54 zonal watch (North-Central)
Sunday, December 21, 2014
project report
Internally Generated Revenue: The Magic Of Digital Land Administration In Nasarawa
NAGIS headquarters in Karu BY DONATUS NADI, Lafia
The focus to date has been on streamlining processes for citizens to obtain their Rights Of Occupancy (R-of-O) and secure Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O)
The administration of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State right from assumption of office placed high premium of revamping the internally generated revenue base of the state in order to meet up with its dream for the state. The state gets an average of N27.5 billion annually as revenue from the federation account, one of the very least in the country. With salaries and other statutory government expenditures taking up almost the entire revenue, little or nothing is left for capital development. To achieve his dream of tackling the issue of IGR, Governor AlMakura took a bold step to initiate the programme: Nasarawa Development Platform (NDP). The initiative with a total of N2.7 billion take off grant comprises three elements which include: digital aerial mapping of the entire state and six selected urban areas that provide the base data for maps planning. Nasarawa Geographical Information Service (NAGIS) was created as a new state government agency servicing the needs of the Ministry of Lands and Survey as it relates to urban renewal and district planning towards ensuring the sustainable development of the three major townships in the state which encompasses Lafia, Keffi and Karu. Between 2011 and 2013, the state IGR increased significantly
contributing over 15 percent of the total revenue earnings of the state. NAGIS supported the policy thrust of Governor Al-Makura’s administration, strengthening decision making by providing spatial information, data and services to all government ministries and agencies. Also, the computerisation of the cadastral and land registry provided a platform for transparent land transactions and the optimisation of workflows which has improved efficiency in land administration and improved revenue generation. The state government and other organisations have benefitted a lot since the advent of NAGIS. It has stimulated economic development by enabling citizens and private enterprises to register land and property, securing their investment in a transparent and safe system. In addition, the unnecessary savings that made the exercise cumbersome before obtaining receipts or certificates has been improved through the use of digital electronic systems. More people have been able to process and obtain their Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) since the inauguration of NAGIS than during the period of past administrations put together since the creation of the state. For instance, during Aliyu Akwe Doma’s administration from 2007 to 2011 only total of 569 land titles were issued as compared to 1,542 in Al-Makura’s three years stay in office. This has resulted in significant
increases in revenues generated. It is important to note that these revenues are sustainable as conveying more C-of-Os resulting in increased ground rent collections. As more people obtain C-of-Os, there is increased investment in the development of new property resulting in development control charges, property taxes and tenement rates. In the five years from 2007 to 2011, the revenue generated by the ministry of Lands and Survey totaled N209,156,527.00 that made up to 21 percent of the seven years profile ending 2013. In the following two years, 20122013 total revenue accrual stood at N765,447,148.97 representing 78.5 percent of the seven year total. In a televised interactive session during the official commissioning of Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS) Lafia, Governor Al-Makura gave some insight into what the target of his administration is as regards revenue from his land policy thrust, stating that the state is expected to reap over N400 million monthly as IGR from its ongoing land reform policy. Other remarkable benefits of AlMakura’s land policy administration include the complete mapping of the entire state with 10cm ortho-photos of six urban areas and 25cm for all rural areas covering a total of 27,000 square-kilometers of digital aerial photography, the only state in the entire country to complete such mapping. To meet its target, NAGIS has also employed and trained over 50
persons who are now operating the system while the training continues. However, the full impact of NAGIS is yet to come. While the automated systems are now in place, they have continued to be streamlined as workflows continue to be optimised. In addition, not all revenue heads have been incorporated into the NAGIS system. The focus to date has been on streamlining processes for citizens to obtain their Rights Of Occupancy (R-of-O) and secure Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O). Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr Sonny Agassi, said in the past three years Governor AlMakura has been able to issue out 190 C-of-Os against the 238 certificates issued since 1999. “The government of Governor Al-Makura has been able to issue out 190 C-of-Os within 29 months. This is against the 214 certificates issued between 1999 to 2007 and 24 certificates issued from 2007 to 2011”, he said. According to him, the ministry has also initiated a policy to issue out 100 C-of-O’s every week. The commissioner admonished inhabitants in the state to imbibe the culture of acquiring the C-of-O as according to him, it could be used as collateral to secure loans from banks. He explained that the certificate is not meant for only indigenes of the state rather it’s meant for anybody with landed property in the state.
Christian perspective 55
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Pastor W.F. Kumuyi The Study Of God’s Word info@deeperlifeonline.org
Transparent Holiness Before Profitable Ministry Are there beams of offences, visible to all around us which make others resist or reject our ministry? Upon what ground do you set up yourself as a teacher of the brethren when you are even worse than those you are trying to teach or admonish? The wisest thing to do is to first seek total restoration from God, be righteous and right with God before attempting to lead others to righteousness. PROPER REMEDY FOR TRANSFORMING THE BELIEVERS Matthew 7:5; Luke 1:15-17; Deuteronomy 6:5-7; Malachi 2:5-7; Jeremiah 23:21,22; Galatians 6:1-4; Philippians 2:3-16; Colossians 3:12-16;1 Thessalonians 2:7-12; Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 4:12,15,16; Titus 2:7,8. The Lord does not permit us to be complacent, to retain the beams in our eyes and use that as an excuse for not helping others to be free of motes in their eyes.
He commands that we quickly and urgently, as a matter of priority, cast the beams out of our eyes. As soon as we are cleansed from our secret faults (Psalm 19:12,13), having laid aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us (Hebrews 12:1), made free from sin and made righteous (Romans 6:18,22) by faith in Christ’s cleansing blood, we are now ready and willing to help improve the spiritual life of the brethren. Those who desire the office of a bishop must be blameless. Ministers who desire to “perfect that which is lacking in the faith” of their congregations (1 Thessalonians 3:10) must not tolerate or excuse imperfection in their own lives. Indeed, all of us, as sons of God, are encouraged to “Be blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world ” (Philippians 2:15). Only then can we hold forth the word of life, bringing sinners to Christ and leading believers to
greater experiences in Christ. Holiness of heart, practical righteousness and purity of intention make us awesome, useful, profitable instruments in God’s hands. However, we must always remember that removing a mote, a tiny particle from another person’s eye is not a task which any careless hand can successfully undertake. We need training and skill if we would not make bad matters worse. The eye is the most sensitive organ of the body and the most easily damaged. A gentle and well-guided hand is required to extract a foreign substance from it. And the person from whose eye the splinter is to be removed must be willing for us to do it - his unwillingness or resistance will make the operation impossible. Your wisdom makes him willing to allow you to extract the mote while your love is the local anaesthetic that minimises the pain of the operation. THE NECESSITY OF
DISCERNMENT AND WISDOM IN MINISTRY Matthew 7:6 “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine ...” Many Christians find this verse difficult to understand. And still, many more find it difficult to apply. Are the words, “that which is holy”, “pearls”, “dogs”, “swine” literal or symbolic? They are symbolic. Obviously, “that which is holy” is sacred and “pearls” are precious, peculiar treasures. There are sacred, precious, peculiar treasures that will not be recognised, appreciated or even needed by dogs and pigs that they will “trample under their feet.” Throwing such treasures to them will also arouse their wild nature so they will “turn again and rend you”. Apart from “that which is holy” or a sacred thing which dogs do ➔ TO BE CONTINUED
Brother Gbile Akanni Living Seed trifect2000@yahoo.com +234 806 126 1907
Fresh Fire For Life And Effective Ministry (12)
A man that wants to keep his fire burning for a long time does not think of everything
You must add fresh wood to your fire every day. A fire can burn for years if wood continues to come. The third thing you need to add is the fresh wood of meditation. You must keep your thoughts around your fire. Keep your thoughts; think every day about the fire- God is kindling in your heart. Do not let anything dissipate your thoughts, my brother. Do not become a scattered man. Be concentrated. Let the thoughts of your heart become useful instruments to your fire. As you meditate day and night, you will find out that your heart will be warm. Your spirit will be ready to explode. You can drive without allowing driving to occupy your heart. You can be involved with people and yet they will not enter your heart. Keep your thoughts intact. It is not everything you should be
worried about. A man that wants to keep his fire burning for a long time does not think of everything. It is not everybody who cries that he must run after. Be composed inside. You can hear people talking, but it should not disturb your equilibrium. Your thoughts should not be disturbed because if your thoughts are scattered, there will be no oxygen again to support your burning. This thing is the prerequisite for receiving fresh revelation every time. One of the reasons the Bible is dry to many people is because their thoughts are scattered. Do you know that if you wait on one Bible verse for twenty four hours, it will break forth? But when you read a passage and jump off to read another one, the scripture will not come; it takes concentrated meditation to catch the yolk
that is inside the Word. Do you know that every Bible verse is encased in a letter, and it has to be cracked? It is your insistent thought on it that makes heaven to release what is inside that scripture to you. You need to preserve your thoughts in order to keep your fire. This is where it is very difficult for ladies and this is where you need special grace. Ladies are generally scattered and shallow in thoughts. Every little thing enters their hearts and scatters them. That is why most women cannot sustain a burden for a long time, and it is also why the fire that most ladies have is like kerosene fire, that just blows at once and quenches. The sister that is prophesying now that all of us were blessed can get home and begin to quarrel with her house girl who may have just mistakenly broken her set of
enamel plates. How can that happen? Where did she get enough thoughts to quarrel with that girl when she should be thinking of something weightier on her spirit? Sisters, you must learn to pack aside and dismiss trivial matters. Even if she broke your set of plates, the truth of the matter is that it is broken. Why are you wasting your thoughts on what you cannot repair? Why can’t you let it go, and use your thoughts for something more serious? If you are going to keep your fire as a woman, you need to be careful on this. It is not everything that must enter your heart because not everything is important. God could have spoken something very serious and the burden is heavy on your heart and suddenly your husband comes in and shouts on you.
Holiness of heart, practical righteousness and purity of intention make us awesome
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Christian perspective
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Bishop Matthew Daniels Insight For Living bishopmatthewdaniels@yahoo.com 09029692720, 08111896866
The Way To Success - Three Methods: Planning, Execution, Re-doing
Success is equated with achieving a goal, but don’t assume it will always bring happiness
Many people want to achieve success in life, but it’s easier said than done. The way to success is filled with so many distractions that it can be challenging to discipline oneself to accomplish goals or visions. By keeping the following advice in mind, however, you can dramatically increase your chances of becoming successful in whatever you choose to pursue: 1. Imagine becoming successful Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. The more vividly and accurately you imagine your success, the easier it will be for your spirit soul and energy to follow through. The same way engineers first imagine a bridge and then build it, you can be the engineer of your success too. • Dedicate some few minutes every day to imagining your success. Imagine yourself in a prosperous realm in which you are successful. What are you doing in the ream? What is your success like? Savor the feeling of your success and use it as motivation to stoke your fire. •Cultivate a healthy motivation when imagining your success. Successful people all believe in themselves and their missions. At the same time, you should not try to alienate
other people with extreme narcissism. Understand that other people desire to be successful as you do; your actions should not be to trample over them to get what you want. 2. Discover the purpose or goal of your life Identify the things you love to do, the things that give you satisfaction. Once you identify what you love to do, use this information to find the purpose of your life or the objective of your life. •Finding what you love to do will give you motivation to work. Imagine being forced to play basket ball when your real passion is foot ball. Pretty difficult, huh? Now imagine the opportunity to participate in a foot ball tournament. It’s much, much easier to persistently chip away at your goal if your goal is something you enjoy doing. 3. Define the meaning of true success as you see it You may not have success if you do not know what it means for you. Everyone views success differently and using someone else’s standard for success is like eating another person’s favorite meal and expecting to love it. See success within the context of the Bible.
• How will you know when you have achieved your goals? Have quantifiable and quality standards for success; else you may spend your entire life chasing after a vague goal. • For example, let’s say you want to be best, then you get a promotion or a pay raise but you still have not gotten to your goal yet because you could always do better, right? You could always get promoted even further, or make even more money. Whatever you have will never be enough. • Instead, create benchmarks: “My goal is to increase my productivity by 30% and only be late for work six times per year, at the most.” These are quantifiable goals that when achieved, give you a sense of satisfaction and completion, making you feel successful and fulfill Know that life is not fair 4. It’s a fact. You may wish that it were different and even moan about it or you can go out there and do something about it. So stop wasting time about the unfairness of life and think how to use the situation for your benefit. Newton could have complained about the apple falling from the tree and hitting his head. Instead, he identified the
law of gravity and is now known as the father of Physics. 5. Know that success does not guarantee happiness Many people make the mistake that if they accomplish this or that, they’ll be happier. Success is equated with achieving a goal, but don’t assume it will always bring happiness. Fulfillment and satisfaction have a lot more to do with how you approach life than with what you do in life. Keep that in perspective. 6 Don’t burn bridges along the way to success. A lot of life is about personal relationships, so don’t forsake them. When you discover a particular way to success and it has made everyone to dislike you, you have no spouse, and no close friends, will it be worth it? 7 Value experiences over objects. It is natural for humans to be obsessed with money. Scientists think that our memories of our experiences can make us happier than objects we can buy with money. Focus on making great memories by positive impact on people along the way, and you will be a happy person.
