovery is expected for later in the year.

The organisation stated that while the possibility of some adjustment in the Fed’s monetary stimulus exists, the recovery in the US housing and labour markets has been positive and GDP growth for 2013 remains unchanged at 1.8per cent.

It maintained that China has been impacted by decelerating activity and growth has been revised to 7.9 per cent from 8.0per cent, while India’s forecast is unchanged at 6.0per cent.

39

The institution stated that: “While the global economic momentum has started slowing recently, some rebound is currently forecast for the second half of the year.

World oil demand is expected to increase by 0.8 mb/d in 2013, in line with the growth seen last year. The forecast remains unchanged from the previous report, despite a downward revision to the first quarter due to actual data. In the non-OECD, oil consumption is projected to grow by 1.2 mb/d, slightly lower than last year.

It stated that China is seen continuing to grow at 0.4 mb/d, the Middle East at 0.3 mb/d, and Other Asia and Latin America regions at 0.2 mb/d each. In contrast, OECD demand is expected to see a contraction of 0.4 mb/d, although a slight improvement over 2012.

The cartel stated that Non-OPEC oil supply growth is projected at 1.0 mb/d in 2013, unchanged from the last report, supported by strong anticipated growth from the US. It maintained that estimated non-OPEC supply growth in 2012 stands at 0.5 mb/d.

OPEC NGLs and nonconventional oils are expected to average 5.9 mb/d in 2013, a gain of 0.2 mb/d over the previous year.

The organisation stated that in May, OPEC crude oil production averaged 30.57 mb/d, according to secondary sources, an increase of 106 tb/d over last month.

It stated that: “Product markets exhibited a mixed performance in May. The top of the barrel strengthened slightly, with gasoline demand beginning to show signs of snapping out of its spring slump.

The cartel stated that the improvement in the top was not enough to offset losses at the middle of the barrel, as distillate demand remained weak, thus preventing any upward movement in refinery margins.

It maintained that; “Overall, the summer demand season has been off to a slow start on both sides of the Atlantic. In the tanker market, dirty spot freight rates were mixed in May. Average VLCC rates have increased for both eastern and western destinations, mainly as a result of the end of the refinery maintenance. Meanwhile, average Suezmax and Aframax rates declined from a month earlier.

OPEC stated that the demand for OPEC crude in 2013 is forecast at 29.8 mb/d, unchanged from the previous report and 0.4 mb/d lower than last year.

The history of electricity in Nigeria is well known. It is generally inadequate, unavailable in most rural communities, and unreliable where available. Prior to the reforms in the Power Sector, the industry was a monopoly run by a single government owned utility company handling generation, transmission and distribution of electricity? Over the years, this single utility company had metamorphosed in name from Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), to Nigerian Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and finally, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). To address the power problems, a provision of the Act has further broken down the business of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the country into 18 separate entities made up of 11 Distribution companies, six Generation companies and one Transmission company.

What is NERC and when was it established?

NERC is The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. The Electric Power Reform Sector Act, 2005 gave birth to the Commission. This is an independent watchdog and regulatory body for the power industry and was inaugurated on October 31st 2005.

What is the mandate of NERC? The Commission was created to oversee the orderly reform of the electricity industry and mandated as follows: To Ensure adequate, safe, reliable and affordable electricity to all consumers.

What effort is NERC making to protect consumers as well as the Electricity Sector?

The Commission has established the following consumer protection measures: Customer Complaints Handling Standards and Procedures; Connections and Disconnections Procedures for Electricity Services; Customer Service Standards for Distribution companies and Meter Reading; Cash Collection and Credit Management for electricity supply.

The Commission has embarked on a public enlightenment campaign titled ‘Power Consumer Assembly’ to enlighten consumers on their rights and obligations.

The Commission has established a Health and Safety Standard Manual and has approved and established a Grid, Distribution and Metering Code to ensure standards and safety in the sector.

Market rules have been developed The Commission’s oversight function is fully operational.

What are the individual rights of consumers?

The right to safety The right to basic need.

The right to be informed CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

40

Energy Week

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Forte Oil introduces new lubricant, plans refinery UDEME AKPAN

T

he supply of lubricants in the nation has been boosted as a major oil marketing company has introduced a new lubricant known as Synth 10000 into the market.

Forte Oil, the producer of the product stated that the lubricant is a leading brand in the domestic market.

The Chief Group Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa who confirmed the development in Lagos said the product which has already been tested would be launched in August this year.

Akinfemiwa who stated that the present management has grown the company from its pre loss era to the present profit making status said the product would be well distributed in all parts of the nation.

He said Forte Oil has been known for its performance and innovation. Our customers have come to rely on our advanced technology in lubricants production and services for their automotive and industrial lubricants application.

He said Forte Oil manufactures and distributes a wide range of lubricants at the Lubricating Oil Blending Plant at Apapa, Lagos which is capable of producing up to 50,000 metric tons of about 100 different grades of lubricating oils yearly.

The Chief Group Executive Officer said Forte Oil Plc sells refined petroleum products (PMS, AGO, HHK, LUBES) to the general public through an expansive network of retail outlets.

Frequently asked questions CONTINUED FROM 40 The right to choose The right to be heard The right to redress The right to consumer education The right to a healthy environment

What are the rights of electricity consumers?

Fuel tanker

He said four geographical regions South-West (Apapa, Lagos), South-East (Port Harcourt), North-East (Kano), North-West (Abuja) - have been created to effectively supervise the managements/dealerships of Forte Oil’s well over 500 (Five Hundred) Retail Outlets classed into Service and Filling Stations across Nigeria.

The company boss said the firm also delivers marine supplies/sales to petroleum upstream companies, and sells full range of petroleum products to all business concerns, government agencies and multilateral organisations.

He said the firm also involved in aircraft refueling and defueling operations dates back to 1959 when it operated as Air BP. Akinfemiwa said in line with our vision to continuously deliver unbeatable

services and benefits to our customers and stakeholders, Forte Oil has strengthened its LPG business with the installation of fully automated modern and movable LPG filling plants in Lagos, Abuja and Benin, in addition to the existing carousel plants in Kano and Port Harcourt which would soon be modernised.

He said that: “We have also commenced installations of LPG skid plants and auto gas dispensers in key outlets in Lagos and Abuja. Forte Oil is bouncing back into the mainstream of the bitumen business with the recent completion of the 5,000-metric tonne bitumen storage plant.”

The company boss stated that Forte Oil was also planning to establish a new refinery to further boost availability of petroleum products in all parts of the nation.

NEITI supports PIB passage into law

T

he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), welcomes with excitement the commencement of deliberations on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly.

NEITI stated that it notes with interest that while the Bill has passed the first, second readings and has progressed to the Committee stage at the Senate, the House of Representatives has also shown equal commitment by setting up a special ad-hoc committee to facilitate legislative proceedings on the Bill.

It stated that as an agency set up to, among other things, enthrone transparency, accountability, and good governance in the extractive sector, especially the oil and gas industry, NEITI has a legitimate interest in the PIB in view of the strategic importance of the Bill to implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Nigeria in particular and execution of NEITI mandate under the NEITI Act 2007 in general.

The agency stated that as soon as the Bill was sent to the National Assembly, NEITI conveyed a National Stakeholders Forum in Lagos in September, 2012 to provide opportunity for companies, investors, legislators, government, CSOs and general public to freely discuss the content of the Bill.

It stated that the deliberations at the Forum and other fundamental steps taken by NEITI influenced its position on the PIB

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Executive Secretary, Ahmed

which has been comprehensively articulated in NEITI’s memorandum to the National Assembly.

The agency stated that NEITI’s memorandum was submitted to National Assembly on Thursday March, 2013. In our submission, important areas of the PIB such as institutional, governance and regulatory frameworks, award and acreages management, environmental issues, fiscal responsibility, financial provisions, public procurement issues under the new law were highlighted as they weighed on the scale of transparency, accountability and good governance.

It stated that its memo to the National Assembly also covered other issues such as metering system, contract management as well as an indepth analysis of the

fiscal provisions in the draft legislation.

The agency stated that: “It is the hope of NEITI that its submission will provide crucial facts, information and data required by the National Assembly to make best decisions on the Bill as outlined in our recommendations. NEITI is set, ready and willing to defend its positions with a formal presentation during the public hearing on the PIB. It stated that it considered the PIB as a very important Bill which must be guided to provide solid foundation, sound regulatory, structural, commercial and fiscal frameworks for optimal operations in the oil and gas sector.

The agency stated that: “NEITI is therefore pushing for the emergence of a Petroleum Industry Law that will promote good governance, fiscal regime that meets international standards as well as guarantee increased revenue flows to the federation.

It also stated that: “NEITI looks forward to a Petroleum Industry Law that reflects the principles and spirit of openness, fair play, healthy competition, efficiency, professionalism and prudent resources management. Our expectation is that the new Law should help Nigeria overcome the resource-curse syndrome common to most resource rich-countries and move Nigeria from oil exporting-importing to an oil producing, processing and exporting country.”

Right to Electric Services Right to Accurate Electric Meter Right to Refund when Over billed Right to Properly Installed Meter Right to Prompt Investigation of Complaints Right to Information; Scheduled Power Interruption.

Right to Transparent Billing Right to Due Process Prior to Disconnection of Electric Service Right to be Notified Prior to Disconnection Right to Reconnection of Electric Service Right to file Complaints before NERC

What are the obligations of electricity consumers?

Pay bills for electricity consumed Pay security deposit requested by the Disco and other requirements for connection stipulated by NERC Vigilant protection of Electrical Installations Cordiality towards electricity workers Customer (User) compliance to the requirements of the Distribution code

What redress mechanisms are available to consumers?

The Commission has established a procedure to ensure that customer complaints are expeditiously treated by the Distribution Companies. The requirement now is that at minimum, each Distribution Company must set up a window to address customer issues, known as Customer Care Unit (CCU).

Customer Care Units (CCU) of the Distribution Companies are now responsive to the complaints of consumers. The new initiative of the Commission to create a customer service attitude in the sector is paying off.

In addition, the Commission has established a Forum for hearing and resolving customer complaints on appeal in the operational area of every Distribution Licensee. A complainant must first report any grievance to the Customer Complaints Unit (CCU) of the Distribution Company before bringing such unresolved complaints to the Forum.

