Binder222tuesday, january 28,2014

13 shiploads of rice stranded in Lagos waters

APC senators shun directive on service chiefs’ screening

Importers, terminal operators lament FG’s policy

FRANCIS EZEM Dikko

Vol. 41 N0. 775 115

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t least 13 shiploads of bulk and bagged rice valued at N55.9bn are currently stranded in Lagos

waters as importers, who had anticipated a reversal of Federal Government’s policy on rice imports CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

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Mark

Tuesday, Tuesday,June January 7, 2011 28, 2014

N150 N150

Boko Haram sets A town ablaze, kills 74

INUSA NDAHI MAIDUGURI

22 die during church service attack 300 houses razed

bout 74 people have been killed by the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic sect in two separate attacks in Borno and Adamawa states.

Kawuri town in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State was razed completely when the terrorists attacked the town on Sunday, leading to the death CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

LAGOS NAMES ROAD AFTER 2002 BOMB BLAST VICTIMS

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Doctors disregard new malaria policy

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Relatives of the 2002 Ikeja bomb blast victims during a peaceful protest in Lagos yesterday.

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2015: Jonathan lacks capacity to conduct elections says Atiku

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P.2 ...treat patients without laboratory test Gunmen kidnap LG council chairman’s wife, baby P.51

INEC releases time-table for Ekiti, Osun guber poll P.7

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Doctors disregard new malaria policy AISHA TITILAYO

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ost doctors, especially those in the private hospitals, are disregarding the new malaria policy by the Federal Ministry of Health, which encourages appropriate laboratory tests before administering treatment.

Investigations by National Mirror showed that most doctors in the private hospitals did not reckon with proper investigation before

treating malaria. Some attributed this to the nation’s economic situation, which makes the addition of laboratory investigation to the cost of malaria management unaffordable for most patients.

Some doctors also complained of poor laboratory services, including lack of necessary facilities and manpower and delay in production of tests results.

“Sometimes you don’t want to keep the patient waiting. Many of the ma-

laria cases that eventually get to the hospital have tried self-treatment. At that point, it is necessary to go for lab investigation but what you find is that it is either the patient can’t afford it or he can’t wait for the result to come out so, you have to treat and only go for further investigation if he’s not responding as expected,” a doctor confided in National Mirror.

Investigations also revealed that most of the doctors would rather treat

first, relying mostly on the patient’s symptoms and their personal experience, before thinking of laboratory investigation. This was discovered when our correspondent visited some hospitals and clinics, faking malaria symptoms.

For instance, at a hospital located on Ikorodu Road, Ketu, Lagos, (name withheld) our correspondent told the doctor on duty she had headache, body pains, no appetite, body temperature and consistent bitterness of

L-R: Nigerian Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire, Mrs. Ifeoma Akabogu-Chinwuba; Vice-President Namadi Sambo and Ivorien Minister of Africa Integration, Mr. Ally Coulibaly, during Sambo’s arrival at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport in Abidjan, yesterday.

PHOTO: STATE HOUSE

the mouth - all symptoms of malaria.

The doctor asked if she had been coughing, had catarrh, vomiting and if she was an ulcer patient, but our correspondent responded in the negative and he promptly wrote his finding on the patient’s card, filled two forms, which turned out to be laboratory forms, rang a bell to summon the nurse and handed the documents to her.

“You can take the drugs and injections now and later come for the malaria test whenever you have the money. To tell you the truth, you can forgo it because malaria test is just a formality,” the nurse told our correspondent.

This, however, turned out to be the closest the reporter would get to being referred for a lab test.

Other hospitals in Ikeja, Oshodi, Isolo, Ipaja and Amuwo Odofin, where our correspondent visited simply prescribed drugs usually Atesurnate Combination Therapy, ACT, combination drugs seen as very effective The nation’s new malaria policy is in line with the WHO treatment guidelines, which indicates prompt and accurate diagnosis of malaria as part of effective ways of managing the disease.

It calls for the use of either microscopic or molecu-

lar diagnostic approaches respectively before treatment while reaffirming the use of ACTs. Though the microscopic and molecular diagnostic approaches have been discovered to be effective, in Nigeria, they are still timeconsuming and labourintensive, while the dearth of trained laboratory technicians and reliable equipment has made it almost impossible to be adopted by most doctors in the country. And this is not in Lagos alone!

A new twist was, however, added to the reporter’s “malaria” management at another hospital at Onipanu, Lagos, when our correspondent recounted the same symptoms as she had earlier done. But unlike the Ketu hospital, the doctor chose to examine the reporter albeit with some suspicious moves. After the initial question about the reporter’s menses, he directed her to lie on the observation bed.

He began pressing her tummy, abdominal areas and lower chest wall asking if she was feeling pains.

All responses were in the negative. On returning to his seat, the doctor asked this reporter repeatedly: “Are you sure you are not pregnant?”“I am certain I CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

13 shiploads of rice stranded in Lagos waters CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

through the seaports, are yet to receive such news.

President Goodluck Jonathan had in his 2013 budget speech announced a ban on rice imports through the ports and imposed a 10 per cent import duty and 100 per cent levy as against the former regime of 65 per cent duty on brown and polished rice as part of measures to promote domestic agriculture and industry.

The development, which took effect January 1 last year, had compelled businessmen to suspend rice importation, especially through the seaports.

Port terminal operators, especially those that handle bulk cargo have complained over the sharp decline in the vol-

ume of cargo, as rice constituted over 65 per cent of cargo handled at such terminals.

A competent source at the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, however, hinted that some importers had moved to import the commodity through the seaports in anticipation of Federal Government’s reversal of the policy.

Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, figures showed that 13 shiploads equivalent to 279, 633 metric tonnes of both bulk and bagged rice worth N55.9bn had been captured in the authority’s official shipping position.

The NCS source, however, hinted that the service was yet to receive any bill of laden in respect of the 13 shiploads, an indication that the rice

consignments might not berth at the nation’s seaports until the bills of laden were made available to the service.

“Most importers are trying to see if the government will reverse the policy so that they will bring in their consignments because they could not have done that last at the rate of 10 per cent import duty and another 100 per cent levy as against the former 65 per cent because the price will be too high for them to sell,” the source said.

“But we also know that there are plans by the government to reverse the policy because the volume of the commodity produced locally cannot meet the demand for rice. So the policy only succeeded in fuelling smuggling of

rice through the borders, which gave the Customs a lot of headache last year.”

He, however, added that the policy had recorded successes as it led to the establishment of many rice mills across the country The mills will soon begin to produce rice locally to meet local demand, which will eventually lead to ban on the product as envisaged by the government.

ENL Consortium, the terminal operator in charge of Terminal C of the Lagos Ports Complex, which handles only bulk cargo, had late last year raised the alarm over the drastic reduction in the volume of goods handled at the terminal.

The Executive ViceChairman, Mrs. Vicky

Hastruup, had said that the greatest challenge faced by the company was the dwindling volume of cargo handled at the terminal, which also led to a decline in the company’s revenue.

This decline in cargo volume was coming at a time the company made massive investments in acquisition of modern cargo handling equipment to engender port efficiency.

The policy on rice also took its toll on the ability of the NCS to meet the annual revenue target given to it by the Federal Ministry of Finance, its supervising ministry.

For instance, statistics released by the Apapa Customs command shows that in 2011, import duty on rice constituted 54.3

per cent of revenue, which was reduced to 38.7 per cent in 2012 when the policy first commenced.

The records also showed that the contribution of import duty on rice further declined to all time low of four per cent in 2013, when the effect of the policy started to manifest.

But the Customs Area Controller, Apapa Command, Mr. Charles Edike, noted the decline in revenue was in order, as it would lead to massive production of rice locally in the near future, “which is in the best interest of the Nigerian nation.”

He, however, noted that the policy also gingered the command to block other revenue leakages to enable it to meet its revenue target for the year.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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Photo News

Tuesday, January 28 , 2014

L-R: Former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Sonekan; wife of the Ogun State Governor, Olufunso; Governor Ibikunle Amosun; Retired Primate Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev.(Dr.) Peter Akinola; Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Adedotun Gbadebo and former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, during Akinola’s 70th birthday thanksgiving service in Abeokuta, yesterday.

L-R: Assistant Pastor, Foursquare Gospel Church, Asokoro, Abuja, Rev. Adeolu Odusote; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote; Senior Pastor, Foursquare Gospel Church, Asokoro, Rev. Babajide Olowodola and his wife, Rev. Sola, during the annual thanksgiving service of the church in Abuja at the weekend.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: Managing Director, FBN Capital Ltd, Mr. Kayode Akinkugbe; Chief Executive Officer, FBN Holdings Plc, Mr. Bello Maccido; Group Managing Director, First Bank Plc, Mr. Bisi Onasanya and Managing Director, FBN Life, Mr. Val Ojumah, at the official unveiling of the FBN Holdings logo in Lagos, yesterday.

L-R: Programmes Coordinator, Port Harcourt World Book Capital (PHWBC), Mr. Wale Salami; Customer Service Officer, British Council, Port Harcourt, Ms. Euphemie Jude- Brail; Line Manager, Ms. Ijeoma Arguba; Project Director, PHWBC, Mrs. Koko Kalango; Programme Coordinator, Ms. Daniella Menezor and Exams Officer, Ms. Mary Onuagha, during a courtesy visit to the British Council in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

National News

Jonathan lacks capacity to conduct 2015 elections, says Atiku

• Politicians threatening National security- Defence College A ZA MSUE AND UBONG UKPONG

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ormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan does not have the capacity to conduct the 2015 general elections describing the political situation in the country as “grim.”

Atiku also said there was nothing wrong holding national conference, maintaining however that the Jonathan administration also lack the capacity to organise the National confab within the same year with elections.

The former vice president, who featured as a guest on the personality programme Liberty Radio, a private station in Kaduna, said the situation in the country, was no longer about the ambition of any individual but about Nigeria.

He said: “We have got to a stage; you have an ambition if the environment permits. The environment does not even permit for that. So you have to restore normalcy, the environment first before you begin to think about ambition.”

Atiku disclosed that he and former military Head of State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) had shared concerns about the political situation in the country.

“If you allow your ambition to override you, you will find that you don’t even exist. I and Buhari have never seen things as bad as these since the pre-civil war period. It’s really serious.”

Asked why he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar said he never left the party but was forced out by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said: “First of all I did not leave the PDP; I was

pushed out of the PDP by my former boss. Ever since I returned four years ago, PDP has not communicated to me and I have not communicated to the party. I have not attended any of their meetings and they have not invited me.

“I’m supposed to be a member of Board of Trustees; I have never attended the meetings. I’m supposed to be a member of NEC; I have never attended one meeting. I am supposed to be a member of caucus by convention because when we were in office, we said the President should always nominate the Vice President, that was why Alex Ekwueme was nominated, but I am not in the caucus.

“Actually at every level of the party, I am four years today but I’ve never participated. I’m just looking at them. If you don’t participate in a process, how do you contribute your experi-

ence, your expertise and so on, in resolving problems for the party?”

He said further that the visit by the new chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu to those who had defected from the party will not solve the problems within the party.

“I told him (Muazu) it won’t make a difference.

Before he took up the job, he came to me and told me he wanted the job, I told him to leave it because you are not going to do anything about the situation,” Abubakar said.

In a related development, the National Defence College, NDC, yesterday, raised the alarm over the heights of unguarded and inciting statements by politicians, warning that they were threatening the security of the country.

The Alumni Association of National Defence College, AANDEC, raised the alarm in Abuja, at a

press briefing on its fourth seminar on national security with the theme; “Youth Development and National Security: Options for Nigeria”, addressed by the Chairman of the Programme Committee, Air Vice Marshal Christian Obinna Marisu (rtd).

The Alumni said that they would not fold their hands and watch the situation continues unchecked, saying that they were already mapping out strategies to stop them.

Morisu, who represented the Chairman of AANDEC, Rear Admiral Amos Adedeji, noted how politicians have been inciting youths to commit violence for selfish reasons.

He said that the seminar was aimed at stopping the menace as the country commences preparations for the coming elections.

The association warned those threatening to dismember the country that,

“the survival of the Nigerian nation is not negotiable.”

“The theme has been selected following reflections on the need to tackle the extant problem of insecurity in our country from policy and strategic perspectives with a view to engaging the most active segment of the society, that is, the youths in the age bracket 16-40 years.

“The reason for focusing on the youth is not farfetched as it has been observed that the youth take more serious views of public statements made by respected senior citizens (both serving and retired).

“Besides, a chronicle of most of the violent security challenges prevalent in our nation today, shows that the youth have consistently been used as tools and negatively exploited by a system that is supposed to nurture them for growth and productivity.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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Boko Haram sets town ablaze, kills 74 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

of 51 people and a soldier.

At the end of the carnage, more than 300 houses and shops were razed, while scores of policemen and civilians were also injured.

Kawuri is one of the big towns in Konduga, situated along Maiduguri-Bama Expressway and about 60 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.

About 50 heavily armed terrorists were said to have invaded the town on the market day around 5p.m. and unleashed mayhem on residents and traders.

Those injured in the attack are now receiving treatment at Konduga General Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

Our correspondent learnt that no house was left standing after the attack.

The gunmen planted explosive devices around the town, prior to the attack, according to witnesses and security officials.

Civilians were also killed in their homes, before the houses were set ablaze.

“No house was left standing,” Ari Kolomi, who fled from the village to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said.

“The gunmen were more than 50 and they were using explosives and heavysounding guns,” he added.

Kolomi said he did not yet know if his relatives had survived the attack.

A senior security operative, who did not want his name mentioned, confirmed the incident to our correspondent yesterday.

This is the second attack on the town. The first attack occurred in October last year when some Boko Haram suspects clashed with vigilance youth, popularly known as civilian JTF, leading to the killing of 10 people, including three youths.

Also, during that attack, 18 persons were injured, while 48 shops and 200 houses were razed.

Governor Kashim Shettima, who was billed to visit the town yesterday, had to suspend the trip, following intelligence report that the place was not safe.

The terrorists were alleged to have planted Improvised Explosive Devic-

es, IEDs, targeting rescue workers and security operatives deployed to maintain law and order in the area.

A survivor, Mallam Mustapha Modu, said he counted about 47 dead bodies yesterday morning, while several others sustained gunshots and injuries.

It will be recalled that in the past week, 37 communities, including Kwaljiri, Kaya, Ngawo Fate, Limanti, Njaba, Yahuri, Mude, Wala and Alau among others in Damboa, Konduga and Gwoza Council areas, had been sacked by terrorists.

The displaced residents of those communities are now taking refuge in some neighbouring villages and Maiduguri as well as across the border in Cameroon.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Lawal Tanko, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

He said over 40 people were killed while 25 sustained gunshots and injuries, after setting the whole town ablaze.

Tanko said: “I received an intelligence information that Kawuri town was attacked by Boko Haram sect suspected to be on a revenge mission on market day (Sunday), where many civilians were killed while several others were left with serious wounds before they set the whole place on fire, we have deployed our men to the area.”

Tanko, however, said that no policeman was killed during the attack.

In Waga Chakawa village, in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, 22 died in an attack on a church service also on Sunday.

Our correspondent learnt that the attackers set off bombs and fired into the congregation, killing 22 people, before burning houses and taking residents hostage during a fourhour siege.

It was learnt that two policemen were among the 22 victims of the attack.

Some residents of the village, who fled the area told newsmen that they were attacked by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members during Sunday service.

“They used explosives during the attack on worshippers and many people lost their lives”, villagers

said “I cannot actually say how many people were killed but I learnt that there are about 16 people evacuated from the church,” one

of the residents who identified himself as Apogu said.

Another resident claimed that some houses were also attacked by the gunmen who took some

men as hostage, while two policemen, an inspector and a sergeant who were on guard in the church were killed instantly.

“I saw some people cry-

ing saying that their relations had been taken away as hostages by the gunmen,” the resident who did not want his name mentioned said.

L-R: Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Ohii; representative of the ComptrollerGeneral of Customs, DCG John Atte and member, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Jerry Alagbaoso, at the International Customs Day in Abuja, yesterday.

Doctors disregard new malaria policy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

am not,” the reporter insisted. Again, he asked: “Are you sure you are not suspecting you are pregnant?

Haven’t you met with a man recently?” “No doctor,” the reporter answered with some tone of irritation. The doctor scribbled on the case note and suddenly lifted his head as he said: “Your bill is N4,500” He told the reporter she had malaria. Without conducting any laboratory investigation, the doctor said she was going to be treated for malaria and flu and prescribed some injections and drugs. The reporter had to rely on her wits again to dodge being given anti-malarial drugs or injections.

This same situation was repeated in several other hospitals visited. In Katsina, Dr. Gideon Adebo, a physician at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina State, said that he was not aware of any policy by the Federal Ministry of Health stipulating that all malaria patients must be subjected to laboratory investigation before treatment.

According to him, this is why he simply uses ACT, which centres on treatment

with more than one drug prescription, and Quinine.

Adebo also disclosed that malaria remains the number one disease in the state.

“I see 60 patients on a daily basis and about 35 of them complain of malaria-related conditions. This makes it about 245 patients with malaria-related problems per week.”

Since most doctors could easily recognise the malaria signs and symptoms, like some other doctors, Adebo most times rules out laboratory tests and prescribes tablets. “If the tablets are not working, then we do tests.

Delays in arrival of test results is what makes for drug treatment before the test results finally come out,” he added.

But Dr. Olalekan Ogundare of Alheri Clinic, a private hospital in the Katsina metropolis said that he was aware of the new malaria policy as stipulated under the Roll Back Malaria project. Notwithstanding this, he disclosed that he encountered challenges whenever he attempted carrying out malaria tests.

“The problem is most test results don’t come out on time. Waiting for tests in

severe cases can endanger the life of the patient, so it is advisable to administer empirical treatment before the test result comes out,” he said.

Some other doctors, however, explained that they would have preferred conducting the tests but for the fact that most patients rarely returned to the hospital for test results and even to complete their treatment.

According to Dr. Abimbola Abiodun, a Lagosbased gynecologist, “Laboratory diagnosis is still strange to Nigerians. They do not complete their treatments not to talk of returning for test results. Most of the time, they only come to the hospital when they have broken down completely. Many prefer to treat themselves at home since malaria drugs are available everywhere you go”.

She also said that this was one of the major reasons doctors preferred using pre-packaged oral antimalaria drugs and shied away from laboratory investigations.

The Coordinator, National Malaria Control Programme, Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, however, believes

every doctor in Nigeria should by now be aware of the nation’s new policy on malaria treatment, saying the ministry has made strenuous efforts to ensure that the policy is well implemented at all levels of the nation’s health care delivery system.

She admitted that Nigerians were used to self-medication, stressing that the new policy would ensure proper management of malaria in the country.

Ezeigwe urged Nigerians to be more involved in issues affecting their health.

Malaria is so common in the country that there’s hardly anyone who does not know a drug or two for its management. Indeed, before 2011, the Health Ministry encouraged selftreatment, which explains why anti-malarials were classified as over-the-counter medicines, OTC, which could be purchased without a doctor’s prescription.

People were encouraged to consider a visit to the doctor only if symptoms persisted after 48 hours of self-treatment.

This policy was, however, reversed by the ministry in 2011.

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

APC senators shun directive on service chiefs’ screening GEORGE OJI AND MURITALA AYINLA

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l least seven members of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday disregarded the party’s directive asking them to shun participation in the screening of the service chiefs recently appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The screening of the service chiefs was carried out by the joint Committees on Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force at a closed door session at the National Assembly.

The opposition senators, who participated at the screening, were Senators Akin Odunsi, Kabiru Marafa, Sani Saleh, Atai Aidoko, Babafemi Ojudu, Jubrilla Bindo and Ajayi Boroffice.

The leadership of the APC had, through a communiqué read by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, last week, directed members elected on the party’s platform in the National Assembly to block the passage of the budget and the screening of new service chiefs and ministers.

Chairman of the joint committee, Senator George Sekibo, said yesterday that the screening was the first to be carried out by the Senate since the return of Nigeria to civil rule despite the fact that there was a provision for it in sections 217 to 219 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

He said past administra-

•Fashola backs blockage of executive bills tions had not been sending names of service chiefs for confirmation despite the fact that the National Assembly enacted Armed Forces Act 2004 which made it mandatory for the federal lawmakers to confirm the appointment of service chiefs.

Sekibo said: “The screening exercise today therefore is in fulfillment of the provisions of the constitution and the Armed Forces Act 2004 (Cap 20 of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) which has been flouted since it was enacted.

“This exercise we are performing today would satisfy the provisions of the constitution and law, and completely put our Armed Forces under our democratic norms.”

Sekibo noted that the country was currently undergoing some major security challenges like the insurgency in the NorthEast, oil theft and pipeline vandalisation in the SouthSouth and kidnapping in the South-East and other parts of the country.

He said: “If the required attention is not given to these challenges, they are capable of disintegrating our country or putting our nation’s unity in question.

“It is the wish of the senate and indeed the entire nation that no part of this country would be allowed to exist in lawlessness and every part of the country must be fully protected as that is one of the primary objectives of a good govern-

ment.

“The oil theft and vandalisation of pipelines in the South South region is a major economic breach with resultant effect of reducing National earnings from the oil and gas sector and this must be stopped.”

Sekibo said the committee members would screen the competence of the military officers in strategic military operations.

Meanwhile, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday threw his weight behind the APC directive to its National Assembly members to block all legislative proposals, saying the directive would check belligerent executive.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, Fashola said those raising the alarm over the

call were either ignorant of the workings of democracy or had chosen to play to the gallery for pecuniary gains.

He said: “Let me say without any shadow of doubt that the three arms of government in the theory of separation of power propounded many years by great philosophers recognised the need for the executive, the legislature and the judiciary to act as check on one another.

“So, in the process of that check, institutionally and traditionally, the legislature has found, as a legitimate weapon, the withdrawal of cooperation from the executive in order to bring a belligerent executive back on the negotiation table.

“As they said them-

selves, no person can claim the ownership of Nigeria. Where appeals and letters fail, a legitimate tool is the use of the power of cooperation or the withdrawal of cooperation. How that will take place is yet another thing”.

Fashola stated that instead of resorting to violence, the lawmakers could rely on their legislative tool to bring the executive back on the table on many pending issues.

The governor said: “We must have a negotiated compromise in order to go forward. If you close that, you are setting the expressway to anarchy. It is a legitimate tool.

The Americans have used it. The British have used

it. When it suited them in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, they told their government to invade Iraq.

“We must open our mind and stop raise needless alarm. Now, perhaps, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is no longer able to stomach the medicine it has ditched to people over the years.

But I have news for the party. There is a stone for every Goliath. And this is one stone that we have found.”

He spoke on the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, in the National Assembly which had been in the limbo for the past three years, saying it is an example of the withdrawal of cooperation.

L-R: National Coordinator, Women Optimum Development, Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede; Executive Director, Labour Health and Human Rights Development Centre, LHRDC, Mr. Ayodele Akele; President, Campaign for Democracy and Women Arise, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin; Officer-in-Charge, United Nations Information Centre, UNIC, Mr. Oluseyi Soremekun and President, United Nations of Youth, Prince Goodluck Obi, during the awareness walk and film screening organised by the United Nations Information Centre in memory of victims of the holocaust in Lagos, yesterday.

Minister decries rise in violence against children

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inister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, yesterday decried the increasing rate of violence against children in the country.

Maina spoke in Abuja at the opening of a three-day workshop on the Prevention of Violence Against Children in the country.

The minister, who was represented by Mrs. Bolane Jaji, identified acts of violence against children as rape, trafficking, child labour and sexual exploitation, among others.

She said: “However, it is

disheartening to note that many Nigerian children face barbaric acts of violence that jeopardise their prospects of development into productive and well adjusted adults.

“Violence against children takes place when adults use their strength or position of power to hurt them on purpose and not by accident.

“Such violent acts include rape, trafficking, sexual exploitation and a host of others.

“Violence against children exists in every country of the world, irrespective of culture, ethnic

groups or background.

“It is in recognition of this fact, the United Nations Secretary-General in 2005 conducted a global study on the issue and Nigeria contributed to the study by filling out the questionnaire sent to all UN member countries.”

The minister said it had been observed that acts of violence against children always took place in familiar settings.

She said that all hands should be on deck to end the violence against children, adding that it was important to create avenues for children subjected to

such treatment to speak up.

Maina said: “The study among others identified five settings where violence occurs namely: the home and family; schools and educational settings; institutional - that is care and judicial; the workplace; and the community.

“It is however sad to note that all of these settings are places where children have been placed in the care and trust of adults, who by their positions have a duty to protect the child from any form of violence or ill-treatment.

“Most violence against children remain hidden

and unreported due to fear, stigma and lack of trust in constituted authorities.

“Many of the affected children are afraid to report violence because they will be blamed or isolated.”

She said that protecting the rights of children was the collective responsibility of all Nigerians, hence the need to put the children’s needs above all issues.

Hajiya Rabi Galadima, the Director, Child Department in the Women Affairs Ministry, said that children were the bearers of Nigeria’s hopes and aspirations.

She spoke of the need to sustained efforts at promoting their interests.

Galadima said many children were being denied the full benefits of their rights in their states due to the non-passage of the 2003 Child Rights Law. She called on the states that had yet to pass the law to do so ``as a matter of urgency`` and in the interest of their children.

She said no effort should be spared in providing an enabling, peaceful, and conducive environment for the proper upbringing and development of children.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

INEC releases time-table for Ekiti, Osun guber poll OMEIZA AJAYI, ABUJA

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he Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday in Abuja announced that campaigns for the Governorship elections in Ekiti State will commence on March 23.

In a statement last night which was signed by the Secretary of the Commission, Augusta Ogakwu, INEC said collection of Forms for the election by political parties will begin on April 1, while the last date for the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of conflicts arising from the primaries was fixed for April 14th.

According to INEC, April 21st is the last day for the submission of forms CF001 and CF002 while April 28th was fixed for the publication of particulars of the candidates (CF001).

Also, the last day for the withdrawal by candidates and replacement of withdrawn candidates is May 7, while the last day for the submission of nomination forms by political parties is May 13.

It said the publication of official register of voters for the election is on May 20 while the publication of the list of nominated candidates was also fixed for the same date.

Campaigns will end on June 19th while elections will hold on June 21st, 2014.

In the case of the governorship election in Osun State, which is fixed for August 9, 2014, INEC said party primaries as well as resolution of dispute arising from it would commence on June, 2, 2014 and end on August 7.

While campaigns for the election are also scheduled to start by May 11, collection of forms for the election by political parties would be done on May 19 at the headquarters of the commission.

It said June 9 would mark the last day for submission of forms CF001 and CF002 at the INEC headquarters. Also publication of personal particulars would is fixed for June 16.The electoral commission slated June 25 as last

day for withdrawal by candidates/replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties.

According to the statement, July 1 is the last day for the submission of nomination forms by political parties, publication of official register of voters for the election and publication of list of nominated candidates will come up on will be done on July 8.

The notice of poll will be published on July 23 while the submission of names of party agents for the election to the electoral officer of the local government or area council is fixed for July 24. .

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has charged members of staff of the commission to brace up for the challenges ahead of next year’s general elections, saying the enemies of the commission are waiting for it to fail.

He warned INEC officials to avoid anything that could taint the image of the commission and

DSS grills el-Rufai for hours ...as ex-minister denies resisting arrest OMEIZA AJAYI ABUJA

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ormer Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday visited the office of the Department of State Service, DSS, where he was grilled for hours.

But the former minister denied reports that he resisted arrest by operatives of the DSS at the weekend.

El-Rufai, who is also the Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, also dismissed insinuations that he went aground for fear of being arrested by security operatives, vowing to continue to speak up against all forms of malfeasance, electoral malpractices and official impunity.

The former minister

told journalists at his Maitama residence in Abuja shortly before his interface with the interrogators that he only demanded for a warrant of arrest before he could leave his house.

He also re-echoed his earlier stance that there will be violent resistance should the incumbent administration of President Goodluck Jonathan attempt to rig the February 2015 general elections, arguing that he merely stated the obvious and therefore faulting grounds for his arrest.

Mallam el-Rufai, who arrived the headquarters of the DSS in company of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Senator Chris Ngige at about 9.10am, added that his arrest may be as a result of his comments that

the 2015 election may not be violence-free if the elections were not free, fair and credible.

He was driven to the premises by Mr. Amaechi.

Other APC chieftains, elRufai’s wife and his lawyer were also on the entourage.

Messrs Amaechi and Ngige were earlier barred from entering the DSS compound, but were later allowed in after some minutes of heated arguments.

Senator Ngige, however, came out of the compound at about 1.50pm, saying he had another meeting within the city.

DSS operatives at the gate did not allow journalists have immediate access to him.

El-Rufai’s wife also left the premises around 4.18pm without speaking to the media.

thereby scuttle the elections. His charge is contained in a recent bulletin of the commission issued in Abuja yesterday.

Jega was said to have given the admonition during the just-concluded four-day retreat in Kaduna.

While urging the staff to be alive to their responsibilities, the chairman said the world is watching the commission closely.

He said: “All eyes are on us - our friends, partners, concerned citizens and indeed even our adversaries.

We must be more vigilant, be more committed and strengthen our harmony at all levels to achieve the desired results.”

Jega also charged them to continue to do their job with integrity and in an impartial and non-partisan manner so that no one will make allegations that will impugn their integrity.

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Defection: Court orders PDP to serve Amaechi, others afresh ISE-OLUWA IGE

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Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday ordered the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to serve afresh, court processes on five of its governors, who purportedly defected last year to the All Progressives Congress, APC. The court papers to be served on the defecting governors by the PDP are seeking for an order declaring the seats of the governors vacant; having lost the platform they used to seize powers in their respective states.

The governors sought to be sacked are Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara).

Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave the order yesterday following complaints by the

plaintiff ’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon, SAN, to the effect that despite being served, the defendants were not only absent in court, they have also failed to file any response to the processes served on them.

The judge ordered that the governors be served through the national office of the APC in Abuja.

Justice Kolawole also granted the plaintiff permission to publish the court processes in two specified newspapers.

The orders, when fully complied with, are to ensure that the governors have no reason to complain of lack of fair hearing in the event the court proceeds with the case without the governors coming to court to defend the suit.

Justice Kolawole consequently adjourned to February 6, for hearing of the plaintiff ’s originating summons.

Sued with the governors is the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, listed as the 1st defendant.

South West

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Good governance central to development –Ajimobi

O

yo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has identified democracy, good leadership and equitable governance as precursors to development.

The governor, in a lecture delivered at the 56th Founder’s Day Anniversary and First Distinguished Alumnus Lecture of Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan, said where there was an exhibition of good governance, citizens would repose confidence in their government and leader.

Governor Ajimobi, who spoke on the topic; “Democracy, Leadership and Equitable Governance: Sustaining a Tripod for Meaningful Development,” said the absence of good governance would result in stampede among the people to take the quickest routes to selfactualisation.

According to the governor, a system of good governance must be one where the person governing must not see himself as the only repository of knowledge but rather, allow dialogue with the citizens on regular basis as a way of promoting social inclusion, institutionalised participation and more significantly, narrowing the areas of conflict that usually arose in the process of governance.

He also identified lack of transparency as the bane of many African states and the harbinger of the acute under-development that had retarded growth on the continent.

He said government must engender openness of state business and allow the scrutiny of government accounts and process by other state actors and members of the public.

IGR, viable option for survival of states, says Fayemi ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

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kiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, yesterday described Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, as a viable option for the survival of states in the country.

Fayemi said IGR was necessary in a country like Nigeria which seems to be practising pseudo-federalism.

The governor spoke in Ado Ekiti while receiving participants of the Course 36 of the Armed Forces Staff College, Jaji, who are on a study tour of the state

with a focus on IGR. The governor, who said IGR contributed immensely to his administration’s development strides, said the present government had improved on its revenue generation from N109 million in 2010 to N600 million in 2013.

He said the Ekiti State government had moved from a position where its IGR was less than five per cent of its allocation to 25 per cent now.

Fayemi said his administration has justified the revenue collected by putting in place regenerating infrastructure for the use of the people.

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Residents of Atinporome area of Badagry protesting over the demolition of their houses in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Ejigbo-Ajao Road named after victims of 2002 bomb blast MURITALA AYINLA

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welve years after the Ikeja bomb blast claimed the lives of innocent citizens, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, yesterday immortalised the victims by naming the 2.1km Ejigbo-Ajao link road in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDA, after those who lost their lives in the blast.

The governor named the two bridges on the road, ‘January 27 Link Bridge’ in memory of the over 1,000 victims of the horrendous incident.

While sympathising with the relations of the victims, Governor Fashola blamed the incident on the PDP-led Federal Govern-

ment, which failed to do its duties by ensuring proper management of the bombs and other explosives in the military custody.

The governor lamented that the unfortunate incident prompted his government to intervene by rebuilding the schools and hospitals located within the Ikeja Cantonment that were destroyed by the blast.

Fashola said the EjigboAjao Link Road was another fulfilment of the promise of the state government in 2002 to open up the area as part of government’s drive to renew inner city roads.

He added: “My predecessor promised you then that a bridge will be built to link Ejigbo and Ajao Estate, I have come here today to fulfil that promise.”

The governor also took

a swipe at the Federal Government for turning a blind eye on roads in the area which, according to him, were damaged by the activities of tankers lifting fuel from NNPC depot in Ejigbo.

His words: “It shows the kind of respect and concern that the party that manages that Federal Government has for you, they will come back to you to come and ask for votes.”

On the agitation for compensation by some families of victims of the bomb blast, Governor Fashola said it is impossible for government to compensate survivors of victims yearly, but assured them that genuine beneficiaries not yet captured before now will soon be taken care of.

He added: “No amount

of compensation can bring back those that we lost and as much as we are willing to do so, you must assist us to verify who the real beneficiaries of compensation are.”

Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, earlier in his address, said the essence of the road is to eliminate congestion along the Ejigbo corridor to enable travellers from Ikotun connect to the Airport Road without going through Isolo area.

Hamzat said that travel time has reduced by about 75 minutes, just as he revealed that the governor has approved the Ati-Okoye and Kolawole Shonibare roads within the link road for immediate reconstruction.

Murder: Court scolds Lagos DPP over absence of witness WALE IGBINTADE

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Lagos High Court judge, Justice Olabisi Akinlade, yesterday scolded the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Lagos State for the absence of witnesses in the trial of a police officer, DSP Segun Fabunmi, charged with murderer of one Adedamola Daramola, during the protests against fuel subsidy removal in January 2012.

Fabunmi, who has been dismissed as Divisional Police Officer of Pen Cinema Police Division, Lagos, was alleged to have commit-

ted the act at Yaya-Abatan Street, Agege, during the protest.

He is standing trial for attempted murder and for inflicting grievous bodily harm on three others while shooting at protesters at the same location.

At the resumed hearing of the trial yesterday, the prosecution team led

by Lagos DPP, Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan, apologised for the absence of the witness, one Sunday an IPO. She said she would have communicated the development to the court and the defendant’s counsel, Mr. George Oguntade, SAN, but

that she thought the court will be having other matters pending his arrival.

She prayed the court for a stand down till 12.00pm to enable the IPO appear in court.

Justice Akinlade then asked the prosecutor if the IPO was the only witness they are having, but the DPP said there are other two witnesses namely; the ballistician and the pathologist.

At the point, the trial judge was visibly angry, saying; “Why bring witnesses in pieces. I have given you a whole day and you have not come to court

with a witness. The same thing happened at the last trial date, I thought you are ready to deal with this case expeditiously,” she stated.

Justice Akinlade further said; “It’s a big insult for the high court to wait for a witness who had gone to testify in a case at a magistrates’court. I can’t continue wasting my dates because I expect you to bring two or more witnesses to court.”

The defence counsel, Mr. George Oguntade, SAN, however, told the court that being a Monday; nobody could predict when the witness will get to court.

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South West

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

9

ASUU blasts VC over attack on members KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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he Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has condemned the attack on its national delegation by security operatives at the Adekunle Ajasin Univer-

sity, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, during which two people were allegedly injured.

The union said the attack which was on the instruction of the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof.

Femi Mimiko, was meted to the ASUU National Visita-

tion Team yesterday during which ASUU chairman of the school, Dr. Busuyi Mekusi and former Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly who is a lecturer in the institution, Mr. Oluwasegunota Bolarinwa were injured.

Chairman of the Univer-

sity of Ibadan chapter of the union who was in the delegation, Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, while addressing journalists in Ibadan said, “apart from initially denying ASUU vehicles entry into the campus, the University of Ibadan and Benue State University vehicles

that managed to enter the campus had their tyres deflated. The security outfit called Sheriff brought out cutlasses and other dangerous weapons to attack the union leaders.

