Binder8888, sunday, june 8, 2014

Sunday Edition

Sanctity of Truth

N150 Sunday, June 8, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 110

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Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

Nigerians mourn as Dora Akunyili dies of cancer Lateef Ibrahim, Phillip Nyam, Leo Sobechi,

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rief and shock trailed yesterday’s death of a former Minister of Information and erstwhile Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug

Administration, Prof. Dora Akunyili, after a two-year battle with cervical cancer.

Akunyili, who was a member of the ongoing National Conference in Abuja, died in a specialist hospital in India yesterday morning at about 10am (Nigerian time).

The death of the former minister was confirmed by

the immediate past governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi, in a statement issued on behalf of the family.

Obi’s statament reads, “On behalf of the Akunyili’s family, I wish to officially confirm the death of Prof. (Mrs) Dora Akunyili in a specialist cancer hospital in India this morning (yesterday) at 10 am, Ni-

gerian time, after a two-year battle with cancer.

“In spite of her illness, she was unwavering in her belief in a better Nigeria. That was why she defied her condition and was part of Anambra State Handover Committee and the National Conference.

“The last time I visited her in India, even when she

needed all the prayers herself, she was full of concern for Chibok girls, security and other challenges facing the country and told me that she remained prayerful for the release of those girls and for God to help President Goodluck Jonathan to overcome all the challenges facing the nation.

“She urged all Nigerians to remain prayerful and committed to building a better society for our children. We all prayed together and I promised to be visiting her every month.

“We thank all those who remained fervent in prayers for her recovery and urge them CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Obiano promises action on Onitsha river port }7 US plans 24-hour anti-Boko Haram channel }8 Sanctity of Truth

ON SUNDAY

Page 15, JUNE 08, 2014

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT www.newtelegraphonline.com/body&soul

Cool kicks for casual outing

Rock denim shirts with style

Akunyili

Cool kicks for casual How I hit it big in outing

Makeup business -Joy Adenuga

New Emir of Kano to be named today Muhammad Kabir, Ibrahim Abdul and Yekeen Nurudeen

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he four kingmakers of Kano Emirate met with Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, yesterday to finalise the choice of a successor to the late Emir, Alhaji Ado

Bayero, who died on Friday.

New telegraph on Sunday learnt that the kingmakers had shortlisted a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi; the emir’s eldest son, Sanusi Lamido Ciroma; Wamaban Kano, Abbas Sunusi; and Galadiman Kano, Tijjani

Hashim.

Although there are speculations that the former CBN governor might emerge as the new emir, as Kwankwaso’s favourite, our correspondent learnt that the kingmakers were inclined to Bayero’s son.

The four kingmakers Sarkin Bai Adnan; Makaman Kano Sarki Ibrahim;

Sarkin Dawaki Maituta Bello Abubakar; and Madakin Kano, Yusuf Nabahani, were said to have submitted the final list to the governor at Government House, Kano yesterday.

Kwankwaso, who posed for a photo graph with the four kingmakers after the meeting, told report-

ers that, “Whatever it is, today (Sunday), we will announce the new emir, God willing.”

He however refused to let reporters have an idea about the likely 13th Fulani Emir of Kano, adding that‘ that should be left in the hands of the kingmakers who would use their vast experience to select

the best choice for the emirate.

New Telegraph on Sunday learnt that the other sons of the late monarch withdrew for their eldest brother, so he could have an advantage over Sanusi.

However, Sanusi is said to have embarked CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Presidency explains military clampdown on newspapers }2

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JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News

Prof. Dora Akunyili (1955 - 2014)

Nigerians mourn Dora Akunyili CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

to remain prayerful for the peaceful repose of her soul.”

She was rushed to India last month and remained under intensive care amid various rumours of her death. The rumours were denied by her family, who urged Nigerians to pray for her quick recovery.

Fears had mounted over her health after she appeared in a frail condition at the commencement of the National Conference in Abuja. The exminister, who was widely celebrated for her dogged fight against fake and substandard drugs as NAFDAC DG, survived an assassination attempt during her tenure at the agency.

She ran for Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliancein 2011 but lost to Senator Chris Ngige.

She would also be remembered for her Rebranding Nigeria project, which produced the slogan ‘Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation’.

Akunyili came to limelight after a former head of state, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, praised her honesty for returning £17,000 approved for her treatment upon her return to Nigeria to the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, which he was heading at the time.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had stated this publicly as evidence that she was the right person to fit into the role of NAFDAC DG. Reactions trailed Akunyili’s death, as Nigerians of all walks of life extolled her virtues in press statements and posts on social media The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, expressed shock over the news of her transition.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, Tambuwal described the deceased as a

patriot whose tenacity and commitment to duty saved millions of Nigerians from untimely deaths due to the effect of fake and substandard drugs.

He said her tenure as the DG of NAFDAC would be remembered as a glorious moment for Nigeria.

The Speaker described Akunyuli as a brilliant pharmacist whose compassion and concern for the general wellbeing of the people were paramount.

While commiserating with her husband and other members of her immediate family over the loss, Tambuwal urged the Federal Government and Anambra State Government to immortalise her for future generations to learn from her legacies Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment, Hon. Uche Ekwunife, described Akunyili’s death as “a personal loss to me; she was my friend and associate. She was one of the most credible voices from Anambra State and Nigeria.”

The lawmaker told New Telegraph on the telephone that she admired the former minister’s personal contributions to the development of the country and her personal struggles, saying that it was a pity she died after everything.

Ekwunife lamented, “Apart from coming from the same locality, constituency, state, tribe and same political party, I had a very close relationship with her.

She was a colossus and one of a kind. I’m speechless as my heart is heavy. May God grant her eternal rest.”

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, expressed “deep shock, regret and disappointment” over the development, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson.

Dickson said he received the news of Akinyuli’s death with a deep sense of

loss and disbelief, describing her passage as a great loss to her family, state and Nigeria. He stressed that she gave her best to every assignment and position she held at various times and levels of society.

Dickson noted that she would be greatly missed by the government and people of Bayelsa State, for her wise counsel on a number of health-related

projects and programmes in the state, including the pact on the setting up of the First National Drugs Distribution Centre in Yenagoa, to check the sale and distribution of fake drugs in the Niger Delta.

While describing her death as a great loss, he prayed for the peaceful repose of her soul and uged her immediate family to take solace in the fact that

she left worthy footprints in the sands of time.

Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, described the late former minister as an ‘amazon’.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Wakama, the governor said she deserves special mention among nation builders in Nigeria.

Amosun said the death of

the foremost Professor of Pharmacy, when her wealth of experience was mostly needed, especially at the ongoing National Conference, was lamentable.

Amosun recalled her achievements at NAFDAC and said she waged a successful war against counterfeit and fake drugs, thus becoming a terror to fake drugs cartels.

Akunyili was a virtuous woman - Kalu

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ormer Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday described the late former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, as an illustrious daughter of Igboland whose death came at a time her wealth of experience was mostly needed at the ongoing National Conference.

In a condolence message

signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, the former governor said Akunyili, who served the country in different capacities, would be remembered for her courage and boldness especially during her regime as the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

“Akunyili lived an accom-

plished life worthy of emulation; a pillar of support and strength to many in the society. She was source of inspiration not only to her gender but Nigerians in general; a virtuous woman who championed the cause of a just and fair society in her endeavors,” Kalu said.

He, however, sympathised with the family of the deceased as well as

the people and government of Anambra State, urging them to take consolation in the fact that the late Akunyili contributed her best to the socio-economic and political development of the nation.

He prayed for the repose of her soul, saying that God in his infinite mercy would grant her eternal rest.

Niger State Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (left), and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, during a condolence visit to Kutigi in Abuja…on Friday

...Obiano, Chime, APGA shocked

Presidency explains military clampdown on newspapers

Uwakwe Abugu Awka

Lateef Ibrahim, Anule Emmanuel, Ahmed Miringa, Joe Obende, Sola Adeyemo,

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overnors Willie Obiano of Anambra State and Sullivan Chime of Enugu State yesterday expressed shock and sadness over the passage of a former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Also, reports from her alma mater, Queen of the Rosary Secondary School, Nsukka, Enugu State, indicated that the news of her demise threw the staff and students into a mournful mood, especially in view of her recent donations to the institution.

Obian, in a statement issued by his Senior Special

Assistant, Media, Mr. James Eze, stated that Akunyili’s death at this point in time had robbed the state of one of its most outstanding patriotic citizens who had continued to show very visible zeal in contributing to the development of not just Anambra state but Nigeria as a nation.

For his part, Chime in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Chukwudi Achife, described her death as “a serious blow to the nation. Her death has robbed the nation of one of her finest breed of patriots.

“She was a towering amazon of excellence whose public service record was as exemplary as it was inspiring in that she epitomised the rare values of integrity, diligence, dedication, cour-

age and selflessness in the various capacities that she served the nation.”

Also, her party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance said in a statement by its national Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, that it was devastated by he death.

“Her death is very saddening. It is a huge loss to Nigeria and the womenfolk. The Igbos have lost a great ambassador. However, she was a woman of uncommon and extraordinary achievements.

“She was brilliant and exceptionally bold and courageous. She dared where most men chickened out. A good Christian and Marian devotee. APGA mourns her death and commiserates with her husband and family. May Her soul rest in peace.”

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he Presidency yesterday urged newspapers in the country to bear with the military in its current clampdown on newspapers and delivery vans across the country.

This was just as soldiers, for the second day running, impounded newspapers in different parts of the country and arrested vendors and drivers of delivery vans.

Also, a former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, said the trend was a dangerous signal for democracy.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public

Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who briefed journalists yesterday in Abuja, said the military exercise against newspapers was not targeted at any sector.

Soldiers had on Friday and Saturday disrupted the distribution of newspapers, confiscating thousands of copies and detaining delivery vans in many parts of the country till evening.

It is believed to be a ploy by President Jonathan to frustrate the operations of newspapers alleged to be carrying hostile stories against his government and the military.

“If the collective security of the country is at risk, those who are tasked with this responsibility have an enormous job of discharging it, even if it is painful

to some of us.

“You know what it means to fight the insurgency.

People are paying sacrifices everyday every time. So, if it comes to our turn, let’s bear it with fortitude. It is not something that’s going to be forever. It is a temporary issue. If people act on intelligence reports to prevent dastardly acts from taking place, and we now say, what are they doing because it’s now affecting us.

“The reported incidence of checks being carried out by the military on major Nigerian roads and cities is not targeted at newspaper vans because of the contents of the publications, as insinuated in reports,” Okupe stated.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

News

Prof. Dora Akunyili (1955 - 2014)

NAFDAC, AGPMPN, others eulogise ex-minister Sanctity of Truth

Monday, June 9, 2014

I

Chijioke Iremeka

t was a harvest of tributes and eulogies as former Minister of Information and erstwhile Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Dora Akunyili, succumbed to the cold hands of death at 59.

Before the death of the Nanka-born professor of pharmacy, she had christened a patriotic quote that would help in reshaping the minds and psyches of Nigerians. She had said, “I believe in Nigeria, almost in a fanatical manner, because this is a country that has made me who I am today…

I therefore always have that feeling that I can never sacrifice enough for this great country.”

Akunyili believed in commitment to service to her fatherland and served the country faithfully unto death, even when there was an attempt on her life. Despite all odds, she wasn’t deterred from servicing her fatherland in various capacities.

In his tribute to the late Akunyili, her successor at NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said Nigeria had lost a great patriot and woman of great virtue.

“At NAFDAC, she left indelible footprints and a rich

legacy of meritorious and selfless service that must be sustained. Even as we mourn her untimely demise, we celebrate her life and pray that Almighty God will grant her soul eternal rest in peace and also grant the family and her loved ones the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

“It’s with great shock but with total submission to the will of God that I received the sad news of the death of Prof Dora Akuyili. She was a woman who loved Nigeria deeply and dedicated her entire life up till the very last minute to the service of this great nation.”

According to Nigeria’s first professor of Statistics, James Adichie of University of Nigeria Nsukka, where the late Akunyili studied, her death came as a great shock to the entire nation.

“She was a fighter of truth and justice, who didn’t look at anybody before doing good. She made the most impact in NAFDAC as DG of the agency and raised people’s hope on good drugs in the country.”

“Akunyili is irreplaceable, because she had a unique personality. She should be emulated for her good works she shouldered in the country. I know that the country would seek a replacement for her but that will be hard. Her death is

a big loss to the country,” Adichie said.

In his tribute, Prof. Francis Egbokhari of the Department of English and Communications, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, said it was a pity that she worked

T

he National Assembly yesterday said it was not part of an alleged plot to sack the governors of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states over the renewed state of emergency declared by the Federal Government in these states.

There have been calls by some eminent Nigerians for President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a full state of emergency in these states by sacking Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Kashim Shettima (Borno); and Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe) and all democratic structures in these states.

The states are controlled by the opposition All Progressives Congress and the extension of the state of emergency by another six months was recently approved by the National Assembly.

One of the most vocal persons behind the call has been a former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, who recently accused the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, of misleading Jonathan on the issue.

Jonathan had apparently given credence to the alleged plot when he told the

Peoples Democratic Party’s National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja on Thursday that insecurity was at its highest in states controlled by the APC. However, Niger Delta indigenes living in Borno State have distanced themselves from Clark’s call.

But, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, denied knowledge of any plan by the leadership of National Assembly working in concert with the Presidency to replace the governors.

The speaker said there was nowhere in the Nigerian constitution where the President was empowered to sack a democratically elected governor or any elected official, hence it would be preposterous for him to support such a plan.

Tambuwal, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, reaffirmed that such an action would be unconstitutional, undemocratic and illegal, stressing that the speaker has no hand in such a plan.

“The speaker has said it several times that there is no provision in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) that gives the President such powers to sack a duly elected governor. It is true that the constitution empowers him (President) to proclaim state

scientious and faithful service to the country. She was a rare gem. I need to point out that her involvement in NAFDAC and the Ministry of Information were without any political agenda. This shows that we can serve the

country without any political agenda,” he added.

A retired director and government-appointed food and drug analyst with NAFDAC, Mrs. Toun CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (left), after receiving an award from members of E-Eleven Ambassadors, when Fayemi was hosted by the group, in Ado-Ekiti... yesterday.

N’Assembly disowns plot to sack govs Philip Nyam, Chukwu David and Ahmed Miringa

so hard for the government and the country, and died at the time the country needed her most. He expressed the hope that her legacy would be upheld.

“She may be dead but we will ever remember her con-

of emergency under certain conditions but never gave him the power to appoint military administrators and sack duly elected governors.

“The provision for the removal of a governor is clear. It is either through death, incapacitation or impeachment.

These are issues beyond the control of a president so I do not know where this proposal is coming from.”

He explained that section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the President to invoke the state of emergency, never envisaged the appointment of sole administrators, adding that even section 218 only gives the President powers to deploy troops without necessarily declaring a state of emergency.

Reacting to reports that the leadership of the National Assembly was contacted to back the plot, the spokesman said the speaker was not aware of such and would not be part of any illegality.

He said the speaker being a lawyer, a presiding officer of the House of Representatives and an experienced lawmaker, was aware that the appointment of sole administrators was “not covered by law neither is it recognised by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

2015: 500 POLITICIANS TO WATCH

Edo: Oshiomhole, Anenih square up for Nigeria’s Heart Beat As the nation inches towards the 2015 elections, Edo State is poised for a repeat of the 2012 governorship election in the state in which some godfathers were taught bitter political lessons

by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

In what promises to be a revenge battle, the godfathers, mostly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be seeking their pound of flesh from the Oshiomhole-led All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, though the governorship poll will not be part of the contest.

Will they succeed in the come back bid, having lost in two previous contests - 2007 and 2012? Or will the Comrade Governor further weaken the political base of the PDP in Edo State?

Grab a copy of New Telegraph tomorrow for an incisive analysis on the epic battle and personalities who will determine its outcome.

New Telegraph …Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in Politics and Business

4

Moments

JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

L-R: Director, Administrative and Human Capital Development, Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mr. Samson Adegun; Director, PMO and Operational Strategy, Etisalat Nigeria, Ms. Ndidi Okpaluba; and acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher, at the Etisalat ISO 9001:2008 Certification ceremony in Lagos…on Thursday

L-R: Winner, Gold Medal in Scrabble Mixed Double/ Bronze Medal in Men’s Double, 2013 Federation of Public Service Games (FEPSGA), Mr Ayeni Adetunji; Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Mr. Abdallah Usman and Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, during a reception for victorious NCMM athletes, in Abuja…on Friday

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Slot Nigeria limited, Nnamdi Ezeigbo; Director, Products and Innovations, Airtel Nigeria, Nitin Anand; Director, Marketing and Brands, Obinna Anichie and Country Manager, iStore Africa, Sachin Verma at the launch of iphone 5s by Airtel Nigeria in Lagos...recently

L-R: Head, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Climate Change Unit, Mr. Kamorudeen Ogunbadejo; Managing Director, Recycle Points, Mrs. Chioma Ukonu; Council Manager, Amuwo Odofin L.G., Mr. Segun Ajayi and Secretary, Climate Change Unit, Miss Modupe Salawu, during the World Environment Day celebration in Lagos…on Thursday

L-R: Director, State Office, Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Frank Isaiah; NDDC representative, Cross River State, Mr. Paul Adah; and Director, Community and Rural Development, Mr. Nosa Agbongiasede, during a stakeholders meeting, in Calabar…recently

L-R: Director, Naval Information, Commodore Kabir Aliyu; representative of the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Adm Duke Osuofa and Director, Veteran Affairs, Commodore Stephen Kor, at the Navy 2nd Quarter Route Match in Abuja …on Saturday

L-R: U.S. Music Star, Trey Songz; Senior Vice President/Managing Director, Mtv Networks Africa, Mr. Alex Okosi and Angolan Musician, Yuri Da Cunha, after the Pre-Awards News Conference of the Mtv Africa Music Awards (Mama) in Durban, South Africa…on Friday

L-R: Rev. Gbenga Gbadebo; Lord Bishop, Lagos Central Diocese, Rt. Rev. Julius Abbe; Lord Bishop, Lagos Mainland Diocese, Rt. Rev. Samuel Adelagun Ajayi and Lord Bishop, African Church, Ijebu Diocese, Rt. Rev. Augustine Odufuwa, during the 50th Birthday Anniversary of Bishop Ajayi in Lagos …on Thursday

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

L-R: Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Aminu Wali; and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Martin Uhomoibhi, during the presentation of the Nigeria commemorative centenary flag to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Abuja …on Thursday

L-R: Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Saleh Danoma; leader of delegation, House Committee on Aviation, Nkiru Onyejeocha and Ricco Mohammed, during the committee’s inspection of facilities at Muritala Mohammed International Airport, in Lagos…on Wednesday. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

Wife of Akwa Ibom Governor, Mrs Unoma Akpabio (right), exchanging pleasantries with the newly inaugurated Executives of Akwa Ibom Consolidation Assembly for 2015 General Election, in Uyo…on Friday

L-R: Group Managing Director\CEO, First City Monument Bank Limited, Mr. Ladi Balogun; Chairman, FCMB Group Plc, Mr. Jonathan Long; Company Secretary, Mrs. Funmi Adedibu; founder, Otunba Olasubomi Balogun; and Managing Director, Mr. Peter Obaseki, during the bank’s First Annual General Meeting, in Lagos… on Friday. Photo: GODWIN IREKHE

5

Moments

L-R: Non-Executive Director, Propertygate Development and Investment Plc, Mr. Jonathan Oluwole Ogungbola; Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Adetokunbo Ajayi; and Company Secretary, Mrs. Olutosin Aarinola, during the company’s 5th Annual General Meeting, in Lagos…on Thursday. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

L-R: Marketing Manager, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mr. Friday Enaholo; General Manager, Marketing, Mr. Ola Ijimakin and Corporate Services Manager, Mr. Oladimeji Oduyebo, during a press presentation of the new Gascol Sugar-free variant by the company in Lagos…on Thusday. PHOTO:SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson (left) and Chair of the Commonwealth Business Council, Lord Marland, after the governor’s meeting with the Commonwealth Business Group at the House of Parliament, Westminster, London

Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi (right), addressing students of Nickdel College, Ibadan on a rally to demand for the release of the abducted Chibok girls held in Ibadan…on Wednesday

6

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News

Sanusi, Bayero’s son lead in race for emir of Kano CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

on highwire lobbying to clinch the seat.

The battle is now strictly between the house of the dethroned Emir of Kano and Sanusi’s grandfather, Sarki Sanusi, which sent two names - Abbas Sanusi Wamban Kano and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi - while the late Emir ’s house were said to have presented his eldest son and the Galadiman Kano.

Meanwhile, former Pres-

ident Olusegun Obasanjo; governors of Adamawa, Murtala Nyako; and Kogi, Idris Wada; as well as a former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Shehu Malami, have described the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, as a man of peace and goodwill.

Obasanjo, who was in Kano yesterday to condole with the state government and the Emirate Council

over Bayero’s death on Friday, told journalists that the monarch witnessed various crises in his 50 years on the throne.

He listed them to include elections disputes, census problems, coups and counter-coups, but noted that he survived all of them as a man of peace and wisdom.

The former president, who specifically described Bayero as his personal friend, noted that he was

definitely one of the pillars of Nigerian stability as well as its socio-economic and political progress, noting that he was not a greedy person.

He said, “Over this period, I cultivated a deep friendship with Bayero.

Our friendship started during the first coup in Nigeria. From then on, he had been not just a friend, a supporter, a confidant and adviser. So for me his demise means that I have

Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso (middle), with the four kingmakers, after they submitted the final lists of the possible successor of late Ado Bayero in Kano…yesterday

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Olamuyiwa, said the death of Akunyili at this point was saddening, because she had worked so hard for the country and had yet to reap the benefits.

“Her good works will forever be appreciated. We hope that every other federal officer appointed to serve the country would work in such manner that would lead the country forward. It is hard to say that my boss, the woman I worked with is now gone never to return. May her soul rest in perfect peace! Amen,” she remarked.

The Chairman, Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN), Lagos State branch, Dr. Jimmy Arigbabuwo, said Akunyili would be remembered for her conscientiousness and dignity of labour in NAFDAC and as a minister, saying that Akunyili had paid her dues to the country.

He said, “Her death is a monumental loss to the country. She was able to play a role at the expense of her life. She tried to unite Nigeria before her death and I urge everybody to work hard like Dora to ensure we have a corporate Nigeria. She was a good woman, an epitome of what a woman should be in public and corporate administration in the country.”

The founding President,

lost a friend, a confidant and adviser.”

Obasanjo noted that the fact that Bayero spent well over 50 years on the throne meant that he had accumulated immense experience with which he was able to advise others.

“Our prayer right now is that the gap he created will be adequately be filled within the city, within the emirate within the state and within the country,” he said.

Similarly, the Chairman of the Independent Nigeria Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, explained that he as a person benefitted tremendously from Bayero’s legacies, because he first attended Abdullahi Bayero College now BUK, became a lecturer there and later its vice-chancellor.

Nyako described the demise of the emir as a monumental loss to the nation and humanity in general.

The governor in a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, yesterday said late Bayero was a “true man of peace and an icon of our time.”

Nyako therefore extended his condolences to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, Kano Emirate Council as well as the people of Kano and Nigeria over his demise.

In a statement signed

by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Jacob Edi, the Kogi State governor said the monarch’s death had robbed the country of one of its founding fathers.

According to him, it will be difficult to fill the vacuum created by the death of the emir.

Wada condoled with the Kano State Government and its people over the death, and urged them to be comforted by the quality of life Bayero lived.

For his part, Malami said Nigeria had lost a patriotic son and a traditional ruler dedicated to the welfare of the people.

Malami, who is also the Sarkin Sudan of Wurno in the Sokoto Caliphate, while paying tribute to the late emir, said the various ethnic groups in Nigeria would testify to his goodwill towards everybody.

He said Bayero was extremely popular and that was why people could not understand the attempt to kill him sometime ago.

“It was because of his popularity and acceptance by the people that some of his guards were killed in his place by those assailants. Usman Dan Fodio many years ago said something which is still relevant today. He said, ‘let your people see through you and they will die for you’.”

NAFDAC, AGPMPN, others mourn ex-minister The Green White Vanguard, Dr. Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, said, “Dora was an amazon and a patriot who served the country meritoriously. She exhibited a high level of patriotism when she appeared at ongoing national confab. She discharged her roles and responsibilities without blemish and this will be required of all of us to be strong in character like Dora, with which, this country will be a better place for all.”

Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili (OFR) was born in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria on July 14, 1954 to Chief and Mrs. Paul Young Edemobi from Anambra State. She was a devout Catholic and was married to a medical practitioner, Dr. J.C. Akunyili.

Their marriage was blessed with six children and three grandchildren.

Her hobbies were reading, writing, cooking and travelling. She was an internationally renowned pharmacist, pharmacologist, erudite scholar, seasoned administrator, and a visionary leader.

The late Akunyili’s educational career started with her passing the First School Leaving Certificate with Distinction in 1966, and the West African School Certificate (W.A.S.C.) with Grade

I Distinction in 1973 (both in Nigeria), which earned her the Eastern Nigerian Government Post Primary Scholarship and the Federal Government of Nigeria Undergraduate Scholarship respectively.

Dora Akunyili was always top of her class - a record that was never broken in the school. She got her B.Pharm (Hons) in 1978 and PhD in 1985, both at UNN. She won the best student award in the school of Pharmacy in her very first year in the school and the ViceChancellor’s Postgraduate and Research Leadership prize in Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences for 1984/85 and 1985/86 academic Sessions and was promoted to the rank of Professor of Pharmacology in October, 2000 by the same University.

Akunyili started her working career as a Hospital Pharmacist in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu in 1978.

In 1981, she ventured into Academics as a Graduate Assistant (Research Fellow) in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNN. In the University system, she made a steady progress from lecturer I in 1986 until she was made Senior Lecturer in 1990.

In 1992, she transferred to the College of Medicine, UNN and became a Consultant Pharmacologist in 1996.

She also worked as a part time lecturer at the West African College of Pharmacists, Lagos, Nigeria from 1992-1995.

She was appointed Supervisory Councilor for Agriculture in Anaocha Local Government of Anambra State, Nigeria from 1994 – 1996. Akunyili was appointed Zonal Secretary of Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF), where she coordinated all projects in the five South Eastern States of Nigeria from 1997 - 2000.

She was DG, NAFDAC from April 2001to 2008. At NAFDAC, she recorded outstanding success. Prior to her appointment, food and drug regulation in Nigeria was chaotic but she was able to put them under control. She fought and won, to an extent, her war against adulterated, fake and substandard food and drugs in Nigeria.

By her effort, the level of fake and counterfeit drugs in circulation dropped to 16.7 per cent with vast improvement in the food and other regulated sectors.

From December 2008 to December 2010, she worked as the Minister of Informa-

tion and Communications, Federal Republic of Nigeria. As the Minister, she anchored the Re-branding Nigeria Project driven by the slogan, Nigeria Good People, Great Nation.

The programme was conceived as an internal process to address Nigeria’s negative image both at home and abroad. Dora has proved her versatility in all areas of human endeavour as she also ventured into politics when she aspired to serve her own people in Anambra State as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

As a scientist and scholar, she presented over 600 papers delivered in various Local and International Conferences, published four books and written scientific articles published in 37 local and international journals.

She served on six Senate Committees and various Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences committees of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1986 to1992.

From 1992 to 1994, Prof.

Akunyili served as a member of Anambra State Hospitals Management Board and State Advisory Council for Women Commission. She has also served the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in

various capacities, notably as the National Vice President of Association of Lady Pharmacists (1992-1995) and President of the Enugu State Branch from 1992-1998.

Internationally, as Director General of NAFDAC, Prof.

Akunyili was appointed Chairman of West African Drug Regulatory Agencies Network (WADRAN) in March 2006 and as Vice Chairman of the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (IMPACT) in November 2006.

She is a Post Doctorate Fellow of University of London, Fellow of the West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists, Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and member of other learned societies, a few of which are New York Academy of Science, International Narcotics Control Board, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Expert Committee, Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards (AAMPS), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), and International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD).

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

News

Jonathan: Taraba PDP divided over endorsement Sabiu Mustapha Jalingo

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faction in the Taraba State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party known as ‘ Taraba Group of Concerned Citizens’ has bitterly denounced the recent pronouncement by the State Executive Council of the party that it had endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as the best PDP presidential candidate for the 2015 elections.

In a statement signed by its chairman, Pastor James Ibbi, it said the stand taken by the State Executive Council was “non-committal, uncalled for and premature.”

The group maintained that the action, which it described as a drama, was prepared- by the state chairman of the party, Mr. Victor Bala Kona, in order to create confusion.

He said those behind the endorsement were bent on disrupting the orderliness and smooth functioning of the state government led by the Acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, adding that Jonathan had not yet declared his intention to run.

The group further urged PDP supporters in Taraba State to remain calm.

Group frowns against candidates’ imposition in Lagos APC APC to hold transparent congresses is rather unWale Elegbede

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coalition of civil activists and political actors in Lagos State under the auspices of Lagos Democratic Movement has expressed its concern against the re-enactment of the culture of imposition by the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state ahead of the party’s primaries for the selection of candidates for the 2015 elections.