What does the Commission say about the issue of estimated or crazy bills?

The Commission has addressed estimated billing by working with the industry on the minimum number of months or period within which one can continue to receive estimated billing. The Commission’s Regulation on Standards of Performance for Distribution Companies 1.10 stipulates three months or 90 days after which the Utility Firm must find every means possible to read the meter for actual energy consumed if the premises is metered.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

41

42

Executive Discourse

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Maritime sector capable of generating The Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) Oron , Mr Joshua Okpo, in this interview with UDO ONYEKA, speaks on the mandate of the academy and the contribution of the institution to the economic development of the country, among other issues. Excerpts: Aside funding, what do you view as most challenging aspect of the job since you came on board as rector?

First of all, the basic challenge I encountered running the academy was the challenge of bringing peace to bear on that land because when there was no peace I was brought in and if there would not be peace then, I have to leave. But since it became a big challenge I have to do my best to bring about peace.

It is not by my power, neither is it by my might. I ensured that the management staff was increased from five to 39 to give room for everybody from head of units to head of department, directors of school to have a say collectively on how the academy is run. There was the urgent need to ensure that the immediate operating environment will be at peace with the town in order to foster conducive environment teaching and learning. When the academic environment became a theatre of war when blood was spilled, when finger nails were cut off, those things will not allow education to thrive.

Today, the academy is a safe place, the workers are safer, construction work is going on, and the casual labourers from various communities are working together, eating together and worshipping together.

We re-strategised by encouraging the community.

We give scholarships as part of efforts to assist the community, we provide transformers for electricity, and we try to provide jobs for them by awarding contracts too.

On the issue of admission, emphasis is on quality, not numbers. Right now, we have evolved a style of admission strictly based on available space. We cannot take more than what we can confidently manage because with the upgrading in place there is no classroom that an instructor in nautical school, for example will be coming to train more than four cadets on the simulator at a time. If you are having twenty cadets on one simulator training session, none of the foreign instructor will take the academy seriously. If you take the marine engineers for example, you cannot put more than ten in a class but when National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) says 20 and you are putting a hundred and twenty in class is very wrong and this is not acceptable and the best thing to do is to stop such acts of low quality crowd now.

How would you rate the response of NIMASA to the 5 per cent remittance for the academy?

On the issue of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) 5 per cent for the academy, I want to use this medium to say that I am grateful to the present Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi. I am grateful to him because I have never worked with any other D,G. since I was I appointed as rector of the school and from history, MAN Oron has never had it so good. We in the academy are very grateful. I keep saying that without Akpobolokemi and his management, the story you are hearing today, would not have been heard.

How do you hope to address the issue of sea time for the cadets of the academy?

We decided to pursue the problem of the mariners, because in the academy, the core mandate is how to train the mariners that is the nautical science and marine engineering cadets. We have initiated our move to get employed onboard ships in Europe and South Africa and what we are doing for now is to engage a consultant Messrs Bramah to en-

WE ARE GOING TO PAY ABOUT N8 TO N9 MILLION FOR EACH OF THE CADETS FOR A

18 MONTHS FOR THE SEA TIME. WITH THAT, PERIOD OF

WE WILL HANDLE THE ISSUE OF SEA TIME CHALLENGE FOR OUR CADETS.

ALTHOUGH WE

HAVE MADE PROPOSALS TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR

CONTRIBUTION, BUT THAT HAS NOT BEEN MET AND WE ARE OPTIMISTIC ON THE POSSIBLE TAKE OFF OF THE PROJECT.

able us get the cadets practically trained, about 100 mariners from nautical science cadets and 150 from marine engineering departments are to go onboard vessels. We are going to pay about N8 to N9 million for each of the cadets for a period of 18 months for the sea time. With that, we will handle the issue of the sea time challenge for our cadets.

Although we have made proposals to the government for their contribution but that has not been met and we are optimistic on the possible take off of the project.

However, in our own initiative we have decided on our own on the issue of sea time for our cadets.

We are talking with some of the shipping companies we have good relationship with to help us by granting our cadets sea time because management has decided that we are going to commit some internally generated funds and revenue to start a programme whereby the best and brightest ten or 20 mariners are given the opportunity on board sea going vessels.

I have not mentioned cadets from electrical engineers. I have been given the concept that since the academy cadets have been regimented that they (ship owners) will prefer them to join on board their ships for them not to suffer any form of piracy and that the place they will love to come and train is maritime academy.

Though we have been arguing on the price because they said N9 million and they also said that the money is not meant to pay the ship owners rather the money is meant to sustain the cadets, their upkeep and their working materials then pay a stipend to the consultant. The ship owners out of their free will, are willing to ensure that they give them stipends to maintain the palliatives. Some of them have to restructure their cabins to accommodate the cadets and that is why for a ship to give you space or take onboard 150 cadets especially when it is a cargo vessel, you will know the sacrifice that stakeholders have done and if we can train them for 18 months for sea competence then they can now go for their captaincy because the certificate we issue will be accepted worldwide. So that the issue of training Nigerian cadets will be a thing of the past, now the quality we are yearning is the one we want govern-

Okpo

ment to fund but for government to be convinced we are going to use our little resources maybe N15 million and see how we can start the project, monitor it and ensure that as it is working we can now communicate that we have put things in place.

What is the nature of admission into MAN Oron?

When you want to admit you place advert and by September 2013, we are going to do another to start another program for the upper session because this session is to start on the 23rd of June.

We have five courses that we offer at national diploma and higher diploma levels, the maritime transport, nautical science, marine and electrical engineering, boat and ship building technology and we have post graduate program for marine engineering and maritime transport.

After we have advertised, those that applied would be invited for entrance examination. We have seven centers nationwide. We have centres in Abuja, Yola, Calabar and Enugu. We also have in Kano, Lagos and Oron. In the entrance examination we have up to 7,500 persons that applied. We bring examiners from selected institutions such as from the sector such as Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy. We layemphasis on the quality of youths we get admitted to ensure that the right standard of academics and moral discipline are sustained and that social vices such as taking of hard drugs, hooliganism and cultism do not find their way into the institution.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Executive Discourse

43

jobs for the youths - Okpo

WE LAY EMPHASIS ON THE QUALITY OF YOUTHS WE GET ADMITTED TO ENSURE THAT THE RIGHT STANDARD OF ACADEMICS AND MORAL DISCIPLINE ARE SUSTAINED AND THAT SOCIAL VICES SUCH AS TAKING OF HARD DRUGS, HOOLIGANISM AND CULTISM DO NOT FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE INSTITUTION.

You have a ship and boat building and maintenance programme.What is the academy doing in ensuring that ships are built in the country?

We are working on a new curriculum- boat building technology, which is a new initiative as naval architecture. This area requires a lot of skill and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders and we are ready to partner with them to achieve this. We need to interface with other jetties, to interface with power and steel sector, we need to interface with the NNPC, and we also need to collaborate with ship owners because in our own view some people find it difficult to interface but it takes two to tangle.

For instance, when the academy wanted to go to Malmo for affiliation we know that the academy cannot do it alone, so we went to the Ministry of Transport. The Minister of Transport insisted that for us to get the best out of World Maritime University, we must first identify with the International Maritime Organisation(IMO). So in this direction, we are working stakeholders and we must follow due process and that anything that will give a boost

to manpower development must be done through collective effort. We are working with all necessary agencies to achieve this collective goal.

All effort must be put in to develop Nigeria because Nigeria cannot work if we don’t have a synergy and that is the way it should go.

How would the cadets face the issue of unemployment. Do you prepare them for this challenge?

First of all, look at the population of Nigeria as very important to answer that question. What is our population? When you look at our shoreline through the Gulf of Guinea from Senegal to Gabon, you will agree with me that there are a lot of economic activities going on there. There are so many things happening there, the fishing industry alone is such that can create a good market. So if one can bring that aspect up and now have about 5000 people that have sea competence or captains that can command vessels. I can tell you that one single policy that Nigeria will make by asking NNPC to insist that before any vessel is allowed to carry Nigerian cargo, such vessel must provide jobs for our indig-

enous maritime professionals, by having Nigerian seafarers onboard.

Then, you will see that the stakeholders will be rushing after Nigerians and we will provide the backing. What we are doing is that we have refused to build the capacity to fill the competency requirement that will increase our acceptability. Let us give credit to Chief Isaac Jolapamo for his efforts in this direction. He has stood firmly for the call for a training- ship of the academy, he has stood firmly for the graduates of maritime academy and he has been at the forefront of that crusade and I want Nigerians to commend him because he has been a father and a mentor.

The parallel existence of Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme run by NIMASA and the training of cadets in MAN appears conflicting, what is your reaction to that?

This is like asking yourself why there is more than one security outfit in Nigeria. We are talking about how they can put energy together to make sure that we train Nigerian cadets adequately. NIMASA seafarers’ development programme is also concerned with how to get cadet, our Nigerian cadets abroad for sea time after formal training. As we speak, NIMASA does not own any ship yet, if they expect to send cadets abroad for sea time as a way of development, nothing stops a state government in Nigeria from doing same by sending its own people abroad for sea time to lessen the burden on NIMASA, in that regard, NIMASA, has done well and we are trying to do well too. It is not conflicting or contradictory, it is rather complimentary. The more, the better for our youths and the country.

44

Global Business

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

China’s recovery falters as manufacturing growth cools

C

hina’s manufacturing is expanding at a slower pace this month on weakness in global and domestic demand, fueling concern that the world’s second-biggest economy is faltering.

The preliminary reading of 50.5 for a Purchasing Managers’ Index (EC11CHPM) released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compared with a final 51.6 for March. The number was also below the median 51.5 estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 11 analysts.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

China’s stocks slumped as the data provided further evidence of an economic slowdown after weaker-thanestimated numbers for gross domestic product last week prompted banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to cut full-year forecasts. In Washington, central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said April 20 that a 7.7 percent first-quarter expansion was reasonable and “normal,” highlighting reduced expectations after 10 percent- plus rates during the past decade.

“This paints a picture of a continued painfully slow recovery for China’s

manufacturing sector,” said Yao Wei, a Societe Generale SA economist based in Hong Kong. “The government needs to help translate the easy liquidity conditions into real growth.”

