Leadership 2

45

Saturday, January 24, 2015

TRAVELOGUE Lined with distinct Arabian architecture and narrow lanes, Bastakia, in Dubai is a symbol of the city’s old age structure that is worth exploring on any trip to the city of skyscrapers.

DESIRABLES

THE MUSTREADS AND LINGER-ONS

Eddie Murphy teases music career after reggae This isn’t Boogie in Your Butt or even Party All the Time. Rather, comedian-actor Eddie Murphy is jamming in the spirit of Bob Marley on the new reggae track Oh Jah Jah, which hit the web earlier this week and is set for a proper release on January 27 on iTunes via reggae label VP Records.

The song, which turned up on SoundCloud a few days ago, is getting mostly positive reviews. “JAH BLESS!!

RASTAFARI LIVES!!!,” writes SoundCloud user Sennid, while Teomon adds, “Ya Eddie. Sing de roots my bradda.” Another commenter, Sub-Tastic Production, writes, “This man is very talented, actor comedian musician!!! big vibes,” while Brandon Browning 210 gives Murphy the ultimate nod, even if he can’t get the spelling his first name quite right. “To think this is Eddy is amazing because he sounds just like our late great Bob Marley.”

This isn’t the first time Murphy, who hit No. 2 on the pop chart back in 1985 with Party All the Time, has dabbled in reggae. Murphy’s most recent single was in 2013, when he put out the reggae jam Red Light, featuring Snoop Dogg.

Murphy also laid down I Was a King, a joint with dancehall star Shabba Ranks, in 1993.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Murphy says he’s never stopped making music, he just hasn’t released much. ‘I’ve always had a facility for recording at the house. I’ve stayed in the studio for years and years,’ he says. ‘Twenty years ago there was a bunch of motherf--kers just putting records out that was actors. I didn’t want to be one of these motherf--kers dropping tracks on some ego shit, trying to be the actor-singer. It always looks weird when you see the actor singing in the video. You’re always gonna be like, ‘What the f--k is this?’ I didn’t want to be part of it.” Music is what I do when I’m not acting and not doing funny stuff. I’ve had bands since I was 15. Music has been part of my whole thing, it’s just that I got known for acting and being funny. I’m a funny dude, but when I’m not being funny, I’m in the studio. Some of my music stuff is funny. Some is really

Facts you did not know about Eddy Murphy

funny–satirical, parody. I do voices. My sense of humour is worked into my music. Jah Jah is my serious side. But when I do music I am not confined to one space. I can go in any direction and I get to express myself.

Still, Murphy might jump back into the music game and release his first solo album since 1993’s Love’s Alright. That album, which featured guests such as Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney as well as covers of the Beatles’ Good Day Sunshine and U2’s One, stalled on No. 80 on the Top R&B Albums chart, failed to crack the Billboard 200 and was generally panned by critics. All Music Guide’s Steven McDonald wrote, ‘Murphy has a very weak, thin voice that doesn’t improve with any of the periodic attempts to stretch his limited range (he goes resoundingly flat).’

If Murphy, who received accolades for his work on the 2006 movie musical Dream girls and its chart-topping soundtrack, does drop a full album, it won’t be a pure reggae collection. “I don’t have a reggae album,” he says. “But I got other reggae tunes, I’ve got R&B stuff, I got rock. I got one hip-hop track but I’m not rapping on it, Snoop is. I got 20 years

of collaborations with other musicians just on the shelf.”

But Murphy will only release an album if fans respond positively to “Oh Jah Jah.” “If people don’t, that s--t will just stay on the shelf where it’s at,” he tells Rolling Stone. “And I’m cool with that. I’m cool with all my shit being on the shelf until 100 years from now.”

Grammys, here he comes.

Eddie Murphy played soul singer James ‘Thunder’ Early in the hit film Dreamgirls. Now he’s releasing music for real.

His full name is Edward Regan Murphy.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 3, 1961 and grew up on Roosevelt, Long Island.

Has starred in over 39 movies (voiceovers included) and they have grossed $6.6bn worldwide.

Box-office takes from Murphy’s films make him the 4th-highest grossing actor in the United States He has a total of 8 children, 5 daughters and 3 sons.

Eddie Murphy has played multiple roles in 7 different movies.

His highest grossing film worldwide is Shrek 2 which grossed $919m 1998 (Mulan, Dr. Doolittle and Holy Man) and 2002 (Showtime, The Adventures of Pluto Nash and I Spy) are the only years he released more than 2 movies in the same calendar year.

Murphy has done 5 sequels (Beverly Hill Cop, Beverly Hill Cop II, Beverly Hill Cop III; Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After; Doctor Doolittle, Doctor Doolittle 2; The Nutty Professor, The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps; 48 Hrs and Another 48 Hrs).

The Alex Foley character in Beverly Hills Cop played by Murphy was originally supposed to be played by Sylvester Stallone.

Murphy is the only Saturday Night Live cast member to host the show whilst still a regular. This happened in 1984 when he stepped in for planned host Nick Nolte, who was ill.

46

Saturday, January 24, 2015

MiNDFUL

RANDOM

for the LeISUreLY-MINDeD & thoUGhtfUL

FACTS

Spain has the lowest age of consent for sexual activity in Europe at 13 years old. Both Malta and Turkey have the highest at 18.

LAST WEEK'S

CROSSWORD 1. Garret (5) 4. Communicative interaction (7) 7. Hassle (7) 8. Smithy's block (5) 9. Tooth (5) 10. Reaches out (7) 11. Pact (6) 13. Stategy (6) 17. Time off (7) 19. Stroll (5) 21. Rough (5) 22. Eight-sided polygon (7) 23. Imagined (7) 24. Watercourse (5)

WORDSEARCH BIG BOTTOM CARDBOARD CLOSED CONTENTS EMPTY ENDS FLAPS FULL HEAVY LARGE LIGHT OPEN RECTANGULER SIDES SMALL SQUARE TOP

SUDOKU CLASSIC Put each of the numbers 1-9 once in every row, column and 3x3 box

CROSSWORD

WORDSEARCH

WORDLADDER Can you climb the ladder and find the missing numbers?

?

155 ?

32 36 9

SUDOKUCLASSIC

12 4 6 3 See solution below

HOMEWORK FOR GROWN-UPS 1. Man first stepped foot on the moon in which year? a) 1967 b) 1968 c) 1969

5. Who was the first US President to resign while in office? a) Bill Clinton b) Richard Nixon c) George Washington

2. War broke out in Biafra in the 60s when it broke away from which country? a) Namibia b) Nicaragua c) Nigeria

6. Which Olympic Games were the scene of a terrorist attack by Palestinian guerrillas? a) Munich b) Beijing c) Athens

7. Which disaster took 3. In which country is place in Kobe, Japan in Passschendaele, located? 1995? a) Belgium a) Earthquake b) Brazil b) Tsunami c) Belarus c) Mudslide 4. Which breakaway Russian republic has Grozny as its capital? a) Kazakhstan b) Armenia c) Chechnya

8. What modern vehicle was invented to circumvent trench warfare? a) The Lorry b) The Car c) The Tank Answers

WORDLADDER SOLUTION

HOMEWORK

c) 1969 c) Nigeria a) Belgium c) Chechnya b) Richard Nixon a) Munich a) Earthquake c) The Tank

1. Try (7) 2. Supernatural creature (5) 3. Floorshow (7) 4. Mentally quick and resourceful (6) 5. Go forward (7) 6. Stories (5) 8. Pertinent (3) 12. Gourmet (7) 14. Disorderly (7) 15. Everlasting (7) 16. Unit of time (6) 17. Perspicuous (5) 18. Employ (3) 20. Start (5)

SOLUTIONS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

ACROSS

3(x2) =6(-2) =4(x3) =12(-3) =9(x4) =36(-4) =32(x5) =160(-5) =155(x6) =930

DOWN

47

Saturday, January 24, 2015

a la carte

98%

hOW tO ...

THE LOTS TO CHEW ON AND REGURGITATE

The percentage of energy consumed by central air conditioners than ceiling fans.

Learn a foreign language

50%

Percentage of water used in a home originates from the bathroom.

lady'S WORdS When a friend announces that he or she is getting a divorce or severing a longtime relationship.

She does not say: “Who’s having the affair?”

“Who’s getting the Lexus>’ “I know somebody who’s perfect for you.”

“I hope you take him to the cleaners.”

But she does say: “I’m sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?”

In such situations, the lady’s friend may feel sorely abused, and the last thing he or she may want is a dating service. A lady need not attempt to fix the problem; she need only demonstrate compassion and offer

a listening ear. If both parties in the breakup happen to be her friends, and if there seems to be no reason to lay blame at anyone’s doorstep, she makes a special effort to avoid taking sides.

When an acquaintance reveals to a lady that she and her current love interest met via the internet.

She does not say: “Be careful. I’ve heard horror stories about Internet love affairs.”

“Don’t tell too many people about this. They’ll think you are a loser.”

“Did the two of you have cybersex’ “Tell me you didn’t send him

your picture over the Internet.”

But she does say: “That’s interesting. Are the two of you having fun?”

Meeting via the Internet has come to seem no more curious than meeting on a blind date or through a personal ad in the newspaper. A lady might not think this is the wisest way to seek companionship, but she knows not to waste her breath giving warnings in regard to affairs of the heart.

change yOuR WORld Opt for the product with less packaging Generally, the two biggest environmental impacts of anything you buy particularly food is the distance it has had to get to you and the packaging it comes in. imported snacks are particularly guilty of being packaging-intensive and

over processed, so a good first step is to buy as local as possible. No farm stall or similar is going to waste time and effort individually wrapping their biscuits so you are likely to land up with something that is not only cheaper and better for you

but also nowhere near as wasteful. This all really comes home over December when you do not get your rubbish collected for a week. To see how much space in our bins we fill up with unnecessary boxes and packets is just astonishing.

Save up for what you want So much of our needless consumption is driven by the ease of credit access.

Psychologists have shown that even sophisticated consumers will spend more when using a credit card than when using

cash. We have a very poor grasp of the concept of debt, seeing it as free money. The silly thing is that you would really only need to save money for a year or two to switch around the cycle of debt. By delaying your next car

purchase by 18 months, but starting repayments on that car into an investment account now, you achieve a number of mental tricks. You will be way more price-aware because it is your money.

laugh–Out–lOud Shrink rap

The psychiatrist was interviewing a first time patient. “You say you are here,” he inquired, “because your family is worried about your taste in socks?”“That’s correct,” muttered the patient. “I like wool socks.”“But that’s perfectly normal,” replied the doctor.

“Many people prefer wool socks to those made from cotton or acrylic. In fact, I myself like wool socks.”“You do?” exclaimed the man. “With oil and vinegar or just a squeeze of lemon?”

exclaimed the first. “My son, that wonderful boy, threw me a big party in a fancy restaurant. He even paid for plane tickets for my friends.”“That’s very nice, but listen to this,” said the second.

“Last winter, my son gave me an all expense cruise to the Greek islands. First class.”“That’s nothing!” interrupted the third.

“For five years now, my son has been paying a psychiatrist $150 an hour, three times a week. And the whole time he talks about nothing but me.”

Three women started boasting about their sons. “What a birthday I had last year!”

An unhappy man told his friend that he was seeing a psychiatrist

about his marital problems. The shrink told him that his wife probably didn’t mean the cruel things she was saying about him. “My doctor said I have a persecution complex,” the patient told his friend. “Really?

And what do you think?” the friend asked. “That’s what I expected he would say,” the man replied. “The guy hates me.”

John, having completed a course of analysis with his psychiatrist, to friend: “I always thought I was indecisive.” Friend: “and now?” john: “I’m not so sure.”

Conversation is what language is for Ninety-nine percent of the utility and the joy of languages is for face-to-face exchange of ideas, opinions, and emotions. Learning to speak a language is like learning a sport – it is a skill, not just an accumulation of knowledge and sterile facts.

Intellectual intercourse is the most valued driver of language mastery. When you speak a new language, you will feel the excitement of communicating.

Language is just one dimension of communication Do not sweat the little stuff. You know a lot about communication that supersedes components of language. Smile, point, gesture, mimic, and use the many means you use when speaking in your own language to communicate what you mean. All this will help you get your message across even if your usage is not perfect. The more you practice, the better you will get.

Your new language is not so different Look at and understand similarities between your native tongue and the one you wish to learn. If the new language uses the Roman alphabet, you are halfway to learning it. Most languages have parts of speech like subjects, verbs, objects, preposition, adjectives, and adverbs. Learn the basic order of these words in common statements and questions, and you will be able to guess a lot by deductive reasoning.

Recognise loan words and cognates Loan words are increasingly common in our modern world of mass communication and international travel. Words like rendezvous, parking, train, beer, coffee, okay, e-mail, amour and hundreds of others are understood by urban dwellers around the world, and these words can give you a leap forward with your new language.

Talk to a friend Make friends with someone who speaks the new language as their mother tongue. Try to find some common interest you can speak passionately about in English. Then try to express your knowledge and enthusiasm in your new language. You can develop a whole new persona in your new language.

Learn something every day Make a conscious effort to learn new vocabulary every day. Routinize the time when you learn. Tearoff calendars with a phrase of the day, text messages are convenient ways to be certain you get your daily dose. Your confidence will grow as you increase your vocabulary in your new language.

Use it or lose it Make opportunities to use your language every day: interpret for a visitor, help someone who looks lost, and make friends in your workplace or profession with someone who speaks the language. Once you have become conversant in a language you will never totally forget it, but, like other skills, to be on top of your game you must practice every day and be driven to improve.

Go to the country and live Go to a country where your new language is spoken and your motivation and fluency will double. Most people will be flattered when you try to speak their language – you will be perceived as respectful and sensitive. Your efforts will be rewarded as people and their culture open up to you. Your warm reception will provide exciting insights and experiences that your English speaking persona would never enjoy.

48

Saturday, January 24, 2015

BONUSPACK $7 1,110 kmh million

THE TAKE-AWAYS THIS WEEK

KEEPSAKES

FASTFORWARD

Top speed of Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s skydive recorded in 2012.

MoSt VIeWed YoUtUBe ChAnneLS CoUntrY

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

United States Sweden United States Great Britain Great Britain United States Netherlands Russia United States United States United States United States United States United States United States United States Great Britain Russia United States United States Spain United States United States Thailand United States India United States Great Britain India United States Ireland United United States Great Britain United States United States United States United States India United States United States Great Britain United States United States United States Chile Thailand Spain United States Spain United States United States United States United States United States United States United States Russia United States United States Great Britain United States Great Britain United States United States Russia Russia Spain United States Puerto Rico India United States El Salvador Spain United States Grate Britain United States United States Japan United States United States South Korea United States United States United States United States Australia United States United States United States

DisneyCollectorBR PewDiePie TaylorSwiftVEVO Views littlebabybum stampylonghead movieclipsTRAILERS SpinninRec getmovies ArianaGrandeVevo BuzzFeedVideo blucollection WWEFanNation MeghanTrainorVEVO DisneyCarToys popularmmos KatyPerryVEVO TheDiamondMinecart mashamedvedtv VanossGaming WatchMojo vegetta777 markiplierGAME EnriqueIglesiasVEVO gmmgrammyofficial BuzzFeedYellow tseries MaterCarClub OneDirectionVEVO TheChuChuTV latenight jacksepticeye ItsBabyBigMouth davidguettavevo SevenSuperGirls NickiMinajAtVEVO SurpriseToys beyonceVEVO TheEllenShow zeetv CalvinHarrisVEVO EminemVEVO EdSheeran mothergooseclub PitbullVEVO shakiraVEVO juegagerman TheVoiceThailand elrubiusOMG RihannaVEVO unboxingsurpriseegg toysandfunnykids Maroon5VEVO rhettandlink2 RomeoSantosVEVO iggyazaleamusicVEVO PTXofficial BartBaKer luntik TheFineBros SamSmithWorldVEVO ianrphillips SelenaGomezVEVO JessieJVEVO ERB SuperSimpleSongs barboskinyonline teremoktv TheWillyrex IGNentertainment nickyjamtv cybervillagesolution smosh fernanfloo rsiammusic NBCTheVoice WaltDisneyStudiosUK DisneyChannelLA collegehumor potemi926 JustinBieberVEVO Just4fun290 officialpsy HobbyKidsTV enchufetv TheEngineeringFamily AtlanticVideos FluffyJetProductions JimmyKimmelLive SiaVEVO ChrisbrownVEVO

please cut along this line and keep

SEEN & OVERHEARD Politics Solutions are not the answers.

RICHARD M. NIXON

A week is a long time in politics, and three weeks is twice as long.

ROSIE BARNES

I went up the greasy pole of politics step by step.

MICHAEL HESELTINE

You can’t argue with that Therapy can be a good thing; it can be therapeutic.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ please cut along this line and keep

ChAnneL

We were unanimous - in fact, everybody was unanimous.

ERIC HEFFER

When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and the killing in Los Angeles, my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame.

DAN QUAYLE

Countries - general I guess Canada’s not that bad.

Their beer has twice the amount of alcohol as ours does and they’ve got a pot leaf on their flag.

JOY TURNER

Venezuela, that’s the Italian city with the guys in the boats, right?

MURAD MUHAMMAD

I love the Australian flag : Britain at night.

JERRY SEINFELD

War and peace You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath underseas and under fire.

GEORGE W. BUSH

And a year from now, I’ll be very suprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad named after President Bush.

RICHARD N. PERLE

US planes have the capability to penetrate deep into Soviet soil.

GENERAL ROGERS

JUST UNBELIEVABLE Amount of money that was paid to actor, Brad Pitt for being the face of Chanel's perfume, Chanel No. 5 in 2012.

ENGLISH PHRASES Finger

Be all fingers and (all) thumbs To be clumsy or awkward in handling something delicate or intricate. Martin Cruz Smith is a dab hand at beginnings, as readers of Gorky Park will remember; but he tends to fumble his middle sections, and by the time the climax arrives he’s all fingers and thumbs.

Burn one’s finger/get one’s fingers burned/burnt To suffer as a result of one’s own illadvised efforts or enterprise. How kind soeuer she might be to him in private, had he offered to touch her publikely, that touch had burnt his fingers.

Give somebody the finger To raise one’s middle finger as an offensive gesture of contempt or irritation.

Not lay a finger on somebody To avoid hurting or interfering with somebody.