In a statement signed by the coordinators of the group, Olanrewaju Suraju and Debo Adeniran, they averred that the crises arising from the congresses of the APC in Lagos state is already generating unpleasant ripples amongst stakeholders within the party.

Part of the statement reads, “LDM deplores what appears to be the reemergence of undemocratic practices by a new coalition that has been widely celebrated as movement for change within the crisis-ridden political system in Nigeria.

“LDM wishes to assert that the inability of the

Ogun APC Exco to be inaugurated Monday

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he newly elected State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State will be inaugurated on Monday, June 9, 2014.

According to a statement signed by the state chairman of the party, Alhaji Roqeeb Adeniji, who was inaugurated in Abuja last Thursday, the ceremony will hold inside the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta

settling and unbecoming for a party that is largely perceived as a harbinger of change in Nigeria.

Raising issues from the recent endorsement of a governorship aspirant in the state by the Oba of lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, the LDM said, “More worrisome is that while the crises trailing the congresses of the APC had yet to be resolved, another ugly signal of possible imposition emerged following an open endorsement of one of the aspirants for governorship ticket of APC by Oba of Lagos; His Royal Highness, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu.

We insist that the APC, particularly in Lagos State, can no longer pretend that the whole world is not interested in the way its leaders manage the affairs of a popular movement that is acclaimed to be the main opposition platform with great potentials of serving as an alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party,” the group stated.

Wife of the Governor of Osun State, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola (left) and President General of Iyalodes in the state, Mrs. Aramide Awolola, during Aregbesola visit in Ile-Ife, Osun State…on Friday

Economy’ll grow by 15% if power is stable – Seplat CEO

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Laurence Ani

EO of leading indigenous oil and gas firm, SEPLAT, Mr. Austin Avuru, has said that the “Nigerian economy which is presently growing at seven per cent will leapfrog to 15 per cent per annum if we get the power situation right.”

Avuru was responding to questions from New Telegraph from Monte Carlo where he is a finalist in the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the year 2014 at a gala holding in Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco, last night.

Avuru was named winner in the Master Category for the Nigeria and West African sub-region on Saturday November 9, 2013.

Avuru also spoke about the emergence of SEPLAT as the leading indigenous oil and gas player. Avuru said, “For 50 years, the oil and gas industry in Nigeria was dominated by oil and gas multinationals. If it was that easy, it wouldn’t have been a 50-year dominance.

In the last 20 years, there have been several regulatory attempts to introduce indigenous participation. They didn’t work. It looks easy because we walked in, did a landmark transaction, led the way and we have shown how it can be done, built a world class company took it to the stock exchange raised half a billion dollars. “It looks easy because we did it right.

One of the most difficult industries to operate in is the oil and gas industry. Oil is an international commodity

and you have no control over the price. You have to build a business that will survive in good times and in bad times.”

Avuru, a cerebral and well respected oil industry professional, said entrepreneurs are not made but created because, “the classroom as well as other formal and informal training are meant to sharpen, not create the entrepreneurial spirit. So, I think there have to be some inborn traits.”

The winner of the annual Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award will take over from last year’s winner, Hamdi Ulukaya, who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the US-based Chobani who was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the year 2013.

Now in its 14th year, the Entrepreneur of the Year is considered one of the world’s most prestigious business awards. Honouring the contributions of successful entrepreneurs across the globe, the programme also aims to identify entrepreneurial role models for the next generation of business leaders – thereby helping foster new entrepreneurial activity and economic growth in participating countries.

The programme was conceived by Ernst & Young.

Finalists of the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year are assessed by an independent panel of judges from around the world, most of whom have previously participated in the programmes. An overall winner would later be picked from among the 51 country winners.

Obiano promises to act on Onitsha river port Onah.O. Onah Onitsha

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nambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, yesterday pledged to liaise with the Federal Government to ensure the commencement of operations at the Onitsha River Port in the shortest possible time.

He spoke while addressing a collage of professionals and industrialists yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra State, who gathered to brainstorm on the problems and prospects of investment in the zone.

The programme, which was the seventh edition of the summit organised by the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and

Agriculture, dwelt on the theme, ‘Product quality control in a competitive economy: A panacea for national development.”

It had the Director General and Chief Executive, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Chief Joseph Odumodu, as its guest lecturer while Obiano was the special guest of honour.

Addressing the Onitsha business community, Obiano said his administration was determined to build an economically viable state through massive industrialization, adding that he had already set aside N10 billion to construct roads in agro-based communities in the state.

Obiano, who was repre-

sented on the occasion by the Commissioner for Commerce and Trade, Chief Ifeatu Onejeme, said that all stakeholders in the state must brace up for the challenges ahead. He added that the state’s value orientation would be overhauled in all sectors because it would be no longer be business as usual.

He said the state had already inaugurated the Anambra State Investment Protection Agency to take charge of the state’s investment polices and make it the most economically viable state in the country.

“Government has set up a 10-year development plan for the state, with the sole responsibility to restructure the

entire social system and other spectrum of economic values to attract investor to the state,” the governor said.

Obiano said the problems associated with the take-off of the port were technical in nature but assured that the state government would do everything at its disposal to assist the Federal Government in ensuring that it becomes operational in the nearest possible time.

Speaking on the theme of the lecture, the governor said it was apt especially at this time of socio-economic transformation in the state to make it the hub nub of commerce and industry in the west Africa Sub region.

In an address of welcome,

the President of the chamber, Dr. Tim Anosike, said the summit was an annual lecture series dating as for back as 2008.

According to him, this year’s theme was carefully selected as the focus of the lecture because of the chamber’s strong belief that it would give the state the opportunity to examine its performance and prospects and proffer solutions to its industrial development problems.

He said these would sustain the standard value system that would encourage other investors to partner the state government in its quest to improve the standard of living through commerce, trade and investments.

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JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

News

APC chairmanship: I’m not against Onu’s ambition - Okorocha Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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L-R: Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide; Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada; former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko; and Vice President Namadi Sambo, at the Peoples Democratic Party governorship rally in Ado Ekiti…yesterday

PDP’ll win Ekiti gov poll - Jonathan Adesina Wahab

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Ado-Ekiti

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, would win the June 21 Ekiti State governorship election in a free and fair manner, as the party was firmly entrenched in the state.

Speaking in Ado-Ekiti during the presentation of the party’s flag to its governorship candidate, Ayodele Fayose, the President also sounded a note of warning to anyone planning to cause trouble during the poll.

He said the Federal Government would provide adequate security during the election and called on the electorate to defend their votes.

“By standing here for hours, you have shown your commitment. Your visions and dreams will be realised for the growth

of Ekiti State when Ayo Fayose is elected into office.

“We want you to work with Fayose to bring development to the state.

We are impressed that you even came here with your voter cards. What our candidate will bring to the state will be in line with our transformation agenda in various sectors,” he told the crowd of party supporters.

The National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, said when PDP comes into office, it would be the beginning of a new dawn.

He emphasised the resolve of the national leadership of the party to continue with the repositioning of the party, noting that that was why it insisted on conducting primaries to select its candidates for elections.

Muazu called on party members that had gone to other parties to come

back home.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo promised the people of the state a revival of moribund sectors in the state such as the welfare of public servants, teachers, transportation among others.

Fayose, after being handed the flag, said while in office from 2003 to 2006, he was able to take the state from 35th position to the seventh position in public examinations. He expressed regret that the state had gone back to the 35th position under the All Progressives Congress-led administration.

To show the commitment of the people to his cause, Fayose urged them to raise their voter cards.

“Our government will reduce tuition fees in public schools, and we will ensure local content in contract awards so that our artisans will get jobs to do.

“I left N10.4 billion in the state’s coffers. I make a solemn oath before you that I will look after you and with your support we are going to give the APC the red card to leave the Government House come June 21 this year,” he said.

Various people who spoke at the rally lauded the mammoth crowd and urged the people to vote PDP and defend their votes.

The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, led other members, while Muazu led members of the National Working Committee of the party.

Governors of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Abia and Kogi states – Godswill Akpabio, Liyel Imoke, Theodore Orji and Idris Wada respectively attended the event.

Also, a number of former governors led by Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State were present.

mo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has denied allegations that he is scheming against the reported interest of a former governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, in the national chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress.

The governor said there was no iota of truth in the insinuation that he was not well-disposed to Onu’s ambition owing to his purported interest in the party’s vice-presidential slot in the 2015 elections.

The governor maintained that the insinuation that he may frustrate Onu’s aspiration was untrue and a deliberate effort designed to foster mistrust and mutual suspicion among APC leaders in the South-East.

Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, the governor said, “There is no reason for anybody to begin to insinuate that Governor Okorocha is against Dr. Onu becoming the first elected National Chairman of APC, as it will go the extra mile to add fibre to the APC in the South-East.

“Governor Okorocha has never talked about the vicepresidential slot of the APC, either in the open or in secret. He has never minced words about his desire to vie for the presidency of this country. He cannot be talking about the presidency and at the same time be talking about the vice-presidency. This is even when 99 per cent of Imo people have been clamouring that he should opt for a second term as their governor.”

US plans 24-hour anti -Boko Haram channel

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he United States Department of State is financing a new 24hour satellite television channel to broadcast to Northern Nigeria, as part of its efforts at ending the Boko Haram insurgency, New York Times reports.

The new television channel, to be called Arewa24, is financed by the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, and it is expected to cost about $6 million. State Department officials would discuss the programme only on the condition of anonymity, and offered sparse information about it. But details have emerged in publicly available contracting documents and in interviews with people familiar with the effort.

The project was started

last year and is run in Nigeria by Equal Access International, a San Francisco-based government contractor that has managed media programmes sponsored by the State Department in Yemen and Pakistan that encourage youth participation in politics, in addition to countering Islamist extremism.

Work on the project is nearing completion, but broadcasts have not yet begun.

The goal of the channel is to provide original content, including comedies and children’s programmes that will be created, developed and produced by Nigerians. State Department officials said they hoped to provide an alternative to the violent propaganda and recruitment efforts of Boko Haram.

Presidency explains military clampdown on newspapers C ontin u ed from page 2

He noted that the military had already explained that the ‘routine checks’ followed intelligence reports that some unnamed elements were using such vehicles to convey “materials with grave security implications across the country.”

He said government sympathised with media houses which might have suffered some form of discomfort as a result of the security checks.

“We assert, for the avoidance of doubt, that the President has not and will never give any order capable of hampering the smooth running of any media organisation or harass journalists in the lawful performance of

their duties.

“This government will neither engage in nor encourage any acts that will constitute an assault on any media organisation or infringe on the Freedom of the Press.”

Meanwhile, soldiers from the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri stormed the Post Office area of the Borno State capital where vendors were sharing newspapers.

“They alighted from their patrol vehicles, confiscated all our papers, including unsold copies, and arrested some of our colleagues,” a newspaper vendor told journalists yesterday.

The detainees were released at about 1.30pm yesterday after being held for

over four hours. They were, however, not informed about their offences.

The vendors lamented that the military clampdown had deprived them of their daily earnings as many of them depend on the sales of newspapers as their only source of income.

Many delivery vehicles failed to make it to Warri in Delta State and other destinations as they were reportedly held by soldiers and men of the State Security Service in different locations.

Some of the papers that did not make it to their delivery points in most parts of the South-South included New Telegraph on Saturday and The Sun, whose joint

delivery van was reportedly held on the West - East Road.

Others were The Nation, Daily Trust and Leadership.

In Ibadan, soldiers from Letmock Barracks in Mokola area of Ibadan, Oyo State stormed the newspaper distribution centre at Oke Padre yesterday.

Numbering about 100, the soldiers had on Friday laid siege to the area at 6am, arrested The Nation and Vanguard newspaper vehicles, and eventually released their drivers, vans and unsold papers at 4.30p.m.

The soldiers had besieged the area since about 5.30am yesterday and searched The Sun newspaper’s circulation vehicle which also conveyed New Telegraph,

read through their papers and later allowed them to be offloaded for distribution.

However, The Nation’s vehicle which arrived Ibadan at about 6.20 a.m, took the soldiers by surprise because the driver entered through a secret route.

When the soldiers saw the vehicle, they arrested the driver arrested and whisked him away with the papers.

At 12.30 p.m, the driver returned to Oke Padre with the papers, having been released from the Letmock Barracks by the soldiers. The circulation officer of the paper with the assistance of some other colleagues still distributed the paper to vendors.

In a statement yesterday, Atiku condemned the clampdown and lamented what he called the “humiliating treatment of media houses and vendors in the course of conducting their legitimate businesses nationwide.”

The former vice-president reminded the Federal Government that Nigeria was under a democracy and the freedom of the press remained a non-negotiable component of democratic governance.

According to Atiku, since the military is not above the law in any democratic society, they should not be a law onto themselves and recklessly infringe on the rights of citizens.

EDITORIAL

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To build a newspaper organisation anchored on the sanctity of truth.

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To publish a newspaper of superior value, upholding the fundamental ethics of journalism: balanced reporting, fairness, accuracy and objectivity.

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Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha

SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2014

Chibok, fifty-five days and counting

t is fifty-five days since the abduction of the over three hundred schoolgirls from Chibok and since then they have remained captives in the hands of their Boko Haram abductors. But for the outcry of some concerned citizens, this would have just been one of those incidents in the escalating insurgency that would have been forgotten in no time as has happened with previous cases. That outcry attracted international attention leading to the involvement of various foreign countries in the ongoing rescue operations.

The benefit of hindsight shows that the Federal Government initially did not believe that the girls were actually kidnapped. It carried on as if it was a gimmick meant to score some political point. This raises questions about the information gathering mechanism of the security agencies and the quality of advice available to government.

Since the belated rescue operation got underway, there has been an astonishing display of confusion as to what the actual position of the administration is as to whether there will be some negation with the abductors. The lack of a coherent position of the administration seems to have also affected the behind the scenes negotiations. Indications are that at least twice the negotiators came close to getting the girls released only for the process to breakdown because of government’s indecision.

The longer the girls remain in captiv-

ity, the more they will be vulnerable to all kinds of dangers. Even the testimonies from a handful of girls who have been previously abducted make it obvious that the least that will happen to these girls is that they will be turned into sex slaves. It is not impossible too that some of them may be trafficked depending on the immediate financial needs of their abductors.

Then there is the issue of the girls being brainwashed by their abductors, added to the fact that the longer they remain in captivity the more they would feel let down by the system which failed to adequately protect them in the first place.

We commend all those that have intervened in seeing that something is being done to get the girls back. The onus still remains on the administration to sustain the rescue tempo beyond mere routine statements. It is a critical situation that has put the country under international scrutiny and it is unhelpful if the message that is being passed on is that the leadership is not really bothered

We commend all those that have intervened in seeing that something is being done to get the girls back. The onus still remains on the administration to sustain the rescue tempo beyond mere routine statements

about the less privileged people in the society.

It is a challenge that may be difficult, but it is also a task that needs to and must be performed. Government should be open and ready to learn and make adjustments from criticisms. Demonstrators showing solidarity in support of the campaign for the release of the girls need to be accommodated and not suppressed. It is wrong for government to perceive every criticism as some kind of destabilisation plot. The fact remains that the leadership has the constitutional responsibility to provide security for all the citizens. It is also the constitutional right of citizens to hold their leaders responsible when things go wrong as has happened with the Chibok girls.

This is the time to also start making arrangements for rehabilitating the girls when they are eventually rescued. We commend the Borno State Government for already beginning a process of dealing with the trauma experienced by some of those who escaped as well as their parents who have also been in anguish.

There needs to be more concrete arrangement involving all those willing to contribute.

Government must decide to be more coherent and focused in the rescue of the girls. The recent decision by the Obama administration to negotiate with the Talibans for the release of an American soldier shows that every government reacts to a situation with the pragmatism

that it deserves, even if it runs counter to an established position. While the French claim not to negotiate with terrorists, it is no secret that they use third-parties to ensure that their citizens who are held hostage are released without the use of force. It has happened twice involving those abducted by Boko Haram in Cameroun.

The Italians have a policy of negotiating with terrorists because they believe that the use of force always endangers the hostages. This position was proved when the British tried to use Special Forces to free British and Italian hostages held by a faction of Boko Haram in Sokoto. In the ensuing shootout even though some of the abductors were killed, the forceful intervention was a failure because of the fate that befell the hostages. That forceful intervention did not go down well with the Italians. Last week the non-violent approach paid off when a Canadian nun and two Italian priests regained freedom in Cameroon after being held hostage by Boko Haram for two months.

The Chibok girls need to be brought back alive and well as quickly as possible. It is also an opportunity to develop a proper approach of turning the tide against the insurgents. There is enough assistance available and business as usual is no longer acceptable. Everything that has been done wrong must be reassessed including boosting the capabilities of the military.

GABRIEL AKINADEWO Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief IKE ABONYI Deputy Managing Director/DEIC FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU Managing Editor, South SULEIMAN BISALA Managing Editor, North YEMI AJAYI Editor, Daily LAURENCE ANI Editor, Saturday EMEKA MADUNAGU Editor, Sunday LEO CENDROWICZ Bureau Chief, Brussels MARSHALL COMINS Bureau Chief, Washington DC SAM AMSTERDAM Editorial Coordinator, Europe EMMAN SHEHU (PhD) Chairman, Editorial Board JULIET BUMAH Deputy Editor (Sunday) PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

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Chuks Iloegbunam

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JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

OPINION

Boko Haram and the media

NN’s Isha Sesay made a comment on the Boko Haram crisis, being the expert dispatched to Nigeria by the American television network to cover the kidnap of hundreds of female students by the terrorists. She expected Chibok, the town in which the Boko Haram atrocity took place, to be swarming with Nigerian troops. But she found none! In her opinion, that questioned the seriousness of Nigerian authorities in the task of crushing Boko Haram. People, including sensible and rational people, swallowed her inane thinking.

John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor and a veteran who had covered the two Gulf Wars and Bosnia Herzegovina, stood on the tarmac of the Maiduguri Airport, kept company only by the lone pigeon.

He announced to the world that, seeing that Nigerian authorities were going through the motions of fighting terrorism, he expected the airport to be bristling with men, materiel and aircraft. But there wasn’t even a soul about or a glider at the airport. Folks, including the rational and the sophisticated, bought his untenable position hook, line and sinker.

These are just two examples of how the fight against Boko Haram by the Jonathan administration is being negated by the media. Yes, Chibok was the village in which hundreds of girls were kidnapped. But, after the reprehensible act, the kidnappers didn’t dig in, waiting for Nigerian Army troops to descend on the village and engage them in a firefight. They returned to their hideouts, presumably to the Sambisa Forest. Why did Ms. Sesay consider it the height of military tactics to have Nigerian troops embedded in every centimetre of Chibok soil? If the village wasn’t teeming with soldiers, did that mean that approaches to it were also bereft of any military formations?

Boko Haram terrorists are armed with bazookas and rocket-propelled grenades.

Why should the open belly of the Maiduguri Airport be strewn with fighter-bombers and

helicopter gunships? An airport could be hit by a missile launched from many kilometres away; men, materiel and aircraft left at an airport that is a handy target for terrorists will require hundreds of troops to provide a veneer of defence. Would these hundreds not come from the ranks of those pursuing Boko Haram in an unconventional warfare?

In any case there are Air Force bases in Kano, Kaduna, Makurdi and Zaria. From each of these bases, the theatre of Boko Haram operations is less than 20 minutes away by fighter-bombers You could excuse Ms. Sesay’s dilettantish performance as the work of a greenhorn.

But you would be wrong because the sum of her reportage from Nigeria portended a script carefully crafted to see no good in the Nigerian government, and to amplify every incitement and vexation from the opposition ranks. Still you would also wonder if 69-year old Mr. Simpson’s hogwash represents the sort of stuff imparted to cadets at his country’s Sandhurst Military Academy.

Over the years, Nigerians have grown into the unsubstantiated condition that any news item and every news analysis disseminated by major international networks relate to fact and truth. More often than not, however, experts from these networks clobber their unsuspecting listeners and viewers with their unadulterated biases and prejudices.

That is why Senator Khlaifa Ahmed Zannah, representing Borno Central senatorial district, abdicated his responsibilities at the National Assembly and relocated to Chibok and its environs, to daily field questions from journalists. In one of his more outrageous outings, Zannah told his expert foreign correspondents that the Federal Government was not doing anything to solve the dire terrorist situation in Borno because “their people are not among those suffering from Boko Haram attacks”! The Vice President of Nigeria is from the north. The Defence Minister is from the north. The National Security Adviser is from the north. The Inspector-General of Police is from the north. The Commander

of the Army Division operating in the Borno area is from the north. The forces fighting and dying to rout Boko Haram come from all parts of the country. Yet Zannah mouthed his obscenity. Yet, again, no media outlet, foreign or local, bothered to subject him to critical interrogation.

We could mourn and writhe in pain on account of the disservice the foreign media is doing to Nigeria. But the local media is, in fact, guiltier. Any content analysis of local media reports on the Boko Haram terrorism will inevitably throw up the conclusion that our media outfits are propagating the ideals of the criminal sect. It is as if Nigeria is involved in a soccer encounter against Cameroon, say, and our media take Boko Haram to be the Super Eagles while our dear country is on the opposite side, represented by the Indomitable Lions! Any belch, any fart, any sneeze from the terrorists’ leader gets front page treatment, with a banner headline at 96 points.

Why should a newspaper cast these headlines: 1) Bomb blast in Abuja and 2) Another bomb blast in Abuja? Aren’t the following better? 1) Terrorists murder workers and 2) Terrorist slaughter workers again? The point here is that the terrorists are mass murderers. Any report that does not cast them in this light is a blow against Nigerian interests. What are we doing with a demented terrorist leader regularly talking at Nigerians on television when there is something called “voiceover”? Why should Nigerians be subjected to the interminable leering of child abductors?

There is worse. Recently, a Lagos-based TV station broadcast for over 24 hours the interview of a man who claimed that soldiers stormed their village, sought out all Fulani people in it, and shot them cold-bloodedly at point-blank range. This airing of that incendiary clip represents the epitome of poor judgment. In a country where military uniforms and AK47s are three for a kobo, where was the certainty that the despicable act being broadcast was actually committed by officers and men of the Nigerian Army? What effect

did the TV station expect the airing of that highly offensive footage to have? The massacre of Igbo members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) posted to Bauchi in 2011 was said to have been ignited by inciting text messages sent by politicians smarting from Jonathan’s victory at the presidential ballot, who claimed that northerners were being killed in large numbers in the south.

To demonstrate that it was all lies what the interviewee said, no one showed the graves where the “killed” Fulani were buried. Or did they all ascend into heaven? The mortuaries didn’t throw up their corpses. No report was filed with either the Federal or state government on the fiction. No instant widows, widowers or orphans have been produced from the village where the massacre was claimed to have occurred. No one appeared who claimed that he miraculously escaped the murderous “onslaught”. But a Lagos-based TV station aired this treasonous item…

Then there is the social media. Before the social media, it took some time and considerable effort to air one’s views on radio, television and the print media. Today instant journalists have been made of all owners of mobile telephones and laptops. Because, like pornography, instant media enjoy the triple A’s of Affordability, Anonymity and Availability, their impact, for ill or for good, on nations and peoples are beyond computation.

That was why they got Amnesty International, of all organizations, to go advertising the fairy tale that the Nigerian military had hours of warning before the Chibok kidnapping but failed to lift a finger.

By what means was the Nigerian military warned of the impending Chibok kidnapping? By phone calls or through text messages? Or by emails? The world knows that phone calls, text messages and emails are permanently on the hard disks of the service providers, even if the senders/receivers deleted the records in their devices.

Iloegbunam is the author of Ironside, the biography of General Aguiyi-Ironsi.

Sanusi’s whistle blown to pieces

Ijele Agha-Ibeka

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published during March an article entitled “Was Sanusi Really a Whistle Blower?”

The central point in that piece read thus: “Civil rights activists called for heads to roll, even without proper investigation, while carpet-crossing politicians saw pegs on which to hang their decrepit overcoats”. In extremely bad times such as the country is currently experiencing, the very fact that someone stands accused of whatever is enough to earn them capital punishment. Our national psyche, our sense of patient consideration and our equanimity have all been eaten up by years of failure by the political class, by the economic down-turn and by the general flight of equity from our value vault.

Instant justice was to have been the fate of the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke and some principal officials of the NNPC. What saved them from kangaroo justice was President Jonathan’s adamantine refusal to

crumble in the face of the highly orchestrated hoopla raised in the wake Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s claim that a whopping $49.8bn from crude oil sales had gone missing from the vaults of the NNPC. While eyebrows were still raised on the gargantuan figure the former Central Bank Governor claimed was missing, the man went changing the amount of money he claimed was missing with astonishing regularity.

While Sanusi’s shenanigans continued remorselessly, NNPC officials made countless efforts to put out their own side of the story, to state that no money was missing. Their screams of mea culpa fell on deaf ears. As far as Sanusi and the hysterical army he had raised were concerned, the NNPC was culpable. It was really terrible, the fact that there was little room for the toleration of alternative opinion on the matter. Even the attempts by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, to calm frayed nerves were rebuffed. Her idea was to show that the issues Sanusi had

raised could be resolved through interdepartmental reconciliations involving the CBN, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. Critics lambasted her.

Many Nigerians did what they have become past masters at – name-calling and blanket condemnation well before either of investigation and trial. It hardly occurred to all those baying for blood that if we jubilated innocents sent to the hangman’s noose, the ignominious toga of sadism would become evidently ours. That is why, for instance, we have in the Igbo country a saying to the effect that, “the elderly should abound, in order that youngsters do not roast the vulture, mistaking it for the edible kite’.

Aligning itself with the above words of wisdom, the Senate mandated its Finance Committee to investigate Sanusi’s claim. This followed a ‘Point of Order of Urgent National Importance raised

by Sen. Olubunmi Adetunmbi

(APC-Ekiti), who relied on the Senate Order 42’. One must note that the Senate Committee on Finance under the chairmanship of the distinguished Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (Kaduna PDP) deployed skills and speed at dispensing with the investigation in less than six months. Relying on the Committee’s report, the Senate cleared the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of allegations of financial misappropriation on the one hand. On the other, it rebuked the former Governor of CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, for dishing out “misleading and highly destabilizing allegations.”

I have intentionally put the phrase misleading and highly destabilizing allegations in quotes, to draw the attention of Nigerians to the reality of the level of opprobrium and ill-will Sanusi wilfully poured on all our heads.

Now that Sanusi’s whistle has been blown to pieces, would he take time off to clear himself of the grave allegations of official impropriety leveled against him by the indicting report of the Financial Reporting Council? It is

my candid opinion that it is about time our public servants started to be held accountable for their deeds while in office. Apart from directing the searchlight on Sanusi’s years of stewardship as CBN Governor, there is the issue of his grandstanding that calls for forensic scrutiny. I am not in any way calling for Sanusi’s arraignment for mendacity. I am only suggesting that, whatever it was that emboldened this controversial fellow who contested against businessmen for a chair in philanthropy using the nation’s funds, calls for clear identification.

Where and how Sanusi garnered his trait of unparalleled impunity with which he sold a lie to the entire country should make a good case study for graduate students of criminology. Do not let us miss this opportunity of peeping into the deep! The man who subjected his fellow countrymen and women to needless witch-hunting deserves to do some explaining.

Agha-Ibeka is a commentator on national issues.

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

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News Plus

Kogi speaker reunites with kidnapped children Muhammad Bashir Lokoja

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he Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Momoh Jimoh Lawal, has reunited with his children, Ogirima and Hafiz, who were yesterday freed by their abductors after two months in captivity.

Ogirima and Hafiz, aged seven and three respectively, were kidnapped on April 15 from their father’s residence in Okengwe, in Okene Local Government Area.

The Special Adviser (Media) to the Speaker, Mr. Felix Udebu, con-

firmed their release.

The kidnappers had seized the children in front of their mother and carted away a car belonging to her. They also made away with some other items such as agenerator, laptop, jewelleries and cash. but the car was later abandoned.

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N200 million from the speaker, a transaction which was said to have failed.

They were said to have eventually called the speaker on Thursday to leave whatever he was doing and rush to Okene within 30 minutes. It was further learnt that the

speaker pleaded that he could not make it to Okene within that time frame.

On Friday at about 11 a m , t h e k i d n a ppers again called the speaker and asked

h i m t o drive down to Edo State without his security men, but Lawal explained that there was no way he could leave his post without security.

At about 11pm same

day, the kidnappers finally directed the speaker to go to a particular location in Okene to take custody of his children.

New Telegraph on Sunday, however, con-

firmed that the kidnapped children were located at the same point earlier directed by the kidnappers, and the children were looking more healthier than than the time they were abducted.

Nigerian sworn-in as mayor of Lambeth Wale Elegbede

A

Nigerian academic councillor, Adedamola Aminu, has been sworn in as the first black mayor of Lambeth, United Kingdom, at a civic ceremony held to mark the commencement of his tenure for the 2014/15 mayoral year.

Aminu, who was first elected as a councillor in 2006, was elected deputy mayor in 2013 but has been acting as mayor since February this year following the death of Mayor Mark Bennett.

At a ceremony attended by other councillors, members of the Nigerian community and representatives of the high commission, Councillor Aminu said after taking his oath of office that, “I want to pay tribute to Councillor Bennett the last mayor as he will be a hard act to follow. I am grateful to my colleagues for giving me this opportunity to serve as the mayor for the 2014/15 year and it is an honour and a privilege to serve the people of Lambeth.”