President Xi Jinping’s officials are grappling with constraints on export demand, property-market overheating, the risks associated with a surge in socalled shadow banking, and weakness in consumption because of a campaign to rein in official perks such as spending on banquets.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.6 percent, the biggest decline in three weeks.

Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted for a 15th month in April as the currency bloc struggled to emerge from a recession, a report showed yesterday. In the U.S., the Commerce Department is forecast to report new home sales improved in March, a Zhou Xiaochuan Bloomberg News survey of economists flu in Shanghai and Zhejiang and an showed.

In China, first-quarter growth slipped earthquake in Sichuan now adding to from a 7.9 percent annual pace in the fi- the challenges for officials.

“This has been a very narrowly based nal three months of last year, with bird

BOJ’s $267bn JGB buys spur record win streak

Shinzo

J

apanese government bonds are headed for the longest run of annual gains on record, buoyed by central bank purchases almost equivalent to Malaysia’s economic output.

The bonds have returned 2.1 percent

on an annualised basis in 2012, set for a ninth year of gains that’s the longest streak since at least 1986, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index shows. Ten-year yields have declined 22 basis points to 0.76 percent. U.S. Treasuries are poised to post a third annual gain with a 2 percent return, while the benchmark rate has fallen 10 basis points.

The Bank of Japan (8301)’s JGB holdings increased 22.6 trillion yen ($267 billion) in 2012 as it sought to pump funds into a deflation-plagued economy that contracted for two quarters through September 30. With incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe planning a “large-scale” extra budget to bolster growth, analysts forecast the 10-year yield will rise to 0.99 percent by the end of 2013, a Bloomberg survey shows, which would still be the third lowest globally.

“Public-works spending will kick-start the economy” under an Abe administration, said Koichi Kurose, chief economist in Tokyo at Resona Bank Ltd., which oversees about $178 billion. “But the BOJ will increase asset purchases to keep a lid on borrowing costs.”

Spanish unemployment to swell as public jobs vanish

J

erez de La Frontera, a Spanish town of 214,000 in southern Andalusia, is negotiating with unions to fire 13 percent of the 2,000 government workers who absorb 80 percent of its budget. “It’s not easy because these are people and families,” said deputy mayor Antonio Saldana.

With a quarter of Spain’s workforce already jobless, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s efforts to retain investor confidence by shaving more than twothirds off the nation’s budget deficit by 2014 will worsen the highest unemployment rate in the European Union. Tenyear yields at 6.86 percent mean “we can’t finance ourselves,” Rajoy said on September 1.

“There’s going to be less hiring and

more firing for the spending cuts to be made,” said Ricardo Santos, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in London who sees unemployment climbing to 27 percent next year from 24.6 percent currently. “The more unemployment persists, the more difficult it’ll be for the government to meet budget goals and implement reforms.”

Television stations, airports, hospitals, schools, fire brigades and social services from Spain’s southernmost tip to the Balearic islands in the east are reducing headcount as Rajoy tasks regions and municipalities with shouldering 60 percent of the cuts needed to reduce the budget shortfall to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product in the next two years.

recovery, predominantly driven by infrastructure investment, but now even infrastructure investment is also apparently slowing down,” said Tao Dong, head of Asia economics excluding Japan at Credit Suisse Group AG in Hong Kong.

Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. last week cut estimates for 2013 expansion to 7.8 percent. That would be the same as 2012’s pace, which was the weakest in 13 years.

This data show that weakness in demand, including for exports, is starting to weigh on employment in manufacturing, HSBC said in a statement. The preliminary report is based on 85 percent to 90 percent of responses to a monthly survey of purchasing executives at more than 420 companies.

“Beijing is expected to respond strongly to sustain the economic recovery by increasing efforts to boost domestic investment and consumption in the coming months,” said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC in Hong Kong.

Bernanke buys $1.14 trn in assets

F

ederal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s latest round of bond buying will reach $1.14 trillion before he ends the programme in the first quarter of 2014, according to median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Bernanke will push on with purchases of $40 billion a month of mortgage bonds and $45 billion a month of Treasuries, according to the survey of 44 economists, even as some Fed officials warn his unprecedented balance-sheet expansion will impair efforts to tighten policy when necessary.

“To get to the point where Bernanke would be comfortable letting up, you have to have a good solid string of economic reports that you’re just not going to get” this year, said Eric Green, global head of rates and FX research at TD Securities Inc. in New York and a former New York Fed economist.

The Federal Open Market Committee will renew its commitment to asset buying during a two-day meeting starting today after determining the benefits from the program exceed any risk of inflation or financial instability, according to economists surveyed January 24-25. Bernanke has said the policy will continue until there are “substantial” gains in employment.

Fed officials have a brighter outlook for the economy than many private economists. FOMC participants forecast growth this year ranging from 2.3 percent to 3 percent, while economists in a separate Bloomberg survey have a median estimate of 2 percent.

“The economy is not going to be able to generate growth above 2 percent” as it faces headwinds from federal tax increases and a weak global expansion, Green said.

Fed asset purchases will probably do little to help reduce 7.8 percent unemployment, economists said, with 57 percent of them predicting the programme won’t help boost the number of jobs created this year.

Economists who expect gains from socalled quantitative easing say it will account for an increase of 250,000 jobs during

2013. Last year, the economy added 1.8 million jobs.

Employers probably hired 160,000 workers in January, after a 155,000 increase in December, based on Bloomberg News survey of economists before the Labor Department reports the figures on February 1.

In the first round of purchases, begun in 2008, the Fed bought $1.4 trillion of housing debt and $300 billion of Treasuries. In the second round, beginning in November 2010, the Fed bought $600 billion of Treasuries.

In the current round, the Fed’s total purchases will be split between $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities and $540 billion of Treasuries, according to the median estimates of economists in the survey.

Asked what would prompt the Fed to halt its bond buying, 63 percent of economists said the central bank will act in response to substantial improvement in the labor market.

Bernanke

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Global Business

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

S

pain’s recession eased in the first quarter as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy prepares plans to foster growth while reducing the country’s budget deficit.

Gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent from the fourth quarter, when it dropped 0.8 percent, the most since 2009, the Bank of Spain said in its monthly bulletin yesterday. That’s the seventh quarterly contraction. This data is in line with the median of 15 economist estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.

Rajoy pledged on April 17 to unveil measures to stimulate the economy and create jobs later this week. His government is seeking more time from European Union peers to reorder public finances in the euro-area’s fourth largest economy after a banking-sector bailout propelled Spain’s deficit last year to the largest in the region.

“It’s a good sign after a horrible last quarter in 2012, but we are still in an intense recession,” said Jose Carlos Diez, chief economist at Madrid-based brokerage Intermoney SA. “It’s difficult to see a recovery. Our main trading partners

Spain’s recession eases as Rajoy prepares growth plan

Rajoy

aren’t doing well and unemployment is going to continue increasing.”

The yield on Spain’s 10-year benchmark bonds fell 23 basis points to 4.264 percent Monday in Madrid, narrowing the spread with German debt of similar maturity to 3.05 percentage points after met its maximum target of 3 billion eu-

Japan’s fiscal impasse threatens stimulus to spur growth

J

apan’s political gridlock threatens to curtail the government’s ability to apply fiscal stimulus as a rebound falters in the world’s third-largest economy.

Opposition parties in the upper house of parliament stymied legislation approved in the lower house August 28 that enables the issuance of 38.3 trillion yen ($490 billion) of deficit- financing bonds, seeking to force Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda into an early election. The government could hit a spending ceiling as soon as October, according to the Finance Ministry.

The freeze may suspend outlays from this year’s budget for the first time, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and limits Noda from proceeding with the supplementary spending package he mooted in July. With economists increasingly seeing an economic contraction this quarter, the deadlock adds to risks facing global expansion that include a so-called fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax increases in the U.S. at year-end.

“The impasse on deficit-covering bonds may delay the compilation of a stimulus package and would be a drag for the economy,” said Taro Saito, Tokyo-based director of economic research at NLI Research Institute and a past winner of a Japan Center for Economic Research award for accuracy in forecasting. “This is not as severe as the U.S. fiscal cliff but could be said to be Japan’s fiscal slope.”

Japanese stocks headed for a fourth day of declines, the longest losing streak in more than a month, on pessimism about the global expansion. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was down 0.4 percent Monday in Tokyo. The yen was at 78.37 per dollar, about 4 percent from its postwar high, underscoring the threat to exporters of a strong currency.

Besides exchange-rate appreciation, Japan’s manufacturers are facing diminishing demand abroad, hurt by the European crisis, China’s slowdown and stunted

45

ros ($3.9 billion) in a bills sale. The Spanish 10-year yield rose to a euro-era record of 7.75 percent in July before the European Central Bank pledged to do whatever it takes to save the euro.

The International Monetary Fund last week cut its outlook for Spain, predicting the economy to shrink 1.6 percent this

Slowing Polish economy may force Tusk to ease budget cuts

P

Yoshihiko Noda

American growth. A government report yesterday showed capital spending rose 6.6 percent in the second quarter from a year before, less than the 7.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

This report spurred economists to cut forecasts for Japan’s second-quarter gross domestic product, initially reported at an annualised 1.4 percent gain. Officials may pare that calculation to 0.9 percent on September 10, according to the median of seven projections in a Bloomberg survey.

year before growing 0.7 percent in 2014.

Still, the Washington- based fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde offered support for Rajoy’s calls for the EU to loosen demands for further deficit cuts.

Spain “needs more time,” Lagarde said in Washington on April 18. “We do not see a need to do upfront, heavy-duty fiscal consolidation as was initially planned.”

Funding conditions remain restrictive for households and companies, weighing on domestic demand, the Bank of Spain said. Households’ limited capacity to save in a context of declining disposable income as well as uncertainty on the labor market and a high level of debt leave little space for consumption to pick up in the short term, it said.

Spain’s export growth was also held back by the euro-area recession during the first three months of the year, the Bank of Spain said. Spain’s National Statistics Institute will report first-quarter GDP data on April 30.

oland’s slowing economy is putting pressure on Prime Minister Donald Tusk to ease deficit cuts to avoid the fate of other European Union nations where austerity measures to tackle the debt crisis helped suffocate growth.