Not lift/move/stir a finger To avoid making the slightest effort to help.

Point the finger To make a direct accusation against a specific individual or organisation.

Put/lay one’s finger on something To identify the main point or cause of a problem or issue. When ... I came to consider Euripides more nearly, many points arose which gave me pause and made me slow to degrade from primary rank a poet who has won such praise: and the chief of them was this, that I think I may venture to say that I have put my finger on a definite source and origin of his poetry.

Put the finger on somebody To inform on a wrongdoer. We’ve got to get out of here ... Somebody could have put the finger on us.

Snap one’s finger To make a sharp clicking sound with the fingers, especially in order to demand instant attention.

Twist/wind/wrap somebody round/ around one’s little finger To be easily able to get what one wants. I see nothing against it but the father or the girl taking a tantrum, and I am told the mother can wind them both round her little finger. Take care not to affront her with any of your Jacobite jargon.

Work one’s finger to the bone To become worn out with hard manual or domestic work. I could have made a pleasure of the greatest toil, and worked my fingers to the bone, with joy, to have supported him.

SPORTS 49

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Esperance Unveil Eduok Former African champions, Esperance Sportive de Tunis have unveiled their new Nigerian signing, Emem Eduok.

After settling disputes surrounding his transfer, the former Dolphins forward has been unveiled by the Tunisian based outfit Eduok had been locked in a saga following claims by a Norwegian outfit, Sarpsoborg 08 that the Nigerian already had a pre-contract agreement with them and threatened to report the case to the world

football governing body for a contravene.

He was unveiled alongside new signings Hatem Bejaoui and Magno Cruz. Eduok’s contract whose contract spans till June 30, 2018 has been handed jersey number 21.

“I’m here to help him win the Champions League and national titles. I would do my best to achieve these goals,” Eduok said at during the unveiling ceremony.

It will be recalled that Nigeria Football Federation

Eduok

president, Amaju Pinnick in the thick of the storm ordered Eduok out of the Super Eagles camp to avoid distraction with chairman of Technical and Development Committee, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu asked to conduct an investigation into the matter.

Ogunjobi Advises Oshoala To Go Back To School Former Secretary-General of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF and erstwhile chairman of the body’s technical committee, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, has advised newly crowned African Queen of the Year, Asisat Oshoala, to return to school for her to be academically equipped for the future.

The chairman, Prime Football Club, opined that he was shocked when he found out that the Rivers Angels goal-poacher is a Secondary School (SS2) drop-out.

“I was shocked the day I heard Asisat Oshoala is a drop-out de-

spite her level of intelligence,” Pillar of Sports in State of Osun said.

Ogunjobi, in what he termed a fatherly advice, said now that the ovation is loud, she should return to school and further her education.

“Education is important, football is temporary and if you don’t leave football, football will leave you one day. I played football to the highest level (Green Eagles) but education was what I fell back on after my active football career.

“We live in a society where the

ability of an individual to be successful depends largely on their education. I am using this medium to appeal to Asisat Oshoala to return to school so as to get her future properly secured.”

Oshoala whose dream was to become a lawyer, incurred the wrath of her parents when she dropped out of school to pursue a football career.

Meanwhile, the former sole administrator of Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan had congratulated Oshoala for emerging as the African Queen and Young Player of the year 2014.

Oshoala

Nigerian Media Makes NPFL Inferior – Irabor

Juventus Win Mutu Compensation Appeal

Chairman of the League Management Company, Nduka Irabor, has accused the media of making the local football leagues inferior to the English Premier League and others in Europe, despite its quality of talents.

The LMC boss faulted the Nigerian press for the “unnecessary hype” of foreign leagues over the domestic league and urged journalists to report more activities of the NPFL. Irabor said the increasing hype in reportage of foreign football leagues has relegated the domestic league to the back seat just as he also lamented the huge investment accrued from watching leagues in Europe at the expense of the local leagues.

He, however, urged journalists in the country to give more attention to reporting the activities in the domestic leagues and help boost the return of football fans to the stadiums.

“We spend too much time talking about the EPL and other foreign leagues. Talk about the Nigeria leagues. We want the media to join us in this because our players are good,” Irabor told media.

“We sit back in Lagos behind your mic and desk and talk about foreign leagues. We play the impression as if it’s not the English Premier League we used to see.

“There is so much happening in

Juventus have won an appeal that means they will not have to pay compensation to Chelsea for former striker Adrian Mutu.

The Serie A champions have successfully appealed a ruling that ordered them to pay a portion of the €18 million the player owed Chelsea in 2004.

The Romanian attacker had his contract cancelled by the Blues in 2004 after testing positive for cocaine and was subsequently hit with a seven-month ban.

Mutu signed for Serie A champions Juventus upon his return to action - via Livorno, who acted as an intermediary in the deal.

Chelsea subsequently sought €14 million in compensation, which they were granted by a Fifa dispute panel following a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Mutu was ordered to pay the bulk of the sum, but Juve were also told they had to contribute a portion of that figure after he joined the club. The decision was immediately appealed and Juve have now stated that their claim has been upheld.

“Juventus announce that the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has notified us of the decision made by the arbitrators

Irabor

the domestic league. Talk about it and see how many fans will come back to the stadium.

“You know how much Nigerians pay for EPL. Bring that money into the domestic league and see if we will not transform it,” he concluded.

The LMC will no doubt expect an improved media promotion in the activities of the league during the Super Four pre-season tournament scheduled to hold from January 24 to February 4

in Abuja.

The 2015 Super Four competition will feature reigning champions Enyimba, league title holders Kano Pillars, Warri Wolves and Dolphins alongside invited U20 and U23 national teams.

The annual round-robin event is expected to serve as a preparatory tournament for league clubs and national team sides participating in continental competitions and championships respectively.

Mutu

in the dispute that pitted Chelsea against Juventus regarding the signing of Adrian Mutu,” a statement from Juventus read.

“The arbitrators have completely dismissed the demands made by Chelsea, ordering them [Chelsea] to pay the legal costs of the case.

“This ruling has no effect on the financial balance of Juventus because the club, fully aware of being in the right, chose not to allow for any risk in funds over the developing litigation.”

Mutu was later sold by Juve to side Fiorentina for a fee reported to be in the region of €6millon.

50 SPORTS

Saturday, January 24, 2015

AFCON 2015: January 17 - February 8

Gervinho Out Of Ivory Coast Group Games Gervinho has been handed a two-game ban following his sending off in the 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations draw with Guinea in Malabo on Tuesday.

The former Arsenal man was shown a straight red card in the second half of the Group D game for hitting out at Guinea’s Naby Keita.

The suspension means the 27-year-old will miss the Elephants’ remaining group games

against Mali and Cameroon, and will only feature again in the competition if his side reach the quarter-finals.

The Roma forward took to Twitter on Wednesday to say: “I would like to apologise to the Ivorian nation, to my teammates, to the supporters and to the organisers of the CAN for this angry gesture which is totally out of character and evidently has no place on a football pitch.”

Police trying to control fans before the game.

Fans Clash With Police Before Equatorial Guinea Match

Gervinho

Congo Win First AFCON Match Congo Brazzaville won their first game at an Africa Cup of Nations finals since 1974, beating Gabon to move top of Group A. The Gabonese enjoyed the better of the first half but fell behind after 48 minutes when Prince Oniangue stabbed the Red Devils in front from a corner.

Charlton Athletic’s Frederic Bulot, who had a fine early volley saved, wasted Gabon’s best chance, missing an open goal midway through the second half.

A draw against Burkina Faso on Sunday would take Congo to the quarter-finals.

Whoever wins between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in Bata on Sunday will also qualify for the last eight.

Gabon dominated the early exchanges, playing with confidence after their 2-0 win over Burkina Faso on Saturday.

Just four minutes in, Bulot tested Congo goalkeeper Christoffer

Mafoumbi with a blistering volley from the edge of the box, after Malick Evouna teed him up at the end of a fine move.

Fifteen minutes later, Evouna was played in by the influential Levy Madinda and was unlucky to see his effort hit Maffoumbi before ricocheting off Congo defender Dimitri Bissiki and rolling inches wide.

All eyes may have been on Gabon’s Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but as he struggled from a wide position, Madinda grabbed the limelight and the bustling midfielder almost gave the Panthers the lead.

Neatly flicking the ball over the head of one defender inside the box, he dragged wide just ahead of the break. Congo were barely in the game but the half-time team talk delivered by veteran Frenchman Claude LeRoy, coaching at his eighth Nations Cup, galvanised a side contesting its first Nations Cup finals since 2000.

Supporters and police clashed before host nation Equatorial Guinea’s second game at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Fans threw stones and bottles outside the stadium in Bata, with police responding by firing smoke grenades.

The violence, involving hundreds of fans, occurred as supporters were trying to enter the ground through a single entrance before the match against

Burkina Faso began.

Some supporters reportedly did not have tickets for the game, which ended 0-0.

Fans have faced delays getting into other venues being used in the tournament, with two group matches played back-to-back at a single stadium each night.

Riot police and fans also scuffled before the first games in the city of Ebebiyin on Sunday.

Equatorial Guinea are hosting the tournament after Morocco’s request to postpone the event because of the possible spread of Ebola was rejected by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in November.

Supporters have their temperatures checked and are then asked to clean their hands with sanitising gel as they enter stadiums, which is also resulting in long queues.

Coetzee’s Return Excites Bafana South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba has been handed a big boost following the news Rivaldo Coetzee could still feature at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Ajax Cape Town teenager needed to be stretchered off with a knee injury during Bafana Bafana’s Group C opener against Algeria, which ended 3-1 to the Fennec Foxes.

Mashaba initially suggested the 18-year-old’s tournament was over, but team doctor Thulani Ngwenya believes the centre-back could still feature for the side, although he will definitely miss

Friday’s second round of fixtures against Senegal.

“He will not be able to play in the next match but we’ve not ruled him out of the tournament,” Ngwenya said.

There had also been suggestions Mashaba had rushed Coetzee back from a previous injury too soon, but Ngwenya says the two knocks are completely separate.

“He was fully fit to play.

This is a completely different injury. He had a problem on side of his left knee but the medical team passed him fit. This new injury is on the right hand side,” the doctor said.

Coetzee

SPORTS 51

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Real Announce Odegaard Deal Real Madrid have won the race to sign Norwegian teenager Martin Odegaard, subject to a successful medical at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The 16-year-old is strongly tipped as one of the hottest rising stars in world football, where he has already earned an international cap for his country.

Madrid have since agreed a deal with Stromsgodset for the midfielder, who will undergo medical and fitness tests in Madrid on Thursday.

Odegaard had been heavily linked with numerous other European clubs, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and

Odegaard

Manchester giants United and City, but in the end opted to choose the Galacticos, whom he watched during a Copa del Rey encounter earlier in January.

City Sweat On Lampard Fitness Manchester City are anxiously awaiting news on Frank Lampard after injury forced the midfielder off in the 2-0 win over Hamburg on Wednesday.

Manuel Pellegrini’s squad are currently in the United Arab Emirates on a warm weather training camp, where they faced the Bundesliga club in a friendly in Abu Dhabi.

Lampard only managed 20 minutes of his side’s 2-0 win, secured by goals from Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko, with City confirming later in the evening that the 36-year-old picked up an injury during the warmup, which led to his early with-

drawal.

The Citizens announced on Twitter: “LAMPARD UPDATE: Pellegrini confirms Lampard was injured in the warm up and taken off as a precaution.”

Pellegrini can ill afford to lose the former Chelsea stalwart as he is already without talisman Yaya Toure, who is leading Ivory Coast’s charge at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Samir Nasri has been sidelined for a month with a calf strain.

The Premier League champions returned home on Friday to begin preparations for the FA Cup fourth-round clash with Middlesbrough today.

Lampard

Klitschko To Fight Jennings In New York World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has announced his first fight in the United States for seven years.

The 38-year-old Ukrainian will defend his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO belts against unbeaten 30-year-old Bryant Jennings at Madison Square Garden on 25 April.

The bout will be Klitschko’s first fight since November, when he knocked out Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev.

Klitschko said: “It will be a tough

challenge but I am especially happy to be fighting in New York again.”

Jennings has won all of his 19 fights, 10 by knockout.

Klitschko has 63 career wins, with three losses - his last loss coming against Lamon Brewster 11 years ago - and he has been world champion for nine years, two fewer than American great Joe Louis who holds the record.

Deontay Wilder holds the WBC world title belt after he beat Canadian Bermane Stiverne on points in Las Vegas.

Barcelona Slump To 4th In Football Money League

Barcelona are no longer one of the three highest-earning clubs in the world, having plummeted down the Deloitte Football Money League in 2013-14.

The Catalans have fallen significantly in Deloitte’s annual list, with their drop in fortunes on the pitch mirrored on the balance sheet.

The annual revenue list, topped for an incredible 10th straight year by Real Madrid, shows Barcelona have fallen behind Manchester United and Bayern Munich into fourth place after recording only a €2 million increase in receipts on 2012-13 – the smallest gain among the top 10 clubs.

The blow comes despite the high-profile signing of Brazilian superstar Neymar in the summer of 2013, with commercial revenue having fallen by two per cent over the last two full seasons.

The slump also coincides with a period during which the club was at the centre of a scandal which saw the resignation as president

of Sandro Rosell.

Austin Houlihan, senior manager at Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, told Goal that the drop is a natural response to their relative lack of success in recent times.

“Barcelona is an interesting one insomuch as their revenue growth, when comparing 2013-14 to the previous year, isn’t as great as some of the other clubs around them,” said Houlihan.

“But really that is a consequence of the previous couple of years prior to the period we’re talking about being unprecedented in terms of on-pitch success.

“That on-pitch success they had three or four years ago drove exceptionally high revenue so it’s natural that not being quite as successful on the pitch has driven a slightly lower level of growth.”

The Catalans’ arch-rivals Real Madrid charted highest in the revenue table for a 10th successive year in the same season that saw them lift a 10th European title.

Their total revenue grew by 6%

Bartomeu, FC Barcelona President

on the previous year to €549.5m, but their gains were not nearly as impressive as those of Manchester United, who recorded a 24% hike on their 2012-13 figure to leapfrog both Bayern Munich and Barcelona into second place.

And while Madrid’s reign is likely to extend an 11th season next year, Houlihan says their untouchable streak as football’s rich kids could come to a halt before long.

Froch May Vacate IBF SuperMiddleweight World Title – Hearn Carl Froch may still relinquish one of his world titles if he does not retire. The WBA and IBF super-middleweight champion has admitted he is “wavering” as to whether he will fight on after an elbow injury forced him to pull out of a bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Froch, 37, can vacate his IBF belt, ask for an extension to the deadline of 31 January, or set a date for a new fight.

But Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn has ruled out a fight with mandatory IBF challenger James DeGale for now.

“Carl doesn’t want to obstruct James but that is not a fight that excites Carl yet,” Hearn told BBC Radio Nottingham.

“It may mean vacating the IBF belt and just holding the WBA belt to defend that. But belts aren’t overly important to Carl right now. It is more about the fights.”

Nottingham fighter Froch last fought in May when he beat George Groves in a rematch at Wembley.

Hearn said another big allBritish bout is possible in the future.

“It’s a fight a lot of people would like and James is a brilliant young fighter,” Hearn said.

“Carl doesn’t want to stand

Froch

in James DeGale’s way. James is in a position to fight for the IBF title and I think he should fight for that title in the spring.

“And then you never know.

Maybe in the summer Froch-

DeGale for the unification is a huge fight in itself.”

Froch, nicknamed the Cobra, has lost just two of his 35 fights, with 24 of his 33 wins coming by way of knockout.

52 SPORTS

Saturday, January 24, 2015

AFCON: Gyan Salvages Ghana Campaign Group C in the ongoing 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea has been blown wide open following the Black Stars of Ghana’s last minute victory over Algeria at Estadio de Mongomo yesterday.

Asamoah Gyan who returned to the team after a minor bout of malaria, scored the only goal of the match in injury time to hand Ghana all three maximum points. The result means Ghana are on three equal points with Algeria.

The Black Stars made two changes from their 2-1 loss to Senegal, the most notable of which saw Asamoah Gyan return up-front, necessitating a switch to a more traditional 4-42 formation.

The Fennec Foxes made three changes to the team that beat South Africa 3-1, with Madjid Bougherra replacing Rafik Halliche in defence while attackers Saphir Taider and Ishak Belfodil were drafted into the line-up.

Algeria started the stronger of the two teams, with their short passing and intelligent movement off the ball leaving Ghana struggling to win possession for a long time.

Ghana started the second half with their attack looking much livelier. At the 52nd minute, right-back Harrison Afful provided a fine cross from the right that found the head of Gyan but the striker’s glancing effort went wide.

The West Africans continued

to look the likelier scorers as the second half progressed, though Algeria were dangerous on the counter attack. They proved this in the 66th minute with a chance for Bentaleb that the midfielder fired wide off the post. The match seemed destined to end in a stalemate but in the second minute of injury time, a hopeful long ball out of Ghana’s defence saw Gyan beat Carl Medjani for pace and shoot across the goalkeeper, Rais Mbolhi to net the winning goal.

Gyan

Kano Pillars Tackle Dolphins As Super Six Kicks Off Today

By Salifu UsmanL, Abuja

The much awaited Glo Premier League pre-season tournament tagged ‘Super Six’ kicks-off this weekend at the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium with the Nigeria champions, Kano Pillars and Dolphins of Port Harcourt set for the opening cracker.

The event, which will serve as dress rehearsal for Nigerian clubs going for continental competitions is put together by the League Management Company (LMC). Apart from Pillars and Dolphins, other participating teams are defending champions, Enyimba, Warri Wolves, as well as the U-23 and U-20 national teams.

The competition is aimed at helping the continental campaigners and the national teams

who have crucial qualifiers ahead to do the nation proud in their respective campaign. But the Abuja soccer fans and teeming supporters of the participating teams would not miss the value of their times as all the teams will bring to bear their soccer skills and strengths with the hope of emerging victorious at the end of the week-long soccer fiesta.

Coach Samson Siasia-led Dream Team V1 (U-23) are bookmakers favourites to stake a claim to the title because of their tactical and physically fitness to deal with any challenge.