Japheth Omojuwa Enough Is Enough mr.omojuwa@gmail.com, twitter:@omojuwa, skype:omojuwa 08025260697
Nigeria: A Nation Almost Grounded To A Halt?
Today, death and being expected to die is the new normal in the northeast of Nigeria
“The president did not believe that those girls were abducted for almost 18 days… If the president got the information within 12 hours of the act and he reacted immediately, I believe those girls would have been rescued within 24 hours, maximum 48 hours.” -former president Olusegun Obasanjo. If one singular reason could be given for why the Chibok Girls were successfully abducted and could not be rescued days after their abduction, the above statement by Gen Obasanjo (rtd.) sums it up. That statement did not only state the failure of the presidency and its government over the Chibok abduction issue, when broken down to its essence, that statement explains why today, no matter how many Nigerians are killed, no Nigerian, deep within him/herself expects the government to “bring the perpetrators to book.” Whether we like it or not, whether or not we admit it, we have consciously excused our government from being responsible for anything. In our head, the government only exists to fail. In that situation, what would a vicious gang of murderers like Boko Haram do? Of course, they’d reign terror on the people and that is what they continue
to do as the Nigerian government releases statement upon statement of condemnation. Lest I forget, when Abuja was bombed on the October 1st 2010, just months after Mr Jonathan took over, that bombing incident was unusual in Nigeria. As much as they would hate to admit it, Boko Haram was not the first to raise our consciousness about the evil of bombs under this administration. A group, MEND claimed responsibility for that particular incident. The curious thing about that particular incident is the fact that the first person to exonerate MEND from being responsible was the president himself when he said “not my people”, as though only Ijaws had a claim to being called his people. A competent South African court later established the fact that the president was wrong. As we speak, no one has asked the president what he knows about that particular incident. Or does it not merit an investigation of some sort at that level? It was absolutely uncertain to exonerate a terrorist organisation from a crime, yet it has since been established that that act of terror was indeed committed by the “not my people’ terror group.
While that particular incident being highlighted here is not about the possible complicity of President Jonathan, it is to show that at the advent of this administration, the incident of bomb blast was indeed very much novel to Nigeria’s 4th Republic. Now, it has become so much a part of our normal life; hardly anyone down south even blinks when they hear news of a bomb blast. What happened? The Jonathan administration and its propaganda machine would have us believe some northern leaders are behind the menace to “make the country ungovernable.” Lets be sincere, if you indeed want to make Nigeria ungovernable, would you start by killing members of your own immediate family and religious inclination. Like it or not, northern leaders have failed the people. Their years of leadership has not brought an attendant increase in the good fortunes of the north but to say they are the ones bombing their own people is to stretch logic beyond the point of rationality, a point that breaks its essence; that makes it illogical. As we continue to be burdened by the absence of governance on all
fronts, let us remember that this was not the Nigeria this administration inherited. No Nigerian territory was under the threat of being taken over by insurgents but today that is not the case as our territories are now being shared by terrorists. President Jonathan told ex-President Obasanjo that they were only a bunch of riffraffs when the latter told him about the danger the group pose to the peace and security of Nigeria. Today, death and being expected to die is the new normal lifestyle in the northeast of Nigeria. How many people are shocked by the news of another killing in the northeast these days? That absence of shock clearly defines it as a norm in that part of Nigeria; that people are expected to be killed, and sadly, killed daily. As 2015 approaches, we would do well to remember the state of the nation today and its state when President Jonathan was made acting president. He inherited an economy very much on its way up. He inherited a country at peace within and without. It was not a perfect country but its citizens were not killed daily. Where is that country today?
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nollywood Sunday, December 21, 2014
Most Outstanding Comedians Of 2014 Comedians otherwise referred to as humour merchants have become a major part of the entertainment industry in Nigeria. ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM and SAMUEL ABULUDE, profile the comedians who shinned like a million stars in 2014.
I
n the entertainment industry, comedy is regarded as the fastest sub-sector of the industry. Hardly will there be an event without the services of a comedian to lighten up the atmosphere and prepare the audience for the real thing. Stand-up comedy, the most popular of the genre of professional comedy has been embraced by Nigerian youths as the way out of poverty. A lot of platforms like Stand Up Nigeria by Bunmi Davies, Open Mic Challenge created by AY and others, have helped to produce new talents in the comedy industry. In 2014, a lot of comedians has diversified and made themselves relevant. These humour merchants are our Most outstanding comedians of 2014. They are profiled in no particular order. AY Comedian and showbiz entrepreneur, Ayo Richard Makun popularly called AY keeps setting the standard. He is the brain and event organiser of the show-stopping annual comedy event, AY Live. Then he started his comedy drama, AY Crib, a popular sitcom featuring Alex Ekubo,Venita Akpofure, Buchi Franklin and Justice Nuagbe. Now, AY has produced his first movie, 30 Days in Atlanta. The comedy which stars American and Hollywood actressacts, Vivicia A. Fox among others is a good movie and won the Best Comedy in Best of Nollywood, BON 2014 awards. 30 Days In Atlanta has hit the cinemas already. AY has made business out of comedy and showbiz. His brand keeps soaring. Months ago, he opened a club in Lekki part of the Island in Lagos. Ayo Makun who was once Alibaba’s personal assistant is the CEO of Corporate World entertainment. Bovi Ugboma Bovi is the comedian everyone wants to see and associate with. The comedian started with comedy series and now headlines different shows. Bovi was supposed to co-host HEADIES 2014 but for some reasons not known to his fans could not be at the Headies. His place was taken by Basket Mouth. Bovi’s one- man comedy-event held last year was a huge success and proved that he was a bundle of talent. He repeated the same show in 20 14. He is doing same in London now. For a comedian unknown five years ago, it’s a testament of his relevance and work ethic. Koffi Nigeria’s most Versatile Entertainer/ Entrepreneur/ CEO Workerman ENT, producers of Award winning film, The Nanny has been hosting his comedy show tagged, “Out of Control” which has seen the best of the best comedians within and outside the shores of the country. He is very talented as an actor, musician and comedian. He’s
AY
Bovi
one of the top comedians of 2014. Basket Mouth The in-house Glo Ambassador has been doing very well for himself, churning millions of naira into his pocket. He has toured the world with Glo and has attained greater height in the comic industry. He is regarded as the biggest now in the industry. Gordons This comedian/compere has seen it all. He has made name for himself within and outside the country. Gordons is frequently invited for shows in Abuja especially in churches because of his tactics in passing across his message to the audience. He has carved a niche for himself and it’s sure going to be great for him next year. Gbenga Adeyinka No doubt, Ace comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka, who went by the title CFR, and now GCON (Grand Comedian of Nigeria) has made Nigerians proud both at home and in the Diaspora. Gbenga is very popular with his shine shine bobo ‘Star Game Show’. Although he may not be the most amazing comedian in Nigeria, one thing stands him out and that is his spectacular way of delivering his comedy. Adeyinka is known to use different languages to bring his comedy home and he is arguably the only comedian who has taken comedy to the 36 states of the country. He is known to compeer major ceremonies and shows in dramatic ways. Today, Gbenga’s story has changed. He has spent more than a decade in the comedy business with world class reputation and an unforgettable 20 years in marriage. Tee-A Tunde Adewale, a.k.a Tee A, the comedian, has been in the industry for years. Known for his humour, the stand-up comedian also anchors a television talk show, Time out with Tee A. The Hilarious Tunde Adewale is the founder of First Class Entertainment, an independent television programme than has seen him doing very well. Teju Babyface
Akpororo
This young man has made comedy worthwhile with his Teju Babyface show which has brought in guests from all walks of life. It has also won him lots of accolades. Lepacious Bose Being a plus-size person might be very worrisome, especially now that most men prefer their women very ‘portable’. Ironically, in the past, men wanted those on the ‘big side’ when they wanted ‘big madams’ as wives. Having to be a plus-size now comes with a lot of working out; not that they do not appreciate the way they are, but it is now necessary because of the worries of being on the ‘big side’. For comedian and United Nations Peace Ambassador, Lepacious Bose, she jokes with it and it makes her well respected. She’s one of the top female comedians in Nigeria today. Helen Paul Helen Paul is a lady of many parts. A comedian, radio and TV presenter, an actress and even a musician. Who was a receptionist at Eko FM Studios and from there, started doing backup, voice over. When she got into the University of Lagos, she discovered the comedy part of her and have been doing very well ever since. The award winning stand up comedian has since made name for herself and is swelling high, competing favourably with her male counterparts. Owen Gee, Nigeria’s craziest comedian, Owen Osemwegie aka Owen Gee started off as a musical act. Whilst performing on stage with his group, the audience teased and booed at them. He asked the DJ to stop the music and started throwing words at the audience. He ended up thrilling the crowd for close to thirty minutes. This marked a starting point for him. Today, Owen Gee has released a comedy sketch – Elder Statesman and he discusses the topic – Nick name also known as slang from the perspective of an elderly man. He’s of the top comedians. Though there are others like, Yaw, Bash, Bowjoint, Babadebaba, Cee.Y, Pa-
Patrick
pabee, Josh2funny, Omobaba, Nick B, Stainless, Lolo etc. Akpororo Akpororo is a delight any day. The comedia who burst into the entertainment scene a few years ago has suddenly been one of the most sought after comedians particularly in faith-based events. The Waffi-boy isn’t quiet about his faith and perhaps that has earned him plaudits from different quarters. Akpororo has a fierce look and like other comedians is not afraid to tell the audience how they conquered poverty. The lanky entertainer has graced EXPERIENCE Concert now back to back, he also made a guest appearance at the annual Youth-Alive church program of Living Faith Churches at Canaanland, Ota. Akpororo knows how to easily get the audience’s attention and he has won the Comedian of The Year in 2014 and last year, 2013. He is creative having released a song, and not afraid to experiment. Mr Patrick (Kunle Thomas) Have you been amused and entertained by a comedy skit titled ‘Adventures of Kunle Thomas’ running on TVC and other channels. The skit is hillarious and is close to the award winning comedy series of Michael Crawford’s, ‘Some Mothers Do Have Them’ where one dumb man named Frank Spence keeps every one spell bound with his antics. Adventure of Kunle Thomas in this 21st century is close to the foreign drama series only that it isn’t a full drama series. The man behind the unconventional skit is called Mr Patrick with real name Patrick Onyeke. His genre of comedy is FlatStick. According to Mr Patrick who was nominated for AMVCA comedy writer of the year in the Desmond Elliot-direction comedy, ‘The Place’, he’s been around for almost a decade now doing stand-up comedy. “FlatStick is the kind of comedy exhibited by Adventure of Kunle Thomas and it is a Pan-African show where Kunle Thomas connects with other continents in a comedy show. I’ve spent money and creativity to show this side of me. I’m introducing another genre, ‘Dark Comedy’,” says Mr Patrick.
In 2014, a lot of comedians has diversified and made themselves relevant. These humour merchants are our Most outstanding comedians of 2014
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e-train
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Don’t Go Into Music Just For Fame – Essence
For those who have been craving to know why Okoro Uwale (a.k.a Essence) is not blowing her own trumpet like others in the industry, the Itsekiri-born musician who went professional at the age of 18 has provided some answers. The Theatre Arts student with Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka who featured at this year’s LEADERSHIP Conference and Awards, spoke up in this interview with ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM. Excerpts What’s the feeling like being here today?
It’s an eye opener because for me it’s an opportunity to learn because as artistes, we hardly go for lectures and what have you. But as a Nigerian it’s good that we are involved in things like this. Not just to come and sing or entertain or use our music as tools for information dissemination, but also to get educated and be reminded about things . Also, to reinforce ourselves in our beliefs in our people as Nigerians. You have been in the industry for quite a while now,how has it been?
Well, based on the lecture I heard a couple of minutes ago, we are told to re-evaluate ourselves then get back to our core values, which, I have translated as an artiste to mean rebranding. Any brand that it sought for always thinks of ways to renew itself in the minds of people and the coming generation. So Essence the brand is rebranding, and thinking of ways of having a core audience because let’s say Coca Cola has its core demographic that it attends to, that shouldn’t be different with an artiste too because you have your core demographics too. Because frankly I can’t sing Fuji because I don’t think I will appeal to you. So it’s just finding where my core demographics are and attending to them.
It’s not all rosy neither is it fun and games, it’s serious work and if you don’t have the capacity, which is the passion to push through, then you’ll fall by the way side
What do you think about the music industry today?
Looking back from where we started and what obtains now, when we were much younger, we had little sprinkling of international appeal with Onyeka Owenu, Femi Kuti, Christy Essien Igbokwe and the likes, just a handful of them. But now the terrain is open, and people are beginning to look to Nigeria for inspiration for the next big thing, the next trending music. Music has really blown to the roof. You have featured personalities in the past, what are your plans now?
Hmmm...I’m working on... (laughs) I don’t even know what the title of the album would be called. It doesn’t even have a working title. But I’m working on strictly an RnB album. The real Essence is what everybody is going to
see now. On who and who I’m going to feature on the new album, I don’t know for now, because the style of the song would determine who would be on the song. We have to wait and see. Are you still with Kennis Music?
We are family I mean are they still in touch with your music?