Tusk’s Cabinet met in Warsaw to discuss a revised 2013 budget after the economy expanded at the slowest pace in 11 quarters in the three months through June. While Poland will stick to a plan to cut the 2012 budget gap within the EU’s limit of 3 percent of output, the slowdown means its “ambitious goal for a 2.2 percent deficit next year is out of the question,” Maja Goettig, a member of Tusk’s Council of Economic Advisers, said by phone on August 31.

“Everyone, including markets, would understand and maybe even appreciate it, if the government avoided excessively harsh austerity for the sake of growth, which is now key to financial stability,” said Goettig, who’s also a Warsaw-based strategist at KBC Securities.

Tusk, the first Polish premier to serve a second term since communism ended in 1989, must weigh EU deficit demands

against concerns that further spending cuts may damp growth in the nation of 38 million people, whose GDP-per-capita is 40 percent below the 27-nation bloc’s average. While his Cabinet still enjoys broad support in polls, governments across Europe have collapsed after protests against austerity policies that helped plunge economies from Romania to Spain into recession.

Donald Tusk

Manufacturing in U.S. probably stagnated amid global slowdown

M

anufacturing probably teetered between growth and contraction in August, a sign the pillar of the recovery is now struggling, according economists surveyed before a report Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index was little changed at 50 compared with 49.8 in July, according to the median estimate of 70 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between shrinking and expanding. Spending on construction projects probably rose in July, other figures may show.

The possibility that taxes will rise and government outlays will fall if U.S. lawmakers don’t act by January may shake confi-

dence and cause consumers and businesses to curb spending. The European debt crisis represents another stumbling block that threatens to limit orders to American factories.

“Domestic uncertainty and global weakness are both restraining growth in manufacturing,” said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.

“It’s a weak sector of the economy right now. We don’t expect a lot of pickup in investment activity this year.”

The Tempe, Arizona-based ISM released the report Estimates ranged from 48.7 to 51.5. The group has said that an index (S15MACH) reading above 42.5, while signaling contraction in manufacturing,

is generally consistent with an expanding overall economy. The gauge averaged 55.2 in 2011 and 57.3 in 2010.

Other reports show manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy, weakened last month. Factory activity in the New York region contracted in August for the first time in 10 months, and production in the Philadelphia-area shrank for a fourth month, Federal Reserve reports showed.

The Institute for Supply ManagementChicago Inc.’s business barometer also fell in August, indicating manufacturer’s pace of expansion was slowing and that companies may hold the line on production until sales pick up.

46

Capital Market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Review: Dangote Flour, GSK may exit NSE 30-index JOHNSON OKANLAWON

D

angote Flour Mills Plc, GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Nigeria Plc is among companies that may be dropped from the highly capitalised stock index on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Other companies that are billed to exit the NSE-30 index include Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc and Ashaka Cement Plc. Oando Nigeria Plc, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Chemical & Allied Products Plc and PrescoPlc may likely join the index.

A statement from the NSE yesterday said final touches to the biannual review for the NSE 30, NSE 50

and the five sectoral indices of the Exchange - the NSE Banking, the NSE Consumer Goods, the NSE Oil & Gas, NSE Industrial and the NSE Insurance are on going.

According to the statement, the composition of these indices, which will be effective on July 1, 2013, will witness the entry of some major companies and exit of others.

In the NSE 50-index, Costodian and Allied Insurance Plc, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc may likely exit.

Livestock Feeds Plc, AIICO insurance Plc, WAPIC Insurance Plc, Eterna Oil Plc and Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc are expected

to join NSE 50-index.

The Index Committee explained that the NSE-30, NSE-50 and NSE Industrial Indices are modified market capitalisation index with the numbers of included stocks fixed at 30, 50 and 10, respectively.

The committee stressed that the numbers of included stocks in the NSEConsumer Goods, Banking, Insurance and Oil/Gas Indices are 15, 10, 15 and seven respectively.

“The stocks will be picked based on their market capitalisation from the most liquid sectors. The liquidity is based on the number of times the stock is traded during the preceding two quarters. To be included, the stock must be traded for at least 70 per cent of the number of times

the market opened for business,” the committee said.

They added that the Exchange was not oblivious of the fact that the number of the stocks that will be included in some of the indices may be in appropriate for optimal portfolio diversification; however, the numbers would be reviewed as sector conditions change.

It should be recalled that the Nigerian capital market began publishing the NSE 30 Index in February 2009 with index values available from January 1, 2007.

On July 1, 2008, the NSE developed four sectoral indices and one index in 2013, with a base value of 1,000 points, designed to provide investable benchmarks to capture the performance of specific sectors.

Source: NSE

Source: Afrinvest

Market indicators All-Share Index 40,012.66 points Market capitalisation 12.86 trillion

Stocks: Mixed reactions trail bearish trend as index sheds 0.16% DAMILOLA AJAYI

T

he benchmark index of equities continued on a bearish note on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, as higher yields in the fixed income market attract some investors.

Specifically, the All Share index dropped by 0.16 per cent to close at 37,024.72 points, compared to the decrease of 0.44 per cent recorded the preceding day to close at 37,085.12 points.

Market capitalisation depreciated by N2bn to close at N11.89trn, lower than the depreciation of N5bn recorded the preceding day to close at

N11.91trn.

Analysts at Meristem Securities Limited, an investment firm, said the downward trend is not unexpected as it portends a likely correction of the highly overpriced stocks and high yields in the fixed income market.

Tresury-bills yields, for instance, at the interbank market sustained the positive mood that began, as the average decline in yields pegged at 0.40 per cent. “We opine the market is gradually recovering from the huge sell-off experienced in the previous weeks.” The analysts said.

Also, Nigeria Inter Bank Offer Rates also sustained the positive mood as all

rates across tenors increased by 1.07 per cent.

According to the firm, in the past seven weeks, the equities market has sustained a bullish run with some of the large cap and small cap stocks trading above their fundamentally justified values.

“For example, stocks like Livestock, Chemical and Allied Company, Presco among many others have gained 313 per cent, 114 per cent and 100 per cent year-to-date respectively,” the firm added.

Analysts at First Discount Merchant Bank Limited, said, “We expect the current profit taking in the equities market to continue in the week. Also, investors

may begin to take positions in the banking stocks very soon, as they are trading at very low multiples relative to the non-banking stocks.”

Fidson Healthcare Plc led the gainers’ table with 20 kobo or 9.95 per cent to close at N2.21 per share, followed by Presco Oil Plc with N2.95 or 8.43 per cent to close at N37.95 per share.

On the flip side, Flour Mill Plc lost N10.40 or ten per cent to close at N93.60 per share, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc fell by 73 kobo or 9.80 per cent to close at N6.72 per share.

A total of 268.8 million shares valued at N3.49bn were exchanged in 6,495 deals.

Investors back away from emerging markets on China fears

E

merging markets are suffering a sharp pullback by investors fearful of a shock from China just as confidence in the world economy, and the euro zone in particular, rises, according to a survey of fund managers.

The monthly poll from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, published yesterday, showed that allocations to global emerging market equities in June hit their lowest level since December 2008, with a net nine percent of respondents now underweight.

A net 48 per cent of fund managers reported an overweight position in

equities overall, up from 41 per cent in May and back above the 47 per cent level seen in April.

The survey, which polled 248 managers with $708bn in assets, found that a net 25 per cent placed emerging markets as the region they would most like to underweight in the coming 12 months, the lowest ever reading.

Last week, emerging markets stocks posted their fifth straight week of losses.

The fears over China come after a Reuters poll on Tuesday signaled more optimism among equity analysts, and Michael Hartnett, chief invest-

ment strategist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research, reckoned the survey response looked overdone.

“The lows in emerging market equity and commodity allocations suggest the market has over-positioned itself for a shock from China,” he said.

China was considered the greatest tail risk among those polled, followed by a potential failure of stimulus measures in Japan.

Allocations to commodities reached a record low with a net 32 per cent of those surveyed holding underweight positions.

Manish Kabra, equity

strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, outlined the implications of what looks like a disconnect.

“It’s the sentiment that is running out of anything that is linked to emerging market or the commodity cycle. If China actually surprises on the upside in the coming months there is a big bounce ready to come,” Kabra said.

The emerging markets gloom stood in contrast to signs of renewed confidence in prospects for the euro zone, where a net six percent of those polled are now overweight equities.

That represents a 14 point swing from the underweight position from May.

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

FIDSON

2.01

2.21

0.20

PRESCO

35.00

37.95

2.95

MCNICHOLS

1.80

1.89

0.09

LIVESTOCK

4.73

4.95

0.22

ZENITHBANK

20.00

20.90

0.90

DANGSUGAR

10.51

10.97

0.46

ACCESS

10.64

11.05

0.41

WAPCO

88.44

91.00

2.56

DANGFLOUR

9.50

9.74

0.24

COURTVILLE

0.82

0.84

0.02

LOSERS COMPANY FLOURMILL

OPENING

CLOSING

104.00

CHANGE

93.60

10.40

NAHCO

7.45

6.72

0.73

DNMEYER

1.60

1.45

0.15

WEMABANK

1.24

1.13

0.11

COSTAIN

1.60

1.46

0.14

PRESTIGE

0.54

0.50

0.04

ROYALEX

0.59

0.55

0.04

CONTINSURE

1.22

1.14

0.08

UNITYBNK

0.70

0.66

0.04

RTBRISCOE

1.76

1.66

0.10

Primary Market Auction TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

91-Days

25,647.81

9.20

18-Jun-13

182-Days

31,246.03

12.45

18-Jun-13

364 -Days

50,683.60

14.30

18-Jun-13

Open Market Operations TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

125-Days

116,611.78

11.50

18-Jun-13

112-Days

19,551.50

10.19

18-Jun-13

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

MARKET DEMAND

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$300m

N/A

$300m

18-Jun-13

$300m

N/A

$207m

5-Jun-13

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at June 18, 2013 1st Tier Securities

Sector

Company name

1st Tier Securities No Of Deals Quotation(N)

Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

47

Cocktail

48

x

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

FOR YOUR SUCCESS

WITH DR. DEJI FOLUTILE

Today's Tonic (164) The greatest power we have in avoiding the worst is to focus on what we want to happen.

–Dr. Robert Anthony * * * Be Irredeemably Positive!

I love the quote that says I will keep my face to the sunshine so that I will not see the shadows. It is better to be a positive person than to be negatively minded. It is better to focus on the rose than the thorns bearing the roses.