He urged the residents to join him in raising money for the charity during his tenure, adding that it is vital to address the problem of child abuse in the UK’s immigrant communities.

In her address, Councillor Susan Fajana-Thomas, the former mayor of Hackney noted that: “Councillor Aminu is a fine councillor and as a former Lord Mayor myself, I am happy to see another Nigerian become the mayor of Lambeth.

This adds to the contributions of British Nigerians in the UK.” The Ibadan, Oyo State born Aminu holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Studies from London Southbank University, a

Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Masters degree in marketing from Greenwich University and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education.

L-R: Head, Human Resources and Administration, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Igiele Okeleke; Managing Director/CEO, Abiodun Ajifowobade; and Amb. Gbadamosi Olugbenga, during an interactive session in Lagos…yesterday PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

N’Assembly disowns plot to sack govs

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he Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, could not be reached as he was said to be out of the country. Similarly, all attempts to reach his deputy, Victor Ogene, failed.

A member of the House of Representatives from Yobe, Goni Bukar, also advised against such a plot, saying that even the emergency rule “has not yielded any progress but increased terrorism in the area (North East). For us in Yobe, we don’t want it, we don’t like it.”

Also kicking against the plot, another member, Hassan Kaku El-Badawy (Yobe/ APC), said the security situation in the North East had been turned into “a huge business enterprise” and political gimmick to scheme out the region out of the 2015 elections.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, has said that he has no clue as to the plot.

Speaking to New Telegraph on Sunday in a telephone interview on Friday, Enang said that he had not heard anything pertaining to the alleged proposed appointment of sole administrators in the affected states.

Enang said, “I didn’t hear anything like that. I’m on vacation till 24th June. I don’t know anything about what you are saying. I’m on vacation. I went on vacation

since yesterday (Thursday), period.”

Efforts to get other senators to comment on the issue on the telephone proved abortive as their GSM lines did not connect.

Minority Leader of the Senate, George Akume; Senate Minority Whip, Ganiyu Solomon; spokesman for the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator Solomon Ewuga, among others were those that could not be reached.

However, one of Abaribe’s aides, who did not want his name in print, said that Jonathan would not do that because the National Assembly would not support the idea unless they amended the Act establishing the emergency rule.

People of Niger Delta resident in Borno on Friday said they were disgusted at Clark’s utterances.

The citizens of the six states in the region , dressed in traditional attires, paid a solidarity visit to the Borno State governor at Government House, Maiduguri, where they expressed support for his administration.

The forum led by its Secretary General, Prince Stephen U.A Ebri, said they represent hundreds of their kinsmen who had seen, heard and known the real happenings in the state and felt ashamed that their elders were misleading Nigerians.

Ebri said, “There is one issue that is seriously troubling the minds of every one of us here and that is how some of our elders from the Niger Delta

that are completely ignorant of the true situation in Borno State are attacking this government. This govrnment is doing everything within its powers to address the problem. Sir, we were in Maiduguri when you were sworn in on May 29, 2011.

“Sir, in case our elders in the Niger Delta do not know, there are Niger Delta people living in Borno. We are from the Niger Delta but the difference is that we are well informed about the true situation and they are ignorant.

They don’t know, they don’t want to know and we don’t think they will ever know.

“We are not fools or sycophants; we are responsible people that will call a spade a spade. When you were sworn-in, Maiduguri was in disarray, people were being killed daily, bombs were everywhere, all of us were living in perpetual fear, young boys were threatening everyone with guns, calling phone numbers to threaten people but today, Your Excellency, has been able to lead the people of Maiduguri to rise against threats and defend themselves.

“Today, Maiduguri is the opposite of what it was when you came in. Rather than the fear and citizens imprisonment you met on May 29, 2011, today there is peace, security and freedom in Maiduguri. It was you that led us to the peace through the intervention of God almighty.”

The group said it was disturbed at the kidnap of over 200 female pupils of Govern-

ment Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko haram insurgents on April 14, 2014.

Responding, Governor Shettima said he is first a Nigerian before being a Borno man and hence his decision in 2012, to appoint a Niger Deltan from Delta State as his Special Assistant working directly with him. He also said this was what made him appoint an Igbo man as a special adviser as well as his spokesman from Zamfara State and another assistant from Gombe. He described Clark as someone that acts against his age.

“We are one people, the majority among us in terms of numerical strength, whether in tribe or religion must give sense of belonging to the minority. It is people like Elder Edwin Clark that do not really understand who we are and who we should be in this country. Power doesn’t last forever.

“Every opportunity you have is one that you must miss someday, however long. He is 87, he should be a father to all, and he should champion the course of nation building and not sectional interest; if for nothing else, at least for his age. From the moral point of view, God gives some consideration to the youngest and the eldest.

Let us continue to urge him, in a polite manner, to see Nigeria beyond his walking stick. The hat that he puts on should provide shield not only to his grey hairs but to the young hairs of

other Nigerians regardless of where they come from.

“Age should always go with wisdom of tolerance, wisdom of truth and defense of it, wisdom of togetherness and national unity” Shettima said.

He told the Niger Deltans that he regards them as Borno people contrary to what they named their group. “I will prefer to call you Forum of Borno People from the Niger Delta. Some of you were born here in Borno State; some of you probably had parents or grandparents born in Borno.

Most of you have something doing in whatever respect whether as business men, traders or whatever it is you are doing and by that, you are contributing to the economy of Borno State.

“The allocations given to Borno from the Federation Account are given based on our population amongst other indices being considered and all of you here, regardless of where you consider your roots, make up the population of Borno State and this means, you are stakeholders in what we get from the Federation Account, you are fully entitled to all public services and privileges what we provide as a Government.

“When Boko Haram members in their evil ways, planted explosives around the post office in January, this year, the explosives did not choose victims based on their backgrounds and what part of the country they came from.

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Life

Road users groan as Lagos -

NASFAT intersection

As the reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway continues to drag, users of the road lament the state of the busy federal highway, writes CAMILLUS NNAJI and CHIJIOKE IREMEKA

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agos-Ibadan Expressway is arguably Nigeria’s busiest federal highway, linking the nation’s commercial capital, Lagos, with West Africa’s largest city, Ibadan and other parts of the country. Constructed in 1978, the 120-kilometere road is regarded as the most critical corridor among all major highways in the country for many reasons. This primarily covers the mass movement of people, cars, lorries, commercial vehicles and motorcycles in and out of Lagos State.

Since it was opened to the public, it has undergone different phases of maintenance and repair.

In June 2013, the Federal Government had through the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, announced that the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway had been awarded to the two aforementioned companies. While Julius Berger will work from Sagamu interchange to Lagos, RCC will take over the portion from the interchange to Ibadan. The minister added that from the interchange to Lagos, Julius Berger would construct three lanes each on either side of the road while the two lanes to Ibadan would be reconstructed.

“The N167 billion project entailing rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion works was awarded to two contractors, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited, which is handling Section 1 (Lagos–Sagamu axis) and Messrs Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Limited, which is handling Section 11 (Sagamu–Ibadan axis).” He said the government had earlier entered into a

concession agreement with Messrs BiCourtney in 2009 to develop the section between Ojota old plaza in Lagos and old toll plaza in Ibadan, a distance of approximately 105 kilometres under a Public Private Partnership arrangement for enhanced quality of service to all users of the highway in tandem with international standards.

Four years later, no real progress was recorded while users of the road had a hard time travelling on the road.

“The frequent carnage on the road by September 2012 and the frequent loss of lives and man-hours was detrimental to the economy. An urgent action needed to be taken to remedy the situation, which led the Federal Government to consequently terminate the concession agreement between her and the concessionaire for failing to comply with the provisions of the concession agreement,” the minister had said. He had also promised that quality asphalt materials that would take the lifespan of the road till 50 years instead of 25years would be used.

On funding, the Federal Government said it had made a provision for N50bn, representing 30 per cent of the N167bn cost of the project, leaving the private investors and financiers led by the Infrastructure Bank to raise the N117bn balance. According to the Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Bisi Agbonyin, the Federal Government had “made a total provision for the sum of N25bn as her own counterpart funding in the 2014 budget, with a view to providing the balance of

N25bn in the 2015 budget.”

Before the current arrangement, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had awarded the contract to Bicourtney Highway Services Limited, probably with a view to encouraging local content. The concession plan followed an agreement of Design-Build-Operate and Transfer, while the company was expected to recoup its investment in 25 years. Under the same plan with N4.66 billion paid by the FG and recoverable in 365 days, the company was to expect about N12.76m as toll daily during the 25 years it was to operate the concession.

Speaking on behalf of Bicourtney at the time, then Corporate Communications Manager, Bi-Courtney, Gbenga Odugbesan, had promised “adequate funding and timely delivery” for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would come from offshore and local banks.

However, in November 2012, President Jonathan cancelled the concession agreement which was granted to the BiCourtney Consortium on May 8, 2009.

In July 2013 , Jonathan performed the presidential commencement ceremony at the interchange site of the expressway in Sagamu, promising that in less than 48 months, the road would be transformed.

At the ceremony, Jonathan had said, “With over 250,000 vehicles plying the road daily, the road is an important economic artery that connects the nation’s economic nerve centres, it is a major link to the important nerve centres to evacuate goods and ease movement of people.”

Eleven months after the President performed this important ceremony, motorists plying the expressway have yet to heave a sigh of relief as the road continues to deteriorate. Travelling on the road, which runs from the old Ojota tollgate in Lagos through Ogun State and terminating at Ibadan, the Oyo State capital can be stressful. Whenever it rains, regular users of the road go through a tortuous experience on many portions, particularly on the Long Bridge, as flooding reduces the lanes.

Apart from some work carried out by Julius Berger and RCC on some portions of the road, nothing significant has been witnessed in the last one year. The expressway is still dotted by potholes, craters, a gaping crevice on the uncompleted speed lane between Berger and the old Ojota tollgate inward Lagos, distressed expansion joints, absence of pedestrian bridges and streetlights and intersections in need of repair.

Regular gridlocks mark vehicular movement on the road.

These problems have led to regular autocrashes as well as deaths of pedestrians. Whenever a major crash occurs, there is bound to be standstill on the road as traffic and rescue officers struggle to clear the road.

A top source in Julius Berger who craved anonymity told New Telegraph on Sunday that funding was a major setback to achieving the speedy and successful completion of the project. The source further noted that the company cannot commit its own funds to the reconstruction of the road, adding, “As much as

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Life

Ibadan Expressway deteriorates the Federal Government has honoured the agreed payment structure, that is the much work you can see going on.”

But Julius Berger’s Public Affairs Officer, Suszan Obi, counters this assertion, saying that there is no delay in the reconstruction of the road.

“We just had the ground breaking ceremony last year and the project has a duration of three years. We have not got to half of the three-year duration allocated to the completion of the project, yet we have made much impact on the road. Also, I drove through the road on Wednesday and there was free flow of traffic.

“But then when there is construction on the road, there will be minor traffic. The project for the reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan Road is divided into two major sections. The first section is Lagos to Sagamu, which is being handled by us but the other part is Sagamu to Ibadan roundabout, which Reynolds Construction Company is handling. Moreover, work is in progress; everybody has to be patient until we get to the desired goal.

So, there is no cause for alarm.”

However, at the Federal Ministry of Works in Lagos, the Chief Technical Officer, who simply identified himself as Cyril said he was not in the position to comment on the project as his responsibility ends with the training of staff.

Meanwhile, a source within the ministry told New Telegraph on Sunday that the project would run for its three-year span.

A Lagos-based Lawyer and human rights activist, Fidelis Izegaegbe, believes that there was no justification for the concession granted by Obasanjo. He said, “Why was a road of that magnitude given to a local company that had no pedigree to deliver such a project?

They were neither tested nor trusted.”

The legal practitioner said the road was degenerating daily into a death trap, adding, “The road is in a very deplorable condition. Motorists as well as commuters are highly exposed to risk. There is no week when heavy lorries and trailers don’t run into other vehicles.”

This, according to Izegaegbe, who plies the expressway daily, causes unnecessary traffic jams “The drivers of most vehicles and big trucks don’t see some of the potholes in the night and as such, they fall into them. The intersections are in a very bad state. Virtually all of them have flooded gullies and for a truck to turn, it will cause traffic jam.”

Corroborating Izegaegbe’s views, a transport operator, Mr. Ayodele Banji, says it usually takes him three hours to ply the stretch between the Redeemed Christian Church of God Camp and Berger, a distance of about 10 kilometres. Banji groaned over the state of the road, noting, “My brother, we suffer a lot driving on this road.

This is the only road linking Lagos from the south, east and northern parts of Nigeria. It is expected to be well maintained and there should be pedestrian bridges at Mowe, Ibafo, Mountain of Fire Church (at Magboro) and Berger.

“At Ibafo, the trailers parked by the side of the road are another problem.

The road is too narrow, yet they park there; some truck drivers even leave their vehicles there for a month and nobody is monitoring this or doing something about it.”

A commuter who works in Lagos but lives at RCCG Camp says if he had his way, he could have relocated back to Lagos because of the bad state of the road and the hazards he encounters

daily.

“Sometimes, it takes me four hours to reach my office, due to the bad road,” he lamented.

At Wawa intersection, gullies have eaten deep into the tarmac, making more burrows daily as heavy trucks either fall while turning to the other side of the expressway.

Another dangerous spot is at NASFAT turning where potholes have significantly damaged the intersection.

The bad state of the intersection ahs also caused accidents and traffic jams.

At Car Park C turning before Redemption Camp main gate, the waterlogged gullies have been there since three years. Interestingly, this is the entrance to RCCG, where thousands of worshippers gather periodically for a monthly Deteriorated state of the road vigil or other events. On the first Friday of every month, when the church holds its monthly vigil, regular users of the expressway have to endure a gridlock for hours. It’s the same experience for road users as another gridlock forms on the first Saturday of every month when Mountain of Fire Ministries, Magboro, Ogun State holds its Power Must Change Hands programme.

Another church that causes periodic traffic jams on the road if Deeper Christian Life Ministry at Pakuro.

Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers heavy truck section at Ibafo, Mr. Abiodun Doyin, explains that “if there is no church programme, the road is free.

But on the days of these programmes, the gridlock A part of the road in need of reconstruction is terrible.”

He stated that truck drivers don’t like the traffic jams and acci- Oludare Ogunjobi, stated that though dents recorded in Ibafo but lamented the road is called an expressway but that government had only paid lip sadly enough it does not qualify for service to their planned relocation. such. He said that his command at “We don’t have any place to park our Mowe had lived up to expectation in trucks. Whenever we are given a loca- terms of safety programmes and control tion, the indigenes will immediately of vehicular movements. start to develop it. We cannot park our “Obviously, Lagos – Ibadan Expresstrailers on the streets,” he said. way does not have the pedigree of an Doyin pleaded with Ogun State expressway. A lot of things are missGovernor, Ibikunle Amosun, to as- ing but I can tell you that we at FRSC sign them genuine land of their own have not left any stone unturned with so that they can move away from the programmes aimed at reducing road expressway. transport crashes.

When contacted, Corporate Affairs “Since two years ago, the rate of Manager of Julius Berger, Clement crashes has reduced drastically when Iloba, said the construction giant had compared to what happened in the kept to the terms of the contract. past. To achieve this, we have made He said, “We have been up and do- a lot of personal and deliberate efing; we are keeping to our terms of the forts. We have a programme called contract and the timeline given to us. ‘ P a s s e n g e r s Wa t c h P ro g r a m m e ’ .

May be where there are complaints on This is targeted at commercial vehithe expressway, obviously it would cles, where a road safety personnel not be our own half. We try to create dressed in mufti boards a commerdiversions for motorists. If there are cial vehicle with other passengers still areas that have gullies and bad in order to monitor the activities spots, it means we have not reached of the driver. If he answers phone there, don’t forget we have a four-year calls while driving or engages in arrangement.” over-speeding, wrongful overtakFor his part, Unit Commander Fed- ing and any other traffic offence, eral Road Safety Corps RS2.23 Mowe the road safety personnel will raZone, Assistant Corps Commander dio his colleagues who are already

waiting at the next duty post with details of the vehicle number and t h e d r i v e r w i l l b e a p p re h e n d e d .

This will create consciousness in the minds of dr i v e r s t h a t t h e i r activities are being monitore d , ” Ogunjobi said.

He noted that another programme called Motorised Speed Control Patrol, has been totally successful. “ O u r p a t ro l v e h i c l e s a n d power b i k e s a re s t a t i o n e d a h e a d o f o t h e r v e h i c l e s o n t h e ro a d , m a i n l y o n F r i d a y s a n d w e e k e n d s . We c o n t ro l their speed using our own vehicles while anybody who tries to d e f y t h i s ru l e i s a p p re h e n d e d a n d punished. Our public education and enlightenment programme has achieved a lot beyond our expectations too. The motive is to i n f o r m m o t orists about road caution ideas. “ E v e r y d a y, o u r o ff i c e r s m o v e from one garage to another edu cating people. Today it might be Lotto, tomorrow Ibafo, or carah, or Mowe , we teach dangers of speeding, use of traffic lights, seat belts, avoid drinking, smoking and use of phones while driving.”

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News

Prof. Dora Akunyili (1955-2014

Jonathan, Patience mourn Akunyili

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Anule Emmanuel

resident Goodluck Jonathan, on Saturday, expressed sadness over the death of former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, whom he described as a “truly distinguished citizen and patriot.”

The President, in a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said he received with shock and sadness, news of the sudden and untimely death.

The statement said, “The President believes that Professor Akunyili will live long in the memories of those who were privileged to know her as a diligent professional, a public-spirited and forthright public officer, and as a person of great convictions.”

According to President Jonathan, Akunyili’s contributions to nation-building while she served as the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and as Minister of Information and Communications, was particularly invaluable.”

The President noted that her death came at a time she was making further efforts to help sustain and strengthen the unity and stability of the country in

her capacity as a member of the on-going National Conference. Adding that , without any doubt, she would be greatly missed.

The President commiserated with the Akunyili family, the government and people of Anambra State, members of the Na-

tional Conference and all her loved ones.

He prayed that the Almighty would in His infinite mercies grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Similarly, First Lady, Dame Patience, mourned the death of the late former

information minister.

Dame Jonathan observed that the late Akunyili demonstrated that if given the opportunity, women could make a difference as evident from her glowing career as an internationally renowned pharmacist, respected aca-

demic and distinguished administrator.

She described the late Akunyili as, “A bright and shining star,” adding, “While we mourn her loss, we offer thanksgiving to God for her sojourn on this mortal earth and for her service

to the nation and humanity.”

The First Lady also prayed the Almighty to grant her gentle soul, peaceful repose in the bosom of her creator and for God to console her immediate and extended family members.

Late Akunyili with some of the awards she was honoured with during her lifetime

...Mark, Ekweremadu, Uba, others too Chukwu David, Abuja

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enate President, David Mark; his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Andy Uba and former Governor of Anambra State, Dame Virgy Etiaba, joined other Nigerians in mourning the exit of former information minister and Director General of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof.

Dora Akunyili.

Mark, who described the late minister as an intellectual icon of international repute, noted that the nation had lost one of her patriotic and dedicated public officers, who believed in the sanctity of unity and indivisibility of Nigeria.

He recalled the unwavering commitment and dedication of the late Akunyili as the then Director General of NAFDAC and even as the nation’s chief image maker when she brought Nigeria to the global reckoning with her campaign of ‘Great Nigeria, Great people’.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, the Senate President said that Nigerians would not forget in a hurry, her resolute and relentless war against fake and counterfeit drugs when she chased the illicit drug peddlers out of the market.

“We have lost a great amazon. We have lost a scholar. We have lost a crusader. We have lost a soldier who stood to be counted when it mattered. We shall miss her robust and honest contributions to the socio- political and economic development on Nigeria,” the Senate President said.

He prayed that the Almighty God grant her eternal rest and give the bereaved family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, expressed grief and shock over the

death of Akunyili and called on the Federal Government to immortalise her.

Ekweremadu, who described the late Pharmacist as a “woman of substance, unequalled character, and courage who brought respect and glory to the nation”, said her death was a colossal loss to the entire country and an exit of an uncommon role model.

He said, “Prof. Dora Akunyili was a woman of enormous integrity, a quintessential professional, and public administrator per excellence.

As a Minister, she was outstanding and as the Director-General of NAFDAC, she brought a lot of energy and impetus to bear on the fight against fake and substandard drugs and food.

Her brilliant innovations and unparalleled spirited war in the health sector practically gave life back to millions of Nigerians. Indeed, Prof.

Akunyili spared no cabals wherever they existed throughout her public service; for her love for her fatherland filled her with the courage to tread where other mortals feared to venture.

“She was amongst the brightest in our galaxy of eminent women and never dimmed in quality and character. She was faithful and true to the nation till the very end and will be seriously missed.”

The Deputy President of the Senate stated that Akunyili deserved immortalization by the Federal Government because “she practically laid down her life for her country and remained a role model that represented everything a Nigerian woman should be”.

In the statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, Ekweremadu, who condoled with the family of the late Professor, the Government and good people of Anambra and the nation in general, prayed for the peaceful repose of her soul.

Also, Senator Andy Uba described the death

of former Minister of Health as a sad loss to the nation, adding that the nation had lost a patriot.

Uba, who spoke with the New Telegraph on the telephone, said, “Oh, what a loss to her family, Anambra State and the nation as a whole.

Her death is a loss to us all. I worked with her during the last dispensation. Dora was such a hardworking woman, so dedicated to her job.

She performed creditably well at NAFDAC. “We spoke last in February this year. She called me and she even told me about her health challenges. Oh what a sad news! Dora is one of the most outstanding public officers Nigeria has ever produced. We will all miss her.

May her soul rest in perfect peace.”

The senator also prayed The Lord to grant the Akunyili family the fortitude to bear the loss.

In the same vein, former Governor of Anambra State, Dame Virgy Etiaba described the death of Prof. Dora Akunyili as a great loss to Nigeria.

In a tribute she titled, “The Saints Are Marching On,” Etiaba said Akunyili was an Amazon and a great Nigerian Patriot. She said, “Dora was a great Nigerian patriot who never shied away from difficult National issues and always exhibited uncommon and unparalleled courage in contributing her voice whenever it mattered most.”

She noted that the late minister, who died 37 days to her 60th birthday, had a “successful and unblemished career and made a huge difference wherever she found herself, giving many Nigerian women a strong voice to be proud of “She so much wanted a better Nigeria for all of us that only a few weeks ago, we were all together as delegates at the on-going National Conference.”

Etiaba prayed that posterity would be kind on the late minister. She said that the family

should note that the whole nation was behind them at this period.

“Dora has unarguable left this world too soon but Chike (Prof. Akunyili) and the children should know that they are not alone at this moment of grief as millions of Nigerians are grieving with them,” she said.

A report by an online portal, TheCable, said a misdiagnosis of late Akunyili’s condition by American doctors might have led to her death.

The report said that in 1998, while at PTF as its Zonal Secretary (South-East), she got a hint from her doctors in Nigeria that she had a growth and needed surgery.

“Akunyili, then 44, decided to travel to the United States, first to get a second opinion and then undergo the prescribed surgery. The bill for the medical trip was $17,000, including $12,000 for the surgery.

“During pre-surgery check-up in the US, the doctors told her the Nigerian doctors had made a wrong diagnosis and that she did not need any surgery. It was said to be a minor issue that medication would solve...”

The report added that the late Akunyili always went abroad for check-ups and she was always given an all-clear.

“But on July 13, 2013, something strange happened to her. She was preparing to travel to the United States to receive an award. The following day was her birthday. Her 59th, precisely.

Then she fell ill. She was physically weak and having pains. She decided to go ahead with her trip and attend to her health in the United States.

“It was while she was there that new checks were carried out. Alas, she had cancer. The original diagnosis in 1998 was right. But the diagnosis at the point of surgery was wrong,” the online website said.

Sanctity of Truth

ON SUNDAY

Page 15, JUNE 08, 2014

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT www.newtelegraphonline.com/body&soul

Cool kicks for casual outing

Rock denim shirts with style

Cool kicks for casual How I hit it big in outing

Makeup business -Joy Adenuga

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OUR LOVE STORY

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Do you know that because they never wanted me to marry somebody from the North, they sent me to back to Ilesa for my secondary school?

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Contents 08.06.2014 COVER

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I went out one day without my brushes. I forgot the bag that carried all my brushes on the train. I could not believe it. I had to use my hand to create the entire look. Thank God it was just one person that I had to do makeup on

8

l Bayo Adeoye (Senior Correspondent) l Vanessa Okwara (Correspondent) l Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent) l Ugochukwu Nnakwe (Graphics) l Edwin Usoboh (Graphics)

door but tripped over her handbag and fell

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+234 (0) 811 675 9770, +234 (0) 701 110 1014 chibumah@yahoo.com julietbumah@newtelegraphonline.com

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

Accessories

Stylish watches for glamorous women Vanessa Okwara

W

omen love to dress up. From the hair down to the toes, ladies make conscious efforts to look their best and up to date.

Every little detail helps to add glamour to her overall ensemble and that includes what she wears on her wrists.

Wristwatches are not just merely functional pieces that help you keep

time, they are also fashion statements that need to be expressed properly, stylishly and, well, at a cost sometimes.

Watches come in many different styles and sizes, and can be worn as a

functional accessory or a stylish piece of jewellery for that woman that wants to remain fashion relevant.

Go for watches that are durable and match your personality.

17

Body&Soul

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JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

I’m not fashionable Joy Adenuga, an exceptional professional makeup artist based in London, specialises in commercial advertising, fashion and editorial makeup. Trained at the prestigious London School of Makeup, her works have been featured in international magazines including Vogue and she has worked with top international photographers. She talks about her life and passion in this interview with VANESSA OKWARA You were one of the speakers at the First Makeup in Nigeria Conference convened by Tara Fela Durutoye recently. Do you consider the event timely?

Yes, I think it is a very timely event. I had my reservations when I first heard about it but when I spoke in details with the Project Manager, Teni Adejuwon, and then Tara Fela Durutoye. I was convinced it was a brilliant idea as it was the first and could open a lot of doors in the industry. I was invited to the conference as one of the facilitators.

I loved the concept when they briefed me on what it was all about. This has never been done before and as a Nigerian, I try to support as much as I can. I am more known for my campaign kind of makeup. I still do brides but I do more of magazines.

Is makeup really a lucrative business?

Is there a ready market for it here in Nigeria?

With a lot of hard work and perseverance, yes, makeup is very lucrative and Nigeria is a ripe market for the business.

Do you think people like Tara can take the makeup business in Nigeria to the international scene and compete with brands like Iman and Mac? Oh! most definitely. I got some of her products which I have been using in London. The quality is amazing.

With the high unemployment rate in Nigeria today, are there opportunities for the youth in this business?

This is why the conference is a brilliant idea.

Anyone who has a passion for the beauty industry can come in, learn and hopefully have a direction in starting their business.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

I got into makeup five years ago. I have always liked it but I was one of those people that didn’t think it was possible to have a career in it. Maybe it was because I relocated then.

If I was here in Nigeria, I probably would be into it as it is everywhere now. But at that time, I didn’t think it was possible to have a career as a makeup artist. I

was just doing the regular day job and took makeup more like a hobby. I loved looking at magazines, the pile of magazines in my house used to drive my husband crazy. I am based in London and live there with my family - my husband and two kids. I believe in not just going on Youtube or learning something in front of the mirror. I believe in going to school before

starting any serious business. So I attended the London School of Makeup in Central London. I did a foundation course. Being in London, I don’t want to be referred to or regarded as the black makeup artist that does it only for black people.

If I only wanted to

work on black people, I wouldn’t have bothered going to a makeup school. I wanted to learn things like skin tones, skin correction and everything that has to do with makeup. I did that but I was not satisfied so I contacted some other top makeup artists within London, both white and black, for private classes.

Then I started networking; that was where I had the most challenge, how to market myself. I joined Facebook, Twitter, and most recently Instagram.

I used those media to market myself as much as possible.

Obviously, you have to first work for free when you start out; that is unavoidable. This is because if you don’t have a portfolio or body of work, how will people get to know what you do?

So I paid my dues by doing all the free work that I did. My passion is editorial makeup, which is the kind of makeup you see mostly on models on the pages of magazines.

What is your educational background?

I had a B.Sc in Accountancy and I worked in Globacom. I was a manager in Globacom Call Centre. My husband and I actually worked in Globacom together. That was where we met. My parents are from Delta State but I married a Yoruba man; he is not related to the popular Adenuga family. I get asked that question a lot and always need to clarify that.

Can you tell us some of the magazines that featured your work?

A lot of my beauty images have appeared in several luxury UK and global magazines such as Vogue, Factice Magazine, Elements Magazine and Faceon Magazine. I have also worked with US and UK celebrities like Tatyana Ali from Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Zarah Abraham from Coronation Street. I was also one of the few UK makeup artists specially selected to work on Beyonce’s crew - Chime for Change 2013.

I have also worked on advertising campaigns with heavyweight global brands such as Dark and Lovely and Organic Root Stimulator. I am a beauty expert and freelance beauty contributor with top UK magazines - Black Beauty and Hair magazine and Pride magazine.