Ah ah...does your father talk to you? (Laughter) you don’t know what family means? Even if a child grows old and goes to London, the father will say, hey...you come here. We are family. There’s no break up, no dividing, we are one, I’m still with Kennis Music. That’s why I used the word family because we use business eye to look at things. People fall out and all of that and it’s permanent goodbye but in family the bond is still there. So what’s the message for your fans?
Thank you for keeping the brand going because you are the ones that are making me do what I’m doing to bring out the best in me. Those little words of encouragement -like when I see people and hear them say ‘this your song changed my life.’ That, I think, is the pyramid for any artiste, if your song must really impact positively on someone’s life. Not just seeing an artiste and saying ‘that your song makes me dance o...’ No, but to say ‘your song impacted my life positively.’ That should be the goal of every artiste. And I want to thank all my fans for the great gesture and they should watch out for the rebranded Essence. What would be you message to upcoming artistes who aspire to get to your level as musicians?
First of all, have the calling. Let me put it that way because the calling comes with passion. It’s not all rosy neither is it fun and games, it’s serious work and if you don’t have the capacity, which is the passion to push through, then you’ll fall by the way side. Don’t come because you want to blow or be famous or that you want people to scream your name. It’s doesn’t work that way.
e-train foreign Sunday, December 21, 2014
Latest Movies
PK
PK is an upcoming 2014 Indian family comedy-drama film, Hirani has stated that the film will be a satire on “God and godmen”. In theatres on December 19, 2014. Production Company: Vinod Chopra Films. Starring: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Dutt Directed: Rajkumar Hirani Produced: Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Siddharth Roy Kapur Duration: 153 minutes
Annie Ten-year-old Annie Bennett (Quvenzhané Wallis) is a foster child living in Harlem. She lives with the alcoholic and bitter Colleen Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), who has taken in four other foster children named Isabella, Tessie, Mia, and Pepper in order to receive money from the state. Unlike the other girls, Annie believes her parents will one day return for her and imagines what they might be like (“Maybe”). The next morning, Hannigan (annoyed by the girls’ singing from the previous night) puts them to work cleaning up the apartment ahead of a visit from their social worker (“It’s the Hard-Knock Life”). On the other side of the city, Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), cell phone mogul and billionaire, is running a disastrous campaign for mayor of New York City. His hotshot adviser Guy (Bobby Cannavale), his assistant Grace Farrell (Rose Byrne), and bodyguard Nash (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) attempt to help him clean up his public image, but Stacks’ general dislike for people alienates him from would-be voters. In theaters on December 19, 2014. Production Company: Village Roadshow Pictures Starring: Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale. Cameron Diaz, Greg Kurstin Directed: Will Gluck Produced: Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter,Caleeb Pinkett, James Lassiter Duration: 118 minutes
Sony Pulls The Plug On ‘The Interview’ Sony has pulled the plug on the Xmas release of “The Interview”, after a number of theater chains bailed. TMZ broke the story few days ago that ‘Sony executives felt their out was if distributors yanked the film because of safety concerns.’ That would give Sony an out without directly bending to the hackers. Sony just released a statement, saying, “In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release.” The statement further stated, “We are deeply saddened
at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public.”
Chris Brown & Tyga – Ayo
Quotable Lyrics: I’m in a rolls, you don’t roll right My chain shine brighter than a strobe light I’m tryna f**k CoCo, this don’t concern Ice If I motorboat, she going to motorbike...
N.O.R.E. - King Pins Feat. Sanogram Release date: December 19, 2014 Along with Fabolous’ Young OG Project, it looks like we’ll be getting a new N.O.R.E. album on Christmas day as well. Entitled N.O.R.E. Presents: DRINKS, the project has “Boardwalk Empire”-inspired artwork, which casts N.O.R.E. as Steve Buscemi’s lead character, Nucky Thompson. Now you can listen to the first track we’ve heard from the album, the Sanogram-featuring “King Pins.” A tortoise-paced trap banger, the track has its star turning on the auto-tune for a hook before spilling out verses held close to chest with deft restraint. He locates Lil Wayne as his favorite rapper and name-drops OT Genasis’ “CoCo” along the way. Quotable Lyrics: If you playin’ with my name then you gettin’ outta line Watch how you drawin’ that shit Lil Wayne is my favorite rapper Gotta grind for all of my shit
Bobby Shmurda
Brooklyn street ... and earlier in June for possession of a weapon.
The Backstreet Boys Documentary Backstreet Boys fans will be excited to hear that the trailer for the famous boy band’s upcoming documentary, Backstreet Boys: Show Em What You’re Made Of has finally hit the Internet, and it doesn’t disappoint. The nearly 2-minute teaser opens with a blast from the past montage of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell at the peak of their fame in the late ‘90s, and then quickly goes to present-day with Littrell asking, “What do you do when you’re a full-grown man in a boy band?” And, that’s exactly what the band members attempt to answer throughout the documentary by giving fans an inside look at the
Latest Music Release date: December 19, 2014 Chris Brown & Tyga’s long over due Fan Of A Fan 2 album looks to be finally on the way. Tonight, the duo decides to treat fans to an early Xmas gift and release their first single “Ayo”. Produced by Nic Nac (who did “Loyal”), the clubfriendly record finds T-Rawww leading things off and addressing the ladies, while Breezy handles the catchy chorus and raps about Ice T’s wife and his stint in rehabilitation. It’s another strong addition to the duo’s steadily growing catalogue of hits, and may just have the ingredients to take over the radio airwaves. Look for these two to hit the road together as part of the “Between The Sheets” tour starting early in 2015.
Bobby Shmurda Arrested For Drugs and Shootings Rapper Bobby Shmurda was arrested Tuesday night during a sting involving multiple shootings and drug trafficking, TMZ has confirmed. The indictment is sealed, though the specific charges have not been disclosed, but we know it’s part of a long-term investigation conducted by the NYPD and a special narcotics prosecutor. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Shmurda was under surveillance by police and was arrested while he sat in a car outside a NYC recording studio. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday. Shumurda was arrested in October for smoking a joint with two friends while double parked on a
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Backstreet Boys
boys “getting back to their roots” by way of a jam session during the recording of their most recent album when they all left everything behind and moved to London together. Backstreet Boys: Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of hits theaters and iTunes on January 30.
Taylor Bennett – Can’t Flop Release date: December 18, 2014 Earlier this month, Taylor Bennett was hit by some hackers (seems to be a common theme this year, huh?) and decided to release an impromptu EP to respond. After that four track project has had a minute to simmer, the younger brother of Chance The Rapper unleashes a new track that will appear on a compilation from clothing company Leaders 1354. “Can’t Flop” is short and sweet, and even features some singing from Bennett. Produced by Spanish Diego, the one-off track is soulful, verbose and wise beyond Bennett’s youthful years. His rapping continues to improve, making his family one of the more talented ones currently in the game. Quotable Lyrics: Suburbans parked on the corner, they hope to catch you in action Recruit you and hold you captive, as long as they f**kin’ have to To break you down in the system, to call your ass a statistic Label your ass as vicious, from MTV to BET to the f**kin’ county prison Compiled by Aderibigbe Tolulope
60 kiddies
Sunday, December 21, 2014
MAze
kiddies kingdom By Chika mefor
08156719304 (SMS only)
How I Celebrated My Xmas Break Last Year Hello friends, my name is Ify. How are you celebrating your break? I will be travelling home for the New Year celebration with my family. We want to be there for the traditional festival in my town that is celebrated every year. Last year’s was exciting; I want to tell you about it. The festival is celebrated every December 26 in my village. It is called Abanna Day, that is the day dedicated to my town. That day, everyone dressed in their best attire and headed to the village square. But before then, every family would have picked a special dish to prepare for the event. The dish was supposed to be presented to the village chief who will taste all and declare the best food for the festival. It was a kind of food competition. We all woke up early to prepare the special dish in my town made from Ukwa, made from (breadfruit). After we have finished the preparation, we all dressed up for the event. I wore my well-tailored Ankara gown for the event. We all headed for the village square.
PUzzLe
There were lots of colourful dances and a lot of Masquerades. The last time, we went home, then I was 12, I was really scared of the masquerades. But this time, I was able to stand with my peers and watch them perform. It was fun. So many masquerades like the Ijele Masquerade, the Adamma, the enyi masquerades and many others took turns to perform. After their performance, it was then the time for the food competition. I was wondering how the village chief will be able to taste all the food ev-
ery family in our village had made when my cousin, chidi told me that it was few families that have registered for the competition. It was only ten families that registered. So the chief started his tasting amid dances and songs. When he had finished tasting, he called the result. My family did not come first but we came second. It was rather exciting. My mother vowed that this year, she will make a meal that will get her the first position. How will you celebrate your break? friends, Happy Xmas to you all.
SPOT THe DIffereNce
HAPPY BIrTHDAY
THE ELVES HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE ‘PIMP MY RIDE’ CAR SHOW! Halimatu-Sadiya (Khairat) Murtala Muhammad marked her third birthday anniversary recently. Kiddies Kingdom wishes her long life and prosperity.
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news ➌ ➋ ➎
➊
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➋ Japan, S/Korea Condemn Sony Hack; Chinese Paper Says Movie Is Senseless Japan and South Korea condemned a hacking attack on Sony Pictures that the United States has blamed on North Korea and said they would cooperate in international efforts against cyber-crime as asked for by Washington. The government of China, North Korea’s only major ally, has yet to respond to the U.S. call, but a staterun newspaper denounced Sony’s comedy woven around a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as senseless and arrogant. The Global Times, a tabloid run by the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, wrote in an editorial published yesterday that any civilized country would oppose hacker attacks or terror threats. “But a movie like “The Interview”...is nothing to be proud of for Hollywood and U.S. society,” it said in its Englishlanguage edition, a publication aimed at a global rather than domestic audience. “The vicious mocking of
Entrance gate to Sony Pictures Studios in Culier City, California, USA
Kim is only a result of senseless cultural arrogance.” Sony pulled the movie after hackers broke into its computer network and leaked thousands of documents and unreleased movies on the Internet. The FBI said North Korea was to blame for the devastating strike. U.S. President Barack Obama said North Korea appeared to have acted alone, but Washington has sought help from Japan, China, South Korea and Russia
in combating similar attacks. In Tokyo, Japan “strongly condemned” the cyber-attack but a foreign ministry spokeswoman added that it was unlikely to have any direct impact on talks with Pyongyang about Japanese citizens abducted by the North’s agents decades ago. South Korea, which has blamed the North for a series of cyber-attacks on its banks and broadcasters in 2013, said such assaults could not be tolerated.
Canada still cannot get over the results of a free vote in Crimea in March,” the referendum that was condemned by the international community as illegal and held under the guns of Russian troops. Canada on Friday announced travel bans for dozens of individuals as well as restrictions on the export of technology used in Russia’s oil industry. In a pithy statement, Moscow insisted that the new sanctions won’t push Russia to give up Crimea since it is a “historic and integral part of Russia” and said it was working on unspecified
measures to retaliate. The ministry referred to Cuba where it took the U.S. decades to restore diplomatic relations. “The White House took half a century to admit that blockading Cuba with sanctions was useless: well, we can wait too,” the statement said. Obama’s order prohibited U.S. companies and individuals from exporting or importing any goods, services or technology to or from Crimea. Likewise, U.S. individuals or companies cannot buy real estate or businesses in Crimea or finance Crimean companies.
➊ Egypt Reopens Gaza Crossing Today ➌ Russia Dismisses New US Sanctions As Useless
Palestinian Hamas security guard stands watch, as passengers coming from Egypt go through the arrival gate of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza in the southern Gaza Strip, November 26, 2014.
GAZA STRIP/ EGYPT - Egypt is to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza today for the second time in two months to allow those stranded in Egypt enter the Palestinian territory, officials said. The Rafah crossing is the only access point to the Gaza Strip not controlled by Israel. It was shut by Egypt in late October following a deadly bombing in the Sinai Peninsula, reopening briefly at the end of November to allow Palestinians stuck in Egypt to return home. Police official Ali al-Azazi told AFP that a similar operation will take place from Sunday and only for two days.
“Egypt will open the Rafah crossing Sunday and Monday to allow those stranded on the Egyptian side to go to Gaza,” he said. More than 3,500 Palestinians were stranded when Egypt closed the crossing after a suicide attack killed 30 soldiers in North Sinai on October 24, the United Nations said last month. It was not immediately clear how many of them are still stranded. Many Palestinians who travel through Rafah are students heading to universities in Egypt or beyond, or patients in need of medical treatment not available in Gaza.