“In the process, the branch Chairman and Mr. Bolarinwa were injured.

The team was led by Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU Vice President; Drs Ighalo, Ayan Adeleke, Ajiboye and Ikoni of BSU.” The union leader while explaining the purpose of the visit said the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union set up the team to visit the branch on a fact finding mission to do an onthe-spot appraisal of the last strike.

He added that the team was dumbfounded on what the VC has turned the university to, “Akungba is now a den of lions. VC now hires and fires at will. No free meetings on campus. We had to meet at the ASUU Cooperative building. It was a sorry case.”

Dr Ajioboye who described the Vice Chancellor as an Emperor who ‘hires and fires at will’ added that it was against the principle of ASUU that a university be governed without a governing council in place.

He lamented that the highhandedness may have been made possible owing to blood relationship between the Vice chancellor and Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

C&S Church backs Jonathan on anti-gay law SEGUN ADIO

T L-R: First Principal of Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan, Chief Ayo Labiyi; Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State; former Principals, Mr. J. T. O. Olubode; Chief Layi Osunkunle, and the National President, Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan Old Boys’ Association, Dr. Taiwo Ladapo at the 56th Founder’s Day Anniversary and First Distinguished Alumnus Lecture in Ibadan yesterday.

NUJ threatens court action over brutalised journalist KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

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he Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) yesterday came hard on the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), threatening court action against the Command over the brutalisation of the state Correspondent of the

Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Waheed Adebayo.

The union in separate press releases issued by the B- Zone and the Oyo State Council said it would do all within its powers to seek redress over the inhuman treatment meted out to its member by the overzealous NSCDC officials during the ordination of a Catholic Archbishop in Ibadan.

It will be recalled that

Adebayo was beaten to stupor on Friday with his shirt torn to shreds and personal belongings misplaced when he was manhandled by men of the NSCDC while covering an assignment which he was properly accredited to cover as a journalist.

In the releases signed by the Vice-President of BZone and Chairman, Oyo NUJ; Comrades Dele Atunbi and ‘Gbenga Opadotun,

the union condemned in strong terms the ugly development, describing the assault on the said journalist as criminal, brutish and appalling.

The union maintained that the action of the NSCDC officers was an infringement on the fundamental rights of Adebayo, whose right to human dignity has been violated with impunity.

EFCC files amended charge against Fani-Kayode K AYODE KETEFE

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he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday filed an amended charge of money laundering against former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode before Justice Rita Ofilli Ajumogobia at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

The latest charge against the former Minister alleged that he had

laundered about N99 million.

At yesterday’s proceedings, counsel to the EFCC, Festus Keyamo told the judge that he had filed an amended charge against Fani-Kayode and prayed the court to allow him take his plea.

However, Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) objected to the new charge, stressing that his client could not take the new charge on the grounds that it was legally defective.

Ifedipe said that, “The accused was alleged to have accepted cash payments of over N10 million without stating the donor of the said money.”

“All through the charge, the accused person was alleged to have accepted various sums of money, without mentioning the names of the person from whom the monies were received.”

“This charge is clearly invalid, persecutory and oppressive.”

In his opposition, Keyamo claimed that the charge

consisted of the offences of money laundering in which monies involved might have no immediate provable sources, as opposed to conversion or stealing, where there is a need to prove a particular source.

In his ruling, Justice Ajumogobia declared that both parties were at liberty to either file written addresses, or address the court orally on the issue.

The court consequently adjourned the matter till February 3, 2014 for ruling.

he Federal Government has been commended on the anti gay bill recently signed into law, and the government was also tasked on ensuring that the democracy being enjoyed in the country today is not sacrificed by politicians for selfish gains. This call was coming on the backdrop of the brewing lawlessness in Rivers state and other parts of the country.

Giving the charge to the Federal Government, yesterday in Lagos was the Cherubim & Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria (the umbrella body of all Cherubim & Seraphim churches) during a press conference heralding the church’s Annual General Conference holding at the Gospel C&S Church, OrileIganmu.

Speaking on behalf of the church, Baba Alakoso

Solomon Alao maintained that the increasing lawlessness in the oil-rich state should be quickly addressed

by President Goodluck Jonathan. His words, “We as a church are not partisan but we are not unmindful of happenings in Rivers State where the Chief Security Officer of the state is facing a lot of challenges. We know Mr. President is an amiable gentleman and has a listening ear. So we urge him to use his good office to restore normalcy to that state and other parts of the country.

The church commended President Goodluck Jonathan for signing the anti gay bill into law, urging him not to allow himself to be bullied into regretting his action. Elder Alao, maintained that no nation of the world has a right to interfere in the culture of another country. He called on parents to continue to teach traditional values to their children.

FG deploys 1,500 volunteers under technical aid scheme HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

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he Federal Government is set to deploy 1,500 Nigerian volunteers under the Technical Aid Corp (TAC) scheme to recipient countries this year as part of effort aimed at maintaining and increasing the nation’s diplomatic ratings in global engagement.

Director General of the Directorate Dr. Pius Osunyikanmi disclosed this yesterday in Akure, Ondo state during the opening ceremony of the 14th Orientation Programme organized

by TAC for the 1,500 volunteers selected by the agency prior to their deployment to countries that sought Nigeria’s assistance in manpower support.

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South-East

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Elechi signs 2014 Appropriation Bill into law ALIUNA GODWIN EBONYI

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overnor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State yesterday signed the 2014 Appropriation Bill of N99 billion into law with determination to seek financial assistance from the Africa Development Bank, ADB, to enable him finish the execution of all the projects he embarked upon before the 2015 general elections.

Elechi, while signing the Appropriation Bill at the Government House in Abakaliki, the state capital, expressed displeasure that the nation’s economy was over-dependence on oil instead of diversifying it for the effective development of the country.

The governor, however, called on the people not to relent in the payment of their taxes as the state government would not

treat tax evasion with levity.

He said: “Ebonyi State will seek financial assistance from the United State and the Africa Development Bank in order to fulfill its infrastructural obligations to the people.

“Our economy is very dried, if we must face the reality; that is why we are asking for assistance on soft terms from the United States and the Africa Development Bank to ensure economic development of our state.

“We must be prudent in whatever that is available. We will be strict in approval of meetings so as not to be left out of national schemes. We will be economical in attending meetings outside the state; we cannot be doing everything just because other states are doing them.

“It is easier to pass a budget into law than to

find the money; all should be up and doing in tax payment. It is an exercise our people are long use to and because we are blessed in oil wells, people tend to depend on it. The civil duty of tax payment should not be treated with levity. It gives us a sense of belonging.

“In the years ahead, we shall be more stringent to ensure that the obligation is achieved. We are trying to average in all the sub-sectors of the economy; the education, agriculture, health name them and, therefore, you cannot say, anyone has been neglected ; all these

sub-units are adequately attended to.”

The state House of Assembly Speaker, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku, noted that the 2014 budget was structured to ensure increase in the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, adding that the decision was taken to ensure

speedy development of all the sub-sectors of the economy.

He called on politicians to shun violence and continue to promote the existing peace in the state in the build-up to the forthcoming 2015 general elections.

Anambra distributes 200 transformers to communities APGA: Okwu petitions INEC, files contempt suit against Umeh the concern of all.

Heap of refuse on Ekeonunwa Street in Owerri, Imo State capital, yesterday.

CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

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nambra State Governor Peter Obi yesterday began the distribution of 200 new transformers to needy communities.

The development brought the number of transformers distributed to communities across the state to close to 1,000.

Speaking during the distribution, Governor Obi called on communities that have not benefitted to quickly request for them through letters.

He assured that all verified and genuine requests would be considered and settled within the life span of his administration.

Among the communities that got their transformer yesterday were Igbariam town in Anambra East Local Government Area and Nibo in Awka South Local Government Area.

Urging residents to always have the interest of Anambra at heart at all times, the governor said that the drive to make the state exemplary should be

Speaking at the event, the State Commissioner for Public Utilities, Water Resources and Community Development, Dr. Joseph Nwankwu, described Governor Obi’s administration as a glorious dawn in the history of Anambra State.

Nwankwu recalled that communities contributed money in the past to get transformers.

According to the commissioner, the people get the transformers free of charge under Obi’s administration.

He said the obi deliberately stopped the practice which encouraged the people to contribute money for transformers so as to enable the residents spend their money on other meaningful items.

Nwankwu described the gesture as part of Obi’s efforts to enhance the development of local industries.

The commissioner said that apart from communities that were affected by flood in 2012, other parts of the state had been connected to the national grid.

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he Chief Maxi Okwu-led faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to recognise Chief Victor Umeh as the party chairman In a petition sent to INEC yesterday, Okwu said contempt proceedings had been instituted against Umeh and Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, the party’s National Secretary, for undermining the judgement of an Abuja High Court.

He said his attention

was drawn to a letter signed by the two ousted officers of the party to the commission titled: “Re: Judgment in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/563/2013.”

Okwu, who was recognised as national chairman of the party by the court, said the former officials were still parading themselves as chairman and secretary respectively.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a letter titled as above dated January 22, addressed to the commission and co-signed by our erstwhile national chairman and secretary,

Alhaji Sani Shinkafi.

“This is quite in character since this saga began. Please, note that we have since commenced committal proceedings against them for contempt of court with the issuance of Form 48.”

The Okwu, therefore, urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, not to undermine the authority of the court.

He said Umeh and Shinkaffi seemed not to know that an application for stay of execution was not a stay of execution.

Okwu said: “They also

PHOTO: NAN

mischievously forgot that courts do not stay declaratory relief.

“In total disobedience to a valid and subsisting final judgement in which Jega and the duo were parties, they have been misbehaving as if the country is a jungle where everyman is on his own and only the fittest survive.

“Since the judgement was delivered against them on January 15 to their chagrin, they have used all sorts of unprintable words to insult the judiciary in private and in the media.”

Okorocha urges Ndigbo to shun retrogressive politics CHRIS NJOKU OWERRI

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mo State Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha yesterday called on politicians and Ndigbo to refrain from playing primitive politics.

Okorocha, who made the call while interacting with stakeholders and some political leaders at the Government House in Owerri, the state capital,

•Says PDP not choice for South-East said such retrogressive politics had been discovered to be responsible for marginalisation of Ndigbo.

The governor said that rather than indulging in such politics, greater emphasis should be placed on the general interest of the public than personal gain.

He claimed that the

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is not the best choice for the South-East as the party had systematically limited the scope of Ndigbo thus making them the minority in the country.

Okorocha regretted that the South-East had not benefited in terms of federal projects and appointments despite its con-

tribution to the growth of PDP and massive support given to President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2011 presidential election.

He, therefore, called on Igbo leaders to support the All Progressives Congress, APC, which he said would give Ndigbo the chance to produce the nation’s president.

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South South

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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320 people held in Rivers are traders, not terrorists –Arewa SAM OLUWALANA

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L-R: Second Trustee, National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Rivers State, Mr. Chukwudi Eluozo; Deputy State Chairman, Mr. Ominiayebagha Kalango and Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mr. Sunday Oghenekaro, during a sensitisation visit by the FRSC commander to NURTW office in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

MEND claims responsibility for kidnapping two sailors EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

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he Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, has claimed responsibility for the abduction of a captain and engineer during an attack along Bassambiri-Nembe creek in Bayelsa State.

The group abducted the victims on board of a tug boat belonging to the Agip Nigerian Oil Company,

NOAC. The incident occurred last Saturday when seven suspected sea pirates invaded the tug boat conveying six passengers and four sailors were dispossessed of cash and other valuables.

It was learnt that the tug boat was on its way from Port Harcourt to Brass when the suspects attacked it.

A statement signed yesterday by the spokesman of MEND, Jomo Gbomo,

claimed the attack was launched by some its trainee fighters and not sea pirates.

Part of the statement read: “This relatively insignificant attack is a reminder of our presence in the creeks of the Niger Delta and a sign of things to come. Contrary to speculations, the attackers were not sea pirates, but a new group of MEND’s trainee fighters.”

The militant group

threatened to destroyed the nation’s oil production by 2015 and chase away all the multinational oil firms in the Niger Delta region.

The group said: “In this new phase of our struggle for justice, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, will pay considerable attention to dealing with the occupying Nigerian government forces in the Niger Delta that stand in our way.”

Consumers protest shortage of prepaid meters in Edo SEBASTINE EBHUOMHAN BENIN

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lectricity consumers in Edo State yesterday staged a protest against the long delay associated with the provision of prepaid electricity meters by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDCO. The protesters threatened to stop the payment of electricity bills henceforth, if the situation is not quickly remedied.

They carried variously inscribed placards denouncing the alleged

fraudulent services by BEDCO. The protesters claimed that some of them had paid for the prepaid meter for a long time.

They also alleged that a cartel was holding illegally to the available prepaid meters in BEDCO, even as they blamed the new management of the company for the development.

The protesters alleged that after they initially paid between N30, 000 and N40, 000 for a one-phase meter in November 2013, they are yet to receive the meters even as the com-

pany had been sending bogus bills to them.

Their spokesman, Pa Nick Igbinidu, claimed that he paid N60, 000 for two meters in November 2013 with the promise of receiving them before the Christmas, but had been repeatedly tossed around

by BEDCO officials.

He said: “I have the receipt issued to me and these people are saying I should hold on. Yet, they have sent me an estimated bill of N90, 000 for three months because, according to them, I don’t have a prepaid meter. This is

fraudulent of BEDCO.” But BEDCO spokesman, Mr. Curtis Nwajei, who did not confirm or deny the existence of meter racketeers in the company, said those claiming to have paid for meters might not have been issued receipts.

He urged any protester with genuine grievance to come to his office with the receipt.

Nwajei said: “Do the protesters have receipts?

Where and who issued them? They should come to my office with the receipts.”

We spent N7bn on rehabilitation of schools last year –Delta

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he Delta State Government has said that it spent N7 billion on the rehabilitation of 50 primary and secondary schools last year.

The Commissioner for Special Infrastructure, Mrs. Orezi Esievo, stated

this yesterday during the budget defence of her ministry before the House of Assembly Committee on Establishment.

Esievo said the money was spent on the renovation and rehabilitation of 50 primary and secondary

schools in the bid to provide conducive learning environment for pupils and students.

She said the fund was used for the construction of 10 new model schools across the state; some had been completed, while

others were at various stages of completion.

The commissioner also said N4.4 billion was approved for the first phase of the construction of four new polytechnics located at Aboh, Sapele, Bomadi and Abigborodo.

he suspected 320 Boko Haram travellers arrested by the police in Rivers State on Sunday have been identified as traders and not insurgents as alleged.

The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, the umbrella body of people of the Northern extraction, claimed this in a reaction to the detention of certain persons said to have been arrested in Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Police Command on Sunday in a convoy of 17 vehicles.

ACF Coordinator in South-South and South-East, Alhaji Musa Saidu, said yesterday in Port Harcourt that those arrested were traders returning to Port Harcourt from Jigawa State where they had gone to buy wares.

“They are traders; they are not members of the Boko Haram sect,” Saidu

said.

He said prominent Northern leaders in Rivers State such as the Saraki Hausawa had already gone to the police to identify the suspects.

Saidu said: “The people arrested are not members of the Boko Haram; they do business here in Rivers State. They all travelled to the North to buy wares and they were returning to Rivers State when they were arrested by the police.

“The report that 320 suspected Boko Haram members were arrested by the police in Rivers State is false. Those that were arrested are Northern traders who have lived in Port Harcourt for over 30 years. They are traders; they deal in carrot, sugar cane and other items.

They travelled to the North to buy their wares and they were on their way to Rivers State when they were arrested by the police.”

Amaechi, Ikimi wade into Bayelsa APC crisis EMMA GBEMUDU YENAGOA

R

ivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi and former Minister of External Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, have been nominated by the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to resolve the crisis rocking the Bayelsa State chapter of the party.

It was learnt that the Interim National Youth Leader of APC, Ebikibina Miriki and the SouthSouth Interim Committee of the party would also play a role in addressing the crisis.

Miriki and the factional leader of APC in Bayelsa, Mr. Richard Kpodo, confirmed the development to National Mirror yesterday in Yenagoa, the state capital, adding that the decision became necessary to prevent the crisis from escalating.

Miriki said: “What APC is doing is to ensure that the internal democracy reigns supreme in the party at the state and

national levels.”

It was gathered that APC wanted to install a formidable team of executive in the home state of President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2015 general election.

To this end, the national leadership of APC had directed a ceasefire on subsequent media war among former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva’s supporters to allow peace to reign.

A source, who did not want his name mentioned, claimed the choice of Governor Amaechi was based on his supervisory role as a leader in charge of Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states in terms of support and logistics.

The source said the committee was expected to meet the warring Sylva’s supporters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, for the resolution of the crisis.

“The committee is also expected to intervene in the crisis rocking the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the party,” the source added.

12

North

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

3000 APC members defect to PDP in Yobe INUSA NDAHI DAMATURU

T

L-R: General Manager, Operations, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Lawal Abdul; Managing Director, Malam Idris Mohammed and General Manager, Human Resources, Malam Mohammed Adamu, at the inauguration of newly created business unit in Kaduna, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Stakeholders seek restoration of Lake Chad to stem insecurity The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Mr. Ahmad Lawan, yesterday said that the restoration of Lake Chad would stem the security challenges in the North-East of Nigeria.

Lawan said this in Abuja at a “Global Joint Environmental Audit Team Meeting on the Dry up of Lake Chad”.

The meeting was organised by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, in collaboration with GIZ, a German Development Partner.

According to Lawan, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria in 2012 is a step in the right direction to addressing the problem.

“We waited too long to take action on Lake Chad which was how it got to this deplorable condition of losing all the water; but now we must do everything possible to recharge the Lake.

“We want to see a Lake Chad that is revitalised so that the economic activities that were associated with the lake during the 60s and 70s will be brought back.

“At that time, people had food, jobs; but now that has gone.

“You can bear me witness that today, we are experiencing so much insecurity in that part of the country, largely because the youths have nothing to do, nothing to leave on.

“So, recharging Lake Chad is one sure way to reversing the trend,” he said.

Lawan assured the audit team of the National Assembly would ensure that the report was implemented when completed.

In his remarks, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, attributed the drying up of Lake Chad to climate change and human activities.

Ukura said that the development had resulted to

the disappearance of fish, reduction of agro-pastoral and farming activities, resulting to a threat to regional stability.

The auditor-general noted that the drying up of the lake had also affected more than 30 million people whose source of livelihood depended on its existence.

“At the creation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in 1964, the lake was over 25,000 Sq kms as against the current size of less than 2,000 Sq kms today.

“Several public outcries aimed at saving Lake Chad and promoting socioeconomic development in the area were expressed through 14 summits of Heads of States and Governments and 58 sessions of Council of Ministers of the Riparian states.

“Consequently, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) is implementing a five-year Investment Plan from 2013 to 2017 to implement a proposed

water transfer project at an estimated cost of over $14.5 billion,” he said.

Ukura said that so far, Nigeria had remained the largest contributor to LCBC with about N2.4 billion in five years.

Also speaking, Mr. Celestine Ankamtsene, the Director-General of the African Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions, AFROSAI, said the main objective of the meeting was to allow the joint team to discuss the draft audit reports on Lake Chad.

“The standard documents on the development of a joint report shall be distributed to members of the Joint Audit Team and a comprehensive communication strategy of the report will be developed among other things,” he said.

In his remarks, Mr. Tassilo Von-Droste, a representative of GIZ which is handling the project, commended the Riparian states for their commit-

Two die in fuel tanker explosion A diesel tanker yesterday exploded and killed two persons at Bakin-Dutse in Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) that the deceased persons were the driver of the tanker and a welder.

They said the tanker was loaded with diesel, but had one of its compartments broken down and a welder was called to repair it.

“While the welder

was fixing the compartment, the tanker burst into flames and both the driver and the welder sustained severe burns and were rushed to the hospital where they died,” an eye witness said.

The FRSC Unit Commander in Funtua, Mr.

Rabiu Usman, confirmed the incident and gave the registration number of the tanker as, XA 224 FTA. Usman advised tanker drivers to always be cautious with the vehicles, especially when they are loaded with fuel.

he PDP in Yobe State has claimed that 3000 members of the ruling APC in the state have dumped the party and joined the PDP. The state chairman of the party Alhaji Lawan Gana, Karasuwa who disclosed this to newsmen in his country home in Karasuwa Gaalu noted that the defection of the APC members to the PDP was as a result of the reconciliatory approach recently adopted by the party in the state.

According to the chairman, all the 3,000 that defected were from the governor’s home town in Yunusari, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam.

He noted that Yobe PDP is seriously re-strategizing; adding that part of the strategy is the party’s efforts to reconcile all aggrieved members both within and outside the state.

“I am happy to inform you that the party has constituted two committees to reconcile with aggrieved party members.

“The two reconciliatory committees are handling reconciliation with ag-

grieved members outside the state and those within Yobe state and, to scout for new members.

“We are happy that soon after the committees commenced work, supporters of other parties are now defecting to the PDP” he said.

The Yobe PDP helmsman debunk claims by Yobe state government on lack of federal presence in the state, stressing that a total of over 56 federal projects were currently ongoing in the state under the leadership of Dr. Yerima Ngama, the minister of state for Finance.

Karasuwa added that the sterling leadership of Dr. Ngama in the affairs of the party in the state has greatly increased the people’s support and confidence in Federal Government The chairman pointed out that the party will take advantage of the failures of the ruling APC government to woo more support from the people to change the government in 2015.

He expressed delight with the renewed support from elders, elites, youth and women to the party, stressing that, “this has rejuvenated and strengthened our hope for the party in the state.

My comment on PDP was misunderstood -Gov. Aliyu PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

N

iger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu said his recent comment that the ruling party, PDP, will form national government at the centre and in Niger State in 2015 was misunderstood by people.

He also said he is not supporting any candidate presently because, he does not know, who will reach 2015.

Aliyu, who stated this during a visit by the management of National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, Minna study centre, said the statement was not to stain a particular person.

“I am not intimidated, when I was misunderstood by my comment that the PDP will form government in Nigeria and in Niger state, I didn’t say it in support of an individual. I

was talking about PDP, my party as a member and as a loyal member, and I must sell my party. I will do it in such a way that Nigerians will buy. This is because, I don’t know whether I will reach 2015, and when you say, you will or won’t support a particular candidate now, who know what will happen in 2015?”

He pointed out the need for PDP members, across the nation to be loyal to the party and patriotic to Nigeria for the growth and development of the nation.

“We must continue as party members to be loyal to the party and patriotic to Nigeria and we need to strategize properly. We need to bring out our manifestoes and let the people compare. If we look at political parties in Nigeria, there are so many uniqueness between PDP and others. We just need to look ahead to be ahead of others.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

SUPER TUESDAY

13

Politics

Defection: Senators prove bookmakers wrong

APC already has defacto presidential candidate –Okechukwu

15

16

2015: Between Jonathan, Amaechi and gathering momentum in Rivers President Goodluck Jonathan and Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi have been in the news lately for the wrong reason, personality test, but the casualty figure has being on the increase. Head, Politics Desk, OBIORA IFOH and South South Bureau Chief, SAM OLUWALANA recount the crisis in the oil rich Rivers State and how peace has since become a scarce commodity in the state.

O

n that fateful day when the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, snatched a microphone from the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, at a function and in the public glare, thoroughly rebuked him for undermining her Okirika people, it didn’t occur to her that she might have murdered sleep.

That singular incident has crystallised into uncountable bubbles of crisis in the state which are now politically linked to the 2015 general election.

But observers are quick to also trace the crisis to a number of other issues such as ethnicity rivalry between Ikwere and Okirika ethnic nationalities in Rivers State, envy, political high handedness, naked ambition, undue police interference and unhealthy rivalry between former associates and the race for 2015.

Rivalry between the Okirika and Ikwere ethnic group Just as it exists in every facet of Nigerian politics, ethnicity usually plays a critical role and in the case of Rivers State, which has several tongues and tribes, tribal factor usually plays the critical roles in the political calculations of the state.

In Rivers State, there is deeply rooted, unhealthy rivalry between the Ikwerre and Okrika people and this has largely contributed to Nigeria’s First Lady’s local and national affront against the Rivers State governor, who is an Ikwerre. It is believed that Dame Jonathan is at the background of most of the offensives against Amaechi.

The conflict between the two first reared its head in 2010, at a reception organised for the First Lady by her Okrika community and the Rivers State government. At the ill-fated event, Governor Amaechi, while trying to impress on the First Lady the achievements and projections of the state government in the area of infrastructural development, was said to have told her the plans of the state government to demolish some buildings in the area, to pave way for new developments around the area.

Even as the plans did not go down well with the First Lady, she was said to have been less impressed with the language and presentation of the plans by the governor.

She was said to have been miffed by what she described as the arrogant nature of the presentation by the state’s Chief Ex-

Jonathan

TOP STORY ecutive.

This resulted in a minor scuffle, at the event as Dame Jonathan, who is noted to be passionate about her people and constituency was said to have wrestled the microphone from the governor and went ahead to publicly scolded the governor.

“You are saying, we will pull down, we will pull down. Stop acting God with the lives of less fortunate others,” she yelled at the governor.

Intrigues of Amaechi’s NGF chairmanship Amaechi succeeded former Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, in 2011 for a two year tenure but on the expiration of his tenure in 2013, the governor sought for re-election against the advice of

Amaechi

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TWO FIRST REARED ITS HEAD IN

2010, AT A

RECEPTION ORGANISED

FIRST LADY

BY HER OKRIKA

FOR THE

COMMUNITY AND THE

RIVERS STATE

GOVERNMENT both his party and the presidency. His refusal to yield to reasons adduced by these superior organs led to the victimisation

that he was to receive.

NGF believed to be politically potent in the decision as to who emerges as the president of the federation, if left in the hands of an independent and ‘recalcitrant’ Amaechi could spell doom for the ruling party and so, efforts to wrestle such power from him ensued.

First, Rivers State was divested of her oil well resulting to revenue shrunk. The aircraft belonging to the state government was impounded in a not too civil manner and top officials of the government severally harassed by the anti- corruption agencies of the government.

In one of his very numerous interviews, Amaechi, voicing out his frustration, said that his government was a major target

by Jonathan’s government and even dared the President to mention anything that the state which voted for him massively in the 2011 election has done to him to warrant such ostracisation.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 41

14

Politics

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

APC’s directive to block all executive bills is a call to anarchy –Dan Nwanyawu The National Chairman of the Labour Party, LP, Barrister Dan Nwanyawu in this interview with Head, Politics Desk, OBIORA IFOH, berates the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the directive to its members in the National Assembly to block all executive bills. He also spoke on why his party is supportive of President Goodluck Jonathan. Excerpts:

What is the stand of Labour Party on the recent directive by All Progressives Congress, APC, to its members in the National Assembly to block all executive bills including 2014 Appropriation Bill?

Our position is very clear, it is a call to anarchy, it is unpatriotic, it is against the people of Nigeria. How would you call on your members to block the passage of the budget? That means that everything including education, infrastructural development, salaries of workers in the public sector would be made to suffer. In addition, the security will suffer because there will be no budget for security operatives. How can you say that that the screening of service chiefs should be blocked? It means that you want to cause the military to be angry. This shows how APC is, Nigerians should be wary of them. They have nothing to offer the people of Nigeria except to continue to raise tension in the polity. Labour Party is appalled and embarrassed by such a decision taken by the APC. How about the reason they adduced for giving the directive to its lawmakers?

If it is based on the claim that the 2013 budget is yet to be implemented as some of the party’s members are now saying, it is what should be sorted out in the National Assembly. They have members in the National Assembly who can handle that. But don’t forget that the issue of budget implementation has always been there. Recently they accused the Minister of Finance of not implementing the budget up to 30 percent; the Finance Ministry reacted and said it has done up to 60 percent. They too only have to sit down and reconcile their differences.

You don’t punish Nigerians because of your phantom reason. The main issue is the 2015 election; some people are desperate for power. They don’t want to wait for 2015; they are looking for all manner of reasons to justify their unpatriotic decision. Labour Party cannot support such a decision. Opposition is not just for you to close your eyes when you see either negative or positive thing(s) happening. When you see something good, you applaud it, when it is bad you criticise it and offer an alternative. That is what Labour Party understands as opposition. We cannot be an irresponsible opposition.

How do you feel regarding claims in some quarters that your party is now an appendage of PDP, that you defend every action of President Goodluck Jonathan?

The accusation that Labour Party is romancing with the PDP is the handiwork of ACN now APC, they started the rumour

when they could not convince us to merge with them. Everybody knows that the claim is not true. Neither I nor any member of this party has ever held any meeting since 2004 with PDP officials either privately or publicly. We have never sat together to discuss even private matters. APC is the one doing everything to dent our image.

On the issue of defending the President, I don’t owe anybody any apology for doing that. If anybody does not like what I say about the President, such person can climb the Radio House and take a jump. We were part and parcel of the making of President Jonathan. Labour Party endorsed him during the last election. This endorsement is still in force till 2015. We will continue to encourage him, we cannot abandon him midway. Come to think of it, have they allowed President Jonathan to perform as President?

The APC has not allowed him to do his work.

I want to tell you that the APC is behind the current security challenges that the country is facing. The party officials know those who are perpetrating all these killings and bombings. Let the President say today that he will not run in 2015 you will not hear the sound of gun again in the North East or North West. They are doing what they are doing to arm twist the President to stop him from running for second term. Why should that be so, why are they doing such to President Jonathan? They didn’t do that to President Shehu Shagari, they didn’t do that to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and they didn’t do it to President Yar’Adua. Are they doing it to President Jonathan simply because he is from Otuoke.

Why has the President not moved against the people you claim are behind the security challenge if truly he is certain they are the force behind it?

President Jonathan cannot behave like President Obasanjo. Every leader has a style. My style probably would be different from that of President Jonathan if I were a President. If it were President Obasanjo, probably he would have mobilised soldiers to go and level the areas where the insurgents are based. He did that in Odi, Zaki Biam. President Jonathan does not want to shed blood. He prefers to discuss and negotiate and resolve any problem. So nobody should see the President as not acting because he has not adopted Obasanjo’s style.

The main issue is that these people in the APC have not allowed President Jonathan to work. They should give him a breathing space; they should allow him to work. Nigerians are to decide who rules them in 2015.

Some claim that you are defending the President so passionately because you have been promised an appointment. There are also those who insist that you are merely carrying out the directive by the Ondo

Nwanyawu

WE WERE PART AND PARCEL OF THE

MAKING OF PRESIDENT

JONATHAN. LABOUR PARTY ENDORSED HIM DURING THE

LAST ELECTION. THIS ENDORSEMENT IS STILL IN FORCE TILL 2015...

WE CANNOT ABANDON HIM MIDWAY

State governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who is the only Labour Party governor and who does not hide his support for the President.

Which of the two claims is correct?

Governor Mimiko does not interfere with the running of the party; he has never suggested to us what to do in the party nor suggested to us who to become anything in the party. We also do not suggest to him who to choose as commissioner or other functionaries. I tell you, this is also

the handiwork of the APC, it is behind all these rumours.

On appointment, I am hearing that I have been promised an appointment for the first time. However, assuming that there is such promise am I not qualified for any appointment? Are those opening their mouth loud better than me? I do not have interest in appointment from the Presidency. You read my name in the newspapers during the last ministerial nomination but I told them that I didn’t want. Some of us are not doing what we are doing for position or for money, we are doing it because of the love we have for this country. They are the ones that have put the country in the situation we are, they should be ashamed of themselves. The same people that looted the resources of their states when they were governors, the same people that looted the country’s resources when they were holding appointments at the centre are the ones making noise. They had fought with Mallam Nuhu Ribadu because of the economic crimes they committed but today they are pretending to be lovers of this country.

They can go ahead spreading falsehood but I tell you that I am not defending Jonathan on account of promise of any appointment. I have never had a private audience with President Jonathan since 2011. I don’t think I have any reason to want to see him.

Whatever I am doing is based on patriotism and nationalism.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

The APC seems to be reaping from the intractable crises bedevilling the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In your opinion, what is the implication of this on the two parties and the 2015 elections?

Permit me to start by stating that there had been intractable crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the day former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was admitted into the party after his exit from prison in 1998. There were some founding fathers who opposed his admission, they insisted that the Chief Obasanjo they know has no democratic credentials and therefore is unsuitable in a period of democratic transition. But he was not only admitted, he was elected the presidential candidate of the party and eventually president. As if to weed out those who opposed his entry, he orchestrated an election convention late in 1999, a convention some opined was unnecessary after a resounding victory.

Remember that in the convention, late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, who was heading to victory as chairman was rigged out in favour of Senator Barnabas Germade. The rest they say is history, but the fact was that the Chief Awoniyi faction had no broad based platform like the APC to take refuge to. What a lot of people easily forgot was the jubilation which greeted the registration of the APC on July 31, 2013; it was because an alternative platform was delivered. So, it is not about reaping, it is about the patriotism, devotion and commitment of the leaders of the merger parties to construct the first merger party in the history of the country.

Do you agree with the insinuations that the influx of different shades of politicians into the APC would likely lead to an implosion before the 2015 elections?

No sane person will throw away such insinuation with a wave of hand; however, the APC so far has survived a lot of speculations and insinuations. They started with ‘Oh! They won’t be registered, they are strange bedfellows’ and even my friend, Dr Doyin Okupe capped it with betting his life that the APC will not last for one year. As God will have it, the APC is six months old and by grace will be one year old on July 31. One hopes my friend will not jump off into the river. The latest is that they will scatter during the presidential primaries, for the centre cannot hold. One wonders how APC that has a de facto presidential candidate will scatter.

How on earth can you say that a less than one year old political party has a de facto presidential candidate?

As I said earlier the consummation of the merger was born out of patriotism, devotion and sacrifices. What I mean by this is that the leadership of the merger parties were aware that they will lose their privileges and perquisites as all of them cannot be chairman and secretaries etc. In the same vein, in constructing the manifesto and constitution of the APC, they also placed public interest above pecuniary interest. The outcome was that the first cardinal program of the party is War Against Corruption and National Re-Orientation. It was as if it was tailor made, giving the rot and decay in Nigeria today. The APC posits strongly to wage strident War Against Corruption, otherwise none of the other cardinal programs will succeed.

Who then is this de facto presidential can-

Politics

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

15

GMB has a vote bank. This is a man that got 12 million votes in the 2011 rigged election, under the platform of small Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, coupled with modest means. Only God knows the votes he can harvest under a larger APC platform.

Okechukwu

APC already has de facto presidential candidate –Okechukwu Osita Okechukwu, a chieftain of the All progressives Congress, APC, is also the National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP. He tells Deputy Head, Politics Desk, OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU, in this interview that the APC already has a de factor presidential candidate, his fears for the 2015 polls and why the 2015 election is doomed before it is conducted. Excerpts: didate of the APC? My simple effort is to clear the ground for you and to a largest extent for your readership to understand what made Major General Muhammadu Buhari the de facto presidential candidate of the party.

Without being immodest, he stands head and shoulder above all those who want to be our president even in the PDP; if actually we are convinced to clean the Aegean stable and fix Nigeria. He is apostle of transparency and discipline, and methinks these are the core ingredients needed to fix Nigeria.

You harped only on the manifesto of APC;

what’s the position of the Constitution of the party in actualisation of the objective of your de facto presidential candidate?

Thank you very much; the APC’s constitution stipulates that a presidential candidate can emerge through any of these modes of election – consensus, direct or indirect primary. Once again, without being immodest or harming anybody, it is difficult to figure out anybody in the APC today, that our leadership will tell GMB as we fondly call him, to step down for, taking into account the primary objective of the APC to fix Nigeria, not just coming to power for ‘Food is Ready’. Don’t forget as well that in a free and fair direct primary that

THE DEFEATIST APPROACH OF THE INEC BOSS TO THE 2015 POLLS, AS CONVEYED IN HIS STATEMENT, IS TROUBLING AND CLEARLY OUT OF PLACE. IT HAS MADE IT NECESSARY TO ASK IF THE CHALLENGES OF THE POLLS ARE SO INSURMOUNTABLE TO WARRANT THIS PESSIMISM

Granted that not many people will disagree with you on the impeccable antecedents of Major General Buhari (rtd), however what’s your take on the fact that some will classify him as too old?

Given that GMB will be 73 years old by 2015; however age is no barrier to fixing the country. Ronald Reagan was 73 when he became president of the United States of America and such insinuations were made during his campaign. His regime was a success. The country is bleeding and sliding dangerously to a failed state. If you go to hospital for a very serious aliment are you looking for an amateur doctor or a seasoned doctor? If you consider our national underdevelopment as a problem, why was it not cured by a president who is below 60 years and governors who are below 50 years and councillors who are below 30? The graveyard of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is littered by the graves of young looters not old ones.