It is better to say the glass is half full than to say it is half empty. Life is many times a self fulfilling prophecy. Things will happen for us according to our faith. It is what you believe that you will become.

We will get things done beyond our expectations if we can get the ideal picture of what we want and persistently focus on this day and night.

TEL 08104942999 E-MAIL deji.folutile@gmail.com Follow me @TwitterOWOTIDE

Bear mauls man who fed it barbecue meat

A

black bear mauled a man in Alaska after he provoked the animal by throwing it two pieces of barbecued meat.

A man was mauled by a black bear in Alaska after he threw the animal a piece of barbecued meat while going on a bike ride near Eklutna Lake Campground.

According to officials, the man -- who will remain unnamed as he could face charg-

es of illegally feeding wildlife -- had been drinking before he decided to go for a bike ride during a church picnic.

The bear reportedly ate the meat and didn’t attack the man until he threw a second piece. Alaska officials said the bear had gone “ballistic.”

Later that day, park rangers found the man all bloodied washing himself at the campground.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oddities

Isolated boy in wheelchair during class photo attracts reactions A Herbert Spencer Elementary School class photo that shows 7-year-old Miles Ambridge, who uses a wheelchair, awkwardly separated from the rest of his classmates has gone viral. As the secondgrader smiles, he strains his neck to appear closer to the group.

Ambridge has a genetic disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which attacks spinal nerve cells, and as a result, he uses a wheelchair to get around.

When the boy’s parents saw the class photo they were shocked. “It broke my heart,” father Don Ambridge said in an interview. “He’s leaning in, he wants to be included.”

Upon seeing the photo Miles’ father, Don Ambridge said he put the photo away and chose not to share it with his son.

Instead, he wrote a letter to the class teacher at the

British Columbia school.

“It basically said, ‘I find this photo disgusting.

Please throw it out. I don’t want it in my house.’ Painful, very painful. It still hurts to see it.”

Miles’ mother, Anne Belanger, also posted the photo on Lifetouch Photography’s Facebook page.

Belanger, said “This was not a malicious act,

I don’t think it was done on purpose. I just don’t think there was any rational thinking behind it.”

Belanger said discrimination is a daily reality for people with disabilities and she wanted to shed light on the stigma surrounding it.

“I think what it is, is just a circumstantial lack of awareness that

Seven-year-old Miles Ambridge, far right, in his Grade 2 class.

resulted in a really emotionally tragic output,” Ambridge said.

The family said school principal Tracy Fulton responded immediately with a phone call.

Lifetouch Photography came back to reshoot the class photo, though the school had already decided not to use the photography company in the future.

PHOTO: UPI

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Community Mirror “Justice is a value that is universally desirable, but the rule of law is of vital importance in bringing it about.”

OSUN STATE GOVERNOR, RAUF AREGBESOLA

FRANCIS SUBERU

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hree out of the four students of Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, MOCPED, Epe who were allegedly shot by the police during a protest against the institution’s management on Monday are feared dead.

According to eyewitnesses, the school authority had fixed the commencement of the first semester examination for Monday, June 17, 2013, but prevented those owing fees from sitting for the exams and when they were asked to leave the halls, they refused.

Three protesting students shot dead It was further gathered that after being ordered out, the students started protesting, demanding to be allowed in.

When the Provost of the institution could not condone their action any longer, he invited the police to restore order, and in the process, the security men were reported to have shot four of the students.

One of the students, simply identified as Ibukun, said “our first semester exam was supposed to start on Monday and those still owing school fees were not allowed to

write the exams, but they did not leave the school premises. They protested that they be allowed to write the exams.

“This continued and some students started throwing stones at the buildings. This did not go down well with the Provost who called in the police to restore order. But since they could not control the situation, the policemen had to fire gunshots, even as the bullets hit four of our students, killing three of them while one of them survived.

Another male student who col-

laborated Ibukun’s account, said, “We had started writing the exams when we heard sounds of broken bottles and saw that stones were being thrown at our building. All of us had to rush out to see what was happening.

“There was pandemonium when we got outside for the next thirty minutes before normalcy was restored. Surprisingly, when I was going to the auditorium, I saw the police coming into the school compound. From that moment till the time we ran away, it was like a

war situation. Later, we discovered that four of our colleagues had been shot and only one of them survived”, he said.

Although names of the students allegedly shot could not be ascertained or identified, it was, however gathered that the only survivor, said to be a 200-level Integrated Science student is currently receiving treatment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos.

When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide told our correspondent that she was not aware of the incident, but promised to issue a statement after talking to the Area Commander.

Gunmen kill businessman NWABUEZE OKONKWO ONITSHA

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Two ladies persuading a motorist to buy corn on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, recently.

MURITALA AYINLA

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Total of 500 people who participated in the skill acquisition organised by the Lagos State Secretariat Mosque, LSSM, in conjunction with the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, have graduated from different vocational skills.

According to the organisers, the beneficiaries were trained to boost the state’s economy and make them active players, saying if women are gainfully engaged in different vocations, the nation would be better for it.

The women were trained on bead and soap making, bakery, tie and die among others.

PHOTO: YINKA ADEPARUSI

Lagos empowers women with skills

Speaking on the training, chairman of the LSSM and Solicitor-General of the state, Mr Lawal Pedro, said the programme was meant to eradicate poverty through empowering women to enable them stand on their own, adding that with the training, the state would have less women begging for alms before they feed themselves.

Pedro, who was represented by chairman of the Education, Publicity and Research Committee of Lagos State Secretariat Mosque, Habeeb Lawal, said the time had come for Nigerians deploy their God-given talent in the creation of goods that have turned the nation to heavy importer.

He added that most developing nations grow their economy through funding of vocations skills and patronage of local made products.

He said: “They would now have something to lay their hands.

This would increase the Gross Domestic Product of the country and stop Nigeria from being a consumer to a productive nation.

“Most of those causing civil unrest in the country are idle.

Many have university degrees but they perpetrate evil because they are jobless. This would not have happened if majority had something to lay hands on.

On her part, the National Women Empowerment Secretary

of Nasrullahi-Lifathi Society of Nigeria, NASFAT, Mrs. Suwebat Shofolake commended the government, saying the gesture will positively touch the lives of more women.

She said: “It is in line with the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate poverty. Nasfat presented over 300 participants in the skills acquisition. We have advised them to contribute to the society. We have made arrangement to empower them in cash and kind and are taking note of those who perform well”.

Mrs. Shofolake added that NASFAT had put in place mechanisms to financially empower some of the beneficiaries.

are-devil armed robbers have allegedly shot and killed a yet-to-be identified business man at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

According to eye-witnesses, the incident occurred when the bandits allegedly stormed their victim’s accessories shop at the popular Nkpo Junction.

According to the source, on arrival at the shop, the robbers discovered that the shop was locked, while the victim and his sales girls were inside rounding up the day’s business.

It was gathered that they allegedly ordered him to open the door to enable them gain entrance into the shop.

It was further gathered that while the victim was still looking for escape route, the robbers numbering about six, started shooting indiscriminately to ostensibly to scare people away and along the line, shot him before carting away unspecified sums of money.

It took the intervention of courageous passersby to rush the victim to a nearby hospital where he later died.

An eye-witnesses who spoke on the matter, declared: “I was among those who lost personal belongings during the stampede, as a result of the heavy sound of their guns, ironically, last night, there was no presence of the police or local vigilantes in the area”.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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9 students, 14 others killed in fresh attacks Continued from page 2 groups to succeed.

Jonathan told the new Israeli Ambassador, Mr. UrielPalti, that he looked forward to visiting Israel later this year and discussing ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He also assured Mr. AlekosOikonomopoulos,

Mr. NikolayUdovichenko, Mr. BelkacemSmaili and Mr. AmadouHabibou, the new ambassadors of Greece, Russia, Algeria and Senegal respectively, that the Federal Government would fully support their efforts to strengthen existing cordial relations between Nigeria and their countries.

The new ambassadors all expressed their delight at being posted to Nigeria

and promised to do everything possible to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties between their countries and Nigeria.

In a related development, the Federal Government has assured Nigerians that the ongoing onslaught on terrorists would soon lead to the achievement of peace in the region and other parts of the country.

Minister of Interior,

A smoked fish vendor feeding to her child at Oshodi, Lagos.

Abba Moro, gave the assurance at the ongoing Ministerial Platform in Abuja, saying the emergency rule was part of government efforts to restore peace in the areas affected by the insurgency.

Reviewing activities of the past year, Moro lauded the superlative efforts put in place by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in ensuring the protection of critical

PHOTO:ADEMOLA AKINLABI

Yenagoa residents decry refuse heaps EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

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esidents of the Bayelsa State capital, Yenagoa,have expressed disgust over the

refuse heaps along the streets describing them as an embarrassment .

They raised fears that the odours from the refuse could cause epidemic if the situation is not checked by the State Environmental Sanitation Authority,SEMA. A staff of the authority who pleaded anonym-

ity said the agency lacks enough refuse trucks, stressing that most of them had broken down.

He appealed to the government to provide enough trucks to enable it execute its job diligently.

It was observed that desperate residents dump their refuse in the drainages, bushes and roads at

night.

Investigations revealed that most adjoining streets in the metropolis lack refuse disposal bins.

It was gathered that most of the private trucks engaged by the sanitation authority may have withdrawn their services owing to poor remuneration.

national assets, including oil pipelines and prevention of oil theft through bunkering.

He said the NSCDC has also embarked on aggressive training and retraining of its standing armed squad, adding that a sizeable number of its armed personnel are trained and working jointly with the Nigerian Army to enhance their capacity to tackle headlong the present security challenges facing the nation.

He, however, lamented that the country’s illegal borders are marked by makeshift barriers made of wood and disused tyres.

He said the 1,497 illegal routes and 84 legal routes identified by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, since the advent of the present administration had revealed certain irregularities abandoned by previous administration.

“The condition of our borders is alarming. It is unfortunate that the illegal routes are barricaded by tyres and wood, which create an easy route for terrorists into the country. I want to assure you that we will contain the situation that has beclouded our country for a long time,” he said, adding that the government has procured more equipment to improve security and border patrol.

He stated: “HP CDAN Voice and Data Radios have been procured and being installed in 59 Immigration locations nationwide. This will provide effective communication links between the State Commands and Border Control posts.”