HONSHU ISLAND, Japan — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s Honshu Island yesterday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, shaking Fukushima where crippled nuclear
power plants are located, but local media said there was no tsunami warning. USGS said the quake’s epicentre was located 68 kilometres (42miles)
MOSCOW, Russia — Russia yesterday dismissed new U.S. sanctions as useless and said it was poised to wait as long as it takes for the U.S. to recognise its historic right to the Crimean peninsula. Following several rounds of sanctions earlier this year, President Barack Obama on Friday approved new restrictions on Crimea which Russia annexed in March after a hastily called referendum. The Russian foreign ministry on Saturday expressed regret that “the United States and
➍ 4 Afghans Returned Home From
Guantanamo
U.S. troops have repatriated four Afghanistan nationals in the Obama administration’s surging bid to empty the detention centre, the Pentagon said yesterday. They spent about half their decade at Guantanamo before being approved for release. The transfer reduced the detainee population to 132 more than two dozens fewer than a year ago. And more transfers are expected before Congress is entirely controlled by the
Republicans, some of whom oppose the prison’s closure and opposed this transfer in particular. Those released during the week were Mohammad Zahir, 61, Khi Ali Gul, 51, Shawali Khan, 51, and Abdul Ghani, 42. All were airlifted to the prison camps in southeast Cuba in 2003. Ghani was originally considered a candidate for a war crimes trial for alleged firing rockets on U.S. bases in 2003. But he was cleared for release, like the other three,
in a 2009 Justice Department led task force review. In September 2010, a federal judge upheld Khan’s military detention although an interagency task force approved his repatriation earlier that year. The transfer is an expression of confidence in the security situation under Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, who took over from Hamid Karzai on September 28 with a goal of being a unifying figure.
➎ Magnitude 5.9 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Honshu Island: USGS east-northeast of Iwaki on Honshu. It was measured at a depth of 37 km (22.9 miles). A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power, which owns the nuclear
plants, said no irregularities have been found at its Fukushkma Daiichi or Daini plants. The national broadcaster NHK said there was no tsunami warning,
and there were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage. The quake also jolted Fukushima’s neighbouring areas on Japan’s pacific coast.
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Will Insurgency Mar Nigerians’ Christmas Celebration? With the tense security situation and harsh economy, Nigerians may likely witness a low budget Christmas celebration, just as traders and transporters groan under the season’s low patronage. Ruth CHoji and CHIKA OKEKE write
Christmas is a season of love, and no matter what they do to us, we will continue to love and pray for them, for the Bible says that we should pray for those who hatefully persecute us
Gone are the days when many families will throw Christmas parties that may last all-night on Christmas Eve, or attend church services on Christmas and New Year eve. Christmas, the remembrance of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ is now being celebrated in Nigeria with fear and anxiety due to activities of insurgents. Everyday in Nigeria, news reports seem to go from bad to worse, as the security situation deteriorates, and things get worse during the Yuletide season, as the case of St. Theresa Catholic Church bombing in Madalla, Niger State showed. It is still fresh in the minds of many Nigerians. And soon, Christmas celebrants will start throwing firecrackers as is symbolic of the Christmas spirit. But will the insecurity situation in the country allow for such festive activity to take place, looking at the tense atmosphere, especially in the northern part of the country. Henry Bitrus, a civil servant and father of five, said, “Boko Haram has stopped us from enjoying Christmas. We now celebrate Christmas in our homes. There is no more fanfare that comes with it. We have also stopped sharing food like our parents used to do during Christmas, because we don’t trust our neighbours anymore. I used to take my children to places like wildlife park in Jos, the zoo and other places, to see traditional dances and the rest, but since the insurgency began to target such gatherings, I have stopped.” Anita Johnson, a member of Higher Glory Church, also stated that, “before now, the coming of Christmas used to bring joy and excitement. For us, when we were young, it was a time to wear new clothes and shoes, and see beautiful Christmas trees decorated with illuminated colourful lights.
Front view of Utako market in Abuja, PHOTO BY Chika Okeke
We used to be given gifts by elders, like money. At night, you will hear loud noises of firecrackers on the streets, people will be dancing and singing traditional songs. But for the past four years, all these have changed. Even the Christmas eve church carol has been stopped by many churches, because of the activities of Boko Haram. “Women don’t like going to market now, and I can tell you that so many churches will be empty this Christmas, because people are afraid of what might happen. My church will not do any Christmas carol night or sleep over for New Year because of the insecurity situation in the country.” For Pastor Johnson Savior of Gospel Light And Healing Ministry in Masaka, Nasarawa State, he stated that, “no matter what they do, they will never stop us from celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Christmas is a season of love, and no matter what they do to us, we will continue to love and pray for them, for the Bible says that we should pray for those who hatefully persecute us. Christians will celebrate the birth of Christ, even if it is in our rooms and be praying for our enemies. “In Nigeria, we celebrate Christmas by eating chicken stew, rice and assorted drinks. Insurgency will not change that. God is our security. Because it is not everybody that has that kind of faith,
we have bought security equipment like hand scanners; we have created speed breakers on our roads, and also planning to block the road entrance with members’ cars while they park round the church to avert penetration with bomb-laden cars. Members coming to worship will be screened and women are made to drop their handbags outside and come into the church with just their Bibles and offerings. As you can see, our major focus is to make sure that those who come here to worship go home safely. We are blocking the road just for safety reasons.” Mr David Danjuma, a retired inspector of police, said, “It is not only Christians that are at risk. If you look at it, even the Muslims are equally at risk, because the insurgents are attacking their own people too. The fear for many Christians this yuletide is that, there is likely to be more bombings targeted at them because of the recent bombing of a mosque in Kano, Jos, Gombe and the rest. Churches can prevent planned attacks by preventing vehicles from entering church premises and areas surrounding the churches be patrolled by plain-clothed security personnel. If they can’t afford it, they should put people around the church premises so that they can alert worshipers in case of emergency. They should also mount roadblocks close to the church,
as this will slow down vehicular movements. This Christmas, the police and military should mount up serious security, because of the security alert they have received. So, I think Christians can go ahead and celebrate their Christmas without fear.” Garba Abu, a security expert and consultant, berated the federal government for not doing enough to secure the lives of Nigerians. “It is only in a country like Nigeria that people cannot celebrate festive season in peace. How many people are in Boko Haram? What is giving them the audacity to attack places of worship and succeed except that government has failed to do its job? In developed countries, the latest technologies are used to detect bombs miles before they come close to their target. Latest technologies exist that can be used to improve security. Places of worship like churches and marketplaces can be secure if government is determined to secure lives and property, because we have the resources and manpower, but because the bombing is being sponsored by politicians who are using it for political advantage, they refused to stop it.” Stating further, he said, “We don’t need soldiers to be manning our roads and causing holdups that can also make bombing ➔ CONTINUES ON PAGE 62
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Will Insurgency Mar Nigerians’ Christmas Celebration? ➔ FROM PAGE 62 succeed. Security has gone beyond that. Beside, this is making the soldiers corrupt, because they will be demanding for money from motorists, like the police. So, what have we done? The state of insecurity in Nigeria has led to millions of internally displaced persons and our people in the Diaspora will not come home to be killed by illiterates, while the government continues to pay lip service. These continuous bombings have led to disruptions of our lives and values, and have seriously retarded growth and development in Nigeria.” As Christmas approaches, the transport sector and markets are beehives of activities. However, the slumping economic situation in the country may likely mar the celebration. LEADERSHIP Sunday’s investigations revealed that despite the rebasing of the economy, there is a reduction in passenger traffic in the motor-parks even as markets record low turnout of shoppers. This is not unconnected with the current economic situation and security challenges that have crippled the entire nation.
We don’t need soldiers to be manning our roads and causing holdups that can also make bombing succeed. Security has gone beyond that. Besides, this is making the soldiers corrupt, because they will be demanding for money from motorists, like the police
Traders Lament A visit to Garki, Utako and Wuse markets confirmed that while there was a slight reduction in the prices of food items like rice, others items like frozen foods, clothing and foot wears increased by six per cent. The patron of Garki market, Chief Samuel Okeke, who deals on clothing and accessories, revealed that, “Safari and general men’s suit go for N10,000, while ladies’ suit and children’s wears go for N6,000. The prices of men’s shirt ranged from N1,500, to N7,000, while ladies tops vary from N1,500 to N3,500. A set of men’s ties goes for N1,500, and a single tie ranges between N500 and N800, while waistband is pegged at N5,000. “For chieftaincy gown, the prices range from N8,000 to N10,000, while children’s chieftaincy gown is pegged at N7,000. The chieftaincy long cap and short cap go for N5,000 and N2,000 respectively, while the Abriba cap sells between N500 and N1,500. Also he added that, “Ladies trouser suit sells for N8,000, while men’s jacket and ladies jacket go for N10,000 and N5,000 respectively. For ladies hat, it’s between N2,500 and N4,000, while beret sells for N500 and N800 depending on the quality, even as children’s casual wears go for N3,000. On why the price of his goods remained static, he said, “We don’t inflate the prices of our goods so as to make them affordable to everybody, because we buy directly from the manufacturers. The prices we give to our customers in January
The entrance to Utako motor-park in Abuja.
are the same even in December.” Okeke, who is the CEO of Sam Tessy International Limited, commended the federal government for stepping up to the challenges of insecurity, saying that there was a need for increased surveillance by security agents to avert possible breakdown of law and order as well as the activities of the insurgents. Another trader at Utako market, Mrs Juliet Bolarinwa, who sells provisions, said that it was impossible to hike the prices of beverages and household items since the buyers were not forthcoming, a situation she linked to the prevailing economic crisis. This is even as she appealed to the FCT Administration and federal government to deploy more troops to troubled areas and other parts of the country in order to avoid possible bloodshed during the festive season. At Wuse market, a fashion designer, Mallam Mukailu Oyebanjo, was excited that each festive season was specially designed for fashion designers to recover the losses recorded during the year, adding that there was relatively high patronage from the customers. While imploring the security agencies to redouble their strategies during this Christmas period, he said high demand from customers led to increase in the prices of sowing wears. Transport sector The transport sector is a critical sector of the economy that churns in revenue for the country, either directly or indirectly. However, with the current economic situation, many residents are likely celebrating in Abuja without travelling home. LEADERSHIP Sunday discovered that few commuters were at Ifesinachi Mass Transit in Utako waiting to purchase the last minute tickets to their various destinations. As at Wednesday, commuters travelling to Owerri and Aba with Toyota
PHOTO BY Chika Okeke
Sienna paid N6,500 as against the initial fare of N6,000, while those travelling with VIP and AC buses paid the sum of N4,200 and N4,300 respectively as against N4,000 and N4,200. The fare for commuters travelling to Port Harcourt remained the same with N6,500 for Sienna and N4,500 for bus. For travellers to Onitsha and Asaba, they paid N6,000 for Sienna and N3,500 for AC buses. Enugu travellers also paid N6,000 for VIP and N3,500 for buses. Also, commuters travelling to Lagos with VIP jeep and buses paid N6,500 and N4,500 respectively, while those en route Nsukka with buses paid N3,000. It was also discovered that Ifesinachi Mass Transit afternoon buses were still in progress as they conveyed commuters to places like Enugu, Onitsha, Aba and Owerri from Mondays to Saturdays. While responding, the manager of Ifesinachi Mass Transit, Mr Theophilus Abugu, said though there was slight increase in passenger traffic, but the number could not be compared to last year and last two years when they had more commuters, adding that it was as a result of the forthcoming general elections as most commuters preferred to travel by January and vote for candidates of their choice instead of travelling on December and January to waste the little resources at their disposal. On mechanisms put in place to ensure the safety of passenger, he said, “Firstly, we created awareness among the workers on how to identify suspicious persons or luggage. We also use our public address system to announce to passengers the essence of monitoring their properties and to know the person next to them. Added to this is the surveillance camera that monitors the movement of people around the park; although we slightly increased the transport fare to one per cent.” He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to provide the necessary manpower and finances required in addressing in-
surgency ahead of the forthcoming general elections, saying that more awareness should be created about the activities of insurgents. While admonishing the government to remain focussed despite negative criticisms from the opposition camp, he enjoined Nigerians to collaborate with security agencies in the fight against insurgency. As at 11am on Wednesday, no commuter was seen purchasing travel ticket at the Peace Mass Transit, also in Utako, Abuja. However, commuters travelling to Enugu paid N3,300 for AC buses and N2,900 for non-AC buses. For Nsukka in Enugu State, the fare also stood at N2,900 and N2,300 for AC and non-AC buses respectively. Jabi motor-park was not left out in ensuring the security of commuters, though few were seen at the park. LEADERSHIP Sunday’s checks also revealed that a good number of private security guards were employed to man the entry and exit points. However, the exit gate was shut down for motorists, while the entry gate served both as entry and exit gate for motorists. Security guards were also seen conducting routine checks with security gadgets at the entry point, as others went round the park to search and monitor buses that were ready for take-off to their respective destinations. Apart from motorists, commuters with bags and luggage were searched before they were allowed to gain access into the park. One of the drivers who spoke on condition of anonymity said the poor passenger turnout was as a result of the country’s dwindling resources and pleaded with the FCT Administration to build infrastructure inside the park. “How many passengers have you seen here? There is no money, and that is why people are not travelling, compared to last year. This is seriously affecting our business, because if they don’t travel, how can we feed our families,” he said.
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Tomorrow in for god and country
N300 Only On Sale Nationwide Open Letter tO GOv. FashOLa On hOw armed rObbers have taken Over LaGOs rOads More and more concerned Lagos residents have continued to inundate us with sad tails of the worsening security situation in the Center of Excellence. They are particularly worried that Fashola was able to nip this in the bud and reduce crime in the state to a near zero level during his first term and up to his second quarter in office.