How did you get into editorial makeup?

It was actually by mistake because I love working on skin.

Editorial Makeup is more like a different definition of beauty seen in the graphic industry. Editorial does not have to be all feathers and gem stones.

How supportive of your biz is your husband?

He is very supportive. He did have his reservations when I first started but with time my passion for the industry won him over.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

Body&Soul

-Joy Adenuga, makeup artist How do you mix your business as a makeup artist with family responsibilities?

That is basically my own challenge. If I was here in Nigeria, it would’ve been a lot easier. This is because it is easier to get someone from your extended family. But in London, it is a difficult thing.

It is expensive to hire a nanny. The British government regulates everything that you do, including how you take care of your children. At the moment, we spend £850 every month on our two children. My son is a year and four months and my daughter is three years and 10 months. My challenge is trying to cope with their ages and because of that, I have had to turn down many offers. At the end of the day, my family always comes first. The problem of doing freelance and not working in an office environment on a daily basis is that you don’t know when the next job is coming. They can just call you that they need you to execute a job and the pay is good. So you have to quickly adjust your programme to accommodate your family responsibility.

For someone who has a passion for makeup and desires to make a career of it, what’s your advice on how they can start?

They need to do a course. I have never been a big fan of not going to a school to learn. I did it and that is what I will advise another person to do. I am not saying they should do a five year course on makeup, but it is important you earn and get a foundation. Makeup is not just about blue eye shadow and red lips. You are going to work on different people with different skin tones.

When I talk about an aspect in editorial makeup like contouring, you cannot do two people the same way. I see a lot of people in Nigeria make that mistake and I said when I come to Nigeria, I would mention that. This is one of the things they will teach you in school.

So if you are dependent on youtube or Instagram to teach you makeup, then, you will have it all wrong and one day, you will make a costly mistake. I don’t know how it is in Nigeria, but if you make a mistake in London on a contract, they will sue you. A good foundation is absolutely necessary. Also, getting the right tools is also important. That does not mean you have to break the bank in buying makeup products. You don’t have to go and buy Chanel; Tara products are equally good and reasonable. These products are manufactured by makeup artists here in Nigeria, so they know which one works for you.

You have to buy foundation for so many people with different skin tones but all these are investments. You are investing but your returns will definitely come.

You need to also research and find out where your passion lies.

Can you give an instance when you had a moment that probably changed a lot of things for you in your career either positively or negatively?

That would be when I met a particular person when I was just starting out. There was this lady that put up an advert and that particular day, I was not free but for some strange reasons, something kept pushing me to go for that job. The job would not pay well but it was for a magazine and I had not worked for a magazine then. So it was an opportunity for me to appear in a magazine but at that time, it didn’t look like something that was even big and it was not even fetching

me any money. But thank God I went for that job. Courtesy of that job, I met the Black Hair magazine, one of the popular magazines in London. From that one job, I met the editors of the three major black magazines in the UK Black Beauty and Hair magazine, Pride Magazine and Black Hair magazine. I now work with all three. My work is in every single one of them in every issue.

So if I hadn’t made that decision to do that small job, I would probably still be struggling to try to get to know these people. But courtesy of that one job, all of a sudden, these magazines are calling me day after day for jobs. So I think that day was my moment of breakthrough.

As a makeup artist, what are the three things you cannot do without?

My brushes are one; my foundation is also important because with foundation, you can even make a nude lip with your skin tone. Once you add a lip gloss on it, you have made a nude lip. And lastly, my makeup flash palette.

In your career, what has been your most embarrassing moment?

When I first started out, I had quite a lot of those. I went out one day without my brushes. I forgot the bag that carried all my brushes on the train. Luckily, someone found the brushes, went through them, found my card and called me. I could not believe it. But on that job, I had to use my hand to create the entire look. Thank God it was just one person that I had to do makeup on. And funny enough, the whole job came out looking fine. The people around me were even congratulating me that I just used my hands to create the look and I was feeling like a guru but in my mind I was shaken.

What is the beauty routine for a flawless skin?

A l ways take o f f your makeup as soon as you g e t home.

I use a wipe t o t a k e off everything.

Depending on how tired I am, I may still wash my face, although it is not good to take off too much moisture from the face. I also always advise people to go and

see a dermatologist to make sure your skin is fine. In most big shopping malls, they give you a free analysis of your skin. This is because you should never buy a foundation if you have not tried it on. People just go to the Internet to research why they are having skin problems without first seeing a dermatologist. And that is wrong, see one first and get a good analysis of your skin type before you use any product.

wearing wedges. I am not a very fashionable person. I wear black colours a lot. As a makeup artist, you are not really there for yourself but for your clients. You are not there to be fashionable. I don’t know a lot of makeup artists that are into fashion anywhere in the world, but most of them spend money elsewhere. I love jewellery so I spend more money on them because I know I am going to be wearing black.

If we take a peep into your wardrobe, what are we likely to see?

I am a flat shoes person. I am always wear high heels. I in pain when I a m more comfortable

And perfumes?

I love Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel.

It’s my favourite and I have been wearing it from my wedding day till now.

How do you relax?

I don’t really relax except when the kids are out, and then I can have my free time to relax. I love reading especially when I have to be on the road for a season. I live slightly outside London to avoid the hustle and bustle.

Who is your favourite makeup artist?

My favourite person is Pat McGrath. She is a Jamaican makeup artist. Till date, she is the most influential makeup artist in the world. Vogue called her the most influential makeup artist in the world.

What is your life philosophy?

It’s more of a Bible quote which says, ‘Do to others what you will like them to do to you’. I’m a strong believer in karma. In this makeup business, you will get to see a lot of people trying to cheat on you. Just be nice to people to get the same result from them as well.

If you were not doing makeup, what else would you be doing?

I will probably be teaching children. I love working with children a lot.

What do you hope to achieve in the makeup world in the next five years?

To be a global brand

by God’s grace.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

Body&Soul

with

R

Juliet Bumah +234 81 1 675 9770 chibumah@yahoo.com

Anger is trouble, avoid it

ichie’s phone rang, he picked it. “Hello, Richie. I be Ruth husband, Jim. I no be her uncle. Na me get her children, na me give her belle...”

Richie sat up on the couch. He opened his mouth and no word came out.

“Hello...hello, you dey hear me? If you like, no answer me. Make you no come Jos again if you like yourself. You no fit give your wife belle for Lagos, you want come take my children. You get money, me I get action...” Richie cut the line and switched off his phone.

He was sweating seriously.

He wasn’t too surprised. Old Jim’s revelation was no news to him, having come to that conclusion himself.

But nevertheless, he was fazed by this direct reference to his most concealed secret. He felt like he got a punch to his lower abdomen.

“So Ruth knew I had fertility challenges? How many other people know? So they have been laughing at me while I dole out money to them. So I had been farming the same field with that smelly, rheumy old man?”

He poured a very large drink and tossed it off in two gulps.

He wondered what kind of man his wife was having an affair with and prayed he wouldn’t be a dirty old man.

“I will kill her if she is sleeping with an old man. But really, an old, almost expired man could impregnate a woman and I couldn’t!”

He stood up and shuffled to the loo and back. He knew he had had enough but poured another drink anyway.

“Of what use is sanity to me at this point? Madmen are lucky. They never have to worry about anything,” he muttered and laughed.

He swigged from the cognac bottle. ****** Patra didn’t need to buy anything. Pius bought a lot of baby and mama stuff from the US for her. She had taken some. She would pick the remaining on subsequent visits.

As she drove home, she felt very weary. She wished she had been dreaming and would wake up with either of the men. She loved them both! But unfortunately, she was awake and driving from her lover’s hotel room to her husband’s house -her home.

She wondered if there would be a ‘they lived happily ever after’ for her. The ‘mystery’ phone call troubled her mind and Pius’ words, “If your husband calls you with a hidden number, it means he is suspecting you,” kept ringing in her head.

Her phone rang. It was Betty.

“Babe, I can’t go to the market again. Coming to your house to take some spices for native soup,” she said.

“No problem. I’m expecting you. I’m almost home now,” Patra replied.

She was really worried as she nosed her car towards her house gate. ******** Pius felt so lonely when the women left. So Patra was that studious student that he wanted so much in the university? Perhaps, if he had pushed hard enough, if he had tried approaching her directly, she would have given him a chance. Maybe he would have married her then! He was sure he loved her. He recalled that blessed day that fate brought them together again in his taxi and smiled. Now he understood why at a point, he felt she was a ghost that came to hunt him.

It would be difficult for him to let her go. If there was anything he could do to make her husband release her to him, he would gladly do that. Patra never spoke ill of her husband. This he liked so much.

He wondered the kind of person her husband was and realised they never talked about him. He liked that too. Patra was a mature, well brought up woman.

He was glad he was responsible for her happiness now. If she had to make a choice between him and her husband, the life in her womb would give him an edge.

Pius smiled again and muttered, “I won’t lose her.

She is love, joy and life to me.” ******* The security man took her shopping in. Patra stood

by the door for some seconds before mustering the courage to step in.

Richie was obviously expecting her. She took in the empty glass and what was left in the cognac bottle on the table before her husband and was alarmed.

“I’ll get you a driver. Where did you go? How long does it take you to do your shopping?” Richie slurred.

He was tipsy.

“I went shopping for baby things...” Patra began but that seemed to infuriate Richie. He lurched to his feet.

“Which baby? Whose baby? You think I don’t know you’ve been sleeping with other men? You think I don’t know that the baby in your womb isn’t mine?

You must think I’m a fool,” Richie said.

Patra calculated the distance between her and the door and her heart sank. Richie was between her and the door. The security man had dropped the bags and just entered in the living room. He was behind Richie.

Richie came up to her and slapped her hard on her cheeks. She screamed and the security man rushed and held Richie’s hands. She made to dash to the door but tripped over her handbag and fell.

Richie struggled with the security man. “Leave me.

Let me deal with her,” Richie told him.

He said, “No Sir. Please leave her. She is pregnant.

You’ve hurt her already...”

“Pregnant? With whose baby? Tell me! You think she’s pregnant with my baby?”

Patra sat up. She could not get up. Luckily, she landed on her hands but they hurt so much. Her mouth was bleeding. Her blouse was stained with blood. She tasted blood and anger surged through her.

“Leave him, let him kill me! You knew you were infertile, you never told me. You made me subject myself to all sorts of intervention -medical and spiritual alike - all in my bid to give you a child when you knew you were responsible for my childless state.

Kill me, but be sure to tell the world the truth.” Patra was past caring.

The security man stared in amazement. The alcohol cleared from Richie’s eyes immediately and the fight left him. He stared in horror at Patra, seeing the blood for the first time. He flinched and his shoulders drooped.

“Leave me,” he said wearily to the security man, adding, “Please get me the driver. I need to get her to the hospital.”

The security man hesitated briefly and stepped out.

He moved to his wife, “Darling, I’m sorry. I didn’t

mean to hurt you. I don’t know what got into me.

Forgive me. Please,” he said. He couldn’t believe he hit Patra.

“Richie, we are alone now. You wanted to kill me, you have the chance now. For close to nine years, I kept myself for you while you went about taking care of other people’s children. Yes, I’m pregnant for another man. You drove me into the arms of another man. I’m grateful you did because I got to know that am perfectly okay,” she told him, crying.

Richie sighed.

“Let me take you to the hospital first,” he said, worried.

He was shaken. He had never beaten a woman in his life. Now he has beaten one, his wife. A woman he loved so much!

He tried to help her up but she spurned his offer.

“Please darling. Let me help you to the couch. It won’t look well if the driver meets you here,” he said.

“What is wrong with anybody seeing me here? Did you not hit me in the presence of your domestic staff?

Can it be any worse? Please go away, let the world see me here for all I care,” Patra replied him. Her left elbow hurt so much.

He brushed his lips on her forehead and went to look for the driver. He heard a noise outside and stepped out, only to meet the security man arguing with Betty.

He felt terrible. Why would Betty chose this inauspicious time to visit? Obviously, the security man didn’t want her to witness what happened just now. He made to duck inside but it was too late.

“Richie, this man has been insulting me here since,” Betty shouted, shoving the security aside.

“Leave her,” Richie told the security. It was no use.

He needed to look for ways to manage the situation now. He needed allies now.

“There was an accident. Your friend is in pain,” he told Betty as they went inside.

Betty rushed to the still crying Patra.

“What happened? She screamed when she saw the blood on Patra’s face and blouse.

“My wife fell down,” Richie said behind Betty, pleading with his eyes to Patra to play ball.

His heart lurched. Patra had her phone in her hand!

Had she made a call? To who? Her family? Dr. KC? Police? Her man? **************** How did Richie navigate this tricky situation? Join me next Sunday on this page.

21

JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

Keep the shine, maintain your braids

Vanessa Okwara

B

raids and weaves have a way of bringing out the beauty in the African woman. Braids, weaves and cornrow extensions are good protective styles for your natural hair. While your hair is in braids, you brush and comb it less, therefore the hair ends don’t break. That is why it looks like the hair grows when braided.

It is important to point out that braid extensions do not grow hair.

Hair will grow whether braided or not. What the braid extension does is to help the hair retain the length or the growth during the period you have the braids on.

That is the more reason why you should give attention to your braided hair. Braided hair needs to be maintained, not just cleansed, but moisturised and conditioned or else the

benefits of the extensions will be compromised.

After taking out extensions, the hair stylist most times cuts off the new growth and some of the old length due to severe split ends.

In other to properly take care of your hair and braids, adhere to the following: • Avoid using extensions/braiding your hair until, at least, two weeks after applying any chemical product. Sometimes, hair stylists will tell you that relaxing your hair just before braiding will make your braids neater and more presentable.

It is not advisable to relax your hair and braid them on the same day. This is because relaxing one’s hair often leaves it weak and braiding will damage the already fragile hair. Truth is, the neatness of your braids depends on how good the stylist is at parting and picking the hair. The length of

your own hair also determines how neat the braids will look.

• Before braiding, deep condition your hair a day before applying the extensions. Do it at least once in two weeks, even when you have braids on.

• Wash your braids once in two weeks to retain its strength and reduce early rough appearance although braids are still beautiful when rough.

• Deep condition your hair for about one hour; concentrate more on the root/scalp of the braids than the body itself. Always remember that if the foundation is weak, the building will collapse.

• Moisturise the scalp with coconut oil. It helps soften yet strengthens and promotes your under growth. It also promotes hair growth. Another great ingredient is unrefined Shea butter.

This is best for moisture and healthy grooming.

22 JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

lthough this utilitarian work shirt has been a mainstay in the closets of cowboys for years, the denim button down is now reinvented for modern trends, providing the perfect mix to this season’s floral dresses and frilly skirts.

The versatile jean shirt is a timeless staple for your wardrobe as it defies seasons and trends. It is the ‘it’ piece of clothing and you cannot have too many pieces, especially as it can be made into any piece of clothing and works well with most fabrics, textures, patterns and designs.

The total denim look or Denim shirt with Jeans (the double denim) was considered bad taste, but times change, and today it is coveted by women of fashion.

The rule is to choose denim in different shades and different degrees of density. You could pair a light shirt made of thin denim and dark blue skinny jeans.

Try interesting shapes such as cut-out shoulders, panels, lace inserts or crop tops. To stay conservative and put-together for class or work, throw a tuxedo jacket over your shirt. Still want to look girly?

Denim shirts look great with soft maxis, flirty chiffon and floral skirts or dresses. For a night out with friends, you can easily dress up your shirt with a smart blazer or dress it down with a crazy pair of leggings.

You probably already have at least two (or 10) pairs of jeans, but consider your next wardrobe investment to be the perfect denim shirt. This is one piece in your closet that will never go out of fashion.

A

Biwom Iklaki

Rock denim shirts with style

Body&Soul

43

Hardball Jonathan's critics should come up with good ideas - Abati p.26

biyi adegoroye, ASSISTANT Editor, Politics NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JUNE 8, 2014

biyi.fire@yahoo.com

Tel: 08033024007

Interview Emergency rule is not working –Lamido p.29

23

Politics ON SUNDAY

2015: PDP, APC in showdown over Gombe

W

PDP Chairman, Adamu Mu'azu

ith the 2015 elections drawing nearer, the two main political parties in Gombe State - Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressive Congress - have started slugging it out in different ways even when the electoral law has not allowed for the commencement of political activities, especially electioneering.

Though Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of the PDP, who is the immediate AccountantGeneral of the Federation, seems to have everything going for him and his party, a major challenge appears imminent from the APC. The opposition party is led by the immediate Governor, Alhaji Danjuma Goje.

Currently serving as a senator, Goje ruled the state as governor from 2003 - 2011 under the banner of the PDP. Expectedly, current developments indicate that there is friction between supporters of the

APC Chairman, Bisi Akande

The ongoing squabble between the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in Gombe State is borne out of one fact - the battle for the Government House, writes UGO WILLIES two parties. APC Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, is alleging that the party’s supporters in the state are being illegally arrested, harassed and intimidated by the state government through the police.

Mohammed said the attacks on APC members were part of the grand offensive against the opposition party in the North-Eastern part of the country where a state of emergency has been declared in three APC-controlled states.

Like it often occurs in some states like Rivers and Lagos, where both parties trade accusations and counter-accusations, the inter-

party feud was one that left sour tastes in the mouths of the dramatis personnae.

The cases which caused the latest war of words were not pockets of attacks on offices, destruction of posters, flags and banners of rival parties by some party thugs. These kinds of skirmishes happen once in a while mostly when there are political gatherings, the last of which was the state congress of the APC held in the platform's Gombe Local Government secretariat about three weeks ago.

However, in all the few cases, the police adequately rose to the situation; and in the case of the congress, they gave the APC gath-

ering security cover. But several hours later, reports went round the town that some political thugs were apprehended with arms by the police and prevented from attacking their rivals.

The issues

The APC in the state gives insight into what the party and its supporters are allegedly passing through in the hands of the PDP. Vice Chairman of APC in the state, Mr. Simon Tula, said the attacks were borne out of a misunderstanding of the concept of opposition

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

24

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics / Analysis

2015: PDP, APC in showdown over Gombe

Lai Mohammed C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 3

by the ruling party.

He itemised about six cases where his supporters and members were attacked and remanded in custody.

"Most of our supporters are being harassed, intimidated and subsequently arrested and detained. Some have been subjected to prosecution on frivolous charges in magistrate courts within Gombe," he said.

In one instance at Lano Ward in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area three weeks ago, “the ward office of the APC was demolished by the PDP. It was later re-built, but after a week, the same office was re-demolished and destroyed by the PDP supporters and subsequently six of our loyalists and supporters in the ward were arrested and are in detention.

Their bail condition was being concluded as at press-time," he added.

He also recalled that during the party's membership registration exercise around January, the ward office of Kindiyo Ward in Balanga Local Government Area “was destroyed, registration materials destroyed and carted away by the PDP supporters. The boxes were taken away to the police station in Cham and subsequently even to the Criminal Intelligence Bureau."

In yet another instance, Tulla alluded to a recent case where about 46 youths and supporters of the party were arrested around Shamaki Ward in Gombe metropolis for the mere fact that they are APC loyalists. He lamented that these “clear cases have not been addressed totally by the police command in Gombe. They are making us to voice out to the world that the PDP-led government in Gombe is somehow using the police in the state to its own advantage.”

He regretted that the police are supposed to be very neutral since they are being taken care of with tax payers’ funds, but are currently partisan instead being a neutral arbiter.

"We have written several letters to the Commissioner of Police in Gombe State, complaining about the wanton destruction of our properties. There is no single activity that we have embarked on without informing them, either to seek their permission or to notify them.

"I must also recall that sometime in Janu-

Olisa Metuh

ary, a divisional police officer led some of his people to our office and arrested most of our members, vandalised our flags and billboards. He also arrested and detained some of our supporters. The fleet of vehicles of the command code named 'Operation Strike Force' is being used to fight crime and destabilise APC in the state,” he said.

According to him, the same policemen went and arrested about five APC youths and detained them for some days at the Tunfure Division.

“All these cases and activities are meant to destabilise the party, to discourage the APC because the PDP government has realised how strong the APC is in Gombe, ahead of the 2015 elections.”

He said APC had no reason to fabricate anything against the PDP in the state, adding, “We don’t have the basis for lying… We have our facts; we have our correspondences with even the police themselves. We have instances, we have pictures where our offices were demolished and destroyed and we have cases of mass arrests of our supporters in various divisions in the state."

Chain reactions

Since these occurrences in the last few months, both parties have been at daggersdrawn, eliciting various comments. Accusing fingers have also been pointed at the police for allegedly taking sides. The APC at the national and state levels has reacted and condemned the acts in no unclear terms.

First to react to this was the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who said his party had “uncovered a well-laid out plot by the All Progressives Congress to unleash its venom on the people of Gombe State using the instruments of lies, deceit and propaganda just as it did in Rivers State.”

Metuh said the APC had not been happy with the peace and rapid development in the state under the PDP-led administration and as such was doing all it could to destabilise the state.

Also, PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Abdullahi Jalo, said the APC had no basis for alleging that the PDP in Gombe State was clamping down on the opposition. To

him, APC does not exist in the state, and the lawlessness in the state only occurs when Goje is in town.

"It is only when he comes that you see some thugs following him and that is when trouble starts," he said.

Jalo, who spoke as an indigene of state, said as a stakeholder in the affairs of the state, he understands the situation on ground. He accused APC spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of fabricating lies against Dankwambo's government, with the aim of disrupting the peace and development taking place in state.

Jalo said, “With Lai Mohammed’s claims, he has shot himself in the legs since he has never visited Gombe State in the last three years to see how peaceful and hardworking the PDP administration has been, as compared to the scorecard of the so-called APC leader in Gombe State, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje while he was at the helm of affairs as governor from 2003 – 2011.”

The police in the state also dismissed the APC’s allegation. Commissioner of Police, Kudu Abdullahi, who spoke on the issue, said that the command had remained non-partisan and committed to preserving the peace in the state which has made it an investor’s delight in the region.

He said the command was able to achieve this by drastically combating the menace of miscreants known as 'Kalare', whom he described as APC thugs and hoodlums. He said they had been known to attack citizens on the streets in the state.

"This was achieved through constantly raiding their hideouts and promptly charging suspects to court with dangerous weapons such as guns, cutlasses, machetes, axes, spears and many other items normally recovered as exhibits from them," the police boss said.

Notwithstanding the alleged attacks, Tula says APC will not be discouraged. He, however, warned that "there is a limit to which we can condone some of these threats by the PDP. The moment the limit is reached, we will take the laws into our hands, if nothing happens."

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the PDP in Gombe State, Mr. Shuaibu Sabulu, has described as 'unfounded' the allegation that the party has been using the police to harass and

intimidate APC. Rather, the chairman said, "This allegation is unfounded, they committed the crime and they come out first to accuse us of the crime.

They were the first to report just to hide from the crime. Since they made the allegation, why didn't they send someone to come and investigate all these things they are alleging?

"They are the ones who some days back went to a village in Yamaltu-Deba and attacked one of our supporters who is still critically ill in the hospital as a result of matchet wounds he sustained. While coming from Talase recently, they stopped at Lano village and destroyed our materials, flags, posters, tents and many others. We did not say anything because if we talk it will mean a different thing.

"As it is now, we have not said anything but you can see their actions. All these allegations are lies and any innocent person accused of wrong doing, as long as that person's hands are clean, God will prove him right if not now, very soon. Let them show us what we have destroyed and we will show them the havoc they have committed."

He said the state government was not interested in fighting its opponents because it is busy working for the people.

He added, "All we can say to Governor Dankwambo is thank you for all these developments are taking place. As we approach the 2015 elections, we don't want politics of rancour and destruction of lives and property. We advise our youths to be peaceful.

Like I told you earlier, when you quoted Lai Mohammed’s allegations, can he come and show us one crime we have committed to the APC? Ours is to call on people to be peaceful because we are looking for votes and not for people to fight and destroy themselves."

From all indications, observers believe that beneath these rivalries is the fact that Goje is seriously working to unseat the government of Dankwanbo in 2015. He is said to have told all who cared to listen that he regrets giving his support to Dankwanbo's election in 2011.

But Dankwambo seems unperturbed and only focused on fulfilling his campaign promises of delivering infrastructural development to the people of the state through his numerous projects.

25

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

Politics / Interview

How Senate gave INEC more legal teeth to bite

I

t is often said that the problem with Nigeria is not the absence of good policies but the lack of will power to implement existing ones. This lack of will power, however, can only be true if there are enabling legal instruments available for any policy implementing agency of government to enforce policies.

One of the greatest challenges of government and its agencies in Nigeria is that in most cases, when an agency is established to carry out specific functions, there are no well-defined constitutional provisions or provisions in the Act establishing the agency to enable it effectively discharge its duties without legal impediments.

Consequently, this absence of enabling laws to enforce certain statutory jurisdictions of agencies of government simply reduced many of them to mere toothless bull-dog, which can only bark but cannot bite. This is why many of them, which have good policies cannot effectively implement them to make positive impact in the society.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), is one of the agencies of government cut in this web of constitutional lacuna in the course of carrying out its statutory functions. The Act establishing it has bestowed enormous responsibilities on it in respect of management of political parties and conduct of elections. Unfortunately,

From the Chukwu David chukwudavid68@yahoo.com

there are some legal impediments to actualising some of these objectives.

For instance, the Electoral Act provides guidelines on how political parties should operate. There are certain requirements for a political organisation to be registered.

There are also some requirements needed for a registered political party to continue to exist. In particular, there is specification on the ability of a political party to win elections from the grassroots level to the national level to prove its viability and need for continual existence.

Failure to meet up these requirements means that such organisation is not qualified to exist and therefore, should be deregistered. However, in this respect, it is ironical that the INEC has not legal or constitutional provision to deregister any non-performing party. This is why some political parties recently went to court to challenge the power of the Commission to

proscribe them.

However, in order to eliminate this legal cage working against the efficiency of INEC, the Senate, while amending the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution (as amended), decided to make provision for the Commission to be able to deregister political parties that could not win elections at all at the various levels of elections in the country.

The Senate embarked on this amendment as a legislative intervention to rescue INEC from the clogs it had encountered in the past, when it attempted to deregister non-performing parties but without success, due to litigations challenging its constitutional powers to apply such punitive measure against the erring parties.

All the 89 senators, who participated in the voting exercise last week Wednesday were in support of Clause Six of the amended Act, empowering INEC to de-register political parties which fail to win presidential, gover-

norship, chairmanship of a local government or area council seat, or a seat in the National or State Assembly elections.

Therefore, when this amendment scales all the legislative hurdles and becomes law, it is obvious that INEC is going to sanitise the political area and make it decent. Right now, political party formation and operation has become a mockery in the country. Many people who know that they have no business to form and operate political parties have gone into the trade as a means of earning a living.

There were instances in the recent past, where jobless Nigerians went into political party formation as a business. Once they get their organisation registered, they would not care whether they are so-called political parties could win elections or not at any level. In such parties, the founder is the same person as the national chairman, as well as the Presidential flag bearer. All they are interested in is the allocation from the government. Immediately they get it, they go to sleep.

Now, with the on-going amendment to the Constitution and the Electoral Act, which has bestowed more powers on INEC, this sham in the nation's political development will definitely stop. Only political parties, which mean well and are serious-minded will be in the game; and that also means that the gangsterism that characterises Nigerian politics through the presence of the mediocres and job seekers will be pruned down..

Another look at Tambuwal’s anniversary address

S

peaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal last Thursday reminisced on the challenges and achievements of the Green Chamber in the last legislative year.

The current House was three years old last week. It was inaugurated on June 6, 2011.

In a speech titled “Nigeria’s Fierce Urgency Now,” to mark the third anniversary, the speaker spoke on a wide variety of issues apportioning blame, taking responsibility and claiming successes appropriately. One issue that struck my mind was the reference to the uncanny unity that has held the House and ensured continuity in his leadership.

Tambuwal became speaker through a popular members’ revolt against the directive of his party, the PDP to foist a candidate of its choice as speaker on the House. It was a dangerous political adventure considering the environment we operate, but he trudged on with his colleagues. Those who are members of the PDP and were part of the movement had risked being expelled from the party, yet they persevere compelling the party to take them the way things turn out. The House was organically united and cohesively moving in the same direction until the merger of the major political parties to form the APC brought some visible divisions in the ‘people’s chambers’. Today, what we see on the floor of the House is more divided along party loyalty than the fight for the larger interest of the nation, which the Green Chamber was initially known for.

The fight for supremacy between the APC and PDP members on the floor has negatively impacted on the unity of the House.

Before now, bills and motions were debated on their merit, but since late 2013, the story has changed. Lawmakers now placed the interest of the party leadership ahead of the interest of the masses- what they stood for from the outset. Tambuwal also mentioned of the attacks the House has endured in the past three years. Of course, part of these challenge are also internal, because as he rightly

From the

GreenChamber

Philip Nyam

Tambuwal

observed, there seems to be a stronger leaning towards party affiliations that service for the people now.