What is your take on the plan by INEC to disenfranchise three North East states in the 2015 election?

Let’s not go into the realm of speculation, for who tells you that the crisis in the North East cannot abate before the 2015 elections? Nobody can stop election in any part of the country without amending the Constitution of the country.

What are your fears about the 2015 general elections?

My basic fear as a person is that Professor Attahiru Jega is either incompetent or complicit in the shabby manner elections had been conducted under his watch.

That’s my greatest fear.

Hope your benchmark of Professor Jega’s assessment is not the Anambra State gubernatorial election?

Yes plus more reasons. One was outraged over the inability of the Professor to conduct a successful election in only one state, with all the logistics in place, thousands of security personnel and sufficient INEC staff deployed for only one state. Is it not suspicious that Professor Jega went to the election deliberately with mangled Voters’ Register? One doubts that the Voters’ Register up to date is clean?

What other reasons made you to be so angry with Professor Jega?

Didn’t you hear that Professor Jega penultimate week told Nigerians not to expect a perfect poll in 2015 general elections? Otherwise why the pessimism he expressed over 2015 general elections at this crucial election period? Is he not preparing grounds to connive in rigging the elections? At the end of the day he will say, ‘I told you’. An editorial from a major national newspaper has this to say on Jega’s gaffe: ‘The electoral umpire, while advising Nigerians not to expect perfect polls, however, promised that the commission would do its best to ensure that the outCONTINUED ON PAGE 44

16

Politics

N14bn for dry season farming

ASO ROCK FILE with

Rotimi FADEYI

Jonathan and red alert on jobless politicians W ith the time-table for the 2015 elections released last week by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, politicians in the country are now preparing to contest for the general elections scheduled to commence in February.

However, the electorates are also preparing to exercise their rights to vote for the candidates of their choice and also use their constitutional right to vote out politicians that they don’t want in position of authority.

This is the situation in the most populous nation in black Africa even as it was made clear during the first Sunday service of the year held at the Aso Villa Chapel of the Presidential Villa that over fifty per cent of those who call themselves politicians are not supposed to be in politics.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who gave the verdict, was of the opinion that politics was like some kind of trade, saying that people find themselves in politics because they have no other thing to do.

Jonathan said that politics just like nursing and teaching which should ordinarily not accommodate wicked people, however, now have people of such character in the two professions.

He said: “Politics is just like some kinds of trade. More than 50 per cent of us who are into politics are not supposed to be politicians.

“For example, in the professions of nursing and teaching, people with wicked hearts and unforgiving spirits are not the kind of people who should be nurses or teachers, but we find them there.

“So most of us who are in politics are not supposed to be there but because we

have no other thing to do, we are there.”

While reacting to the statement by the chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, Venerable Obioma Onwuzurumba that politicians do not forgive, Jonathan noted that politicians cannot afford not to forgive.

According to the President, the bible even said that politicians are the people who forgive. “These days we learn not to talk, or we talk very little. The chaplain accused us politicians that we do not forgive, or that some politicians don’t forgive.

“If somebody is your enemy today and there is a change of interest and he becomes your friend first of all you have to forgive otherwise you cannot have a friend that you cannot work with” According to the President, a politician than cannot forgive is an impostor.

F

armers in the country have cause to be happy as they have assurance of a bountiful harvest even in the dry season with the approval by the Federal Government of the sum of N14 billion to support dry season farming for this year.

President Goodluck Jonathan announced the approval of the fund last week at the inauguration of the Dry Season Farm Support Programme in order to ensure that food production was not hampered before the return of the raining season.

According to the President, the programme was initiated in 2011 with the objective of adding an additional 20 million metric tonnes of food to domestic food supply.

He noted that the government approved the sum of N9 billion for the dry season farming last year, saying that the funding would continue to increase as more farmers embrace the programme in order o ensure adequate food production.

The President further said: “Our resolve to expand this dry season programme is strong and subsequently it has to come up in October so that they will get what they need before the commencement of the dry season. To demonstrate this, I am today announcing N14 billion to support dry sea-

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Minister of Transport, Senator Umar Idris and Vice President Namadi Sambo during the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House.

As FG woos Japanese firm to invest in Nigeria

T

he Federal Government has asked a Japanese company, Marubeni Corporation, to invest in the country as there are many opportunities and incentives from the administration to encourage investors.

Vice President Namadi Sambo during a meeting with top officials of the Japanese company urged them to take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the country; especially in the gas sector as the Gas Master Plan has many incentives for the investor. He told the management of the company to also explore opportunities in the solid minerals sector, noting that the sector has been neglected and the administration is working hard to develop it. He urged Marubeni to take advantage of the huge deposit of coal in the country as government is encouraging the private sector to engage in the coal-power project.

Saying that opportunities abound in water supply as various cities in the country need water, Sambo said the Federal Government was building new dams to

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

enhance water supply, agriculture and electricity.

He assured that government was taking necessary steps to deal with the issue of shortage of gas, which has been a problem for the newly built thermal power plants.

He urged the company to invest in this sector as the price of the product in the country

T

he Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved a contract of N28 billion last week for the provision of engineering infrastructure in the new Wasa district of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. At a press briefing jointly addressed by Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and Minister of State for the FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide, the issue regarding the development of the satellite areas were again brought to the front burners.

According to Maku, the creation of new districts like Wasa was to decongest the city by providing infrastructure and opportunities in other areas of the FCT. Maku said the FCT Minister presented

is cheaper than anywhere in the world and that it assures good returns on investment.

While commending the company for helping in the building of hydro dams, especially the Mambilla dam, Sambo said that Marubeni should also invest in this area as government is building over 200 dams in order to achieve 10,000 mega watts

son farming for 2014 season. Last year it was N9 billion, this year is 14 billion and as more states come on board we will continue to increase the amount of money.

“We will continue to work with farmers and that is why I am announcing today that the support will become a national policy.

Our nation shall be green, our barns shall be filled and our farmers shall prosper.”

The President noted that the nation must be able to feed itself, saying that “the weight of the giant that cannot feed itself will crush the weak legs if there was no enough food.”

Jonathan said that the country did not suffer from food crisis contrary to the fears of many people because the Growth Enhancement Programme, GES, had already reached about one million genuine farmers who had already harvested their crops before the flood that ravaged the country in 2012.

Presidential Villa’s visitors 1.

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Azuikbuike Ihejirika 2. Chairman, Board of Trustees of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih 3. Ebonyi State governor, Martin Elechi 4. Anambra State governor, Peter Obi 5. Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam 6. Abia State governor, Theodore Orji 7. Deputy governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi 8. Vice Chairman, Islamic Development Bank, Birama Boubacar Sidibe 9. Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku 10. Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade of electricity at the end of the year.

Earlier, a member of the board of the company and Chairman, Special Committee for Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Shigerm Yamazoe, said Marubeni Corporation is a trading company and consist of 12 business segments each of which focus on its specialised business area, namely, Food Group, Energy and Chemicals, Metal and Mineral Resources, among others.

Another N28bn for Wasa FCT project

a memo to seek council’s approval for the award of contract for the provision of engineering infrastructure to Wasa Affordable Housing Site in order to spread development.

The contract which was awarded to Messrs Gilmor Engineering Company would include site clearance, sewage, water supply, electrical supply and street lighting, among other services for the 267-hectare district.

The project, upon completion would generate employment for at least 30 professionals, 50 technicians and 100 unskilled

labourers.

He further explained that the Wasa project with completion period of 48 months would ensure available and affordable housing sites for majority of the people.

In order to ensure proper arrangement for the project, Maku said recognised groups like cooperatives and registered associations of workers in private and public service would be considered in the housing sites.

MORE POLITICS STORIES ON PAGES 41-44

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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On Osun PDP’s New Year ‘resolution’ YOMI OBADITAN

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he Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has promised a new lease of life for the people and the state in 2014 if elected.

That is a good wish. Under the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended), every individual is free to aspire to any elective office.

However, in this aspiration, the PDP has made a very big mistake: rubbishing the performances of the Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola administration and associating it with high debt profile. Another lie bandied by Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, the state PDP chairman, is that the economy of the state has collapsed under Aregbesola, promising that if voted into power the PDP would turn it around.

Let me address the two prongs of PDP’s attack. Since the last 38 months in the State of Osun there has been an unprecedented socio-economic renewal that has touched all facets of life that caught the attention of even the World Bank, which adjudged it as a model state for youths and job creation.

What the PDP cannot ignore is the obvious fact that Aregbesola has done more than any governor since the creation of the state.

Alhaji Olaoluwa has forgotten so soon that his PDP spent 90 months in power in the state without anything to show for it.

When it was voted out, there was jubilation in the state. The Aregbesola’s Six Integral Plans with the people have continued to be executed and the transformation there from has been profound.

On the so-called high debt profile, there is no state in Nigeria that does not owe, not even the Federal Government. However, the good news is that the state has maintained high level of prudency in managing its limited resources. It is on record that the Central Bank of Nigeria and Debt Management Office have excluded the state from the list of debtor states in Nigeria. But then, did the previous administration not borrow N19.6 billion for white elephant projects? It was the Aregbesola government that renegotiated the loan. If this administration borrows, the impact of what the loan is utilized for is being enjoyed by all. All state schools with modern facilities; state of the art infrastructural development; refurbished state health facilities, and massive economic development and many others are visible fruits of prudent loan management, if any.

The 2012 presidential election in the United States of America is a good example for us to learn one or two things on how not to play bad politics. Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate could not even manage his own delusional campaign or fine-tuned a formula to sell his own brand.

Romney’s campaign, scrambling to catch up after a protracted GOP primary, was

THE OSUN PEOPLE ARE CONVERSANT WITH THE

AREGBESOLA’S EFFORT AT MOVING THE STATE FORWARD; THEY ARE

MORE THAN IMPRESSED

BY THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED WITHIN THE LAST THREE YEARS not only outclassed by the incumbent, but held too long to the mistake and assumption that the election amounted to a referendum on Obama’s economic policies. By the time the candidate and his top adviser, Stuart Stevens, realized the demonization of Obama wasn’t working, it was after Labour Day and too late. So he lost woefully.

The Osun PDP is trailing the same path of Romney; instead of canvassing for votes with what they can offer the people better than what the incumbent has done they are now daydreaming, claiming that the administration of Aregbesola is a disaster to the state. You can deceive the people sometime, but you cannot deceive them all the time. The election will decide on whose side the people are.

The governor has robust relationship

with all religions in the state. The building of Interdenominational Worship Centre by the state government is born out of the need to encourage the Christian leaders to hold their crusades and other annual programmes in the state. It is hoped that by so doing, they shall bring revival to the souls of the people; the various religious leaders will also boost the economy of the state through the presence of thousands of the congregants that will be visiting the state for the crusades and revivals. The Centre is not just a sudden proposal, it is an ongoing project surpassing any personal gain.

It is unfortunate for anybody to read sinister motives for the building of the Worship Centre. When the Osun Osogbo-Groove was being built in order to attract tourism to the state why didn’t the PDP and their members kick against it?

The Osun people are conversant with the Aregbesola’s effort at moving the state forward; they are more than impressed by the projects that have been completed within the last three years, especially within the context of the wasted years of PDP, who majors in merry making and wanton destruction of lives and properties. The peace that has continued in the state since PDP was sent packing is incomparable. The people will never again trade their liberty, and peace with anarchical power mongers now or in the future.

Obaditan wrote from Osogbo, Osun State

Dankwambo’s second term: Beyond politics DAHIRU HASSAN KERA

A

s the buildup to 2015 general elections gathers momentum, the politicians are putting their acts together, aligning and realigning to contending with the challenges ahead, while pundits and commentators are busy analyzing, postulating and making prognoses about the big event.

It is therefore, timely to calibrate the various efforts of the existing office holders and present them before the electorate so that they will make intelligible choice, come 2015.

In Gombe State, the recorded achievement of Hajiya Adama Dankwambo within only three years of the purposeful administration of Talban Gombe has to be calibrated and placed in the performance radar for all to see and justify. In fact, the good people of Gombe State, especially women and youths, have never had it so good as they can be said to be reaping from a surplus of democracy dividends in the state. The ‘Action Governor’, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo’s superlative efforts at uplifting the living standards of the people are being ably complemented by his amiable wife, Hajiya Adama, especially in the crucial socio-economic arena of women and youth empowerment.

While many first ladies in Nigeria concern themselves with the pomp and pageantry of office, dressing in the latest fashionable attires and accessories while junketing abroad at the slightest opportunity, Hajiya Dankwambo has been spending quality time to address issues facing the citizens of the state, especially women, youths, aged, widows and physically challenged people. She has championed the cause for the liberation of women

and the vulnerable people of Gombe State through her pet project, Hajiya Adama Dankwambo Women Empowerment Programme (HAWEP).

Rather than be content with the unprecedented projects rolled out and covered by her dynamic husband, a selfless Hajiya Dankwambo also believes in contributing her own quota towards the development of the state’s human capital development. Surrounded by her competent and resourceful team of personal assistants and project coordinators, the energetic First Lady has fashioned out a comprehensive array of self-empowerment and skill acquisition schemes that aim to equip the women with the much required skills and vocational training that would enable them fend for themselves and not depend on handouts from politicians, community leaders or family friends.

She has initiated women and youth empowerment programmes in 2012, which made it possible for over 1,519 beneficiaries to receive intensive training in such artisan professions like tailoring, hair dressing, fish farming, soap and jelly making and knitting.

The lucky beneficiaries were furnished with requisite equipment and tools as well as takeoff grants to enable them start their trade on a balanced footing. For those that graduated in tailoring, they received the following items: sewing machines, electric irons, wrappers, scissors, packets of threads and needles together and complemented with a takeoff grant of N50, 000.

The graduates in hair dressing smiled home with the following equipment: hair dryers, washing basins and roller holders together with N50,000 take-off grant; each of the appreciative fish farming graduates received plastic fish ponds, 50 fingerlings each,

MANY FIRST LADIES IN NIGERIA CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH THE POMP AND

PAGEANTRY OF OFFICE, DRESSING IN THE LATEST FASHIONABLE ATTIRES AND ACCESSORIES WHILE JUNKETING ABROAD AT THE SLIGHTEST OPPORTUNITY fish feeds as well as N50,000 take-off grant, while those that trained and graduated in jelly making also had cause to be grateful to Hajiya Adama as they went home with jelly and Para oil, pink oil and wax, perfume and oil, pausing powder and solike and soda ash together with a take-off grant of N50,000. Also the freshly graduated knitters were not left out as they were handsomely rewarded with knitting machines, wool, packets of needles together with the N50, 000 take-off grant.

And in 2013, about 2,107 graduates received similar tools and equipment as well as the usual complement of N50, 000 take-off grant.

Her humanitarian intervention was also felt in the health sector where drugs were donated to hospitals, ante-natal and post-natal services provided for women and HIV awareness creation taken to a higher level. In her

unrelenting effort to boost the state’s our healthcare delivery system, Hajiya Dankwambo invited internationally renowned heath care service providers, African Health Care Development Trust (AHDT), to Gombe State. It came with a team of medical, pediatrics, gynecology, surgical, maternal and ophthalmology specialists. Altogether about 2,000 patients comprising adults and children were attended to. In the same vein, the pediatric team successfully trained 79 local hospital personnel and 102 local and traditional birth attendants (TBAs).

Education was not left out of her empowerment programmes. The less privileged children in the society were given a sense of parenthood in enrolling them into primary and secondary schools across the state. Teaching and learning enhancement materials were also distributed to government schools and ICT training centres were equipped to make the students acquire ICT proficiency.

The unprecedented landmark achievements of Dankwambo administration with the complementary support of Hajiya Adama combine to make an encore a must.

‘One good turn, the saying goes, ‘deserves another’. Therefore, Gombe State electorate must shine their eyes and see reason beyond politics to vote for hope and economic sustainability.

Kera, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Kaduna 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.

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Court order on allocation to judiciary

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he quest for a free, impartial and independent judiciary in the country received a boost on Monday January 13, 2014, when a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola directed that funds meant for the judiciary should be disbursed directly to the heads of court and not to the executive arm of government. Thus, the judgement restrains the heads of the federal and state executive arm of government from holding on to funds appropriated for the judiciary. The judgement was given in the case instituted by the Judiciary Staff Association of Nigeria (JSAN) against the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Federal Government and the 36 state governments. Justice Ademola, in his ruling, stated that the piecemeal allocation of funds through states’ ministries of finance to the judiciary at the pleasure of the FG and states was unconstitutional, un-procedural, cumbersome, null, void, and should be stopped forthwith.

The landmark judicial pronouncement has the capacity to procure financial autonomy for the judiciary and free it from the whims, caprices and strategic manipulation of the executive.

Every modern democracy is predicated on the tenets of division of powers between the three organs of government - the legislative, executive and judiciary.

The country’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) also envisaged that each of the organs would be independent from the others, only inter-connected under the principles of checks and balances.

When such equilibrium is maintained, it will be difficult for the abuse of power to occur. In Nigeria, unfortunately, the executive consistently undermines constitutional safeguards, especially as they relate to the judiciary. The delay in releasing funds appropriated to the judiciary, which Justice Ademola just addressed, is one of such infractions.

There is, nonetheless, another dimension to the problem beyond the precincts of Justice Ademola’s judgement which is even more inimical to the efficient operation of the judiciary.

This is the ostensible deliberate reduction of the capital allocation to the judiciary over the years.

Since 2010, the allocation has been on the decline. The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, at the swearing-in of new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) in Abuja last September did say: “Over the years, funding of the courts has remained a challenge as evidenced in the condition of many courts in Nigeria today. Statistics have shown that funding from the FG has witnessed a steady decline since 2010, from N95 billion (in that year) to N85 billion in

January 28, 1988 The Supreme Court of Canada struck down all abortion laws, meaning that abortions were allowed in Canada in all nine months of pregnancy. Abortion laws are legislations and common laws pertaining to the provision of abortion. Abortion has been a controversial subject in many societies through history because of the moral, ethical, practical and political power contradictions that surround it.

THE JUDICIARY ITSELF SHOULD INSIST ON CLAIMING WHAT CONSTITUTIONALLY BELONGS TO IT

2011, then N75 billion in 2012 and dropped again in the 2013 budget to N67 billion”.

The CJN said “if the amount allocated to the extra-judicial organisations within the judiciary is deducted, the courts are left with a paltry sum to operate. The simple implication is that our courts are increasingly finding it difficult to effectively perform their dayto-day constitutional roles. The resultant effect of a slim budget in the judiciary is that a number of courts in Nigeria today evince decay and neglect of infrastructural amenities, particularly at the state level. In some cases, court buildings do not possess the required well-equipped library for judges to conduct their research.” Notwithstanding Mukhtar’s public outcry, the executive merely increased the vote for the judiciary from N67 billion in 2013 to 68 billion in the 2014 budget, an increase of just N1 billion.

To ensure the independence

ON THIS DAY January 28, 2006 The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair complex in Chorzow/Katowice, Poland, collapsed due to the weight of snow, killing 65 people and injuring more than 170 others. The Katowice International Fair facility is one of the largest in Poland (the largest being the Poznan International Fair complex). Few dozen events are organized there each year, with the participation of some 4,500 companies.

and impartiality of the judiciary, the 1999 Constitution provides for a First-Line-Charge of Monetary Allocation through which the judiciary can access its fund directly from federal treasury. Of what relevance is the purported First-Line-Charge provision if the executive could still arbitrarily toy with funds meant for the judiciary? It is not unlikely, as is being alleged, that the government is deliberately starving the judiciary of fund in order to whittle its power ahead of the 2015 general election. In other words, the ploy by the executive is to arm-twist the judiciary by castrating it fund wise so that it becomes impotent. That way, the executive would force the judiciary to do its bidding.

This obvious executive lawlessness deserves strong condemnation by all who wish Nigeria and its democracy well. The executive should henceforth cease its undue interference and manipulation of other arms of government. There should be adequate allocation to the judiciary on yearly basis to improve court infrastructure, etc. The executive should respect Justice Ademola’s judgement and ensure that funds allocated to the judiciary are promptly paid directly to the heads of the judiciary at federal and state levels.

The judiciary itself should insist on claiming what constitutionally belongs to it.

January 28, 2010 Five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh: Lieutenant Colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and Mohiuddin Ahmed; as well as Majors AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed and Bazlul Huda, were hanged. On August 15, 1975, a group of junior army officers invaded the presidential residence with tanks and killed Mujibur, members of his family and personal staff, except his two daughters visiting West Germany.

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Insuring public still grappling with menace of fake policies SUPER TUESDAY

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Customs shaky handling of Destination Inspection scheme raises concern After about eight years of Destination Inspection regime in Nigeria implemented under Build, Own and Transfer contract between the Federal Government and service providers, the Nigeria Customs Service NCS, took over the scheme on December 1, 2013 in what many stakeholders described as a shaky-start. FRANCIS EZEM, reports.

FLIGHT SCHEDULE Arik Air Lag-Abj:07.15, 09.15, 10.20, 13.05, 15.20, 16.20, 16.50,18.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun).

Abj-Lag: 07:15, 09.40, 10.20, 12.15, 15.15, 16.15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun); 12.15, 15.15, 16.15 (Sun) Lag-PH: 07:15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.10, 17.15 (Mon-Fri); 07.30, 11.40, 15.50 (Sat) 11.50, 3.50, 17.05 Sun) Abj-PH: 07.15, 11.20, 15.30 (Mon-Fri) 07.15, 16.00 (Sat) 13.10, 16.00 Sun) PH-Abj: 08.45, 12.50, 17.00 (MonFri) 08.45, 17.30 (Sat) 14.40, 17.30 (Sun) Abv-Beni:08.00, 12.10 (MonFri/Sat)08.56, 12.10 (Sun) BeninAbj:09.55,13.30

Aero Contractors Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat) Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily

Med-View Airline

Container terminal, Apapa

P

rior to the November 30, 2013 expiration of the DI contract under the four service providers comprising of Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, SGS, Global Scan systems Limited and Webb Fontaine, stakeholders were divided over the ability of the Nigeria Customs Service NCS, to take over the scheme and manage and sustain it effectively.

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It was also in line with such fears as to the ability of the service to effectively manage the Information Communication –driven scheme that the Federal Ministry of Finance, which signed the contract with the service providers on behalf of the Nigerian Government, extended the contract twice.

Under the contract, the service providers were to provide Computerised Risk Management System and scanning services for all imports into the country at the air, seaports and land borders as well as train officer of the Customs to take over the scheme at the end of the contract.

Thus, the seven-year contract, which took off January 2006, ought to have elapsed December 31, 2012. In announcing a six-month extension of the contract to June 30, 2013, the ministry noted that it was to enable the service effectively takeover and sustain the scheme.

The Agreement which is to expire on 31st

Nigeria’s active phone lines hit 121.8 million 21

December, 2012, has been extended for a period of six months with effect from 1st January, 2013”.

The ministry had further extended the contract by another three months from June to November 30, 2013.

The government had in extending the contract, argued that it was in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy and not on the basis of any form of patronage.

“The government has been inundated with complaints and reports over seeming inability of the service to take over the scheme and no responsible government would sweep such reports and complaints under the carpet because the consequences of ignoring such warning, which came early enough would be grave for the economy”, a source in the ministry had argued.

Federal Government had also following this

Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. AbujaYola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00.

Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50.

Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00.

Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-Lagos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Why labour must keep pledge to end strikes in 2014 23

Abuja residents bemoan rising rent, seek legal control

25

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Customs shaky handling of Destination Inspection scheme raises concern CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 second extension commissioned a team of World Bank officials, especially specialists E- Government business to be part of a transition group that would oversee the handover of the scheme from the service providers to the NCS after the expiration of the extension.

With these measures in place, government was almost certain that the service should be able to takeover and effectively manage the scheme. This was unfortunately not the case.

For instance, before the takeover proper, the service had announced the introduction of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report PAAR, which replaced the Risk Assessment Report RAR, issued by the service providers, which served as an advisory note to the service on the level of risk associated with any particular consignment while the contract lasted.

The service also introduced the Nigerian Trade Hub, also called the‘Ruling Centre’, which incorporates the PAAR regime.

Under the ICT –driven trade hub, which according to the service is designed to facilitate trade, the processing of consignments begins as soon as the vessel leaves the port of origin, unlike the RAR, which was processed on the arrival of the consignment, with the attendant waste of time.

Deputy Comptroller, Operations Mr. Yusuf Bahar, said that the service has recruited and trained over 120 young graduate officers, who are expected to take over the ICT department to process the trade portal.

According to him, with the introduction of electronic Form M by the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, the service will be able to release cargo from the seaports within six hours from the time of arrival of the consignment.

“The trade hub gives importers all over the world information regarding imports documentation such as the goods that are regulated, prohibited, fees and charges associated with every form of consignment and duty payable, among others, the importer would have a through picture of what to import and what not to bring into Nigeria and the processes involved”, he said.

He however expressed fears that the greatest challenge before the new system is that many importers do not make genuine and honest declaration, which also informs why the service would want to scrutinise whatever is coming in through the air, seaport and land borders.

“The DI scheme is one that particularly thrives where the level of integrity is very high, which shows the level of honesty of the importers in complying with the government’s fiscal policy”, he also said.

As if to confirm the fears of the stakeholders, the first few days of the takeover were marred by irregularities. For instance, more than 99,000 pieces of unprocessed RAR documents issued by the service providers were trapped within the system, as they could not be realigned with the PAAR regime.

Stakeholders believe that the case of the 99, 000 RAR was primarily caused by poor transition from the old to the new. It was probably in a bid to forestall a situation like this that the government hired the service of World Bank experts, especially those

Okonjo-Iweala

Umar

THE DI SCHEME IS ONE THAT PARTICULARLY THRIVES WHERE THE LEVEL OF INTEGRITY

IS VERY HIGH, WHICH SHOWS THE LEVEL OF HONESTY OF THE IMPORTERS IN COMPLYING WITH

THE GOVERNMENT’S FISCAL POLICY from the E-Government section.

It was however gathered that more than 13 officers and men of the service were either sacked or suspended over their complicity with some service providers over the ill-fated 99, 000 RAR documents.

Meanwhile, Customs Area Controller in charge of Apapa Area 1 Command, Mr. Charles Edike, admitted that 99,000 RAR documents were trapped in the system.

Edike said: “The backlog of RARs left by the service providers is indeed is a challenge but the Comptroller General of the service in his wisdom immediately released a circular, which states that goods that have arrived on or before November 30, 2013 with approved e-Form M and processed final documents but without RAR are directed to apply to the CAC of the command for provisional release upon payment of duty and other necessary clearing processes”.

He had also said that importers who have completed their documents whose RARs are pending in the bank and could not be transmitted to the platform as at November 30, 2013 by service providers were directed to access their RAR from authorised dealer banks and commence their clearing process.

The service had in addition to deploying four Assistant Comptrollers General to the four major commands in Lagos where the problem is acute given the volumes of cargo, also directed to importers and their

Dikko

agents as part of its new clearing policy to apply to the Customs Area Controllers for the reconciliation of the two different risk reports without which the consignment cannot be cleared.

The direct implication of this was protracted delays in the release of cargoes with the attendant payment of higher rent and demurrage charges.

Managing Director of Port Protocol Limited, a freight forwarding firm, Mr. Michael Nwokafor, who spoke in a telephone interview, disclosed that importers and their agents have been made to pay avoidable demurrage and rent charges while waiting for the service to reconcile the two documents.

According to him, the new directive requires that it is only the CAC that is authorized to handle the applications and many a time, the CAC might not be available because his obvious busy schedule and in that case the agent has to wait while the consignments incur rent and demurrage charges from the terminal operator and shipping company as the case may be.

It was also gathered that the situation was made worse by the decision of the service to reduce the number of Data Trader Input, DTI, cafes, where agents make their documentation online to the Automated System for Customs Data, ASYCUDA, by more than 70 per cent.

The implication of this is that we have to queue for days to make our entries into the Customs’ ASYCUDA and you know we

pay more than three time the original cost o the service due to the forces of demand and supply”, another clearing agent, who preferred anonymity said.

He also disclosed that the DTI café operators claimed they had to hike the price of their services because they are make returns to some officers of the service.

Meanwhile another stakeholder, who is also a member of the Federal Government Import Procedure and Fiscal Policy Committee, who craved anonymity, noted that it was illegal for the service to ask importers and their agents to apply to the CAC for the clearance of their cargo.

“This new directive by Customs is illegal as it contravenes relevant sections of the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA, even as it does neither conform to the old nor new import guidelines and should therefore be scrapped”, he argued.

He argued that it was wrong to ask importers and their agents to apply to the service since the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, and the Standards Organiation of Nigeria, SON, are all major operators in the Nigeria’s international supply chain.

It was also a tale of woes at the Tin Can Island Port command of the service as agents and importers lament the delays associated with the administration of PAAR. A source at the port had hinted that clearing agents are dissatisfied with the administration of the PAAR regime.

The agents, who also faulted the decision of the service to ask for the extension of Webb Fontaine’s contract to continue to handle the Automated System for Customs Data ASYCUDA platform, argued that it was a demonstration of the un-preparedness of the service to effectively handle the scheme.

It was gathered that Webb Fontaine is currently on an 18-month contract extension on the request of Customs to enable it provide Information and Communication Technology, ICT, infrastructure support, which the service currently lacks the competence to handle, which is very critical to the scheme.

According to the source, the agents who have been made to face delays due to the repeated breakdown of the server are made to wait under inhuman conditions, which most of them are no longer to tolerate.

“We come to the Customs Processing Centre CPC, we are asked to wait for the PAAR to be documented because the server broke down and we are made to wait under such inhuman conditions for a delay we did not cause and I tell you, this must stop”, an agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity warned.

The agent noted that many of them were made to believe by their associations that as soon as Customs takes over the reins of the DI scheme, everything will become perfect and that it will be easier to run clearing documentations.

It was in response to all these shortcomings that a major association in the industry, the National Association of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents NCMDLCA, urged the Federal Government to urgently intervene in the ongoing implementation of the DI, scheme in order to save it from imminent collapse.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business & Finance

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

21

Nigeria’s active phone lines hit 121.8 million KUNLE A ZEEZ

T

he Nigerian Communication Commission has released the latest subscriber data in the nation’s telecoms

industry revealing that active telephone lines have further increased to 121.8 million as at the end of October 2013.

According to the data obtained

by National Mirror, active telephone subscriptions increased

from 121.2 million in September to 121.8 million at the end of October, 2013, representing a growth of over 600, 000 new active liens added on the networks.

However, total connected telephone lines declined from 158.2

L-R: Managing Director/CEO of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu; Executive Director, Corporate Services, UAC, Mr. Joe Dada and Group Managing Director/CEO, UAC, Mr. Larry Ettah at UAC’s 2014 Management Retreat in Lagos at the weekend.

EU gives Nigeria additional N4.2bn to boost production OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

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he European Union yesterday gave Nigeria additional N4.2bn to boost its production capacity.

Head of Delegation of European Union, EU, to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS,, Ambassador Michel Arrion announced this in Abuja at the official launch of Nigeria Competitiveness Support Programme, NCSP organised by the EU, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit , GIZ, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO. Arrion noted that the EU

would continue to support Nigeria’s transformation agenda.

He said, “EU attaches a great importance to its relation with Nigerian as an important political and economic force in West Africa and a key player on the Africa continent and is willing to assist Nigerian leaders in improving the living conditions of all Nigerian” “In partnership with the Nigerian government, the European Union is set to boost trade and improve productive capacity in Nigerian with additional N4.2billion.”

Arrion explained further that the NCSP was a three-prong component namely, strengthening trade support institutions; business and investment climate and component quality trade in-

frastructure which were being implemented by GIZ and UNIDO. The EU funded programme, the Ambassador noted, was aimed at improving the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy in the nonoil related sectors, thereby creating jobs and reducing poverty.

“To this end, the programme support effective management of trade policy and trade facilitation through strengthened trade support institution an improved business and investment environment through regulatory reforms and the established of a National Quality infrastructure, NQI, to improved the quality of product and services and enhance the level of protection for consumer rights,” he said.

Agric agenda: Ex-minister accused of misleading Nigerians ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

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xperts and investors in agricultural sector including Prof Pat Utomi, have described the low rating given by former Minister of Agriculture, Adamu Bello, to the performance of the sector under President Goodluck Jonathan as misleading and wicked.

They said contrary to the exminister’s claim, the agricultural sector had witnessed a a series of significant and unprecedented transformation in the last two years.

The ex-minister, Bello, had in an interview he granted a national daily scored the perfotmance of the agricultural sector low in the last two years.

He had predicated his claim on

a Central Bank report which alleged that there was presently an abysmal reduction in the country’s Agric GDP and the comparism of the alleged various achievements he recorded while at the saddle for eight years with the incumbent.

But experts and investors including the economist and public affairs analyst, Dr. Pat Utomi, the Chief Executive Officer, 3D Global Leadership, Dr. Victor Oladokun, Chairman, Umza Rice and Chairman, Rice Processors Association, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar and the Chief Executive Officer, Ebony Rice, Mr Charles Ugwu had faulted Bello on majority of his claims.

Specifically, they described Bello’s claims in the said interview as unsubstantiated and self-serving.

For instance, the economist and public affairs analyst, Pro-

fessor Pat Utomi has described the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina as the most professional personality to man the ministry in recent times even as he faulted whatever claims by any past holder of the office as having achieved more than Akinwunmi as laughable.

Utomi said the current minister had introduced three critical policies in the ministry that have not only helped the farmers but have also ensured that the nation achieve food sufficiency.

He listed the three critical policies to include, blocking the leakages in the fertilizer availability to farmers, provision of realtime information to farmers through making available handsets to farmers across the country just as he has helped in dry season farming.

million to 156.1 million September to October respectively.

The data released by the Commission yesterday were the latest official data in the industry, stating subscriber base status in each segment of the industry including the Global System for Mobile Communications segment, Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, and fixed wired/wireless network subscriptions status.

The NCC data shows that the combined active lines for GSM,CDMA and fixed line operators, increased to 117.2 at the end of first quarter.

By the second quarter, the figure reached 120 million, but increased marginally to 121.2 million at the end of the third quarter in September and now, it has further increased to 121.8 million active lines.

Further analysis of the data, however, reveals that the increment in mobile subscriptions was contributed mainly by GSM companies such as MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat.

According to the data, of the total industry active subscriptions of 121.8 million as at October, 2013, active GSM subscriptions were 114.1 million; 117.4 million and 118.4 million in the in the first, second and third quarters

respectively.

In the latest NCC-released data, GSM active subscriber base has further increased to reach 119.1 million as at the end of October, last year.

However, rather than experience an increase in their subscribers’ base, CDMA networks, including Visafone, Starcomms, Multi-Links and the dormant Zoom Mobile, as well as fixed wired/wireless network experienced sharp declines.

CDMA networks’ active phone subscriptions, which stood at 2.8 million in January this year, decreased to 2.7 million; 2.5 million and sank further to 2.4 million during the first, second and third quarters.

A similar declining trend was experienced by fixed line networks as they had 405,625 active lines in the first quarter; 382,678 lines in second quarter and 362,392 active subscriptions at the end of September.

Now, with 121.8 million active phone subscriptions, industry analysts say there is, however, a high occurrence of multiple ownership of Subscriber Identity Module, SIM, cards, estimated at about two to three per subscriber, an indication that tremendous opportunities for growth still exist.

Youth employment, key to African countries’ growth –World Bank TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

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he World Bank yesterday identified the huge youth population in most African countries as crucial to ongoing efforts by governments in the continent to boost economic growth and reduce the worrisome level of poverty in many of the economies.

To ensure this, the Bank, while noting that most of the governments are not doing enough to open their economies for productive opportunities in non-mineral sector, believes investments into large enterprises and making high-quality science and technology education more accessible to young people and shaping higher education courses to fit the skills needed by the modern jobs market would help in reducing the unemployment rates in the countries.

In a new comprehensive regional report on the subject, ‘Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa’ published yesterday, the Breton Woods institution noted that close to 80 percent of the workforce will continue to work on small farms and in household businesses in the near future.

It pointed out further that

while the modern wage sector is growing very fast in some countries, it cannot create enough jobs to meet the youth employment challenge now preoccupying governments in every corner of the continent.

The report stated: “With more than half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population now under the age of 25, and as many as 11 million young Africans expected to join the labour market every year for the next decade, creating millions of productive, well-paying jobs will be vital to boost economic growth, significantly cut poverty, and create shared prosperity in Africa, according to a new World Bank report on youth employment in Africa.