The U-20 squad, the Flying Eagles, who stormed Abuja on Thursday from Kaduna for the tournament, are seen as the best Nigeria’s national team ever assembled. They are well motivated and ready to upset their bigger

opponents in this competition if they can defend well and maintain their tactical discipline. They have been in camp for a very long time and have the arsenal to be contenders.

League champions, Kano Pillars are perhaps, one of the strongest sides in the tournament. The team has in their arsenal a mixture of experienced and young talents recruited for the 2015 CAF Champions League and premier league campaigns and this could be a perfect opportunity for them to signal their readiness for the task ahead.

Last year winner, Enyimba International of Aba will be led by the indomitable Chinedu Udoji on the pitch and Kadiri Ikhana in the technical box. On their part, Warri Wolves have a big hole to

Australian Open: Federer Toppled As Nadal, Sharapova Win Rafael Nadal restored a semblance of order to the Australian Open yesterday after Italian Andreas Seppi sent shockwaves toppled Roger Federer in one of the greatest Melbourne Park upsets in recent times.

Under the lights of Rod Laver Arena, third seed Nadal charged into the fourth round with the demolition of Dudi Sela, all but banishing memories of his painful fivesetter against Tim Smyczek two days before. Federer, a four-time Australian Open winner, faces a more lasting agony after his 11-year run to the Melbourne semifinals was sensationally ended on his centre court domain.

A 30-year-old battler on a 23-match losing streak against top10 opponents, 46th-ranked Seppi scrapped like a street fighter to triumph 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 7-6(5), notching his first win against the Swiss master at the 11th attempt. With the terraces shrieking through the decisive tiebreaker, Seppi was superb in the nerve-jangling clinches, and the lunging forehand passing shot that sealed his finest win will feature on highlight reels for years to come.

Kano Pillars and Dolphins players exchange pleasantaries during match

fill with the exit of Gbolahan Salami. It remains to be seen how they perform but they need to be at their best to do well.

Dolphins are traditional-

Egwuekwe Joins Israeli Club Super Eagles defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, has joined Israeli club, Hapoel Tel Aviv. The lanky defender signed with the Israeli club yesterday after he completed his medical tests.

The former Warri Wolves defender is joining the Red Demons for an undisclosed fee.

“Nigerian Egwuekwe Azubuike landed in the morning in Israel and signed after passing med-

Federer

“It was for sure one of the important shots of my life,” the unshaven Italian told reporters. Against Roger, I never went close. I never had the chance. To have this win in my career, it’s for sure something big.”

Having lived dangerously against Italian Simone Bolelli in the previous round, second seed Federer revealed dark premonitions had circled his mind as early as Thursday.

“I felt for some reason yesterday and this morning it was not going to be very simple today. Even in practice I still felt the same way. I was just hoping it was one of those feelings you sometimes have and it’s totally not true and you just come out

and you play a routine match. Yeah, it was a mistake, he said.

In the women category, it was Maria Sharapova’s turn for nailbiting on the sidelines as the young Bulgarian contender was dragged into a five-set dog-fight by Marcos Baghdatis.

The big-hearted Cypriot, a famous finalist in 2006, got massive support from Melbourne’s ethnic Greek fans on Showcourt Three but lost the battle of fitness 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Federer’s loss tore open the bottom half of the draw, opening the door for ‘Big Four’ contenders and upstarts like Dimitrov.

ly strong on teamwork and if they can keep their discipline in their first two games, they have a chance of winning the tournament.

Egwuekwe

ical tests earlier this week,” the official website of Hapoel Tel Aviv announced with an accompanying picture of Egwuekwe in the club shirt.

Earlier this week, reports had suggested that the outgoing Warri Wolves captain and defender was set to join English club, West Ham United having made a trip to London. He was also linked to English Championship side, Watford.

feature 53

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Suleja main drainage line

Suleja Residents Cry Out As Major Drainage Line Emits Strong Stench The lack of proper waste management in Suleja, Niger State has become a big environmental challenge to residents of the ancient town. AGBO-PAUL AUGUSTINE took a tour of the major drainage line converted to a dump site and reports on its impact on the people.

I

n a filthy environment full of wastes, the major drainage line in Suleja, Niger State is not only an eyesore but also emits a toxic smell that impairs breathing for any new visitor to the sprawling site. Improper waste collection has turned the major drainage line into an ugly dump site for Niger State’s second most populous city.

“My mother sent me to dump refuse here and this is where I have been dumping our house refuse for long. We used to pour trash into running water during the rainy season but now that there is no rain we just pour it inside like that and leave it,” says Abubakar Haladu, 13, a resident of Suleja who was seen emptying a waste basket into the major drainage line of Suleja.

While Haladu was doing his duty at the site, the almost permeable foul smell emanating from the drainage line did not stop Salifu Katara and his friends from scrounging for recyclables from the trenches. While other children simply mill around the area, others use the pavement of the drainage as a spot for passing faeces in broad daylight.

“I am used to the smell because I come here everyday to look for items I can sell for recycling,” says Katara.

Ali Hassan, who is just five years old, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that his parents directed him to use the drainage as a toilet because the one at home had been inoperative for months. “My parents asked me to be using this place whenever I felt pressed and they also use the place at night,” he said.

The drainage line that stretches to hundreds of meters cuts through the city of Suleja and was constructed to help save residents from the devastation of floods that hitherto made life difficult for most residents. Today, that noble effort by the World Bank and the state government has sadly been converted into a huge dump site by residents.

When LEADERSHIP Weekend contacted some of the residents along the drainage line, they complained that disposing of waste in Suleja is frustrating, thereby forcing them to dump their waste into the drainage as they do not have a better alternative.

Micheal Uche, who has a shop close to the drainage line, said the situation was unbearable. “The people in this area decided to make life difficult for us here, the smell is too heavy for us and the situation is getting bad every day,” he lamented.

A resident of the area, Suleiman Bologi, said the authorities in Sule-

ja only pick up waste from major streets leaving the interior residents to manage their waste.

“The people managing waste in Suleja only care about those living close to the road, ignoring those living behind and that is why we have resorted to dumping waste into the drainage,” he said.

“We often lock our windows as the stench from the drainage is unfriendly. I can tell that many people have been falling sick in this area due to toxins inhaled from the drainage and the worst is that some toilets and bathrooms are connected to the drainage, making it hazardous to humans,” said Haruna Abdullahi, a resident.

LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that people living along the drainage line in the first few weeks of every rainy season mostly live in fear as months of accumulated refuse put all houses at the risk of being flooded.

“Yes we know the health risks and the danger of flooding too, but we have no choice than to put it there. Government vehicles don’t reach our place and we can’t keep refuse in our homes,” another resident lamented.

When LEADERSHIP Weekend contacted the sanitation unit of Suleja Primary Healthcare Centre, officials said they could not speak because they were participating in the national strike action embarked on by Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU).

At the Suleja local government secretariat, director of Personnel Management, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq told LEADERSHIP Weekend that refuse collection was the responsibility of the local council,

but did not give clear reason why the state government allowed the drainage system to become a dump site. He directed LEADERSHIP Weekend to the council’s primary healthcare unit that had earlier declined to speak on the matter.

The situation in Suleja still remains precarious even as a community health medical expert warned of the dire consequences of littering a major drainage system with refuse. “Children and infants are likely to suffer from respiratory problems and the continued closure of windows puts the entire family at greater risk, as cross ventilation is impossible. The people must find another way of managing their waste other than just dumping it into a drainage line,” says Dr Mohammed Sani Ibrahim.

Environmental expert and university don, Prof Bassey Ubom, in his reaction, said it is criminal to hurt the environment, adding that ignorance is not an excuse. “People think that stench is not dangerous, but an asthmatic person can collapse immediately as soon as the quality of air changes. Seepages of water already fermented by dangerous substances can flow into wells, boreholes and rivers with devastating consequences for the community,” Ubom warned.

He added that in the era of global changes, if the people continue to hurt the environment, the environment has a way of hurting them back. Ubom also said the drainage system being used by the residents of Suleja could be devastating for another community in the future.

He called for prompt action by the government to avert a looming disaster.

Children and infants are likely to suffer from respiratory problems and the continued closure of windows puts the entire family at greater risk

54 feature

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Post-election Violence: Lessons From The Past Many Nigerians still carry the scars of the violence that trailed the 2011 elections in some states across the country. It is an experience survivors of that fracas would surely not want a repeat of.

As the countdown to the February 14 election continues, many groups have been advocating free, fair and non-violent elections. BUKOLA OGUNSINA, Abuja, writes.

N

igerians wait with trepidation to see how the 2015 postelection period would pan. Many pray for peace and a quiet acceptance of the election results. Obviously, many Nigerians have learned from the past that violence never resolves any conflict.

The 2011 post-election chaos is a recent example in a row of postelection violence since 1999. Its victims still bear the scars from the mayhem which no form of compensation can erase.

LEADERSHIP Weekend spoke with a man who pleaded anonymity. He lamented the painful episode thus, “I was returning to Kaduna but was caught up with the violence at Gonin Gora. People were annoyed with the election election. People who knew whom they voted for, and then the results were changed and hence the general belief that the election was rigged.

“When the violence started, some miscreants took the opportunity and used religion as a basis for violence. There was general chaos caused by the violence, people were killed, buildings burnt and commuters and travellers attacked on the highway. It was total chaos and bloodshed,” he said. He had managed to get to his village Barkin Lau in Riga Chikun.

“Some important politicians were targeted and many of them had to go underground with their families. There was looting. A state curfew was then imposed,” he said.

Human Rights Watch reported that 800 people died from election related violence during the 2011 elections. Investigations showed inflammatory remarks sent through social media and text messages worsened the situation and is recorded as main cause of the violence.

Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in collaboration with OSIWA analysed the post-election violence of 2011 and concluded that four main issues caused the violence; the presence of willing protesters, weak state capacity to provide security and law enforcement, use of inflammatory rhetoric, and existence of communal tensions.

LEADERSHIP Weekend spoke to a taxi driver in the FCT simply known as Nnamdi, who said emphatically, “Nothing will happen. Nigerians have a very re-

A scene from the 2011 post-election crisis

silient spirit so that no matter the outcome of the elections, we are one and we will continue to be one country no matter what.

How will we begin to separate from each other at this time? It would be very difficult because we are very used to each other, so nothing will happen,” he asserted.

At an event organised by the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, a group comprising of over 60 civic groups, emerging as a result of information sharing, anticipating problems during elections and responding rapidly when they happen, His Eminence the Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan commented, “We have chosen democracy that’s why Nigerians still go to vote.”

The Cardinal added that those who are making a lot of noise during the electoral process were just a small group and do not speak for all Nigerians, further adding, “This election should not be an excuse for anybody to disorganise us. I am an optimist and also a believer that God will protect us.”

The country director of OSIWA Nigeria, Udo Jude Ilo, who was also present, indicated that, “if this election fails the whole conti-

nent will be in trouble. This country is too important to be sacrificed on the narrow ambition of any party or anyone.”

He further sought the aid of the international community to assist in amplifying Nigerian voices. “We don’t speak for ourselves, we speak for our communities,” he said.

The president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Abdulwahed Omar mentioned that the 2015 election is the most important event to happen in Nigeria and in Africa and as such credibility is needed now more than ever at a time when the Nigerian economy is doing very badly, with serious insecurity bringing uncertainty and the issue of the plight of democracy.

“If we do not sustain it now, it will fall apart,” he said.

The known forms of rigging are ballot snatching, ballot swapping, alteration, and vote excesses.

Also mentioned was the fact that the only insecurity Nigeria has to deal with is the insurgency in the northeast, and therefore should not add insecurity of the elections to this.

According to the national vicepresident, Federation Of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria

(FOMWAN), Barr Farida Sada Yusuf, “women are the worst hit when there is a crisis.” She also added that women make up over 80 per cent of voters.

The former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, who graced the occasion, stated strongly, “Civil Society has a constructive role to play to help the country in the coming elections.”

He also advised that politics was too important to be left alone to the politicians. The former secretary general indicated that legitimate elections are the cornerstone of true democracy, hence their importance.

“Elections are not enough if they are not conducted with integrity to reflect the real voice of the people,” he said.

Politicians should be meticulous in their speeches and not be quick to use inflammatory words. Overall, there is a general chant by Nigerians for peace and nonviolence during the 2015 elections. As the world watches on, appropriate security measures should be put in place with different security outfits monitoring the entire post elections atmosphere to ensure that peace continues to reign long after the 2015 elections.

Elections are not enough if they are not conducted with integrity to reflect the real voice of the people

feature 55

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Deals-on-wheels: The Good And Bad Side Of Abuja’s ‘Mobile Shops’ They operate like normal shop owners, except that they are always on the move, selling their goods from one location to the other. ZION ZADOK takes a look at the advantages and disadvantages of ‘mobile shops’.

A

defunke Shobo was patiently attending to a customer smiling as if she had won a lottery. She delved into a pouch strapped across her shoulder to look for some lower naira denominations. She had to search through the bag which contained her earnings for the day before coming up with a N20 note as the lower denominations are always in short supply. On a bench in front of their car was the book she was reading before the customer approached her. She has exams in a few days but has to assist her mum in selling provisions.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, Adefunke explained why they opted to sell provisions from the boot of their car. She said they used to run a thriving business where they sold a variety of goods from provisions to toiletries from a 12-foot container. However, not too long ago, it was demolished by the FCT Development Control Administration and since

then, they had to move their wares and point of sale to the car in order to keep the business running.

She said although the ‘car shop’ serves construction workers as well as some offices in the neighbourhood in Utako, it comes with its challenges. In a proper shop, one has shelves to arrange and display goods but in a car, it is difficult to arrange all the goods because of space constraint. Also, they are not able to stock up on goods as before due to lack of space.

“The container could accommodate more goods while the car can only take a few. So you will not be able to stock much. Before now, we were able to keep a freezer inside the container which kept a variety of cold drinks and it was easy to pick out a person’s choice.

But in the car, we use a big cooler and the drinks are not arranged so one would have to bend over in order to remove the contents until you are able to locate the person’s choice. So, it is not convenient,”

she told LEADERSHIP Weekend.

Another constraint, she said, is the fact that the car could break down at any time.

This type of business is not your usual promotional storm-thestreets stunts that some known or new brands carry out to create awareness for their products but more of a normal practice for some traders who prefer to sell their goods using their personal vehicles.

These mobile shop operators are seen along some streets, car parks, by the market side and so on, showcasing their goods and services ranging from clothes, jewelry, shoes, VCDs, DVDs as well as confectioneries and other food stuffs.

Most of the traders who use vehicles to sell their goods are seen in office complexes, market places, popular bus-stops, churches and mosques and other locations where lots of people gather in order to get the awareness they desire to sell their products.

Some of these outfits pay a certain fee as a form of rent but they often refuse to disclose how much or to whom the money is paid because it is not a legal arrangement.

LEADERSHIP Weekend ran into some other traders and asked why they prefer selling from their cars rather than renting an ideal shop in the market or shopping malls.

Adedoyin Adeyemi who deals in men’s clothes said, she started her business by going from office to office to sell her clothes, but when the stress of moving around became too much, coupled with the fact that some people would buy stuff on credit and refuse to pay as and when due, she decided to start operating her business from her car.

Adeyemi whose business name is ‘DY Unique’ said, since most people often have little or no time to leave their offices to shop for clothes, she has brought it to their doorsteps. That way, when they pass by, they might see what they want and buy it.

“I discovered that most people hardly leave their offices; they work from Monday to Saturday.

It’s not like they don’t want to shop but the time to go out and do so is sometimes not convenient for them. So, people like that are the ones that I target, with the hope that they will see and buy.”

She has two salesgirls who assist her in running the business.

She said she buys her goods from Dubai and Turkey and follows what is trending in fashion.

To her, running her business from her car is better and more lucrative than when she had a shop where not more than five customers would visit in a month and she had to pay high charges on rent

every year.

Adedoyin admitted that there are some challenges that go with the business. Highlighting some, she said, the first is harassment by Abuja Environmental Task Force officials which makes it difficult to display her clothes but she told LEADERSHIP Weekend that she believes in what she does and has kept her head straight which has formed the secret of her success.

She said business can be run from anywhere, saying that the most important thing in business is being able to satisfy and maintain one’s customers which she has been able to do over the years.

“Fashion is moving forward so I am trying to upgrade myself to be ahead of the current trend. I thank God because most of my customers are very stable. Some of my customers have been with me for two to four years and that is what is most important. Being able to satisfy and keep your customers is good because they will always rely on you when they need to buy anything,” she said.

Prince Chuks Akpa, who sells herbal supplements, said he started by working for AD Star Marketers, a company that deals in herbal tea and health supplements.

He said after seven years of serving the company and gaining a lot of experience about the business, he launched out on his own.

He explained that the reason behind his usage of a bus to sell his goods is because the business moves better by going out to meet the people and advertising the product for the people to know that it exists.

Prince Chucks also explained that he has a shop but his business is in marketing and so he must always launch out to get the patronage for his products.

Okechukwu Successful is a phones and accessories dealer, he said he started small and grew his business over time after bagging a degree in Accounting.

Successful, in exhibiting the traits of his name said, he did not wait for government to create a job for him but created his own opportunity through his business.

Through this business, he was able to buy not one but two cars which he uses at different outlets to display and sell his products. He was able to buy a plot of land and build on it. Now he is a landlord in Abuja and supporting his family and other dependents from the proceeds of the same business.

Okechukwu said he is not going to look for a white-collar job but concentrate on making this business more successful. To buttress how important the business is to him, he said he values it more than anything else.

To her, running her business from her car is better and more lucrative than when she had a shop where not more than five customers would visit in a month

56 feature

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Kerosene Subsidy: To Be Or Not To Be? The issue of kerosene subsidy has been a major concern to every Nigerian as huge sums of money are expended on subsidy yearly yet the product is sold above the approved pump price and in most cases, it is not accessible to those it is meant for. CHIKA IZUORA and PATRICK OFIKWU look at the arguments for and against kerosene subsidy retention and its accessibility, especially in view of the fall in oil price which is expected to have an effect on other petroleum products

S

ince the New Year gift of fuel subsidy removal and subsequent increase in the pump prices of petroleum products in January 2012, Nigerians have had many tales of hardship to tell on how they obtain petroleum-related products.

While the federal government is canvassing for complete removal of fuel subsidy, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and indeed, Nigerians, have continued to oppose the move. They argued that complete fuel subsidy removal would cause untold hardship to the masses.