The Minister also said that the e-passport registration embarked upon by the NIS would replace the

era of duplication where one person could duplicate over 20 passports.

“The new system of e-passport which we currently have in place will go a long way to addressing the irregularities that pave way for illegal immigrants to enter into the country.

This administration will not create an easy access for illegal immigrants. The NIS is viable to contain the challenge and restructure the system. We must also work towards ensuring a peaceful environment for citizenship and non-citizens alike”.

On the vexed issue of prisons congestion, he said: “We all know that the prison is a correction ground for inmates. But unfortunately, the congestion has made it impossible for that progress. That is why the ministry and the Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS, is putting hands on deck to provide the inmates with the best training that they will enable them to help themselves and the society at large.”

He also added that the NPS has concluded arrangements to use the Public Private Partnership, PPP, model to manage the Prisons Farm Centres in joint venture partnership with a private firm for an initial pilot phase of five years.

The Minister also recalled the recent approval by the Federal Government for the establishment of 265 fire service stations across the country.

He equally stated that the NIS would soon commence the construction of Border Control Plazas as well as Mobile Border Patrol Units to ensure effective surveillance

Wednesday June 19, 2013

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World News

Putin disrupts G8 efforts to push out Assad

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PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

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group of people from an elderly daycare centre in Soweto travelled to Pretoria yesterday to sing hymns and pray for the health of South Africa’s iconic former president Nelson Mandela.

They gathered outside the hospital where the 94-year-old is being treated for a recurring lung infection for an 11th day.

Maureen Sibadela, director of the Alpha World Ministries’ centre, said the visit was to show people “how much we love him”.

A steady stream of family members also arrived at the hospital yesterday to visit the ailing anti-apartheid hero — including his ex-wife Winnie Mandela and daughter Makaziwe Mandela.

Mandela’s wife Graca Machel was also seen returning to the hospital where she has spent most of the last 11 days at her husband’s side.

Mandela is said to be in a serious condition, but improving, according to official statements and comments by relatives.

People have been leaving “get well soon” placards and balloons outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria where the 94-year-old is being treated . It’s a similar scenario outside the antiapartheid hero’s home in Johannesburg.

The messages have reportedly given Mandela’s family comfort

“Israel must make peace with Palestinians in order to survive as a Jewish and democratic state” –FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON

Family visits Mandela at hospital as choir sings outside

A woman from Alpha World Social Centre in Soweto, singing after laying flowers outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, yesterday.

PHOTO: AP

and hope.

One of his daughters, Zenani Dlamini, on Monday gave what appeared to be the most positive update yet on Mandela’s situation as she looked at well-wishers’ cards hanging outside the hospital.

“He’s doing very well,” she told reporters without giving any more details. In Pretoria, street vendors outside the hospital told AP Television on Tuesday how important Mandela had been for them, allowing black people rights and ending apartheid.

Another man stated that although the 94-year-old was no longer a politician he was still important.

Outside his house in Johannesburg meanwhile, one white South African said the country had been blessed to have such a man as Nelson Mandela.

However she added, “He’s an old man and reality is reality and they should just let him go peacefully and we must just appreciate that we have such a special man in this country.”

But a fellow countryman said he wished Mandela would “live for many, many more years to come so that the future generations can see him and see his good work that he did during his life time”.

South Africa President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday that Mandela remains in a serious condition but that his doctors are seeing sustained improvements.

Zuma also said that Mandela is engaging with his family during visits, in what is his fourth hospital stay since December.

Gunmen raid Mozambique’s weapons store, kill seven soldiers

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even soldiers were shot dead when gunmen raided a weapons depot in Mozambique, local newspapers and a security source said yesterday, the latest ambush and attack on security forces to rekindle memories of the 1975-1992 civil war.

The assault, which took place

on Monday, forced hundreds to flee the central town of Savane and interrupted rail traffic on the nearby Sena line, the southern African nation’s sole coal export route, said a spokesman for Brazilian mining firm Vale.

Local newspapers, including the O Pais daily, said guerril-

Mozambican soldiers removing a stray shell after an explosion occurred in a weapons depot in Maputo.

PHOTO: BBC

las from the opposition Renamo party were behind the attack, although a source familiar with Mozambique security said it appeared to be the work of a Renamo splinter group.

A Renamo spokesman said the party was investigating the incident and did not claim responsibility.

The Defence Ministry declined to comment until it had gathered more information.

Relations between Renamo, founded around independence in 1975 with the backing of whiteruled Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa, and Frelimo, the ruling, formerly Marxist party, have become increasingly tense.

Two months ago, Renamo fighters killed four policemen in an attack on a police station and a few days later three civilians were killed when gunmen ambushed vehicles on the main north-south

highway, a common Renamo tactic during the civil war.

Analysts say Renamo, which has vowed to disrupt local elections this year and a presidential poll in 2014, has at most 1,000 armed men under its command and poses no significant military or political threat to Frelimo.

However, many Mozambicans fear even the slightest violence could upset the political stability that has underpinned an unprecedented economic boom based on foreign investment in coal mining and natural gas exploration.

The off-shore Rovuma field is believed to hold enough gas to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for 15 years, and mining giants Vale and Rio Tinto have invested nearly $10 billion in mines in Tete province, home to some of the world’s largest untapped coal deposits.

WORLD BULLETIN

Mali signs peace deal with Tuareg rebels

Mali’s government has signed a peace deal with Tuareg rebels to help pave the way for elections next month, BBC has reported.

The accord provides for government troops to return to the rebel-held northern town of Kidal, officials said.

The rebels captured Kidal after a French-led offensive forced militant Islamists out of northern towns in January.

The Tuaregs have been fighting for autonomy in the north since Mali gained independence from France in 1960.

They say they are marginalised by the government in the capital, Bamako.

The main rebel group which signed the accord, National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), had formed an alliance with al-Qaeda-linked militants to seize the north in 2012.

But the alliance quickly crumbled, and the Islamists took control of the MNLA’s northern strongholds.

ICC says Kenyan vice president must attend trial

Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto must appear in person for certain sessions of his trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but can otherwise carry out his official duties, the court said yesterday.

Ruto and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, elected on a joint ticket in March, face charges of orchestrating violence after the previous election five years ago, in which 1,200 people were killed. Both deny the charges.

Ruto’s trial for crimes against humanity is scheduled to begin on September 10 and while he had promised to cooperate with the court, he had also asked to participate by video link.

Ex-South African ambassador criticises Israel

The recently retired South African ambassador to Israel has taken a parting shot at Isreal’s treatment of Palestinians, calling it a “replication of apartheid.”

Ismail Coovadia made the statement in a letter to pro-Palestinian activists.

In it, Coovadia explained his decision to reject a symbolic gift from the Israeli government — planting trees in his honour in a national park named after South Africa.

He said Israeli policies that discriminate against Palestinians appeared to be reminiscent of his experiences under South Africa’s apartheid system. South Africa’s post-apartheid government frequently identifies with the Palestinians.

Coovadia, who completed his four-year term in January, confirmed the letter’s contents yesterday.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Miss Amaechi Chinasa

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World News

Wednesday June 19, 2013

Putin disrupts G8 efforts to push out Assad

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ussian President Vladimir Putin derailed Western efforts to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from power at the G8 summit yesterday and, hours after meeting U.S. President Barack Obama, said the Kremlin might sell more arms to Syria.

In a final communique after two days of intense talks, global leaders called for peace talks to be held as soon as possible to resolve the Syrian civil war. But it did not even mention Assad’s name.

Putin, seemingly isolated at the summit, had clashed with other leaders continuously over Syria and resisted attempts to get him to agree to anything that would imply Assad should step down.

Speaking at the end of the summit held in a secluded golf resort in Northern Ireland, Putin struck a defiant tone. He told the West that sending weapons to rebels could backfire one day while he defended his own military contacts with the Syrian government.

“There are different types of supplies. We supply weapons based on legal contracts to a legal government...And if we sign these contracts (in the future), we will supply (more arms).”

Obama and his allies want Assad to cede power while Putin, whose rhetoric has become increasingly anti-Western since he was re-elected last year, believes that would be disastrous at a time when no clear transition plan exists.

L-R: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, U.S. President Barack Obama, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan and British Prime Minister David Cameron during the G8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, yesterday.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Russia has been Assad’s most powerful supporter as his forces struggle to crush an uprising in which 93,000 people have been killed since March 2011 and which is now drawing in neighbouring countries.

It has vetoed two United Nations Security Council resolutions censuring the Assad government, widely criticized for the ferocity with which it has waged the war.

Syria is one of Moscow’s last allies in the Middle East, where its influence has declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Russian navy has a vital base at

the Mediterranean port of Tartus.

The United States and its European and Gulf Arab allies have repeatedly called on Assad to surrender power and several times predicted his downfall since the conflict erupted. Recent battlefield gains by government forces against the rebels make that prospect unlikely anytime soon.

In the final document, G8 leaders also called on the Syrian authorities and the opposition to commit to destroying all organizations affiliated with al Qaeda - a reflection of growing concern in the West that Islamist militants were playing a more dominant

Suicide bombers target Baghdad mosque, kill 26

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wo suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mosque in Baghdad yesterday, one blowing himself up at a nearby checkpoint while the other slipped inside during prayers.

The blasts killed 26 people, Iraqi officials said.

The coordinated bombings were the latest in a string of attacks to hit Iraq, reviving fears the country is headed back toward the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed it to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

Two police officers said the first bomber detonated his explosives at a security checkpoint

near the mosque in Baghdad’s northern Qahira neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to distract the authorities. The area is a middle-class, Shiite-majority neighbourhood.

Amid the commotion, a second bomber slipped past concrete blast walls and into the mosque, where he blew himself up while worshippers were performing midday prayers, according to police officials.

The bombings also wounded 55 people, the officials said.

Most of the casualties were among students from a nearby Imam al-Sadiq University for Islamic Studies. Police officials

A woman grieving for her slain son, near Habib al-Asadi Shiite mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

PHOTO: AP

said the university’s Shiite students usually perform their midday prayers in the mosque that was hit.

Security forces quickly sealed off the area around the simple, unadorned mosque after the blasts.

Ali Faleh, a university student, said he was inside a stationery shop nearby when he heard a thunderous explosion.