“While many African economies have registered impressive economic growth in recent years, poverty levels across the region have not fallen as much as expected and young people looking for better-paying work have been at a great disadvantage. This is partly because many African countries rely heavily on oil, gas, and mineral extraction which boosts economic growth but does little to create new jobs for the region’s fast-growing youth population or reduce overall rates of poverty”, the World Bank added.

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Business & Finance

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Massive job loss looms as oil companies pursue divestments MESHACK IDEHEN

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he Zonal Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria ,PENGASSAN, Reverend Folusho Oginni, has said mass sack of workers looms in the nation’s petroleum sector as oil and gas companies near their divestment objectives.

Oginni said his union is making frantic effort to ward off the mass sack of workers in the sector, saying no doubt that the divestment will see many oil workers losing their jobs.

In a statement yesterday, he said PENGASSAN is blaming the Federal Government for the wave of divestment of assets by multinational oil and gas companies in the country, since the government has failed to evolve robust policies in the oil and gas

sector as well as create enabling environment for investment to thrive According to him, two multinational oil companies in Nigeria are on the verge of fully divesting their assets in the nation’s oil-rich Niger Delta area.

He added also that the exercise by the oil firms would leave a bitter taste in the industry, as both companies would sack half of their workforce in the country in order to execute the divestment programme.

The PENGASSAN zonal chairman explained that each of the oil companies has about 8,000 personnel in its employ, which then mean that same number of workers would be jobless in a few months when the divestment programme has been fully implemented.

He added though the petroleum companies are holding dis-

cussions with the unions in the oil and gas sector, that the discussions are yet inconclusive, and that during the discussions, the oil and gas companies insisted on laying off the workers as part of their asset divestment programme.

The oil and gas sector unions, he pointed out, are worried about the development since they couldn’t get enough capital to buy the assets of the companies in order to save the jobs of their members in the companies.

The planned divestment of assets, according to sources within the unions, is not unconnected with the ever rising incidence of oil theft and harsh business environment in the sector, partly caused by the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill ,PIB, which is still before the National Assembly.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Quickteller makes mobile money services available on 6,000 ATMs KUNLE A ZEEZ

Q

uickteller, a value-added service platform of Interswitch Transnational, a leading Pan-African integrated payments company, has developed solution to power card-less Automated Teller Machines withdrawals for mobile money operators.

The service is currently available at over 6,000 ATMs on the networks of First Bank, GTBank, Stanbic Bank, United Bank for Africa and Zenith Bank.

Through the service, Quickteller offers mobile money users the opportunity to withdraw cash from their mobile money accounts or “cash out” funds transferred to them, through

supported ATMs across the country.

The service has been designed to specifically address the challenges of mobile money adoption which includes insufficient cash out locations thereby enabling those without bank accounts and bank cards have easier, more convenient and safer access to cash withdrawal.

This service supports transactions between the range of N1,000.00 and N20,000.00 in multiples of N1,000. The user receives a 12-digit code and a 4-digit PIN that can be used for safe withdrawals across Quicktellersupported ATMs nationwide.

Quickteller card-less ATM withdrawal service has been adopted by Pagatech, GTBank Mobile Money, Parkway, Cellulant and QikQik.

Ecobank to reward users, unveils card 4 prizes promo UDO ONYEKA

E

cobank Nigeria has unveiled card 4 prizes promo being part of efforts in promoting the use of alternative payment channels by customers and also strengthening the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s cashlite initiative.

The promo which will run for three months will see customers of the bank winning prizes that includes sedan cars, all-expense paid trip to Brazil and scholarships valued N300, 000 each for different sets of winners to be drawn from different parts of the country.

Ecobank Head, Cards and ebanking, Mr. Tunde Kuponiyi said there will be three monthly

draws and a grand finale draw to be held in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja simultaneously.

He disclosed that 15 winners would emerge monthly from the draws. Each of these winners will take home smart phones; LCD TVs; air conditioners; home theatres and power generating sets. There is also instant reward for customers who walk into any of the bank branches, pick up debit cards and activate them instantly.

On the modalities for the promotion, Mr. Kuponiyi explained that “a point based rating” will be utilised in choosing winning customers. This means that customers will be awarded points for every transaction done on the bank’s alternative channels.

DLM bags award for leadership in image and quality L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Dauda Kigbu; Registrar, Commercial Law, Mrs. Salman Mann and Project Manager, World Intellectual Property Organization, Mr. Hisham Fayed, during inspection of office space for Industrial Property Automated System in Abuja recently.

DAYO AYEYEMI

NCAA deploys 52 CPOs to 10 remodelled airports

D

OLUSEGUN KOIKI

T

he Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA sais that it has deployed more than 52 Consumer Protection Officers, CPOs, to about 10 major airports in the country.

NCAA in a statement signed by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, said that the officers were posted to these airports after successfully completing their On-The-Job, OJT.

Ndubuoke stated that the officers were deployed to join the scores of officers already on ground the airports.

The airports according to Ndubuoke are Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Murtala Muhammed Airport 1 (Domestic), Murtala Mohammed Airport 2, MMA 2, in Lagos.

Others are Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Kaduna Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, Enugu International Airport, Gombe Airport, Mallam Aminu Kano

International Airport, MAKIA, Ibadan Airport, Owerri Airport and Asaba Airport.

He stated that the DirectorGeneral, NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, gave the directive for thorough training and mass posting of the officers to provide support to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He added that with the ongong remodelling exercise of the airports, there was a need to increase the number of officers at the airports to attend to passenger complaints.

ue to its performance in 2013, Dunn Loren Merrifield (DLM), a member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, has won International Award for Leadership in Image and Quality.

The award conferred on Dunn Loren Merrifield by the Global Trade Leaders’ Club in Spain is aimed to distinguish firms that promote the philosophy of leadership and organisational quality.

In a statement issued by Secretary General/ CEO of Global Trade Leaders’ Club, Mr. Ricardo Roso Lopez, he recognised DLM as worthy of receiving the 2013 prize.

He said, “The governing board of GTLC is delighted to announce Dunn Loren Merrifield as a wor-

thy prize winner for the year 2013 in review. This award further strengthens the business ethos of Dunn Loren Merrifield as a firm focused on quality management”.

Receiving the award, Group Managing Director/CEO Dunn Loren Merrifield, Mr. SonnieAyere, reiterated his firm’s commitment towards offering quality service to clients.

“As a firm with strong business relationships, we remain very committed in delivering our trade mark ofquality and unique investment products to clients around the world, ” he said.

The Global Trade Leaders’ Club has inducted DLM as a full member into the prestigious league of companies with membership from over 95 countries around the world.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Jobs & Career

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Criticisms of labour’s penchant for strikes and subtly promoting industrial relations unrest by Nigerians, has compelled organised labour to pledge end to all forms of strikes this year. How they can keep to that promise is crucial for the nation’s economic survival, writes MESHACK IDEHEN.

Why labour must keep pledge to end strikes in 2014

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he monopoly of organised labour as currently represented in the country by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, over labour matters was almost shattered last year by the emergence of a breakaway faction called the Integrity Group.

Amongst the greviances by the breakaway faction led by General Secretary of Non Academic Staff Union, NASU, Mr. Peter Adeyemi, and the President of Hotel and Personnel Service Association, Mr. Leke Success, are the NLC’s penchant for confrontational approach towards industrial relations matters, and percievedsellout of the nation’s workers interests for pecuniary reasons topped the list.

That development led to fears that the relationship between the Federal Government and the NLC, may be heading for the rocks, particularly in the light of the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu’s direct dealings with workers unions, instead of through the NLC or TUC. The speculations that the government was set to fund the creation of an alternative national labour center due to the stiff neck position of labour; coupled with allegations of graft within the congress secretariat particularly as it regards check off dues, also largely contributed to the many challenges labour grappled with.

Considering how shaken and disturbed the Abdulwaheed Omar led NLC and Peter Esele then led TUC was with those events, insiders within the congress told National Mirror the leadership of both the TUC and NLC pledged internally amongst themselves to prevent such embarrassing situations as the threat to create alternative national labour by government and some of their affiliates in the future.

To achieve that objective of preventing the government from going ahead to fund the establishment of a new national labour center; to address grievances of its affiliates threatening to pull out of NLC and TUC and also to show the Federal Government it was now more open to dialogue instead of confrontation, our correspondent gathered the leadership of both congress promised to make public statement indicating their new

Kaigama

Omar

approach towards labour and industrial relations disagreements.

Nevertheless, fears that the NLC and TUC may not keep its pledge to do away with unnecessary strike continued to mount, with stakeholders insisting that doing away with strikes that are not justified is very much in the best interest of organised labour and of the country.

Trying to douse such fears, and still savouring his victory over allegedly imposed candidates in the general election for who became the president of the TUC by conservative interests within the congress, new TUC President, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, said all forms of strikes must be ended by labour in 2014, and that both the TUC and NLC are to collaborate to end industrial actions in the country from 2014.

Kaigama explained the two labour umbrella bodies are collaborating to curb incessant strikes among their affiliates, insisting the congresses are assuring Nigerians and the government that the incessant industrial actions witnessed during the past years would be curbed as from this year.

He noted as trade union leaders that they consider strike as the last resort in industrial disputes, saying they will are do their best to see how industrial relations disputes are resolve before it degenerated into industrial strikes.

The TUC president particularly regretted the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, and the sporadic strike by electricity workers,

THE

DEMOCRATISATION OF LABOUR UNION BILL WHICH IS STILL PENDING BEFORE THE

NATIONAL

ASSEMBLY BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS WAITING FOR THE PLEDGE BY LABOUR LEADERS TO END STRIKE saying Nigerians would not witness such again.

“Indeed, there is need for the people to dialogue and agree on the terms to boost the country’s unity and address her myriad of problems. Nigeria is one country in spite of its varying cultures, religion and ethnic nationalities, and we can only succeed as a nation if we stay united,” Kaigama said.

Labour activist and President of Progressive Leadership Organisation International, PLOI, Mr. Emmanuel Ezueme, told National Mirror that failure of NLC and

OneCard Nigeria appoints chief commercial officer MESHACK IDEHEN

F

ast moving consumer goods firm, OneCard Nigeria Limited, has announced the appointment of a new Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Taiwo Ogunkanmi.

The company which is involved in services ranging from mobile

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phones, toll fees, pay television and fuel cards nationwide, said in a statement by the Company Secretary, Mr. Ade Oyebanji, that the appointment of Ogunkanmi was another major stride in the quest by the firm towards being a major player in the FMCG sector of the economy.

The statement said that Ogunkanmi was appointed based on his experience in the marketing and

commercial segments of the information technology, banking and telecommunications industries.

According to the statement, Ogunkanmi started his professional career with a Lagos-based Information Technology firm, Elcom Serve Nigeria and later moved to First Atlantic Bank as a Business Development Officer.

In 2003, he joined Econet Wire-

TUC to keep its pledge to curtail or eliminate strike and industrial unrest will lead to their (organised labour) demise in the country.

Ezueme said labour struggle, which is supposed to be characterised by fight against oppression and injustice, and protection of workers’ rights and interests have been jettisoned for struggle for personal and material gains by the country’s labour leaders, adding the nation’s workers are fully aware of these developments.

According to him, “The Democratisation of Labour Union” bill, which is still pending before the National Assembly is only still pending because the Federal Government is just waiting for the pledge by labour leaders to end strike to become active.

The PLOI president pointed out the public statement by the recent TUC president that strikes and industrial relations unrest will be done away with this year is only part of the fulfillment of that previous pledge.

Making reference to the eight affiliates that were supposed to form the core of the new national labour center, former President, Construction Workers Union, Mr. Peterside Idaghe, said hard negotiations and violent disruptive strikes by labour unions are no longer in vogue.

He said also should the NLC and its TUC counterpart opt for the path of peace and dialogue in its dealings, that the nation’s economy will immediately feel the impact, adding many companies in Nigeria are grappling with survival because of the hard tackle styles the congress have been operating with.

“NLC and TUC are challenged to do away with incessant strike, and see if the government and employers will not respond in kind. Peaceful negotiations begets peaceful results while confrontational negotiations will bring forth confrontational results”, he explained.

According to him, unions like the National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Employees, NUBIFIE, Non Academic Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, National Union of Hotel and Personal Services Workers, NUHPSW, National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees, NUPTE, Radio and Theatre Arts Workers Union, Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria, SEWUN and the National Association of Technologies, NAATS, are unions that can form the new national labour center when it takes off.

less Nigeria, witnessed its metamorphosis into VMobile and Celtel and occupied several positions, including consultant, activations; supervisor, electronic voucher distribution; and distribution manager, North Central region, covering Abuja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger states.

Ogunkanmi joined Visafone Communications Limited in 2007

as Regional Head, Sales - North West. In this position, he was in charge of Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, Jos and Maiduguri.

He later rose to become Assistant General Manager, Sales (North) in 2012 and was responsible for achieving total revenue, operations, sales, distribution, strategy and marketing implementation.

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Jobs & Career

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tips for improving employee morale

H

igh levels of employee morale are critical to high levels of employee retention. Improving employee morale is critical to any effective employee retention strategy. After all, if morale is low and employees dread coming to work each day, they won’t stick around. This drives up employee turnover costs and can dramatically reduce organizational productivity and profits. These tips can help to improveemployee’s morale in your company: Employee job fit - This is by far the single largest cause of poor employee morale. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. If an employee is not cut out for the job, either based on their core behavioral style, what motivates them, or their unique set of personal skills and talents, their performance will suffer, they will become frustrated, and morale will dwindle.

If you haven’t utilized job match testing in your hiring

process your employees may be experiencing a job mismatch problem which can lead to “JobMe Conflict.” Job-Me Conflict always results in employee morale problems - always. The best way to avoid this common cause of low employee morale is to implement a job benchmarking process and use a validated preemployment assessment profile to identify candidates who are a good fit for the job.

Job clarity - A lack of clarity with respect to what is expected of an employee in way of performance, job duties, and responsibilities is another major cause of low employee morale. There is a very close relationship between an employee’s understanding of his or her role and how it adds value to their organization and their personal level of morale.

Take some time and ensure that all your team members are clear about what their job duties are and clarify any tasks or duties they may be unsure about.

Personal accountability - Emphasizing employee personal accountability is a great way to boost employee morale. More than ever, blame has become pervasive in today’s society - it seems that everywhere you turn somebody is blaming someone else for something. The modern workplace is a feeding ground for blame and responsibility avoidance. This can lead to an alarming reduction in employee morale and drive up employee turnover costs. A great way to improve morale and productivity is to emphasize the importance of personal accountability in your organization.

A passionate and engaged employee with high morale. Passion for the work - Passion for the work one performs leads to engagement in the work. Employee engagement is a key factor in boosting employee morale.

One of the best ways to ensure that your employees are passionate about their job is to align

Workers in the office

O

pening job vacancies for this week are various positions from international television company, Bloomberg TV Africa.

A head of production, production manager, production unit director, a production assistant, floor manager and camera operators are some of the vacancies available.

Also needed are news a n c h o r, r e p o r t e r s , g u e s t bookers,producers,associate producers,archivist,researchers and scheduler, while a transmission controller. MCR operator, ingest operator will be engaged.

Applicants interested in these and other positions are to visit www.themediahouse.tv for more details.

From www.findjobafrica. com is the position for a Content Manager for Amnesty International, which is to be based in

Dakar, Senegal.

The content manager is expected to work closely with peers in the regional office, and will set the strategy that ensures all campaign and communication material is produced and delivered in line with Amnesty’s goals, objectives and messages – creating a strong and coherent image across the region.

He/she will develop and maintain a voice across channels that can feed into global or other regional conversations where necessary, and getting hands on when needed to, adding the personal touch that will drive home the importance of the work we do.

Qualifications amongst other include having the ability to deliver appropriate content across print, AV and social media. Must have excellent writing and communication skills, in both a cre-

Job vacancies ative and factual context.

Also from www.findjobafrica.com is the post of a Regional Sales Manager for a multinational firm. The position is also based in Dakar, Senegal.

The objective of the incoming is to deliver sales of the company’s proprietary infrastructure products to target customers in West Africa, be responsible for the performance of the sales lifecycle in the region, and grow existing accounts and new client acquisition through a business mix relevant to role and local market He/she will also be managing tenders with local contractors and managing projects on a turnkey delivery basis, forecasting of sales and associated reports for the allocated sales territory and maintaining the company’s standards of ethical

their position with their unique behavioral style (introverted/ extroverted, people/task orientation), their motivating values (money, power, knowledge, helping others, etc.), and their soft skills (empathy, responsibility, leadership ability etc). Again, this goes back to job fit - an employee whose personality is in alignment with the needs of the job is much more likely be passionate about their work and experience higher levels of employee morale.

Workplace politics - Every workplace has politics of some form. It’s inevitable and not always a bad thing. The point

when politics become harmful to employee morale is when “the who matters more than the what.” Meaning... who a person is, their relationships with others, and their ability to “brownnose” takes precedent over what that person is actually able to do and is thereby unfairly offered promotional and development opportunity. Objectivity is paramount in the workplace and employees are quickly able to see when workplace politics are not taking place on a level playing field. Be sure that the who is not allowed to matter more than the what.

Source: yahoojobs.com

PwC Nigeria appoints senior country partner rofessional advisory, audit and assurance and tax services firm, Price WaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said it has appointed a new Country Senior Partner, Mr. Uyi Akpata, whose appointment will take effect July 1, 2014.

PWC said Akpata will replace Mr. Ken Igbokwe, who has been serving as country senior partner since 2002, and is due to retire as regional senior partner, West Africa and country senior partner, Nigeria. Akpata, according to PWC, joined the firm of Coopers and Lybrand in September 1984 after graduating with a BSc Accounting degree from the University of Lagos.

He qualified as a member of

the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1986 and is currently a Fellow of the Institute. He was admitted as a partner in 1992 and has obtained extensive experience in leading the audits of companies in various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Akpata has in the last 15 years acted as assurance engagement leader for key players in the oil and gas Industry and is currently the oil and gas leader for PwC Africa.

The new PWC senior country partner has played other practice management responsibilities including being the chairman of the governance board for Africa central, and partner responsible for the co-ordination of risk independence and quality in Africa central.

business practice and promoting and protecting the company’s good reputation.

Qualifications for the post is a background and/or training in business development or engineering, with a proven track record selling high value capital equipment with lengthy sales cycles to road authorities, contractors, military or private companies involved in mining, oil and gas or energy. Must have strong commercial and negotiation skills that have been successfully employed within complex buying environments with multiple decision makers and demonstrates an understanding of relevant markets in the West African region as well as cultural nuances, business etiquette and local business models.

The position of a Deputy Executive Secretary from www.jobberman.com is also on offer this

week.

The recruiting organization, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), said the position is categorised as one of the most senior management posts in the secretariat and the successful candidate is expected to function as part of a team of senior programme staff under the overall supervision of the Executive Secretary of the Council.

He/she shall take a lead role in the development of new programmes and activities and in the mobilisation of researchers across Africa to participate in them in accordancewith existing institutional rules and strategy; and be directly responsible for the management of collaborative and special programmes undertaken by CODESRIA in partnership with other research organisations.

MESHACK IDEHEN

P

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Real Estate & Environment dayoayeyemi@yahoo.com 08033312578

Abuja residents bemoan rising rent, seek legal control Almost a year after a bill seeking to protect Abuja residents against the unscrupulous activities of landlords was presented to the Senate by Senator Smart Adeyemi; it has not gone beyond the first reading.

OLUFEMI ADEOSUN presents experts’ view on the looming danger of unrestrained rent hike.

T

he assumption that the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja holds so much in terms of job opportunities underlies the daily influx of the people into the city. Closely related to this is the prolificacy of the political class, which tends to give a false impression that money can be picked off the streets of Abuja.

Since the seat of power is alleged to be where the common patrimony resides and can be shared-everyone wants to partake in the national cake- and the result is influx of people, those with jobs and those without jobs into the city centre. This drift is not only telling on the available infrastructure in the city, some unscrupulous house owners seize the opportunity it to prey on the people in need of accommodation.

Stakeholders in the real estate sector however contended that the seeming accommodation problem being experienced

by Abuja residents is not caused by the influx of people, but by a government who plans the city as a fortress for the political class and their cronies. For instance, they are of the view that given the number of estates that spring up daily both at the city centre and satellite towns, accommodation should have been the cheapest thing to come-by in Abuja.

For instance, the Principal Partner, Buel Consultant, Mr. Sam-Opeyemi Babadiya, stated that the housing sector in the country, particularly in Abuja, is not being controlled be experts, rather by the political class who were able to garner funds as well as use their positions to amass hectares of land to develop estates, most of whom were often locked up for years because no average person could afford the rent.

Babadiya, who claimed to have been in estate business since some of the major satellite towns in Abuja were mere shanties, stated that the rising cost of accommodation in the FCT could lead to

One of the residential estates in Abuja

social unrest, except government urgently comes up with good safety net, particularly legislation that would protect the residents from the grips of the money bags.

He lamented that a bill seeking to protect tenants against the unscrupulous activities had not made any meaningful progress since it was table by a serving senator at the floor of the Senate a year ago.

It would be recalled that Senator Smart Adeyemi had proposed a bill seeking to regulate the relationship between landlords and tenants as well as making provision for rent control in the Federal Capital Territory. If the bill scales through, it is expected to address the administration of arbitrary and prohibitive rents demanded down to tenants by their landlords.

Apart from that, the bill which seems to have borrowed a leaf from the newLagos State Tenancy Law, also seeks to end advance collection of two-years’ rents from tenants especially low income earners who constitute majority of FCT residents. As at today, while the bill has barely passed through the first reading, tenants at the FCT are left to suffocate under the grips of landlords who charge based on discretion other than lai down rules.

However, Babadiya expressed great doubt if the bill would see the light of the day, stressing that it would be difficult for the Senate to legislate against the interest of its members, who had the largest holding in the estate development sector of the city.

He said,” I do not think our Senators are serious about passing the bill into law. If it

A ONE-BEDROOM APARTMENT IN SATELLITE TOWN LIKE

KUBWA USED TO COST N80,000 AS AGAINST THE CURRENT DUE

N450,000 AND N500,000 DEPENDING OF

ON LOCATION is of great interest to them, we know they would have passed it with the same speed with which they attend to issues that bother on their interest. Come to think of it, how do you think people at the National Assembly will be willing to pass the bill when most of the estates in Abuja are either owned by them or their surrogates?

Having been in the estate development business in the city more than a decade, he said that the way in which accommodation fee had skyrocketed in the last couple of years was indescribable. Going back memory lane, Babadiya disclosed that a one-bedroom apartment in satellite town like Kubwa used to cost N80,000 as against the current due of N450,000 and N500,000 depending on location.

Mr. Ayoola Obe, a resident of Kubwa who spoke with our correspondent particularly said rent had gone up in Kubwa particularly since the road was opened

up last years. Obe, who stay in one of the highbrow areas of Kubwa stated that his landlord had increased his rent three times in four years, making his rent for two-bedroom apartment shoot up from N300, 000 to N800, 000.

He blamed FCT administration for the plights of tenants in Abuja, adding that if it had come up with tenancy law that would protect them; the situation would have been different. According to him, “Unarguably, there has been an unimaginable increase in the rent cost in the last three years. However, while that of other satellite towns like Lugbe, Nyanya Zuba Mararaba is tolerable, that of Kubwa is worrisome.

Asked why that of Kubwa seemed to be on the high side, he retorted, “We used to have decent rent in Kubwa until the road was expanded. Ordinarily opening up the road should have been a source of joy and comfort to the people, but the reverse is the case as landlords catch in on it to increase their rents indiscriminately.

Also expressing his views, Alhaji Idowu Aransiola, an Abuja-based housing agent, stated that it was unfathomable to see people lacking in shelter in a city, which had the highest number of housing estates in West Africa. He averred that politicians had allegedly taken over estate business in Abuja not because of the drive to provide accommodation for the people, but as a way of concealing their ill-gotten well since money laundering law now debar them from frittering it away in foreign accounts.

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Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

FG woos cement manufacturers on adoption of rigid pavements OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

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Houses built by Kogi State Government

Kogi tackles housing shortage through owner-occupier scheme Shortage of affordable accommodation has become a perennial problem in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State since inception. WALE IBRAHIM, outlines some of the initiatives of Governor Idris Wada to tackle the problem head-on through owner-occupier scheme.

A

s part of infrastructural development and determination to continue to tackle accommodation problem especially in the state capital in the last two years, the Kogi State Government has vowed to continue with its owner- occupier housing scheme.

This is to ameliorate the suffering of residents as result of influx of people to the state from other parts of the country.

It would be recalled that since the inception of the state in 1991, accommodation has been one of the major problems facing the residents despite the efforts of the successive administrations both military and civilian to tackle the perennial problem.

Some of the housing units constructed by the previous administrations are Adankolo Housing Estate, Phase 1 Housing Estate, Phase 11 Housing Estate, Aniebo Housing Estate, 200 Housing Units, 500 Housing Workers Village, Otokiti Housing Units, House of Assembly Quarters and more.

Prior to this time, civil servants in the early stage of the state were sleeping at every available open space such as the Lokoja Township Stadium and other unsuitable locations during the formative years of the state.

Investigation, however, revealed that since 1991 when the

state was created by the then Military President, Badamosi Babangida, the number of houses available in Lokoja, the state capital were not enough to accommodate the civil servants from old Benue and Kwara States.

Apparently not satisfied with this trend, the successive administrations in the state introduced owner-occupier scheme to solve the problem among the state workers. The scheme was done in such a way that after the allocation of apartment, the beneficiaries would pay little amount back to the state government through monthly deductions from their salary for a period of time for them to become proud house owners.

In spite of large number of estates, accommodation has been a recurring decimal in the state because of its fasting growing status.

However, the present administration under the leadership of Captain Idris Wada is determined to tackle this perennial housing problem in the state.

It could be recalled that shortly after the 2012 flood disaster that ravaged the nine local government areas in the state, the government has constructed 272 units of Post Flood Housing Estate for 272 families adversely affected by flood with a pledge that the Post Housing Estate be repli-

Wada

cated in the other 8 affected local government areas of the state.

Also in line with determination to tackle this problem, the Kogi State Property Development Corporation is not left out in building houses for the workers. The corporation has completed over 200 housing units at Crusher- Felele, an outskirt of Lokoja along Okene –Lokoja –Abuja Expressway.

The Managing Director of the Kogi State Property Development Corporation, Chief Moses Okino, stated the housing units were affordable for all and it was in line with the state government determination to find lasting solution to housing problem in the state capital.

Governor Idris Wada, stated during the presentation of 2014 Appropriation Bill that the state government is determined to continue with its owner –occupier housing scheme in the state. He stated that, in line with the determination, the sum of N3,400,000,000 has been earmarked for the housing sub sector.

he Federal Government has said it had secured the partnership of Cement Manufacturers Association, CMAN, in rigid pavements for road networks across the country.

CMAN consists of Dangote Cement PLC, Lafarge WAPCO Nigeria PLC, including Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Askaka Cement and United Cement Company UniCem, Calabar.

The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen disclosed this in Abuja while playing host to Lafarge WAPCO Cement management led by the company’s Managing Director, Mr. Guillaume Roux in Abuja.

He noted the Ministry Works would start experimentation on rigid pavements in the country.

According to him, the new innovation is part of the ongoing process to identify good solutions for the federal roads in the country.

The Minister said, “We want to know what the manufacturers are bringing to make the projects realistic. We have identified cement companies as one of the source of the excessive overloading of our roads”.

“We would carry out laboratory test on the products to ensure that they are good as we prepare to begin the construction of rigid pavement carriageway in Nigeria” “We have identified major road works where we want to experiment rigid pavement design and consultants were commissioned and they told me that one of those roads is the Kachie-Ajie road to connect the Federal Capital Territory to Baro Port in Niger state.”

“The second one is the Ikorodu-Shagamu road. We have completed the design of the rigid pavement, we have commenced

Onolememen

procurement for the two roads, once the 2014 budget is approved, the projects will come on stream”.

“They are projects where you have to showcase cement for road works, we are looking forward to collaborating with your organisation in bringing that experimentation to a successful end. We believe there are certain terrains in our country that are unfriendly to asphaltic concrete, so we have to design this solution for those terrains so that they can last longer”.

“It is well known that the while the design life of concrete roads is between 35 to 50 years as against 20-25 years for flexible asphalt pavement, the cost of concrete roads is considerably high. On the other hand, flexible asphalt pavements lend themselves more easily to stage construction and also initial cost of construction is lower than concrete pavement but requires more frequent maintenance”.

Earlier, Mr. Guillaume Roux noted while local production of cement had exceeded demand, efforts more be geared toward a more creative use of it for the benefit of the Nigerian economy He assured the minister that his company have high quality cement for road works and solution, stressing that the company as at 2013 had nine plants with the plan to increase it to 17 at the end of 2014.

According to him the introduction of rigid pavements would make the roads last longer.

He stressed that as long as consumers would require specialised cement based products, Lafarge would continue to introduce products that will meet customers’ needs, adding that the company’s decision to have more than one cement brand was informed by the need to provide customers with a range of alternative cement brands to select from.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Dasaolu, others lead Indoor’s charge 30

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eigning champions, Nigeria, will be the top seed for the Morocco 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying series, CAF decided at its Executive Committee meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa last weekend.

Nigeria’s top ranking was summed up based on a points system from recent AFCONs, the 2013 AFCON as well as their performance in the qualifying tournament for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

27

Sport

As Ghanaians, we see only opportunities in Brazil World Cup. We do not see any challenges – GFA PRESIDENT, KWESI NYANTAKYI

Nigeria top seed for 2015 AFCON qualifiers …F/Eagles draw bye in AYC Other top seeds for the qualifying tournament for the 2015 AFCON include Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Zambia.

The 2015 AFCON will be hosted by Morocco in four cities – Rabat, Agadir, Tanger and Marrakech - from January

15 to February 7.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles have been drawn bye to the second round of the 2015 African Youth Championship (AYC) to be hosted by Senegal.

The six-time African champions will begin their qualifying campaign in May

against the winners of the first round match between Kenya and Tanzania.

Should the Nigeria U-20 team qualify for the third and final round, they will then face the winners of the second round between Angola and the winners of the first round clash involving Swaziland and Lesotho.

This final qualifier will is scheduled for August.

Nigeria’s Solomon Kwambe (right) tussling with a South African player during their last group stagematch in Cape Town

NFF, GFA finalise friendly for U-17 girls

CHAN s/finals:

Eagles feel Free State pitch for Ghana …Kwambe happy to return EVEREST ONYEWUCHI

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uper Eagles will later this afternoon, feel the pitch of the Free State Stadium in Mangaung, Bloemfontein, venue of their tomorrow’s semifinal clash against the Black Stars of Ghana in the ongoing CHAN. The Eagles arrived in Bloemfontein on Sunday night to the warm embrace of Nigerians and residents of the city.

National Mirror learnt that the Nige-

rian team was split into two on the trip to Bloemfontein, with the first team made up of officials, arriving in the city by 7pm, while the other half of players and coaches came into town at about 9:30pm.

The team is quartered at the President Hotel and Conference Centre, alongside the Zimbabwean national team who will be playing the first semi-final at the Free State Stadium against their Libyan opponents also tomorrow.

Residents of the city are already predicting a Nigeria-Zimbabwe final, as they

think Southern Africa’s only pride remaining in the tournament are the Robert Mugabe boys.

Eagles resumed training yesterday evening in the city, while it is expected that they will be given a chance this evening to feel the pitch of stadium. There are lots of Nigerians here in Bloemfontein, because of its proximity to Johannesburg and other factors.

“We don’t expect to lack support here because of the huge population of Nigerians and the fact that the Supporters Club

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he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Ghana Football Association (GFA )have finalised arrangements for a two-leg friendly fixture between the U-17 Women National Team of Nigeria, known as Flamingos, and their Ghanaian counterparts.

Acting General Secretary of the GFA, Emmanuel Gyimah, formally requested for the fixture through a letter dated 23rd January, and the NFF responded positively through another letter the following day, signed by General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu.

Both teams, alongside Zambia, have qualified to represent the Africa at the 4th FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup taking place in Costa Rica between March 15–April 14, 2014.

is on ground,” declared team administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor.

Returnee full back, Solomon Kwambe, was full of smiles when asked about his return to the first team for the game against Ghana after seeing out his one match ban following two bookings against Bafana Bafana.

“I thank my mates for keeping us in the tournament in my absence and I promise that if I am picked for the semifinal game I will make up for my absence in the previous game.”

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Sport

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Wenger punches Mourinho

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rsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger, has rejected Jose Mourinho’s claims that his side has an advantage in the Premier League title race due to its extended recovery time following matches.

The Chelsea boss hit out before his side’s 1-0 home victory over Stoke on Sunday, two days after Arsenal beat Coventry 4-0 in the FA Cup at the Emirates.

“The fixture has nothing to do with my opinion, it is an independent company which has made that and has shown that Arsenal has had less rest between the games than any other toplevel team,” Wenger said.

Asked if it was no more than mind games from the Chelsea manager, Wenger said: “No. This is an opinion and I don’t live with opinions. I live with facts. I didn’t make the study. It has been made by an independent company which I cannot influence.”

Mata (r) and Manager David Moyes yesterday

Wenger

Toon fear for Cabaye

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ewcastle Manager, Alan Pardew, yesterday admitted he cannot be certain playmaker Yohan Cabaye will still be at the club when the January transfer window closes on Friday night.

Newcastle rejected a £14m bid from Paris St Germain on Sunday, and the Magpies were bracing themselves for a second approach yesterday.

Asked if he was confident Cabaye would remain a Newcastle player after Friday’s deadline, he said: “You are talking to someone who lost Andy Carroll with eight hours to go, so am I confident?

Devils’ pressure within capacity –Juan Mata M

anchester United new signing, Juan Mata, says he can cope with the pressure of becoming the Premier League champion’s record signing.

The 25-year-old Spain international has joined United for £37.1million from Chelsea and may make his debut at Old Trafford against Cardiff today.

“Coming here is a great moment for me,”

“People are expecting big things from me and I am looking forward to it.

Mata is particularly looking forward to linking up with United’s England international forward Wayne Rooney.

“For me Wayne is one of the best players in the history of this country,” Mata said, adding, “He is unbelievable as he can score and can assist.

Bosso drops quit hint JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

C Cabaye

Mata said after he was unveiled yesterday.

“The last six months at Chelsea were a bit difficult for me but now I am really happy and looking forward to winning as many trophies as I can with this club. I am sure it is going to be a great period for me.

“Manchester United is a massive club, with fans all around the world and this will be a big challenge.

oach of Bayelsa United FC, Ladan Bosso, has threatened to quit his job if the Bayelsa State government fails to release funds to the club.

Bosso, who issued the threat after his side lost two matches at Glo Premier League Super Four which ended over the weekend in Abuja, said funds scarcity had militated against the progress of his team “You cannot send somebody to a war

without giving such adequate equipment,” the veteran coach said.

“But for participating in this tournament, it could have been worse for us as we approach the season’s opening.

“There is now a kind of blessing as we will adapt the lesson we have learnt to the league proper.”

Asked if he will quit if the club’s financier did not accede to his request, Bosso said: “Those who know me know what I will do once I see danger coming.

“For now, I am still with Bayelsa United because I recruited the players and I want to manage the situation.”

Bosso

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Last year’s feat repeatable–Ribery France and Bayern Munich star, Franck Ribery, who had a standout 2013, lifting the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the German Cup, spoke to FIFA.com on the exceptional year and his strength of character Was the last season one of those periods in which you felt invincible?

It was.

When that happens, when everything star ts coming off for you in every match, training session and competition, your confi- dence begins to soar. Whatever you try, it works, and there comes a point when you say to yourself ‘Long may it last!’

Do you think doing even better in 2014 is possible?

It will be very difficult. But I don’t sit around asking myself questions; I just keep working hard. I’m committed to what I do and I enjoy it.

We have enough strength in depth to replicate what we did last year.

What aspects of your experience in Munich can you draw on with France?

I’d say my experience, my maturity. I’m 30 now and I’ve been through a lot in my career. I talk to the younger France players a lot, particularly the lads who haven’t been in that many squads. We represent a big country and the blue shirt can weigh heavy on the shoulders. So I try to get the younger players in the best possible frame of mind. You have to make the most of the experience and relish it.

Did your past experiences make you what you are today?

Ever since I was born, I’ve been through some tough situations. But that’s what has given me the strength and the drive to succeed. I’m not afraid of anything. That’s also why I’ve always been able to bounce back when things have gotten difficult.

What would be the pick of your career?

That’s a tricky one. All I can say is that the match against Spain at the 2006 World Cup was very emotional for me, but the same was true last

year in the Champions L e a g u e against Barcelona.