After several days of strikes and protests in 2012, the federal government pegged the pump price for petrol at N97 per litre while that of kerosene was and is still N50 per litre. Only this week, petrol price was reduced to N87 per litre but Nigerians are still asking for further cut in the oil price since the price in the international market is less than N70 per litre.

However, investigations by LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed that while petrol is sold at the approved pump price in Abuja and in some state capitals, with some completely flouting the new approved pump price, it is sold at different prices between N120 and N150, especially in the southeast.

No One Can Sell Kerosene At N50 In Nigeria – Marketers In the case of kerosene, experiences of Nigerians in purchasing the product which is supposed to be a common commodity is quite pathetic as none of the filling stations visited by LEADERSHIP Weekend sold at the approved pump price of N50 per litre.

At the NNPC Mega station along Okonjo-Iweala Way, Utako-Abuja (now taken over by Emworld few days ago), it was sold at N125 per litre though N50 per litre was displayed on their metre while at A.A Rano filling station, the commodity is sold at N130 per litre.

When LEADERSHIP Weekend sought to know why it was being sold above the approved pump price at the NNPC mega station, the service attendant queried, “Be waiting for kerosene at N50 per litre! You expect to visit a filling station in Nigeria and buy kerosene at that price?”

LEADERSHIP Weekend observed that in order to hide their illegal trade, the governmentowned filling stations often sell the product at the weekend, especially on Sundays, when regulations and monitoring agencies are on break.

Consumers queue for kerosene at a government-owned filling station

It is worthy to note that in the 2015 budget, the sum of N91bn is proposed for kerosene subsidy.

Though neither budgeted for nor approved by the National Assembly, the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal said that over N1trn was spent on Kerosene subsidy from 2010 to 2013.

On his part, the chairman House Committee on Petroleum Resources, Dakuku Peterside said, government spent N110bn in 2010 and N324bn in 2011. “Although we are yet to reconcile this, we spent N200bn in subsidising kerosene in 2012. So, by 2012, we had spent N634bn in subsidising Kerosene,” he added. If kerosene subsidy for the last two years are added, it will be far above the N1trn,” the speaker stated.

The posers then are, who enjoys the subsidy funds since the government is still subsidising the product in the interest of the masses while dealers reaping benefit of the subsidy? With the fall in oil prices at the international market, should Nigerians still buy petroleum products at exorbitant prices? Or could it be assumed that the international market has helped to remove the fuel subsidy? If the latter is the case, then why is the price still high across the country?

The issue of kerosene importation has been shrouded in secrecy and its subsidy story has been questioned by Nigerians because everything surrounding it has been kicked against by consumers.

The Independent Marketers, through whom the product should

be distributed, do not get allocations regularly, thus making the prices exorbitant and product inaccessible.

How Legal Is Subsidy Payment?

The issue of legality was thrown up to the public when the erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, raised the alarm that $20bn of the $67bn from crude oil sales payable to the Federation Account was yet to be accounted for, of which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said it spent about 80 per cent or $8.76bn (N1.366trn) of it on kerosene and petrol subsidy and fixing of broken pipelines.

The report illustrated that in 2007, the government imported two billion litres of fuel, paying N90.8bn as subsidy while 2008 recorded the importation of 2.5bn litres which gulped N90.4bn as subbsidy from January to July of that year. The price per litre from 2009-2011 was N50.

Two memos dated June 9, and October 19, 2009, from the late President Umaru Yar’Adua ordered the removal of subsidy on kerosene for 2009, 2010 and 2011 but the NNPC denied receiving any presidential order to stop the payment of subsidy on the commodity during the administration of the late Yar’Adua.

The then acting group general manager, public affairs division of the NNPC, Dr Omar Ibrahim, said the corporation should not be blamed for not implementing the directive because the NNPC did

not get any instruction to end subsidy payments on the commodity.

According to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) report, the pricing template for kerosene at the open market price in 2012 was N158.27 ($0.98) per litre while the pump price stood at N50 ($0.30) with N108.27 ($0.67) paid as subsidy per litre.

Many stakeholders and industry watchers are however not convinced about the many claims relating to subsidy payments on kerosene. The chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (upstream), Senator Magnus Abe, in his reaction considered the N700 million being spent daily on kerosene subsidy as a waste.

He said it was clear from available records that government is spending close to N700m daily subsidising kerosene even when the product is not getting to anybody at N50 per litre.

How stable is price of Kerosene?

Following the commencement of the liberalisation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in 2002, kerosene price was fixed at N24 per litre.

Also, after the suspension of an eight-day nationwide strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in 2003, the leadership of the PPPRA pegged the pump price of the product at N32 per litre. Previous investigations showed that the ex-depot price of kerosene is N34.51 while the landing cost plus margin is N146.26 per litre but a fresh check by LEADERSHIP Weekend on average price for December 29, 2014 for Kerosene is N50.

A marketer who preferred anonymity disclosed that they get the product only from the NNPC. “Our invoice is clear on the price.

We buy it for N43.99 and when you put in other costs, you’d see that it is difficult to sell at N50,” he said.

The NNPC often sold the commodity to depot owners instead of owners of filling stations, a situation he said, had led to arbitrary price increase. “The regulation specifies how petroleum products should be distributed but the reverse is the case. There are so many abnormalities going on in the sector especially regarding kerosene. The NNPC should not be the sole importer, distributor and retailer of kerosene.

“In fact, such subsidy may not necessarily affect the budget, since it is financed through cross subsidy obtained by taxing the fuel consumed by the rich,” he stated.

A source in the fragmented Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) said the crises among the leadership of the body paved way for NNPC to promote deception through kerosene importation and allocation.

In order to hide their illegal trade, the governmentowned filling stations often sell the product at the weekend

57

Saturday, January 24, 2015

for the record

Christians, Beware Of Dogs! ➔ CONTINUED from yesterday

By Sharon Faliya Cham

Not to be outdone in playing to the gallery and showcasing their usual deliberate twisting of issues and facts into an ethnoreligious affair, the page 4 of THIS DAY newspaper of Wednesday, October 9, 2002 reported the Middle Belt Youth Association threatening to vote out the pro-impeachment national lawmakers in their geopolitical region in the 2003 general elections. The chairman of the group at that time, Comrade Gotip Joseph claimed that the impeachment move was ‘’a ploy by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to frustrate the re-election of Obasanjo’’ and he pointedly accused House Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba of ‘’being selfish and playing out the ACF script to truncate Nigeria’s nascent democracy’’ without explaining how a democratic national institution in discharge of her constitutionally and democratically provided function will truncate democracy! And you are also left wondering whether it is the discharge of the constitutional duty of lawmakers in impeaching an errant president that will promote democracy or allowing such an errant president to continue to err and become a threat to democracy that will promote democracy! To these people, having a President that is not Hausa/Fulani or Muslim is what they are content with even if it is the Hausa/Fulani that formed and gave them the PDP platform on which they have a ‘’Christian President’’ for which they are proud to have and support even if he is a serial lawbreaker, or incompetent, or morally bankrupt, or all of that!

Aha! Aha! Aha! Our very own Archbishop Sunday Mbang was not left out of this anti-impeachment puerility. On page 2 of the THIS DAY newspaper of Monday, September 2, 2002, he was also reported kicking against the move by saying that ‘’it was a sad move precipitated and sponsored by ‘’unholy’’ overtures’’, which means he perceived law enforcement or constitutional enforcement to check an errant ruler as ‘’unholy’’ and you are also left baffled and wondering whether leaving an errant ruler unchecked is what will promote holiness! Archbishop Sunday Mbang went further to say ‘’I advice the powers that be, in their own interest, to desist from this unholy act that will mar our democratic experience, which we all laboured for.’’ To him, exercising democratic norms accepted worldwide to impeach an errant leader will mar democracy, and you must scream, ‘WHAT A PARADOX!’, and by admitting that the democratic experience was laboured for before it was attained, shouldn’t he have directed his anger and bitterness at the errant president whose persistent breaches of the law was the threat to the democracy ‘’which we all laboured for’’?

Not yet done in self-contradiction and doublespeak, Sunday Mbang proceeded to urge ‘’Christians to be alert and pray for the nation as the church would continue to fight for a just society where righteousness reigned.’’

Well, well, well! If this is not weird, then nothing is! You are working against the enforcement of the law upon an errant president, and at the same time talking about a just society where righteousness shall reign? How can there be a just society without rules and the law being obeyed?

How can there be a just society without the rulers and the ruled equally facing sanctions whenever they break the law of the land? How can anyone preach or talk about righteousness in a nation when that same person works against the hammer of the law coming on an errant ruler? And can there be righteousness in a nation when the nation’s laws are flagrantly broken by the rulers who should show examples of righteousness? And can priests who encourage such rulers preach about righteousness? And if they can, then to whom should they preach righteousness?

Christians, Beware of Dogs!

In any case, that’s just a few examples of how some prominent priests in Nigeria promote mediocrity, corruption, national disunity and lawlessness, and that’s how and why the country is in a huge mess, and it is in this same state of moral bankruptcy that such priests took over Goodluck Jonathan after honourable men and women fought for him to be made Acting President, and then became substantive President after the unfortunate death of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua on 5th May, 2010.

Then came the 2011 presidential election with its attendant issue of morality hanging on the neck of President Goodluck Jonathan owing to how he shamelessly and

dishonourably dishonoured his party’s presidential zoning agreement of which he was a signatory, a fact that testifies to his moral hollowness and character deficiency.

But besides that, the alarming thing about his bid in the year 2011 presidential election was his endorsement and adoption by an evil group called The Witches and Wizards Association of Nigeria (WITZAN), so much that even after he ‘’won’’ the election they sent 500 members to Abuja for his inauguration to ‘’ensure his protection’’ as reported by Taiwo Oluwadare of the SUN NEWS on Friday, May 27, 2011. The alarming thing about this endorsement is that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) led by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor also endorsed him for the same election, and it becomes all so strange that Christian pastors could endorse what witches and wizards have endorsed.

There is an express command in Exodus chapter 22 verse 18 that says ‘’Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’’, which clearly reveals to us the mind of God about witches and wizards, and the content of the instruction itself shows that God detests them with passion so much that He wants them dead!

Now, if God expressly instructs that witches should not be allowed to live, it means He knows they are not in any way good for the wellbeing of mankind and the society generally, and therefore, they have no good service to render than destruction and stagnation, and, moreover, witches are generally known to feast and feed on human blood. In fact, that is the reason pastors even conduct deliverance services for those bewitched by witches.

It is this recognition that witches are evil that makes some pastors to even slap those possessed by the spirit of witchcraft, and in some places in Nigeria, such people are even lynched and burnt to ashes. And because witches are evil and devilish and

feast on human blood, is it any wonder that since Goodluck Jonathan became Nigeria’s maximum ruler it has been bloodshed and all manner of calamities every day? Isn’t it likely that witches know their property that can create the appropriate atmosphere for them to feast and party on the massive destruction of human lives and property?

And to even rub it in, Professor Nebo, Jonathan’s minister for power, famously said witches are the forces behind Nigeria’s electricity crisis in spite of the tens of billions of dollars invested into the sector, and you wonder what President Jonathan’s coterie of pastors are doing against these witches consuming the billions of dollars being poured into this increasingly gluttonous electricity sector! Witches are of the devil, and the devil loves darkness, and therefore, it is either these pastors close to Jonathan banish these witches or Nigeria will continue to be in darkness, and therefore Satan’s favourite territory.

Well, even though God has instructed in His Holy Scripture that witches should not be spared in human society, the evolution of society over the ages and the conscious human development of laws patterned according to the lifestyles of each society, and the inter-relationships between the societies themselves, have made the physical lynching of witches unlawful.

Under such a condition, Christian believers can only paralyse or kill the power and activities of witches through very fervent and regular prayers, and the opportunity gotten by witches in Nigeria to even come out boldly to declare their support for a politician, and for Christian leaders to even support their choice is a heavy indictment on the spirituality of these Christian leaders. It is the same thing as saying the Lord Jesus Christ and Satan operate on the same frequency of thought and choice, which is pretty impossible!

So, why would ‘’Men of God’’ even endorse and associate with such despicable beings when they even know that somebody like prophet Elijah destroyed about 850 of them at once with the sword at brook Kishon in Israel (see 1st Kings chapter 18 verses 19 and 40)? The answer is simple: it is either they are practising witchcraft themselves while pretending to be Christian clerics, or greed and materialism have blinded them from the Truth of the Gospel of Christ so much that their spirituality has become numb and blunt, or both. And it is not a strange thing to have clerics practising witchcraft even in the sanctuary of God. In Ezekiel chapter 8, the Lord God Almighty showed prophet Ezekiel a shocking vision on what the elders and priests of Israel do in secret, and even in the Temple of the Lord.

The elders of the nation of Israel had cause to come before the prophet to seek solution to certain problems of the land at that time, and while seated before him at ➔ CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

58

FOR THE RECORD

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Christians, Beware Of Dogs!

Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, said he got the boot for daring to expose a N60 million fraud in the Health Ministry. ‘’Akpoebi made this disclosure yesterday in Yenagoa while giving reason behind his sack from Jonathan’s cabinet accused the Governor of introducing tribal politics into the State’s political firmament (sic)..... ‘’Akpoebi expressed disappointment about the way he was fired from office despite his great contributions to the government. The former Commissioner who said he was instrumental to assisting Jonathan become Deputy Governor to Chief Diepriye Alamieyeseigha in 1999, lamented how the N60 million disappeared from the coffers of the Bayelsa State Health Service Scheme....’’

➔ FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

his house, the hand of the Lord came upon prophet Ezekiel and took him into an open vision, and from verse 5 the encounter of the vision is narrated thus: ‘’Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes that way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. ‘’He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. ‘’And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. ‘’Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. ‘’And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. ‘’So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. ‘’And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. ‘’Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. ‘’He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. ‘’Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tamuz. ‘’Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. ‘’And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. ‘’Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. ‘’Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.’’

Did you see how the Lord God Almighty opened the eyes of the prophet to see that the problem afflicting the nation of Israel at that time was that the elders and the priests of the nation sitting right in front of him in his house were into witchcraft, and were even practising it within the walls of

Father Mbaka

the Holy Temple in secret while exhibiting a facade of holiness or godliness to their followers? And the consequence was that, even if they cried with a loud voice in prayer unto the Lord God Almighty He wasn’t going to answer them, because it amounted to mockery while doing sorcery and witchcraft and then claim to be servants or priests of God The Most High.

And, somehow, you can now see a glimpse of why the abundance of ‘’Men of God’’ in Nigeria have been leading congregations into tons, and tons, and tons of prayers for the nation for decades without the nation getting any better, rather things keep getting worse because they wine and dine with the crooks and rogues installed in power by witches, and while they use witchcraft and benefit from the proceeds of witchcraft, they belabour innocent church goers with prayers for the nation so as to ensnare them from asking questions on national accountability and leadership propriety and sobriety.

And, hey, did you notice where God said ‘’they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger’’? We shall soon come to that, for it is the crux of this treatise on Christians, Beware of Dogs!

Well, they have gotten wealthy and influential through the proceeds of witchcraft while their followers keep living in perpetual penury and false hope of a coming prosperity, which cannot just come as long as sin, corruption, lawlessness and injustice are rampant in the nation, also as long as they are being used by their greedy and hate mongering clerics to perpetrate hatred against non-Christians, and consequently, these kind of ‘’rich and wealthy pastors’’ have lost esteem, honour and respect among the country’s citizens, because the citizens see them in regular touch with their oppressive corrupt rulers without such close relationship resulting in any reprieve for the oppressed nation.

Therefore, in spite of their opulence in wealth, usually exhibited by choice cars, mansions within and outside Nigeria, and (for some) private jets, most citizens regard them with derision, and you have a situation where wealth has failed to ‘’purchase’’ honour and reverence. And, of course, the Lord God Almighty authored

this law of diminishing returns for them

by Himself when He said to such religious leaders in Ezekiel chapter 5 verse 11 that ‘’Wherefore, as I live, saith the LORD GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.’’

If it is not witchcraft and rebellion against the Word of God, in what way did Goodluck Jonathan satisfy the Holy Bible’s leadership recruitment foundation and pillar in Exodus chapter 18 verse 21 in the light of his public service record so much that Christian clerics could endorse and campaign for him in their churches? Let’s look at the Scripture again: ‘’Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:’’ Like I pointed out earlier, this verse of Scripture points out four basic requirements to be considered as necessity in the recruitment of leaders, which means anyone that present themselves as candidates for national or group leadership must possess them, and these are: (1.) able men (or women), (2.) they must fear God, (3.) men (or women) of truth, and (4.) they must hate covetousness. It goes that failure to adhere to these extremely important requirements divinely given will result in monumental catastrophe and failure, whether of the nation or groups.

President Jonathan’s record as Bayelsa state governor is a disaster, just as disastrous as any of the extremely corrupt civilian governors that have contributed in the ruination of Nigeria, and this much is even demonstrated in the way and manner he rules and ruins Nigeria.

For example, on page 7 of the THIS DAY newspaper of Friday, June 23, 2006 is a story captioned Why I Was Sacked – Bayelsa Commissioner, and Segun James, the paper’s correspondent in Yenagoa the state capital reported like this: ‘’The former Bayelsa State Commissioner for Health Chief Frank Akpoebi, who was unceremoniously fired by Governor

Did you see that? Doesn’t this strike a bell with recent happenings in the nation?

Well, I am sure you will immediately recall how Central Bank Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was unceremoniously and unlawfully sacked from office for daring to expose the disappearance (most Nigerians call it theft) of 20 billion dollars from the notoriously corrupt Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while those suspected for causing the disappearance have been left to enjoy the cosy warmth of their offices so that they can continue the game of mysterious disappearances of petrodollars. And because President Goodluck Jonathan is always angry when thieves are exposed or caught (apologies to Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah the Publisher of LEADERSHIP newspapers), he got Mallam Sanusi’s passport seized and even followed him with all manner of mischief and meanness when he got enthroned as the new Emir of the Kingdom of Kano. It then happens that President Goodluck Jonathan has a knack for ruthlessly maltreating and persecuting anyone that exposes theft and corruption under his morally deficient leadership, and that must be the only reason why his regime is the most corrupt in Nigeria’s catalogue of corrupt regimes.