10 mOst attractive wOmen in niGerian pOLitics Nigeria is no doubt, deeply blessed with both a lot of resources one of which people of great intellect. While there have been complaints that women are not equitably represented in the political circles of the country, some woman have stood out not only as politicians but also for their rare combination of beauty and brains. citizen aFuOke’s death caLLs FOr mOre pedestrian bridGes in Fc t The lack of infrastructure in the FCT and indeed the entire nation couldn’t be made more obvious than in the number of people that have lost their lives trying to get across busy roads. Such was the fate of Afuoke, a fresh graduate of the University of Abuja whose life was cut short by a hit-and-run driver along the busy Gwagwalada Road, very close to the University of Abuja. Just in her early 20s, Afuoke’s death has increased calls for more pedestrian bridges around the FCT. cbn’s 98th mpc cOmmuniqué: wake up caLL tO tickinG time bOmb ecOnOmy The recently held 98th MPC meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led to some audacious outcomes, one of which is the devaluation of the naira. In this edition of GOVERNMENT, get yourself acquainted with Gowin Emefiele’s 10 point Agenda and how he is fairing on them.
IT’S A BUMPER EDITION!
news across the states 65
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Stomach Infrastructure: Fayose Distributes Rice, Chicken To Ekiti People The Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, has distributed not less than 80,000 chickens and 100,000 bags of rice to the Ekiti people between Thursday and Friday. His Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, who disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday in Ado-Ekiti said the Christmas largesse including cash gift were distributed under the stomach infrastructure programme. According to him, people of the state who continued to besiege the Governor’s office in their large numbers as well as those who had theirs delivered to them at their domain were amazed at the milk of kindness of the governor, saying it has been long such has occurred in the state. “Some of the elderly who could not hide their joy at the rear opportunity of having to celebrate the season with the package poured torrents of prayers on the man they referred to as supporter of a common man. “As early as 10 am, the governor alongside several members of staff had started distributing the package to the people who kept appearing in their multitudes.” By NAN
Uproar Over Truck Loaded With INEC Ballot Boxes In Bauchi By Obed Minchakpu, Bauchi
The Bauchi State Police Command, following intelligence report, arrested and detained a vehicle loaded with ballot boxes belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Saturday, 20 December, 2014. The vehicle was searched by a team of security agents and over three hundred ballot boxes were found. The driver of the vehicle presented a way bill indicating that he was authorised by INEC to convey the empty ballot boxes to INEC’s North East Zonal office in Gombe. However, following the arrest, news spread in Bauchi State that the ballot boxes were stashed with thumb print-
ed ballot papers in favour of one of the political parties, prompting the police to invite officials of political patties to witness the searching of the vehicle. Having established that the vehicle was legally authorised to convey the ballot boxes to Gombe, the vehicle was allowed to continue on its trip. Reacting to the news that the vehicle was conveying thumb printed ballot papers, the Bauchi State police command issued a statement, a copy of which was made available to LEADERSHIP Sunday, debunking the claims as false. Haruna Mohammed, DSP, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Bauchi Police Command, in the statement said: “The attention of Bauchi Police Command has been drawn to
an unsubstantiated rumour in the Social media that a Lorry conveying Electoral materials was intercepted this morning by security personnel and that it contains presidential ballot papers all voted in favour of PDP.” Mohammed said, “Such rumour was not only misleading but a figment of the imagination of mischief makers who want to cause disharmony among the peace loving citizens of Bauchi State in particular and the Nation at large.” The police explained that: “The fact in issue is that on the 20/12/2014 at about 0830hrs, following Intelligence report, a Trailer IVECO with registration number XE-784-ABJ was conveying a Container loaded with Empty plastic Ballot boxes, property of In-
dependent National electoral commission (INEC) to its North East office in Gombe State was intercepted by Police men on tactical operations point attached to Darazo Division.” According to Mohammed, “The Trailer was off loaded and thoroughly searched in the presence of press and Party Representatives, but nothing incriminating was discovered apart from 314 cartons of empty Plastic ballot boxes which corresponded with the Way bill clearance issued by the Nigeria Custom Service.” The police therefore, urged members of the Public to disregard the rumour and go about their lawful business as the Command is Working tirelessly to ensure safety and security in the state.
FG To Build N1bn Motherhood Centre For Women – First Lady By Ruth Choji, Abuja
The wife of the president, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan has stated that, women and children will soon enjoy a one billion naira Motherhood Centre. The first lady who stated this at the foundation laying ceremony in Abuja said “the centre would benefit women and children and the less privileged who find it difficult to get good medical attention in big and private hospital. It always break my heart when I hear of increase in cases of maternal death, but with this centre, I am sure we will reduce the number
and our women will be able to deliver safely” According to her, “women and children are the bedrock of any society and a healthy nation is a wealthy nation. So we must take care of our women and children because they form the bulk of the society. The centre will also help special cases that are beyond the ordinary dispensary as it will be equipped with state of the art equipment to cater for complicated cases” Mrs Jonathan who was given the award of mother of the Nation by the National council for women society(NCWS) as a token of appreciation by women for their participation
in development, also assured women that, the government will continue to empower and include more women in policy making as a fulfillment of its promise to Nigerian women. Earlier, the president of NCWS, Mrs Nkechi Mba stated that the center which would be named after the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, will comprise shops mostly to lessprivileged women and medical health facility where women will enjoy free medical checkups. She also urged women to support Mr President in his transformation agenda. The building is expected to be completed in nine months, before the end of 2015.
Abduljalal Re-elected Kano NUJ Chairman By Abubakar Salihi, Kano
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Kano State council has elected the incumbent chairman, Malam Aduljalal Haruna for the second time and new executive officers to run the affairs of the union for the next three years. Announcing the result shortly after the election was conducted, the Chairman Credentials Committee, Mr Edwin Olofu declared Comrade Abduljalal Haruna of the Abubakar Rimi Television, ARTV as winner of the chairmanship position. He scored 298 votes to defeat his opponent Malam Kabir Mohammed Kofar mata of Radio Kano. Olofu said the position of the secre-
tary was won by Comrade Usman Bello of the state ministry of information who was declared unopposed, while the position of treasurer was won by Abba Murtala of ARTV, Both contestants were returned unopposed. Speaking to newsmen shortly after he was sworn into office, the reelected chairman, Malam Abduljalal promised to sustain his 5-point agenda which he referred to as cardinal thrust of his administration. He described journalism as profession that must be respected in line with the exigencies of the present situation, buttressing that journalism being the fourth estate of realm ought to show good examples for others to follow
Blame Elite For Leadership Crisis In Nigeria – Abhuere By Chika Okeke, Abuja
The former Director of Corps Welfare of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Dr John Abhuere has revealed that elite were behind the leadership crisis in Nigeria which he said started few years after Nigeria gained her independence in 1960. He stated this in Abuja yesterday during the 7th Edition of African Leader Par Excellence Award 2014, organised by Accolade Communications Lagos in collaboration with International Institute of Comparative Leadership for Africans and Blacks in Diaspora. This is even as he described the elites as the chief threat to the survival of democracy since they had exceptional powers
to persons in key positions; wield control over crucial policies disproportionate to their number in contradiction to the idea of government of the people by the people. Delivering a lecture titled, ‘Deepening Culture of Leadership Excellence in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Obstacles, Abhuere further disclosed that Nigeria had produced leaders saying that there was acute dearth of leadership in the country. Abhuere who is the founder of Centre for Child Care and Youth Development Abuja added, “Let the moral sense and ethical conduct of the old be restored and prevail, let the elites play by the rule of the game and apply appropriate consequence management techniques to correct defaults, check corruption and other acts of profanity.
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Turkish Media Raids: A Steep Alley To Presidential Doom By Henry Noble
The EU had rightly said the raids and arrests “are incompatible with the freedom of the media, which is a core principle of democracy
Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is obviously dangling at the bottom end of the political chain. He is fighting the battle of his life to survive a forthcoming election in June, which he apparently fear will nail his political coffin. Desperate time, it is said, calls for desperate measures. These measures, he thinks, should involve suffocating the press. So last weekend, Erdogan renewed attacks on a section of the media outside his pockets, arresting over 20 journalists and other media workers. The outpouring of condemnation that greeted the media attack was expected. The criticism came from countries, organisations and prominent individuals, including the European Union, EU, a body Turkey has been craving to join. But the Turkish dictator would not have any of that. Erdogan, instead, gave his critics a bashing, particularly the EU. Arguing that the assaults did not constitute an attempt to gag the press, he retorts: “The EU should mind its own business and keep its own opinions to itself. What
do you [Europe] know about these operations to feel yourself competent to make such comments? We have no concern about what the EU might say, whether the EU accepts us as members or not”, claiming that they were meant to stop “dirty operations” aimed at toppling his regime. The EU had rightly said the raids and arrests “are incompatible with the freedom of the media, which is a core principle of democracy”. Unfortunately, the attempt by the Turkish authorities to silence the media didn’t begin last Sunday, only that it reached its crescendo then. The recent raids is obviously an offshoot of his renewed campaign against Mr Futhullah Gulen, his friend-turnedfoe. For example, Emre Uslu, a columnist critical of the government and eastwhile lecturer, said after the assault, “Unlike previous threats, I now face much more intense and organised threats for criticizing the government. First, I received death threats from organised groups. I faced threats from the PKK, which is very likely to have been coordinated with the intelligence agency to scare
me off criticism. Even a PKK militant, who was sent to Istanbul to kill me, was arrested by the police. “The government pressured my university to either silence my tweets and writings or fire me. The university I was teaching at was only able to resist the government pressure for one year, after which they told me they couldn’t resist the pressure anymore and fired me in September 2013, even after classes had already been scheduled. “Even after I lost my job, the government has not stopped harassing me. Then-prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, directly pointed a finger at me during his March 2014 election victory speech. He filed lawsuits against me, and ordered the intelligence agency and government agencies to find any possible reason to harass me, but they found nothing illegal”. The allegation by the Turkish president that the media houses were being used to carry out dirty operations targeted at removing him from power is both vague and laughable. And his government’s reaction to the EU’s condemnation
reflects the position of a regime going southward. Is it not the same Erdogan that frantically laboured to convince everyone that he was passionate to have his country joined the EU? How did his age-long associate suddenly become his greatest foe and a terrorist? And why? Fate has been gracious to Erdogan in an unprecedented manner. Second chance in politics, or in life generally, is rare, but for him, it has been different. Even though he was disgraced out of office as a mayor and hauled into prison, he later bounced back as a legislator...then a prime minister... and now a president. It appears, however, that he is now determined to squander what is left of his political capital. I don’t know of any despot in recent age that successfully crippled the press. The kind of war he has started cant even succeed in Nigeria, a country of shorter political and democratic history. Turkish new “emperor” is surely embarking on a journey leading to political oblivion. Henry Noble cpntributed this piece from...............
Obasanjo And The Burden Of History By PAT UTOMI
As with “My Command”, his civil war memoirs, General Olusegun Obasanjo who served as head of the Nigerian state in uniform, and years later, in mufti (agbada), has managed to get many hopping mad with his new memoirs reflecting on political life. He seems determined that whether you love him or hate him, you could not ignore him. Let us forget for a second that he is an attention-junkie and that he is judgmental about others in a way that bothers on the indecent, the question his new excursion into memoirs writing raises for me is whether there are points in what he is saying that we can ignore only at our own peril. This is important because with the Obasanjo nature, it is easy to get so taken by the messenger that the message is forgotten. This course of action is made easier by Obasanjo’s evident split-personality which makes it easy to say of him, “Look, the kettle is calling the pot black”. Take corruption,for example. No one is in doubt that corruption was widespread when Obasanjo was president and that there is ample evidence or perception of his use of corrupt means to either secure the impeachment of an unfavoured senate president or seek a change in constitution to allow him a third term. But is Obasanjo wrong to
say corruption is on the increase? Many business men I interact with say corruption, described in the Hope and Chukulo book on corruption and Development in Africa, as systemic in Nigeria compared to widespread in Ghana and, rare, in Botswana, has truly reached a point of shameless “legitimisation’’ in these times. I sat once with a fairly depressed lawyer, who described a sad meeting he had just come out of with a minister and some American Business men. The minister had promised to write a simple letter which would have facilitated commitment to an investment initiative. He dictated the letter in their presence. For weeks, they went to the minister’s office to pick up the letter but were unsuccessful. On the day in question, the lawyer returned to the minister. They were warmly welcomed. The issue was raised and the minister, after a while, simply asked the lawyer if he was not able to read the tea leaves. He needed his bribe. Lawyer tells minister he cannot advice his clients to do that as they would be liable to a jail term back in their home country for that. All attempts to sell the upside for the country and even personally to the minister got strong push back from the minister who said such talk was the reason some of his predecessors were languishing in poverty. He wanted his return upfront, not in nominating partners down the value chain.