What about your favourite goal?

There’s the important goal I scored against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup: we were 1-0 down and when I equalised that restored the team’s confidence. We went on to win on penalties.

How does it feel being nominated for the Ballon d’Or? I’m really flattered. When I think of where I came from and where I am now, it’s incredible.

It’s really a delight.

Being part of that list of great players is a fantastic feeling.

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And being drawn against Honduras, Ecuador and Switzerland in the group stage…

Maybe we didn’t get the most difficult group, but we absolutely cannot afford to take any one for granted.

We will have to give it our best shot to get past the first round and it’s vital we do that.

Wada commits to Kogi United AFOLABI GAMBARI

K

ogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada, has reiterated his administration’s resolve to development in the state to meet global standard.

Wada, who made this call in Lokoja on Sunday while unveiling logos and jerseys for state-owned Kogi United FC and Confluence Queens FC, said his administration had identified sports as a unifying factor in furthering its policies and objectives.

“With our abundant talent, Nigeria can also model its football league to compete with other developed ones,” the governor said, adding his government would transform the clubs.

“I urge players of both teams to see themselves as Kogi State ambassadors and always see themselves as one while I call on the relevant stakeholders to partner with government in transforming sports in all areas.”

Kogi United will campaign in the Group A of the Nigeria National League, NNL, while the Confluence Queens will contest in the newly introduced Nigeria Women Premier League.

Meanwhile, Kogi United will today host Enyimba of Aba in a match billed for Lokoja Stadium in commemoration of Governor Idris Wada’s second anniversary in power.

“We are determined to give the Governor fun while using the match to continue our preparation for the new season kicking off on February 15, Coach Fatai Osho told National Mirror yesterday.

What are your thoughts on the World Cup? It will be a real thrill, without a doubt. In my case, it could be my last World Cup. We’re going to do our utmost to have a good tournament and to give the French fans something to cheer about, which is a big motivation.

Wada

Kasparov

Chess: Kasparov due in Abuja AFOLABI GAMBARI

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igerian Chess scene will hug global limelight this week with the arrival of former world champion, Gary Kasparov in Nigeria for a three-day visit with his famous Chess Foundation.

The visit will be the first by the genius to any West African nation as well as what the Nigerian chess would need to start its age long dream of ‘Chess In School’ programme which is already adopted by some private institutions.

Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) President, Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, told National Mirror yesterday that federation would be delighted to receive Kasparov, especially to have talks on possibility of his foundation playing key role in developing school pupils in Nigeria.

Although the Russian Grandmaster is a candidate for the next FIDE election in August this year, Adeyemi said the former’s visit was strictly for chess development.

“His foundation has operated in Africa since 2012 and we are glad to be a beneficiary of the icon’s initiative in chess,” the NCF boss said.

Kasparov’s 11-man team will arrive on Thursday in a private jet and would meet with the NCF board at the Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The combined team of the KCF-AFRICA and the NCF will visit the Sports Minister, Education Minister and the Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education on Friday after which they would proceed to Lagos to meet with prominent captains of industry, the media and stakeholders of chess in the country before departing in continuation of their African tour.

The MiniChess program, developed over years to teach 5 to 8 years kids as part of their schools’ curriculum.

Over 170 schools in South Africa have benefitted with more 45, 000 learners per week, even as plans are in advanced stage to launch the programme in Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda during the 2014 school year.

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Sport

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Dasaolu, others lead Indoor’s charge

Tanui, Kipyegon shine in cross country

Dasaolu in a recent race aimed at shaping up for the Sopot, Poland World Indoors

T Ebuya sounds 2014 warning

he 2010 world cross-country champion, Joseph Ebuya, has appeared to be close to his best form as he decimated a field including reigning world cross-country champion Japheth Korir, at the 59th ‘Cross Internacional de San Sebastian’ on Sunday.

Ebuya, who has only managed fairly modest track times of 7:38.34 for 3000m and 13:11.09 for 5000m since winning the

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enyan Paul Tanui and Faith Kipyegon added their names to the prestigious roll of honours on Sunday at the 82nd Cinque Mulini, the eighth IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting of the 2013-2014 season.

Both wore bib number six which the organisers traditionally give to the favourites and they lived up to their reputation with impressive wins ahead of worldclass fields on a sunny but windy day in San Vittore Olona.

Tanui, the world 10,000m bronze medallist, was joined by last year’s Cinque Mulini winner Muktar Edris, the world junior 5000m champion, in a seven-man leading group. Along with two-time European cross-country champion Alemayehu Bezabeh, world mountain running silver medallist Geoffrey Kusuro, Kenyan duo Thomas Lokomwa and Alex Kibet and 17-year-old Ethiopian Yuhuniligh Adane, they completed the first lap in 7:26.

The lead pack were whittled down to five men as Tanui, Lokomwa, Kusuro, Edris and Kibet pulled nine seconds clear of Adane, clocking 13:05 at the end of the third lap.

Kibet pushed the pace and held the lead on the fourth lap ahead of Lokomwa, Kusuro, Tanui and Edris. Tanui took the initiative on the fifth lap, closely followed

by Kibet, Lokomwa and Kusuro. Edris was dropped by six seconds by the leading quartet who went through the fifth lap in 24:33.

Tanui held off Kibet by just two seconds, while Lokomwa, who won the Memorial Peppe Greco Road Race in Scicli last September, completed the all-Kenyan podium in third place with 30:03, two seconds ahead of Kusuro. Edris, who was side-lined by a knee injury this winter, finished a distant fifth in 30:33.

Eb uy a

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he annual Sainsbury’s Glasgow International over the weekend provided a taste of what lies in store in Sopot, Poland, with the IAAF World Indoor Championships happening from March 7 to 9.

Nine world-leading marks were set, many of them by athletes who will be in contention for medals.

The hosts had some fine performances too, including middle-distance victories for world 1500m finalist Chris O’Hare and European under-23 bronze medallist Laura Muir as Scotland looks ahead to a summer in which they will host the Commonwealth Games.

USA’s Bernard Lagat, now aged 39, provided is intent on retaining his 3000m title and he held off a challenge from Britain’s Andy Vernon in 7:49.83, the fastest time in the world this year.

Another world lead came from Nigerianborn British sprinter James Dasaolu, who illustrated his intent to build on 2013 when he won the 60m in 6.50 ahead of Dwain Chambers.

The 26-year-old will chase gold in Sopot with his best, he feels, still ahead.

“I don’t think I nailed it there,” Dasaolu, whose PB is 6.48, said yesterday.

“But it just shows that the consistent improvements I’m making in training is showing in competition. I opened up with 6.60 last year.

Hopefully I’ll get a personal best.

“I didn’t think I got the first five metres right. Maybe it’s because I was nervous in my first race, but I know there’s plenty of room for improvement.”

Britain’s Asha Phillip took the 60m as she builds towards the World Indoors while Shara Proctor, the world indoor bronze medallist two years ago in Istanbul, will look for extra gains despite claiming the long jump with 6.59m.

“I just need to go back to the drawing board

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

world cross-country title, ran boldly from the outset of the 10km race and took what turned out to be a wholly unopposed victory.

The 26-year-old crossed the line in 32:00 and amassed a winning margin of exactly one minute over Samuel Tsegay from Eritrea, who by no means lacks cross-country pedigree having won a high-profile race in Burgos just before Christmas.

Tanui

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

31

Environmental degradation threatens 23% of global land –UN DAYO AYEYEMI

AND AGENCY REPORT

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idespread environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity is affecting an estimated 23 per cent of global soil.

According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, up to 849 million hectares of natural land – nearly the size of Brazil – may be degraded by 2050 should current trends of unsustainable land use continue.

The need to feed a growing number of people globally has led to more land being converted to cropland at the expense of the world’s savannah, grassland and forests, resulting in widespread environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity.

Agriculture currently consumes more than 30 per cent of the world’s land area, and cropland covers around 10 per cent of global land.

Between 1961 and 2007, cropland expanded by 11 per cent, a trend that continues to grow.

The report, entitled, “Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply”, was produced by the International Resource Panel: a consortium of 27 internationally renowned resource scientists, 33 national governments and other groups, hosted by UNEP. Commenting on the report, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner said, the findings of the panel showed that world has witnessed an unprecedented sharp decline in terrestrial ecosystem services and functions during the past decades.

H e pointed out that forests and wetlands have been converted to

agricultural land to feed growing populations but at a cost that is not sustainable.

“Recognising that land is a finite resource, we need to become more efficient in the ways we produce, supply and consume our land-based products. We must be able to define and adhere to the boundaries within which the world can safely operate to save millions of hectares by 2050,” he said.

According to the UNEP boss, recommendations from the report are meant to inform policy and contribute to on-going discussions on targets and indicators for sustainable resources management as the world charts a new course for sustainable development post-2015.

The report outlines the need and options to balance consumption with sustainable production.

It focuses on land-based products, such as food, fuel and fibre, and describes methods to enable countries to determine whether their consumption levels exceed sustainable supply capacities.

At the same time it distinguishes between gross and net expansion of cropland.

Under a business-as-usual scenario, the net expansion of cropland will range from 120 to 500 million hectares by 2050.

Shifts to more protein-rich diets in developing countries and a growing demand for biofuels and biomaterials, especially in developed countries, are increasing the demand for land.

The report attempts to answer the question: how much more land can be used to serve the growing demand for food and non-food biomass while keeping the consequences of land use change (e.g. deforestation) at a tolerable level?

It builds on the “Safe Operating

Space”, SOS, concept, which underpins the notion that once human activity has passed certain thresholds or tipping points, defined as “planetary boundaries”, there is a risk of irreversible and abrupt environmental change.

The International Resource Panel uses the SOS concept as a starting point to understand how much more land use can occur before the risk of irreversible damage – in particular through biodiversity loss, release of carbon dioxide, disruption of water and nutrient cycles and loss of fertile soil – becomes unacceptable.

It calculates that the global cropland area available for supplying demand could safely increase by up to 1,640 million hectares.

But warns that under businessas-usual conditions, the expected global land demands by 2050 will overshoot this safe operating space.

Monitoring global land use of countries and regions for their domestic consumption gives an

indication of whether they have exceeded or are within their safe operating space.

For the European Union, for instance, 0.31 hectares per person were required in 2007. This is one-fourth more than what is domestically available in the EU, is one-third more that the globally available per person cropland in 2007, and is well above the 0.20 per person SOS target for 2030.

The report says that the key causes of our global challenges are linked to unsustainable consumption levels, but in highconsuming countries only a few policy instruments address excessive consumption habits and the structures that encourage them.

At the same time, with an expanding global population and a worldwide trend towards urbanization, up to 5 per cent of the global land (around 15 billion hectares) is expected to be covered by built-up areas by 2050.

In many cases, built up areas expand at the expense of agricul-

tural land, and agricultural land expands at the expense of forests, particularly in tropical regions.

In addition, in the past five decades, deforestation has occurred at an average rate of about 13 million hectares per year.

While the world’s average agricultural yield growth is slowing, the opportunity to increase productivity in regions with lagging yields, like sub-Saharan Africa, seems promising.

Capacity building on best management practices, integrating scientific and local know-how and investing in the remediation of degraded soils offer strong potential for maximising yield.

In high-consumption regions, more efficient and equitable use of land-based products is required.

Up to 319 million hectares of land can be saved by 2050, if the world follows a combination of measures designed to keep cropland expansion within the safe operating space.

Land degradation in Sudan

Lagos to release first batch of electronic C of O this week MURITALA AYINLA

P

lans have been concluded by the Lagos state government to release the first batch of the electronic

Fashola

Certificate of Occupancy, e-C of O, aimed at improving security of land management in the state.

This is coming few days after the state lawmakers recommend 21-year jail term for land grabbers and speculators in the state.

The Permanent Secretary of Lands Bureau, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who disclosed at a press briefing, lamented that activities of forgers were affecting the authenticity of the old yellow paper C of O, which has been in existence since the enactment of the Land Use Act, 1978.

Muri-Okunola who addressed journalists alongside the Secretary of Lands Bureau, Mr. Aina Salami, said with this new development, the state government is now in line with international best practices in land certification and registration.

His words, “With this new development, the state government is now in line

with international best practices in land certification and registration. It incorporates technology driven security features that makes it extremely difficult to clone or forge the paper on which the certificate is printed. The first batch of the e- C of O is ready and would be handed over to the 55 title holders on Monday January 27, 2014.”

He explained the features in the new document is secured, adding that the time line for it process is shorter.

All these, according to him, were to make it difficult for fraudsters to duplicate.

The permanent secretary however said the commencement of the new process marks the gradual phasing out of the yellow paper C of O, which until formal notice from the state governor, Babatunde Fashola, is still a valid legal title document.

He added that within 45 days of pay-

ment by the property owner, the e-C of O would be made available.

“Due to the streamlining and automation of the procedure, the process for the issuance of E-C of O, is not only completely secured, the timeline for its processing is also shorter. With the new e-C of O, land prospectors can have adequate history of the previous transaction that had taken place on the land.”

“The e-C of O has encrypted on it a 2D bar code, which appears at the left corner of the document. This contains security information that can only be viewed by an enabled by an enabled bar code reader.”

“The introduction of the new document, has also given the state government the opportunity to revise some of the clauses and content of the certificate, taking cognizance of current trends and development and ensuring compliance with relevant laws” MuriOkunola added.

32

Real Estate & Environment

Mistakes homeowners make cleaning their bathroom Cleaning your bathroom is never going to be a fun task. Get the job done efficiently and effectively by avoiding these common blunders and following advice from Carolyn Forte, the Good Housekeeping Research Institute’s resident cleaning expert.

Not using your exhaust fan enough Be sure to flip the switch on for your exhaust fan before you get in the shower, and leave it running for 15 to 20 minutes afterward to remove moisture and help cut down on mildew. Don’t have a fan? Opening a window works as well. You can also use a squeegee after each shower to remove lingering moisture.

Using one product as a catch-all If you think using a disinfecting wipe on every surface is sufficient, think again.

Each area of the bathroom deserves its own product. Use your favorite tub-and-tile spray cleaner on the shower tiles, sink basin, and tub, but save the spray glass cleaner for mirrors.

Only cleaning the obviously dirty parts of the toilet Sure, we all know to clean the seat and the bowl, but what about the base? The exterior of your toilet can get just as germy and dusty as the interior. Be sure to clean the base, tank, and the lid. And don’t forget to disinfect the handle.

Putting the toilet brush right back in the holder When you plunk a still-wet toilet brush into its holder, it creates a breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria. After cleaning the Source: www.goodhousekeeping.com

bowl, set the toilet brush across the seat, allowing it to drip into the bowl. Make sure the brush is completely dry before putting it back. To freshen up your current toilet bowl brush and holder, soak them in or spray them with an antibacterial cleaner, rinse, and wipe dry.

Not washing your shower curtain liner When you start to notice a cloudy residue buildup on your liner, you don’t have to toss it. Simply run it through your washing machine. Launder the liner, along with some old towels and a bit of bleach, with hot water on a delicate cycle.

Tumble dry on low for a few minutes -just enough so you don’t leave a trail of water from the laundry room to the bathroom. To extend the shelf life of your liner, pull the curtain closed after you shower. A bunched up liner will quickly attract mold and mildew.

Forgetting the little things Think about all of the “touch points” in your bathroom -- your racks and shelves, faucets, and handles need cleaned regularly. You can run bathroom accessories such as toothbrush holders and small shower racks through the dishwasher, but just replace loofas and kids bath toys over time rather than try to clean them.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

33

Lagos community receives facelift as Fashola inaugurates 2.6km Alaba/Cemetery Road ...Reaffirms commitment to assist displaced occupants of Ijora

L

agos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola today handed over the Alaba Cemetery Road in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area to bring to 21 the number of road projects completed within the last three months.

The other road projects are the 16 roads in Mushin Local Government, Simbiat Abiola and

Kodesoh Roads in Ikeja Local Government, Market and Church Street in Badagry.

He said, “We handed over some in Mushin, some in Ikeja, some in Badagry all within a spate of three months. Today we land in Ajegunle to hand over Alaba Cemetery Road. He added that it is a two-way contract, adding that the State government has once again

delivered on its promise when it stated that over 200 roads were at various stages of completion.

Fashola noted that the programmes of his Administration were designed to provide jobs and ensure a better life for citizens.

The governor, while drawing attention to the difficulties encountered during the construction of the road said there was a

The newly built Alaba Cemetery Road in Ajegunle by the Lagos State Government.

INSET: L-R: Chairman, Ajeromi -Ifelodun Local Government Council Area, Hon. Kamal Ayinde Bayewu ; Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ganiyu Johnson ; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; Ojora of Ijora Land, Oba Fatai Aromire ; Deputy Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo ;and Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; during the unveiling the plaque to officially hand over the road in Ajegunle last week

Building Materials

Watch

Cement: Dangote cement 50kg bag Burham cement 50kg bag Elephant Cement 50kg bag Sandcrete blocks 6 inches 9 inches Sand Sand/tipper load Sharp sand (double) Gravel (Single) Gravel (double) Granite (10 tons) Reinforcement 10mm (153) pieces/ton 12mm 16mm

N1750 N1700 N1750 N140 N150 N12,000 N25,000 N19,000 N32,000 N45,000 N150,000 N130,000 N130,000

Roofing Sheet Corrugated iron sheet/bundle N15,000 Asbestos 4x8/piece N1,850 Asbestos (solo) N1,400

Ikeja property rates on focus Ikeja GRA 1.

2.

3.

4.

4 bedroom terrace house for sale at Ikeja GRA @ N170,000 3 units of 4 bedroom terrace houses @ N128m Commercial 25 rooms hotel for sale @ 500m One wing of 4 bedroom flat at Emeka Anyaoku Estate @ 52m 5. 5 bedroom fully detached house on a large expanse of land @N300m 6. 3 bedroom flats @ N75m

Oluwaleyimu, Ikeja 1. 4 units of 3 bedroom flat, 2 units of 2 bedroom flat and 7 lock-up shops @100m

Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja 1. 5 bedroom detached house with a pent floor @N90m 2. 5 bedroom detached duplex plus another 2 wings 4 bedroom semi-detached duplex at harmony estate @N300m 3. 4 no. 5 bedroom detached houses with swimming pool @800m 4. 4 bedroom detached house plus one room servants quarters @N65m

Anifowoshe, Ikeja 1. A block of 4 flat each of 3 bedroom @N45m

Agidingbi, Ikeja 1. 7 bedroom house complete with boys quarters @N100m

complete soil replacement of 1.5 metres deep on the 2.6 km road.

He said the expenditure of taxpayer’s fund requires that the people undertake the responsibility of protecting the road from vandalisation and misuse. He noted that walkways are designed for pedestrians’ use and not as markets or trading points for people.

While also calling on residents to register under the resident registration scheme, Fashola said only the tax payers within the State will be entitled to facilities constructed by taxpayers’ funds.

Earlier in his address, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat stated that at Bakare Faro Street, big culverts have had to be erected and buried under the ground, which was meant to allow water to be drained so as to keep the road in very good shape. He stressed that the road built with streetlights was also meant to serve as bye pass to Lagos Badagry Expressway.

The commissioner therefore urged people creating extra pipes to discharge their waste into the drains to desist from such as they may constitute medical problem.

Meanwhile, the governor, last Tuesday undertook an inspection of the illegal dumpsite being regenerated for the 1008 units of flats at Ijora Badia, giving a commitment that the state government has approved over N200m to resettle the former occupants of the site.

The governor, who spoke in an interactive session with some of the former occupants and later in an interview with newsmen said provisions have been made for each of the former occupants to bring their names and account details so that issues of mix ups do not arise about the original occupiers.

He also said all those involved should contact the office of the Attorney General of the State who is in charge of the disbursement of the funds.

While responding to a question on when the first set of blocks would be laid at the site, the Governor said just as the director of the building firm, Professor Olumide Olusanya was explaining to the team, some 20 years ago, when roads were being built, they used to mix the cement, the concrete and the form work in the middle of the road.

“Today, the construction technology has changed. The drain is constructed off site, they bring

the mechanical shovels, excavate, put the drains in and your road is almost half done. It is the same way we have approached this housing project”, he said.

According to the governor, it is top intellectuals like professors, architects and others who have designed the system as the general complaint has always been that Nigeria has a housing problem and the state is keen on using a locally developed technology.

“Let us start to do something that is made in Nigeria. The technology that is our own, you will see that over the years, we have imported all sorts of technology system and import building materials and if you do one estate, it can’t do the other.

“Yes, there is not a lot of work going on site here; there is also a lot of work going on off-site. The form work which the professor was explaining to us that makes four blocks in one vibration sequence instead of one block, the form work that makes the block with the conduit already laid inside the blocks so that the electrical fittings and the conduit pipes can be installed at the time that the blocks is being laid are all being prepared off-site, he explained.

He added that this will prevent a situation where when the house have been fully constructed, it is now cracked opened and wiring would then start, saying it means a lot of time would be gained in addition to efficiency, leading to more cost effective houses as materials is being used optimally while the quality is not being compromised.

“So, in the next few months as they’ve explained, the first buildings will be on this site but the work is being done mentally and technologically off-site so that when they deploy everything goes on smoothly”, the Governor stated.

According to the governor, the benefits from such a technologically driven approach are quite germane.“Just as the Professor was explaining to us that traditionally, it takes about one person a day to lay about 100 blocks. With this system, you can do a thousand blocks a day, so, you would see that you are gaining 10 times efficiency.

“Over time, we will now write a manual hopefully from them about a Nigerian developed system for efficient, cost effective saving mass housing delivery, then we are on our way”, the Governor added.

34

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Property in Ireland, Spain named as prime targets for investors in 2014 T R

Ogun govt tasks investors, residents on due process

eal estate investors see buying opportunities, both residential and commercial, in Ireland and Spain, two of the countries whose property markets were worst hit by the global economic downturn.

It is the competition for prime assets in Europe’s major real estate markets that is leading investors to turn to recovering markets such as Ireland and Spain and also regional cities and secondary property in search of returns, to the forecast published jointly by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC. According to Property Wire, emerging trends in Real Estate Europe 2014 finds that 71 [per cent of respondents think that a shortage of suitable assets for acquisition will have a moderate or significant impact on their business during 2014. As a result of this increasing competition, 59% per cent of respondents believe that prime property in Europe’s core markets has now become over priced.

The report highlights that investors are becoming increasingly comfortable with taking more risk in search of returns.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of this is Dublin, which has risen dramatically in the city investment rankings, moving up from 20 in last year’s report to second in 2014. Dublin’s real estate market has been transformed from a no go location among investors only two years ago, to being one of the hottest markets in Europe, with both domestic and international investors attracted by pricing levels and Ireland’s improving economic outlook. The report finds that 51% of respondents now see good buying opportunities in Ireland.

The weight of international capital is also leading investors to also turn to other recovering markets, such as Spain. The report highlights that 67% of respondents believe that there are now good buying opportunities in Spain, with the acquisition of the Parque Principado mall in Oviedo by Intu and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board for 162 million highlighted as an indicator of mainstream interest in the market. However, sceptics argue that debt is very hard to attain and that it is a risky market to invest in before there are signs of any growth.

The competition for core assets has also

Spanish Property

led to an increase in investors looking beyond prime assets in major European markets such as London, Munich and Paris, and instead buying solid income producing assets in secondary cities. For example, office investors in Munich can achieve yields of approximately 4%, but those willing to invest in smaller German markets such as Stuttgart can achieve up to 6.5%.

Investors are also looking to acquire secondary properties in major markets, which have good existing income streams or which, with careful asset management, could be transformed into core assets.

An interesting consequence of this socalled battle for assets is that investors are increasingly considering development as a way of adding high quality assets to their portfolios. The report demonstrates that 71% of respondents believe that development is an attractive way to acquire prime property.

‘The resurgence of investment in Ireland and how far the Spanish real estate market recovers, will be two of the key stories in 2014. Investor appetite in Dublin has been growing over the past 12 months with significant volumes of international capital chasing the best assets,’ said Joe Montgomery, chief executive of ULI Europe.

‘Investor interest is now moving to

Spain, where there are signs that opportunistic investors, who entered the market when Sareb opened for business last year, are now being followed by mainstream institutions. However, with limited signs of tenant demand and rental growth, questions remain as to how far the market recovery can go,’ he added.

According to Simon Hardwick, real estate partner at PwC Legal, confirmed that the real estate investment market in 2014 will be dominated by a battle for assets.

‘International capital will continue to flow into Europe, seeking to acquire prime assets in core locations. Intense competition for the limited supply of suitable property will inevitably continue to have an impact on prices, particularly in global gateway cities, including London. This will result in investors having to look at other opportunities and to accept more risk. This is reflected in the renewed interest in development, as well as the fast improving outlook for non prime locations and properties,’ he said.

‘However, we are sceptical about whether the positive sentiment will lead to a headlong rush into the most risky markets.

Investors’ interest remains focused primarily on sustainable returns from quality assets in good locations,’ he added.

he Ogun State Government has enjoined members of the public and prospective investors interested in acquiring landed property to always approach the Bureau of Lands and Survey to make necessary inquiries on the status of such lands before making payment.

The Director-General of the Bureau of Lands and Survey in the state, Mr. Adewale Oshinowo, gave this task in Sagamu while land speculators had encroached upon inspecting Areke community where it was discovered that some plots of land earlier allotted to Group of Companies.

Oshinowo, represented by the Director of Lands Management, Mr. Bola Orekoya, maintained that the Bureau possesses a Geographic Information System, GIS, which could chart and bring out clear maps on lands in any part of the state and generate relevant information on the status of such lands.

He pointed out that when such buyers approach the Bureau, the GIS would be used to ascertain the status of the land they want to purchase and save the agony of untoward developments such as losing money to fraudsters and impostors or later demolition.

He said, ”All we are saying is that, if people come to chart on a particular part of land, the Geographic Information System software would show them clearly the status of the land whether is free of acquisition or not. This would save them from wasting money and also becoming victims of demolition.”

The director-general said it is an inalienable right of the citizens to own landed property, underscoring the need for them to be cautious and careful on how to acquire such property.

Amosun

Surge in buy to let mortgage choice in the UK

T

he choice of buy to let mortgages in the UK has increased dramatically in the last three months, spurring landlords to shift their existing equity towards new purchases.

Also, new purchases made up a significantly larger proportion of lending in the final quarter of 2013, across all residential property types, according to the latest Mortgages for Business Complex Buy to Let Index.

Standard buy to let lending saw the biggest move towards new purchases, with 47% of these

plain vanilla mortgages going towards new buy to let properties.

This compares to 38% representing new purchases in the third quarter of 2013, and 31% at the beginning of 2013.

More complex properties also formed a growing feature of landlords’ shopping lists. Houses in multiple occupation, HMOs, saw a similar trend to standard deals.

Some 29% of mortgages against HMOs were for new purchases in the final quarter, compared to 23% for new purchases in the third quarter of 2013 and 20% in

the fourth quarter of 2012.

Larger, multi unit freehold blocks (MUFBs) saw the same trend, with mortgages for new purchases making up 31% of loans against such properties, compared to 30% in the third quarter of 2013 and 25% at the start of 2013.

The data also shows that there has been a significant fall in remortgage activity over the last six months despite remortgaging still making up the majority of buy to let activity. In the last quarter, 53% of standard buy to

let deals were a remortgage, down from 65% in the second quarter.

For HMOs, 71% of buy to let activity was a remortgage compared to 84% six months ago. And for loans secured against MUFBs in the fourth quarter some 69% were a refinance rather than a purchase, down from 88% in the second quarter.

It also reveals that Loan to Value, LTV, ratios have remained broadly stable.

For vanilla buy to let properties there was no change in LTVs for the third month running,

standing at 68% once again in Q4.

HMOs saw LTVs drop slightly to 70%, from 71% in the third quarter, and loan to value ratios on semi commercial property fell from 66% in the previous quarter to 53% in the fourth quarter.

The only properties to see higher LTVs in the fourth quarter were larger MUFB blocks, with loan to value ratios averaging 68% compared to 62% in the previous quarter. This is likely due to the increase in average property values among MUFBs causing landlords to require larger LTVs.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Aviation

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

35

Weak naira, high cost of aviation fuel, killing indigenous carriers –Med-View boss crease your fleet rapidly, how many aircraft do you hope to acquire before the end of the year?

We started operations with just two aircraft in the last quarter of 2012 and by December 2013, we already had four in our fleet and so far this year, we have added an additional aircraft, making five aircraft in all at the moment.

Our plan is to go slowly, consolidate on our domestic operations, commence the regional and international routes in the middle of the year. We believe in God’s guidance and blessing. That’s all we are doing at Med-View.

The Managing Director of Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, is aviation professional with over four decades experience. Before the commencement of schedule operations in 2012, Med-View Air Carrier was involved in the airlifting of pilgrims to Mecca for over 30 years.

In this interview with OLUSEGUN KOIKI, he speaks on the challenges facing the airlines in the country, the IOSA compliance for all African carriers and future of the industry. Excerpts: Sometime last year, the International Air Transport Association, IATA, said that it would make IATA Operational Safety Audit, IOSA, compulsory for by January 1, 2015 for all African airlines in order t boost safety in the airspace, what is your take on this?

The basis for IOSA compliance by IATA is to ensure that all airlines adhere to safety compliance inline with the international regulation and policy. So, it is not specific to a particular African country; they just create a window to encourage all African airlines either in the South, East, North or West of Africa to ensure they are in compliance with the safety rule. Once you have IOSA certificate as an airline, it adds value to your high quality safety standard o your organization.

So, for us at Med-View Airline, we are in the process and working closely with IATA in meeting up the deadline.

There are three phases of IOSA process, what phases are you now out of the three processes?

At the moment, we are in the first phase at the moment and a team of Med-View, which is headed by our Quality Manager is doing a lot to ensure that we comply. With the directive with the level of where Med-View is today, before the deadline, we would have concluded all the processes.

We are certain to get there before the end of the year by the grace of God. How far have you gone with the acquisition of 30 aircraft for local operators by the Ministry of Aviation?

I cannot speak for the ministry on this arrangement, but I can speak to you as an airline operator. I’m very much aware that there was a window by the government to assist the airlines in the area of leasing and that process is still on. I believe that the whole idea is to reduce cost and bring in the right equipment, newer aircraft and enhancement of safety issues.

We hope and believe in no time, we should be able to hear from them, but they (ministry of aviation) are in the better position to tell us when it would be ready.

As one of the local operators that is interested in this arrangement, what brand of aircraft will you go for if the arrangement eventually succeeds?

As far as we are concern and I believe you are equally aware of this, we operate Boeing aircraft and I’m sure the government is talking with Boeing Aircraft Manufacturing Company and also to Embraer Aircraft Company. I don’t know of other operators, but for us we will be comfortable with Boeing, but if Embraer is within the line, why not? That is our position here.

Apart from the usage of wrong equipment for flight operations by the indigenous carriers, what other challenges are you faced with in the system?

I would like to correct one impression here, there is nothing like wrong equipment in flight operations. It depends on each individual operator what suit your business mod-

Bankole

IT IS NOT BY THE MAKING OF THE INDIGENOUS AIRLINES THAT THEY DON’T LAST

LONG, BUT IT IS JUST THE

ENVIRONMENT.

COST OF FUEL

IS HIGH, COST OF LEASING

AIRCRAFT IS HIGH, INSURANCE PREMIUM IS EVEN THE WORST el. If we as Med-View Airline is flying B737, it’s because we know and trust its capacity for us at the company. All our equipment are Boeing and we are doing pretty good on that because we are familiar with the trend of the aircraft over the years. so, if another airline decided to use Airbus 319 or the other, such an airline too might be comfortable with the brand for a reason best known to it. So, there is nothing like wrong equipment in the system.

You can go for any equipment you are comfortable with, just like ur friend, Capt. Edward Boyo of Overland Airways feels comfortable with smaller aircraft and he’s saving cost with that. That’s his own business; that is what he wants to fly. We at Med-View like to fly heavy. You can see what we carry everyday; 2,000 passengers daily. So, that is our business, we want to move people as much as we can help the industry to move. I believe we are doing our best in that line.

Just last week, Med-View added another B737-800 to its fleet, with this addition, what is now the total number of aircraft in your fleet?

At the moment, we have five aircraft in our fleet. One of the five aircraft has gone for maintenance check, which means four aircraft are operational for now. However, when the one that went for check returns, another one will follow suit.

As I said earlier, at present, we have five aircraft on the ground but I promise you that by the end of the year, we would have more and by the first quarter of the new year, we would add additional one that we would be using to Jeddah.

With the rate you are going, you definitely want to in-

The year 2013 had several challenges in the sector, in 2014, what are your expectations for the industry?

We hope the year would be beautiful for us, every Nigerian should hope for the best. It’s a year of experimentation for us in the sector. We are looking at a lot of challenges.

Nigeria has attained 100 years as we all know; so, it’s an experiment for us to go back on our past and see if we are already there as a nation.

By now, we should be speaking in one language one voice and do things in one way. We should separate all these ideas of North-South dichotomy, black or yellow colour. For us at Med-View, we give thanks to God and we pray for the success of the government, we also pray for stability of the nation because the better the stability, the better for the economic growth and the better for the nation. And thank God for the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah who has initiated a lot of good ideas. The truth is that the airport has improved from what it used to be. You can go and see it for yourself; there are no bottlenecks again at both the departure and arrival areas, counters are so many and passengers’ processes are faster now than before. This is a wonderful thing to all of us who have been travelling to other countries of the world. We pray for the best for the country, but there are still a lot of things yet to be done.

It is a common knowledge that the lifespan of an average carrier is between five to six years, why is this so for the operators in the country?

Personally, I want to say it here that, we have no stable component for naira when compared to dollars and other major currencies of the world. In other countries that I know, the rate of exchange remains stable, contrary to what we have here. It’s a very sad situation, but unfortunately, we can’t complain. Aviation fuel too is on the high side and it takes away 40 per cent of your total cost. We keep shouting and talking, but nobody is ready to listen to us, nobody has addressed the issue. This is a country blessed with abundant resources.

Thirdly, the security of the environment does not help the business to grow. There are some places you can’t fly into in Nigeria today, which is not supposed to be so within the same country. this reduces our operational challenges.

Aircraft will sit down on the ground rather than be in the air; they are meant to fly and not be on the ground.

It is not the by the making of the airlines that they don’t last long, but it is just the environment. Cost of fuel is high, cost of leasing aircraft is high, insurance premium is even the worst because I remember, one of those international insurers saying that Nigeria is on the exclusive zone where you have to pay higher. When you go outside, your competitors in the other parts of the world are getting it cheaper, but we pay more because of the risk elements involved.

That is why I said it is not the indigenous carriers that are packing up, the whole factors make the business to collapse. We lease aircraft from outside and the tax is doubled, you get an aircraft here and you pay high fuel cost and yet, you still have a lot of challenges to face in the sector.

When is the likely date for your commencement of international operations?

We are starting with Accra, Ghana route very soon.

Then, we plan to go to Jeddah and Dubai directly from here in quick succession. That’s where we are starting from.

36

Aviation

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Our open items were not on safety - Dana COO OLUSEGUN KOIKI

T

he Chief Operating Officer, CEO, Dana Air, Mr. Yvan Drewinsky has disclosed that the open items noticed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, during its operational audit carried out on the airline were not related to safety issues.

This is just as he assured the clients of the airline of quality and prompt services to them whenever they are onboard the aircraft.

Drewinsky disclosed this yesterday to aviation correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Two, MMA2, Lagos when the airline resumed for flight operations after over three months of closure by NCAA. He explained that the closure of all the open items led to the

lifting of the suspension on its operations and assured that the airline would not treat the safety and comfort of its clients with levity.

NCAA in a statement signed by its Director-General, Capt.

Fola Akinkuotu, in December last year had stated that Dana would be allowed to return to flight operations when it closed all the opened items.

NCAA was however silent on the nature of the open items, but said that the audits were successful.

He also informed that during the period of the suspension, its technical crew members embarked on training and retraining in South Africa, in order to remain current on the job.

He said, “They were all matters relating to procedures, standard operating procedures and others, but it was never an issue

with safety. We closed all the items, which is the reason for us to resume operations.

“All our crew members went to South Africa and some others are still there for simulator training, refresher course training and others to be able to be back on the plane. Our cabin staff too were trained on safety regulations and others.”

He further informed that a Boeing 737-500 aircraft would be added to the fleet of the airline by next Wednesday, while another Boeing aircraft would arrive the shores of the country by mid-next month.

He emphasised that Uyo and Calabar routes would be added to its operations in the next four weeks, after the passengers have been fully sensitised about its return to flight operations.

He was however silent on the amount of money lost during the closure by the airline.