And how about his usual vain promises for infrastructural development? Well, on page 6 of the THIS DAY newspaper of Tuesday, June 13, 2006, he lied to the people of Bayelsa State that ‘’But even if I will leave office by May 29, 2007, I want Nigerians to know that there will be no more generators in Bayelsa by that day.

I am totally committed to that. Those of us who have generators can dash them to our friends in other states. But by May 29, 2007, no one in Bayelsa State will use generator for power generation anymore.’’

In another false promise, the THIS DAY newspaper of Tuesday, June 20, 2006 carried an interview they had with him on pages 16 and 17 wherein he said under his leadership, Bayelsa State will establish her own oil company to boost the state’s investment portfolio, a promise that has not been kept till date.

His intolerance for anyone that does not support his selfish political ambition also has precedence to when he was Bayelsa State governor.

— To read the full article, visit: www. leadership.co.ng ➔ TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW

Saturday, January 24, 2015

59

60

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Jonas Agwu

Khadija Abdu Iya Searching Inward

Road Safety Column 08077690055 122 FRSC Toll-free emergency number jonasagwu@yahoo.com

Pedestrian Safety: Rules For Joggers

P

increasing pedestrian safety will reduce road traffic fatalities and thus help us in achieving our 2015 strategic goals of reducing road traffic crashes by 20 per cent

art of my daily routine for keeping fit is a 30-minute to an hour’s walk and jog per day.

Every time I embark on this daily exercise, I stumble on some oddities by fellow joggers who by their mien are literate but ignorant of the risks pedestrians face. I did a piece on pedestrian safety sometime last year but I am prompted to do another one for several reasons. The first is that, there is the need to properly educate members of the public on the dos and don’ts of jogging and other general safety information for pedestrians’ safety.

The second is that increasing pedestrian safety will reduce road traffic fatalities and thus help us in achieving our 2015 strategic goals of reducing road traffic crashes by 20 per cent and fatalities by 30 per cent. The last is that it is my way of honouring one of our most celebrated writers and mentor, Dimgba Igwe, who lost his life last year while jogging.

I must confess that I am yet to come to terms with his death and thus has to muster the courage to do a piece that would require making reference to him due to the circumstance of his death.

The late Dimgba Igwe, as testified by many, was indeed God’s gift to journalism and to Nigeria.

Although I never worked under him, I spent my days in the defunct Concord Press admiring the bond between him and his brother from another mother, Mike Awoyinfa, in addition to my addiction to their writings. This piece is not another dirge on him as I am not sure I am competent enough to craft one, having read well composed write-ups on him by some of the best hands in the pen business. I believe that although he is gone, there is the need to rehash the circumstance of his death to provide a guide to those living in order to avert a similar tragedy in 2015. According to media reports, the late veteran journalist and vice chairman of The Sun Newspapers, Dimgba Igwe, was killed by a hit and run driver on Saturday, September 6, 2014.

A report stated that it was a Toyota Camry that hit him while he was jogging. Shortly after the incident, the report stated further, he was taken to a hospital in Okota, where he was first treat-

ed before the harrowing journey that eventually ended in his tragic death began.

A eyewitness report captured the incident thus, “The ghastly accident happened between 5.45 and 6am. The car that knocked him down came from the direction of Okota Roundabout. We were on the left side of the road, close to the median when I just heard kpum, kpum, just two sounds.

“The car knocked him so hard that he fell on the other side of the road, although I wouldn’t know whether he was trying to jump to safety before it happened or if it was the car that knocked him down. The hit was so hard that the hubcap of one of the front wheels of the car came off and fell on the road. From the first hospital at Okota, he was moved to Isolo General Hospital (IGH) where after presenting a referral note, they were again referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). On getting to LASUTH, he was seriously bleeding and we were all pleading that something urgent be done to help him. They wheeled him in and wrote out drugs to buy. The wife ran to the pharmacy but couldn’t get one.

So, she sent her driver to go look for it. Another nurse came out that we should buy two pillows; the driver went to get the pillows too. Then they said they needed blood. We went to buy from their blood bank and they gave us a bill of N9,000. With the receipt the guy we met there gave us, we went and paid and came back. On getting back, the medical personnel we met just told us to wait and we waited for 10 minutes. After attending to him, one of the doctors came out and started asking questions, ‘When did this happen? What time?

When did you get to the first hospital?”

The rest is tragic history as our beloved boss finally bade us farewell. He died not because he was involved in a pedestrian-vehicle crash but because of the absence of available medical facilities and attitude required in an emergency case; very much like the circumstances surrounding Dagrin’s death some years ago.

Pedestrian injuries and fatalities are major global problems related to travel and road safety.

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

07033726351 (Text only)

searchinwards@yahoo.com

Parental Control: Disney XD They found the little boy curled up in a ball-like form and not too far from him was a torch light, his little Knap-sack, his bicycle lying not far from the little mat the ‘maiguard’ was able to offer him, a bottle of water and a map all at the security gate of a huge highbrow estate in Lagos. The search team consisted of a group of caring fathers of the estate who were alerted by the boy’s father that he couldn’t find his son in his bed. His mother got frantic when she checked up on them as usual on her way to her own room and found his bed empty. She looked everywhere in the house and asked her neighbours if he got carried away and was staying over and they said they didn’t see him that day.

Perturbed There was a huge sigh of relief from most of the men when the security man described how he stopped the 10-yearold from his perceived adventure of running away from home. Only God knows how long he has been plotting this escapade! A man in the group wondered aloud. The mother later saw a note tucked under a pot in the kitchen where the boy said he was sorry he had to leave, that some things in the house weren’t right and he was going away. Tolu, my friend and course mate told me about this incident and that as she narrated it to her children all of them chorused Disney XD moves; laughing sporadically. She looked at them puzzled and perturbed, wondering what was funny about the situation. Mummy, the eldest started amidst tears of laughter, the boy must be a serious fan of the Disney XD channel on DSTV and was trying to emulate and practice the things he had seen.

Timely Intervention This isn’t funny to me Khadijah. Tolu pouted with her usual glint. This is bad! I mean if it weren’t for the timely intervention of the ‘maiguard’, who knows what would have happened to that boy in the state of insecurity that we are in Nigeria now? She looked at me eyes bulging with fear in her distinctive way. If I am the parent of that boy, Tulu added, that would be the end of DSTV in my house! She retorted fiercely. Are you guys

not missing the point here?

There’s something called the parental control and if a particular channel is rousing stuffs in a child and you are able to discern it in time for it not to get out of hand, you quickly activate the parental control or do not subscribe for the channel again when next you are subscribing. I told them.

Injurious In another incident, a boy was said to have taken a knife and threatened to kill a student in a bus on their way to school.

The pandemonium that he caused in the bus that morning cannot be imagined as the children in the school bus were frozen with fear! What do we do with situations like these? Are we being more and more careless ignoring the programmes our children watch all of a sudden? Has parental control helped in curbing the menace of negative visual programmes on TV? What kind of measures can we seek as parents to distract our children from watching programmes that are injurious to their mental and psychological health and wellbeing? I was talking to some parents and some think that cartoons help their children to speak English and some say that cartoons help stimulate their children’s intelligence. It is relative, whatever we think that these cartoons do for our children, we should still take the pain to watch these stuffs with them once in a while in order to be informed on the ideas that the cartoons are programming into the gullible minds of our young ones, our leaders of tomorrow…Keep searching.

We have more! Watch out for S.I app with exciting multi---medium contents that would make you search inwards-@simagazineng.com.

Re – Patience helps, Please, I need your help. I’m always having problems with my relationships. It’s really disturbing me; I’m confused. What do I do?

Khadijah, Abuja (+23490359.....).

I’m sorry Khadijah,. I think you should talk to someone you trust that you can unburden yourself with. Someone who knows you very well and with mental clarity to be able to discern where the problem is and tackle it effectively. I wish you Allah’s guidance. Regards.

Are we being more and more careless, ignoring the programmes our children watch all of a sudden?

news 61

Saturday, January 24, 2015

My Sister Died Of Heart Disease – Jonathan

BY George Agba, Abuja

President Goodluck Jonathan hinted yesterday, the ordeal his late younger sister, Mrs Nancy Jonathan-Olei underwent as a result of a heart-related disease before she died.

Speaking at the funeral service held at the St. Stephen’s Anglican

Church in Otuoke, Bayelsa State for his late sister, Jonathan said God was kind to his sister during her regular medical sojourns to India from the time he was deputy governor of Bayelsa State.

He said, “Nancy is my immediate younger sister though not of the same mother. I was very sad when she died because I

knew she had been passing through pains for a very long time. Sometimes, I felt God had been really kind to her.”

“She started developing problems with her heart when I was deputy governor, then I started asking questions. I asked my personal physician where we could treat her, that she had problems

with her iota valve, the valves circulating blood to the heart. My doctor told me the nearest place to treat her was Ghana.

“So I said we have so many teaching hospitals in Nigeria and none can attempt to work on a human heart? I was worried. But today, I am happy that University of Ibadan is handling open

heart surgery.

“We battled with her health and she was taken to India on and on and for over three years, she has been down. When the immediate younger brother died, she could not even attend the burial.”

He added that it was worth celebrating if a Christian attains the age

of 70 years before passing on.

The body of the late Nancy was moved from the Otuoke Comprehensive Hospital Mortuary to her residence in Otuoke and thereafter to the Dame Patience Jonathan Square for service of songs before it was interred after the church service.

4 Killed In Lagos As Container Destroys 5 Vehicles

BY George OKOJIE, Lagos

No fewer than four people were killed and five others injured yesterday in Lagos State, when a truck carrying container lost control and rammed into five vehicles in Ketu area of the ever busy Ikorodu Road.

Our correspondent learnt that among the victims was a pregnant woman.

It was gathered that the incident took place when many were on their way to work and it resulted in a heavy traffic build up on Ikorodu Road as many rushed to the scene to witness the incident.

Witnesses said among the victims were passersby who were crushed when the container fell on them.

An eyewitness who gave her name as Blessing Alonge told our reporter that the trailer conveying the unlatched container was heading to Ikorodu from Ketu on the Ikorodu road but lost control.

“It was in the process of trying to control the vehicle that the container which was not latched to the body lost balance and landed on the affected vehicles.”

Confirming the incident, the Lagos Sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Hyginus Omeje, said four people lost their lives, adding that five others were injured and five commercial vehicles involved were badly damaged.

62 news Don’t Attack President Jonathan In Maiduguri, Borno Gov Begs Residents Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, yesterday appealed to the people of his state not to assault President Goodluck Jonathan who is visiting Maiduguri, the state capital, today to campaign for his re-election.

The governor in a statement signed by his spokesman, Isa Gusau urged residents of Maiduguri not to allow the ugly incidents that occurred in Katsina and Bauchi states recently where the president’s motorcade was pelted, repeat.

Shettima who is the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state said, though his party is the popular choice of the people of the state, the president deserves due respect.

“From what I have read or heard in the media, there has not been any issue of such in any APC controlled states visited by the President and Borno should not be an exception. We have political differences and our differences are legitimate and based on the principles of our political parties and what we stand for.

“But we must remember that His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as citizens of this country, we have an obligation to respect his office and person.

“Our millions of citizens supporting the APC in Borno State and our presidential candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari and anyone that supports me or any of our National and State Assembly candidates in the state, should shun any act of violence, intolerance and unlawful political behaviour before, during and after the president’s visit and should remain law abiding citizens as our laws, norms and values demand,” he stated.

By Kareem Haruna, Maiduguri

6m National e-ID Cards Ready For Distribution – NIMC The director general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Chris Onyemena, said the commission has entered the distribution stage and that about six million cards are ready for distribution.

Onyemena who stated this why presenting the card to former president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida in Minna, Niger State, said, “we have started distribution of the cards to Nigerians nationwide. We started with Abuja, Lagos and Rivers states. Other state offices are ready for deployment and will start issuance soon.”

In a statement signed by the general manager, corporate communications, NIMC, Okwudiafor Anthony, in Abuja, the DG assured that all Nigerians who have enrolled will get their cards on or before April, 2015.

By Patience Ivie Ihejirika, Abuja

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Nigeria’s National Defence Policy Overdue For Review – GOC

BY Nnamdi Mbawike, Enugu

The General Officer Commanding the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, Major General Shehu Yusuf has said the National Defence Policy is long overdue for review.

He pointed out that when reviewed, the policy would fall in line with global best practices and improve the country’s national defence policy.

The 82 Division boss who spoke at the public presentation on the review of Nigeria’s national defence policy held in Enugu added that at the end of the review, the Nigeria military would be better off in its fight against insecurity.

Yusuf expressed optimism that the review would bring about a vibrant and robust national defence policy that would equip the nation’s military in its operations.

He commended the federal government for initiating the idea, adding that it would be a step in the right direction.

Earlier, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Review of the defence policy, Prof Uchendu Egodi, disclosed that the objective of the public presentation was to bring together Nigerians from different sectors to make inputs and partake in the review of the policy.

Egodi, a renowned historian, ex-

pressed hoped that at the end of the assignment, a more vigorous, proactive and people oriented defence policy that all Nigerians would be proud of would evolve.

According to her, the National Defence Policy was inaugurated on November 20, 2014, to assist the government to assess the state of its defence organisation, mandate, capabilities and design with a view to identifying areas requiring review and to suggest future interventions.

She described the policy as an important document that provides guidance to governments about a country’s short, medium and long term policy settings and capabilities.

L-R: Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbseola presenting a gift to the International Advisor on Policy and Trade, Mr. Ademola Oduwole, during a visit to the governor at the Government House, Osogbo yesterday.

PHOTO BY GOVT HOUSE

Robbers Attack Church, Cart Away Offering, Handsets

BY KOLA EKE-OGIUGO, Asaba

Armed robbers in Delta State on Thursday ransacked a popular Pentecostal church in Umutu community, (name withheld) Kwale area of the state, carting away the church offering and worshippers’ handsets at gun point .

Sources said that the robbers had waited for hours in the midst of the worshippers till when the church had collected its offerings from members running into thousands of naira, before they struck.

The robbers were said to have gone

straight into the church armed with AK-47 rifles and made their way to the offering box where they discovered a huge amount of money after they had allegedly ordered members of the church to lie on the floor with their eyes closed before they escaped in a Peugeot 504 without a number plate.

Police public relations officer in the state, DSP Celestina Kalu confirmed the incident adding that during the robbery, the robbers forced members of the church to submit their handsets at gun point including other valuable items.

She said that the police on a tip-off, gave the robbers a hot chase but they later abandoned the Peugeot 504 and three guns including expended cartridges.

She added that the police have stepped up investigations into the whereabouts of the robbers.

DSP Kalu said that three suspected young men were arrested in the process adding that upon interrogation, they confessed to be pick-pockets who have been robbing unsuspecting residents of the community in the recent times.

short news 983 Out Of 3,661 Stolen Pvcs Returned In Edo

The Independent National Electoral Commission said 983 permanent voters’ cards stolen in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo State have been returned.

The state resident electoral commissioner, Mr Mike Igini, disclosed this during a stakeholder’s forum held at the National Orientation Agency office in Benin, the state capital.

The event was attended by representatives of security agencies, civil society organisations, NOA and the National Youth Service Corps while leaders of the various political parties signed a pact for violencefree elections.

Igini explained that the recovered cards were among the 3,661 PVCs stolen in the 18 polling units in the local government and that the commission took delivery of the cards after he received some anonymous calls about their return.

He said, “I received anonymous calls saying that they were going to return those permanent voters cards. As at yesterday, we have received a total of 617 from Orhionmwon local government area.

That is good news.”

By Patrick Ochoga, Benin City

Benue 2015: Okada Riders Drum Support For Suswam, Tarzoor

by SOLOMON AYADO, Makurdi

Commercial motorcyclists popularly called Okada under the aegis of Benue Motorcycles Association (BEMOA) yesterday held a rally to drum support for Governor Gabriel Suswam and the governorship flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Terhemen Tarzoor, to emerge winners in the forthcoming gen-

eral elections.

The motorcyclists, numbering over 1,000 staged the rally in Konshisha, Vandeikya, Kwande and Ushongo local government areas of the state respectively. The rally which began at about 8am lasted for several hours.

The Okadas who held placards clamouring for election of Suswam as senator and Tarzoor as governor, kicked off the event at

Awajir community in Konshisha LGA, home of Senator Barnabas Gemade and ended in Adikpo town, the headquarters of Kwande local government.

During the rally, they visited the Ter Ikyor, Chief Jam Gbinde, as well as traditional rulers in Kwande, Vandeikya and Ushongo LGAs who described the initiative as a manifestation of a stable democracy.

Earlier, the state president of the association, Comrade Patrick Agera and the secretary, Comrade Augustine Akaa, as well as branch chairmen in the four local governments areas explained that they were out to canvass support for their grand patron, Suswam, who is the PDP candidate for Benue Northeast senatorial district and Tarzoor who is a registered member of the association.

news 63

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Man Knocks Out Friend’s Teeth While Arguing Over 2015 Election Two friends threw decorum to the wind at Old Ojo Road in Agboju area of Lagos State on Thursday when they fought over who becomes the winner of the 2015 presidential election.

A man identified as Chukwuemeka was said to have boasted that come rain or shine, Muhammadu Buhari would win the election, a statement opposed by his friend, Akpan who insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan remains the best material for the plum job.

Chukwuemeka who was said to have attended the All Progressives Congress (APC) rally in Ajeromi/Ifelodun local government area the fateful day tried in vain to convince Akpan to support the APC. What was said to be a friendly discussion degenerated into a fight as Akpan allegedly hit Chukwuemeka in the chest.

LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that Chukwuemeka’s retaliation nearly turned fatal as he gave his opponent a punch across the lips causing his teeth to fall off and a direct punch on the nose, causing him to fall.

An eyewitness, Etim disclosed that, “Akpan fainted and those in the area had to use cold water to revive him. We have been friends for many years and I don’t know why the two friends who knew each other about a decade before I knew them would fight over election that they will not gain much from. As for me, I am not a fanatical supporter of any candidate so I will not fight because of any candidate.’

By Matthew Dike, Lagos

Ignore Dasuki’s Request On Election, MURIC Tells INEC The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ignore Sambo Dasuki’s request for a postponement of the February general election.

MURIC’s director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, in a statement yesterday called on the international community to keep an eye on President Goodluck Jonathan alleging that he is plotting to sabotage democracy.