Bottom line in corruption has had a more crippling effect on economic life today than a few years ago when things were considered quite bad. Inspite of a climb in the transparency index, where Nigeria is up two notches, the consensus in corruption is more rampant now. That is what President Obasanjo was speaking on and most would agree on that. Under Obasanjo, a high powered team was empanelled by the presidency to study and propose a structure for the institutions of transparency and accountability in government. The team included a Deputy Inspector General of Police, heads of Transparency in Nigeria, Convention on Business Integrity, past president of NACCIMA, Dr Ngozi Okeke, Prof Asisi Asobie of ASUU and even, a representative of Transparency International from London, Neville Linton. I was privileged to chair that committee managed by Ambassador Emeka Azikiwe then SA to the president. Little was seen of the report after it went to Obasanjo, yet, the truth is that impunity did not harm transparency as much then as it now seems. Another issue Chief Obasanjo raised in his book in the criticism of Jonathan was the attitude of the incumbent, and their party, the PDP, to criticism. He lashed out in his reflections at a PDP and presidency that sponsors discredited people to smear honest critics, saying a democracy is nothing with-
out critics. He is quite right in that criticism. The amusing thing for me, as one, who has experienced this reaction, from both parties, is that Obasanjo here well describes both now and the time of his watch with those lines. I had the pleasure of being part, indeed head, of the policy advisory team that worked with candidate Obasanjo in 1998. As president, he lapped up all kinds of gossips stemming from my critical views on matters. This is how I had previously come face to face with why it is easy to push back on Obasanjo without listening to him, an irony, because he has poor listening skills, like he never heard of Stephen R Covey, and seek first to understand then to be understood. Obasanjo is not wrong in his accusing Jonathan on the quality of people around him gossiping. The irony is he is guilty of same. Another accusation in the book was of killer squads from the Presidency. Being a targeted survivor of the Abacha killer squad, that accusation was hair – raising for me. I hope it proves to be incorrect or unfounded, if not, the road feared, which leads to Somalia, may be beckoning. Knowing the chill from reading state security files on how I escaped being target of shooting practice by the Sgt Rogers squad makes me feel for those who could be current targets. Pat Utomi wrote from Lagos
Take corruption,for example, no one is in doubt that corruption was widespread when Obasanjo was president and that there is ample evidence or perception of his use of corrupt means
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
General Buhari Can Hold Nigeria Together By Prince Peter Akubuo
Although the state of the country has never been that rosy in the past, yet, it has never been this worrisome too. Therefore, following the antecedents and present trend of the Nigerian politics, Nigerians need not be told that the tune of the Nigerian political music has changed; therefore, the dancing step must change too. The tune of the Nigerian political music these days are no longer promising and gladdening rather very worrisome and confusing. As it is, these days, naira devaluation, economic recession, austerity measures, drop in foreign reserve, escalating unemployment, outrageous and incomprehensible degree of corruption, breach of peace and order with impunity, all manners of embezzlements and lack of accountability, the list can go on endlessly, are the order of day. Lovers of Nigeria which includes members of the Buhari Southeast Network, are leaving no stone unturned in making Nigerians realise that change is now inevitable if Nigeria is to emerge from its present state of both economic and leadership woes. The network is reminding Nigerians earlier to shun all manoeuvres capable of distraction, like what prevailed in the 2011 presidential election when the people derailed and threaded the bush instead; when they preferred the funeral service to the chieftaincy ordination; when Buhari, a better choice presented himself to redeem and lead this great nation to greater height but Nigerians failed to take advantage the oppor-
tunity provided. The Buhari Southeast Network is of the opinion that had Nigerians objectively and wisely cast their votes in 2011, they would have today been grateful and thankful to themselves for doing so. They have now realised that their failure to have voted Buhari was such a fundamental and ever regretful mistake, though not impossible to correct in the 2015 elections. The network warns that issues of religion or ethnic affiliation and origin should not inform the voting pattern of any well-meaning Nigerian this time, as this has always been the trend of deceit used by the some selfish Nigerians to divert and distract the minds of the masses by using both religion and ethnicity as a tool to deceive and manipulate the masses’ line of reasoning and voting. Buhari may be a Muslim, but he has never shown or displayed any act or intention to indicate that he has only the interest of his fellow Muslims at heart more than he has for other religions. Buhari has always spoken as a concerned Nigerian having and placing the interest of all Nigerians above every other interest, therefore, should not be branded a biased leader. People like Buhari have put behind all that is believed to divide us and embraced all that unite us as one and indivisible nation, Nigeria. Unlike other past leaders, no one can boldly point an accusing finger at Buhari as one of those past leaders, who had clandestinely enriched themselves; the non-corrupt nature of Buhari is evident in his very moderate and non-ostentatious lifestyle. Buhari can confi-
dently challenge anyone to a debate on both corruption and self-enrichment any day, anytime, anywhere. It is both heart-warming and a welcome development to see the overwhelming support of the Nigerian electorate for Buhari as the best prospective leader Nigeria desperately needs at this time of its economic and leadership turmoil. Nigerians have come to understand and realise the stance Buhari took during his short period of leadership, when he insisted that discipline and accountability must be inculcated and made an indispensable part of the leadership of Nigeria if Nigeria must strive. However, some less-informed Nigerians still misunderstand the intention of this visionary and selfless Nigerian and few selfish mischievous Nigerians are constantly trying to seize one opportunity to poison the minds of Nigerians, labeling him as they wish and as it suits their selfish interests. But thank God that these same Nigerians have now realised and seen the good qualities and good intentions of Buhari, and have resolved never to be distracted, deceived or listen to any misleading and manipulative information or rumour mongering by anybody to discourage them from supporting Buhari as their preferred presidential aspirant this time. Thank God also that Buhari himself has been motivated by his own passion for the country. He has heeded the call of Nigerians by making himself available for the presidential race. The decision to vie for the presidential seat has finally paid off on the December 11, 2014 by his emer-
gence as the APC presidential ticket bearer for the 2015 election, and there is nothing stopping him from ascending that seat come 2015. Current reports show that the masses are solidly behind him, and that such support is now intensively increasing day by day since his victory at the APC presidential primaries and as the 2015 election draws closer. Reasons for the masses’ ceaseless support for Buhari is that he is the kind of leader, who will both rescue and restore the Nigeria’s ailing security and economy woe before it is too late. This is exactly the type of president and leadership Nigeria needs now, nothing more, nothing less as Nigerians have sworn not to settle for anything less. No doubt Nigerians could still recall that during Buhari’s short period of leadership, every government official was an embodiment of discipline as they knew that Buhari as the leader then, never compromised with issues of discipline, responsibility, accountability, due process, due diligence, unity and security of the nation, Nigeria. A president like Buhari will certainly neither initiate nor condone the level of abuse of power by any arm of the government as being witnessed in Nigeria leadership today. A leadership under Buhari will have a zero tolerance for any abuse of due process, embezzlements, insurgency, misappropriation of funds, etc, therefore, Nigerians have sworn and pledged their support and loyalty for him both unflinchingly and unwaveringly. Prince Peter Akubo
Nigerians could still recall that during Buhari’s short period of leadership, every government official was an embodiment of discipline
A Silent Revolution Against Maternal Deaths By Omorodion Eraruyi
Not many Nigerians would easily forget that turbulent New Year’s Day of 2012. In what was adjudged by Nigerians as an unwanted New Year gift, the federal government announced the removal of fuel subsidy. As expected, angry reactions soon turned into street protests that convulsed the country for over a week. The traditional trust deficit between the government and the people meant clear and transparent decisions had to be made with respect to what to do with the proceeds of subsidy. The whole conversation around the provision of safety nets implied that monies saved from subsidy removal had to be channelled towards programmes that would impact the lives of poor and vulnerable Nigerians, who never really benefitted from fuel subsidies in the first place. While the states, with less scrutiny from the media, could run whatever programmes they deemed fit with their subsidy monies, the federal government made it a point of duty to ensure funds from the removal of subsidy were pooled to address some of the most pressing issues relating to Nigeria’s human development index. The government therefore made a decision to channel its own share of the subsidy into a combination of programmes to stimulate the economy and alleviate poverty through the provision of critical infrastructure and social safety net projects. This was the basis of setting up the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). The FG receives 41 per cent of the total savings from the partial reduction of subsidies on petroleum prod-
ucts. SURE-P has two broad intervention categories: Infrastructure Development Projects (roads and railways developments) and Social Safety Net Programmes (community services and empowerment, maternal child health (MCH), mass transit, public works (FERMA), vocational training, and culture and tourism. One of the issues that had to be confronted was the huge problem of maternal mortality, which had given Nigeria the unwanted image of a place where too many mothers lost their lives in the throes of childbirth. The statistics were mind boggling; figures released in 2013 put Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio at 576 deaths per 100,000 births, one of the worst in the world. To reverse the situation, and ensure the country sheds its toga as a country that confers death sentences on its pregnant women, the Maternal and Child Health project was instituted. The MCH component was essentially conceived for the reduction of maternal and new born morbidity and mortality, which has provided a unique opportunity to focus on increasing access to maternal and child health services through the continuum of care for pregnant women and their newborn. Designed to run for four years (2012– 2015), the project has nationwide coverage and concentrates on rural and under-served communities. One of the objectives is to increase the availability of skilled health workers to provide maternal and child health services at the Primary Health Centres (PHC) level. It has also pushed for the provision of
visible infrastructural renovations to primary health care centres, while increasing the supply of essential service commodities at PHC facilities to improve service delivery. The MCH has also explored the possibility of increasing the demand for MCH services in rural communities through the use of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and community engagement at the grassroots. The “supply side” within the context of the project has had to do with increasing and improving both infrastructure and human resources to improve health service delivery at the primary health care level. Specifically, this component has seen the refurbishment of PHC infrastructure, scale-up of number of trained health workers – midwives, community health extension workers (CHEWs) and village health workers (VHWs). This is with the aim of guaranteeing adequate antenatal attendance, skilled delivery at birth, routine immunisation and postnatal care for women and their babies. The “demand side” component has explored ways to increase the utilisation of maternal and child health services in the primary healthcare facilities through the use of incentives such as the conditional cash transfer (CCT) after the fulfilment of prescribed co-responsibilities. Systematically, the intervention has raised support for a selection of 1,000 primary health care centres in all 36 states, as well as the FCT Abuja, providing free antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, postnatal care, immunisation and family planning counselling. However, one of the important responsibilities of SURE-P MCH is to build
the capacity of existing health workers at the primary health care level, which has been vigorously pursued through the training of midwives and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs). All CHEWs are being taught how to handle “normal” deliveries when necessary. For instance, if a CHEW meets an expectant mother at home and the baby’s head is already visible, he will be able to handle the delivery. Afterwards, the mother and child are taken to the health centre. In addition, CHEWs go on to train village health workers (VHWs), passing on the key knowledge. Knowing the literacy challenge in the rural areas, the mode of knowledge transfer is done pictorially in addition to instruction in four languages: English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of concrete achievements, the shoring up of human capacity in the health sector is one area in which the project has recorded resounding success. As at August 2014, the SURE-P MCH has created jobs by recruiting 11,912 workers. These healthcare workers comprise: 2,811 midwives; 3,133 community health extension workers (CHEWs); and 5,966 female village health workers (VHWs) cut across the six geo-political zones of the country. Also, around 3,000 midwives and CHEWs have been trained on Life Saving Skills and helping babies breathe. Similarly, a total of 3,072 VHWs have received an induction course on key household practices in December 2012 and April 2013. A further 3,000 were trained in 2014. Eraruyi wrote from Abuja
If a CHEW meets an expectant mother at home and the baby’s head is already visible, he will be able to handle the delivery. Afterwards, the mother and child are taken to the health centre
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Zainab Jaji Zee’s Corner zeescorner@gmail.com,Twitter. @addazee
Are You Ready? If one votes because of inducement, then it is not likely that the needed change in our psyche will happen in the near future. We must learn to vote based on who we feel will lead Nigeria best
The hurly burly of the primaries are just about over, though the dust is yet to settle on many contentious outcomes. The two main political parties, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have settled on the main gladiators. On the one hand, we have the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan with his running mate, Architect Namadi Sambo, whilst on the opposition side, we have General Mohammed Buhari with the newly chosen cerebral, Yemi Osinbajo (SAN). The personalities could not be more different. Now, why am I asking if you as a citizen is ready? It is obvious that the coming elections starting on valentines day 2015 will be the most hotly contested of all elections so far. The citizenry is more aware and more engaged and many have also registered to vote and have permanent voters cards. Allegiances have shifted and loyalties have become divided and no one wants to concede. Community leaders and contestants are asking
their constituents to go out and vote their choice, so whoever is contesting in 2015 knows that it will no longer be a walk in the park. Apart from some of the likely outcomes, some members of the populace are aggrieved as to the process that threw up certain candidates without recourse to a transparent process. Well, the parties should remember that the voters are waiting at the ballot box to have their say. As the campaign heats up, we want to see contestants at all levels move to issue-based campaigns rather than personal attacks on the persons of opponents. No doubt our democracy is growing and has come a long way in the last decade, however, we must take nothing for granted. Our leaders have for too long hoodwinked us to voting a certain way using emotional and ethnic sentiments. “We will do this for you when we get there”, is the usual sing-song. One would be lucky not to get run over by their convoys once they are in office and see the people as nothing more than a nuisance when a
point is being put across. In addition, it is important for every voter to actually think of what type of leader they wish for Nigeria, before casting their ballots. If one votes because of inducement, then it is not likely that the needed change in our psyche will happen in the near future. We must learn to vote based on who we feel will lead Nigeria best at this critical time. We have seen households divided over parties and candidates, but it does not mean they are not one. It is simply a matter of personal preference and so no one should be castigated. What should be of worry to the main parties are the supporters of the aggrieved candidates who are flocking to what I term as mushroom parties, and can split votes to ensure a hung ballot with run offs likely. This is nothing but a costly venture and one that creates more confusion in our polity. It is always best to align with a mainstream party even in opposition rather than stay on the periphery and be
a spoiler. Our electoral system is far from sophisticated to handle these bumps. Like I said, the next election will see a great deal of youth engagement. They desire progress and an equitable country that gives each and everyone the opportunity to excel. I am not sure they have made up their minds yet. Parents must educate their children to make sure that those eligible to vote must be shown that their involvement is a civic responsibility. A nonchalant attitude is not ok. The more we vote, the more our choice of leaders will emerge. No more “Siddon look”. Whichever side of the divide one is on, the choice has to be made. Do we go for the quiet incumbent who has been so vilified, or do we go for the steely General, who feels this is the best chance to make a change? The choice is ours. The power rests with us. Our power rests in our thumb print, and we must use it by following the dictates of our conscience and not the hunger in our stomachs.