If I may quote from his speech; he said “Developments on the floor of this house in recent times remind us that as united as we are, we still have to contend with the reality of political party cleavages. Certainly there is nothing wrong with advancing the cause and interests of our respective political parties. That is the essence of democracy. But we must never lose sight of the fact that this House has succeeded most on those occasions when we have risen above our political

ternyam@gmail.com differences and worked together as a cohesive unit. We must also never forget that the interest of our nation Nigeria far outweighs the parochial interest of the political parties”.

Tambuwal is damn right on this and the House must watch this as election period draws closer. Today, no lawmaker wants to be seen as a disloyal party member so as to lose his party’s ticket to return. Hence, most of them have been forced to abandon the selfless and critical disposition they were known for. For example, the debate on the 2014 appropriation bill was largely dissected on the basis on political loyalty. Most members threw caution to the wind and acted desperately just to warm themselves into the hearts of their party leaders.

Another issue that is of concern to Tambuwal is the resort to court to stop National Assembly from its investigations. It was apparent that the speaker was referring to the controversy over the N10 billion aircraft charter allegations against the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. This would certainly be of concern to any leader because the minister had in the past submitted herself for probe before the House but has suddenly taken a different stance on this allegation. It is not clear what informed the minister’s change of gear.

Nevertheless, I believe the minister has the inalienable right to seek for justice whenever she feels her rights are being trampled upon. Personally, I view her resort to court as a good omen for our democracy because the suit she filed against the House will provide an avenue for the judiciary to put paid

to this lingering controversy. Like Tambuwal observed, there have been instances where public officials have refused to honour National Assembly summons. But with the ‘bold’ step taken by Diezani, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to rule finally on this matter. Does the National Assembly have powers to summon or investigate certain personalities? In fact, it is under Tambuwal’s leadership that the House had some time ago invited President Goodluck Jonathan to brief it on the state of insecurity in the country. Expectedly, the president never honoured that invitation. Legal experts had then given different interpretation to the invitation.

So, if the intention of the minister is to seek for the interpretation of the law, I have no problem with her. After all, the issue is not about the individual but the institution because, next time, it may not be her. I pray this case get to the Supreme Court for the justices to resolve the lacuna that has lingered since the return of democracy in 1999.

Tambuwal also discussed very potent issues such as the impunity in the system, the instances of reported cases of blatant widespread violation of human rights and the most worrisome problem of insecurity being perpetrated by the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram. These are critical issues that the lawmakers must reflect on as they proceed on a two week break. As stakeholders in the project Nigeria, they must individually and collectively seek ways to promote the unity of this country and desist from joining those who are fanning embers of division in the country. I believe the greatness of Nigeria lies in its diversity and we must all embrace it.

On the final note, I wish to commend the House for a job well-done. With a total of 169 bills introduced in the outgoing year, out of which 46 passed second reading and 27 were subsequently passed into law it is an appreciable performance. I only hope that this House will not derail from its initial core values to serve Nigeria selflessly without sentiments and bias.

26

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Politics / Hardball

Falana: National Conference report will be earth-shaking As Nigeria celebrates 15 years of unbroken democracy, human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), Mr. Femi Falana in this interview with ONWUKA NZESHI takes a look at the political developments in the country, the National Conference and the outcome

N

igeria is marking 15 years anniversary of the return to democracy after a long period of military rule.

What is your assessment if the journey so far?

We don't have democracy yet. What we've had uninterrupted for 15 years of civil rule.

The struggle for democracy is part of the reason we are here at the National Conference.

We are here essentially to expand the democratic space, consolidate civil rule and ensure that it translates to democracy. If democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, you will agree with me that we've not had a government of the people for the last 15 years. We've had the government of the elite which you might want to call elitocracy. Big guys in government have been smiling to the banks while the masses of our people have continued to wallow in abject poverty.

Out of the official figures of 170 million population, according to government official records, about 130 million people are living within the poverty bracket. For the majority of those people, democracy remains a tantalising illusion. It is not actual, You cannot actualise it in terms of how many people have been employed in the last 15 years? Have we been able to guarantee the security of lives and property in the country? Have we had any new major highway? Not one, for 15 years. New express road has not been constructed in Nigeria for 15 years. No new major hospital has been built in Nigeria for fifteen years. If you know of any let me know. So in that kind of situation, you cannot say that Nigeria has really made substantial progress.

Does it mean that there has not been any progress at all?

No doubt, hundreds of people have become multi millionaires. About 135 persons now ride private jets in the country. But has that translated to any qualitative improvement in the lives of our people? The answer is no. So if you are talking about consolidating democracy, we have to build democracy first before we can consolidate it. As I said before, what we've had for 15 years is civil rule.

Nigerians are looking forward to you, the delegates at the National Conference, to take certain steps that will consolidate democracy but from the various committee reports so far, do you see us realizing that dream?

I have gone through the reports of all the 20 committees and I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that the recommendations are largely profound. Some of them are even earth- shaking. What becomes worrisome for me is the lack of political will on the part of the ruling class or the government of the day to see through the recommendations. At the end

I have gone through the reports of all the 20 committees and I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that the recommendations are largely profound. Some of them are even earth- shaking.

of the conference, a new struggle will begin.

Once the recommendations are popular, relevant and acceptable to the Nigerian people, a new struggle would have to begin for the implementation of those recommendations.

I can't see the government readily welcoming us and accepting them because some the recommendations question the status quo, established values and settled positions with respect to the enjoyment of privileges by the government officials. For you now to insist that they should wipe out, give up or dispense with those privileges, is going to be a struggle.

Just yesterday, the position of the committee on religion that government should stop sponsorship of pilgrims to Jerusalem and Mecca every year was accepted. Those who benefit maximally from such privileges are going to fight back and for political reasons, the government itself will not be comfortable. The government may begin to wonder whether ‘these religious people or the beneficiaries of these pilgrimages will vote for us’ and that is where the struggle is going to begin.

I have identified in at least seven committees where they have recommended that Chapter Two of the Constitution be made justiceable.

Those provisions have been there since 1979 but for the ruling class, the people should be satisfied with political and civil rights which are meaningless to them.

For instance, how do you talk of freedom of expression to

Falana

an illiterate? How does he express himself?

What is the relevance of freedom of movement to an individual who has no means of livelihood? How does he travel for leisure or holiday? This is the reason for the Nigerian proverb among the poverty stricken people that you rest the day you die because there is no holiday for the poor.

But if you make Chapter Two justiceable, the right to work will be guaranteed and if an able bodied Nigerian has no work, at the end of the month, he should get a stipend from the government. If every child of school age will go to school; everybody who is sick can access medical facilities, the situation will never be the same again in the country. It would force government officials to think and have sleepless nights on how to fund a Social Security System for the people of our country. Many of them would have their hairs turned grey after a coupe of months in office.

Even before we get to the level of government and its lack of political will to implement recommendations, there seem to be a reluctance among you the elites gathered at the conference to take the fundamental decisions that could bring the desired changes to Nigeria.

Why is this so?

You must also appreciate that, as I did say in my contribution to the debate on the President's inaugural address, many of those who brought Nigeria to her knees are here. Some of them have been in the system from the First Republic, benefitting from the decadence of the system.

It is therefore going to take appreciable time to

convince them and make them see reasons for change. So you cannot but expect the kind of discordant tones oozing out of the conference. But usually at the end of the day, we have substantially allowed reason to prevail.

You said that the conference is one of the ways to build this democracy. What are the other ways?

The media has a role to play. In the interest of the society, the media has to go beyond the ephemeral policy of "if you can't beat them, you join them." The media played a crucial role in the struggle against colonial rule and also played a leading role in the struggle against military dictatorship which culminated in the restoration of civil rule in the country.

Unfortunately, in the consolidation of civil rule and pushing the frontiers of civil rule to lead to the entrenchment of popular democracy, the media has been found wanting.

How? What has the media done to warrant this allegation?

Today, only the views of the elite are largely published in the media. A stranger to Nigeria might just think that the ordinary people are comfortable. Stories of grinding poverty, the violations of the rights of our people across the country, abandonment of principles by government officials are hardly published in our newspapers. Indeed now, unlike before when the media would pursue a corruption case until whoever was involved would be pushed out of government, you have a lot of media houses now shouting: Halleluya!

Hosanna! You remember the days of "if you Tarka me, I will Daboh you." That is no longer there. We must also be critical of those institutions that can institutionalise democracy - the judiciary, the Bar association.

There is not much to write home about because in the interpretation and enforcement of the law including obedience to court orders, the official bar and the private bar play significant roles. But if judges are all there to sustain the status quo without interpreting the laws in the interest of the people, democracy and the rule of law, it is difficult to have a stable society.

In fifteen years, who do you think are the heroes and heroines of our democracy?

I do not go about looking for heroes. I look for issues and find out how we have addressed them. I don't believe in heroism and hero worshipping.

You have blamed the media for not doing enough but what do you have to say about the masses that have not been able to sustain any struggle?

No! As Karl Marx said in any historic epoch, the ideas of the ruling class are the dominant ideas. Even in every home, if the parents are irresponsible how do you expect them to turn out good children? Nigerians are the easiest people to rule in the whole world. I have never seen a more patient people anywhere in the world. We have had all manners of military dictators that took over the reins of power. The attitude of our people was, "let's give them a chance," until they all messed up themselves one after the other. Nigerians are very patient; they are very trusting but they have been betrayed all the time. So you cannot accuse the people of indolence or docility. They also have to be mobilized by the elite who may have CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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Politics / Interview

Emergency rule is not working, says Mustapha, Lamido of Adamawa The Federal Government recently renewed the emergency rule declared in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States following the sustained violent campaign of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East region of country. In this interview, with ONWUKA NZESHI the Lamido of Adamawa, His Royal Highness, Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha reacts to the recent attack on the convoy of three Emirs and the killing of one in the process

Y

our Highness, your constituency, the traditional institution, lost one of its members, the Emir of Askira to the Boko Haram attack the other day.

How are royal fathers in the North-East reacting to the increasing insecurity in the region?

Really, there is no security in this country and we are calling on the government to sit up and fund the security agencies properly and may be screen the security agencies and find out if there are bad eggs among them.

Many people including some soldiers keep saying that there are some fifth columnists among them, although it was denied by the military that some of their commanders give information to terrorists. If that is the case, it is really unfortunate. That means we are not safe and we will never be safe.

What are the implications of the recent attack on three Emirs on our referred traditional rulers who reside those troubled areas in the North-East?

You are talking about traditional rulers residing in those areas? What about the masses?

The ordinary people who are being killed every day? So the government must sit up and do something about this.

Have you been to your domain since this conference started? Have you been to Adamawa?

Yes, I have.

How did you go - by road or air?

By air. There is air connection between Abuja and Yola and we have two flights every day.

What is your advice to some of your colleagues who travel by road?

They should travel less and if possible, they should travel by air. They should travel less; if possible travel by air. Or don't travel at all.

Some Nigerians believe that the royal fathers have come under attack because they were giving intelligence to government against the Boko Haram insurgents. Is this true?

Of course we are supposed to support the government. It is our duty to support, guide and advise the government on how to carry on their governance. Yes. Do you feel intimidated by what has happened?

I don't bloody care. What happened like what?

The attack on three Emirs and the killing of one of them? Do you feel disturbed that it could have been anybody?

Of course, every human being should feel that way, but then we have to be courageous to control ourselves; to think about ways of protecting ourselves and our people.

Adamawa has largely been peaceful even with the insurgency in the North-East but a few days ago, the Boko Haram People detonated a bomb in Mubi where people were watching football. What do you think is responsible for this growing insecurity in Adamawa?

Nobody can explain to you what is happening in Nigeria. Once it happens we just start to blame each other. Some would say this and other would say that. Even the military would say that they are not properly funded; they are not well paid and all those kind of things. Otherwise there are military personnel

Mustapha

in Mubi. They've got their barracks there; they are so many there. The police are there, State Security Services are there, yet...

Some people had doubts about the recent request by the president to the National Assembly for the renewal of the state of emergency in the North-East. Now with the current situation in Mubi, do you think the emergency is really working?

It is not working. If it were working, that kind of thing shouldn't have happened. It is not working.

How do we make it work? What do you think government should do to make it work?

Well, as I have already said, the government must sit up. They must review their handling of security agencies and investigate and find out ... because even the foreign countries which have come to help us are skeptical about our security. The United States said they must screen our security officers whom they want to work with. Why should they say that?

It is not because they are suspecting something? They are suspicious of something!

Falana: Conference report will be earth-shaking C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 6

committed class suicide.

What is your view about the Chibok girls’ abduction saga, Boko Haram and general insecurity in Nigeria?

Apart from condemning the abduction of the Chibok girls, it is difficult for me to discuss ways of getting them released having regards to my own roles in the efforts to secure their freedom. But let me say with profound respect to the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Barde and this is where I am going to appeal to the media to be more critical.

Before you go out to report news emanating from the military headquarters, you need to cross check your facts. What you gave as front page cover story in most newspapers yesterday (Tuesday) which has to do with a

statement credited to the Chief of Defence Staff that they have located the girls... The same Chief of Defence Staff made a similar statement four weeks ago. At that time, he appealed to parents of the abducted girls to give the military a chance and that in a matter of days, the girls would return. Four weeks later, the same statement was made and we are celebrating it.

But if you want to hear my views on the war on terror, are you not surprised that the Nigerian civil war which lasted three years produced heroes on both sides. Since this battle commenced, no hero as been produced and that in itself questions the commitment of the government to fight the war on terror.

On a yearly basis over the last three years, not less than N1trillion naira has been released by the government to fight the war

on terror. But painfully, we are not getting value of such money. We are told now that we don't have the vital equipments; our soldiers are not well armed or equipped and that their morale is very low. How can you win any war in such an atmosphere of frustration? Again this is where the media must help us. We don't need to depend on CNN and Aljazera to know that even though there is a state of emergency in three states, the people are not secured. The situation requires a change of tactics in fighting the war.

You all covered the events in Afghanistan and Iraq; when a soldier is killed in battle, the family members are informed before the name is published. The soldier who has lost his life in the service of his fatherland is given a heroes burial. But here, you guys in the media simply report that twelve soldiers

were killed. They have no names. We lost about one thousand soldiers in Sierra Leone and Liberia, no media house ever published the names of any of them. So when soldiers are given the impression that their lives are inconsequential, why should they lay down their lives for their fatherland? You may be surprised to know that where family members of soldiers are quartered by the government, they are chased out of those quarters as soon as their loved ones are killed in battle.

These are some of the problems. The Nigeria armed forces have been a force to reckon with in United Nations and African Union Peace Keeping operations. The Nigeria armed forces restored democracy in Liberia and Sierra Leone. How come that the same armed forces cannot defeat the rag tag army of Boko Haram?

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Politics / Hardball

Jonathan's critics should come up In this interview with ANULE EMMANUEL, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, speaks on the Jonathan administration's efforts at addressing security challenges in the country as well as its reforms.

Abati

A

s one of the President's handlers, does it worry you the way some persons attack the President?

We are in a political dispensation and we have an opposition that is hyper active and likes to pick on the government and the President on a regular basis. My position is that in a democracy and under an administration that encourages the freedom of expression, you cannot rule out a situation where people will insist on their freedom of expression and say whatever they like, as long as the media encourages them and gives them the platform to express themselves. The thing to note nonetheless is that this administration has nothing against the freedom of expression. It welcomes the opposition's right to express its views but what we have complained about regularly is that the President while welcoming criticism would also want to see constructive criticism.

The President is the President of every Nigerian. He has repeatedly made it very clear that whether you are a Muslim, Christian or animist, atheist, a Northerner or Southerner, he

I have gone through the reports of all the 20 committees and I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that the recommendations are largely profound. Some of them are even earth- shaking.

as President is the President of everybody. If the opposition says that their duty is to play politics with everything and to condemn government, what the government is asking for is that at least let it be constructive. The opposition in other parts of the world doesn't play politics of abuse. They come up with ideas, so when you see us engaging in any kind of altercation with the opposition, check it out. Two statements have always come out of my office. The first is: don't abuse the President, respect his office, you may not like that office, but respect the fact that it is a special institution at the heart of our democracy.

We all have a duty as Nigerians to protect it, so don't engage in the politics of abuse, don't pull it down. Second, be constructive and being constructive means, come up with ideas.

If there is something that you disagree with, that the government is doing and you don't want, give us an alternative. Part of your duty is to say, we think government is going in this direction, we think government should go in this direction. That will be the politics of ideas, but unfortunately, if you check the content of opposition politics in Nigeria, it is devoted to the politics of abuse. It is always easy to abuse people and throw words around. It is always convenient to talk and not think, because it takes some effort to think. Our appeal is that the opposition should please play the politics of reason and ideas and we will continue to appeal to them. We will not be discouraged by their refusal to toe the path of reason.

Would you say that the President is winning the war on terrorism?

Yes. Absolutely, yes. In this matter, the forces of good will prevail over the forces of evil and the agents of darkness. Nigeria will prevail and it is our conviction that we will all be here to witness that moment of triumph. In addition, President Jonathan has made it clear on many occasions that what Nigerians are confronted with is an unconventional war, which requires collective effort to resolve. This is a type of war in which you can even say that the enemy is faceless or that you don't know who the enemy is. The enemy can be anywhere, the enemy is a hidden one, without a defined uniform or location and who can strike anywhere at any time. This kind of warfare challenges even the training of the security forces who have been trained to deal with conventional warfare. It is a kind of warfare in which the issues involved are nebulous and perpetually mutating. We are facing a kind of nihilistic warfare in which the enemy is even prepared to commit suicide to achieve whatever ideological or criminal objectives. What that means therefore is that this being an unusual war, nobody can effectively put a date to the end of it. We recognise this special challenge. Nigeria is not the first country that will face the scourge of terror. The British fought the IRA terrorists for so many years. It took the United States almost 10 years to track down Osama Bin Laden. And even that has not ended the threat of terrorism in the world.

But you can look at the situation in Nigeria in terms of specific milestones.

So, what are these milestones?

The first major challenge of terrorism in Nigeria started in 2002 under the administration

of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, so it is something that this administration inherited.

By 2009, it was already getting worse, but this administration came in and began to confront it. What we are witnessing at the moment is a resurgence; a desperate effort by terrorists to assert themselves. When President Jonathan declared a state of emergency 18 months ago, after a few months, the security forces were able to restrict the terrorists to just about a forest. They destroyed their enclaves, mobilised ordinary people to take ownership of counter-terrorism initiatives and effectively put the terrorists on the run. For close to a year, there was peace and stability in the affected areas.

Before the first declaration of a state of emergency, the terrorists had carved out enclaves, they had hoisted their own flags and had threatened to take over the entire Nigerian state. But the military with the capacity that they acquired, pushed them back, took over these three states (Adamawa, Borno and Yobe) and even began to enjoy the confidence of the local communities, with even the people themselves taking ownership of the fight against terrorism. But now, the agents of Lucifer are back with greater fury and vengeance.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Nigerian security forces, even if they are fighting an unconventional warfare, have been able to acquire capacity and experience and are showing real determination in dealing with the challenge. With the support that they are receiving from the international community and with the solidarity and partnership that has CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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with good ideas - Abati

been forged with neighbouring countries and other countries on the continent and elsewhere, there can be no doubt that through concerted effort, the war will be won. But nobody can put a specific date to it; nevertheless the will of government to win the war is stronger than the determination of the terrorists.

What specifically should Nigerians expect from the current support of America, Britain and others in the war against Boko Haram?

Interestingly, the countries offering support and partnership have also spoken about the nature of their intervention. Principally, it is not about the deployment of troops on the ground.

The job will still be done by Nigerian soldiers; what we are receiving is support in terms of logistics, surveillance, satellite imaging, intelligence gathering and information sharing. All of this will help to strengthen the capacity of the troops to be able to do the job more efficiently.

I think it is important that that we have this international solidarity on the matter of terrorism which is a threat not only to Nigeria, but the whole of the human race. The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Boko Haram; the United States and others have classified Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation; meetings have been held in Paris, South Africa and Ghana under the auspices of international organisations which have taken decisions to demonise, isolate and criminalise Boko Haram.

So, I think that the international solidarity is important; the support that has been offered is also crucial. The message that has been sent across is that the international community stands as one family to put an end to this assault on the human community, its members and its values.

But will America and others stay back in Nigeria even when the over 200 pupils of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State have been rescued?

Apart from the hosting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which is the traditional home of the WEF, Nigeria recorded the second largest record in terms of attendance in the history of the event.

They were all here to identify with Nigeria and to express solidarity with us.

I don't think so. The various countries offering to help are not coming here as neo-colonial forces; they are here as friends, motivated by human values and united with us to solve a problem that affects the human race. You must take note of the fact that the United States and other countries have always cooperated with Nigeria. We have ongoing relationships with many countries of the world. The cooperation did not start with the issue of the Chibok girls and that is why when people say that the President did not respond on time, I always insist that it is not true.

The partnership between us and our neighbours, the United States and others on the issue of terrorism has been a long-standing one. President Jonathan has been in touch with world leaders and other stakeholders from other parts of the world, to address the issue of terrorism.

Security chiefs from Nigeria and neighbouring countries met on a regular basis and shared intelligence; other countries of the world have on-going relationships with Nigeria covering peace and security matters.

What has happened with this issue of the abduction of the girls is just a turning point which has resulted in the deepening of existing

cooperation and partnership between Nigeria and other countries of the world. So that is the thing to note. I think people should know that this cooperation that we are talking about is not an overnight thing. It's been long and enduring because it is well recognised that international terrorism has incubation centres in different parts of the world. What has happened in our case is that Nigeria also became an incubation centre for terrorists. These terrorists have built a network involving Al Qaeda and other groups with operational bases across the sub-region and continent. So it is a local challenge, an international challenge, a cross-border threat and a continental challenge. Nigeria, the United States and other countries have been working together to deal with this issue. That is why the President always raises the point that this is not about governance, this is all about an evil force that seeks to overwhelm our country and also pose a threat to the whole world.

Is government investigating any issues of alleged negligence on the part on the Borno State Government or the security forces over the abduction of the Chibok school girls?

Government's commitment is to get the girls back and safely too. The Federal Government and particularly President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the President of everybody, is not engaged in blaming A or B. There is a problem that has occurred and the problem needs to be addressed and solved. For now, that is the focus of Mr. President.

Nigerians do express concern that persons arrested over this issue of insecurity are hardly being prosecuted. Why is this so?

The legal prosecution of suspects in any matter whatsoever does not take place on the pages of newspapers; it takes place in the law courts.

What is known is that government has made it clear that it will not condone impunity of any sort. There are persons in detention centres, there are those who are being prosecuted and convicted almost on a daily basis in the law courts. But you know how these things work, so many of the people who are making those statements are speaking out of ignorance because they do not know what exactly is happening.

I mean, this government will not condone criminality or promote any kind of barbaric indulgence. And the judiciary has remained a very strong institution under this administration. You can be sure that the security agencies will continue to function, and those cases that can be established for the purposes of prosecution, will go through due process. It is not standard practice for the judiciary to be conducting its business on the pages of newspapers. So those making such allegations, they probably need to do a little more home work to find out the truth rather than just condemn the government on the basis of their own ignorance.

Amid the current insecurity challenge, the Federal Government recently hosted world leaders in Abuja to the World Economic Forum for Africa. What does this mean for Nigeria?

The successful hosting of the WEFA is significant because it means that the world has expressed great confidence in Nigeria. You will note that the hosting of that event came against the background of the bombing in Nyanya and the abduction of the Chibok girls. At the time, many in fact expressed the view that the calculation of the terrorists was to frustrate the conference delegates who were meant to attend the World Economic Forum and to create the impression that Nigeria is not safe.

Nigeria was hosting WEFA against the background of the rebasing of the economy and the declaration of Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa. The terrorists and their sponsors wanted to ruin all that. But the good news is that the international community refused to be discour-

Politics / Hardball aged. Everybody descended on Nigeria. They were all here: heads of state, heads of corporations, diplomats, professionals, resource persons and so on; about 4, 000 of them or more.

Apart from the hosting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, which is the traditional home of the WEF, Nigeria recorded the second largest record in terms of attendance in the history of the event. They were all here to identify with Nigeria and to express solidarity with us.

It was a very successful event, which at the end of the day, attracted an estimated huge inflow of Foreign Direct Investments to the tune of about $68 billion over the next few years.

Since then, we have continued to witness the expression of even greater investor confidence in the Nigerian economy. So, the terrorists failed. And what it means is that the world recognises Nigeria as a preferred investment destination and that whatever problem Nigeria may have with terrorists, terrorism does not define the identity of Nigeria, it does not define the economic space of Nigeria and I think that the hosting of WEFA and its outcomes will be remembered for long as one of the major achievements of this administration because it translated into greater progress both for the government and for the Nigerian people.

When do we see the rationalisation of the civil service in force?

Institutional reform is one of the major pillars of the transformational agenda of the Jonathan administration and the reform has been ongoing in different regards. The main focus of the White Paper on the Report of the Steve Oronsaye-led committee on the rationalisation of MDAs is to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate the duplication and replication of functions and make government more accountable and efficient. The White Paper having been issued represents the position of government and once government has taken a position, then it will implement the White Paper.

But some recommendations in the Oronsanye report were dropped?

If government sets up a committee, it is the job of the committee to make recommendations.

You don't set up a committee especially on a strategic issue as reforming the bureaucracy and you assume that government must take all the recommendations. People in that committee are just a few persons who have been given terms of reference but at the end of the day, government and critical stakeholders will take final decisions. So, the focus should be on the White Paper and what is done subsequently. I believe that the implementation of the document will make significant impact because the White Paper speaks for itself. Institutional reform is a continuous process.

The 2014 budget is coming at the end of the second quarter. Does it bother government if it can really implement fully this fiscal document?

You will recall that after the back and forth over the 2013 budget, President Jonathan promised that the 2014 budget will surely go to the National Assembly very early and government did precisely that. The budget estimates were submitted to the National Assembly as early as November/December 2013. The expectation from the meetings held between both the executive and legislature was that the passage of the Appropriation Bill would be fast-tracked so that very early in the year, we would start with the Budget on the table.

But the legislative arm of government took such a long time to come to a decision so you cannot blame the executive for any delay, if that is what you are trying to do. In any case, members of the National Assembly, of course, would also tell you, they had to do thorough oversight to come up with a quality Appropriation Act. The good news, however, is that the law allows government to implement within the level of the previous budget up to six months in the new year. I think that there was no significant departure from that. Nothing suffered at all. Besides, the National Assembly was able to pass the 2014 budget within this period. I have no fears about budget performance at all in 2014.

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Politics

'Young politicians must correct mistakes of older generation' When he ventured into the oil and gas sector, Uchenna Ogbodo, Managing Director of Uchman Energy and Logistics Ltd, had difficulties in proving capacity to play in the industry. As a young man, he got an opportunity to prove his ability. In this interview with AHAOMA KANU, he speaks on why the young people should be given adequate opportunities to move the country forward.

Ogbodo

N

igeria just celebrated 15 years of uninterrupted democracy, but some have argued that young ones are not given a chance. What main attributes should a young person have to make an impact in our democracy?

A leader should have character, competence and ideas. They should be selfless and be ready to serve. Many people want to go into politics because they believe it is a fast track to making money; they have seen politicians who, months back were nothing to write home about, get into a political office and have an instant change in status. Politics is now perceived as an avenue to quick money; it’s like a lottery but that is not the idea and I will blame old generation politicians for this trend. The idea of politics should be to lead the people, to put them first and lead them through the right direction. That is the mistake the old generation politicians made that young people going into politics should try and correct. Most of the politicians never had anything before going into politics, but most young people have built up businesses singlehandedly and sustained them. If I decide to go into politics now and it does not work out, I still have my business a n d even if it works o u t , I still h a v e that business as my primary source of income. I think it’s time the electorate look at the pedigree of those contesting elections; check where they are coming from; what were they doing before their intention to contest.

That way we

can change this trend that is corrupting our political system.

There have been issues with continuity in Nigeria and also a frequent complain of marginalisation and recycling of persons in leadership. When the National Conference was inaugurated, the youths complained of under representation. Looking at the age of leaders Nigeria produced in the early 60s and 70s who were youths, do you think that the Nigeria young people today have what it takes to lead this country?

Yes I believe that young people today have what it takes to move this country forward.

As you rightly said, leaders like Yakubu Gowon, Odumegu Ojukwu, Anthony Enahoro and so on were young people who made remarkable contributions to this nation. But it is very unfortunate that the reverse is what is happening today where you have people that ought to be in retirement are still in the corridors of power. This is an African problem and it is very unfortunate. As you grow older, your body system slows down. I don’t mean to disrespect the elders but we live in a changing world where things are moving at a very fast pace and you need to measure up. Look at the technology we have in the world today, many of them were invented some few years back and majority of those who understand the applications are young people. Some of these senior citizens in leadership positions do not have the ideas that the youth have. So many of them are not internet literate, they are not in the community of new media but the young ones have that. When we were coming into the oil industry, the companies were looking at us as kids who may not have the experience to do our job descriptions but it took just an opportunity to prove them wrong. What I really believe is that this country needs to give the young people an opportunity to move this country through the right part.

Can you mention some of these challenges which young companies coming into a very competitive industry like oil and gas?

Well it is quite challenging and difficult but we try our best to overcome some of the hurdles that are peculiar to new companies.

The initial challenges we had were those of knowing someone on the top of the ladder that can push for our bids and also the issue of knowing someone in the sector or from government before you penetrate a company.