“Everybody ran to the blast site and I saw the body of a colleague who used to be in my class,” he said. “The aim of today’s attack was only to hurt the Shiites who were there to study or pray, not to fight or kill anybody else.”

A medic in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media.

Violence has surged in Iraq in recent months, along with sectarian and political tensions.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suicide bombings and attacks against Shiite worshippers are frequently the work of al-Qaida’s Iraq arm. Sunni extremists such as al-Qaida consider Shiites to be heretics and want to undermine Iraq’s Shiite-led government.

role in the rebel ranks.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who chaired the summit, said separately after the talks that the West believed strongly that there was no place for Assad in a future Syria.

“It is unthinkable that President Assad can play any part in the future of his country. He has blood on his hands,” Cameron told reporters at the resort tucked away on a lough amid rolling hills.

US to open direct talks with Taliban

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he US is to open direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced.

The first meeting is due to take place in the next few days in the Qatari capital, Doha, where the Taliban is poised to open its longawaited office.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government is also sending a delegation to Qatar to talk to the Taliban.

The announcement came on the day NATO handed over security for the whole of Afghanistan to government forces.

US officials said prisoner exchanges would be one topic for discussion with the Taliban, but the first weeks will mainly be used to explore each other’s agendas.

However, the talks are on condition that the Taliban renounce violence, break ties with al-Qaeda and respect the Afghan constitution - including the rights of women and minorities.

US officials said this was the first step on a very long road, adding that there was no guarantee of success.

Although senior US officials describe the latest move as a milestone on the road to peace, others will feel it is nearer to treason, says BBC North America Editor Mark Mardell.

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WORLD BULLETIN

Bomb kills 27 at Pakistan’s funeral

At least 27 people have been killed and 55 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a funeral in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

Among those killed was a newlyelected lawmaker linked to Imran Khan’s PTI party. It is unclear if he was the target of the attack.

The bomb blast in Shergarh town in Mardan district is the bloodiest since PM Nawaz Sharif took office.

No group has said it carried out the attack.

One witness is quoted as telling Pakistan’s Dunya television that hundreds of mourners were attending the funeral when the suicide bomber detonated his device.

“We all fell down after the blast,” the witness is quoted as saying.

“There were bodies and wounded everywhere.”

The politician who was killed, Imran Khan Mohmand, stood as an independent candidate in elections last month but later lent his support to the PTI, which won control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the polls.

Before the election the Taliban were behind a string of attacks on parties and candidates as part of a militant campaign to derail the vote, mostly targeting secular parties.

The PTI was largely spared that violence but the Associated Press news agency reports that Mr Mohmand is the second lawmaker affiliated with the party to be killed since the election.

The party has condemned this latest attack.

Analysts say that if Mr Mohmand was in fact the target, this would pose a challenge to Imran Khan who declared his willingness to negotiate with the Taliban in the run-up to the election.

Dozens held in Turkey, silent protester goes viral

A lone, silent vigil by a man in Istanbul inspired copycat protests yesterday, as police detained dozens of people across Turkey in an operation linked to three weeks of often violent demonstrations against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Overnight in Ankara, riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters who had gathered in and around the government quarter of Kizilay.

But in stark contrast to the recent fierce clashes in several cities, dozens of protesters merely stood in silence in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, inspired by a man who lit up social media by doing just that for eight hours in Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Monday.

“I am just an ordinary citizen of this country,” Erdem Gunduz, dubbed the “Standing Man” on Twitter, told Hurriyet TV. “We want our voices to be heard.”

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said 62 people had been detained in Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, and 23 in the capital, Ankara. The state broadcaster TRT said 13 had been held in Eskisehir.

Protests have frequently turned into fierce clashes between police firing teargas and water cannon and masked demonstrators throwing bottles and other missiles, images that have dented Turkey’s reputation for stability in a volatile Middle East.

Western countries have expressed concern about the police’s handling of the protests against Erdogan, whose authority rests on three successive election victories, the last achieved with 50 percent support.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Entitlements: Former workers give bank two-week ultimatum DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

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Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Chris Cooter (left) presenting a souvenir to Gbong Gwom Jos, Jacob Gyang-Buba, during a courtesy visit to the monarch in Jos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

PDP responsible for Nasarawa crisis –Commissioner IGBAWASE UKUMBA LAFIA

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asarawa State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Mohammed Wada Yahaya, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of being responsible for the lingering crisis in the state which has so far claimed many lives and property.

Yahaya made the allegation in an interview with our correspondent in Lafia, the state capital, while reacting to a statement credited to the state PDP Chairman, Chief Yunana Illiya, that “the solid test

carried out on farmlands for the construction of an airport in the state by government will cause another crisis”.

According to him, the PDP state chairman’s comment was an indication that the party was responsible for all the crises bedevilling the state because the said test had already been completed while Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura had since visited the site of the airport.

The commissioner said when the governor visited the area to meet with the local chiefs of

Agwan Azara, Shabu and Azuba, the people of the proposed airport host community expressed happiness over government’s gesture to bring development to their door steps.

Yahaya also reacted to a statement made by a former member of the House of Representatives from the state, Mohammed Danyaya Wadada, that the present administration had not done anything about the mass housing plan christened: “Nasarawa – Abuja corridor”.

He said: “An aspect of land platform known as Nasarawa Geographi-

cal and Information Scheme, NAGIS, was commissioned on this year’s Democracy Day aimed at transforming Nasarawa State...

“This means that as you transverse from Abuja to Nasarawa State, you shouldn’t note any differences but should have a similar form of development and structures.

“We are also discussing with the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on how to construct some roads in conjunction with each other all in an effort to expand and open up Nasarawa State for investors.”

Immigration officer, wife arrested for attack on 12-yr-old maid WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

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n immigration officer, Mr. Yemi Sunday Afolayan and his wife have been arrested by police in Ilorin, Kwara State, for allegedly using a hot iron to inflict severe injuries on their housemaid, Favour Emmanuel.

Afolayan, who is serving in Kwara State Command of the service, was said to have committed the dastardly act on their 12-year-old maid after tying and severely beating her up.

Narrating her ordeal at the premises of the state Ministry of Women Affairs, Favour said the im-

migration officer asked her to prepare him a meal of rice. But because the food was taking too long to be ready; he became infuriated and pounced on her.

The girl, who had bandage on her legs, head and arm and was writhing in pains, said it was after the first round of beating that Afolayan tied her up and used an electric pressing iron to inflict injuries on her body.

Corroborating the young little girl’s claims, Afolayan’s neighbours, who did not want their names in print, said they were disturbed by the wickedness the girl was subjected to for quite awhile but were all along

helpless because that was supposed to be the immigration officer’s domestic issue.

However, the latest incident was quite too inhuman for them to bear which prompted them to report to the Ministry of Women Affairs, adding that the man’s wife too was not left out of the wicked acts on each occasion.

The Director, Child Development in the ministry, Mrs. Lucy Adeniyi, said the incident was reported to her ministry by the Afolayans’ neighbours.

Adeniyi said Favour was in a critical condition because of the injuries she sustained on the

head and legs while that of her neck was a serious burn, which appeared to have been infected.

She pointed out that the girl required immediate medical attention, adding that she was receiving treatment at the State Civil Service Hospital, Ilorin.

Afolayan’s wife, popularly known as Iya Ibeji, sells frozen foods and grains on Basin Road in the state capital.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Fabode Olufemi, confirmed the incident.

He said the couple had been arrested and were currently helping the police in their investigations.

he disengaged staff of Bank of the North, now Unity Bank Plc, numbering about 1,000 have issued a two-week ultimatum to the bank to pay their outstanding 50 per cent gratuities, pensions and other entitlements or face picketing.

Speaking in Gombe through Comrade Babayola Mohammed Isa, a former National President of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions’ Employees, NUBIFIE, the former workers gave the management of the bank from June 18 to July 8 to pay their outstanding entitlements or face nationwide picketing.

Isa explained that the bank had waited for about nine years for the bank to pay them, while many of them had died.

He said they took the path of a peaceful resolution of the matter so as not to aggravate the already existing insecurity situation in the northern part of the country.

Isa told journalists that the problem followed the bank’s consolidation and reorganisation which saw the merger of some banks while others were bought over to give room for the emergence

of mega banks as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in 2004.

He cited Section 9, subsection 2 of the CBN consolidation guidelines which directed all the merging banks to ensure that their pension liabilities were settled in full before effecting the merger.

Isa, however, said Bank of the North Limited, now Unity Bank, failed to abide by the guidelines and went ahead to merge.

The spokesman of the former staff disclosed that in 2006, after two years of waiting, the consolidated Unity Bank paid them 50 per cent of their entitlements, though fraudulently calculated.

He said: “We also have proof that the bank recovered its loans and pre-paid expenses by 100 per cent, leaving us with nothing to fall back upon.

“The money meant for the payment of our benefits was transferred to profit and loss account of Unity Bank Plc and this enabled the bank to declare N5.665 billion profit after tax in 2010.”

The former bank staff displayed a written document by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, dated July 8, 2010 and signed by one FEB Etodoh, which directed Unity Bank Plc to pay them their benefits.

11 convicts freed from Katsina prisons JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

A

bout 11 convicts have so far been set free from Funtua and Kankia satellite prisons in Katsina State with more expected to be freed soon.

The convicts, who were freed after the state government paid their fines, are first batch of convicts that benefited from government’s effort to de-congest prisons across the state.

It was learnt that all those freed were either having a few weeks to complete their prison terms or had committed minor offences and needed to pay small fines to gain their freedom.

Speaking shortly after settling their fines, the Special Adviser to the governor on Community Development, Abubakar Bindawa, said the decision to set the convicts free followed a government committee’s rec-

ommendation to that effect.

Bindawa, who doubles as the chairman of the said committee, said his committee visited 11 prisons across the state and submitted a report to Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

He said it was after the report was submitted that the government decided to pay the fines for the convicts.

The committee chairman said the state government gave N10,000 each to the freed inmates as startup capital for business.

At the Kankia Satellite Prison, the Assistant Controller in charge of the facility, ACP Hamisu Yusuf, called for the rehabilitation of the prison’s walls as well as increase its space to reduce congestion.