Again, British Airways throws open Man vs Plane challenge against new A380

O

ne of the leading carriers in the world, British Airways has thrown open a challenge to anyone who thinks they can win a race against its newly acquired Airbus A380.

The challenge comes after South African rugby legend, Bryan Habana’s sprint against the aircraft grabbed global attention to become one of the top 10 most-watched YouTube videos of 2013.

An online media statement by the airline’s media consultant in Nigeria stated that anyone, anywhere in the world can enter the ‘Man vs Plane challenge.’

The statement stated that five winners around the world would be selected to fly to Durban in February and get the chance to pit their physical prowess

against British Airways’ largest and most modern aircraft.

The runner with the quickest time will win two return tickets in Club World (business class) on one of British Airways’ A380 services. Johannesburg to London is just the third of these services to be announced. The other two are London/ Los Angeles and London/ Hong Kong.

The statement added, “Last year I accepted the challenge to race the A380 and won, but it wasn’t easy,” says Bryan Habana, the Springbok winger and top try scorer. “To take this on you will have to be physically fit and have plenty of strength, stamina and speed.”

The speediest challenger won’t be the only winner on

L-R: Head, Enterprise Risk Management, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Mr. Ona Peters, Managing Director, Mr. Kayode Oluwasegun-Ojo, Cargo relations Manager, Abiodun Oyebade; Village Director, SOS Children Village, Lagos, Mr. Aboyeji Buraimoh, a staff of the village and Head of Social Work, SOS Children Village, Mrs. Bolanle Nasar, during the presentation of items and cash to the Village recently in Lagos.

the day. When the Man vs Plane clip reaches two million views, which it’s currently just short of, British Airways will donate two Club World tickets worth R60 000 to FoodBank.

Habana is a patron of FoodBank South Africa, which is leading a coordinated effort to establish food banks around the country in communities with the highest concentrations of hungry or malnourished people.

It rescues and procures food and essential groceries centrally and distributes these to depots from where its agencies are able to get it to people in need.

The British Airway’s Regional Commercial Manager for West Africa, Mr. Kola Olayinka, said the runaway success of the video prompted the airline to offer the donation.

“We were slightly taken by surprise by how well the video has done, so we thought we’d ask Bryan if we could make a gesture to acknowledge the huge following it had garnered.

We’re thrilled that what started out as a bit of fun has enabled us to help and organisation doing such important work,” he said.

British Airways will start A380 services between London and Johannesburg from 12 February. Initially it will operate three flights a week, increasing to six weekly services by March.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Airside shegzzy4live2000@yahoo.co.uk 08186007273

Between FAAN and BASL, who is saying the truth?

W

hile the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, BASL, operators of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Two, MMA2, claims that the redesign of its terminal and the total cost of N38bn for its construction was approved by the Federal Government and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, the agency on the other hand says it never approved the redesign and the princely amount of money for the project.

This is the latest on the war over the terminal between the two organisations. Since the construction and launching of the terminal in April 2007, it has been one controversy or other between FAAN and the terminal operator. As at the moment, several cases are pending in the courts on the viability of the project.

BASL with the construction of the terminal became the first private terminal operator not only in the country, but in West Africa country, but perpetual acrimony, between the landlord and its tenant could send negative signals about the viability of badly needed Public-Private Partnership, PPP, schemes in Nigeria.

Apart from this current redesign fiasco, Airside foresee another round of crisis in the next few years, which will be centered on the approved years of MMA2 before the handing over to FAAN. BASL at present claims 36 years while FAAN is insisting on 12 years. This is another battle that will surface in the next three years as the project moves closer to its 12 years existence.

Airside advises both parties to come out to the public glare and iron out their issues in an amicable manner

APC and closure of Gombe Airport

J

ust recently, the Nigeria’s main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, accused the Federal Government of abruptly blocking the runway of Gombe Airport with a fire truck when the aircraft conveying them was about to touchdown on the runway.

The party described the action as a clear act of sabotage and a dent on Nigeria’s air safety standards. The party wondered what would have happened if the plane ferrying the APC officials, could not land in Bauchi and did

not have enough fuel to return to Abuja.

But the Federal Government on its part through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, responded in a jiffy by saying the appropriate authority had already sent a Notice to Airmen, NOTAM, on the temporary closure of the airport and wondered why the pilot of the aircraft took to the sky despite the notice.

Airside advises both parties involved on the issue to sheath their swords and take note that and politics don’t mix.

Etihad partners Takreer, Total, other for UAE biofuel supply chain

T

akreer, Total and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology has announced they will collaborate on a new initiative – BIOjet Abu Dhabi: Flight Path to Sustainability – to support a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in the United Arab Emirates.

BIOjet Abu Dhabi will engage a broad range of stakeholders to develop a comprehensive framework for a UAE biofuel supply chain, including research and development and expanded investment in feedstock production and refining capability in the UAE and globally.

An online statement by the Etihad Airways media agent in Nigeria stated that BIOjet Abu Dhabi was announced one day after Etihad Airways conducted

a demonstration flight with a Boeing 777 powered in part by the first UAE-produced biokerosene from an innovative plant biomassprocessing technology.

The biofuel was partially converted from biomass by Total and its partner Amyris. Takreer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC), did the final aviation biofuel distillation, adding the UAE to a handful of countries that have produced and flown on their own biokerosene.

The Masdar Institute’s Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium, funded by Etihad Airways and Boeing, is currently researching and developing salt-tolerant plants that would be raw material for the same refining processes to produce renewable fuel.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Insurance

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

37

Insuring public still grappling with menace of fake policies Fake insurers have continued their prey on the unsuspecting public, despite concerted effort to stem the tide. MESHACK IDEHEN reports that gains already made in the sector are being eliminated, while projected growth becomes is in doubt.

T

he menace of fake insurance practice, said analysts has become a major source of worry to those within and outside the insurance industry in Nigeria.

Commonly assumed in the past that fake insurance practice was more prevalent in the health insurance sector, experts said these days that the practice knows no know limit; a development they added is causing grievous harm to a growing and highly promising sector.

The Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, said recently that the insurance sector loses over N150 billion yearly to fake vehicle policies racketeers, alone, with amounts close to that sum also lost annually to other aspects of insurance, including in marine, agriculture and general insurance.

The Director-General of the NIA, Mr. Sunday Thomas, who revealed this, said of the over 12.5 million vehicles on the nation’s roads for instance, that only I.5 million have genuine insurance particulars which are either comprehensive and are sold at 10 per cent of the worth of the vehicle, or third party which are sold at N5,000.

Thomas said also that about 1.5 million vehicle policies have so far been uploaded on the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database, (NIID), which was specially designed to capture the data of all insured vehicles in the country in order to grapple with the challenges posed by insurance touts and fakes.

Considering the dangers that such unscrupulous practices pose in the immediate and long term to the insurance sector in particular and the country’s economy in general through massive revenue loss, stakeholders said it was high time the government and other relevant agencies come together to tackle the scourge in order to find a lasting and sustainable solution.

Group Managing Director of Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, in lamenting the menace of fake insurers, told journalists that achieving the objective of the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative, (MDRI), and increasing insurance contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, will be very challenging, if critical aspect of insurance business that is compulsory is in the hands of touts and fakes, since genuine operators and by extention,the regulators were losing income on a daily basis.

Citing the over N55bn that insiders said has been lost to fake marine insurance in the past seven years, and harping on the urgent need to confront the challenge head an, Insurance Analyst and Executive Director of City Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr. Lucky Igunbor, said the N55 billion lost to fake marine insurance practitioners comprises the real premium income to insur-

Shoderu

Thomas

GOVERNMENT MUST INSURE ALL HER ASSETS, FOR FULL VALUE, PAY THE CORRECT PREMIUM, IN GOOD TIME AND MAKE SUCH TRANSACTIONS

AVAILABLE FOR ALL TO SEE, AND EDUCATE BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS ON THE BENEFITS OF DOING GENUINE INSURANCE ance companies put at over N30 biln, and the N25bn loss to unpaid claims.

According to him, estimated losses include the more than 200,000 policy holders that have been defrauded within the period, considering in particular that marine insurance is compulsory insurance for export and import items, and constitutes a potential huge revenue base for the insurance market.

Insurance companies in Nigeria, he pointed out, have not been able to capture 10 per cent of the marine insurance market due to the activities of fake operators and touts, most of whom have constituted themselves in formidable groups.

On his part, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Linkage Assurance Plc, Mr Gus Wiggle, bemoaned the scourge of fake insurance practitioners in the country, declaring that it constitutes one key loss item in insurance industry.

Wiggle said the expectations of N12 trillion premium income for insurance in Vision 2020 will not be met, saying it will requires the combined effort of agencies of government, law enforcement agencies and players in different sectors of the economy to fight the fakes insurers.

Describing them as economic saboteurs, the Linkage Assurance managing director noted that fake insurers employ all kinds of tricks and deception in their activities, saying fake insurance operators sell policies to unsuspecting members of the public and thus deny insurers legitimate income that would have generated tax revenue to government. They also increase the economic losses arising from unpaid claims, he added.

However Wiggle blamed the government for not enforcing the law it made, and also some insurance firms for not efficiently

disposing old and discarded headed papers, noting that insurance firms fail to destroy old headed papers after change of logo or rebranding.

He urged members of the public to always buy genuine insurance from licenced underwriters, pointing out when in any doubt, that policy buyers should always call the NIA or the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to verify.

Accusing some insurance companies of complicity in the fake insurance business, insurance stakeholder and Manag-

ing Director of Skelas Nigeria Limited, Mr.Olayiwola Shittu, said some operators are guilty of aiding sale of insurance certificates which does not cover anything.

He said the menace of fake insurance practice by unscrupulous individuals and groups would have long been eliminated from the country’s insurance industry, if not for the tacit support and encouragement been given them by conniving operators.

Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Unity Kapital Assurance Plc, Mr. Kins Ekebuike, said government must take the lead in combating fake insurance practice in the country, since the government remains the biggest contributor to insurance premium in Nigeria.

According to him: “Government must insure all her assets, for full value, pay the correct premium, in good time and make such transactions available for all to see. If government does this with all its assets, it would go a long way in educating the whole society, both public and private on the benefits of doing genuine insurance”, he said.

Citing the case of a fake doctor that was recently arrested for an N89m health insurance scam, Analyst, Mr. Basil Ngwuta,told our correspondent fake insurers are very much still on the prowl in major cities across the country.

He said present and potential premium buyers must be extra careful when negotiating for or paying for any policy, adding what may look very genuine may indeed turn out to be fake papers or transactions.

It is to be recalled that a fake medical doctor, Mr. Ibukun Ojo, was arrested recently by the Special Fraud Unit Ikoyi, Lagos, for his role in an attempt to defraud the Canadian Government of N89m health insurance claims.

On the readiness of brokers to stem the tide, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), said though the challenge persists, that the council will soon completely eliminate the menace.

NCRIB tasks aggrieved brokers on unity MESHACK IDEHEN

T

he President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu has said the council is dissatisfied with the current division masterminded by some aggrieved brokers in the insurance industry.

He said NCRIB will make effort to bring the aggrieved brokers back under one umbrella body which is the NCRIB. Shoderu told journalists that the council has called on the brokers who broke-away from the body to embrace dialogue in order to move the broking fraternity forward.

He said NCRIB is poised to listen to the aggrieved brokers in order to address their misgivings and resolve all issues amicably, adding that the council has reached out to some key members of the faction, but they are yet to embrace the invitation extended to them.

According to him, NCRIB will not hinder individuals from associating as they have

the fundamental right to associate, adding that NCRIB remains the only body empowered by law to register brokers in the country.

“I appreciate the National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM), for ensuring sanity in the broking sub sector through the harmonization of provisions of the law regarding NCRIB registration and NAICOM licensing.

“This collaboration should continue for the benefit of the insured and the overall growth of the industry. The day is gone when unscrupulous brokers hide under either of the two bodies and by so doing mislead the insuring public.

“On the part of my team, I pledged to do all within our powers to ensure maximum cooperation with NAICOM and to ensure that no charlatan breaks the ranks of insurance broking anymore.”

It will be recalled that the splinter group broke away because they felt their interest is not protected by the leadership of NCRIB, which they considered to be too loyal to NAICOM.

38

Insurance

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tips for doing marine insurance

Insurance can provide long term financing, says Wapic chairman S STORIES MESHACK IDEHEN

T

he Chairman of the Board of Wapic Insurance Plc, Mr. AigbojeAigImoukhuede, said the insurance industry ought to serve as a source of long term financing, and compliment other domestic financial services in order to enhance infrastructure development.

He said insurance can lead to sustainable economic growth, noting however that the industry’s underperformance was largely due to under-capitalization, deficiencies in technical capacity, poor compensation structure and lack of requisite human capital.

Imokhuede who spoke during a visit by the company’s directors to the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, said Wapic Insurance sees the business of insurance as a critical contributor to the growth of the economy, especially emerging markets such as Nigeria.

He noted that the sector provides risk protection solutions which create stability for businesses to operate with a lower propensity for volatility or failure, adding amongst others that Wapic Insurance is repositioning itself to support the regulator’s goal to address these identified weaknesses.

Aig Imoukhuede

The Wapic insurance chairman pointed out the visit was part of the company’s industry orientation programme for the new Board, and serves as a platform for the Board to convey the company’s passion to serve as the flag bearer on regulatory compliance.

He said the company is fully committed to implementing best practice standards in corporate governance, noting government

and regulatory compliance are central to the company’s governance practices.

“We have assembled a highly experienced Board, comprising of distinguished professionals who understand the role of the regulator as well as the importance of compliance”, he said.

Receiving the Wapic insurance team, the insurance commissioner commended the company for the significant changes it had successfully undergone in recent times and the vision of the new management, promising the regulator will continue to support institutions that are committed to positive transformation for the industry and which adhere to good corporate practices.

Daniel profiled the huge potential of the Nigerian insurance industry, adding players in the Industry must strategically reposition themselves to harness the opportunity the country presents.

“Insurance penetration in Nigeria is still very low relative to other countries and currently stands at about 1%. Conversely, South African operators dominate insurance in Africa and have consistently out-performed all other African countries.

Nonetheless, Nigeria represents a huge market which as yet remains untapped”, he stated.

Old Mutual Life business gets Fitch upgrade

F

itch Ratings has upgraded Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited’s national long-term rating to AAA and its subordinated debt to AA, and affirmed its National Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating at AAA. The agency has also affirmed Skandia Life Assurance Company Limited IFS rating at ‘A-’ and Old Mutual Plc’s (Old Mutual) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB’. The outlooks on the group’s IDRs and IFS ratings are stable.

The upgrade of OMLACSA’s national long-term national ratings, according to Fitch, solely reflects a recalibration of the higher end of the national scale rather than any change in Fitch’s assessment of fundamental issuer-specific credit considerations.

Old Mutual’s main South African operation, OMLACSA, and its main non-South

ments in the South African financial markets, and the financial flexibility from being listed on the London Stock Exchange.

African operation, Skandia, is core to the group under Fitch’s insurance group rating methodology and are therefore rated based on the credit quality of the group as a whole.

Old Mutual’s ratings are constrained by South Africa’s Long-term local currency IDR (BBB+/Stable) and long-term foreign currency IDR (BBB/Stable), reflecting the importance of the group’s South African business for its balance sheet and earnings.

Old Mutual derives about 75% of its operating earnings from South Africa.

However, the group’s IFS rating is one notch higher than the South African local currency IDR in recognition of Old Mutual’s geographical diversification, with about onequarter of earnings generated in the UK and Europe. The additional notch also reflects the group’s ability to share with policyholders potential investment losses on its invest-

Managing Director, Old Mutual Nigeria, Offiong Ambah

According to him, due to the facwt that the general insurance business is short term in nature, composite insurers have a tendency to take money from life funds to settle claims emanating from general business which could hamper the performance of the life funds going forward.

Section 2 (1) of the Insurance Act 2003, he noted, states that there shall be two main classes of insurance in Nigeria which are life insurance business and general insurance business, Section 5 (2) of the same Act further stipulates that life insurance and general insurance business shall be subject to separate application and registration.

He pointed out that in spite of the fact that the Insurance Act did not list compos-

ite insurance business as one of the classes of insurance in the country, that Section 9 (1) of the Act provides that the minimum paid-up share capital of life insurer shall be N150 million, general insurer requires N200 million capital, while composite insurer (operating both life and general insurance business) must have a capital base not less than N350 million. This explains why composite insurance firms are allowed to operate in the country.

He said as efforts are being made to amend the Insurance Act, that stakeholders have therefore been calling on the National Assembly to take the issue into consideration and avoid such ambiguity in the new law.

NIA faults merger of life, general insurance business

T

he Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), has said life insurance business should be allowed to operate on stand-alone basis in order for this class of the business to thrive in the country as expected.

The Director General of NIA, Mr. Sunday Thomas, told journalists the best way for life insurance companies to thrive is to operate on a stand-alone basis rather than being in a composite setup.According to the NIA DG, life insurance businesses rarely thrive in a composite company. He called for the separation of life insurance business from general insurance business, noting that life business thrive on long term funds which should not be merged with general business funds, which is short term in nature.

elect an independent insurance agentAn independent insurance agent represents many companies and is not confined to any one carrier. Therefore, an independent agent understands the insurance market and can recommend a policy that provides you the best value in terms of coverage and price.

Take advantage of a marine insurance specialist- A marine insurance specialist is committed to providing boat insurance, and therefore is an expert with all aspects of marine insurance. A Marine insurance specialist understands the needs and concerns of the businesses and is the best choice because of their knowledge and experience. Besides insurance for private vessels, a marine insurance specialist may offer coverage for charter vessels, Boat dealers, marina operators, passengers and fishing vessels.

Understand your policy- The most important policy feature is Agreed value.

Agreed value means that if there is a total loss, then the full agreed hull value is paid without any depreciation. There are others that you should review so that you completely understand the limitations of your individual policy.

Review your navigational limits and endorsements-Verify that your navigational limits are correct so that you receive the proper rating. It is important to confirm that your policy coincides with your intended use of the boat.

Source: www.insure.net

How to buy life insurance policy

R

ecent reports shows more than 50 million households in the country have no life insurance coverage, and more than half say they need more life insurance. Like many financial products, life insurance policies can be complicated by various terms, riders and stipulations which make the purchase of even a straightforward policy tough. Here are tips on how to go about getting a policy.

Determine how much coverage you need- Do the math. Figure out what your spouse and family would need financially if you weren’t around. Take into account your lost income and outstanding debts such as a mortgage and big bills like college tuition or medical expenses. There are numerous online calculators and worksheets to assist with the number-crunching.Buy at the office- Take advantage of group life insurance offered at minimal or no cost through your employer. Many companies, however, will only match an employee’s salary. For more coverage, you can scan the supplemental coverage at work but make sure to shop around too.

It’s not that much money- As a general rule, younger couplesww should look for a policy worth five to 10 times their annual income. A 35-year-old healthy, nonsmoking male can purchase a $1 million, 30-year term life policy for about $700 a year. Terms vs. Perm. Term life provides coverage over a set period, says 15 to 30 years, and then expires. Permanent life insurance, which comes in many varieties, lasts until your death.

Source: www.marketwatch.com

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

39

Index rises 0.6% as Meristem warns investors against fraudsters JOHNSON OKANLAWON

S

ell-offs hit equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange yesterday, as more investors sold ttheir holdings to take profit from the previous gains.

Specifically, the All Share Index lost 0.64 per cent to close at 41,650.14 points, compared to the decline of 0.09 per cent recorded on Friday to close at 41,917.55 points.

Market capitalisation shed N81bn to close at N13.351trn, higher than the decrease of N12bn recorded on Friday to close

at N13.432trn.

Costain Plc led the gainers’ table with 16 kobo or 9.70 per cent to close at N1.81 per share, followed

by Transnational Express Plc with 14 kobo or 7.57 per cent to close at N1.99 per share.

Portland Paints Plc gained 27 kobo or 4.89 per cent to close at N5.79 per share, while University Press Limited added 20 kobo or 4.66 per cent to close at N4.49 per share.

Ikeja Hotel Plc appreciated three kobo or 3.90 per cent to close at 80 kobo per share.

Conversely, Champoin Breweries Plc lost 76 kobo

or 4.98 per cent to cl;ose at N14.51 per share, while Evans Medical Plc fell 20 kobo or 4.96 per cent to close at N3.83 per share.

Union Bank Plc shed 53 kobo or 4.95 per cent to close at N10.17 per share, while UBA Plc dropped 53 kobo or 4.95 per cent to close at N8.46 per share.

Ashaka Cement Plc dipped 98 kobo or 4.92 per cent to close at N18.92 per share.

A total of 355.2 million shares valued at N3.82bn were traded in 5,580 deals.

Meanwhile, Meristem Securities Limited, an investment firm, has warned shareholders to

disregard messages being sent by fraudsters requesting information from them.

A statement from the firm said, “Our attention has recently been drawn to calls being made by fraudsters requesting for sensitive information such as account details, password and other sensitive personal information.

“While stating that such emails or telephone calls do not emanate from Meristem, we would like to advise that you please ignore such requests as well as take extra care to protect your emails from hackers.”

F

BN Holdings yesterday announced its change of identity to preserve its heritage and to make it more appealing to customers.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the brand in Lagos, the Group Managing Director of the holding company, Alh. Bello Maccido said since its introduction in 1894, the company has established itself as a brand of strength and dynamism.

He explained that the current brand defines the company as a depend-

able and it also exihibits attributes of leadership, enterprise and service excellence.

He said, “Even as we aknowledge this very important attributes of our brand, we should understand that the business environment is moving at faster speed hence, there is need for us to rebrand.”

According to him, the fresh identity will preserve the company heritage as a group and as a brand, making it an institution more appealing to the traditional market.

Maccido explained that the brand will enable the company to drive

greater coordination, as it had changed to a holding structure.

“The refresh identity is actually underpinning our journey to be a leading financial group in sub-sahara Africa, as the brand retains the iconic Africa elephant as a single and robust strength that defines collective value of us as a institution,” he added.

Explainf further the refreshing brand, Head, Corporate Communications of First Bank Limited, Mrs Folake Ani-Mumurey, said the body of the elephant is removed in the new brand to indicate

F

finance roads and school constructions across the state.

The sukuk bond was issued in accordance with enactment of the Osun State Bonds, Notes and Other Securities Law 2012 and setting up the Osun Sukuk Company Plc. Though Islamic in nomenclature, the sukuk bond was a conventional bond and coordinated by the regular investors in the nation’s capital and money market.

The N14. 4bn sukuk (14.

75 per cent) fixed return tranche 2 has 42 investors with Lotus Capital Limited as the leading issuing house and Augusto and co,

one of Nigeria’s leading rating agencies, as the rating agent.

While authorising and approving the offer at the board meeting for the Sukuk Company, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said his government took the sukuk bond as an opportunity for the development of the state.

He appealled to the people to see the bond as an avenue to attract development to the state for the benefit of all and sundry.

“The Sukuk bond is a veritable avenue for us to access capital to develop our state. We want our people to also see this op-

Market indicators Market capitalisation 13.30 trillion

that the bank is moving forward.

She said, “The body of the elephant has been removed because some people persive that the bank was slow. The elephant is still what we are, we don’t want to get rid of it because it’s a symbol of waht we are.”

The bank had late last year changed its structure from a commercial banking to a holding company.

The FBN Holdings comprised First Bank of Nigeria Limited, FBN Capital Limited, FBN Life Assurance Limited, FBN Insurance Brokers Limited and FBN Microfinance Bank.

Lotus Capital bags award over Osun Sukuk or its successful pioneering role, international recognition has come the way of Lotus Capital, the lead arranger of the Osun Sukuk, as the globally recognised Islamic Finance News (IFN) nominated bond for the Africa Deal of the Year Award.

In furtherance of this nomination, Lotus Capital has been invited by the authorities of IFN to receive the IFN Awards, 2013 at United Arab Emirates next month.

The State of Osun had last year completed N11.4bn sukuk bond issue, the first Islamic bond in sub-Saharan African, to

Source: FMDA

All-Share Index 41,471.28 points

FBN Holdings launches new identity JOHNSON OKANLAWON

Source: NSE

portunity that opens to us as such.

“In name the bond is Islamic but it has the conventional bonds’ characteristics and is coordinated by the regular capital and money market investors,” he added.

According to him, out of the 42 investors, only one of them (Jaiz Bank) is Islamic and the name sukuk is just a nomenclature, saying that the investors are regular Nigerians.

The Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolounduro, described the sukuk as a unique product.

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

COSTAIN

1.65

1.81

0.16

% CHANGE 9.70

TRANSEXPR

1.85

1.99

0.14

7.57

PORTPAINT

5.52

5.79

0.27

4.89

UPL

4.29

4.49

0.20

4.66

IKEJAHOTEL

0.77

0.80

0.03

3.90

RTBRISCOE

1.35

1.40

0.05

3.70

GNI

0.54

0.56

0.02

3.70

NEIMETH

1.74

1.80

0.06

3.45

NASCON

13.64

13.99

0.35

2.57

CUTIX

2.03

2.08

0.05

2.46

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHAMPION

15.27

14.51

-0.76

-4.98

EVANSMED

4.03

3.83

-0.20

-4.96

UBN

10.70

10.17

-0.53

-4.95

UBA

8.90

8.46

-0.44

-4.94

ASHAKACEM

19.90

18.92

-0.98

-4.92

ZENITHBANK

24.60

23.40

-1.20

-4.88

JAPAULOIL

0.62

0.59

-0.03

-4.84

WEMABANK

1.05

1.00

-0.05

-4.76

ACADEMY

2.55

2.43

-0.12

-4.71

CILEASING

0.64

0.61

-0.03

-4.69

Primary Market Auction TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

91-Day

32,888.90

11.60

24-Oct-13

182-Day

30,000.00

12.09

24-Oct-13

364-Day

31,385.00

13.27

24-Oct-13

Open Market Operations TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%)

DATE

164-Day

47,176.65

12.30

24-Oct-13

161-Day

47,662.59

12.30

24-Oct-13

136-Day

13,500.00

12.10

24-Oct-13

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

MARKET DEMAND

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$300m

N/A

$296m

23-Oct-13

$300m

N/A

$299m

21-Oct-13

40

Capital Market

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at January 27, 2014 1st Tier Securities

1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 The defiant Amaechi had gone ahead to contest the NGF election where 19 voted in his favour while 16 voted for his rival, the Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, in an election declared inconclusive. NGF has since been factionalized into two camps: Pro-Amaechi and pro-Jang.

The impact of the struggle has seen five PDP governors defect to the APC with their supporters. The ripple effect has also seen the PDP losing majority in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives.

The relationship between the governor and the occupants of the Aso Villa turned to the worse, as the President and the governor has up till then had a sort of indifferent relationship.

The political scenario in the state has since being polarised as the crisis had crystallised into an open full-blown conflict after an Abuja High Court removed the Amaechi-backed state executive committee and installed Chief Felix Obuah instead.

The implication of the court verdict is the removal of the rugs off the feet of the state governor as he no longer has control of the party in the state as the new party executive is loyal to the Supervisory Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike.

On takeoff, the Obuah-led exco announced that it will reconcile aggrieved members of the party, but from its inception, it has been involved in one conflict after the other with the state government and those associated with it, with its short existence largely characterised with all sorts of suspensions, expulsions.

The relationship between the governor and his erstwhile Chief of Staff, CoS, now Supervising Minister of Education, Wike has turned sour over the years.

Wike was at the forefront of Amaechi’s fight to claim his mandate for governorship in 2007 and on becoming governor of the state; Amaechi made him one of the greatest beneficiaries of his first tenure in office, as he made him the CoS, with sweeping powers and influence.

Some people in the state referred to him as the “de-facto governor,” while he was in Amaechi’s cabinet. Things went sour between the two associates when a governorship/senatorial ambition drove a wedge between the two. There have been conflicting stories about betrayal between the two.

Wike however, moved on and was able to warm his way into the heart of the Presidency and he is alleged to be doing the Presidency’s hatchet job on his former boss.

Amaechi, on his own part, has exhibited some executive high handedness when he, in spite of a court judgment suspended the duly elected chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government, Hon Timothy Paul Nsirim, with the aid of the loyal Rivers State House of Assembly without regard to the rule of law as the matter was never debated by the entire Assembly.

The allegation of reckless spending of public funds without due process and security breach levelled against the chairman who happens to be loyal to Wike and councilors of Obio/Akpor LGA was never substantiated

41

2015: Between Jonathan, Amaechi and gathering momentum in Rivers MBU’S CONDUCTS AND HIS MODE OF OPERATION HAS BEEN CHARACTERISED LARGELY BY UNPOPULAR

DECISIONS, INCLUDING

A divided house

Odili and his yesterday men

Politics

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

THE ARRESTS OF TRADITIONAL

RULERS, YOUTHS, COMMUNITY LEADERS Dame Jonathan

AND POLITICIANS,

Mbu

Another factor, which was responsible for the crisis was linked with some politicians in the state, who were associates of former Governor Peter Odili, most of whom have now found themselves out of government. These politicians are said not to be comfortable with the fierce buccaneering nature of the young governor.

“Amaechi’s swash-buckling did not go down well with them. They want control of the party structure and purse strings, but they are not even close to it with Amaechi,” an informed political watcher in the state explained.

The governor refers to these set of politicians as those who are only interested in their “stomach infrastructures.” He vowed never to relinquish the state’s treasury to them and he has vigorously resisted various attempts to involve these individuals in state matters.

On the assumption of Amechi as the governor, political bigwigs such as the former Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives, Chief Austin Okpara and Chibudom Nwuche, former Governor Celestine Omehia, Senator Lee Meeba, current Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, old war horse Sergent Awuse amongst others have found themselves in the retirement market so soon. Having been frozen out of the political market for such a long time appear to put their weights behind Wike, the arrow head to seize power, an action that Amaechi is vehemently resisting.

PERCEIVED TO BE

amongst others.

Calls have been made for the sack or redeployment of Mbu but neither the force nor the Presidency will hear of that. Mbu has done his job as a fine officer who is apolitical. But most Nigerians believe that there is much to the police commissioner’s bravado.

The role of the police The police, in the state have variously been alleged to be part of the factors igniting the flame of the crisis in the state and the attitude and operations of the security men under the leadership of much-vilified state Police Commissioner, Joseph Mbu, has not done much to disabuse people’s mind about these allegations.

Mbu, is mostly regarded as and to some extent, clearly anti-Amaechi. It is rumoured that the main reason for Mbu’s posting to Rivers State was to involve him in Aso Rock’s battle against the state governor. However, unfortunately, Mbu’s conducts and his mode of operation has

LOYAL TO THE STATE GOVERNOR been characterised largely by unpopular decisions, including the arrests of traditional rulers, youths, community leaders and politicians, perceived to be loyal to the state governor.

A worrisome development in the crisis surfaced when large scale violence was introduced to the conflict which has now gain the attention of the local and international communities, especially the two chambers of the National Assembly.

The opposing camps characteristically have started singing war songs and constantly hauled abusive and degrading languages at each other. However, it turned into a full blown crisis recently when the state House of Assembly was turned into a battle ground by the two opposing camps.

Five lawmakers loyal to Wike, led by Hon. Evans Bipi tried to impeach the House leadership including the Speaker of the House, Amachree Otelemaba. This has resulted in a rowdy session, with the resultant fracas leading to the hospitalisation of both the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Chidi LIoyd and a pro-Wike lawmaker, Michael Chinda.

Under Commissioner Mbu’s watch, a few instances of the brazen lawlessness and violations of the Constitution were allegedly carried such as the forceful dispersal of 13,201 newly recruited teachers in the Port Harcourt Stadium using tear gas; blockading the entrance to the Government House in Port Harcourt and forcing the Amaechi to use another entrance; preventing an aircraft chartered by the state governor from taking off, alleging that the governor was trying to smuggle out a legislator wanted by the Police, the several disruptions of the Save Rivers Group rallies, and the unlawful detention of anybody perceived to be a sympathiser of Governor Amaechi, while allowing pro-Jonathan an anti-Amaechi groups to organise rallies unmolested, with full police protection,

Amaechi’s defection and attendant harassment After the state governor, had predictably defected to the opposition party, All Progressives Party, APC, together with his supporters in December 2013, there have been wide spread attacks against him and his supporters.

Amaechis’s associates have variously accused the state Police Commissioner of favouritism. They alleged that whereas pro-Wike’s group, the Grassroot Development Initiave, GDI, has been organising campaign rallies where the group and its sponsors have campaigned for the President unmolested, even though it is against the electoral laws, members of the opposition have been denied of same privilege by the police.

On January 11, this year, the Police appeared to have showed its own agenda in the crisis when its men allegedly shot Senator Magnus Abe at the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, venue of a proposed rally organised by RSM, a group believed be loyal to Amaechi, few hours before the event.

The Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ahmad Muhammad, blamed the incident on the political group for not applying for permit to hold the Sunday rally. He added that the crowd has to be dispersed for this reason.

But the Chairman of the Save Rivers Movement, Aholu Okechukwu, made available to journalists copies of the application for permit to hold the rally written to the state Police on January 7.

Reactions have been more favourable to the pro-Amaechi camp as against the police actions, in spite of the fact that the police have maintained that it will be failing in its duty if it stands and watch the peace CONTINUED ON PAGE 43

42

Politics

THE

PARLIAMENT

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Defection: Senators prove bookmakers wrong

Predictions that Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators would defect to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, upon resumption from the Yuletide break were proved wrong following the turn of events at the Senate last week, writes GEORGE OJI.

I

t turned out to be an anti climax. All the expectations and permutations that there would be mass exodus of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators, particularly from the states where their governors had joined the All Peoples Congress, APC, turned out to be literarily a storm in a tea cup.

Political pundits had gone to town to speculate that following the development in the House of Representatives, where 37 PDP lawmakers had defected to the opposition APC in December last year, their counterparts in the Senate would toe the same line of defection upon resumption from their Christmas and New Year break.

Altogether, 22 senators were alleged to be ready to jump ship and they include: Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central), Bello Gwarzo (Kano North), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), Magnus Abe (River South-East), Wilson Ake (Rivers West), Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba North), Ali Ndume (Borno South), Ahmed Zannah (Borno Central) and Simeon Ajibola (Kwara South).

Others include: Bindowo Jubrilla (Adamawa North), Abdulaziz Usman (Jigawa North-East), Danladi Sankara (Jigawa North-West)), Abdulmumuni Hassan (Jigawa South-West), Hassan Barata (Adamawa South), Umaru Dahiru (Sokoto South), Ahmad Maccido (Sokoto North), Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East), Garba Mohammed (Kano Central), Isa Galaudu (Kebbi North) and Ahmed Alkali (Gombe North).

What perhaps further gave credence to the speculations that the 22 lawmakers would make bold their threat was their decision to join the other 57 PDP members of the House of Representatives who crossed over to APC to institute a joint legal action at a Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking the court’s order to stop the presiding officers of the two arms of the National Assembly from declaring vacant their seats in parliament upon their defection.

With a positive ruling from the court, which is presided over by Mr. Justice A. R Mohammed, on December 18 last year, directing that the Senate President and the Speaker maintain status quo on any proposed deliberation to declare the seats of the affected and interested plaintiffs vacant, at least pending hearing and determination of the plaintiffs’ motion for interlocutory injunction, the stage appeared set for the defection of the 22 senators.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Mark

The lawmakers had actually approached the court to seek an interlocutory injunction restraining the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Senate President, David Mark and House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal from declaring the seats of the lawmakers who were defecting to the APC vacant.

The defecting and defected lawmakers had asked the court to stop the Senate President and House Speaker from declaring their seats vacant, as widely speculated.

The court also directed that the parties and in particular the Senate President, Mark and the Speaker, Tambuwal should maintain the status quo on any proposed deliberation to declare the seats of the affected/interested plaintiffs in the suit vacant pending the hearing and determination of the plaintiffs’ motion for interlocutory injunction already served on them.

“This suit is adjourned to 22, January 2014 for hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion dated 28, November, 2013 for interlocutory injunction hearing notices to issue on the 2nd and 3rd defendants,” the learned judge held in his ruling.

In fact, when the National Assembly chose to further postpone its earlier resumption date slated for January 14, 2014 by one week to January 21, political pundits quickly concluded that the postponement was indeed to avert the already concluded defection plots by the lawmakers.

However upon resumption last week Tuesday, it became apparent that all the political permutations turned out to be mere guesswork analysis without any iota of political reality. If anything, the senators appeared to be more united as colleagues under one political umbrella as they exchanged banters and pleasantries among themselves without any political divide on their first day of resumption.