There are some individuals that have been in the industry that have been contractors with the oil companies for a long time and they are not very pleased with competition nor do they want to give room for new entrants. So when you are coming in as a fresh contractor, the management of these companies will be looking at this new company with some caution; are they competent? Do they have the expertise? Do they have the professionals?

You know when you work with multinationals; they are very straightforward and need precision. The job is time demanding and they need accuracy, competency and adherence to deadlines.

How did you succeed then?

We were able to provide the kind of service they needed; we had to hire the experienced professionals because the work demands experience. We incorporated them and were able to meet up with the demands of the jobs we were getting.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala charged citizens to take their governors into account on

what they do with the allocation accruing to their states, which governor will you say have really given a good account of good governance?

Some governors have performed up to expectations and I must first of all say that the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, readily comes to mind. He is the governor of my state and I will want to start from there.

He has done marvellously well and initiated a lot of infrastructural development in the state especially in the rural areas and also in the aspect of security. If you were an indigene of Enugu State, seven years ago there was no security in the state, cultism was in an all time high and assassinations were the order of the day but those vices are no more. The road network is very wonderful and you can access the rural areas from the city. Also in the area of youth development which I am passionate about, he has really empowered the youths and women. I will also commend Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Governor Godswill Akpabio and Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.

Why are you passionate about youth development?

I must say that the youths are the energy of any nation and you need to channel their energy to good courses. Naturally, as a person, coming into politics is something I have tried to move away from. But I see young people from my community, Obinagu, Akpugo in Nkanu-West Local Government Area of Enugu State and have been helping them in various ways by giving them scholarships to further their education, encouraging those who are sports inclined to further their career by launching a one million naira football tournament where they are picked to go for trials and also I am helping others with skills to help in small and medium scale businesses.

I also have a foundation, The Uchmann Foundation, which caters for orphans, widows and less privileged both in Port Harcourt and in my state. I am also a publicity director in the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt and have just been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. This honour was given to me because of the work I am involved with in Rotary Club in fighting Polio eradication in Nigeria and Africa. Having been doing all these, my community have given me their support to go into politics because they made me understand that I can do more for the community and the state if I am in government. I have to lead them, I want to represent them and I have to speak for some people. I have now volunteered myself to help my people as they want me to.

You are seeking for elective office, what change are you going there to impact?

The change I want to bring is to create a forum where the younger generation will have an opportunity to showcase their talent.

They are not given enough opportunities to excel. Based on the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, it is about bringing a change and that change can only be brought by giving people opportunities.

I wish to go for the Enugu State House of Assembly in the 2015 elections under the umbrella of our great party; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which I believe is a party that gives opportunities to Nigerians.

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Politics

Inside the new N2.2bn Presidential Banquet Hall

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t last, the new mini presidential banquet hall is ready for use by President Goodluck Jonathan and his numerous guests. Located directly beside the Oval Office, the edifice comes with an ambience of prestige that is befitting of any presidency.

Immediately after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, President Jonathan led members of his cabinet into the building in what can be likened to a house warming. Like Christ and his disciples, they had launch in the magnificent building which cost the Federal Government about N2.2billion.

The President penultimate week, led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and a few ministers also embarked on a brief inspection tour of the brand new mini-banquet hall. The guided tour was no doubt in anticipation that the new building would be officially put to use for the first time on the day, this year's Democracy Day celebration was marked.

Unlike the old and popular banquet hall built by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the new one also painted in the usual white colours of Aso Rock is just 300 meters away and adjoined to the President's office where major presidential functions are now expected to be hosted with ease.

For the President, both from the official resident and the office, the new structure is home from home. Construction giant, Julius Berger Plc put together the edifice.

When government first announced the decision to put up the 150-seater banquet hall in November 2012, there was indeed public uproar.

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, however put up a strong defence for the project, saying that “whenever Mr. President has a live programme to broadcast to the nation, he has to come to the cafeteria

Anule Emmanuel emmyanule@yahoo.com where refreshments are served to hold the programme because there is no space for that kind of live programmes."

According to Maku , there had also been problems in getting telephones to work in a situation where such programmes are phone-in ones. The existing banquet hall is for big events like concerts for about 1,000 or 2,000 people. There is absolutely no space. The President receives visitors in the First Lady’s Conference Room. The new hall, he said, is absolutely a necessity.

The ingenuity of the designers of the new banquet hall is testified to by the fact that a first time visitor will never suspect it is an addition to the President's office. Even staffers of the Villa and regular visitors will very easily forget that the structure didn't exist.

Although the structure looks simple on the outside but finely furnished in the grandeur of Aso Rock tradition. Imagine that as big as it is, the hall was completed within 18 months. The contractors worked assiduously to get the building ready on time working say and night.

Going by the purpose for which it is built, it is taken that fewer Nigerians will see or have access to this new banquat hall than the old Banquet Hall which hosts sundry public events including Children's Party on special occasions, or the Aso Villa Chapel where Christian faithful close to the seat

of power join the First Family every other Sunday morning to worship God and pray for the nation and the success of the administration.

That launch by council members formerly

opened the banquet hall for use. It has been observed that unfortunately, far from the expectations of the media, the architectural plan of the new building has failed to provide adequate space for the press. Unlike presidential banquet elsewhere, there is near absence of standing vantages for camera men especially to get clear view of dignitaries. Instead, the current arrangement would compel reporters and their camera men to stay in the gallery located up of the main hall with sound box to feed sounds.

For media men, this remains one hurdle that must be solved to ease the job of getting quality images and sounds of the President and his guests.

When Clerics visited Aso Rock

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hese seems to be best times for vhe clergy and spiritual leaders to visit the seat of government, the presidential villa. In fact, considering the current security challenges faced by the country, it appears that a number of spiritual leaders whose love for the country cannot be questioned continue to offer themselves to pray for the country. While they do, government which is determined to end the crisis, also does seek the assistance of such men of God who could genuinely pray for the peace of the country.

They have been coming under different auspices. Saturday last week was the turn of a group of Senegalese clerics, about 13 of them led by Khalifah Sheikh Ahmad Tijani Inyass, the grandson of the founder of the Tijjaniya sect, the late Shehu Tijani Ibrahim Inyass. This particular group is concerned with the spate of killings perpetrated by Boko Haram in the country.

Just after the visit of the Senegalese, Monday this week, the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) also took their time for confer with President Jonathan.

Although, the Secretary General of the organisation explained that they were not a religious group, during the visit they prayed for Nigeria to overcome its current challenges and promised to offer assistance.

Wednesday was the turn of the head of the Anglican Church worldwide and Archbishop of Canterbury, Rt. Rev. Justin Welby. All these meetings held behind closed doors but what is interesting and central about them is the concern shown by the different groups about the current security problem.

There is also no doubt that Nigeria needs the prayers of everyone not only its citizens but its friends around the world to get out of this whole crisis and ones again see peace.

Yobe bye-election: Raising hope for 2015 polls

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hairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, was a happy man last week, when he received the national leadership of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria led by its President, Bunmi Oke at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

Jega told his guests that he did not know how many of them were aware that the previous Saturday, INEC was able to conduct a bye-election in Yobe State which could not be conducted in the last two years because of security challenges. “I am very pleased to say that from all the reports we received, it was one of the best elections we have conducted so far in terms of turnout and commencing on time. In fact all polling units were prepared for the election by 7:30am,” he said.

That was a state assembly election but Jega said it also demonstrated how INEC has kept on improving. And he said if anybody had any doubt as to INEC’s preparedness to hold elections in the three states this was a clear evidence that the electoral arbiter is prepared to do it and do it well.

The Yobe bye-election was in Nangere constituency which was as a result of the death of Adamu Degubi who represented the constituency in Yobe state House of Assembly. Degubi was killed by gunmen in June 2012. The message Jega is sending is clear: INEC is ready to conduct elections in the three troubled states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, despite heightened fear

INECDiary Onyekachi Eze

The successful conduct of the Nangere constituency election further confirmed the possibility of elections in 2015 in the states under emergency rule that the 2015 general elections might not hold there because of state of emergency declared by the federal government as a result of attacks by Boko Haram Islamic sect.

Jega even expressed this fear last December when he told a stakeholders at a public hearing on the preparations and challenges ahead of 2015 elections, that if security situation in those states did not improve before then, INEC may not hold elections there. The public hearing was organised by Senate Committee on INEC in partnership with Abuja based Policy

ezekatchy@yahoo.co.uk

and Legal Advocacy Center , and United Kingdom Department of International Development, Nigeria.

It was perhaps, to disprove this assertion that the Yobe State government earlier this year held its local government elections.

The successful conduct of the Nangere state constituency election further confirmed the possibility of elections in 2015 in the states under emergency rule.

But this was not the only reason to cheer Prof. Jega. Although, the ruling party in the state, the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate won the election (which has become a norm in Nigerian politics), the timely distribution materials on the day of the election and massive turnout of voters gladdened his heart.

The electoral body had come under heavy attacks for its failure to rise to the challenges especially on the days of the election. Election materials did not only arrive late but election officials often compromise. These affected the credibility of elections conducted by INEC. The success of the Yobe bye-election has buoyed

INEC confidence that the conduct of the 2015 elections in the troubled states is realisable notwithstanding the security challenges.

INEC boss is also trilled by the massive turnout of voters at the election. The perhaps, was the election that witnessed huge voter turnout.

Voter apathy has been a challenge to Nigeria's electoral process. That was why INEC set up National Inter-Agency Committee on Voter Education and Publicity last month. This committee will be duplicated at state and local levels in an attempt to encourage the electorate to take active part in next year's election.

The distribution of permanent voter's cards and conduct of continuous voter registration in 10 states, which began on May 23 have recorded huge turnout of electorate. This is an indication of enough public enlightenment by INEC and other stakeholders.

But Jega and INEC should not take the Yobe bye-election as yardstick to measure the outcome of next year's elections. For one, it was only in a constituency that the election took place. In 2015, the commission will conduct elections in more than 30 states and Abuja. And this will really task the strength of the electoral umpire. It is only when what happened in Yobe bye-election is replicated in most constituencies across the country in 2015 that INEC could beat its chest that it has conquered the monster of voter apathy and other electoral challenges.

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Abuja Beats Residents cry as FCTA demolishes Saraha estate I

lessness and illegality by the FCDA. The demolition was contrary to any civilised norms. We have a contest with them and we have the matter in court and there’s a court injunction restraining all the parties from taking any action that’s is dangerous to anybody’s interest.

“We do not understand why they would come today and effect this demolition. Sometime last year, somebody came to say that this part of the estate had been allocated to him. By the time he came, people were already living here; houses were already here. People

had started building here as far back as 2009. How come the FCDA allocated this place to somebody years after?

“We went to the FCDA and they showed us that they allocated the place to the man in 2012. How can you allocate the place to somebody when it had been allocated to somebody else for mass housing purpose and people are already living here? Does it make sense?

“They said it was allocated for a golf course or whatever. That’s not our business. Our business is we are residents here. We went to court because they marked this place for demolition. On December 16, 2013, we got an injunction and the case has come up in court several times and their lawyers are in court. That means they have subjected themselves to judicial process, how come they are now coming to demolish the place against a subsisting order of the court.

“This place was allocated for mass housing under el-Rufai’s administration. We got this place under the auspices of a mass housing scheme. It was allocated to a developer who sold for us and we built our houses. I have been living here since February 2012.”

Another property owner, Alhaji Mohammed Olayiwola, also decried the exercise, noting that the estate was acquired from an allottee by the owner of Saraha Homes.

According to him, the allottee who is demanding for the sum of N15 million from each property owner in the estate alleged that the proprietor of Saraha Homes didn’t complete payment for the estate when it was transferred to him.

erations. It is important to make sure that climate change information gets to the grass roots to enable the young people to know what it is all about. Through those interactions, more young people will get involved in climate change,” it stated.

Participants called on young people to work together to ensure that their advocacy efforts are taken to the next level with concrete actions. Also, they stressed the need for citizens to hold government accountable and ensure concrete action.

They also urged government to sign the Climate Change Bill, which will produce a dedicated institution for handling climate change issues with a strong legal framework.

CODE is a non-government organisation whose mission is to improve access to information and empower local communities in Africa while AYICC is an umbrella initiative of youth organisations in Africa working on climate change issues.

Yekeen Nurudeen

t was anguish and cries last Monday for owners of properties at Saraha Homes Estates, Life Camp Extension, Kafe District, Abuja when officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration from the Department of Development Control demolished their structures.

This was as residents lamented that the demolition was carried out against a court injunction restraining the FCT administration from any action pending the hearing of the matter which was brought to court in December.

But the exercise, according to eyewitnesses, took place under the supervision of armed military personnel numbering over 30.

The soldiers, who were without name tags and stormed the estate in three Toyota Hilux vans, ensured that the demolition went on without interruption from the aggrieved owners of demolished properties.

Residents most of whom were caught unawares said there was no notice of demolition from the FCT authorities before the demolition exercise.

Public Relations Officer of FCT Department of Development Control, Kalu Omeje, was not available for comment as at the time of filing this report.

It was, however, gathered that the portion of the estate which has 263 duplex and bungalow buildings was earmarked as a green area which has been allocated to another developer for a golf course.

When New Telegraph on Sunday visited the estate, fences, gates and many buildings were already reduced to a

rubble by the FCTA’s bulldozers.

While speaking to journalists, chairman of the estate’s landlords association, Fred Ohwahwa, described the exercise as a case of impunity, illegality and lawlessness by the FCT administration.

He said the land was allocated in 2009 to the residents under a former FCT minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, as part of his mass housing scheme, noting that the residents were shocked when last year somebody appeared and claimed the land belonged to him.

“It’s a case of impunity, a case of law-

Groups plant trees for climate change

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o celebrate the 2014 World Environment Day, the Connected Development (CODE) in collaboration with the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) engaged in tree planting and sensitisation discussions on climate change mitigation in Abuja.

The event, tagged ‘Tree Planting exercise, sensitisation and roundtable discussions on climate change in Nigeria’, centered around engaging pupils of Abuja Children’s Home Nursery and Primary School on the importance of tree planting; its social and economic benefit to combat global warming and contributes to the global mitigation efforts with local actions.

The Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, educated pupils and teachers of the school on how lifestyle and improper waste disposal contributes to global warming, leading to change in weather pattern, heavy rainfall, which contributes to flooding and affects students’ ability to access timely education in affected communities.

Hamzat told the gathering that the tree planting exercise was also meant to show support to the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a way of ‘raising collective voices and not the sea level’.

The Head Mistress of the school, Mrs. Maria Yepwi, commended the organisers, while stressing the need for more tress to be planted and more commitment to ensuring that they are nurtured. She also urged the organisers to visit other public schools.

A pupil of the school, John Sanni, expressed excitement as he said he never knew that his actions could also contribute to mitigating climate change. He promised to tell his friends in other schools to plant trees to save the planet.

The Nigerian youth roundtable discussion on climate change was geared towards taking stock of climate change advocacy/actions by young people.

“Youths should be mainstreamed into the process, because the impact of climate change will be more on the younger gen-

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Abuja Beats

Hawkers take advantage of rush hour traffic T

Obinna Odo he problem of gridlocks in the nation’s capital has got to an alarming stage that some motorists are questioning the cause and often seek escape roots by avoiding some of the roads associated with this problem.

Consequently, young hawkers between the ages of 10 and 16 who are supposed to be in school have taken advantage of these traffic jams to make some quick money, especially during rush hours in the morning and evening.

The kinds of goods sold by these hawkers range from phone accessories, insecticide/chemicals, sachet water, energy drinks, beverages, snacks and textile materials.

Places where such traffic jams are usually common include Ahmadu Bello Way

by Banex junction, Berger Roundabout, Wuse Market, Stadium by National Hospital and Mohammad Buhari Way in Garki.

Francis Okoye, 16, dropped out of school when he was in SS1 immediately after his father’s death. The teenager, who hawks chemicals/insecticide in traffic, said that although it was “unfortunate and unimaginable” for him to engage in the practice but it was better than stealing.

“This business of hawking by the roadside is so risky that anything can happen at any time. I have seen motorists knock one of us here down seriously. On another occasion, one of us died. Ironically, some of the motorists would attempt to escape.

“I’m only here because there is no other better option. I lost my father when I was in SS1 and by then my siblings were too tender for my mother to combine the responsibilities of our feeding and my schooling,” he explained.

When asked how much he makes in a day he said that that depends on the nature of the day’s market.

He said, “I make like N600 to N800 every day but sometimes after expenses, I go home without savings.”

Also, Rabiu Saidu is a dealer in energy

drinks and hawks on the road along the National Stadium. He stated that he doesn’t mind the risk of being knocked down by vehicles because he has to feed and save money for his education.

“I’ve written SSCE and NECO with good results and wish to further my education to university level but I was stopped by lack of funds. I come from a polygamous family and was asked by my parents to fend for myself after my secondary education so that my younger ones can get to the level I have got to.

Honestly, I have a strong determination

to further my education and that is why I’m hawking and hope to see my dream come true one day. If I see anybody to sponsor me right now I’m ready to quit this hawking,” he said.

Saidu, who noted that he would like to study English at the university, regretted that some of his colleagues in the business cannot express themselves in English language because they never had any formal education.

He therefore pleaded on their behalf for government’s assistance.

Foundation unveils youth programme Amadi Nnamdi

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ridge Life Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation based in Abuja, on Friday unveiled the new series of its flagship youth-oriented interactive media show known as ‘The Bridge Show’.

Addressing newsmen at the unveiling ceremony, the foundation’s Founder and President, Ms. Bridget Azenda, noted that the new Bridge Show has been packaged to be an attractive forum where Young Nigerians will converge once every month to collectively look into issues affecting them and also analyse other societal issues so as to make them socially alive and abreast of issues affecting their generation.

“The Bridge Show is a reputable Talk Show that will enrich young people more with a comprehensive knowledge on economic, health, legal, social, relationship and marital issues to help them form and maintain better values in the society. The Talk Show has been running for a period of Seven months, so based on research and audience feedback we have introduced some innovations that will make the programme more impactful and wider in its outreach,” Azenda said.

On the driving force behind the efforts of the foundation, Azenda said, “The burning passion to provide community based programmes that provides young people with access to expressing themselves and helping them achieve their purpose in life, the urge to establish and provide assistance and empowerment to talented young people in the society and the desire to educate people on having good livelihoods, healthy relationships and good family values, have been the great motivation and steam driving the foundation.”

According to her, the foundation was incorporated as an NGO on June 10, 2013 and since then it has been organising talk shows and other related programmes, all geared towards youth development.

“We also intend to provide medical treatment and welfare for the less privileged, and orphans in the society as well as to establish skills acquisition programmes and endowment fund for the education and empowerment of the less privileged,” she said.

Waste-to-wealth and job creation in FCT Kenneth Tyohemba

I

f you think that waste management in Abuja is only for the cleanliness of the environment, here is a reason for you to ponder.

Waste management, apart from keeping the city of Abuja clean, has also become a potential means of income generation and employment creation.

With the ‘waste to wealth’ initiative, government, corporate organisations and private individuals in Abuja are collaborating to keep the city of Abuja clean, even as many are living like ‘vultures’, earning a living from waste.

The Abuja Environmental and Protection Board, which is an umbrella body overseeing waste management in Abuja and its suburbs had apart from spending huge funds on waste management, also gone into Public Private Partnership. It has certified 22 concessionaires last year to help manage waste on a contractual basis.

Gosa Landfill, one of the major dump sites in Abuja located along Airport Road which serves as the central refuse dump for all the household and industrial waste in the FCT, attracts businessmen looking for used plas-

tics, cans and metals of all types and other items that can be recycled for several uses.

As they bring in trucks to load items that can be recycled, they are always assisted by willing men whose work is purely to work daily on sorting out the waste into categories of plastics, metals, bottles and even rubbers, where they are paid for the sorting out and for loading the trucks.

Abu Markafi, whose routine is sorting out condemned products that could be used for recycling, said he has been earning a living from the waste products. He said he is usually paid for gathering condemned pieces of iron, plastics and rubber products.

When New Telegraph on Sunday visited the site, assorted used products such as cans, tyres, plastics, iron and aluminum items were neatly sorted out in heaps, waiting to be transported to the respective recycling plants.

Despite the economic potential of waste, Abuja, just like any other city or town in Nigeria, still grapples with waste management problems; as some areas, particularly the satellite towns stink because of the refuse heaps by the streets and walkways.

This is even as containers saturated with waste are often times neglected in the open, thereby making the areas unhealthy for liv-

ing.

Analysts are of the view that the current FCT waste disposal system can never be a profitable venture unless the waste is converted or recycled into useful and usable products.

Project Director of ENVIPLAN Associates, an environment technology firm, recently said that it was not a good strategy to remove waste from one part of the city, only to dump it in another part without harnessing the potential of the waste.

“This is because waste can be converted into resources that can generate substantial revenue for the FCT,” pointing out that waste can be used in thermal waste conversion plants to generate electricity.

He called on FCTA to place more emphasis on waste processing and conversion by establishing thermal waste conversion plants, which according to him will go a long way in providing additional source of energy for the country, while at the same time ridding the city of waste problems.

This is even as agriculture experts advocate the processing and conversion of refuse to fertilizer which could be used to nourish the soil.

In spite of the need to keep Abuja clean, and subsequently derive huge economic potential of waste, analysts still insist that the whole venture will be counterproductive unless serious attention is directed at solving the waste management problems of satellite towns and other areas that are not within the FCT.

SouthEast

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JUNE 8, 2014

Ohanaeze Ndigbo: Tackling discontent, disconnect at Confab

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Leo Sobechi f there is any ethnic nationality that feels frustrated at the prospective outcome of the national conference, it is Ndigbo.

Apart from the general apathy and indifference that characterise the people’s approach to various socio-political issues in Nigeria, the fact of an existing chasm between the delegates and the people also prove a major challenge to their common aspirations and interest as a people. While the governors especially those of the five South-East states carry on as if they are bigger than Ohanaeze, the political orientation of many Ndigbo dispose them readily to a betrayal of their native interest in the country. And so, the ongoing national conference, which was seen many Igbos as a good opportunity to right the wrongs and injustices against them in Nigeria, has not proved a favourable setting so far.

However, when Ohanaeze Ndigbo held its Imeobi and General meeting on Sunday June 1, 2014, it was ostensibly to brief Ndigbo on the midterm prognosis of the national conference. The Secretary General, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, who outlined the agenda of the meeting, informed the gathering that “the main item in the agenda is a progress report on the ongoing national conference.

He stated that it was expected that the confab would round off on July 17, 2014, adding, however, that it presents a veritable opportunity for Ohanaeze's President-General, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey, to give an account to Ndigbo on the problems, prospects at the summit as well as review strategies and direction. Igariwey took some time off to brief the assemblage on what transpired during the burial of the immediate past PG, Ambassador Raph Uwechue. Igariwey regretted that apart from immediate Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, and Senator Chris Ngige, none of the incumbent five governors of the SouthEast deemed it necessary to turn up and pay last respects to the departed Ohanaeze president. Nonetheless, "our people gave him a befitting burial," Igariwey remarked.

Briefing the general assembly on what transpired at the confab, Igariwey stated that positions by all organisations from previous conferences in 1994, 2005 and 2012 were harmonized, pointing out that the major issue which Ndigbo went with to the confab was restructuring. He noted that the centre was too heavy, a reason why it was hard to deliver on most national assignments.

He asked, "What business does the centre have with the provision of primary schools or boreholes in communities?" While reiterating the emphasis on zones, he recalled that a series of meetings were held in 2012 between SouthEast and South-South and South-West leaders on the need to have zones as federating units.

He, however, lamented that "when we went to the confab, too many things started happening." Igariwey regretted that though the governors had no idea of what was on the table, they submitted the bulk of the delegates; some of whom were strangers to the position document. He noted further that “we took time to convince them,” pointing out with joy that he and Maj-Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, who is the leader of the South-East delegation, are working closely.

"There was no division among us. There

Ohanaeze President General, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey flanked by Secretary General, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu and Chief Mbazulike Amaechi at the Imeobi/General meeting of Ohanaeze recently

was no change in the document; the SouthEast governors and Ohanaeze were on the same page. There was a lot of grandstanding, the North wanted to maintain the status quo. People had a lot of grievances; we were least in local governments and states. We did not know that there were people who were equally aggrieved like the minorities in the North."

The PG disclosed that it was clear from the first week that the North and some elements from the South did not want anything like zones but preferred states as federating units.

"Those who wanted to truncate the conference said 'no'; as such zones appeared to have died after the first few days," Igariwey explained, adding that their minds were made up. He recalled a snag in the procedure of the conference which stated that issues would be settled by consensus or voting but regretted that "it was clear that zoning would not fly."

Igariwey noted that "for us, Ndigbo, we needed the confab most; we are the only people trying to even up. Others did not come to lose their advantage. We are waiting to see what happens at plenary."

He also touched on the most contentious issues like citizenship, pilgrimage and state creation, where he said the South-East position is in line with the 2005 agreement that one state more be created for the region on the grounds of fairness and equity.

When the floor was opened for contributions, it was clear that there was pain and a feeling of betrayal by Ndigbo. For instance, the convener of South East Nigeria Economic Commission, Mr. Chris Okoye, urged Ndigbo to go reach out anew to the South-West. He stressed that the voting pattern of the SouthSouth calls for a redefinition of “our association, whether we are together or not.” Okoye even suggested an audience with President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss the terms of association with him, pointing out that there are various indications that Ndigbo are being

taken for granted while other zones are being appeased and courted.

Okoye noted the position of the National Assembly that there may be no referendum to ratify the outcome of the conference. He warned that without a legal framework legitimising the conference, "we must be wasting our time and somebody must be deceiving us."

Okoye declared, "Whoever rejects zonal structure does not understand the state of Nigeria. We must stand fully on that platform."

He suggested the convocation of an Igbo Consultative Assembly, stressing that the time has come to insist that there would be no elections in 2015 unless there is a new constitution.

First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, took a swipe at the various Igbo delegates to the confab, regretting their poor knowledge of history and lack of interest in things that concern Ndigbo. He said ordinarily, the delegates should have attended the general meeting to brief Ndigbo on how and what they had seen at the conference.

Other contributors stressed the importance of a zonal structure on economic development of the country as well as the harnessing of the abundant natural resources in Nigeria.

In a statement circulated at the meeting, former State Chairman of defunct Nigeria Peoples Party, (NPP) in old Anambra State, Chief Guy Ikoku, threatened that those SouthEast delegates may be chased away from Igboland if they traded off the restructuring of the country. Ikoku declared, “There are very strong indications that the National Conference shall in the next 10 days resolve some of the salient issues that will make or break the conference."

He noted that while some of the cardinal issues to be resolved are very few, the rest can be resolved on a consensual basis now that the 20 committees have submitted their reports. On the issue of the structure of Nigeria, he contended that “there are two main

view points; one is for the retention of existing or more states and for the amendment of the existing constitution by the National Assembly. The other view point is for the present six geo-political zones to have increased regional powers. In this way, the present federal powers will be drastically reduced and we shall be implementing true federalism. This issue will now go for referendum under a new law."

The frontline politician stressed that the issue of true federalism has haunted Nigeria for the past 50 years, during which "our constitution and political structure has been militarised to the point where we now have what is referred to as unitary-federalism." He remarked that leaders of the six geo-political zones, having held several internal meetings with their people, are supposed to represent what is in their best interest. "(But) the people of the South-East geo-political zone who are mainly Igbos have unmistakably opted for a zonal arrangement with increased powers and devolution from the centre at Abuja In this way, the zone can deal with a myriad of problems such as infrastructure, education, job creation, health, energy, security and the overall wellbeing of her people.

It is up to the zone to have as many states as it requires for its administration, while enhancing its capital resource capability.

"Ohanaeze, Igbo leaders of thought, Aka Ikenga, Ndigbo Lagos, Igbo Youth Movement, Igbo traders and peasant groups, MASSOB and the Igbo elite all have come to the irrevocable conclusion that Nigeria has to be restructured now on the basis of the six zones being the federating units of the country. This will enable each zone to develop at its own pace and to establish its own criteria," he declared.

He stated that it was gratifying to note that the Yoruba South-West zonal group had agreed to this zonal restructuring arrangement; "likewise the South-South zonal group maintains that this new structure will be the best for Nigeria."

News Glo Mobile Money will improve Pharmacists’ fortune –Adebayo p.36

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT

www.newtelegraphonline.com/politics

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JUNE 8, 2014

Market and Malls ‘China Town’ where fake, genuine products compete p.42

35

Business AZUBIKE NNADOZIE, ASSISTANT Editor, SUNDAY

azubike.nnadozie@newtelegraphonline.com

ON SUNDAY

New Zenith GMD to surpass bank’s N100bn net profit T

Stories by Chijioke Iremeka

he Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc., Mr. Peter Amangbo, is expected to work hard to cut a

niche for himself by surpassing the financial, operational and managerial records of the bank under his predecessor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who has resumed office as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

Zenith Bank under Emefiele, according to the bank’s annual report for 2013, got to an enviable point when it became the first bank to hit N100bn profit after tax; with the highest market capitalisation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

New Telegraph on Sunday learnt that the bank also grew its shareholders fund of N20 million in 1990 to N509.25bn as at year end 2013. Zenith Bank continues to thrive on the strong values, brand equity, corporate culture of profes-

sionalism and service, upon which it was built.