The officer in charge of Funtua Prison, ACP Idris Moh’d, who was represented by Nura Bello, advised the freed inmates to shun acts that could lead them back to prison.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

55

ABIBATU MOGAJI (1917 – 2013)

L-R: Alhaja Lateefat Okunnu, Alhaja Fatima Tinubu and Sen. Oluremi Tinubu at the third day fidau prayer for Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji at the TBS, Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Chairman, Eleganza Group, Chief Razaq Okoya; Special Adviser to the President on InterParty Affairs, Sen. Ben Obi and Convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare.

L-R: Lagos State governor’s wife, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola; her counterparts in Ogun, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun; Osun, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola and Ekiti, Erelu Bisi Fayemi.

Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura (left) and former military Governor of Lagos State, Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa.

L-R: Secretary to the Osun State State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and former Governor of the state, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff.

Closed stalls on Breadfruit Street on Lagos Island in honour of the deceased in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTOS: YINKA ADEPARUSI AND OLUFEMI AJASA

Markets closed as Lagos bids Mogaji farewell

•Buhari, Marwa, Bakare, others grace Fidau prayer MURITALA AYINLA, AZA MSUE AND DAMILOLA AJAYI

M

ore eminent Nigerians yesterday gathered at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos to pay tributes to the late President General of Market Associations in Nigeria, Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji.

This was just as consumers who went to markets groaned over closure of markets in honour of the late market leader.

Among the dignitaries at the special prayer were the former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari; National Security Adviser to the President, Sambo Dasuki, and Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare; former military Governor of Lagos State, Brig-General Buba Marwa (rtd) and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Others were Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Justice Usman Muhammed, Governor Tanko AlMakura of Nasarawa State, Chief Rasak Akanni Okoya, former governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, Abah Folawiyo, former Minister of State for Defence, Demola Seriki, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Lagos State governor’s wife, Mrs. Abimbola

Fashola, former Lagos State deputy governor, Chief Femi Pedro, Alhaji A. B. Yusuff, Oyo State governor’s wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, Osun State governor’s wife, Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola and the Iyaloja of Oyo State, Alhaja Wuraola Asake.

They led hundreds of mourners and well-wishers who defied the early morning downpour to pay tribute to the late market leader and mother of the former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Security officers had a hectic time controlling the crowd that thronged the TBS arena.

A the third day Fidau prayer which witnessed Qur’an recitation, Hutbah and lectures delivered by the Chief National Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen, Sheik Abdulrahman Ahmad, and the Provost of Morcas, Agege, who was represented by Alfa Suleiman Asariyu.

Quoting relevant sections of the Qur’an, Ahmad reminded the gathering that death is compulsory for all human beings, while urging everyone to live a good life and behave well.

According to him, on a daily basis, people need to look back at what they have done in life and prepare for ultimate destination heaven.

He said: “Whatever we do, we should strive to do it well. We should always have it at the back of our mind that whatever we do on planet earth, we will face judgement of God.” Meanwhile, all major markets in Lagos

metropolis were shut in honour of the late Mogaji.

The development came on the heels of a partial closure which had been observed on Monday, when several markets were shut in her honour.

When National Mirror visited the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island yesterday, all shops were closed, while the area was deserted.

However, despite the closure, some shop owners were selling their wares discreetly.

A footwear dealer, who identified himself simply as John, said he closed his shop because he heard that all shops must be closed, apart from offices in the area.

Also, Mrs. Nneka Akpan, a cloth seller whose shop was closed but stood outside to call customers, said she had to come out because she needed money.

She, however, said she had not made sales since she opened.

Also, food vendors did not cook, which left many people hungry throughout the day.

“I couldn’t get meat and foodstuffs to buy.

That was why I was not able to cook today,” said a food vendor, who identified herself as Mrs. Jemila Oyetunde.

A News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, correspondent who visited some major markets in the metropolis also reports that all shops and stalls were locked.

The usual throng of customers at the Rauf Aregbesola Market, Iyana Ipaja, was completely absent as only a couple of traders were seen in front of their locked shops.

One of the traders, who pleaded anonym-

ity, told NAN that she was at the market, not for business, but to keep an appointment with a family friend.

At the markets located at AP and Pen Cinema in Agege, only newspaper vendors and a few hawkers were being patronised by some customers as traders in the main market closed their stalls.

Also, customers who had gone to Mosafejo Market in Oshodi to buy items were disappointed as the market was not open for business.

A few traders were seen standing and chatting by the entrance of the market.

Mrs. Risikat Adeyanju, a pepper seller at the market, said traders acted on the directive of the market leaders to stay away from their shops in honour of the late merchant.

She said: “We are acting on the instructions of our leaders not to open business today in honour of our great Iyaloja who died on Saturday.”

But in Kaduna, the President of Igbo Community Welfare Association, ICWA, Mr. Amaechi Austine, said yesterday that Igbo traders would open businesses today in Kaduna.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent, Austine said unless government issued a directive on the closure, it would not be binding on Igbo traders.

He said: “All Igbo traders and businessmen will open their daily businesses. The nationwide market closure is not binding on us except government issues a directive to that effect. You know Igbo people don’t play with their business.”

WORLD RECORD

Heaviest aircraft pulled by a man Vol. 03 No. 646

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

R

evolutions have a way of devouring their own children. Historically, they all begin with good intentions and are imbued with a relentless vision for the long term good of the society, but soon run out of steam while ending in grisly infighting and political cannibalism among the cadres. Incidentally, every political organization brands itself a revolutionary outfit, with mandate to reinvent society and mould the direction of political thoughts to serve the greatest good of the majority. But what obtains in the end, is that the buccaneers within the ranks end up hijacking such movements to serve their narrow political and economic interests. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia still resonates as a vivid example of what goes wrong when a movement loses its focus.

...SO ALSO IS CORRUPTION IN

N150

Kevin Fast (Canada) pulled a CC-177 Globemaster III, weighing 188.83 tonnes (416,299 lb), a distance of 8.8 m (28 ft 10.46 in) at Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, Canada, on 17 September 2009.

Waiting for Godot Okay Osuji (okayosuji@nationalmirroronline.net) 08034729256 (sms only)

Even the satirical ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell captures the internecine conflicts that were the hallmark of that mythical animal kingdom. That now brings us back to Nigeria, where every political party claims to be fighting for the interest of the common people and desirous of making the country great within the comity of nations?

Interestingly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) brags itself as the single largest party in Africa and so divinely ordained to rule over Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. So, since 1999, it has taken it upon itself to invent and break all rules pertaining to democratic governance whenever it suits its purpose.

And because it has held uninterrupted reins of political power, the party menacingly tries to impose its rules of engagement on the larger society without qualms.

Therefore, it has come to be accepted that what happens in the party also affects the entire polity. Conscious of such fact, the PDP has been living true to this absurd dynamics. Since its founding in 1998 by former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Jerry Gana and others, it has maintained a neoliberal streak in all socio-political matters, and which is why it is made up of feudal oligarchs and neoconservatives of all stripes, with the overriding ambition of carving out individual fiefdoms.

Today, the party’s revolution looks like running out of steam, leading to internal bloodletting on a frightening scale. No single day passes without headline grabbing news of the fratricidal battles raging among its

NO SINGLE DAY PASSES WITHOUT HEADLINE GRABBING NEWS OF THE FRATRICIDAL BATTLES RAGING AMONG ITS DIFFERENT INTEREST GROUPS different interest groups for domination. So it has not come as surprise that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party is at loggerhead with some of the dissenting governors, led by Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Aliyu Wamakko of Rivers and Sokoto states respectively. Before now, it has been public knowledge that the once budding friendship between Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan has taken a turn for the worst, with their supporters spoiling for a showdown.

Given that there are no more voices of moderation within the party, every move by one of the factions is viciously checkmated by the other, thereby draining the energy and resources that would have been deployed to thinking out ideas for running the country. Considering the level of indiscipline pervading the entire fabric of the party, it would take a Deux ex machina to extricate it from the present quagmire. No other party in the country has had its mem-

bership so polarised on issues that border more on personalities than the nitty- gritty of offering good governance to the country.

As a party riven by internal rivalries, it can easily be understood in the context of its unique position as the only one boasting of national spread in both ethnic and geopolitical composition. But that is not enough to allow for the present political mayhem which is now the order of the day. Before this week runs out, the party would have sacked its national chairman and other members of the NWC, who only two weeks ago sacked Wamakko for alleged insubordination and only to be recalled in a hurry. Curiously, the reprieve is to appease the Sokoto State governor and a way of isolating the Amaechiled camp. For the latter, it seems his fate is already sealed and only waiting for the right moment to deliver the fatal blow.

But if the Bamanga Tukur-led NWC goes, it will not only trigger another round of revolving door politics, but has the capability of further breaking the brittle fabric now holding the party together. In the heat of all these, governance and statecraft had been left to suffer, as Jonathan’s attention is diverted in trying to fill all vacuum and vacancies with loyalists ahead of the 2015 poll.

Incidentally, the opposition is also steeped in the same morass, as their leaders are battling for supremacy over who wields the most influence in a yet to be registered political party.

This suspended animation has kept the electorate wandering if there will ever be a nirvana at the end of the road. In his play “Waiting for Godot”, Samuel Beckett, creates two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait endlessly for the arrival of someone named Godot, whom they only know by reputation. To occupy the time, they philosophise, sleep, sing, exercise, and even consider suicide, all in the way of waiting for this mythical person.

Definitely, Nigerians are now caught in this milieu, as they watch and wait for a mythical saviour to bring succour to the land.

Sport Extra

F

ormer British number one, Tim Henman, believes the last 12 months have further improved Andy Murray’s relationship with tennis fans, saying the confidence the Scot has gained in that time could boost his Wimbledon chances.

Murray gets Henman’s boost ahead Wimbledon Murray, who is currently world number two, won his third AEGON Championships title at Queen’s club last Sunday on his return from the back injury which ruled him out of the French Open.

Henman believes such victories, alongside his maiden grand slam title and Olympic gold medal, will have provided Murray with the necessary belief to add further major honours to his

collection.

“Certainly the Wimbledon final last year was an incredible match and one that didn’t go his way,” Henman said yesterday.

“But to show the charac-

ter 28 days later to come back and play Federer on the same court in the Olympic Final and win in three straight sets was an amazing achievement and a case study in confidence boosting.”

Murray

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