When the issue of the alleged threat of defection was raised with the Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, during the routine weekly press briefing with Senate correspondents at the close of plenary, Abaribe expressed utter surprise at the allegation.

Responding to a question raised on the alleged tension generated by the defection fe-

Saraki

WILL THE SENATORS BRING TO REALITY THEIR THREAT TO LEAVE THE RULING

PDP FOR THE OPPOSITION APC?

THE DAYS AHEAD WILL UNFOLD THE DRAMA

ver, Abaribe said: “I do not think there is any high tension of defection in the Senate. I disagree with you on that point. We don’t have any tension and of course you were all there and you saw that we had our plenary without any mention of any defection at all.”

Continuing, the spokesman said: “But the point is this, matters that come to the Senate will be dealt with on the floor of the Senate according to the laws and rules that guide the debate in the Senate.”

Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North), who fielded questions from newsmen at the end of plenary last Tuesday also expressed doubt about the justifiability and possibility of the reported defection of some PDP senators to the opposition APC. “The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is very clear that there is no division and crisis in PDP. The court has also made it clear that there is no division or crisis in the PDP,” Eze said, stressing: “So, I do not think that there is any basis for anybody to defect.”

On his part, Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun South), who equally fielded questions from newsmen same day on his part admitted knowledge of the alleged defections and stated that the fact that it was not actualised at the resumption of the Senate plenary does not mean that the possibility is remotely or completely impossible.

According to the lawmaker, “I am aware of the rumour that there are some sena-

tors that are planning to defect. You don’t have to dismiss such plot. In politics, there are always some elements of surprise and you cannot dismiss such political surprises.” Indeed, if the truth must be told, out of the whole lot of the senators reported to be ready to defect to the APC, only a few of them appear to be serious about their defection plans. From their actions and utterances, the very serious ones appear to be only Saraki, Adamu, Goje and Abe. The likes of Alhassan and Ndume who initially showed signs of seriousness in the defection bid somewhere along the line appeared to have been cowed and subsequently became very lukewarm about the move.

National Assembly watchers have adduced a number of reasons for the indecision of the senators to actualise their defection plans like their colleagues in the House. Firstly, there is the notion that the senators appear to be cowed by the towering influence of the Senate President, Mark, who will stop at nothing to ensure subtle victimisation of any of the defecting senators.

There is also the reason that most of the senators who have indicated their willingness to defect might not do so and backdown when the chips are down and thus make it impossible for the opposition to realise the required majority in the Senate unlike their colleagues in the House.

Besides, there is in addition, the theory that the senators are living up to their character as an institution that functions to stabilise the polity and therefore will not be willing to take actions that may jolt or heat up the nation’s political system.

While all these permutations have been on-going, a group, which goes by the name Nigeria Sustainable Democracy Network, NSDN, obviously conscious of the above considerations have urged senators to damn the consequences and act in line with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to be counted with the people.

In a widely published advertorials last week, the group recalled that since 2007, when Mark assumed the leadership of the National Assembly, many senators have defected from other political parties to the PDP without any adverse consequences. It listed about 14 instances, where such defections by senators from other parties to the PDP had taken place since 2007 till date.

“It is expected that in the circumstance, the Senate President should be consistent in his principled approach and management of cross carpeting by any senator of the Federal Republic. Any attempt to tamper with this established and accepted norms and practice is enough to plunge this nation into political quagmire, especially where over 20 senators are alleged to have prepared to defect from the PDP to the APC,” the group cautioned in the said advertisement.

Will the senators bring to reality their threat to leave the ruling PDP for the opposition APC? The days ahead will unfold the drama that will in no small measure shake the Senate to its foundations.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

43

2015: Between Jonathan, Amaechi and gathering momentum in Rivers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 of Rivers State being trampled upon.

ONE THING THAT IS

APC on the offensive The APC, Governor Amaechi’s new party last week came in defence of one of its own with a directives to its members in the National Assembly to block all legislative proposals which include the 2014 Budget as well as the confirmation of all nominees to military and civilian positions to public office until the rule of law and constitutionalism is restored in Rivers State.

APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, said that the party has resolved that if President Jonathan fails to halt the intimidation of Amaechi and offer apologies, it would call all its members to take whatever steps that are necessary to protect their lives and property.

He said: “Any cursory observer of events in Rivers State since February, 2013 will be left in no doubt as to the culture of lawlessness and impunity being promoted and supported by the Presidency, and executed by the state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, who has become the de-facto military governor of Rivers State and sole administrator of the PDP in the State.”

Meanwhile major political parties which include the PDP, Labour Party and APGA have frowned at the APC’s position as one aimed at truncating the nation’s nascent democracy.

The PDP described the directive by the APC as a clear and direct call for anarchy and a vindication of its earlier position that the APC is out to destroy the institution of democracy and the unity of the nation.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said that with the anti people directives, Nigerians can now see that the PDP was not crying wolf when it alerted that the APC does not mean well for the na-

EXPECTED IS THAT EVEN THE VICTOR IN THIS EPIC BATTLE WILL CERTAINLY COME OUT WITH UGLY BRUISES

tion. He said: “In asking that service chiefs should not be confirmed by the Senate, the APC has revealed its devilish plot to undermine the nation’s security system, create a state of anarchy and pave way to unleash mayhem on the people”.

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu alleged that “to block military confirmation is an attempt to anger the military to think and reconsider their roles in the Nigerian nation and democracy. The real reason is to anger the military. The real reason is to push for military coup. We are talking about senior military officers who have over the years laid down their lives for the nation and Nigerian people who no doubt deserve appointments to the highest position in their career.”

Reacting to the APC directive at the weekend, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, described it as insensitive on the part of APC in giving such a directive that will cripple economic activities in Nigeria, thereby dehumanising Nigerian citizens. He said that it was highly regrettable that the APC which prides itself today as the main opposition party has resorted to all acts that are ca-

Obuah

pable of promoting anarchy and instability in all facets in a country it is hoping to govern.

“We had in the past alerted Nigerians about the undemocratic credentials of APC, as the party is a conglomerate of odd characters and undemocratic elements, as well as former coup plotters who overthrew democratically elected governments in Nigeria,” Chief Umeh asserted; adding that APC therefore cannot be expected to have respect for democracy.

Meanwhile, the APC, while defending its position described its critics as those who are either ignorant of the workings of democracy or those who have chosen to play to the gallery for pecuniary gains, even as it maintained that the directive was already yielding result, as members of the Save Rivers Movement, SRM, were able to stage a peaceful rally last Saturday, for the first time in a long time, without being attacked by hired former militants, because the Inspector-General of Police di-

Kaduna 2015: Balat denies governorship ambition OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

S

enator Isaiah Balat, representing Kaduna in the Senate has disassociated himself from the story making the rounds titled: “Jonathan gives Sambo conditions for joint ticket,” where he was mentioned as a beneficiary of such condition.

The senator, in a statement he personally signed, stated that “I wish to categorically deny the existence of anything as such.”

He added: “It is instructive for me to also state that the story is the figment of the imagination of its authors and to say that President Jonathan does not meddle in the internal affairs of Kaduna State.

While also not holding brief for the governor of Kaduna State, I am certain he has nothing to do with

the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN job issue.”

Denying showing any interest in ruling the Liberal State, Senator Balat said: “I have never signified any interest in the governorship

of Kaduna State to warrant such conditions. I therefore call on well meaning Nigerians to appreciate that the joint ticket is not only valid but virile. They should disregard the contents of

the story as it is an unsuccessful attempt to divide the strong and solid bond existing between President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice, Arc. Mohammed Namadi Sambo.”

Oyo PDP chieftain flays purported support of Akinjide to party KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

T

he crisis in the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has refused to abate as a chieftain of the party in the state, Alhaji Rasheed Adebisi Olopoeniyan, has described the recent statement by a group that the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Ms. Olajumoke Akinjide, has helped in building the party in the state, as farce.

Olopoeniyan, who stated this while speaking with journalists in Ibadan yes-

terday, said: “We know those who have ceaselessly contributed to the growth of the party in almost three years that we were not in the saddle of administration in the state.

“What those set of people said clearly revealed that they were not in the main stream of the party. When we paid for the rent of the state secretariat in May 2012, which was almost to the tune of N12 million, they should come out if Akinjide contributed to that feat. Instead, she ventured into another parallel office situated at Yemetu, Ibadan.

“Again, the N15 million

new year largesse meant for party members in the state has not been received by our members, so in what way is she contributing to the party as claimed by the group? “Those who are sing praising her are few, and if in doubt, I challenge her to prove her case in the presence of the state party chairman, Hon. Yinka Taiwo and the executives members.”

He added that those who are working for the progress of the party in the state ahead of the 2015 elections are not hidden and do not need any faceless group to do the job of town crier for them.

rected the police to provide protection for the rally.

“This is exactly what we are saying, that Nigerians, irrespective of their party leaning, who wish to stage a peaceful protest anywhere in the country must be able to do so without the police looking away while hired goons attack them.

It is all about justice, fairness and equity, without which democracy will not thrive.

We will be watching to see if what happened on Saturday represents a paradigm shift in Rivers or it is just a flash in the pan,’’ the party said.

The APC said there is nothing antidemocratic, anti-people or inciting about the directive, which is aimed at ending the reign of impunity in Rivers State before its spreads to other parts of the country and truncates the nation’s democracy, wondering why it is so difficult for the President to act, for almost a year, as a part of the country he was elected to govern goes up in flames.

The fear of 2015 A few days ago, the 2015 election time table was announced by the INEC and it is feared that the fiercest battle for the soul of Rivers State is still ahead, particularly as it is being speculated that President Jonathan will re-contest while Governor Amaechi will likely emerge as the presidential running mate for the APC candidate.

The situation in the state is such that Amaechi with the support of the teaming voters will face Jonathan who has in his aisle the timbre and calibre of Rivers politicians and the dreaded militants who have benefitted so much from his amnesty programme. It is really unpredictably where the pendulum will anchor but one thing that is expected is that even the victor in this epic battle will certainly come out with ugly bruises.

National confab, dead on arrival –Okechukwu CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 come of the elections would be worth the investment’. It goes further to say that ‘the defeatist approach of the INEC boss to the 2015 polls, as conveyed in his statement, is troubling and clearly out of place. It has made it necessary to ask if the challenges of the polls are so insurmountable to warrant this pessimism and seeming throwing up of the hands in acceptance of anticipatory failure. Is this a preemptive justification for likely widespread irregularities?’

Do you think the Goodluck Jonathan administration is fighting corruption the way it should be fought?

I sincerely do not think that there is a word like corruption in the lexicon of President Jonathan. Truely, that’s my sincere answer, for this is a man that is among those governors indicted by Malam Nuhu Rabadu and who failed to declare his asset like his predecessor, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. His metaphor is corruption, that’s why he abandoned the masses of this country who voted for him, thinking he is one of them when he said he went to school without shoes. His friends today are only the Dangotes of this world, who benefits from his Customs’ waiver.

Do you think the proposed national conference is the panacea to the myriad of problems facing the country?

It is dead on arrival. My annoyance is that it is about to alienate my good friend, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, from his old allies.

44

Politics

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

APC delighted at Fayemi’s expression of interest to contest OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

E

kiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed its delight at the response of the state governor, Kayode Fayemi, to the yearnings of the people and various groups in the state to give them the honour of serving the state for a second term and thus elongating the years of positive growth and good governance in the state.

Ekiti APC, in a statement signed by its Director of Publicity and Media, Segun Dipe, said that last Sunday’s announcement by Governor Fayemi of his intention to contest the June 21, governorship election of the state, on its platform was an expression of interest that had been accented to long before it was made, likening it to “the coming of Jesus which had long been blessed and heralded before it ever happened.”

Dipe said: “If not Fayemi, who else? His promise-keeping tendency is second to none. He has not only walked his talk, he has humbly, steadily

but surely, kept our state, Ekiti, on the world map of development. All the promises he made during the campaign for his first term were fulfilled in record time as if this is not the same Ekiti State, which was wearing the toga of infrastructurallydisadvantaged state in a not too distant past.”

Expressing happiness that Fayemi has not turned down its request for an encore of the good times Ekiti people are enjoying under his administration, the APC added: “When an orange is sweet, you ask for more. When an experience is sweet, you want to relive it. When governance is sweet, you want a repeat of it, especially if it is legitimate to do so. Governor Fayemi could have said ‘No, I have heard enough, let me aim at something higher, now that APC is the party to beat at the centre in the country’. Rather he has heeded the clarion call and that of the people. He has made the job of selection easy, not only for us in Ekiti APC, but for all the now discerning people of the state.”

It said that it now has the best product to sell to a receptive market, adding that Ekiti had never had it so good with choice, saying that it would have been worse if the people of the state had been shortchanged.

Dipe added: “Not only has Fayemi lived up to billing; he has even surpassed it. And he is now saying that he still has enough energy and determination to take Ekiti State further in development and good governance. He has given the ruling party a positive identity and a strong voice in the state. He has shown an uncommon discipline and courage in lifting the standard of the state to a world level despite the relatively paltry income.”

Declaring that it was

comfortable running with the Fayemi candidacy, the APC, which suffered stolen mandate for almost four harrowing years between 2006 and 2010 before eventually claiming legitimacy to it, said that it cannot afford to gamble with the choice of a non-starter, adding: “We cannot risk any change for the fun of it because we do not want

to stray from our path of success and as such, cannot start toying with our winning streak. It would have therefore been too risky and expensive for the APC, both in Ekiti and at the national level, to attempt any other permutations when our winning streak is based on Governor Fayemi’s kept promises, if he has turned down our request to run.”

The party seized the opportunity to comment the selection of men and women of impeccable character into the Fayemi Campaign Team, which it called a winning team “because it comprises of tested and trusted committed young men and women, who constantly have their eyes on the goal.” While calling on every member of the party

to fly the ‘Fayemi for Second Term’ flag high and beyond the reach of that of any opponent, Dipe said that it was time to separate the wheat from the chaff, to prove to all and sundry that Fayemi is going for an unbeatable run.

The Ekiti APC also joined Fayemi and all well meaning Nigerians to call on the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to live up to its promise to conduct a peaceful and credible election in Ekiti State, saying that “nothing short of transparency is good enough for Ekiti. INEC has promised to get it right with the Ekiti election. We will not only hold the Commission to its words, we will at the same time ensure that it lives up to it.”

PDP, APC at war over offices ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

T

he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ekiti State has raised the alarm that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was planning to attack its office in Ikole-Ekiti over allegation of proximity of their offices.

The PDP state Chairman, Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, alleged that the APC had instructed its members in the local government to ensure that the PDPoffice was vandalised.

Ogundipe, said in a statement by his media aide, Mr Femi Omolusi, that the PDP bought the property being used as party office over five years ago before the APC came to rent its own office some houses down the street.

The PDP boss said: “We have been here before they came. We are, however, shocked that APC leaders have been going about saying we should be made to vacate our own property.

“The distance between the two offices is over 200 meters I would not know what they are driving at.

They have even mandated their youth to burn down the place. We are calling on security agencies and the peace-loving people of Ekiti State to call them to order.

The sky is wide enough for all of us to operate.”

But the APC denied the allegation, saying it had no plan to attack any party or opposition structure.

The state APC Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Segun Dipe, said his party would never foment trouble, adding that the PDP should check within its fold to see whether all was well with it.

“We are not troublemakers. We are for peace and there is no plan to attack any party or opposition, we cannot do that. The people of Ikole-Ekiti and Ekiti State as a whole are one.

Politics apart, there is no reason for anybody to spill blood,” the APC director said.

L-R: Governors Wadas Idris of Kogi; Ibrahim Shema, Katsina; Chairman PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta during the PDP Governors’ Forum meeting in Katsina at the weekend.

Group seeks Christian/Muslim ticket ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

A

Muslim group, Islamic Political Awareness Society, IPAS, has urged the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, leadership to ensure religious balancing in the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State.

Specifically, the group urged the PDP to ensure a Christian/Muslim ticket in the election to pave way for the party’s victory in the governorship election.

The group, in a letter to the PDP state Chairman,

Mr Makanjuola Ogundipe, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, urged the party not to toe the line of the present All Progressives Party, APC, government “which has relegated Muslims to the background.”

In the letter, signed by the group’s state Coordinator, Alhaji Ajayi Dauda; Secretary, Alhaji Ayuba Oladubu; and its officials in the 16 council areas of the state, the group reminded PDP of the impact of Christian/Muslim ticket in the 2007 election.

It stated: “We are us-

ing this medium to appeal to our political leaders that the Muslims in Ekiti State are reminding the party and its leaders that a Muslim must be picked as the deputy governor in the 2014 governorship election.

“Like it was done before, you can still do it again. We Muslims are asking for a Christian/Muslim ticket which will make it easier to mobilise our fellow brothers and sisters to come out enmass and vote for the PDP.” The IPAS said that the advocacy had received the

blessing of its spiritual leaders while members of the state chapter of the Nigerian Inter-religion Council, NIREC, had been intimated. It also promised to give moral and spiritual support to the party in the state in addition to political awareness.

“We will not allow Muslims to be relegated to the background like it is being done in the present administration. We believe that the PDP government will not do the same rather it will correct all these wrongs when it gets back to power,” it added.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

45

World News U.N. urges end to ransom payments to extremists

“These moves were made to make our movement appear bigger than it already is and to frighten people about this non-existent phantom threat.”

–TURKISH ISLAMIC CLERIC, FETHULLAH GULEN

46

Egypt: Sisi poised to announce presidency bid PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORT

T

hree years after the “Arab Spring” toppled Hosni Mubarak, a secretive field marshal with a cult-like following is expected to announce his candidacy for the presidency of Egypt ahead of elections which he is expected to win easily.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has come under pressure to run from members of the public who reject the Islamist government he toppled last year, and from the armed forces who want a president who can face down growing political violence.

He has calculated that he can win the votes of those who backed Mohamed Morsi for president in 2012 simply because he represented change from the era of former air force commander Mubarak, ousted in the revolutions that swept the Arab world.

But despite his present popularity, Sisi has no record as a democrat and has shown himself willing to use deadly force against those who disagree with him.

Sisi has trodden a careful

path to power since overthrowing Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, last July.

It’s the kind of measured advance he has made all his life, from his childhood in the dirt lanes of Cairo’s Gamaliya district, to the highest rank in one of the largest armies in the Middle East. yesterday, the presidency announced he was promoted to field marshal from general.

Friends and family speak of him of as a man of few words and decisive action.

“He loved to listen and carefully study what was said. After he heard many opinions then he would suddenly strike,” said his cousin Fathi al-Sisi, who runs a shop selling handicrafts.

“Abdel Fattah had one thing in mind: work, the military, rising to the top.”

The world knew little of Sisi before he appeared on television on July 3 and announced the removal of Morsi after mass protests against the Islamist leader.

It was Morsi who appointed Sisi army chief of staff and defence minister in August 2012, perhaps his

gravest mistake.

Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, wanted a young general to reduce the influence of the military old guard who had served under the autocratic Mubarak before the 2011 revolution.

His reputation for being a pious Muslim may have also appealed to Morsi.

But while Morsi appeared deaf to criticism, Sisi was tuned in to the rising discontent on the streets over the Brotherhood’s mismanagement. Eventually he issued an ultimatum to the man who appointed him: Bow to the demands of protesters within 48 hours or the military will act.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s military council has given the army chief, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a green light to run for president, a security source told Reuters.

“The top army officials all okayed Sisi running for the presidency,” said the source. Sisi is expected to announce his candidacy within days.

Sisi deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July, triggering political upheaval and street vio-

•Gets top military rank

Sisi

lence in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

Since then he has become hugely popular among Egyptians, who see him as a decisive figure

who can stabilise the country which has lurched from one crisis to another since a popular uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Uganda doubts rebel leader’s seriousness about talks

U

ganda’s government says it doubts rebel leader Joseph Kony is serious about peace after he purportedly sent a letter asking for forgiveness and calling for talks.

Government official Henry Okello-Oryem said a telephone conversation arranged with Mr Kony had failed to materialise.

Kony

The letter reportedly saw Mr Kony say his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group was committed to “end this war”.

It has waged an insurgency for more than 20 years.

It is notorious for abducting children to serve as sex slaves and child soldiers.

Several thousand African troops, backed by 100 US special forces, have been hunting him and other fighters of the LRA across the region.

The US has offered up to $5m (£3.3m) for leads resulting in his arrest.

Talks between the government and LRA collapsed in 2008 after the ICC refused to yield to Mr Kony’s demand to drop the arrest warrant.

“I want to assure the people of Uganda that, we are committed to a sustainable peaceful political settlement of our long war with the government of [President Yoweri] Museveni,” Mr Kony is quoted as saying in the purported letter, published in Uganda’s privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper.

“We are willing and ready to forgive and seek forgiveness, and continue to seek peaceful means to end this war which has cut across a swathe of Africa for the people of the Great Lakes and the Nile-Congo Basin to find peace.”

Okello-Oryem, Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, told the BBC that Mission Okello, a man claiming to represent the rebel leader, was behind the latest initiative.

He had agreed to a time and date to hold a telephone conversation with Mr Kony, but it never happened, Okello-Oryem said.

Mr Okello told him Kony was worried that US satellites operating in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) and the region would locate him, the minis-

ter said.

Okello told the BBC the conversation had not taken place because of technical problems.

But Okello-Oryem said he was not sure whether Mr Okello was a genuine representative of Mr Kony, and if the LRA leader was serious about peace the two of them would have already spoken.

The LRA was forced out of Uganda in 2005 and since then has wreaked havoc in CAR and other neighbouring states.

Kony claims the LRA’s mission is to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

In November, then-CAR ruler Michel Djotodia said his government was in talks with him about his surrender.

WORLD BULLETIN Mob in Ivory Coast attacks gay rights office An angry mob “ransacked” the headquarters of Ivory Coast’s most prominent gay rights organization, an official said yesterday, underscoring the dangers facing sexual minorities in Africa even in the few countries where homosexual acts are not crimes.

The attack occurred after multiple days of anti-gay protests in Ivory Coast, a country generally viewed as moderate and sometimes considered a safe haven for homosexuals fleeing persecution elsewhere.

On Saturday afternoon, nearly 200 people stormed the offices of Alternative Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan, the commercial capital, flinging stones to shatter windows and stealing computers, said Claver Toure, the group’s executive director.

Others heaved sacks of garbage over the property’s exterior walls and strew trash and broken glass at the entrance. Signs hung on walls demanded “Stop the homos!” and “Pedes get out!” The word “pede” is short for paedophile and is commonly used in West Africa to insult gay men.

“Everything they could take was taken, and the rest was broken,” Toure said, adding that a private security guard was hospitalized with wounds to his face.

Tunisia signs new constitution in big step toward democracy President Moncef Marzouki and the head of the National Assembly signed Tunisia’s new constitution yesterday, enshrining one of its last steps toward full democracy after a 2011 uprising that inspired the Arab Spring.

After years of autocratic rule under Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s charter has been praised as one of the most progressive in the Arab world, designating Islam as the state religion but protecting freedom of belief and sexual equality.

Parliament erupted in celebration after the official signing of the constitution following its approval by assembly deputies on Sunday evening, which ended months of deadlock that had threatened to undo Tunisia’s transition.

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World News

WORLD BULLETIN

Cameron vows to cut red tape in UK Thousands of rules affecting business are to be scrapped or amended, David Cameron has told a Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) conference.

More than 3,000 rules will be dropped or changed, saving more than £850m a year, he told the FSB. They include 640 pages of cattle movement guidance, 286 pages of hedgerow regulations and 380 pages of waste management rules.

Cameron said he wanted to “get out of the way of small business success.”

His government would be the first in history to end a term in office with less regulation on the statute books than when it came into power, he said.

Cutting the country’s deficit, reducing taxes and freezing fuel duty was part of the government’s “clear long-term economic plan”, he added.Reducing red tape, cutting business rates, and scrapping the jobs tax from April 2015 were ways the government was supporting small businesses, said Mr Cameron.

“We need to be a country that celebrates enterprise and backs risk takers,” he said.

Holocaust survivors turn home to museum Israeli Holocaust survivors from Poland have turned their home in a Jewish settlement into a museum where schoolchildren can learn about the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews during World War Two. Irena Wodzislawski, 77, says her late husband, Yaacov, launched the project in 2003, seeing it as a form of revenge for the killing of most of the Jewish community, including much of his family, in his native town of Czestochowa.

Wodzislawski guides groups of Israeli youths and soldiers past a private collection of 1,000 Holocaustera memorabilia encased in glass that includes postcards written by concentration camp inmates and the striped uniforms they wore.

Israel’s main Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, regularly holds guided tours for youngsters but Wodzislawski said that as a survivor, she can offer visitors to her museum a unique personal perspective.

Wodzislawski survived the Holocaust in her native Przemysl by spending much of the war as a very young girl in hiding with a Christian family after her mother disappeared from the town’s Jewish ghetto one day never to return.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

U.N. urges end to ransom payments to extremists T

he U.N. Security Council urges countries yesterday to stop the payment of kidnap ransoms to extremist groups like al Qaeda, which have earned hundreds of millions of dollars from such crimes.

No new legal obligations were created by the British-drafted resolution - unanimously adopted by the 15-member council - as states are already required not to pay kidnap ransoms under an antiterrorism resolution adopted in 2001.

“We estimate that in the last three and a half years, al Qaeda-affiliated and other Islamist extremist groups have collected

at least $105 million,” British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters.

“It is therefore imperative that we take steps to ensure that kidnap for ransom is no longer perceived as a lucrative business model and that we eliminate it as a source of terrorist financing,” he said. “We need to break that cycle.”

The United States has estimated militant groups have received $120 million over the past decade, including ransoms paid to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The United States and Britain do not pay ransoms, but some European governments

do.

The resolution said member nations should “prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political concessions and to secure the safe release of hostages.”

It also urges countries to encourage the private sector to follow relevant guidelines and good practices for preventing and responding to kidnappings by extremist groups.

The council noted that ransom payment “incentivizes future incidents of kidnapping for ransom.”

French President Francois Hollande has said Paris ended a policy of paying ransoms for hostages, but

suspicion that it still does so - despite official denials - has been a source of tension with the United States.

Last year, France brushed off an allega-

tion by a former U.S. diplomat that it paid a $17 million ransom in vain for the release of three hostages abducted in 2010 from Niger.

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon

Photo: AP

U.S. strike kills al Shabaab commander

A

U.S. missile strike in southern Somalia has killed a senior al Shabaab commander who had masterminded suicide attacks by the al Qaeda-linked militant group, two Somali security officials said.

Both intelligence sources and a Somali government spokesman named the target yesterday as Ahmed Mohamed Amey, a chemicals expert also known as Isku Dhuuq.

A U.S. official on Sunday said the missile strike occurred in a remote area near Barawe, a coastal rebel enclave that was the site of a failed raid by American commandos in October targeting a militant known as Ikrima. It was not clear

Al- Shabaab fighters

if the missile was launched from a drone.

The security sources said Amey was close to al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who since taking charge in 2008 has restyled the group as a global player in the al Qaeda franchise - a transformation that was highlighted when it killed at least 67 people in an attack on a Kenyan shopping mall in September.

One of the officials, a former Islamist militant who defected in 2009, said Amey advised Godane on the operations of al Shabaab’s Amniyat ‘secret service’, an elite unit blamed for suicide attacks in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

“He was a good friend of

Godane and the two were always on good terms,” said the intelligence official, who identified himself as Hussein. “He was the adviser of al Shabaab leader Godane on matters regarding the Amniyat and masterminding suicide bomb attacks.”

The second intelligence source said Amey became an adviser to Godane, who hails from the same Dir clan, after another of the leader’s top lieutenants, known as al-Afghani, was killed last year.

A Somali government spokesman described Amey as a “top leader of al Shabaab”. A spokesman for the U.S. embassy to Somalia, which is based in the Kenyan capital, could

not be reached.

Both Somali intelligence officials said Amey was killed alongside his driver on Sunday.

An offensive by African Union troops has driven al Shabaab from southern Somalia’s major towns but the militants still control large rural areas and re-

main the biggest security threat to east Africa, diplomats and analysts say.

Late last year, the U.S. military deepened its involvement in Somalia, sending a handful of officers to Mogadishu to help advice and support African Union and Somali forces.

World Bank warns Myanmar on corruption, unveils $2bn aid

T

he World Bank yesterday warned Myanmar against corruption as it unveiled a $2-billion aid package designed to provide better health care and improve supplies of electricity.

Despite the country’s ongoing reforms, the World Bank has ranked Myanmar 182 out of the 189 countries in its annual Doing Business report.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim told reporters in the Myanmar capital, Naypyitaw, that he recalled shutting down a program in Bangladesh on his first day on the job in 2012, because of corruption concerns.

“I would not hesitate to do that again if we were to find evidence of corruption in any of the projects,” he said, adding that he was confident the Bank would

be able to monitor programs in Myanmar to prevent abuse.

About 75 percent of Myanmar’s mostly rural population has no access to health care, and more than 70 percent have no electricity, the Bank said.

Part of the aid package will support the government’s aim of providing health care to all citizens by 2030, while half will go to expand electricity generation, transmission and distribution, the Bank said in a statement.

The news comes nearly two years after the World Bank announced it would return to Myanmar following an absence of a quarter of a century.

Many donors abandoned the country during its 49 years of military rule, which eviscerated one of Southeast Asia’s most promising economies.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

World News

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

47

Swedish divers unearth 11,000-year-old ancient settlement

D

ivers in Sweden have discovered a rare collection of Stone Age artefacts buried deep beneath the Baltic Sea. Archaeologists believe the relics were left by Swedish nomads 11,000 years ago and the discovery may be evidence of one of the oldest settlements ever found in the Nordic region.

Some of the relics are so well preserved, reports have dubbed the find ‘Sweden’s Atlantis’ and suggested the settlement may have been swallowed whole by the sea in the same way as the mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean.

The artefacts were discovered by Professor Bjorn Nilsson from Soderton University, and a team from Lunds University, during an archaeological dive at Hano, off the coast of Skane County in Sweden.

Buried 16 metres below the surface, Nilsson uncovered wood, flint tools, animal horns and ropes.

Among the most notable items found include a harpoon carving made from an animal bone, and the bones of an ancient animal called aurochs.

Aurochs are ancestors of modern-day cattle and lived through Europe before becoming extinct in the early 1600s. The last reported auroch died in Poland in 1627.

This find is significant because it suggests a date for when these items would have been used.

Many of the artefacts have been preserved because the diving location is rich in a sediment called gyttja.

Atlantis is the name for the large island or continent said to have been swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean centuries ago.

Tales of the mythical island first appeared in books

by Greek philosopher Plato around 370BC. In all of his books, Plato used interesting stories to contextualise and explain his ideas about government and philosophy and it is thought the story of Atlantis formed part of this.

However, this has also lead to claims the stories were made up purely for effect.

Despite this, many maps have previously featured Atlantis, including the Map of the New World by Sebastian Muller, 1540, pictured,

that shows Atlantis Island in red at the bottom, labelled Nouus Orbis.

Atlantis was written about again in 1882 by Ignatius Donnelly who claimed Atlantis was not only real, but influenced cultures including the Egyptians and Mayans.

Studies of rock found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean concluded that there has never been a large island buried in the region, and many people now think Plato may have got the location of the island wrong.

Other claims suggest the island may have been near modern-day Santorini, off the coast of Greece.

Black, gel-like Gyttja is formed when peat begins to decay. As the peat is buried, the amount of oxygen drops and it is thought this lack of oxygen prevented the organic artefacts from being lost.

Nilsson told The Local: ‘Around 11,000 years ago there was a build-up in the area - a lagoon of sorts - and all the tree and bone pieces are preserved in it.

‘If the settlement was on dry land we would only have the stone-based things, nothing organic.’

The dive was part of a three-year excavation partially funded by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

Archaeologists are continuing the dig, and are now particularly interested to see whether there is also an ancient burial site in the region.

This would add weight to the claims it was once a settlement location that has since been lost at sea.

If the region was a settlement, it would have similarities with Atlantis - the mythical island first referred to by Greek philosopher Plato.

Atlantis was said to have been a large island, or even a continent, in the Atlantic Ocean that sank and vanished almost overnight.

However, this underwater civilisation has never been found, and many claim Plato either made it up, or the location was not in the Atlantic Ocean.

Other claims suggest the

Divers removing the rare collection of Stone Age artefacts buried beneath the Baltic Sea

island may have been near modern-day Santorini, off the coast of Greece.

Nilsson is quick to dismiss the claims the settle-

Ukraine’s leader meets opposition ahead of parliament session

U

kraine’s Viktor Yanukovich held fresh talks with opposition leaders yesterday to prepare for a crunch session of parliament at which the president and his allies will be under pressure to make major concessions amid mass unrest.

A tough battle lay ahead at Tuesday’s session with the opposition calling for concessions including the repeal of sweeping anti-protest laws, the dismissal of the government and an amnesty for all protesters detained in two months of unrest.

Ukraine’s justice minister raised tensions by warning she would press for a state of emergency if protesters did not vacate a ministry building they had occupied overnight.

The protesters later left the premises, after defying police for several hours, but said they would return if there was no progress in parliament on Tuesday.

As the opposition leaders - boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok - met Yanukovich, the President’s party

set the scene for a rowdy session of parliament, saying they did not intend to yield any ground.

“The prime minister will not be going. Parliament tomorrow will not be voting for the resignation of the government,” Mykhailo Chechetov, a spokesman for the Party of the regions, told Interfax news agency.

He said the Regions parliamentary faction would equally block any attempt to repeal the anti-protest legislation which Yanukovich loyalists rammed through parliament on January 16.

An anti-government protester walking past barricades at the site of clashes with police in Kiev

ment is ‘Sweden’s Atlantis’, however, stressing that the Swedes at the time would have been nomadic.

This means that the set-

tlement may have only been temporary, and that a village never permanently existed on the site - unlike the mythical Atlantis.

Sudan’s president to announce govt, constitution shake-up

S

udan’s president will announce plans yesterday to redraw the constitution and bring opposition parties into government, a senior member of his party said, in a bid to shake-up a country beset by rebellions, protests and an economic crisis.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has had to wrestle with a sharp drop in oil revenues, the main source of government income, and rising inflation after losing the bulk of his active oilfields following the secession of South Sudan in 2012.

Subsidy cuts and other austerity measures brought in last September to cope with the crisis led to the capital’s worst streets protests in years. Security forces responded swiftly, killing more than 200 protesters, opposition groups said. The government said 34 people died.

Sudan was placed on a U.S. sanctions list in 1993 for harbouring “international terrorists” and is under international sanctions for actions during the conflict in the Darfur region

that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2003.

Its isolation was deepened when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur, where mainly African tribes took up arms in 2003 against the Arab-led government in Khartoum, which they accuse of discriminating against them.

Bashir will announce wide-ranging political reforms in a live television address late on Monday, Rabie Abdelati, a senior member of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), said.

“The president will invite the opposition parties today to participate in the preparation of a new constitution and to participate in organizing new elections and then in sharing in government,” Abdelati said.

He did not go into details of how the constitution would be changed, what role opposition groups might play in the government or whether the changes would affect the timing of national elections scheduled for 2015.

48

Cocktail

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Crime reporter caught holding up department store

P

olice in central France said they have arrested a former newspaper crime reporter for holding up a store during an armed robbery.

The unidentified suspect, 63, was a crime reporter for the Nouvelle Republic but turned from writing about it to making his own headlines Friday when he held up a department store, Radio France Internationale said.

Police said the man dis-

guised himself with a moustache, wig and gloves before entering the store and pointing a black revolver at a clerk, demanding cash. Police had staked out the store because he targeted it once before.

In all, police said the suspect, who may have conducted several other robberies, made off with about $12,300 before he was caught.

The man told police he was coming out of a divorce and struggling to pay for his son’s college tuition.

Police reports indicate clowns are serious business

P

olice in London aren’t clowning around when they say they’ve dealt with a lot of clowns in the past year, records indicate.

A Freedom of Information request by a London blogger found 117 cases in which police reports referred to the word “clown,” the London Evening Standard reported Saturday.

In one case, the suspect in an assault was described as being dressed like a

clown, including a painted face. In another, a burglar was said to have hair “like Krusty the Clown” of The Simpson’s fame. In 39 cases, the word “clown” was used as an insult.

One person said they were threatened by henchmen in clown costumes.

Late last year, a group of pranksters in Norfolk dressed up as clowns and deliberately startled passers-by. Police had to put out a notice telling the public to ignore clowns.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oddities

Thieves steal Pope John Paul’s blood from church

T

hieves broke into a small church in the mountains east of Rome over the weekend and stole a reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II, a custodian said on Monday.