More so, Emefiele left Zenith bank as the largest bank in Nigeria and the seventh largest in Africa by tier-1 capital. Forbes & CNBC Africa rank the bank as the third biggest company in West Africa.

World Finance voted the bank as the best Nigerian Bank in Corporate Governance in 2013 and 2014 in recognition of the bank’s ability to set an industry-wide example of best practices in corporate governance.

In a bid to continue in the spirit of these achievements, the bank’s Board of Directors appointed Amangbo as the new GMD/CEO to sustain the pace of financial growth and development of the organisation.

However, Amangbo’s former boss had already approved his appointment in his last review with CONTINUED ON PAG36

Inside

L-R: Head of Mobile Money, Globacom, Mr. Esaie Diei; National Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria Mr. Ismail Olufemi Adebayo; Commercial Director, Globacom, Mr. David Ehikhuemem and National Vice Chairman, Mr. Alkali Albert Kelong during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Globacom and ACPN in Ilorin...Thursday

Bank chiefs hing strong SMEs on robust microfinance banks

T

he Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Alex Otti and other bank chiefs have called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as the government to empower the country’s microfinance banks (MFBs) to foster the development of Small and Medium Scales Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

According to Otti, who spoke at the ‘11th CVL Leader Without Title,’ a sector leadership tribute series in honour of Otumba Olasubomi Balogun at 80, held in Lagos, said that SMEs are the nerve fibres of every industrialised economy, which shouldn’t be neglected.

“We need to empower the mi-

crofinance banks in the country to take care of SMEs. If the CBN has all the money it injected in the failed and weak banks, it should also have funds to revamp the MFBs to help the small scale businessmen, who are the major employer of labour,” he said.

In the same manner, the Group Chairman, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Otumba Olasubomi Balogun, said there is urgent need for the development of the country’s banking sector to foster desired development in the country, adding that the role of financial institutions in the provision of SME financing is part of the broader strategy for economic development in countries of operations.

Also, the Managing Director, Vina Trust Microfinance Bank, Deji Popoola said Microfinance banks are the catalyst towards development of SMEs throughout the country, saying that SMEs are often referred to as the ‘missing middle’ in developing country economies.

“SME activity is at the heart of growth, sustaining jobs, creating new employment and helping in the development and support of local production.

This is particularly important, as not everyone wants to run one’s own business,” he said.

He noted that the job creation element of SMEs can enable the poor to feel more secured, knowing that they have a stable job to go to each day.

On his part, the Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, said SME financing is designed to contribute to the seamless provision of financial services, from informal community savings and lending groups, through formal microcredit and SME lending, and finally on to commercial finance.

“As microfinance clients look to develop their businesses, they often outgrow microfinance and would have the option of becoming SME clients so that they can expand their businesses. SME financing should support greater capacity for local production and job creation,” he added.

Private money lending boosts SMEs –Ebhohimen

pg 39

Honda Accord

D-Segment Honda Accord, car of the year

pg 38

36

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Business News

Glo Mobile Money will improve Pharmacists’ fortune –Adebayo

T

Paul Ogbuokiri he National Chairman of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Mr. Olufemi Ismail Adebayo has said that his associations’ partnership with the national carrier, Globacom will help to boost their business and increase members’ income nationwide.

Adebayo spoke on Thursday at the annual national conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria held in Ilorin, Kwara State when the association formally signed the Memorandum of Understanding on mobile money partnership with Globacom.

Adebayo called on members of the Pharmacists’ association to avail themselves of the opportunity offered not only by the Glo Mobile Money, but also the Closed User Group package provided by Globacom to facilitate smooth communication between the members across the country.

Earlier in his presentation, the Head of Mobile Money, Globacom, Mr. EsaieDiei described the signing of the MOU between the two organisations as a big boost in support of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s “Cashless Policy”, adding that the entire members of ACPN will now enjoy seamless financial transactions nationwide.

Diei stated that the partnership will afford members of the asso-

ciation the rare opportunity to serve as Mobile Money Agents across the country. He said this would facilitate the adoption by the association’s members, the tradition of doing business on the move and without cash, which is what the cash-less policy is all about.

He noted that mobile money would help members’ businesses to grow and expand as they use the mobile money platform to transfer money, pay bills, pay customers, receive payments and monitor their businesses or personal accounts.

“Members of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria will enjoy, among other things, “additional revenue from mobile money services; increase

in customer traffic to their outlets to buy drugs and other products as well as reduction of cash exchange at pharmacists’ outlets.”

Diei added.

Also speaking at the event, Globacom’s Commercial Director in charge of SME, Public Sector and Glo Zone, Mr. David Ehikhuemen, said that the partnership between Globacom and ACPN will empower the Community pharmacists to take their rightful place in business in the country.

He stated that the SME Booster, the second package in the partnership is a Closed User Group (CUG) product which allows the user to make unlimited calls free of charge, to anybody that belongs to both his own Closed User Group and any other Closed User

L-R: Executive Director Engineering and Technical Services, Mr. Mohammed Saleh; President, Port of Antwerp, Mr. Macvan Peel; Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mallam Habib Abdullahi; and Beliguim Ambassador to Nigeria Mr. Dirk Ver Heyen, after a meeting between NPA and the Belgium Trade Mission to Nigeria at Eko Hotel in Lagos…Tuesday

Heineken pushes local content policy

G

Azubike Nnadozie

lobal CEO of Heineken International, Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer, has revealed that a major global policy of his organisation is for 60 per cent of raw materials needed in each African country, including Nigeria to be sourced locally.

Explaining this proposition to journalists recently, Van Boxmeer said, “I hope that within the coming years, Nigerian Breweries will be ahead in Heineken’s commitment in Africa to have by 2020, 60 per cent of our raw materials locally sourced. And with sorghum, there’s been major investment in improving the yields and that would be beneficial for all sorghum farmers in Nigeria. It is the same line we are following for cassava.”

He said:“We have been investing in sorghum since the 1980s and we have been doing a lot with sorghum, taking from people who are doing it for subsistence and doing barley at a ton per hectare, with better yields and better varieties.

“On cassava, we are particularly

interested in the by-product, the processed produce of cassava which is glucose - which we can use for products like Maltina and Fayrouz. We are not strictly beer in Nigerian Breweries; we are also into products which use agricultural produce and so we will continue to look at that.”

Commenting on Nigeria’s drive for foreign investments, he said that the country is in a strong position to outwit others in the struggle for investments, considering her huge population and growing middle-class which are quite glaring to discerning investors. He added, “There is the potential which is the combination of observations and trends that the country has and there is the population growth – which is found in the high rate of urbanisation. Nigeria’s young population has huge potentials complemented with the high spirit of the people. Even if Nigeria is a very diverse country, we understand it’s a little bit like India, but somewhere you have a fighting spirit which unifies you and this I think is a great asset for a people to do business with,” he said.

Abuja International Trade Fair holds in September Simeon Ogoegbulem Abuja

T

he Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ABUCCIMA) has said it will hold the ninth edition of its annual international trade fair in September.

ABUCCIMA said the fair which is expected to bring together key operators in the organised private sector has as its theme, ‘Strengthening small and medium enterprises for economic growth’.

President of ABUCCIMA, Dr. Solomon Nyagba, while announcing the date in Abuja, said the fair aims at promoting the revitalisation and diversification of the nation’s economy by promoting non-oil exports, especially agro-allied products.

Nyagba expressed strong optimism that the fair which attracts wide participation from

major players across different sectors of the economy offers great opportunities for business development in the Federal Capital Territory and beyond.

He further gave the assurance that the fair would serve as a platform for job creation as it would attract investors into the Nigerian economy, thereby reducing the incidence of poverty in the country.

The ABUCCIMA president expressed strong optimism that the fair which will run from September 23 to October 6 will attract quality participants from within and outside the country.

In order to ensure adequate participation from outside the country, he stated that the chamber has embarked on sensitisation visits to embassies and high commissions in Nigeria.

ABUCCIMA established in 1986 has over 2000 registered members drawn from different sectors of the economy.

New Zenith GMD to surpass bank’s N100bn net profit C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 5

the bank, saying that the new GMD/CEO is well-rounded and qualified to sustain and surpass the bank’s value-creation and growth trajectories He said, “I’m confident in his acumen and leadership capability to successfully steer the institution.

He is an astute manager of people and resources and a corporate governance savvy professional with excellent acuity and skills to crystallise benefits from existing and future opportunities.”

The CBN Governor said he was in no doubt that with the institution’s pedigree, commitment and determination to its corporate goals, Amangbo would continue to achieve better results and further impact the economy in the years ahead. He stated that Amangbo’s appointment was in line with the bank’s culture of making appointments from within its ranks of qualified and experienced senior management.

He described Amangbo as a systems-person, who knows and understands banking and the unique Nigerian economy, having been part of the bank’s core people, versed in the Zenith culture and understands the direction of the board and shareholders of the bank viz-a-viz his responsibility to deliver.

“I am confident that with the institution’s pedigree, commitment and determination to its corporate goals, Amangbo shall continue to achieve even better results and further impact the economy in the years ahead,” he added.

Before joining the banking industry, Amangbo was a senior consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he covered assignments in financial services, manufacturing and general commerce.

He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and a B.Eng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University of Benin.

He is also an alumnus of INSEAD and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

He has over two decades of banking experience with Zenith Bank in corporate finance and investment banking, business development, credit and marketing, treasury, financial control and strategic planning and operations.

He was appointed to the board of the bank and its subsidiary companies in 2005, and was a pioneer Non-Executive Director of Zenith Bank UK. Amangbo was responsible for the supervision of corporate and commercial banking, corporate finance, trade services and all the subsidiaries of the bank.

He is a member of the board of directors of Zenith Bank, Zenith Insurance Ltd, Zenith Pensions Ltd, Zenith Capital Ltd, and Zenith Bank, UK, and was a member of the board of Interswitch Nigeria Ltd from 2005 to 2007.

Amangbo

SundayTransport 37

PAUL OGBUOKIRI, paulogbuokiri@gmail.com 0802-779-0557, 08037613380

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNRDAY

JUNE 8, 2014

Hyundai bags double honours at Nigeria Auto Awards S

Paul Ogbupokiri

tylishly crafted Hyundai ix35 crossover and its acquaintance Veloster sport sedan were at the just ended 9th Nigeria Auto Awards honoured with the ‘Most preferred executive SUV’ and ‘Best in design’ awards of the year respectively.

New Telegraph on Sunday learnt that while the ix35 outclassed rival Toyota RAV4, Kia Sportage and Ford Escape in the category, the Veloster had beaten BMW X6 to emerge winner of the coveted honour.

The Hyundai ix35 is the Korean company’s rival of crossovers like the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Ford Escape, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Qahquai, Renault Captur, Peugeot 3008 and Skoda Yeti.

Among some distinguishing qualities of the Hyundai ix35 is the interior quality which the panel of adjudicators described as comfortable fit and finish, with robust switches and blue backlighting that gives the interior a classy feel.

Coupled with this is the car’s suspension which is designed to order and set-up to provide soft ride and absorb all but the biggest of potholes and bumps that you may encounter on the roads, they remarked.

The ix35 interior is adequately insulated and does a great job of filtering out tyre, road and wind noise, while the engines are reasonably powerful, smooth and quiet.

Currently adjudged one of the best SUVs in the market, the ix35 comes with some of the best equipment levels around.

Head Sales and Marketing Hyundai Motors Nigeria, Mr. Jatin Nadkarni, exclusive distributors of the brand said: ix35 is one of the most stylish in its class with sleek, sporty look that turns heads in a way you wouldn’t expect from a car with

a Hyundai badge.

He said that Hyundai ix35 comes in three choice specification levels (Elite, Active and Highlander) with 2.0 gasoline (petrol) engine that churns out 166bhp mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and fitted to 17 inch alloy wheels.

Nadkarmi also said that Hyundai Veloster is an entirely fashionable funky hatchback three-door sport-like sedan (one on the driver side and two on the passenger side) uniquely designed for drivers who want something refreshingly different and stimulating – some of the criteria that perhaps informed the jurors’ decisions.

According to him, the Veloster is equipped with a 1.6-liter four cylinder engine that produces 138 hp and 132 Ib-ft of torque and mated to a six-speed traditional automatic transmission.

Also known as the “icing on the cake, the Veloster looks like a regular two-door but when turned 180 degrees through, it looks like a four-door - thanks to the perfectly normal-looking rear door,” Nadkarni remarked.

Aggressive driving habits can threaten your safety, the safety of your passengers and others driving on the road.

Many people experience some level of road rage while they travel on the road. Dealing with road rage and aggressive drivers involves patience and the ability to remain calm.

See where you stand with road rage.

Yes or No, Do You ...

1. Overtake other vehicles only on the left.

2. Avoid blocking passing lanes.

3. Yield to faster traffic by moving to the right.

4. Keep to the right as much as possible on narrow streets and at intersections.

5. Maintain appropriate distance when following other motorists, bicyclists, motorcyclists, etc.

6. Provide appropriate distance when cutting in after passing vehicles.

7. Use headlights in cloudy, rainy and other low light con-

Auto Clinic

ditions.

8. Yield to pedestrians.

9. Come to a complete stop at stop signs, before right turn on red, etc.

10. Stop for red traffic lights.

11. Approach intersections and pedestrians at slow speeds to show your intention and ability to stop.

12. Follow right-of-way rules at four-way stops.

13. Drive below posted speed limits when conditions warrant.

14. Drive at slower speeds in construction zones.

15. Maintain speeds appropriate for conditions.

16. Use vehicle turn signals for all turns and lane changes.

17. Make eye contact and signal intentions where needed.

18. Acknowledge intentions of others.

19. Use your horn sparingly around pedestrians, at night, around hospitals, etc.

20. Avoid unnecessary use of highbeam headlights.

21. Yield and move to the right for emergency vehicles.

22. Refrain from flashing headlights to signal a desire to pass.

23. Drive trucks at posted speeds, in the proper lanes, using non-aggressive lane changing.

24. Make slow, deliberate U-turns.

25. Maintain proper speeds around roadway crashes.

26. Avoid returning inappropriate gestures.

26. Avoid challenging other drivers.

27. Try to get out of the way of aggressive drivers.

28. Refrain from momentarily using High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to pass vehicles.

29. Focus on driving and avoid distracting activities (e.g., smoking, use of a car telephone, reading, and shaving).

30. Avoid driving when drowsy.

Source: www.progressive.com

38

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sunday Transport

D-Segment Honda Accord, car of the year

T

Paul Ogbuokiri he panel of adjudicators of Nigeria Auto Awards has voted D-Segment Honda Accord the ‘Executive car of the year.’

Honda Accord outpaced rival mid-size family sedans including Toyota Camry, Kia Optima and Hyundai Sonata to win the coveted plaque at the 9th edition of the awards.

The award which took p l a c e amid fanfare at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos attracted a large number of automobile stakeholders and government officials.

Honda’s win wasn’t a big surprise as the Accord boasted the highest attributes among the brand watch factors, including affordability, ‘cool’ factor, driving comfort, driving performance, durability/reliability, exterior styling, fuel efficiency, interior layout, prestige/ sophistication, reputation, ruggedness and safety.

The jurors said strong consumer perception also helped drive Honda Accord’s success to earn top honour among rival brands.

The adjudicators added that responses from numerous new car and truck owners as well as stakeholders facilitated their opinions about various brands that were categorised into 33 groups, including tyres, workshops and logistics.

Head, Sales and Marketing, The Honda Place, Deepak Daryanani, had in his postaward remarks said, “A brand is really built over the long haul through consumers’ experiences with its products, and Honda is committed to delivering class-leading vehicles that provide lasting enjoyment and value to our customers.”

He said the 2014 Honda Accord stuck to its super-sensible reputation with accessible safety technology, great fuel economy, and unparalleled composure.

“Safety is Accord’s strength with high scores in toughest crash tests, it offers some breakthrough safety items that you might not expect to see in an affordable

model,” The Honda Place sales and marketing coordinator affirmed.

Honda has consistently improved the Accord not only to outperform competitions, but to reintegrate the sporty driving dynamics of much earlier Accords.

Daryanani said the Accord is detailed with premi-

face.

The Accord is offered in standard LX and EXL 2.4 litre four-cylinder engine with 173 bhp, mated to a five-speed automatic transmission (A/T) in Nigeria.

“The Accord is one of the few new ‘IIHS Top Safety Pick+’ vehicles; and it achieves a top five-star overall score (albeit four stars for frontal im-

pact), Mr. Daryanani said.

He said, “Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning and Adaptive Cruise Control systems are all available on the Accord, and a cool new LaneWatch Blind Spot Display provides a wide view of the passenger side of the vehicle on the Multi-Information Display (i-MID) screen the moment you flick the turn signal.”

The Accord, according to him, is renowned for its drive leisure and excellent resale value which has earned it a benchmark among most corporate and blue-chip companies – little wonder it got itself a sobriquet, ‘End of Discussion.’

u m accessory such as LED head lamps, earth dream technology, a start/stop button a n d paddle shift gear to give the car a deserving character.

Currently one of the most aggressive models in the Honda line-up, the Accord wields significant improvement over its predecessor when viewed against the backdrop of innovations like class leading cabin space, excellent fuel economy and almost a cubic foot more cargo volume.

Other attractive innovations are the car’s new electric power steering with non-contact torque sensor for linear steering feel and world’s first steel and aluminum bonded front sur-

Ford to launch advanced steering technology AZUBIKE NNADOZIE

F

ord Motor Company has announced the introduction of its new generation of steering technology that will help make vehicles easier to manoeuvre at low speeds and in tight spaces.

At higher speeds, the new technology will help make the vehicles more agile and fun to drive.

“First and foremost, all Ford Motor Company products have to offer a great driving experience. This new steering technology can make any vehicle easier to manoeuvre and more fun to drive,” said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development.

Adaptive steering changes the ratio between the driver’s

actions at the steering wheel – the number of turns – and how much the front wheels turn.

In traditional vehicles, this is a fixed steering ratio. With Ford’s new Adaptive Steering, the steering ratio continually changes with vehicle speed, optimising the steering response in all conditions.

At lower speeds, such as when pulling into a parking space or manoeuvring in tight quarters, the new system makes the vehicle more agile and easier to turn; as it dials more steering into the road wheel. Each lowspeed manoeuvre requires less turning of the steering wheel.

At highway speeds, the system further optimises steering response, enabling the vehicle to react more smoothly and precisely to driver input. Adaptive

steering can help the driver feel more comfortable and can make any drive more enjoyable.

Ford’s system uses a precision-controlled actuator placed inside the steering wheel, and requires no change to a vehicle’s traditional steering system. The

actuator – an electric motor and gearing system – can essentially add to or subtract from a driver’s steering inputs. The result is a better driving experience at all speeds, regardless of vehicle size or class.

Adaptive Steering will be-

come available in the Ford Edge in future. The system was developed for production by Ford in collaboration with Takata, a leading supplier of automotive steering and safety systems and a Ford Aligned Business Framework partner.

NRC increases mass transit service in Lagos Paul Ogbuokiri

N

igeria Railway Corporation (NRC) said that it has increased its Mass Transit Train Service with additional two rakes of 10 coaches and one rake of 12 coaches with frequency of 18 trips per day carriage capacity of 20,000 passengers.

This was stated on Wednesday by the Assistant Director, Public Relation, NRC, Mr. David Ndakotsu.

He told New Telegraph on Sunday that the corporation also introduced a new train set of two Diesel multiple Units DMUs with five coaches and a car-

riage capacity of 72 seating and 108 standing capacity.

According to him, the DMUs will run 18 trips per day with a business class rate of N800.00 and N230.00 for standard class coaches.

Ndakotsu further said that the peak period train service will run from Ijoko to Agbado to Ikeja to Oshoditp Ebute –Metta Junction and terminates at Iddo.

The second peak period train service runs from Iddo to Ebutte-Metta toYaba to Mushin to Oshodi to Ikeja to Agege to Agbado to Ijoko, he said, adding that two train services will run on Saturdays between 5 am and 4 pm.

39

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

Sunday Interview

Private money lending boosts SMEs –Ebhohimen

Mr. Osemekhian Ebhohimen is the director of Rehobothfix Integrated Services Ltd, a private money lending outfit. In this interview with CHIJIOKE IREMEKA, he says that private money lending boosts Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria

One of the major problems with SMEs in the country is seed capital. How conveniently can small business capital be accessed from your organisation with or without collateral?

Our role is to match lenders with borrowers. For now, the format is an e-transaction. The request for loan is made through our online portal, www. myescrowpay.com. When we receive a request from the borrower, we assess the request and if confirmed viable, we then look for a lender.

Do you accept deposits from the public?

No, we don’t accept deposits from the public or the lenders. We are not a commercial bank. All we do is to match the lenders with the borrowers. The borrowers come with moveable collateral that are worth the money they are borrowing.

In fact, we have to value the collateral slightly below the amount in question to enable us to dispose of it easily in case of default.

Lenders and Borrowers register online, as I said. But other aspects of it such as the assessment and valuation of the collateral are done physically. Currently, we have a number of borrowers and a few lenders.

We are still looking out for lenders, who have idle funds to lend to us on interest for three months. We only borrow from the lender when the borrower is ready to collect the funds with his collateral.

We collect the idle funds from the lenders and offer them four per cent interest to lend out to our customers, while we give the loan to the borrowers at 10 per cent interest rate, payable within two months.

To make it clearer, when we get a request, we send the request to all our lenders, telling them what we have at hand. So, the lenders have to indicate their interest by responding to the request to lend us the money for three months, while we give it out to the borrowers for two months. We select from the pool of lender responses. And we give it to them at 10 per cent per month because we incur other expenses securing the business.

We have to secure the collateral with insurance and security among other things. These funds are intended for people who do not want it for personal consumption but those who want to use it to create value, especially the small and medium scale businesses, which are our targets. The whole idea is

to create value in the country.

What is the minimum and maximum amount of money you lend to the customers as loan?

It depends on the value of collateral provided by the borrower. We can give N100, 000 or N1, 000, 000 as the case may be but they are all short-term loans. And also, it depends on the availability of funds.

Don’t you think that two months is not rather too short for one to return such amount of loan?

Well, like I said earlier, this is not the form of money that one uses for a wedding or a party. It has to go into business and multiply itself almost immediately. The loan we give out is mainly used by the borrowers to secure and execute short-term contracts and supplies.

It’s mainly a short-

term supply.

Businesses that have to do with lending and borrowing money are prone to lawsuits. How do you hope to manage the issue of business litigation?

Exactly, because of litigation, we have ensured that at the point of borrowing the fund, there will be an agreement. The lender signs an agreement with us and we sign an agreement with the borrower. These transactions will be recorded with witnesses.

So, of what need would there be for litigation, when everything is documented and put on video? There is a clear difference between what we do and what commercial banks do. Our practices are different from banks because banks collect deposits but we don’t. We only help lenders utilise idle cash to create value for other businessmen and women while creating value for themselves.

The duration of our agreement is 60 days and it does not change. We only lend to the borrowers, who have already secured collateral.

are your major challenges in this business?

The major challenge that we encounter is awareness creation. Awareness is not there yet. The business is still young. So, people do not yet know the opportunity that we offer to Nigerians. So, getting them to appreciate the opportunity that exists within our company is the major challenge.

This is really a tough one.

What

How do you handle a situation where people default in keeping their own part of bargain and what happens if a customer defaults?

In the event of default, we hold on to the collateral and give it to the lender.

Of course before the lender gives his money, we will let him know the type of collateral involved. So, when the borrower defaults, he has to forfeit the collateral, which will be handed over to the lender. But if he asks us to dispose of it, we will and pay him back his money.

I consider credibility a major challenge with this form of business. Also, loaning the funds is not the problem, but getting them. How do you intend to tackle this?

Yes, getting the fund is a problem but loaning it out is not. But as of now, we have a couple of lenders already and we are hoping to get more. All of them are individual lenders. We believe that as awareness goes out, more lenders will come and more borrowers would partake from the scheme. We just have to make use of idle resources to create wealth.

On our own side of credibility, we will ensure that the collateral is there for the lenders and also ensure that the money is paid back in due time. It’s only when you don’t pay back that your credibility has been trampled upon. We just have to make sure the borrowers don’t default.

The essence of business is to make profit. If this is the case with your business, how then do you make your own profit?

Like I said, the lenders give to us at four per cent and we give to borrowers at 10 per cent. If you work it out, you will see what we have there. Taking care of our expenses, we may have between four or five per cent profit.

Don’t you think that a two-month debt servicing period is quite short for a borrower to return the fund?

Those are the risks that they have to take. Before they come to us they should have taken their time to cross-check their ability to make the money within the stipulated time.

This is an opportunity for people who have idle resources to invest it and gain something worth more than the loan within three months. We are trusted and proven for this job.

40

T

he mood in the Nigerian stock market, following an enthusiastic month of trading, appeared tempered in the week due to profittaking activities by some investors. The Market index appreciated marginally by 0.13% week- on- week (WoW). The Equities market recorded a decline of 4.17% and 5.70% in volume and value of transactions traded respectively even as DANGCEM and some key banking stocks traded in the negative region.

Analysis of the All Share Index trend in 2014 shows oscillatory movements in price characterized by mild peaks and profound troughs largely due to rapid profit taking by investors following slight gains in stock prices. Based on our Sectoral analysis, most stocks on the exchange are trading below their fundamental prices and therefore portend considerable upside for the overall market .Going by past trends however, perceived activities of profit-takers in the coming weeks may surface thereby affecting the mood of the market whilst medium to long term investors may also possibly begin to take positions ahead of half year result releases thus neutralizing the impact of profit-takers.

JUNE 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Bears may be weary of Bulls …profit takers drag market’s upward trend

Banking: Profit Takers Slow Sector Returns

The recent rally in the banking stocks tempered significantly as only 5 out of 15 stocks gained to bring the sector’s YtD return to 0.73%. Investors seemingly took profit after a month of gains in May, which saw majority of the banking stocks appreciate markedly, save for WEMABANK which declined by 5.10% and UNITYBNK which traded flat. ETI (29.23%), FCMB (21.13%), and ACCESS (17.58%) were the top gainers in May driven by renewed investor confidence in the sector.

The top gainers this week were STANBIC (5.17%), WEMABANK (5.38%), and DIAMOND (1.49%), while the top losers were SKYEBANK (-3.68%), ACCESS (-3.47%), and FCMB (-3.02%). Although we expect profit taking activities to be sustained in subsequent weeks, these stocks still portend value for investors. Furthermore, we expect Q2:2014 results to push the sector further upwards as Banks begin to release their first half year (H1:2014) numbers in the coming weeks.

Insurance: Gaining Streak Halts

Stocks in the insurance sector traded in both directions but the losers outperformed the gainers, bringing sector weekly returns to -0.07%. The top gainers in the week were OASISINS, CUSTODYINS and AIICO, which gained 3.85%, 3.38% and 2.44% respectively. The price of OASISINS has witnessed a high level of volatility since FBNH acquired 71% of its shares, though remaining below the NGN0.65 mark. CUSTODYINS maintained its 4-week gaining streak owing to investors’ positive sentiments given expectations of impressive fundamental performance of the company, in line with historical trend.

Top losers for the week, however, were WAPIC, NEM and PRESTIGE which shed 8.86%, 5.81% and 3.77% owing to the activities of profit takers during the week. Looking forward, we expect more investors to shift focus to profitable companies in the sector and our top picks based on fundamentals and investors’ sentiments are CUSTODYINS, CONTINSURE, MANSARD, NEM and AIICO.

Consumer Goods: Positive Swings Prevail

The consumer goods sector’s performance reflected the prevalence of positive sentiments in the previous week. This was noticed across the various sub-sectors including food & beverage and brewery subsectors.

Within the Food and Beverage Industry (FBI), 7UP, CADBURY, DANGFLOUR, FLOURMILL and NASCON recorded positive trades having returned 4.90%, 5.50%, 6.25%, 1.11% and 0.39% respectively WoW. VITAFOAM also gained 6.16%. Sentiments did not favour such stocks as NESTLE, NNFM, UNILEVER and VONO which shed 3.97%, 5%, 3.14% and 4.43% in that order. We think investors are relatively calm in their investment decisions concerning the FBI stocks. The sector will possibly experience some gyration in the coming week as investors’ taking position ahead of H1:2014 numbers persist.

The brewery sector was quite bullish in the week on the back of NB’s WoW return of 1.48%. This is still not unconnected with the positive news flow on the company’s merger with consolidated breweries plc.

GUINNESS’ performance is still lackluster as the stock lost 0.55% at the close of the week while INTBREW closed the week flat.

Overall, the consumer goods sector in the week returned +1.03% with a YtD return of -9.46%. We see the sector’s performance within the positive territory in the coming week in line with the general market mood.

Industrial Goods: Investors Key In to Lafarge Affiliated Stocks

Much of the news on the cement sector that filtered in to the market during the week surrounded Lafarge WAPCO, UNICEM and ASHAKACEM’s suit against Standard Organisation of Nigeria’s new cement standard (which limit’s the companies’ majorly produced 32.5 cement grade to plastering) as well as Lafarge’s plans to consolidate its Nigerian and South African businesses. Lafarge’s press release on tuesday concerning the consolidation of Lafarge

WAPCO, ASHAKACEM, Atlas cement, UNICEM and Lafarge South Africa Holdings triggered investors’ positive interest in the stock, which consequently gained 10% on Wednesday. WAPCO advanced 4.89% WoW as investors exited positions at the tail end of the week.