Hamza Atta Isn't It Funny? hamzolo@yahoo.co.uk 08181091784
“Oil below $60 as FG presents 2015 budget to N’Assembly”, was the headline in one of the national dailies on Wednesday, December 17. The question I asked myself was: How come we squandered our petrodollars in times of plenty and now that crude oil price has slumped, we are biting our fingers and imposing shortsighted austerity measures? The same crude oil selling for less than $60 per barrel sold for well over $100 dollars consistently in the past four years. What did we do with its proceeds? Those, who think we will continue to accrue bumper oil money, The truth is, should think again as things have changed the international market. Things are at 97 naira on changing fast, but like the bad planner that per litre, we are, we haven’t changed our economic even with to- dance steps to the rhythm of global realities. tal removal Characteristic of our leaders, what we is contradicting reports. Today, the of subsidy, get president says, “No shaking, oil prices will we are still not affect us”, tomorrow the minister of paying too Finance would say, “Brace up for austerity Talk is cheap; all we do is talk much for measures”! about diversifying our economy to depend petrol going less on oil. But it ends there; nobody is by the pres- thinking about the devastating disaster a and continued drop in global demand ent reality sharp for our crude oil would portend. The value of the naira drops daily, we all know the effect that has on our economy. Here we are!
What A Country!
Our appetite for immediate gratification has ensured that our country’s resources are plundered. As a result, we its people have become blind to sustainable routes to economic growth and development. Now the queues have returned to filling stations, just in time when people are making plans to travel for Christmas and New Year festivities. Nigerians are still being charged the expensive old petroleum price when it has crashed. The truth is, at 97 naira per litre, even with total removal of subsidy, we are still paying too much for petrol going by the present reality. But our immediate gratification assumes top most priority when we sell our God-given petroleum as crude oil and import it as finished products through some unwholesome middlemen. That is what we are paying for. So whilst I agree with PENGASSAN, we groan at the pain it causes us. But we must bear it and support them. There are no measures attesting to our ability to ask: “what-if?” We do not even follow global trends to understand that today’s global economy does not support and cannot sustain our leaders’ avarice. While we spend our petrodollars on concurrent luxuries such as exorbitant salaries and allowances for political office holders, those we sell to are getting closer and closer to energy self-sufficiency. In
practical terms, our crude oil may be worth a lot less in an ever-changing world. Developed nations are dealing with this situation as they have lost so much of their manufacturing base to the Far-east. We cannot afford to get caught with our pants down. Nigeria’s earnings from oil continue to plummet this year. It has been estimated that this might result in a $12billion shortfall of budgetary estimates, or more. And despite dipping our hands into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to augment the deficit, we are still playing catch up. State governments have experienced as much as a 50 percent reduction in their allocations. The account that is supposed to be our Sovereign Wealth Fund, which should insulate our economy from external shocks, has also been plundered and drained. If oil price continues its free fall, production is disrupted and the 80,000-barrels-a-day oil theft goes on unabated, we will keep dipping into the ECA until it runs dry, as there is no magic to progress. According to the Gross Summary of Statutory Revenue Allocation and VAT released by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in March 2013, apart from
Akwa Ibom (N22, 205,383,781); Bayelsa (N13, 350,351,654); Delta (N17, 057,045,907); Rivers (N20, 934,686,737); Kano (N12, 333,095,855) and Lagos (N14, 219,026,551), no other state got up to 10billion naira from the federation account. In many of these states, internally generated revenue is near zero. For instance, Plateau State got N6, 099,168,412 during the month in review, and has only succeeded in generating just over 6billion in IGR between January and October. The state makes roughly 600million in IGR per month; a paltry 10 percent of its monthly allocation. This is why any reduction in the federation account allocation creates panic among states. This simply is not good enough. The way to go is to look inwards. The minister of Agriculture has promised that agric would be Nigeria’s petrol. Enugu should be saying the same about coal and Zamfara about gold. I could go on and on. But where will we find the investment today to make this a reality? We need sound leadership, so apart from our security challenges, the economy should be another crucial reason why we must “shine our eyes” before casting our votes come February 2015 and thereafter protect those votes.
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Amuneke Drops More Players By TAOFEEK LAWAL, Abuja
Golden Eaglets Head Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has selected about 100 players from the lot that came for the open screening process held recently in the FCT, Abuja. Close to 1,000 players were in Abuja to feature in the Nigeria cadet team but after rigorous checks,
Amuneke and his assistants selected those that really impressed them. “We thank everyone that had come and the one-week open screening has reinforced our belief that there is abundance of talents in Nigeria,” Amuneke said. The former Barcelona star however sent note of warning to the lucky
players that scaled the first test that it is just the first stage of a tedious process for a place in the final squad. The players who scaled through however, would be further scrutinised to authenticate their document before undergoing the mandatory magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.
Benue Win 2014 Female Beach Volleyball By ONJEWU DICKSON, Abuja
Benue State finished tops and have been crowned as female champions of the National Open Beach Volleyball Championship decided in Kaduna yesterday. Immigration placed second and Plateau finished third. A total of 13 female teams participated. The male final will be decided today, when nine teams battle for the trophy. Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sports, Chairman Nigeria Beach Volleyball, Engineer Musa Nimrod described the championship as a huge success. He said that all the teams that participated gave good account of themselves. Members of 22 Elders FC in a pre-match pose. PHOTO BY SALIFU USMAN
22 Elders Football Club Fete Widows, Orphans By SALIFU USMAN, Abuja
For the kind gesture of the 22 Elders FC, widows and orphan children in Mpape area of Abuja are in good supply of food items for this yuletide season. The widows were given different types of food stuff such as rice, cooking oil, beverages, noodles, pastas, toiletries, and other household items. Speaking to newsmen after presenting the food items to the widows in the various homes visited, chairman of the club, Ejimonye Isaac said the club sees Christmas and New year celebrations as period of sharing love with the needy and decided to cater for the widows and orphans. He said the club, established one year ago primarily to play
and keep its members fit, is providing succour to the under-privilege ones in the community as its corporate social responsibility. “Our aim of coming together is to play to keep fit, but beyond playing to keep fit, there is community and the need to assist the people of the community. As a way of reaching out to the people of the community is what we are doing today and it is also our social corporate responsibility to where we stay,” he said. The vice chairman of the club, Adegboye Babanire assured the widows and their orphans of the club’s continuous support, stating that caring for them is a continuous thing. According to him, the club will in the near future embark on awareness campaign to sensitise
people of the community on their personal hygiene. “I think it is just the beginning of good things we set to do as a club. Our motto is one love through exercise and we are out to correct some social vices in our society, particularly where we stay. “Anything good has to start with small step and what we have started today is a small step in the right direction. We hope to see a society where people are very happy. We know the issue of corruption, robbery and other social vices exhibited by young people in our society today and these are some of the things we might look for to change in the near future. “We are barely a year and three months old, but what we were able to achieve within this short
period is alarming. Come 2015, we will be a more purposeful club and we shall embark on awareness campaign to educate people on issues that concern everybody like personal hygiene. Though we have been certified free of ebola but it is still an issue that we need to be conscious about as well as HIV and AIDS. One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Charity Justin, commended the club for the kind gesture, saying she least expected them to come to her aid. “I did not expect this at all and I really appreciate what you people have done for me and my children. It shows to me that even though my husband had left me and the children, I believe I still have many husbands who will care for me and children. I thank the club.
I Need More Concentration – Mangala Manchester City bought Eliaquim Mangala in the summer from Porto for £31.8 million and it has been a difficult bedding in period for the lanky defender as he seeks to adapt to the EPL. Mangala was warned about the pace and physicality of the EPL but he says warning was one thing, the actual is kilometres different from what he expected coming from the
calmer Portuguese league. “I spoke with Martin (Demichelis) and Vinny (Kompany). They warned me about how it’s different,” Mangala told Daily Mail. He continued: “But they can tell you, “Oh yeah, you get pressed all the time, it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be hard, they’re going to play the ball behind you, you’re going to have to turn, you’re going
to get players who are good with it into feet and who turn and run”. “They can go through every situation, but until you have actually experienced it, until you’ve lived all that, you can’t appreciate it. And you can’t react and improve until you have experienced it.” The French international looked a class act against Chelsea in his first match but has experienced
some gaffes in the eight matches he has appeared in – collecting three yellow cards, scoring an own goal and giving away numerous free kicks and a penalty. “You appreciate people giving you advice and trying to help, but a lot of it is seeing it for yourself and dealing with it and improving at it over time through hard work. There is no substitute,” he said.
How Napkin Changed My Career – Zidane Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has revealed club president Florentino Perez offered him the chance to play for the Galacticos by writing the request on a napkin in 2001. Zidane was still a Juventus player when he was invited to supper with the Madrid chief, and the meal ended with the France international verbally committing himself to the Santiago Bernabeu outfit in a very unorthodox fashion. Zidane told Vogue: “Florentino and I were having dinner and he passed me a napkin in which he wrote in French: ‘Do you want to come play at Madrid’?
Premier League results Yesterday’s Matches Man City 3 - 0 Crystal Palace Aston Villa 1 - 1 Man Utd Hull 0 - 1 Swansea QPR 3 - 2 West Brom Southampton 3 - 0 Everton Tottenham 2 – 1 Burnley West Ham 2 - 0 Leicester Today’s Matches Newcastle vs Sunderland Liverpool vs Arsenal Monday’s Match Stoke vs Chelsea
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
I Won’t Change My Philosophy –Van Gaal Louis van Gaal admits the most important things in football are the results, but feels a team’s performance is equally important in the long run. And while Red Devils boss Van Gaal has been told by United legend Sir Alex Ferguson to stop putting so much pressure on himself, the Dutchman feels that is how he gets the best out of his players, and is not looking to change a winning formula. Van Gaal said: “I’m not only focused on results, although of course that’s the main thing. When I speak with Sir Alex he says: ‘There’s no problem - you’ve
won’. “But for me it’s also the performance, because when you perform well you win more. That’s what I want to show to the fans, and the players want to show that, and the guarantee of wins is much bigger when we perform better. “The game against Hull (a 3-0 win for United) was a good game - we dominated 90 minutes, and I want to see more games like that. There are too few games where we are dominating 90 minutes. “That’s a process, and we have to wait and see, but of course when you win six times in a row the con-
Van Gaal
fidence is rising. I’m still looking for a game that’s closer to the perfect game than we have given until now.”
Sterling Wins Golden Boy Award
Sterling Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling has fended off competition from some of Europe’s brightest young talent to claim the 2014 European Golden Boy award. The 20-year-old, whose brace inspired the Reds to a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup in midweek, has earned the accolade after a whirlwind year which has seen him mature into a key player for the Merseyside club.
He formed part of Liverpool’s fearsome front three last season, wreaking havoc on opposition defences as Brendan Rodgers’ men narrowly missed out on the Premier League title. This season has seen Sterling shoulder more responsibility and while the club’s results have been for the most part disappointing, the English youngster’s performances have offered reason for optimism. Commenting on re-
ceiving the award, Sterling told the club’s official website: “It’s a great achievement to win such an award. “It’s a really happy feeling for me and my family, of course. “Something I’ve always wanted to do is to work hard playing football and try to be recognised. I’m really grateful that people have shown me this recognition. “It’s down to hard work. I’m really happy that people are recognising that I’m trying to work hard and do my best for this football club. I’m really grateful for this award.” However, the former Queens Park Rangers trainee was quick to point out that he will not rest on his laurels, and is determined to keep on improving. He added: “There’s always room for improvement. At this moment in time, I should have a few more goals, but I’ve not taken some of my chances. But I’m young and learning all the time. “This award just shows that hard work gets you where you want to be, and that I’m on the right track for where I want to be in my career. Hopefully I can just keep working hard and try to take my game to the next level.
Ogada Calls For Eagles Overhaul
Ogada
Moldova-based Nigerian defender Jude Ogada has advocated for the overhauling of the current Super Eagles set-up even as he reckons that there are hungrier and more talented players scattered across the globe that could do better for the country if given the chance. In a chat with FCNaija. com, Ogada who stars for top side in Moldova, Dacin said a good number of the players in the current national team set-up has made a lot of fame and for-
tune for themselves and are thus complacent in their duties for the national team. “Of course we can see what happened in the Nations Cup qualifiers, I think it is high time the handlers give others a chance. I don’t in anyway blame Coach Stephen Keshi for our nonqualification for the Nations Cup, I blame the players. They were not as serious as they used to be, they have all made money,” Ogada argued. Ogada who has been
quite instrumental in his club’s fine run this season which sees them occupying top spot at the close of the year, also stated that he has not given up on playing for the Eagles in the nearest future. “It is my dream to play for my country anytime I am given the chance, I just hope one day I can do that, the 24-year-old right back who boasted that he could give Efe Ambrose a run for his money in the national team stated.