It charged President Jonathan to stand by his words and keep to the February 15, 2015 date of the general elections.

The national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, had called for the postponement of the February 2015 election.

Dasuki made the call in the United Kingdom while speaking at the London think-tank Chatham House.

The group argued that any suggestion for a postponement coming from one party to the exclusion of others must be viewed with suspicion, adding that INEC had not made such a request, instead, it has repeatedly given assurances of a hitch-free election.

By Adebayo Waheed, Ibadan

Nigerians Impoverished By Overdependence On Oil – Jonathan

BY GEORGE AGBA and CHRISTIANA NWAOGU, Abuja

President Goodluck Jonathan has regretted that in spite of the abundance of agricultural resources the country is blessed with, over dependence on crude oil and prolonged neglect of the agriculture sector have impoverished Nigerians.

Speaking yesterday during the 2015 Agricultural Festival (AGRIFEST) at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the president vowed that there would be no sacred cows among importers who are owing the country on rice import duties.

AGRIFEST is an international agriculture exhibition organised by the Ministry of Agriculture to aid the sector in achieving a green revolution

President Jonathan told the huge number of farmers who attended the event that they could rely on him as their Farmers’ President and be rest assured of his support at all times to further boost your efforts to produce more food for the nation.

He announced the release of N26 billion towards the 2015 Dry Season Farming Programme, saying with the support of the farmers, he hoped to be with them next year as president to do even more for them.

Lamenting the plight of Nigerians, he said, “Our nation is blessed with abundant agricultural resources, but for too long we have depended on crude oil and neglected agriculture. This situation created poverty and suffering in our rural

communities.

“Agriculture is now the lifeline for Nigeria. As crude oil prices decline, we must create new wealth from the richness of our soils, the vastness of our rivers and the abundance of our cheap labour. We will produce more, and we will industrialise the agricultural sector.

Noting that the rice revolution is taking place across the country, the president said, while high quality Nigerian rice was now competing favourably with imported rice in the markets, rice importers cannot hold the country hostage.

He said, “Nigeria our dear country will not be held hostage by rice importers.

There will be no sacred cows under my watch. All those owing Nigeria on rice import duties must pay.

short news Kowa Party Presidential Candidate Visits Abuja IDPs

The presidential candidate of the Kowa Party, Prof Oluremi Sonaiya, has promised to focus on improving education and reduce the rate of youth unemployment if she is elected as president in the February 14 election.

Sonaiya stated this yesterday during a visit accompanied by her vice presidential candidate, Mr Saidu Bobboi, to the camp of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Gwoza, Borno State located at Durumi district, Abuja.

According to her, they were in the camp to share in the people’s pain and to see what her campaign organisation Sympathisers could do for the at the scene IDPs. of a multiple “Your condition accident in is deplorable Ketu, Lagos, and unacceptyesterday.

PHOTO BY BENEDICT able; there are many challenges UWALAKA confronting this country and we are here to pledge that we will address victims were recovered and conveyed some of these to the Annunciation Hospital Emene, problems.

Enugu.

“We are out The female teacher, who had multiple to bring change fractures, and was in coma, was rushed that will bring to the National Orthopaedic Hospital. development in Construction workers from Arab this country; our Contractors Ltd who were working campaign is focusclose to the scene of the accident led the ing on infrastrucrescue operation, pulling out the victims tural development from under the trailer and later pulled such as good up the vehicle to enable officials of the roads, pipe borne Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), water, electricity the Nigeria Police and sympathisers to and many more.” conduct further search for the victims as

By Bode Gbadebo, it was feared that more students could Abuja have been affected.

2 Students, Teacher, Trailer Driver Feared Dead In Enugu Auto Crash

By MIKE UBANI, Enugu

Four persons were yesterday feared dead in a ghastly road accident at the IBB flyover – a shouting distance to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Emene, Enugu - when a trailer conveying empty crates of beer veered off the overhead bridge and crashed at the foot of the bridge.

LEADERSHIP WEEKEND learnt that the victims included two students of New Haven Secondary School, a female teacher and the driver of the trailer whose National Driver’s License bears the name, Kabiru Ibrahim of 15 Omoregbe Street off Lucky Way, Benin-City.

Although the identities of the two students could not be immediately ascertained, two school identity cards recovered after they were pulled from under the trailer read Miss Onebunne Mmesom and Master Okolie Chiemerie, both of in SSS1A. Eyewitnesses told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND that the trailer driver was heading towards Emene when he lost control of the vehicle apparently on account of over speeding and swept both the teacher and the students from the flyover down to the foot of the bridge.

The trailer, empty bottles and plastic crates were smashed at the foot of the bridge from where the bodies of the

Kaduna: Yero Signs N200bn 2015 Budget

by ISAIAH BENJAMIN, Kaduna

Kaduna State governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero has signed into law a total of N200.7 billion as the budget estimate of the state passed by the State House of Assembly.

Speaking during the signing ceremony witnessed by speaker and principal officers of the State Assembly as well as other

top government officials, Yero said there is need for the state to improve its internally generated revenue (IGR) to ensure sufficient implementation of the budget.

He said, “I like to assure the House of Assembly and indeed the entire people of Kaduna State that we shall implement this budget on the basis of available resources. We shall concentrate on

revenue generation to fund this budget. There is a great challenge with the Federal Allocation and we need to improve on our IGR.” The governor also condemned a report in a national daily that the State Assembly rejected a proposed expenditure of N30 billion SURE-P fund saying “this is misinformation because the total revenue accrued from SURE-P to Kaduna State since its inception

in 2012 is not up to N30 billion.

“I demand apology for that erroneous report or I will be left with no option than to take legal action. There is nowhere in the budget that we made a provision of N30 billion for SURE-P. There is no provision of the budget that has no explanation as claimed by the newspaper, if there was the House would not have passed the budget,” Yero said.

64 news across the states

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Nasarawa PDP Guber Candidate Unveils 6 Point Agenda All is set for the flag off of the gubernatorial campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State today at the Keffi township stadium.

Addressing the press on the readiness of the party for the commencement of the campaigns yesterday, the governorship candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Yusuf Agabi, unveiled a six point agenda that would be the focal point of his engagement with the electorates as he seeks their mandate.

Agabi said when elected his administration would give pride of place to security, education, agriculture, infrastructure, employment and healthcare delivery.

He said following mutual suspicion and distrust that has pervaded communities and citizens of the state as a result of the violent communal clashes that characterised parts of the state in the past three years, his administration would make concerted efforts towards building confidence through reconciliation.

“Everyone would be involved in the peace-building process in the state,” he said.

The retired civil servant also promised to increase minimum wage in the state when elected so that workers in the state would be able to go home with appreciable packages for their families.

On agriculture, he promised to establish commodity boards to buy up produce from farmers so that they can get value for their labour.

By Donatus Nadi, Lafia

At N87 Per Litre, FG Still Subsidises Petrol – PPPRA Following outcry that the recent reduction of the pump price of fuel by N10 is insignificant considering the drop in crude price, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) yesterday said even at N87, government is still subsidising the product in favour of consumers.

Executive secretary of the PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed, who gave the clarification at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, stated that the price of crude oil dropped to a point where the open market price of petrol also fell to a level where the government considered it appropriate to relieve some of the burden imposed on Nigerians by the knock-on effect of the dwindling price of crude oil on the economy.

He said: “The price of crude oil averaged $62 in December, 2014 and dropped to an average of $50 per barrel for the first half of January, 2015.”

By Juliet Alohan, Abuja

L-R: Minister of State for Agriculture, Hajiya Asabe Ahmed, President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adeshina during the 2015 Agrifest in Abuja, yesterday. PHOTO

BY ADEFEMI ADEWUYI

Distribution Of PVCs Won’t Affect Timeline Of Elections- Jega

By Chibuzo Ukaibe, Abuja

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, yesterday declared that the electoral commission will stick to the election timetable it released last year, noting that distribution of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) will not alter the date slated for the elections.

Jega, who stated this at the official launch of the Mitigation Of Violence in Election (MOVE) in Abuja, said the issues of PVC

distribution before the election is something the commission will handle before the election dates.

The event was organised by International Foundation For Electoral System (IFES) and other local partners to address issues of election violence before, during and after the elections.

The INEC boss said the commission was prepared “if push comes to shove” to sustain the distribution of PVCs till the eve of elections.

Jega, who was responding to a call by the National Security Ad-

viser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki, for the postponement of the election within the timeframe of the electoral law, however said the commission has not discussed possible postponement.

Jega said, “I don’t want to comment on this. Like everybody we read it in the papers. I myself many things have been attributed to me which I know I didn’t say. So until I can confirm and get clarification it will be premature for me at this public event to start saying anything.

“In any case, anything that

I communicate is the commission’s position and the commission has not discussed this matter and taken a position on it.

So I cannot comment on this for now.”

He continued: “The challenge of the distribution of PVCs, we believe, is something we can address before the elections. I don’t know what else anybody wants me to say about this. We issued a timetable for the 2015 election almost a year ago and we have been busy working to implement that timetable to the letter. “

Boko Haram: 500,000 Metric Tons Of Crops Lost In Contract Debt: Contractors Adamawa in 2014 Protest Politically

By MOHAMMED ISMAIL, Yola

The insurgency bedevilling the northern part of Adamawa State has led to the destruction of about 546,388 metric tons of crops in the state.

The disclosure was made by the state director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Adamawa, Dr Walia Hamman during a session with journalists, adding that a total of 273,194 farmers were affected by the insurgency.

“About 273,194 of our farmers from five local government areas in northern Adamawa were affect-

ed by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, while 546,388 metric tons of crops comprising of maize, rice, sorghum, among others, were equally destroyed due to the insurgency in 2014,” Hamman said.

He said that Madagali is the worst LGA affected having the highest number of affected farmers with a total of 97,391, followed by Mubi south with a total of 68,772 farmers.

Others are Michika with 34,592, Mubi north with 42,062 and Maiha with 30,377 farmers affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Hamman added that during

the year under review, a total of 273,194 hectares of farmland were abandoned by farmers who fled as a result of the insurgency.

He noted that federal government has made adequate arrangements to avert famine in the state, saying “Government has adequate food reserve in the silos to overcome food insecurity in those affected areas.”

He further stated that insurgents’ activities had seriously affected the smooth implementation of Growth Enhancement Scheme in five northern Adamawa local government areas.

Campaigns: Uduaghan Decries Pre-election Violence

By Kola Eke-Ogiugo, Asaba

Delta State governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has decried the spate of violent attacks being perpetrated by supporters of candidates against political opponents and warned against the menace in Delta State.

Uduaghan handed down the warning on Thursday night at the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fundraising/ dinner ceremony in Asaba for the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.

He warned that his administra-

tion would not tolerate any form of violence during campaigns and elections in the state, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan had signed a document with other presidential candidates to avoid anything that would cause violence before, during and after the general elections in the country.

“I condemn the acts of violence that happened at the campaign rallies in Burutu and Patani few days back. That is not acceptable in Delta State; l am committed to peaceful campaigning, peaceful elections and victory that will bring in Senator Okowa as the next governor of

this state,” he said.

The governor Uduaghan appealed to party leaders to curtail the excesses of their followers/supporters, stating that anyone caught fomenting trouble in the state, especially during campaigns and elections would be severely dealt with by security agencies.

He commended the PDP campaign team in the state for the good work they have done and called on all party elders and faithful to support the team in order to deliver Senator Okowa in the February election, describing the party flag bearer as a marketable candidate.

Motivated – MDGs

Reacting to the peaceful protest carried out on Thursday in Abuja by contractors, the Office of the Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has said that there was a political undertone to the protest.

Head of Information and Communication, Dr. Chris Otabo, who stated this while addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, said that the text messages sent among the contractors for notification of the protest clearly indicated that the protest was carried out for political reasons.

He stated that the protesters to a large extent are not MDGs contractors, saying that they were hired to heat up the polity.

The angry contractors who took to the streets of Abuja on Thursday claimed that they were awarded contracts in 2013 by the OSAP on MDGs and that they had completed the projects but the MDGs office had embezzled the money which is about N30billion. They also accused the MDGs of paying the special assistant’s cronies who were awarded contracts in 2014 while they were still owing the 2013 contractors.

By Patience Ivie Ihejirika, Abuja

65

weekend politics Saturday, January 24, 2015

Weekend Politics Editor: Chibuzo ukaibE

Cautious Optimism As Stakeholders Brainstorm Over IDPs Voting The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) this week met with stakeholders from the northeast states under insurgency, stating with cautious optimism that the internally displaced persons would vote in the February polls. CHIBUZO UKAIBE was there for LEADERSHIP Weekend .

A

t last, it would seem that there is a ray of hope ahead for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), in the insurgency prone states of the northeast, to participate in next month’s elections.

After periods of uncertainty and doubts over whether (and how) IDPs would be accommodated in the elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday met in Abuja, with stakeholders from three troubled states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

The roll call had the three states’ governors, federal lawmakers, civil society members and international observers.

It was an open and frank discussion on the possibilities of the IDPs voting in the elections just as concerns by political actors and candidates were brought to the fore.

The discussion became inevitable considering the backlash that greeted perceptions that the electoral commission might not hold elections in those states.

Governors and law makers from the zone, last year, rebuked the INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, who was quoted to have said that elections would not hold in the region because of the security challenge. He has since denied such claims noting that elections would hold in sections of the states most suitable, securitywise.

However, with the common understanding that elections would hold in the region, the burden shifted to the modalities on how to ensure that the displaced persons vote.

As such, the electoral commission last December, setup a taskforce on reviewed ways to enable internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country vote in the 2015 general elections.

But the focus was on persons in the northeast.

The terms of reference for the taskforce include examining the legal, political, security and administrative challenges in ensuring that IDPs vote during the election.

They were also to “evaluate the standards and recommendations emerging from conferences and workshops by international and local agencies on IDP voting and determine their applicability to Nigeria for the 2015 election; review the experiences of other jurisdictions in dealing with the challenges of IDPs voting.

The group would also evaluate the adequacy of existing electoral legal framework for resolving the challenges of IDP voting in the elections and determine what the commission could do to ensure that IDPs were not disenfranchised.

The task force was further mandated “to determine the scope of IDP participation that is practicable in the 2015 general election and to submit a comprehensive report

Jega

The centres are to be located outside of the established camps but suitably located

which should embody specific recommendations on IDP participation in the election.”

INEC said that the task force had seven working days, from December 22, to submit its report.

National commissioner, Mrs Thelma Iremiren, was chairperson along with nine other members namely, the resident electoral commissioners (RECs) of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, Mr Kassim Gaidam, Prof Tukur Sa’ad and Mallam Sadiq Musa, respectively.

Others are INEC’s director, electoral operations, Mr Kayode Oladimeji; acting director, legal services, Mr Ibrahim Bawa; director of voter registry, Mr Emmanuel Akem; chief technical adviser and special assistant to INEC chairman, Prof Okechukwu Ibeanu; Prof Mohammed Kuna

and Mr Okechukwu Ndeche, director of planning and monitoring in INEC. Expectedly, the Tuesday stakeholders meeting which centred on the report of the task force was froth with expressions of concerns and suspicions.

But laying the foundation for the discussion, Prof Jega reeled out the modalities spelt out by the task force.

Jega disclosed that the commission would setup designated centres in various locations in each of the three states for the purpose of distribution of cards and organising of vote for IDPs. He also disclosed that, “the centres are to be located outside of the established camps but suitably located to enable all those in camps or in host communities access them easily to vote.”

He added that the commission intends to “arrange these centres such that voting can take place arranged by local government areas, residential areas and polling units.”

He said the commission would work with security agencies to ensure adequate security provision for the planned activities.

The INEC chairman stated that while “we strive to cater for the rights of IDPs to vote in the 2015 general elections, we should be realistic to acknowledge that given the constraints of available time and resources, we can only have a limited objective, which is to try to cater for IDPs in the three states which have been under emergency as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeastern geo-political zone.”

He noted that while the total of 981,416 was given as IDPs by NEMA, 1,059,868 were gathered

by INEC state offices in the three states and only the registered voters among them would be

66

This Week On Backlash Barely a week after they signed the famous Abuja Peace Accord to have a violence-free election cycle, the two major political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are already locked in a blame-game over actions or the inaction that pose a threat to the peace deal, which was brokered by the former secretary of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. While both sides accuse each other of not being committed to the deal, they have, however, asked their supporters to be calm and peaceful.

huteM hasilO

Pg... 66

Pg... 67

66 weekend politics

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Backlash

PDP Lacks Commitment To The Peace Accord – APC

T This is the height of desperate tactics by the PDP, which is capable of degenerating into unnecessary bloodshed and destruction

he APC Presidential Campaign Organisation has advised President Jonathan and the PDP leadership to take charge of their campaign for re-election before their surrogates plunge Nigeria into confusion and anarchy, noting that their actions pose a threat to the recently signed nonviolence accord in Abuja.

The opposition presidential campaign stated this while reacting to a front page cover advertisement in some newspapers in which Nigerians were asked to choose between life and death, grouping General Buhari among former Nigerian leaders who were either killed or died of natural causes while in office. It was sponsored by Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State.

The APC campaign said, “this is the height of desperate tactics by the PDP, which is capable of degenerating into unnecessary bloodshed and destruction. They are choosing death for us; this is not politics. We are, therefore, asking our supporters to stay calm and be law-abiding.”

Garba Shehu

The statement signed by the director of media and publicity of the campaign of the party, Mallam Garba Shehu, said, “even as a candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has a duty to lead the country with responsibility up until May 29, when a new president will be inaugurated.

“The whole world is watching and if anything happens to General Muhammadu Buhari before, during or after the elections, under the pretext of X, Y or Z, we shall be left

with no option than to conclude that the PDP and their surrogates are to be held accountable.”

The statement appealed to “all APC members and millions of supporters of Buhari across the country not to play into the hands of the PDP hatchet men to be provoked and thereby, giving them the much-needed excuse to abort this democracy before or after the elections.”

Shehu explained that APC campaign remains faithfully

committed to the peace accord signed by the country’s political parties under the auspices of Ambassador Kofi Annan.

He however alleged that the PDP is paying lip service to this commitment by trying to stroke the embers of hate and smear campaign, which he said is inconsistent with the commitment to peace.

The statement also advised the police, the State Security Service, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the advertising regulatory agency in Nigeria (APCON) to do their jobs by not allowing these dangerous threats to democracy go unchecked.