Franca Corrieri said she had discovered a broken window early on Sunday morning and had called the police. When they entered the small stone church they found the gold reliquary and a crucifix missing.

John Paul, who died in 2005, loved the mountains in the Abruzzo region east of Rome. He would sometimes slip away from the Vatican secretly to hike or ski there and pray in the church.

Polish-born John Paul, who reigned for 27 years, is due to be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in May, meaning the relic will become more noteworthy and valuable.

In 2011, John Paul’s former private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, gave the local Abruzzo community some of the late pontiff’s blood as a token of the love he had felt for the mountain-

ous area.

It was put in a gold and glass circular case and kept in a niche of the small mountain church of San Pietro della Ienca, near the city of L’Aquila.

Corrieri told Reuters the incident felt more like a “kidnapping” than a theft.

“In a sense, a person has been stolen,” she said by telephone.

She said she could not say if the intention of the thieves may have been to seek a ransom for the blood.

Apart from the reliquary and a crucifix, nothing else was stolen from the isolated

church, even though Corrieri said the thieves would probably have had time to take other objects during the night-time theft.

Some of John Paul’s blood was saved after an assassination attempt that nearly killed him in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

Pall bearers carry the body of the late Pope John Paul II through a packed Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

49

Community Mirror Monarch commends police for crime reduction

Our people can testify to how we have rescued Ekiti State from the years of locusts and returned our dear state to the path of responsibility.

50

EKITI STATE GOVERNOR; KAYODE FAYEMI

Estate agent arraigned for theft WALE IGBINTADE

A

40-year-old estate agent, Andrew Abiodun has been dragged before Ojokoro Senior Magistrates’ Court for alleged theft and fraudulently obtaining N400,

000 from a client.

The defendant appeared before Magistrate Taiwo Akanni on a two-count charge of obtaining money under pretext.

The prosecutor, Inspector Lugard Ahonle, told the court that the defendant allegedly

committed the offence on September 11, 2013 at No. 34, Adepegba Street, Abule-Egba, Lagos.

In his submission, the prosecutor alleged that “Abiodun fraudulently obtained the sum of N400, 000 from one Miss Lamide Liadi after he promised

to help her secure a twobedroom apartment accommodation’’.

He further stated that “Abiodun, however converted the money to his personal use, and gave the complainant an apartment without the consent of the owner”.

According to him, the complainant reported the matter to the police when the owner of the house found out and ejected her from the apartment.

The alleged offences contravened sections 285 and 312 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Magistrate Taiwo Akanni subsequently granted him bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case to February, 18 for mention.

Man charged for assault, robbery

A

man who allegedly assaulted a woman while trying to rob her of valuables has been arraigned before an Ojokoro Senior Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

The 27-year-old defendant, John Ojo, is facing a two-count charge of assault and attempted robbery.

When the charge was read to him, he pleaded not guilty and urged the court to grant him bail.

But the prosecutor, Inspector Lugard Ahonle had earlier told the court that the defendant committed the offences on Jan. 18 at No. 8, Obadina Street, Alagbado area of Lagos State According g to the prosecutor, “Ojo attempted to

Member, House of Representatives, Hon. Dayo Bush-Alebisosu (left) receiving the staff of office from the Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, HRM Sikiru Kayode Adetona (CFR), the Awujale of Ijebuland at the conferment of the royal title of Otunba Fuwagbuyi in Ijebu-Ode at the weekend.

Merger proposal causes disaffection in Ondo OJO OYEWAMIDE AKURE

O

il producing communities in Ugbo, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, have said they will oppose any move by the state government to merge them with Mahin, Aheri and Etikan kingdoms on oil policy.

In a letter to the governor and signed by the chairman, Chief Andrew Oyetomi, and Secretary, Chief Abayomi Asunmaga, the Ugbo Council of Chiefs, Baale

and Elders, said the move was a deliberate attempt to rob them of their legitimate right and an invitation to chaos in the area.

The government had in a letter by the Secretary to the Government, , Rotimi Adelola, with reference number SSG 008/vol. iv/166 of January 23,2014, intended to convene a meeting where oil communities in Ugbo will be merged with Mahin, Aheri and Etikan.

The communities said the decision of the government was unacceptable as it was

wrong to coerce Ugbo into a marriage of convenience.

They said the letter also expressed the threat by Chevron Nig. Limited to discontinue its interventionist programmes in the area if Ugbo fails to merge with other kingdoms on oil policy.

While describing Ugbo as an entity that is independent of other kingdoms, the council advised Chevron to approve the merger of Mahin, Aheri and Etikan separately rather than merging them with Ugbo,

whichmay not be in the interest of peace and the development in the area.

The association, therefore, gave the oil company a two-weekultimatum to remove it facilities from Ugbo communities if it fails to accept its position on the issue.

The communities alleged that a situation where some highlyplaced individuals become beneficiaries of Chevron empowerment programmes and rob them of their statutory benefits will no longer be tolerated.

dispose one Mrs Sekinat Olori of her valuables which she resisted.

In the processes, the defendant was said to have stabbed her with a knife on her cheeks causing her serious injury.

According to the prosecutor, the victim’s cry of help attracted passersby and the policemen on patrol were alerted.

Ahonle said the offences contravened sections 171 and 308 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

Magistrate Taiwo Akanni, however granted the defendant bail in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

She then adjourned the case to Feb. 11 for mention.

Sokoto conducts mass wedding for couples

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mass wedding has been conducted by the Sokoto State Government for 125 couples.

The ceremony was presided over by Gov. Aliyu Wamakko and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, who was represented by Alhaji Rilwanu Bello, the Magajin Rafin Sokoto.

Wamakko said the gesture was aimed at further reducing the problems associated with the high number of unmarried youths,even as he urged the couples to uphold the trust reposed in them by the government.

The governor also appealed to wealthy individu-

als to complement the efforts of the government in this direction.

“I must also urge the beneficiaries to engage in meaningful activities rather than idling away, or engaging in begging,” Wamakko said.

Speaking at the occasion, the Sultan of Sokoto commended the government for the gesture, adding that it would further reduce the problems associated with indifference of youths to marriage.

The Sultan also decried the prevalence of obnoxious traditions preventing some youths from getting married.

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Community Mirror

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Monarch commends police for crime reduction I

Amosun’s wife feeds 5,000 aged people

AYO ESAN

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he traditional ruler of Ijora Lagos, the Ojora of Ijoraland, Oba Fatai Aremu Aromire has commended the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force over reduction in crime especially during the last yuletide and New Year celebration.

Oba Aromire said this while speaking with journalists in his palace and was full of praise for the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Umaru Manko

for the reduction in crime in the state.

He said statistics had shown that for two years running, crimes and criminal activities have reduced in Lagos State and attributed this to the hardwork and efficiency of the Lagos CP, Mr Manko.

According to him, the police in Lagos are now more proactive in the discharge of their duties at curbing criminal activities especially in the outgoing year.

“The police in Nigeria today are better than they used to be as they are

friendly, more strategic, more accommodating and are working closely with the people”, he said.

Oba Aromire attributed the successes recorded on crime prevention in Ijora kingdom to the cooperation and support of the police, pleading that as royal father, he will ensure that the community continues to collaborate with the police to further enhance their performance.

Already, many families have pledged their support for Oba Aromire over the recent Supreme Court judgement that

Sugarcane sellers on Dass Road in Bauchi, yesterday.

vested ownership of vast hectares of land in Ijora, Iganmu, Orile and Coker Village in the Ojora Royal family.

The families of Shekoni of Coker Village, Orile Iganmu; Savage family of Iganmu; Kadiri family of Orile-Iganmu; Imam Shuaib Momoh family of Coker village, Orile Iganmu; Pa Gbogboji family of Orile Iganmu and Abu AliMomoh family of Aloko Compound Orile Iganmu are said to have declared their support and allegiance to the Ojora Royal family.

PHOTO: NAN

Rail workers task government, employers on partnership FRANCIS SUBERU

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he workers of Nigerian Railway Corporation have tasked the Federal Government and other employers of labour on partnership with trade unions for formulation of policy directives that would enhance the economic wellbeing and political interest of the workers and the masses.

The President General of Nigeria Union of Railway Workers, NUR, Comrade Raphael Ben Okoro, who spoke on behalf of railway workers at the Triennial Delegates Conference of the

Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transport, and Communications, SSACTAC, held in Abuja last week, affirmed NUR’s conviction in tripartite partnership between the government, employers, and trade unions as a means through which mutually beneficial relationship could be achieved for the national development and sustainable socio-economic bliss for workers.

“The much that can be achieved through constructive tripartite methodology cannot be over-emphasised. This is why we are advising the

government at all levels to embrace trade unions and labour leaders as partners in progress, workers’ representatives and inalienable stakeholders that deserve courtesy of recognition and partnership in evolving policy directives in matters that concern the economic well-being and political interest of the workers particularly and the masses generally”, Okoro said.

He enjoined all the trade unions represented at the conference not to fail in their duty as champions of the common man and instruments for social

change.

“Against the backdrop of historical facts that portray labour movement as a force through which colonialism was banished and Independence was attained in Nigeria, I am overwhelmed with the poise to encourage us to embrace this event as another opportunity to remind ourselves of our duty as the champions of the masses and to rekindle the need for us to remain ever committed to the core principles of trade unionism with a view to building a society that is fair, just, and livable for all”, he added.

t has been estimated that 5000 aged people from the 20 Local Government Areas of Ogun State have in the last three years been fed by wife of the state governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun.

More than 500 of these aged people have since been put on monthly plan by the governor’s wife to receive stipends to take care of themselves.

Mrs Amosun’s pet programme, UPLIFTing the Aged programme was flagged off on January 25, 2012 at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta to commemorate the 54th birthday anniversary of Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun with more than 1,000 elderly people in attendance. The aged people were given health tips, free medical screening, bags of essential commodities and cash gifts.

Like the previous year, on January 25, 2013 another batch of 2,000 senior citizens benefitted from the UPLIFTing the Aged programme at the same venue, they received free medical checks, food items and cash gifts.

The third edition of the programme took place at the weekend at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta with over 2,000 elderly people in attendance to felicitate with the governor on his 56th birthday anniversary.

This brings the total number of senior citizens who have benefitted from Mrs. Amosun’s UPLIFTing the Aged programme so far

to over 5,000.

Speaking at the occasion, wife of the governor said she has compassion and love for the vulnerable senior citizens in the state, noting that they had contributed their quotas to the development of our society and they should be supported and cared for by the younger ones to enable them age with dignity.

She expressed appreciation to the people of the state, most especially the women for their continued support for the present administration, pledging her humanitarian services for the upliftment of the citizenry, particularly the needy aged whom she described as valuable assets.

Mrs. Amosun restated the commitment of her Uplift Development Foundation and the state government to the care and welfare of the aged and will not relent in their efforts at pursuing the social development programmes as they affect the dignity and care of the aged by restoring their fundamental human rights to equal treatment both in the state and the nation at large.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Bisoye Adesanya and Mr. Tayo Obadina expressed satisfaction on the performance of the governor, particularly the on-going infrastructural work in the three senatorial districts of the state, praying for God’s guidance and protection for him and his family.

Brewery constructs classrooms in Kaduna A ZA MSUE KADUNA

A

s part of efforts to up to it’s Cooperate Social Responsibility, the management of Nigerian Brewery, Kudenda has constructed six blocks of classrooms each for Kudenda primary school and Kudenda secondary school.

The Benchmark Brewery Manager of Kudenda Brewery, Engineer Titus Enzema made this known while fielding questions from journalists at the end of the year party held at the company’s premises in Kaduna.

Engineer Enzema

who also announced that Kudenda Brewery is the best performing Brewery of the year in the whole of Africa and Middle East also said the company has also constructed bore holes for the community.

Speaking at the event, Public Relations Officer of Nigerian Brewery Northern Region, Mr. Danjuma Ekele-John commended the giant strides of the brewery, saying “Kudenda Brewery is a clear case of hard work and commitment. For us in the brewery, we shall continue to give out quality products that are not only safe but accepted across the world.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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Gunmen kidnap Kogi council chairman’s wife, baby WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

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unmen yesterday kidnapped the wife and the two-year-old child of the Chairman of Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, Hon. Salihu Adaviruku, at in

•Demand N50m ransom his residence at Kuroko, demanding N50 million ransom.

National Mirror gathered that the chairman, who drove to his house after work, met the gunmen waiting at the main gate and as soon as

he entered, they went with him in to the house.

It was learnt that after the kidnappers gained access into the house, they demanded for N50 million from the chairman who told them he has no money.

Source said when the

gunmen discovered that Adaviruku was not ready to play ball, they decided to kidnap his wife, Hasiya and her two-year-old baby.

While confirming the incident yesterday, the Police Public Relation Officer, PPRO, Mr. Timpa Rendegha, said when the state police commissioner got wind of the incident,

he immediately deployed an 18-man squad to the local government to rescue the victims.

Rendegha added that though the case was not reported at any police station, he said the chairman only called the divisional police officer in the local government, who hinted the commissioner

of police later who set up a search party from the headquarters.

The police spokesman said that at the scene of the incident, a Ghana-MustBag-Go bag containing AK47 rifle and 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered and handed over to the police.

Plateau MDGs’ office moves to reduce maternal mortality JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

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L-R: Manager, Plateau Hotel, Mr. Abbe Abdullahi; Plateau State Commissioner for Tourism, Pastor Yiljap Abraham and the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Sani Abubakar, during the inspection of the hotel facility in Jos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Tsav raises alarm over Rivers crises HENRY IYORKASE MAKURDI

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ormer Lagos State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, yesterday raised the alarm over what he described as the crises rocking Rivers State, warning that the state is gradually sliding into anarchy.

He urged public-spirited Nigerians to wade into the matter with a view to finding a lasting solution.

Tsav, who spoke in Makurdi yesterday, said it was unfortunate that President Goodluck Jonathan is not saying

anything about it while the crises persist with no solution in sight.

He admonished that rather than the Force Headquarters, FHQs, and the Police Service Commission, PSC, see nothing wrong in Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu’s draconian action in the state; he said the authorities should intervene to bring lasting peace to the state.

He recalled that Mbu was some time ago removed as the commissioner of police in Oyo State for similar

violation of human rights.

The former Lagos State police commissioner said in view of the silence of Mr. President on the situation in Rivers and the body language of his wife, Patience, that not a few people believed that they were behind the crises in the state.

He therefore chided the FHQs and the PSC for their indifference to the crises, accusing them of allowing the to degenerate into a state of anarchy, adding that both organs appeared to have compromised on the crises.

The ex-police boss also lambasted the Senate for not taking steps to address the problem, adding that rather than finding a lasting solution to the crises, ‘senators were busy abusing themselves like village school girls.’

Tsav reminded the senators, who he said should have lived above board and show good examples worthy of emulation, “to buckle up and stop feeding fat on the nation while not doing anything to advance the course of democracy in Rivers.”

LG chairmen chided for not paying workers’ salaries WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

K

ogi State Governor, Idris Wada, yesterday decried the non-payment of salaries of local government workers in the state.

Wada, who disclosed this while speaking during an interactive

session with journalists in Lokoja to mark the second anniversary of his administration, said the council bosses have no reason not to pay salaries of their workers every month.

He said he has given the elected chairmen leverage and free hands to operate within their

constitutional powers, adding that he has never tampered with local government allocations.

The governor said that it was a shocking revelation that some local government chairmen have adopted certain percentage to offset the backlog of salaries of local government workers

He said when allocation comes to the State Joint Account, the money is given to the chairmen of the 21 local government areas of the state, stressing that he was never a member of the allocation committee and has never tampered with local government monthly allocations.

he office of the M i l l e n n i u m Development Goals, MDGs, in Plateau State has commenced training for Village Health Workers, VHW, in a renewed effort at reducing child/maternal mortality in the state.

State Project Coordinator, MDGs Project Support Unit, Mr. Peter Gai, said at the start of a two-day VHW training workshop in Jos that maternal and child mortality remains high in spite of several efforts at reducing it in the past.

According to him, there was urgent need to improve the health of women and children in line with goals four and five of the MDGs. He added that the VHW would serve as a link between the MDGs and the community health

services centres in their local communities.

According to the project coordinator, workers who are volunteers are expected to enlighten the communities on the availability of medical services and facilities in their environment.

They are also expected to sensitise the people on basic household practices and prevention of diseases with the ultimate goal of promoting healthy living in families.

Gai said the initiative by the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President, OSSAP, on MDGs would help in reducing morbidity and averting mortality in mothers and children.

“This will help particularly those who are in vulnerable settings in areas where primary health care is either weak or were not fully utilised,” he said.

Group urges support for Jonathan on security, others

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resident of Orisun Igbomina, a sociocultural group in Kwara State, Chief Gbenga Awoyale, has called for support for President Goodluck Jonathan in his bid to tackle the nation’s numerous challenges.

He also urged the President to focus on tackling corruption and insecurity this year.

Speaking, in an interview with journalists in Ilorin, Awoyale said the nation has been enmeshed in corruption because of the culture of impunity that pervades the social life of the nation.

According to him, the situation had been worsened by the fact that the

cost of corruption was lower than the benefits accruing there from.

Awoyale noted that deterrence through sanctions would have curtailed the incidence, but that like most other resource-rich nations, the elite continue to sustain the system to their advantage.

“If people know that presumably the cost of corruption is higher than the benefits, it will be low.

But the opposite is the case in Nigeria where the benefit of corruption is high while the cost is low.

“The deterrence for tackling corruption in Nigeria is weak and has collapsed,” he said.

52

Emergency Update

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Corps members trained on ambulance, emergency services The imperative of post disaster

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revention is better than cure is a popular adage on the need for precautionary measures including, education, training and skill acquisition against any untoward development.

In realization of the need to equip its manpower to discharge their duties effectively, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has continued to train corps members serving with the Agency. The National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) has always been a viable ground for the Agency as a vehicle for the enlightenment of the populace as youths are an essential segment of the population and a vanguard for desired change in communities. The agency trained the 80 corps members on Disaster prevention and Risk Management while 45 corps members were also trained on Ambulance services so as to assist the emergency response team of the agency.

On the first group, the Director-General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi, represented by Mr Daniel Gambo, the Agency’s Director of Training said the aim of the training was to teach the corps members basic mobilization and sensitization skills to promote community resilience to disasters at the grassroots level.

The training was designed to empower the youths with skills for community engagement which would create disaster awareness among the people in their communities. He said the increase in global disasters has necessitated a paradigm shift in disaster management with emphasis on risk reduction and adoption of preventive measures to minimize losses, following the famous quote ‘prevention is better than cure’. The training would promote the resilience of Nigerians to some common disasters that affect people at grassroots level. The corps members were

trained on relevant aspects of disaster management as well as basic first aid procedures.

Following the deployment of Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) of which the Agency commissioned its first Ambulance Bay along the Airport Road, Abuja to deploy ambulances to strategic locations within Abuja and environs, it had become necessary that emergency responders got more assistance. This brought about the training of the second group to join the emergency response team that operate the ambulance services. The DG, represented by the Agency’s Director of Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, said the emergency response capability of the agency was being repositioned to be more proactive in responding to emergencies.

The participants received training on casualty handling, pre-hospital

trauma and moving of equipment to scene of incidence. Administration of basic life support and first aid treatment of burns, fracture, bleedings, spinal and head injuries as well as cardiac arrest and unconsciousness and also on the basic components of the MICU and its operations.

The Head of NEMA’s MICU, retired naval commander Bala Alti advised the officers to use their judgment and avoid heroic rescues that would endanger their lives and must show confidence while attending to victims.

Through these trainings, the agency remains on top of its mission to coordinate resources towards efficient and effective disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response in Nigeria. The Agency assured that it would continue to explore all avenues to ensure sufficient awareness of disaster prevention and management.

A scene of fire outbreak at Sapele Main Market Delta State at the weekend. INSERT: Market men and women salvaging their wares at the scene of fire outbreak

NEMA calls for collaborations in disaster management

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he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has called on state governments to help in equipping offices within their domains.

The NEMA Zonal coordinator for south-south, Mr Emenike Umesi, made the call in Port-Harcourt recently. He said that proper staffing and equipping of NEMA would ensure more efficiency in delivering its mandates.

He said that the state governments should complement Federal Government’s efforts in the provision of working tools

such as vehicles. He said that the state government could also help in the training and retraining of NEMA personnel.

He said that 2013 was a busy year for the agency as it carried several activities to promote environmental safety and awareness.

“We have carried out a lot of activities in the zone. We have several sanitisation programmes on emergency management with National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

“The agency had a total of 29 sensitisation activities in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa,

Cross River and Akwa Ibom in collaboration with the NYSC group. We also held a total of 20 workshops in Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, cross River and Akwa Ibom.

“There were 27 reported incidents of fire outbreak in which NEMA intervened, while there were 35 flooding incidents, 30 wind storms and rainstorm incidents in the zone.

“There were 15 communities who report oil spillage to the agency, among other incidents reported to us. There may be other incidents, which were not reported to us or might

have been treated at local government levels or handled by the state fire services,” Umesi said.

He said that the number of disasters in the zone had reduced and urged members of the public to avoid actions that could trigger disasters. “We have not recorded any major incident this season after the December fire rush and we pray that this development will endure,” he said.

He assures that with the cooperation of state of governments and other stakeholders, NEMA would be more efficient in 2014.

assessments ADEDOYIN ADEWUMI

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he growing trend of disasters in Nigeria has implications for national sustainability.

This is because disasters, irrespective of the causal factors are associated with diverse externalities such as mortalities, loss of income, farmlands, infrastructure and livelihoods.

For a country like Nigeria, whose economy at best times has placed us in the rank of ‘growing thirdworld economy’, to face extra challenges in the way of natural disasters, it is imperative that the effect of disasters on the economy is assessed. Major natural disasters, like the flooding of 2012 can and do have severe negative short-run economic impacts, which overtime will have adverse longer-term consequences for economic growth, development and poverty reduction. Natural disasters with the wreckage they wrought end up putting pressure on the budget with both fiscal short-term impacts and wider long-term development implication as reallocation of resources is the primary fiscal response to disaster. Therefore, it necessitates a good look into.

In view of the foregoing therefore, a Post-Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery Framework (PDNA/RF) are necessity components towards mitigating the effect of the disaster as well as determine the scopes and planning against reoccurrence. Need Assessment and Recovery Framework comprise an approach to harmonize the assessment, analysis and prioritization of damages, losses and needs by a range of stakeholders which may include the United Nations agencies and programmes, the World Bank, donors, non-governmental organizations in support of the national government.

A PDNA is a government-led exercise, with integrated support from the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Bank and other national and international actors. A PDNA pulls together information into a single, consolidated report, information on the physical impacts of a disaster, the economic value of the damages and losses, the human impacts as experienced by the affected population, and the resulting early and longterm recovery needs and

priorities.

The Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani-Sidi has called for a broader assessment of the economic impact of natural disasters in the country. The Agency regretted that the limitations to such assessment restrict the level of information available to policy makers on the nature and scale of vulnerability of many economies to natural hazards.

Represented by the Assistant Director(Audit) of the agency, Edosamwan Osaze, at a workshop on Economic and financial Impacts of Natural Disasters-An Assessment and Options for Mitigation in Enugu, the NEMA chief noted that the cumulative consequences of disasters on a country’s development are often ignored, and thus, not made provisions for. He therefore urged that the economic and financial impact of natural disasters with emphasis on assessment and options for mitigation in relation to Disaster Risk Reduction and Management must be thoroughly examined.

The recurrent disasters have effects on the rate and pattern of development of any country, Nigeria not exempted. The long-term, cumulative consequences of disasters on a country’s development are more difficult to determine and are typically ignored, apart from speculative comments on possible detrimental effects. Yet, in reality, most disasters, being linked to atmospheric and hydrological processes, are recurrent, striking at infrequent intervals.

In all these, information is key, quality and reliable information is needed in making the assessment, as this will help in having a solid idea on how much effect natural disaster have on the growth and development of the nation. It is necessary that a full reassessment of the economic and financial impact of a major disaster should be made 18-24 months after the event that is then taken into account in reviewing the affected country’s short-term economic performance and assistance strategy.

Governments need appropriate risk management strategies for future disasters that includes making provisions for the occurrence of further disasters, including the broadening of the basis of funding.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

53

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54

Features

Crimes the world over are becoming increasingly sophisticated, as criminal gangs continue to employ hard- to- detect methods to carry out their nefarious activities. That is why many cities are beginning to improve their crime fighting infrastructure.

Muritala Ayinla, reports that the Lagos State Government recently installed 1,000 area surveillance cameras in the metropolis to safeguard lives and property.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Curbing crimes in Lagos

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hen the Lagos State Government announced the installation of the 1,000 Close Circuit Cameras Television, CCTV, in May 2012 in collaboration with the Federal Government, many Nigerians and especially, Lagosians thought it was another of the several white elephant project that governments in the country always embark upon.

Many had thought the project will not see light of the day. Some also believed that when installed, it would not yield the desired result. Other cynics were of the view that the cameras were mere decorations and publicity stunt for political consumption. According to them, the cameras are not capable of recording crime scenes, let alone ones perpetuated in densely populated areas. The speculations and assumptions were endless. Even when the state government through the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Fatayi Mabadeje had debunked speculations at the inefficiency of the cameras, many were still in doubthem since no one had publicly witnessed any of them in action.

But today, the story is different, with the public Security System Demonstration of the use of the 1,000 security surveillance cameras, in addition to the 200 CCTV cameras installed by the state government, Lagos residents can literarily go to bed with their eyes closed. Governor Babatunde Fashola had recently led other members of the cabinet to witness demonstration of the command and control of the emergency situation and crime surveillance, using a 27-screen video wall to monitor the city.

With this innovation, Lagos has joined other cities with computerised systems of security surveillance to secure lives and properties. This development has been described as commendable, especially with the insurgence of terrorists groups in some parts of the country.

Several robberies, including a recent one at the public car park of the Murtala Muhammed Airport,MMIA, Ikeja, where a gang successfully carted away huge sums of money from motorists

CCTV command and control room in Lagos

WE ARE IN A POSITION WHERE WE ARE NOW HAVE ONE CAMERA TO ABOUT

10 SQ KILOMETRES, SO WE ARE STILL FAR BEHIND CITIES SUCH AS

Close circuit cameras

and others were captured by the cameras. According to the government, the police were able to arrest some of the robbers from the live footage obtained from the cameras in the area.

During the presentation and demonstration, live feeds of going activities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Agege Motor Road, Oshodi and

Agboju Market were watched by the audience. The screen also has the capacity to zoom in on individuals, car plate numbers or any other object.

Speaking on the demonstration of the screen-video monitors, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs Nike Animashaun, explained that they can zoom and take photos of dis-

NEW YORK AND LONDON

tant objects.

She said in addition to relaying live feeds from various points in the state, the cameras can also take snapshots, in addition to making 360 degree turns to capture events simultaneously.

Commenting on the passion to ensure the security of lives and properties, Fashola, said that the government was planning to expand existing infrastructure with the deployment of additional 1,000 cameras to effectively cover the entire state to make it safe and secure.

He explained that the demonstration was a follow up to what was started some years ago, when a pilot scheme was set up in Lekki in 2008 with a single camera, saying it was a demonstration of government’s resolve to do something at improving the capability of its personnel to carry out their duties as far as the protection of lives and property is concerned.

He said: “Now we have moved from zero to about 1,200 camera state. How

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Features

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

55

with CCTV cameras

Camera monitoring traffic on a highway

significant that is, some numbers would show us. We are in a position where we are now have one camera to about 10 sq kilometres, so we are still far behind cities such as New York and London, where they range between 200 and 450 cameras per sq km, but we have moved from zero over 40 per sq km and we have reduced that distance significantly. How did we do it? We merged our cameras with those installed by the Federal Government, so we have taken all the feeds in here. We have moved from one small screen that you saw at Lekki to 27 screens that are collapsible in all forms to one big wall, and so on”.

The governor added that his vision for improved security in the state, started with the Security Trust Fund, that provided equipment, vehicles and staff and was followed by street signage to enable the police identify streets.

He said: “we followed that with house numbering, all of which are still workin-progress and we realise that now we can get police to move, but how do we call them? We moved from an 11 digit number to three digit number, 767 or 112 because we did not think people in trauma will remember an 11 digit number easily and how quickly you can contact the police or ambulance is the difference between what practitioners of disaster management call the golden hour.”

While stating the commitment of the government to continue to provide fuel for the 66 base stations of the 1, 200 CCTV cameras, Fashola reiterated that power would still be a critical component of the sustainability of the initiative. “At the moment, the state is powering at least 66 base stations with diesel and the costs could ordinarily have been saved and put to other uses, especially since they are recurrent cost on daily basis”, he said.

On his part, the Director, Computer Services in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Debola Omoboya, who took the audience through the emergency telephony, demonstrated four key services namely, the emergency telephony system, the video surveillance system, the video conferencing system and the e-police system.

At the event, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Adebiyi Mabadeje, said the state government has concluded arrangement to add another 1,000 security cameras to the existing ones to in order to fight crime to a standstill in the metropolis.

The 66 base-stations is based on CDMA technology, microwave links, normal telephony capacity, network with 3G data capabilities and existing cameras, while the telephony infrastructure has the capacity to take 100,000 subscribers.

He added that the government has concluded plans to purchase additional 10, 000 handsets for use by the police, RRS, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, ambulance, fire service, among others.

But commending the the initiative, residents appealed to the state government to avoid using the technology for selfish agenda. A senior lecturer at the Lagos State Polytechnic, Mrs Abiola Akinkungbe who expressed fear on the ability of the government to maintain such laudable infrastructure, charged it to ensure the infrastructure are not vandalised. Her words: “In this part of the world, we are not good at maintenance of infrastructure. We want to believe that is for good of the masses, as it will stem robberies, and other crimes in the state”, Akinkungbe said.

According to AbdulMutallib Abubakar, a post graduate student at the Uni-

Fashola

versity of Lagos, “it is a welcome development but I pray they will not abuse it by invading people’s privacy. If it will be used genuinely and sincerely for the protection lives and properties, it is good.

For instance, if they seek for information, they should let the information be analysed for the purpose of protecting the interest of the society but if they turn it into private issue where they will intimidate certain individuals because of political, religion and ethnic issues, it will not achieve the objectives, since such issues affect majority of Lagos citizens.

It would be recalled that Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point, point to mul-

tipoint, or mesh wireless links. Though almost all video cameras fit this definition, the term is most often applied to those used for surveillance in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations, and convenience stores. The first CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Germany in 1942, for observing the launch of V-2 rockets. The noted German engineer Walter Bruch was responsible for the technological design and installation of the system.

The earliest systems required constant monitoring because there was no way to record and store the information.

Recording systems would be introduced later, when primitive reel-to-reel media was used to preserve the data, where the magnetic tapes had to be changed manually. It was a time consuming, expensive and unreliable process; the operator had to manually thread the tape from the tape reel through the recorder to an empty take-up reel. Due to these efforts, video surveillance was rare. Only when VCR technology became available in the 1970s, which made it easy to record and erase information, did video surveillance start to become much more common.

There is strong anecdotal evidence that CCTV aids in detection and conviction of offenders; indeed UK police forces routinely seek CCTV recordings after crimes.

Moreover, CCTV has played a crucial role in tracing the movements of suspects or victims and is widely regarded by antiterrorist officers as a fundamental tool in tracking terrorist suspects. Large-scale CCTV installations have played a key part of the defences against terrorism since the 1970s. Cameras have also been installed on public transport in the hope of deterring crime and in mobile police surveillance vans, often with automatic number plate recognition, and a network of APNI-linked cameras is used to manage London’s congestion charging zone. Even so, there is political hostility to surveillance and several commentators downplay the evidence of CCTV’s effectiveness. However, most of these assertions are based on poor methodology or imperfect comparisons.

Opponents of CCTV point out the loss of privacy of the people under surveillance, and the negative impact of surveillance on civil liberties. Furthermore, they argue that CCTV displaces crime, rather than reducing it. Critics often dub CCTV as “Big Brother surveillance”, a reference to George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which featured a twoway telescreen in every home through which The Party would monitor the populace. Civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has published several research papers into CCTV systems. In December 2009, they released a report documenting council controlled CCTV cameras.

Proponents of CCTV cameras have argued that the cameras are not intruding into people’s privacy, as they are not surveilling private, but public space, where an individual’s right to privacy can reasonably be weighed against the intended benefits of surveillance.

WORLD RECORD

Longest concert by a solo artist Vol. 04 No. 775

N150

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The longest performance by a solo artist lasted 501 hours and was achieved

by Kuzhalmannam Ramakrishnan (India) at the Rhythm Therapy Hall, Nandavanam Hospital, Ottapalam, Kerala, India, on 5-26 July 2009.

The legal validity of Rivers Budget 2014 in perspective

O

n Monday 6th January 2014, the Rivers State House of Assembly met and sat at the Rivers State Government House Auditorium to receive the 2014 budget from the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi. And there after the state lawmakers approved the budget. The Appropriation Bill has since been signed into law by the Governor.

The fact that the House met outside its designated Chambers has resulted in a strident condemnation by the Rivers State’s branch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which concluded that the Assembly session was null and void. The PDP has even gone so far as to call on banks not to honour the cheques of the state government.

C

ote d’Ivoire midfielder, Yaya Toure, yesterday said he will decide whether to retire from international football after the Brazil 2014 World Cup. According to reports, Toure, who has been capped 82 times for his country, is determined to end his era in the national colours on

Guest Columnist

Itse

Sagay

In determining the legal nature and effect of the 6th January sitting of the Rivers State House of Assembly, certain issues must be taken into consideration.

First, sections 90 to 129 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which provide for the composition, powers and operation of a State House of Assembly, make absolutely no reference to the building or Chambers in which the Houses will function. The Constitution is concerned with the House as a body of legislators and not a House as a building made of brick and cement.

Second, although there is a designated House of Assembly Complex in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Police Command has made it physically impossible for the state legislators to meet there. This is in spite of a court ruling that the House was free and entitled to resume its legislative duties.

Every attempt by the lawmakers to resume their work in the State House of Assembly Complex has been violently repelled by the State Police Command under Commissioner of Police Joseph Mbu. Third, for there to be governance and economic activities in the state, the legislators must carry out their legislative duties.

And finally, before resorting to the use of the Government House Audito-

FOR THERE TO BE GOVERNANCE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN THE STATE, THE

LEGISLATORS MUST CARRY OUT THEIR

LEGISLATIVE DUTIES. rium for legislative activities, the Government of Rivers State first officially declared that Government House Auditorium as a temporary legislative venue and this declaration was formally gazetted.

In the light of the above factors, no one can in good faith challenge the legitimacy of the Rivers State House of Assembly sitting in the temporary venue. It is clear that the strategy of economic strangulation of Rivers State is the objective of those challenging the validity of the House 2014 Budget session.

It will be most futile for those who are hostile to the normal functioning of government in Rivers State to rely on the case of Adeleke v. Oyo State House of Assembly [2006] 52 WRN 22

to justify their stand. In that case, the Court of Appeal at Ibadan did not just declare the purported sitting of a rump of the Oyo State House of Assembly invalid, null and void merely because their sitting took place outside their designated Chambers. That sitting was declared null and void for far more than that, namely: ( i) It was held in a private hotel room. (ii) No principal officer (Speaker or Deputy Speaker) was present. (iii) The Clerk of the House was absent. (iv) The meeting was not plenary and open to all members, but was exclusive and held in an atmosphere of intimidation and violence. (v) The 18 members who participated in that ‘session’ were less than two-thirds of the 32 member House and therefore, did not meet the mandatory requirements of Section 188 of the 1999Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The above five factors were responsible for the invalidity of the Oyo State House of Assembly session in De Rovans Hotel, Ibadan. In the present case of Rivers State, the session took place in a Rivers State government facility, duly gazetted by the state government for that purpose; the Speaker of the House presided at the sitting; the Clerk of the House was present; the meeting was plenary, open to all members and free from intimidation and violence. Finally, 23 out of the 31 members (more than two-thirds of the House total membership) of the House were present at that session.

In the light of above, no one can question the validity and legitimacy of the Rivers State 2014 Budget session.

Professor Sagay, a distinguished legal scholar, human rights activist and practicing lawyer, wrote this piece from Lagos

Sport Extra

I may call time on national career–Toure a high.

“I will see what happens at the World Cup. It’s a very difficult decision and I want to do it at the right moment,” the reigning African Player of the Year said.

“I am thinking about it, but I

haven’t decided when it will happen.

“I want to leave with a good name, in a good moment. The generation of players we have has always been regarded as something special, so we all want to give

something good to remember.”

Toure, who has been influential for club and country, has interestingly missed a number of crucial games for the Manchester City due to his commitment to the national team.

Toure

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