Phelps Gets Handed One Year Ban US swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all-time, has been given a one-year suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to drink-driving. The 18-time Olympic gold medallist was also sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation. During that time Phelps must totally abstain from drinking alcohol. The 29-year-old tested at nearly twice the legal alcohol limit when he was arrested in Baltimore in September. He was initially stopped for speeding after being caught going at 135km/h (84mph) in a 45mph zone. The swimmer said he had also spent time at the Meadows addiction treatment centre in Arizona. “During my 45-day programme, I was able to find out a lot about myself that I never knew,” he told reporters. “I’m looking at a much brighter future than I have had in the past,” he added.
Phelps retired after winning his 22nd Olympic medal at the London Games in 2012 but came out of retirement earlier this year. He was given a sixmonth ban from swimming after his arrest in September, but contin-
Phelps
ues to train. Mr Phelps, who is from Baltimore County, was previously charged for driving under the influence in Maryland in 2004. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in exchange for 18 months’ probation.
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Benitez Committed To Napoli Rafael Benitez continues to be committed to the Napoli cause after revealing he rejected two offers recently to secure his services for next season. The Spanish coach is under contract at Stadio San Paolo until the end of the current campaign, having been handed the reins of the Serie A club 18 months ago. He guided the Naples outfit to third place in his first year at the helm, while his side lifted the Coppa Italia in May following a 3-1 win over Fiorentina in the final. The Partenopei suffered their third defeat of the season with the 2-0 reverse to AC Milan last Sunday, which has left the team sitting seventh in the league standings on 24 points, 12 behind leaders Juventus. Talks over a new deal have yet to materialise, but Benitez has shown his commitment to the Blues by confessing that he rebuffed two approaches from oth-
Benitez
er clubs in the last two weeks. Speaking at a press conference, he said: “I will give 100 per cent until the very last day of my contract here, and then if I get offered an extension I’ll look into it. “I’ve turned down two offers in the past fort-
night because I’m tied to Napoli. There will be time to think about my future further down the line.” Benitez is aware that fortunes need to improve on the pitch if they are to at least match last season’s third-placed finish, although he is looking even higher still.
Man City Launch Bid For Liverpool Star Manchester City are reportedly ready to table a mammoth £60 million bid to sign Liverpool starlet Raheem Sterling. The 20-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best young talents in the world at the moment and is known to be stalling on signing a new contract at Anfield, putting his long-term future at the club under some doubt. City now seem ready to rival the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for his signature, though Liverpool will surely hope to avoid selling their star player to another Premier League side. City have plenty of money at their disposal, however, and could do with new
Pellegrini, Man City manager
attacking players out wide due to some inconsistent displays from the likes of Samir Nasri, Jesus Navas and James Milner in that area. The Premier League champions have previously
raided Arsenal for a number of their top players, but now look to be focusing on this key Reds first-teamer, in what would be a major blow for Brendan Rodgers after also losing Luis Suarez to Barcelona this summer.
UNN Plans To Build Cricket, Other Sports Academy For Enugu Plans are in the pipeline for the construction of a sports academy in the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) to carter for the sporting needs of the South East geopolitical zone of the country. Rev Canon Jacob Onyechi, chairman UNN Sports Council who disclosed this on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja said about N20 million would be needed for the project. Onyechi said the academy which would be situated inside the UNN campus when completed, would serve the sporting needs of the South-East and SouthSouth geopolitical zones. “We have a very good cricket pitch, it is standard; we have played matches for South-South and SouthEast by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF). “We have said to them that we want to use this
as a base for the academy; I have floated the idea to a lot of people including the President. “What we have not done is to put a position paper, reason, I floated it with the past Vice Chancellor (VC) he wasn’t interested. “But we have a new VC, Prof Benjamin Ozumba, who is interested in sports and within the first month of the New Year, we are going to put forward that idea again that we need an academy. “In fact, it will be a sports academy with different branches -Cricket, hockey, football and we will get experience people who are professionals to come and help us build and train players in the Universities,’’ Onyechi said. According to him, the academy will train athletes in Nigerian universities who can represent the country at international competitions.
Onyechi, who is a Professor of Industrial Pharmacy, told NAN that the academy would also be used for commercial purposes so as to ease the burden of maintenance. “We want to make it a self sufficient academy; people will buy shares, it’s like starting a corporate entity, people buy shares and at the end of every year we report to them what we have done. “We can train athletes from all the South Eastern states and we can commercialise all the facilities. “We have a lot of facilities at UNN used for NUGA which are yet to be completed; if people can step in and help us we will complete all those things and it will be a vibrant sports academy. “I think we can do it, it’s just the zeal; all we need is somebody who will pool, push and give approval; I think the VC will help us in this regard,’’ he added.
Dowsett Set To Break World Record Britain’s Alex Dowsett will attempt to break the hour world record at London’s Olympic Velodrome on February 27. Commonwealth Games time-trial champion Dowsett, 26, hopes to go further than the current mark of 51.852km, set by Austria’s Matthias Brandle in October. Australians Jack Bobridge and Rohan Dennis may extend the mark given they attempted the record earlier in 2015. Sir Bradley Wiggins is also expected to reveal details of his own attempt at the record in the near future. The hour record is the blue riband event for track cycling, and is a record that has recently enjoyed a renaissance after world governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
Dowsett leading two other riders
changed its rules about the use of aerodynamic equipment. Germany’s Jens Voigt broke Ondrej Sosenka’s nine-year-old record in September, only for Brandle to surpass him the following month. Movistar rider Dowsett, a
haemophilia sufferer, wants to raise awareness about the condition with his bid to beat the distance next year. “The hour is something I’ve always been interested in; the simplicity of it, mostly: no tactics, no hiding, just you and the bike,” said Dowsett.
Hamilton Loses Engineer To Ferrari One of Lewis Hamilton’s key technical staff at Mercedes is to leave the team and move to Ferrari. Jock Clear, Hamilton’s senior performance engineer, will effectively be the replacement for Pat Fry, Ferrari’s former engineering director. Fry was sacked this week as part of a purge of senior personnel at Ferrari as they seek to arrest years of decline. Clear is to lead Ferrari’s track-side
engineering once he has worked a lengthy notice period with Mercedes. The 51-year-old handed in his resignation immediately after the final race of the season at the end of November and has a 12-month notice period. It is unusual for F1 engineers to work out their full notice and an accommodation is likely to be reached with Ferrari over the com-
ing months. Clear continues to work for Mercedes, who will assess how to reorganise Hamilton’s engineering staff in the new year. He is likely to be moved away from his current role, which focuses on the cutting edge of performance, given that he is to leave for a major rival. Clear, who has previously worked with former world champions Mi-
chael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, had been at the team for 15 years. He joined British American Racing alongside Villeneuve, with whom he had worked at Williams, when the team were founded in 1999 and stayed through the team’s guises as Honda and Brawn and into Mercedes. His role at Mercedes was as one of three chassis engineers assigned
to Hamilton’s car, assisting the new world champion’s race engineer, the primary contact with the driver, with data analysis. Mercedes were happy to release Clear as they were unable to offer him a role similar in seniority to his Ferrari position. Ferrari have also tried to recruit Mercedes’ former technical director Bob Bell, who resigned in April and left the team in November.
AMUSEMENT PARK
I slept well only once in my life, and even then i dreamt i was awake — NIrving Berlin
FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
21.12.14 No. 463 N300
Guest Column Haruna Jimme
W
hile addressing the stakeholders of his party recently, the very distraught Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko complained openly that he had received a threatening SMS from the very powerful national security adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, who happens to be a prominent Sokoto prince. According to the governor, he had, in a radio interview, spoken against the assault by security officials on the National Assembly. He claimed to have said in the interview that, “…in a normal society, the national security adviser and the inspector-general of police, Suleiman Abba, were supposed to have resigned from their appointments because they have failed Nigerians as a result of the action…” Soon after, according to the governor, he received a text message on his phone from the NSA telling him, “I have heard you, you will be hearing from me.” He regarded that as a direct threat both to this life and position. Given that there has been no public rebuttal to the allegation of the Sokoto governor by the NSA that one is aware of, one is led to conclude that the facts as Governor Wamakko had averred were true. Yet, without hearing the NSA’s version, it would be too presumptuous to take the SMS on its face value, which should ordinarily imply an unconcealed threat from a man who has ample access to both means of protection and harm. All the same, in these dangerous times and judging from the fact that Governor Wamakko belongs to the opposition, the alleged SMS from the NSA is naturally viewed with seriousness, especially within the ranks of his group which currently feels haunted by the government whose coercive instruments the NSA commands. The apprehension expressed by the Sokoto governor needs not be dismissed with a wave of the hand, judging from the recent behaviour of the security arms of the government which on November 20 tried to bar the speaker of the House of Representatives from accessing his offi-
That Unnecessary Threat cial place of work, on the ultra vires assumption of the duties of the judiciary by the police boss, who had arbitrarily assumed the responsibility of interpreting the laws of the land. Not being all lawyers, the polity is more attuned to interpreting the issues on the ground on their face value and within the confines of common sense. That is why the general impression in Nigeria and outside is that the fracas at the National Assembly was a brazen affront on the right of the opposition, which has been further interpreted as victimization. After 16 years of the current practice of democracy, one would assume that it should have become obvious to all that no one is above public scrutiny and that Nigeria should have since outgrown a situation whereby people would be sanctioned for voicing their opinions. In Governor Wamakko’s estimation, the apparently innocuous statement which might have attracted the reported reaction of the NSA was his call on the inspector-general of police and the national security adviser to resign from their jobs for the assault on the National Assembly last month. One cannot but say that it would be unfortunate if the NSA is riled by such a call which has become a mantra across the country in the recent times, not just for the NASS imbroglio but for the citizens’ lack of satisfaction on how the war against terror is being prosecuted. If the NSA and his security apparatchik are not aware of public discontentment over many issues in the country at the moment, then, it would be a very unfortunate development. Yes, the calls from many quarters – both real and mischievous – for many high officers of the state to resign have taken on very high decibel, and such calls have often been made on the president too. At each of those instances when the president has been called upon to resign by the opposition elements, his aides had either ignored them or made explanations based on how weighty they consider such calls. The Presidency has never gone out to threaten or make insinuating gestures against those who
had called on him to resign; knowing that it is a right guaranteed them by the constitution under a democratic clime. Just very recently, the inspectorgeneral of police of Kenya voluntarily resigned from his office while the interior minister who oversights the police was shown the door by the president for the outrage caused by the terrorists who had crossed the northern border from Somalia into Kenya to massacre innocent civilians. So, resignations had never been new for security officials when breaches occur. Would it be wrong to suggest that the breach that happened in Kenya which resulted in the resignation of the police chief and the interior minister does not pale into insignificance when compared to the situation in Nigeria? To that extent, does anybody making such a call deserve any threats at all? One would have expected that Colonel Dasuki would have appreciated the unique position of Sokoto State which has remained a refreshing oasis in the torrid desert of insecurity in the north. More than anybody else, from his military training, current posting and as prince of the ancient and revered Sokoto Caliphate, the NSA ought to lecture everybody else on the role of chief executives of states in ensuring peace, stability and security in their states. The fact that the governor does not discriminate among the inhabitants of the state, on basis of their ethnic origins or religion has created an unprecedented sense of belonging to all who reside in the state. Very approachable and humane, Aliyu Wamakko is said to have become a veritable example of what Pope Francis described as a “shepherd who smells like his sheep”. Therefore, the fact that Sokoto remains the most peaceful corner of Nigeria today is not out of luck, but rather out of a systematic build-up of good governance and care for the people, as well as a legacy of good governance which has been inherited from the days of Othman dan Fodio and his successors since 1804. Wamakko
has been a great apostle of this great legacy which other parts of Nigeria need to emulate. The NSA definitely appreciates the importance of sustaining this peace and stability at his home base and needs to work hand in hand with the political and traditional leaders in his home state to ensure that Sokoto becomes better and continues to remain safe and peaceful as the last bastion of peace and stability. Governor Wamakko might be in the APC today, probably making the NSA jittery over his statements and pronouncements. But that need not be so, as differences are the best ingredients of progress in a democratic setting. In these perilous times when a tiny spark could easily balloon into an inferno, it behoves on those whose prime responsibility it is to prevent the small sparks as well as big infernos to always seek ways that would douse all fires – big or small. It is not for the likes of the NSA to stoke fires, but a primary responsibility to douse them, even when they are started by others. A situation whereby a state governor of the calibre and experience of Dr Aliyu Wamakko is made to feel threatened can only be an ill-wind which will blow nobody any good. Jimme, a political scientist , writes from Abuja
The apprehension expressed by the Sokoto governor needs not be dismissed with a wave of the hand,
GHANA MUST GO Jonathan deserves a second term to continue the good work
— Joseph Yobo
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