“Once again, the APC campaign advises all its supporters to strive to stay above the “roforofo”, which is clearly designed to provoke our supporters to help the PDP sinister agenda to abort this hard fought for democracy in view of their impending defeat in the forthcoming general elections,” Shehu said.

Cautious Optimism As Stakeholders Brainstorm Over IDPs Voting 65

catered for.

“We have no current capacity in the limited time we have to cater for those who have left the states to other parts of the country.

Moreover, there are no accurate records as to where they are and in what numbers.”

In an earlier presentation, the INEC national commissioner, Mrs Thelma Iremiren, who was also the chairman of the commission taskforce committee on IDPs said the commission was proposing 34 voting centres for Adamawa.

Iremiren’s presentation also revealed that the commission was also proposing 16 and three voting centres for Borno and Yobe states respectively.

She said that the voting centres had been created for IDPs in the affected states based on their constituencies, local governments and registration areas.

“These centres have been established in such a manner that no voter from one registration area can vote in another,’’ Iremiren said.

However, when the deliberations commenced proper, issues bordering on how truly safe the region was for elections, the logistic arrangements for such areas (with regards to deployment and efficacy of the card readers), the constitutional lapses for

such elections, quality of voter sensitation (with reference to the polling units and the peculiar needs of IDPs) and the level of engagement with the security operatives were thrown to the fore.

Specifically, there were issues of how the permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) would be distributed, collections of the PVCs by proxy and whether or not polling units should be situated in IDP camps vis-à-vis the consideration that the camps were controlled by the state governments, hence the question of manipulation.

More so, there were issues of returnees to areas hitherto attacked by insurgents like Hong local government area of Adamawa State as well as the alterations to the neighbouring local governments where IDPs had run to.

However, a high point of the deliberation was when the Governor of Adamawa State, Bala Ngilari, asked INEC to postpone the elections in Adamawa State to April because the state was not suitable for elections yet.

The governor pointed out that seven local governments were under siege, adding that the rehabilitation of persons affected by the insurgency was more paramount than the conduct of

elections.

Ngilari said, “I am going to give you the facts and figures that is fair enough to tell you the situation of the state. We have over 39,000 internally displaced persons in about 15 designated camps and over 15,000 that are not registered and are still in the host communities.

“We are told that about 11,000 are registered with families. In Adamawa State, I can sincerely tell you that we are under siege in about seven local governments.

The supposed peace we have is just the peace of the graveyard.

“To say that the security situation in these local governments is sufficiently stabilised to have this elections on February 14, to my mind, is not a fair assessment. That is my own submission, everybody is entitled to refuse but that is our own position as a government. I am the state chief security officer.

Even as I am speaking now, this morning, there was an attack in Gubak which directly affects us in Adamawa.

“Before last Saturday, the situation was said to have been stabilised until this attack. With this attack which completely reverberated across these local governments, of course, people will be concerned about their

dear lives. There was an attack in southern senatorial zone where four of the insurgents were killed and experience has shown that they will go back and regroup and you cannot detect where and when they will attack. You can only hope and pray that there should be no attack, I know that the most critical time for the insurgents to inflict their harm is during elections.

“Our interaction with the people at the IDPs camps has shown that they are saying that no politician should follow them to the camps to solicit for their votes because that will be the height of insensitivity. These are people undergoing serious trauma and they will need some time for proper rehabilitation, something that will assuage them and prepare them psychologically.

“Therefore, sir, my suggestion is that since the tenure of this present regime will come to end on May 29, it should consider moving these elections to about April, so that we can deal with the issue of the trauma and think of properly rehabilitating them.

Human lives are more important than elections. We will cooperate with the commission to ensure that at the appropriate time, elections are held successfully and nobody is disenfranchised. That is

In Adamawa State, I can sincerely tell you that we are under siege in about seven local governments. The supposed peace we have is just the peace of the graveyard

Saturday, January 24, 2015

weekend politics

67

the lashback

‘Attack On President’s Convoy By APC Not Sign Of Commitment To Peace Accord’

T It is worrisome that this kind of violent reaction would manifest when the election has not held and their candidate has not yet lost

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hit back at the All Progressives Congress (APC), accussing and its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, of also lacking the commitment to the Abuja Peace Accord for allegedly sponsoring their supporters to attack President Jonathan’s convoy in Katsina last Tuesday.

The PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, at a press conference addressed by its director of media affairs, Femi Fani-Kayode, in Abuja warned that should anything happen to President Goodluck Jonathan, the consequences would be grave adding that Buhari and his party would be held responsible.

“Why couldn’t General Buhari prove his commitment to the Abuja Accord by ensuring that his supporters did the same thing and did not indulge in vandalism, threats and violence? We wish to state clearly and categorically that the behaviour of Buhari and his supporters is unac-

Femi Fani-Kayode

ceptable and that it must cease forthwith.

“Let us take this opportunity to also serve them notice that if anything untoward happens to our candidate or his supporters in the course of this campaign, we shall hold Buhari and his party respon-

sible and the consequences would be grave, unimaginable and farreaching.

“Meanwhile, we call on our millions of supporters all over the country to remain calm and not to indulge in any form of violence or revenge attacks despite this

massive and unwarranted provocation.

“The Katsina show of shame was the first case of violence unleashed on our candidate by supporters of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, after the signing of the historic Abuja Accord by the presidential candidates of all the parties participating in the election. The purpose of that accord was to discourage violence before, during and after the election.

“The laudable intention of the accord has now been irresponsibly violated by a group of miscreants and vandals whose leader has proved to be wholly incapable of keeping them in check and restraining them from indulging in violence. It is worrisome that this kind of violent reaction would manifest when the election has not held and their candidate has not yet lost,” Kayode stated.

He said it was sad that the violence that greeted the 2011 presidential election was gradually been repeated.

Cautious Optimism As Stakeholders Brainstorm Over IDPs Voting 65

my view; you are entitled to your view.”

However, while Jega told the governor that his complaints and observations have been noted, a state lawmaker, Hon Aisha Ahmed, from Adamawa State, disagreed with the governor, stating that there will be havoc if the elections are postponed in the state would surpass. ” I Plead with my governor on his position that election should not hold in the state.

Campaigns have been going on round the state. The havoc of not conducting election will be worse than the havoc caused if it is conducted. We appreciate your indulgence for election to hold in Adamawa state just like other states.”

Similarly, Sen Ali Ndume, (Borno State) who said he has been a target of both insurgents and federal government, also said if elections could hold in countries battling insurgency, there was no reason why elections should not hold in any state facing insurgency attack.

However, the governor of Borno State, Kasim Shettima, hailed INEC for the job it was doing to ensure that elections

hold in the state. He praised the commission commitment as seen in the programmes and efforts made to ensure that IDPs participate in the election.

He however said he would make the IDP camps which are under the states control accessible in the course of the election but added that the insurgents should not be underestimated in attacking during elections.

“I want to commend INEC for their statesmanship, for empathising with people who have been displaced from their homes and it is sad that some of their kinsmen will attempt to deny them of their fundamental human right to vote.”

But, the question over whether elections for IDPs should hold within the camps or outside the camps was another touchy issue.

While Sen Ndume opposed the idea of situating the polling units for IDPs outside the camps, noting that they would be exposed to suicide bombers, Peter Gunda, who said he was representing IDPs from Chibok, said voting should remain outside the camps noting that since most of the camps in the state are controlled by the state governors,

it was liable to manipulation.

Before then, the former REC for Borno State, Mr Kassim Gaidam, had explained that the distribution of PVCs were done within the camps, stressing that troops had accompanied INEC officials throughout the process.

Jega however conceded that although the commission has agreed to fix polling centres outside the camps, the commission would revert to the stakeholders in the various states for the final decision.

He said, “the practicality will be resolved in the stakeholder meetings we will hold in each state to discuss the details so that ideas can be taken about where it is possible or not.

“But our position is that voting should take place outside camps at places suitable for people to go and vote and with adequate security to ensure that they vote.”

Jega who maintained that elections will only hold in areas where security arrangements have certified, however noted that those who collect permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) by proxy will be disappointed because of the use of card readers.

Jega further said the

commission will not revert to the use of temporary voters’ cards (TVCs) in the 2015 general election, saying that INEC has gone far in producing and distributing PVCs as well as in its preparation to use card readers in the forthcoming general elections.

He said the use of TVCs would be difficult as many people who had collected their PVCs had already handed over their temporary voter cards.

However, while all the debates raged, little attention was paid to whether the electorates in the camps would be fit psychologically to engage the electoral process, considering the harrowing experience they have been through.

At a time when the welfare of the IDPs has become topical, it was yet to be ascertained whether or not the eligible voters would enthusiastically participate during the elections as possibilities of voter apathy might not be unexpected.

Nevertheless, the INEC chairman assured that the modalities will still be fine-tuned to ensure best possible scenarios are adopted.

The question over whether elections for IDPs should hold within the camps or outside the camps was another touchy issue

68 Interview

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Criticism Will Not Deter Wada From Developing Kogi – Edi Kogi State governor, Capt Idris Wada would be three years in office this week. The people of the state have criticised the governor for not doing enough to better their lot these three years but the government thinks otherwise. Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the governor, Mr Jacob Edi in this interview with Catherine Agbo, insists that the governor has done the best anyone with the resources at his disposal would do.

Edi The Wada-led administration has been widely criticised for not doing enough to develop the state.

How would you say the government has fared these three years?

In any government setting, there are people who constitute themselves into critics. But whether they are criticising objectively or not should be the matter. There is no government in the world that is free from criticism. Our advice is that such criticism should be constructive and in good faith. Government will always frown at criticism that is fraught with malice.

This government has made giant strides in terms of developing Kogi State and there is no aspect of this that is not made known to members of the Nigerian public, and the Kogi public particularly. However, it has been observed that some people have made up their minds not to see what is going on in Kogi State and there is nothing you can do about it.

As soon as Wada came into office, he pledged to complete all on-going projects of his predecessors. He is keeping that promise and has already completed multimillion naira projects such as the Greater Lokoja Water Works, the Confluence Stadium, State Secretariat Phase II and the new Confluence Beach Hotel - a golf course is also being added to the hotel.

In addition to these, we began new projects in all sectors across the state. In health for instance, all general hospitals have been renovated, some new cottage hospitals are being established and a modern diagnostic centre at the specialist hospital in Lokoja is almost completed. Over 500 bore holes are being dug across the state. Our agriculture transformation agenda and accelerated rice and cassava farms are models being under studied by other states and even outside the shores of Nigeria. Indeed, our governor has been invited outside Nigeria to give talks on the Wada model of agro-transformation.

Presently, engineers are working round the clock on our 12-storey Kogi House in the FCT and

all roads in the state capital are being rehabilitated. In fact, government is spending over N4 billion to redesign and construct the IBB way from Zango-Daji to International Market into a multilane dual carriage way complete with street lights and a modern drainage system. We are also constructing a bye-pass from Ganaja to Otokiti. Similarly, two major housing projects apart from the one built for flood victims are on-going in the state. Just a week ago the university community in Anyagba, witnessed a monumental leap with the commissioning of completed male and female hostels as well as boreholes with the Kogi State University campus. The ground breaking ceremony of the multi-billion dollar Kogi State University Teaching Hospital (KSUTH) was also performed recently.

Now, the generality of the people of Kogi are very satisfied with what is going on with the government. They are satisfied with the development that is on ground. Do not forget that Kogi is not one of the ‘rich’ states but within the limits of the resources available to this government, we have performed above average to the extent that our people are convinced now that the ‘Wadawonder’ will be unprecedented during his second term as governor of the state. Thuggery which was almost institutionalised before this administration is now a thing of the past, the state capital is now cleaner and federal projects such as the Egbe-Kabba road have been attracted through the good will of the governor.

What has been the strategy of the Wada-led administration?

Well, it has not been easy because expectations were very high and our people were eager to reap the dividends of democracy. So, the expectation that greeted the emergence was such that it threw up a lot of challenges hence the government hit the ground running.

One of the first major actions the government took was to set up a think-tank committee. This

committee had the responsibility for fashioning a road-map for the state and the beauty of this committee is that it’s overall work is not designed to stop at the two terms of Captain Idris Wada. Successive administrations in the state are going to have a template of development from the work of the committee. We never had this before. Membership of that committee was drawn from people from different works of life. They are among the best brains in Kogi State, people who have distinguished themselves in their own chosen careers. These qualities were deployed on that committee so you can imagine the product. Prof Francis Idachaba of blessed memory headed the committee. The committee came up with a road map for this administration and beyond. This is the reason why government programmes under Capt Idris Wada are clearly defined before they are embarked upon. Accordingly, government decisions are no longer taken on a hunch.

The government took a bond of N5 billion last year. How has the money been utilised?

The N5 billion is just the first tranche. The whole bond is about N20 billion and by the rules, it is not supposed to be given at once, it is given in stages and every stage is monitored by officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance. The second tranche is about to be given. This bond is designed for capital projects majorly Kogi State University and the KSU Teaching Hospital is one of the projects being funded by it.

A few days ago, the governor was in that prestigious institution to perform the ground breaking ceremony. The bond money is being utilised well and one of the major collaterals of that bond is Captain Idris Wada’s integrity which his critics have vouched for. People have collected bond money in this county and have mismanaged it but Capt. Idris Wada being a man of honour and high integrity will not mismanage the money. Some of the projects I mentioned earlier are being fi-

nanced from the bond.

Why did the government suspend payment of WAEC fees for indigent students?

The Wada-led administration does not condone corruption and points it out wherever it is noticed. The payment had to be suspended after it was discovered that some people were taking advantage of it to defraud the state.

What have been the efforts at improving internally generated revenue, considering dwindling federal allocation?

It has improved tremendously.

However, the prevailing economic situation is not peculiar to Kogi State. However, let me put it on record that in spite of the dwindling revenue, we have been able to develop the state as a result of what I term Wada’s unique economic engineering.

Our internally generated revenue has improved tremendously. The government has succeeded in blocking all areas of leakages and it’s no longer business as usual here in Kogi State under Capt Wada’s watch.

How would you respond to criticisms that flood victims in Kogi were not well treated by the state government?

It is not true. Our government was one of the few that heeded the warning from the National Meteorological Agency and did a lot to help mitigate the extent of the damage. The only recorded boat mishap was not on Kogi water but that of a neighbouring state. The money that came from the federal government and other well-meaning Nigerians has been put to commendable use. Today, we have a full flood village complete with infrastructure for the flood victims while the flood areas have also been turned into rice farms instead of leaving them fallow. So, the popular agro-transformation and the rice farm are economic benefits deliberately explored from the flood plains by the government.

Within the limits of the resources available to this government, we have performed above average

ISSUES 69

Saturday, January 24, 2015

As Government Cuts Fuel Price

By Musa Godwin

Despite the sterling effort made by the Goodluck Jonathan administration last weekend to reduce the pump price of petrol from N97 per litre to N87 per litre, it seems that rabble-rousers are bent on rubbishing the policy which has begun to have benevolent effect on the citizenry.

Already, the National Union of Road Transport Workers has reduced the cost of transportation in response to the new policy, and Nigerians now spend less on transportation. That is why the plans being hatched by some people to approach civil rights groups and make them protest and agitate for more reduction in fuel price flies in the face of reason.

The truth is that given the current volatility in the crude market price, it would seem irresponsible for the government to give Nigerians a false hope with a larger drop in fuel price only for the market to rise again.

With this recent cut however, we are assured that the federal government will continue to review the price according to a determined watch of the international market.

Besides, on research, the N87 is actually a bit lower than the equivalent parity in crude cost.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke has been relentless in explaining the basis for the calculation that led to the N10 cut in her media interviews (NTA, AIT and Wazobia). She has gone to painstaking details to give the background of the issue and

the concern of the government to ensure it put in place a workable price regime that can stand the test of time. As a consequence, there is now a better understanding of the mechanics behind the cut by a broad section of the people.

Indeed, this is one of the rare moments in our country’s history when the government reduces rather than raises the price of this essential commodity. Nigerians, who are generally used to the periodic increase of petroleum prices no doubt, found this gesture a pleasant surprise.

Even more surprisingly, the Petroleum Minister told newsmen on Sunday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the new price regime would take effect immediately.

It meant that from that very day, the people would enjoy what is no doubt an unexpected largesse. The fact that all this happened without the usual pomp and pageantry that accompanies such a major policy shift is again a testimony to the modesty of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

It is true that for a while now, there have been calls on the administration to reduce the price of petrol to reflect the falling price of a barrel of crude in the international market. Indeed, barely two weeks ago, the Trade Union Congress [TUC] had asked the government to take advantage of the falling oil prices to reduce retail prices of petroleum products.

However, in announcing a series of austerity measures necessary to tackle the shortfall in revenue accruing to the federation account,

Dieziani

the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had insisted on December 17 that Nigeria would not reduce the pump price of fuel despite falling oil prices at the international market, until the revenue crisis occasioned by the dwindling oil rates is over.

The Minister explained that the decision to review fuel price either upwards or downwards would only be taken after the current crisis in global oil prices had been settled.

Since then, the opposition had turned the matter into a cause celebre, taunting the PDP-led government at the centre for failing to reduce the price of fuel for domestic consumption as the price of crude in the international market fell.

Against this background, the announced reversal of policy to the advantage of the ordinary citizen

was quite admirable. For ordinary Nigerians unconcerned with the way politicians use every issue to score a point, the benevolent effect of this government cut in price goes beyond merely being able to fill his or her tank at the gas station with less money. It also, and more importantly, means that he will pay less for other ancillary services.

Considering that in Nigeria, pump prices seemed to affect the cost of everything from school fees to medical bills, the multiple effect of taking off N10 from every litre of fuel sold at the gas station will be far reaching indeed. This is especially crucial in a subsistence economy like ours where road transportation forms the fulcrum of our public transport system.

From workers who commute daily, to transporters who take farm produce and other goods to the market, to traders, farmers and school children who will now pay less than they have done these past two years when PPMS rose to 97 naira per litre, the benevolent effect of this reduction in fuel price is huge indeed.

One only hopes that all others whose activities would be impacted upon by this reduction in prices will be quick to show similar good faith by reducing the price of their products or services. It is only when those who have always blamed the

high price they charge for their services on the cost of fuel take this gesture to heart and reduce the prices of their own businesses that the ordinary Nigerian will be expected to reap the full benefit of this gesture.

In reducing the price of fuel at the gas station, the federal government has proven that whatever measures it takes to deal with the crisis in the economy, it will be quick to provide necessary cushions whenever the need arises. This gesture will no doubt increase the people’s confidence in the policies of the government of President Jonathan.

It is proof that the government has a plan to deal with our economic challenges and is following this plan to the letter. One only wonders what new horse the APC will flog now that the administration has taken away its favourite subject.

Nigerians always say that what goes up must come down, except the price of petroleum in the gas station. Now, the Goodluck Jonathan government has proven that for a government that knows its onions, even fuel prices could be made to obey the law of gravity. It will be unfair and uncharitable for anyone to seek to denigrate that gesture to score political points right now.

— Godwin, a public affairs analyst wrote in from Abuja

One only hopes that all others whose activities would be impacted upon by this reduction in price will be quick to show similar good faith by reducing the prices of their products or services

MINT, NASS And The Leadership Role

by JESSICA OKEZIE

In recent years, the realm of economic theory and postulations has buzzed with predictions of the emergence of several countries as key players in the global economic stage with the most famous being Thomas O’Neills thesis on the creeping economic dominance of MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) towards the end of the decade if they adhere strictly to the hallowed tenets of probity, sanity, transparency, accountability, due process and the rule of law in the conduct of governmental operations, duties, activities and functions.

Also identified as necessary prerequisites in the attainment of MINT stardom is the existence of a responsive legislature, an impartial and independent judiciary, an incorruptible civil service, a free and vibrant press and an activist and socially responsible civil society.

But one blunt economist referred to Nigeria’s MINT

aspirations as “dead on arrival” and “a foolhardy wild goosechase embarked upon a mirage encapsulated landscape.”

However, this writer adamantly refuses to belong to the group of gloomy forecasters as I strongly believe that while corruption and a debilitating culture of cronyism, favouritism, nepotism and even ‘godfatherism’ continue to blight our governmental institutions especially the civil service, the judiciary and even the legislature, it must be stated that all hope is not lost in the nation’s quest for rapid transformation and reinvigoration of our institutions and the entrenchment of the sacrosanct principles of good governance and the delivery of democracy dividends to the Nigerian people.

Take for instance, the National Assembly which has the awesome responsibility of overseeing the vast array of MDAs that dot the bureaucratic landscape of the nation in order to check fraud, mismanagement and wastage

of the funds appropriated for the provision of services and infrastructure in the key areas of health, education, water, power, roads, rural infrastructure, agriculture, manpower development and women and youths empowerment. Without a vigorous and robust supervision of the MDAs to ensure that they carry out their official mandate, the country and its over 150 million citizens will continue to suffer from poverty, disease, homelessness and illiteracy for a long time to come and real development, not to talk of elevation to MINT super star status will remain a mirage for a long time to come.

However, there is bright light at the end of the tunnel as the National Assembly administrative leadership is making progress in its administrative, operational, policy and institutional reforms geared towards repositioning the Assembly for more effective, efficient and seamless service delivery to the elected political

leadership as well as the Nigerian people.

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Alh Salisu Maikasuwa, has revamped the committee system which is critical to overseeing the MDAs in the nation’s bureaucratic amalgam as appointment of committee clerks and secretaries are now based strictly on the revolutionary principle of ‘square pegism’ – that is, a square peg must be firmly ensconced in a square hole. Therefore those whose professional and academic qualifications tallied with the relevant committees were assigned to those committees and the past practice whereby ‘grade A’ or ‘juicy’ committees were assigned to ‘favoured’ clerks or secretaries was discarded and

thoroughly discredited.

As far as the unwavering and principled Maikasuwa is concerned, if your credentials were unsuitable to head a committee as clerk or secretary, too bad, you would not be assigned to such committee no matter your sectional, religious or linguistic inclination. This will no doubt, go a long way in ensuring that the committee system will effectively oversee the vast MDA bureaucracy for a more efficient and transparent management of the nation’s scarce funds and resources that will translate into Nigeria’s rapid advance into the famed MINT group of economically advanced democracies of the new global order.

— Okezie wrote in from Maitama, Abuja.

Without a vigorous and robust supervision of the MDAs to ensure that they carry out their official mandate, the country and its over 150 million citizens will continue to suffer from poverty, disease, homelessness and illiteracy

70 PHOTO NEWS

Saturday, January 24, 2015

IGP Suleiman Abba (R) and Dig Logistics, Mr Mamman Tsafe (L) decorating former commissioner of police, Mr Adenrele Shinaba, with his new rank of AIG in Abuja, yesterday.

Photo By Nan

Kebbi fish farmers carrying a fish locally grown under the intervention of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ata) at the 2015 Agric Festival in Abuja, yesterday.

People waiting to buy kerosene during the inauguration of nnpc kero-correct scheme in Abuja, yesterday. photo by nan

opinion 71

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Charlyboy

Okikiola Qasim Islam My Paradise islammyparadise@yahoo.com, thisisbolatytoqaasim@gmail.com

08140560505, 08185516060

Muslims Pray For Peaceful Elections

N

No nation is guaranteed continuous existence if her citizens wallow in abject poverty especially if such a nation is identified as having the potential

igeria, a country richly endowed with human and material resources critical for national development and highly religious is yet to find its rightful place among the comity of nations. The major reason for her socio-economic development stagnation is leadership crisis and corruption. Since independence, Nigerian government is replete of clueless, parochial, uninspiring, and selfish leaders.

The survival of a nation depends on the good leadership it can bring to bear on the people of the nation. No nation is guaranteed continuous existence if her citizens wallow in abject poverty especially if such a nation is identified as having the potentials; human and material resources that guarantee greatness. Leaders are selected rather than elected, electorates are subjugated rather than liberated; and results of votes cast are cooked up in someone’s living room rather than collated from the honest votes of the electorates. Individuals are maimed and killed each time they attempt to defend their rights to bring to power leaders of their choice.

The ability of the leadership to lead and coordinate the numerous agencies that make up the state must be gained good leadership quality The office has the physical control of the territory that makes the nation state, make collective decisions, provide reasonable public services, and be able to interact with other nation states as a full member of the international community.

All these are indicators of a stable and enduring nation state.

The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has always called on Nigeria government on the marginalization of Muslims in the country. Government should address the issues of inequality and injustice towards Muslims at all levels, which have been seen as factor in fuelling the five-year insurgency, adding that Muslims are not happy, but willing to support the government in its efforts towards peace and stability. “Muslims want and also demand to be treated with equality, with justice, with fairness and, Insha Allah (God willing), things will turn around,” he said, add-

ing that “We must rise up, as always, with one voice to condemn all acts of terrorism, condemn those terrorists wherever they are and try our possible best as Muslims to ensure peace reigns in our community.”

The Muslim community of Lagos State, the apex body for the Muslims in the state has demonstrated the importance of collective voice, purposeful leadership and good representation of the Muslims. The body shocked the entire Muslims in Nigeria and thoroughly exhibited the virtues of Excellent in them and further proved their symbol of Muslim unity.

The Muslim community of Lagos State has expressed disappointment over the utterances and actions of some political office seekers, saying such could further heat up the polity. Many politicians unfortunately have either personally or through their cronies engaged in mudslinging, character assassination and outright falsehood to gain political advantage and provoke violence among the people.

We denounce such unwholesome activities and urge a stop to that.

The clerics called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure that it conducts credible elections, imploring registered voters to collect their permanent voter cards that would enable them vote for candidates of their choice.

On Sunday, January 18, 2015 at the blue roof of LTV complex, Ikeja-Lagos, over 25 major Islamic organisations in Lagos state, over 234 Central Masajid 420 Ratibi Masajid , about 200 Islamic scholars and several Muslim personalities were present at the ‘Muslims Pray For Peaceful Elections,’ under a joint Muslim Forum And Muslim Community for Lagos State Initiatives.

Among the personalities present were Alh Hafiz Abou, Rtd Justice Ibrahim Ishola, Prof Daud Naibi-Muswem, Prof Tajudeen Gbadamasi, Alh Nuru Alamu Shitabe, Prof Ishaq Akintola Barr Oyefeso, among others.

One of the side attractions of the programme was the presence of the gubernatorial candidates of NCP, Comrade Ayodele Akele, and Ambode Akinwunmi and his deputy governorship candidate of the APC. ➔ TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK

Nuts And Screws 08032481739

Email: areafada1@yahoo.com Twitter:@areafada1 Instagram: areafada1 BB pin: 2324A360

My Dear Francis I hope it is ok to call you by your papal name; this is only because I feel so close to you. You have captured my heart with your simplicity, humanity, humility and love.

The first 25 years of my life were filled with dreams of becoming a priest, having been stuffed with an overdose of religion, a very serious matter in my family. When I turned 16, I became an altar boy, never missed Bible class or the regular confessions. My late father was a knight of the Catholic Church. That’s where I’m coming from. We were a family that prayed together, staunch Catholics for that matter.

Being an adventurous young man however, I dabbled into the occult, metaphysics, Buddhism, astrology, magic and all that jazz; but be that as it may, I still, am fundamentally a Catholic. The Catholic fate had suddenly become boring and old fashioned for me. Well, until you came along.

In 2013, I wrote an article titled, “A Bullet for the Pope,” which was published on the social media. In that piece, I expressed my fears and concerns about your life and safety. You bravely and boldly took on the Mafia, knowing that there were still pockets of vampires, fraudsters and criminals in the Vatican. The Vatican under your watch, honoured Rev Giuseppe Puglisi, who was killed over 20 years ago by mobsters for preaching against the Mafia, now a martyr. You demanded that Mafia members abandon their "evil ways."

And I wondered... what if the Mafia decides to take you "out" for sweating their business, knowing their infiltration is deep in the Vatican? You have shown to be true, the saying that the only thing needed for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I am very glad that you are doing something. It is clear that you possess a beautiful spiritual light burning inside of you.

I recognise your effort in trying to bring a better image and name to Catholicism.

No matter how anybody wishes to flip it, you are full of surprises, born of true and faithful humility; it sparks of Charlyboyizim. Francis, I am head over heels in love with your person, you are my Rock Star. I saw

you in The Philippines rocking the world again after Brazil, through the CNN lens. The World has fallen in love with you: is it Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Punks, Monks? In short, nothing is stranger, ever since you came onboard, than the reactions of evangelicals all over the world. Never before in history has a Pope been so widely accepted by Protestants and evangelicals, Muslims, Buddists, non-believers, all and sundry.

Thank God, it is a proud day for Catholics and all mankind.

Finally, we have a Pope who doesn't see himself as equal to God, a Pope who abandoned the red shoes (that were never an official part of the papal wardrobe anyway): a Pope who dresses modestly, pays his own lodging bills, drives around Vatican City in a Ford Focus, calls many people on the phone, brings jam sandwiches to onduty Swiss Guards at his door and invites street people to his birthday breakfast. Haba, how far my guy?

The way you embrace and kiss babies, embrace the sick, disfigured broken bodies and the abandoned of society is amazing. You are one world leader who speaks the truth, walks his talk and calls idolatry and greed by their real names. You are a bold and courageous shepherd who lifts up the poor and tells us that if they are not part of our lives, then we are a sad and even doomed lot. Just like Francis of Assisi did in his days.

You spent some time on your knees washing the feet of young women incarcerated in prisons; first time ever that a Pope would wash the feet of women, not to mention that some of them were Muslims. Hmmm, a bloody break in papal tradition.

Last year, you unequivocally said that the "door is closed," on women's ordination, a statement that I’m sure disappointed many Catholic liberals. You however reiterated that it doesn't mean the church should consider women as secondary or inferior; that "the feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions.

“Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed and the church cannot be herself without the woman and her role." Gbam! Na you talk am. ➔ TO BE CONTINUED NEXT

You are a bold and courageous shepherd who lifts up the poor and tells us that if they are not part of our lives, then we are a sad and even doomed lot

AMUSEMENT PARK

MY FATHER NEvER TOOk ME TO THE zOO. HE SAID IF THEY WANT ME, THEY WILL COME AND GET ME — Rodney Dangerfield

24.01.15

www.leadership.ng

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

No. 468 N300

The Weekend Column

T

For the first time, in the history of Nigeria, a silent democratic revolution is in place. Everyone wants change through the ballot papers

Capt Daniel Omale

he most constant aspect of human life is change.

Change is so constant that we often forget the associated realities of evolution or nature of things around us.

It’s quite unbelievable that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the first in its existence, is being threatened, initially, by its own internal disputes. Members of the party, gradually, could not come to terms with their own internal democracy. Dissatisfied members quickly sought refuge in other less endowed parties. That singular is part of the inevitable change in our political landscape.

The gradual disintegration of PDP’s homogeneity culminated into the overall wind of change that will come to the integrity of our fledgling democracy.

From 1999 to date, the PDP ruled the nation with the most divisive, polarised and myopic sense of justice and ineptitude, forgetting that change would inevitably arrive at its doorstep.

The current political reality in Nigeria is not about General Muhammadau Buhari ‘s righteousness or untainted character as an incorruptible candidate, nor is it about the viability of the All Progressive Congress (APC), because, literarily, there have been cross carpeting of members from the PDP to the APC. But the overall evolution called change has finally come.

The huge desire for change in the polity, or the movement for change that has gripped Nigerians is part of the inevitability or constant evolution of human life in relation to its environment.

In 2011, churches and other religious organisations were lured into politics to boost the PDP’s chances of winning. It worked. But with more failure of election promises, galvanised by the growing corruption and insecurity, change or desire for change eclipsed the usual political rhetoric.

What I find interesting is how desperate the ruling party wants to discredit opposition in order to either change the election timetable or to remain in power. At this stage of Nigeria’s political

Nigeria: Change Has Become Inevitable daniel@leadership.ng

consciousness, any candidate presented by the opposition will win in a free and fair election.

It will be more damaging to the ever dented cheating ideology of the PDP if it engages in its ethos of rigging. Nigerians must be allowed to decide their future. If the PDP feels marginalised, it is obviously because of its antecedents.

There is no single and exhaustive definition of “good governance,” that commands universal acceptance. The term is used with great flexibility; this is an advantage, but also a source of some difficulty at the operational level. Depending on the context and the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said at various times to encompass: full respect of human rights, the rule of law, effective participation, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and institutions; an efficient and effective public sector, political empowerment of people, and attitudes and values that foster responsibility.

Nigeria’s judiciary system is completely out of service. No court of justice is in service, and there is no place for the aggrieved to seek redress. The resultant effect is that the ever corrupt police and other paramilitary services would be extorting money from innocent citizens.

For a nation of this size (an estimated population of 170 million) to exist in a vacuum of lawlessness, shows that the government of the day has lost every moral justification to remain in office. Nigeria is a country known for its lawless appeal, a jungle where predators unfairly dominate their prey.

The courts, to some extent, have been known to give reprieve to those unjustly treated.The justice system in any country interprets the law, and in most cases exonerates the innocent. In Nigeria, despite acquittal by the court, an accused can still be remanded in police cell because he or she fails to give enough bribe to an officer; especially the immediate officer in –charge of his or her release. This jungle-type justice has rendered Nigeria’s human rights record on a decline. The fact that courts are usually in session to render judi-

cial services give citizens a sense of safety and security. But the total collapse of the justice system in a country like Nigeria, because the government has failed to meet the basic welfare of the workers in the judicial sector, is not just alarming but a sound misjudgment on the part of the administration.

As of today, every Nigerian is fed up: social amenities, safety and security, education, unemployment and dire corruption have become symbols of a country, formerly known as the safe haven for Africans.

After 15 years of misrule compounded by corruption, it’s time for real change. The PDP or the party in power has lost every moral justification to remain in office because nothing works. Nigeria’s external foreign reserves have been on a decline since the death of President Yar’Adua; oil theft is on the rise; insecurity as a result of entrenched desire for political domination by the PDP keeps the nation constantly in fear.

For the first time, in the history of Nigeria, a silent democratic revolution is in place. Everyone wants change through the ballot papers.

This is what will give the electorate the ultimate power to change the destiny of Nigeria. The practice of rigging election results will not be tolerated this time; political awareness has finally appeared on the horizon and this is the only time Nigerians have to get it right or they will remain subjugated in the hands of the very few, crafty PDP lords who have pocketed the nation to their advantage.

Every rational Nigerian is aware that the PDP will not go down easily without staging a fight. Already, libelous and inflammatory statements against the most formidable opponent, retired General Buhari, have been aired over and over. He was considered a religious bigot in the last election; a stigma that did not hold water.

He has been accused of having no academic credentials to back his position, another wasted effort of the PDP. Now he is being accused of having cancer, an unverified stigma to destabilise his supporters. Governor Fayose’s premonition that Buhari would die like his

08054102747 (text only) northern predecessors is a typical example of the level of desperation of his party. Femi Fani-Kayode, as characterised by former President Obasanjo, has begun to sing again.

This time, the tune is incoherent and unmelodious. But he will keep trying, at least, to have his moneylaundry charges dropped.

The beauty of the whole exercise is that Nigerians are wiser now than before, and even churches have refrained from being used as paths to election victory.

General Buhari and his party could be the agent of change, for now, but the feeling of Nigerians towards better life is beyond what a single party or a leader can immediately effect.

The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, did his best to project his party, the Labour Party, from Obscurity to the Centrist, but after more than ten years in office, Britons were fed up with his administration, and opted for change. In 2008, the United States was infected with Obamamania. Change finally came to America, no matter the definition of that change today.

Even in absolute comfort, human beings always long for change.

As for Nigerians, there is no better time to change our destiny than now. It is neither about Goodluck Jonathan, nor Buhari, but the inevitable change to give everyone more time to reassess the future.

If the APC will act as that agent of change, so be it.

GHANA MUST GO PDP will retake Kano in the coming election — Ahmadu Ali

Is it by juju?

• LEADERSHIP (ISSN 0331-328X) is published in Abuja by LEADERSHIP GROUP LIMITED, 27 Ibrahim Tahir Lane, Off Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Way, Utako District, Abuja P. O. Box 9514, Garki II, Abuja.

Lagos Office: 34/36 Adegbola Street, Anifowose, Off Oba Akran, Ikeja. E-mail: info@leadership.ng, advert@lerdership.ng, newsroom@leadership.ng