The rally on ASHAKACEM further persisted with the stock returning 21.76% WoW (though it lost 5.49% on the last trading day) as investors keyed into possible benefits from the consolidation as well as likely offering of Lafarge WAPCO for ASHAKACEM’s shares. SON’s proposed cement standard immediately favours DANGCEM as the company’s recent rebranding exercise entailed the conversion of the prior Dangote Portland cement bag to 42.5R grade called the 3X. The stock however continued in its upward and downward swing in the week. DANGCEM closed the week 2.13% down and as such (given DANGCEM’s heavy weight), the industrial goods sector lost 1.26% WoW. We expect investors’ position taking ahead of H1:2014 results to be the major driver of positive returns in the coming weeks.

Agric: PRESCO Drives Sector’s +2.09% gain

Positive sentiments dominated the week’s trading on PRESCO as it returned 4.17% on higher volumes. Profit taking activities on LIVESTOCK led to 3.48% decline in its price as at close of trade on Thursday (vs. the previous week’s 5.33% gain). By Friday however, the stock gained 3.28% to bring the WtD return to -0.32%. OKOMUOIL initially gained during the week before shedding points on Friday to return -0.30% for the week. ELLAHLAKES didn’t trade at all during the week while FTNCOCOA remained flat as little volumes were traded.

Barring any major trigger to drive the direction of trades for the coming week, technical sentiments will continue to dominate.

Our technical indicators show that OKOMUOIL and PRESCO are fairly in the overbought region and are approaching their resistance levels, indicating a possible turnaround in current uptrend. LIVESTOCK

on the other hand may continue to trade around the N3.00 mark.

Oil and Gas: Forte Oil Maintains Industry Leadership

The positive sentiment that trailed FO’s inclusion in the MSCI frontier index continued this week as the stock consolidated on the previous week’s gains. FO returned 16.89% for the week to close at NGN250.01.

While we expect positive sentiments to be sustained in the coming weeks, the momentum of the rally is slowing and the activity of profit takers might trigger a downward trend.

Cautious trading was observed on OANDO this week as it gained during the first two trading days of the week and shed points consecutively for the next two.

However, a considerable rally on the last trading day of the week saw the stock close at NGN19.98, 9.72% gain from the previous week. We believe information regarding the granting of ministerial consent on the completion of ConocoPhillips acquisition by Oando will determine the stock’s direction in the coming weeks.

Two successive days of featuring on the top losers’ chart saw MRS leading the industry’s laggards this week, returning -9.98% to close at NGN46.35. MOBIL and ETERNA were the other industry losers for the week with 3.06% and 1.14% declines respectively while CONOIL, SEPLAT and TOTAL closed 7.42%, 2.44% and 2.38% up in that order.

Healthcare: NEIMETH Expands Operations

Owing to the negative sentiments which affected the most capitalized stocks in the sector during the week, the Health sector lost 0.21%. The price of MAYBAKER reversed during the week resulting in -5.62% price returns for the week (vs. WtD returns of 6.59% last week). FIDSON saw a level of profit taking during the week but its twoday gains brought it to NGN2.90, indicating 3.57% returns for the week.

Following the break of the news about NEIMETH’s injection of NGN160mn to

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Market Report upgrade its factory, the stock gained 12.15% during the week.

EVANSMED also enjoyed a level of rally, which pushed its price up by 4.28% to close the week at NGN2.68. Our top picks for the sector, which we believe will offer significant returns to investors, remain FIDSON and GLAXOSMITH.

Services: Investors’ Optimism Lingers

The services sector remained optimistic during the week as it gained 3.74% as measured by our Meri –Services index to drive total returns to date to 6.73%.

Trans-Nationwide Express Plc (TRANSEXPR), a leading logistics company, has recorded an increase of 97.44% in share price YtD, which is the highest gain in the sector and second highest in the equities market. This feat has been driven principally by its impressive FY: 2013 scorecard.

The stock continues to enjoy positive sentiments from investors in spite of the release of a “not so impressive“Q1:2014 result, gaining 5.00% this week.

AIRSERVICE bounced back from a predominantly bearish year of trading, as the share price appreciated by 10.53% to drive returns to date to -27.81%. TRANSCORP, UPL and RTBRISCOE also recorded significant positive price movements.

The considerable decline seen in CAVERTON since it started trading on the NSEASI moderated this week as the stock shed 18.48% as against the previous weeks’ losses of 26.11% and 22.93%. The slowdown in its share price decline may not be unrelated with the company’s interaction with stakeholders where management expressed their commitment to corporate governance, maintenance of high level of operational safety and expansion of revenue base.

CAVERTON recently approved a dividend of NGN0.125k implying a dividend yield of 2.83% at the current market price.

All counters in the sector traded in the positive region this week save for CAVERTON and NAHCO. We expect positive sentiments to persist in the sector albeit marginally.

ICTWorld

with

Kingsley Roberts kingndcha@yahoo.co.uk

Don’t run the risk, be secured

E

veryone’s heard that old chestnut, ‘We’re safe because we’re behind the firewall,’ and in too many organizations, this is treated as gospel.

• Believing you’re secure for no apparent reason or for the wrong reasons.

Everyone’s heard that old chestnut, “We’re safe because we’re behind the firewall,” and in too many organizations, this is treated as gospel. Because Web services tend to be implemented on servers inside the organization, worry about their inherent security is often discounted, but the fact remains that most firewalls will simply pass along a Web services request, including any attack code. SOAP is the attacker’s friend, and the age of the firewall is drawing to a close.

The very idea of SOA is to promote reuse and repurposing of common functionality; it’s about externalizing the data schema and thereby further erasing the distinction between “inside” and “outside.”

• Misapplying vulnerability metrics. It’s easy enough to search databases of vulnerabilities (such as the CVE or BugTraq) to see how many security problems have turned up in a given product and how severe they are. Rather than asking the vendor directly about security, some security engineers incorrectly rely on public metrics such as the number and severity of publicly reported bugs to determine the product’s quality. Whether these metrics are correlated with actual product security remains an open research question.

A better idea is to ask a vendor questions about security assurance in their SDLC: do they use the touchpoints?1 • Trusting the vendors (too much).

Vendors might intentionally or un-

intentionally give inaccurate results.

A vendor who performs penetration testing, for example, might not have tested the product or version being considered, thus the testing’s value might be reduced. But some data are more useful than others. Does the vendor review code with sourcecode analysis tools such as those from Fortify, Secure Software, or Ounce Labs? What kinds of results can the vendor show you?

• Building a proof of concept that ignores security “for now.” SOA gurus recommend the “start small and grow” approach to re-architecture.

This approach most often results in a proof-of-concept application that acts as a test of some framework or collection of vendor products. Frequently, security isn’t a requirement in this proof of concept, and technical issues other than the functional success of the proof of concept aren’t revisited before a procurement decision is made. Thus, the opportunity to consider software security is missed.

Don’t leave security for later—ever.

Ironically, the “security as a feature” approach at least opens the door to a discussion of security.

• Believing security is somebody else’s job. This could be a variant of “assuming that the vendor will take care of security,” or it could be a symptom of an organization in which security specialists aren’t responsible for the security of the development systems in use. Software security is everybody’s job. By involving development in security, we cut through the myth of security by firewall.

• Giving up hope. The security specialist (if there is one) knows that he or she can only say “no” so many times and only has a limited amount of influence over purchas-

ing decisions. Why spend the time questioning a vendor or analyzing a SOA platform’s security when his or her actions are unlikely to impact the procurement or deployment decision? For this person, it seems easier and better to use any silver bullets to influence a critical piece of security infrastructure. Don’t give up hope.

The only way we’ll fix the security problem we’re in is by building better software.

• Putting too much weight on security standards and security features.

Standards such as SSL (for Web servers), S/MIME (for email), and WS-Security (in the Web services space) are widely perceived to provide security.

Too many organizations fail to understand that although these standards are important, they don’t actually do anything to secure a system. An implementation bug or an architectural flaw in a product can leave a system that’s completely standards compliant completely insecure as well. Use a discussion of security features as a flying wedge to talk about more intensive software security assurance.

• Doing it all yourself. To end this list on a positive note, some organizations don’t ask the security question because they plan to come to their own conclusions by performing their own hard-core analysis and testing.

Good! Despite the failure of users to ask about software security when it comes to SOA, vendors are actually quite willing, able, and, in many cases, eager to provide improved security in their products. In other words, there’s adequate supply. The problem is that there’s insufficient demand, at least as expressed in buying decisions.

All for SOA, SOA for all Why don’t we ask the security

question of every software vendor we interview (SOA or otherwise)?

In many cases, the decision to do so could be entirely reasonable. Whenever we look at a vendor, we should make an explicit decision whether the product’s security is important, and if not, document why it’s not. For many organizations, our 13 SOA security snares could be the right starting point. For those vendors from whom we want and in fact need to know how secure the product is, we need to know what to ask and how to assess the answers. Among the measures a software vendor might use to increase the robustness of their products against security failures, you should look for some of the following: • strong security involvement in architecture or design, • good software engineering practices, • security-focused quality assurance (QA), • penetration testing, • automated vulnerability testing, • manual or automated source code • defect density prediction, • developers trained in software security, • a development methodology, such as the touchpoints, that helps identify security problems before they occur,1 and • other third-party reviews. Unfortunately, there’s no single answer to how much is enough. Should vendors be expected to meet all or most of them? How do we prioritize between competing claims? How should we compare two months of security-focused QA, for example, to a week of automatic code analysis? Is a product that has undergone a BITS

(www. bitsinfo.org/about.html) evaluation more secure than one in which all developers are trained on software security touchpoints?N In reality, these questions aren’t that different from those raised in the procurement cycle, such as the tradeoff between cost and performance, with one exception: these are the criteria that aren’t typically assessed in a formal manner as part of the process. It’s important to remember that no evaluation process guarantees a product’s success, but it does help improve the odds of success while providing us with additional recourse should issues arise. Following a proof-ofconcept exercise, for example, we can feel relatively certain that we’ve identified reasonable performance.

By extending a product’s underlying security to similar scrutiny, we can not only improve the likelihood that a vendor product won’t expose a security breach within the enterprise, but also provide greater insight into its security architecture so that we can more readily bolster any uncovered shortcomings.

For organizations building SOA via Web services, solving the security problem requires both a secure SOA framework and securing the Web services themselves. Purchasers of Web services platforms can and should ask their vendors about how they secure their platforms. And developers of Web services on top of these platforms should take an equal responsibility and introduce rigor in their design and testing, so that the resulting Web services don’t become the “hack me” locations of choice.

By asking SOA vendors, “How do you know your product is secure?” organizations will raise the bar for software security.

MARKETS&MALLS

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JUNE 8, 2014

Tel: 08027790557, 08037613380

‘China Town’ where fake, genuine products compete A

Paul Ogbuokiri t the China Shopping Complex in Ojota, Lagos, shops go for as much as N1.17m per

annum.

Nigerians and Chinese trade in this market, known as ‘China Town’.

However, the bad reputation of Chinese products in Nigeria trails this market, but Nigerians and other nationals here say that in Chinese markets all over the world, the quality you want is what you get.

As you approach the gate, you are greeted with the inscription, ‘Long live Nigeria-China Friendship’, etched on the side of a wall, which further reminds you of the friendly economic bond between the two countries. It also inclines your mind to what to expect when you get inside.

You are not disappointed as you notice Chinese and Nigerian nationals mingling freely in shops and within the vicinity of the sprawling two-storey market that is owned by a Chinese man named Jackson and painted in red — a colour the Chinese believe brings good luck and blessing.

A problem of communication arises as the first three Chinese people you engage in impromptu chats don’t speak English. Where in the world are you going to find a Chinese who speaks English or a Nigerian who speaks Chinese? you wonder.

You are directed to the shop of Mr. Mike Chen, a delightful personality, who tells you in perfect English that he has been in Nigeria for 10 years. He also tells you that he is a member of the NigeriaChina Business Council where he acts as an official interpreter.

“The main Chinese people started to come to Nigeria from 1998 and this was 20 years after the Chinese economy (locked since 1978) was opened. When they came, there was no organised China market for them and this led to the establishment of the first China market in highbrow Ikoyi,” he said.

The market was inaugurated in 2005 by then First lady, Mrs. Stella Obasanjo.

Two years before then (2003), Chen says, Chinese trade in Nigeria was booming and the establishment of the market in 2005 crowned it.

“Then, all the shops were occupied by Nigerians and Chinese,” he said.

Currently, activities at the market are witnessing a downturn, as Chen said not all the shops are currently occupied. He said Chinese shop owners outnumber their Nigerian counterparts by 50 per cent.

“About 60 Chinese and 30 Nigerians have shops in this complex,” he stressed.

Mr. Udoka Nwejike, Chen’s friend and a notable importer of goods from China, gave a clue to why all the shops are not occupied. Rent per annum per shop can be as high as $7,700 (N1.17m).

This, he said, is inclusive of service charge.

“The Chinese people give us Nigerians discount in service charges. They pay N35, 000 per month, while we pay N25, 000. With that money, you enjoy uninterrupted electricity, good security as well as other maintenance services,” he said.

Chen and Nwejike agree that the 2005 closure of the complex by the Nigerian Customs Service on allegations that contraband was being brought into the market, also contributed to the downturn.

“There are still some people who still do not know that this place

has reopened for business,” Nwejike noted.

He stated that there was also the problem of multiple taxation by the Lagos State Government, which was hardly bothered because the place is owned by a Chinese. Chen and Nwejike also agree that the general economic recession worldwide has affected the market.

According to Chen, many Chinese have started diversifying their businesses from trading to manufacturing, which the Nigerian government favours.

“When you make the first pot of gold, you use it to plan and establish big business,” he said, quoting a Chinese proverb.

Chen also said that many Nigerians now travel directly to China to import various goods.

Still, Nwejike and Chen had to answer the big question concerning the alleged inferior goods in the market.

In this regard, Chen was unbelievably frank. He says Chinese control of their export sector is not very strict and that it is the country where the goods are intended that has to enforce compliance to strict standards. ”For example, you just can’t export anything that does not meet the required standards to Europe and America. Even when such goods leave the shores of China, they are not allowed to get into these countries. But Nigerian businessmen and the regulators are very corrupt. You can clear anything from Nigerian ports,” he said.

He lamented that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria does not strongly regulate what comes into the country.

He and Nwejike then made reference to the poverty factor.

Chen said, “A banker can afford to buy a suit worth N50,000 because he can afford it. But what

about the majority of Nigerians who are either unemployed or earn between N10,000 and N15,000 per month? Such people need pairs of shoes that go for N500 and little money for T-shirts.”

He said Chinese markets recognise this fact and therefore have different goods for different categories of people. As strict as the European and the American markets are, China still has products that meet their standards, he said.

Nwejike said what the Chinese have done is to make these products which otherwise would be out of the reach of the masses affordable. They produce according to the quality that you want.

He noted that in China Town, there are suits that cost as much as N25,000 and others that can be bought for between N6,000 and N7,000.

“The lowest paid Nigerian can come here and buy something, just like the highest paid,” he stressed.

China Town, Ojota

Two million transact business in Alaba Int’l market daily

A

laba International Market has over 5000 shops, excluding attachments and sub-shops and more than two million people transact business in this market daily.

According to the president of the market association, Mr. Tony Iju, the vision of the leadership of the association is to ensure that all its members become e-commerce compliant in the next couple of years. To this end, the alabaelectronics.com website has been hosted to provide Internet services for its members.

This will also afford its members the use of the market’s own web mail and thus providing e-mail security and credibility for its members in their dealings with their international partners, he told New Telegraph on Sunday.

Iju also said that the association plans to upgrade all structures in the market to provide modern facilities in the market such that buyers and sellers have easy business transactions concluded within the shortest possible time.

According to him, banking facilities which are available all over

the market have made customers to stop carrying cash over long distances, thus eliminating the risk of loss on their way to the market. “Other modern business facilities are available and they make business possible and easy without physical contact between buyers and sellers in the market,” he said.

Iju noted that in view of the fact that all electronics products, from communications, broadcasting, computers, televisions, videos, home appliances, refrigerators, musicals, video games to gen-

erators, satellite systems, general goods etc are available in the market, buyers throng the place from as far as Ghana, Niger, Chad, Togo, Benin Republic, East Africa etc. to make their purchases.

According to him, manufacturers from around the world jostle to ensure that their brands are represented in the market, and they have no regret to do so.

“In Nigeria, resellers from almost all major cities come to Alaba International Market (Electronics) for their supply of electronics and allied products,” he said.

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Body&Soul

Cool kicks for casual outing

Vanessa Okwara

U

ntil a few years ago, pairing canvas or sneakers with anything but the most casual of clothes was considered a fashion ‘No no’. However, as they shed their athletic coat and become refined and urbane in design,

they gained versatility.

Whether you’re engaging in a gentlemanly tennis match at the club, running errands on the city streets or even attending a social event; the best sneakers can do it all.

Popularly called kicks, the right sneakers can ‘relax’ a buttoned-up look, making it more

accessible, comfortable and practical. For a Friday fashion, try a pair as an alternative to a stuffy dress shoe to the office.

It’s the perfect way to start the weekend.

Rubber soles and arch support mean you can be comfortable all day, and these trainers will allow your feet to breathe as the

temperature heats up.

Kicks are easy to rock with jeans and T-shirt, shorts or Chinos. They are perfect for outdoor adventures or for those who want to add an edge to their look for that special outing. The coolest canvas/sneakers kick off the evening the right way.

However, there are a

few rules to note when wearing your sneakers and canvas -they are totally off for the workplace unless it is for ‘Thank God is Friday’. They should never be worn to an interview.

In economically unstable times, this is one fashion mistake you can’t afford to make. Sneak-

ers are strictly for dress down affairs where you want to completely relax and have fun and not for a serious business meeting.

Give your casual footwear an upgrade with canvas from luxury makers crafted out of strong canvas material and define your style with glamourous designs.

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Body&Soul

Dad was against our marriage at first - Jackson and Grace Bent Jackson Bent, a retired soldier, is the husband of a former senator representing Adamawa South, Folashade Grace. They share their love story with BAYO ADEOYE How did meet?

Grace: We met in Kaduna; I was a secondary school young girl. I think I was 18 years old then, very naïve and inexperienced.

Jackson: We met in Kaduna. I met her on a street close to our barrack. I just liked her stature and the fact that she was not like every other girl around.

How did he ‘toast’ you?

Grace: It was funny; you know that at the time that we were growing up, we saw soldiers as bullies and wicked people that kill at the slightest provocation. I met him in his uniform. He was a young soldier; he was a big and macho man. His big stature scared me.

His body was full of muscles. When he called me, I ran away and shouted at him not to come near me; but he kept coming to our house. Of course, he couldn’t come into the house, but he always found his way; he would bribe the security man to call me and I always shouted at him, ‘This man, what are you looking for?’ He kept coming and coming, but after about one year, he got tired and told me he had never seen a girl as stubborn as I was. He stopped coming but he came back after eight months when he located one of my friends. This made it possible for my husband to establish rapport with me, but I never wanted to stay with him alone. After a while, that friend and another –who is late now-begged me and convinced me. One thing led to another.

Jackson: It was war convincing her that I really wanted to marry her.

Anytime I approached her, she would run away as if I wanted to kidnap her. So, I stayed away until I met a friend who was dating her friend.

That her friend was able to convince her of my genuine intention.

After agreeing to date him, how did you convince your Yoruba parents?

When I remained adamant on marrying him, my father soft-pedalled.

But it wasn’t easy. That was why we courted for nine years. We fought and fought and fought before we were allowed to get married. I remember the day he called our NITEL line and my dad picked it and he told my dad he is from Adamawa. My dad told him, ‘Look, my daughter will never marry a gambari’. (laughter) Jackson: Convincing her parents was ‘part two’ of the whole episode. But God was able to intervene and here we are today.

But one would have thought that growing up in Kaduna would have eased things a bit?

Grace: Yes, that was what I thought too. But it never did. Do you know that because they never wanted me to marry somebody from the North, they sent me to back to Ilesa for my secondary school? But that didn’t stop me from achieving what I wanted.

It was a wasted effort for them.

How did your husband allow you to go into politics?

He never liked politics and he always said he would never want to be one. He always told me that in military, you would know your enemies, but in politics, your best friends could be your worst enemies. We have lots and lots of hypocrites, so he never liked it. But I told him that he should not worry because God has called me and He protects and guides who He has called and He will give me the grace to go through it. After so much pressure, he succumbed and that was it.

Jackson: I never liked politics because it is dirty. I have relatives and friends in politics though; that never changed my opinion about politics. When she was romancing politics, I told her about my fears.

But with pressure and persuasions from my

friends, I was able to give her my blessing.

At what age did you get marry?

Jackson: I married at the age of 27.

Your marriage is blessed with children and grandchild; what is the secret

of your marriage?

Well, it is not a very easy task. You can only know a successful woman by how she takes care of her children and husband; all these things, putting it on the aggregate, how did she fair on the home-front? That should be a guiding phi-

losophy for every woman as a wife and as a professional. I have been able to strike the balance with the help of God and my husband who believes in me and understands me very well. You have to put your husband and family into consideration in everything and every

decision you take in life.

Jackson: You have to be open-minded. Don’t take decision alone without your wife. In everything I do, I have to tell my wife -both personal and business decisions. I believe she is my partner not only at home but also in my business.

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Body&Soul

More recognitions for Mo Abudu

with

O

About Musbau Reginal Askia’s daughter, Stephanie Olokuta’s Abuja causes stir in modelling egina Askia’s Marriot Hotel teenage daugh-

Adebayo Jones celebrates birthday in London

A

buja, the nation capital, was agog last weekend when one of Abuja’s frontline socialites, Alhaji.

Musibau Lamidi, threw open the doors of his new hotel, Ms Marriot Exclusive Apartment Suites.

The Lagos State-born business man, popularly called Musibau Olokuta, is a frontline business in the building industry with a special bias for granite.

The high-octane event attracted a lot of Abujabased socialites. The hotel, tucked in a serene area of Kubwa in the F.C.T. is an architectural master piece.

R

enowned fashion designer, Adebayo Jones, is in celebratory mood at the moment. The crème de la crème of the society gathered to honour him in London when he celebrated his birthday and 30th year in the fashion industry.

Many celebrities converged on the Royal Regent Hotels, London, where the event took place, to celebrate the man known as the king of African couture. It was an evening of good food and champagne.

Bashorun Dele Momodu and Dayo Olomu were some of the notable faces at the event.

Femi Otedola’s dance steps

N

bayoolunla@yahoo.com

g b o n n a Kanu, the younger brother of Nigerian international footballer, Nwankwo Kanu, has joined the league of nite club owners in Lagos.

Celeb Lounge gathered that the club is tucked inside his elder brother ’s hotel, Hardley Suites in Victoria Island.

According to our source, the nite club started operation penultimate week.

Ogbonna Kanu was also a footballer, and like his brother, Kanu, played for Super Eagles before quitting soccer.

I

came out to honour the late former governor of the state. Several prominent dignitaries led by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, paid tributes to Sir Otedola . It was described as one of the biggest and grandest social events in the country this year.

The event, which was organised by the Lagos State Government, had in attendance, former governors including Alhaji Lateef Jakande; Commodore Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd); Asiwaju Bola Ahmed

08032016869

Kanu Nwankwo’s brother opens nite club

t has been recognition galore for one of Nigeria’s media icons, Mo Abudu. She was honoured by ones of the private universities in Nigeria, Babcock University, last week with the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honouris Causa.

The award, according to the President/Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. J.A Kayode Makinde, is to celebrate those who have inspired the young generation in diverse ways.

Babcock University honored her for her beauty, courage, faith and inspiration, describing her as the ‘Lady of the Moment’.

Few weeks ago, the beautiful media personality was honoured in faraway United States.

Mosunmola Abudu is the Chairman and Chief Executive of EbonyLife TV.

ever knew that Forte Oil chairman, Femi Otedola, is such a good dancer until penultimate weeks at this late father’s funeral at Epe, Lagos State. Celeb Lounge gathered that the billionaire danced his heart out when he climbed the stage to dance to King Sunny Ade’s song. The oil mogul danced so well that he became an item at the party.

Lagos State literarily stood still as top dignitaries from all walks of life

Bayo Adeoye

Tinubu, who was represented by former Deputy Governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye; former Deputy Governor, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu; renowned industrialist, Chief Adekunle Ojora; Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; former governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba; billionaire business man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; the Senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Gbenga Ashafa; members of the State Executive Council, and many others.

R

ter, Stephanie Regina Idara Hornecker, may have stepped into her mother ’s shoes.

Stephanie is the product of Regina’s dalliance with her French businessman lover, Patrick. The young damsel is one of the models causing atir in the modelling world.

Stephanie and her mum also co-modelled a 2000-N-Six Cleansing range. Regina Askia came into public glare through Zeb Ejiro’s Fortunes, a popular TV series. Before then, she had won the beauty crown twice as Miss Unilag 1988 and Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 1989.

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

Body&Soul

Ifeanyi Ubah enjoys summer with family

H

e was one of the most hyped and influential candidates in the November 2013 governorship election in Anambra State but after losing out to the incumbent governor, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah went underground.

At a point, there was a rumour that the Capital Oil boss was broke.

However, the billionaire business man denied the rumour. He claimed that he took time out to relax and take good care of his family.

with

Bayo Adeoye 08032016869

bayoolunla@yahoo.com

Titi Oseni relaunches political career

When Celeb Lounge spoke with the business man again on Wednesday, he emphasized that he was not broke but had been busy with his business nothing that that was the reason he had been absent in public functions lately.

“I don’t understand why people keep insinuating that I am broke. I am not.

In fact, I am traveling out of the country with my family for Summer holiday. I will be back in two weeks,” he said.

Onyeka Onwenu fights for women empowerment D

irector General, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Onyeka Onwenu, is definitely using her position to ensure

that women get their fair share of attention from the Federal Government.

The Elegant Stallion, who made this known when she received the executive members of the Nigerian Association of Women in Colleges of Education in her office recently, said that the NCWD had i n t ro d u c e d training programmes that would empower women in male-dominated fields.

T h e s e fields, according to Onwenu,

include plumbing, carpentry, masonry, house building, generator and air conditioning repairs.

She urged women to take advantage of the vast opportunities that abound in the country for their economic lifting.

She noted that there were various areas of human endeavour that women could make money without necessarily going after white collar jobs.

“The NCWD, as an advocate on women issues, is working closely with the present administration in adding value to the lives of Nigerian women,” the ageless beauty said.

National President of the Nigerian Association of Women in Colleges of Education, Mary Aibangbe, and her group were in the DG’s office to congratulate her on her appointment and appreciate her contributions to music and the development of women in the

country over the years.

Aibangbe hoped that with her present appointment, she would impart more on the development of the nation.

Onwenu commended the Social Development, Culture and Tourism Committee of the Federal Character Commission.

Members of the committee, led by its Chairman, a Federal Commissioner representing Osun State, Bashorun Dele Awofisayo.

Onwuenu noted that the management of the Centre had tried to ensure that federal character norms were put in place so as to give everyone a sense of belonging.

W

However, if information reaching Celeb Lounge is anything to go by, then the daughter of late MKO Abiola may have changed her stance on politics.

She is said to be staging a comeback into active politics and may contest for an elective position come 2015.

We learnt that her friends and loyalists have been making serious underground moves for her to achieve this.

part of efforts aimed at participating in the coming elections.

Oseni was one of the political bigwigs that attended a meeting of the PDP’s Caretaker Committee in the South-West recently and this move, sources said, would ensure that something fruitful got to her in the 2015 elections.

Osas Ighodaro shines as event host

Lola Abiola Edewor eyes F politics again? hen she was denied a return to House of Representatives some years ago, Lola Abiola-Edewor vowed never to seek an elective position in Nigeria again. Meanwhile, she was lucky to have been appointed an Executive Director in the NDIC by President Goodluck Jonathan -a position she has occupied in the last two years.

F

or some time, the former Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Titi Oseni, was not active in politics.

However, the elegant woman is said to be making a big come back to politics. Celeb Lounge learnt that her recent alliance with the powers that be in Ogun State PDP is

ormer Miss Black USA, Osas Ighadaro, may become the mostsought after event host in the country. Since she made her debut into Nigeria’s entertainment scene last year, the Tinsel actress has hosted several events including the Maltina Family Dance All, 2013 edition of African Magic Viewers choice Award, (AMVCA), as well as this year’s edition which she hosted with IK Osakiodua and Vimbai and many others.

Part of what has kept pretty Ighodaro’s fans glued to any show she hosts is her exceptional fashion sense, her sense of humour and lovely smile.

The Theatre Arts graduate of Pennsylvania State University is also into modeling.

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JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

DIY on the GO

Body&Soul

Simple kitchen remedies

Wash hands with salt after cutting onions

Abimbola Sodeke 1.Without salt, a pot of soup is said to be tasteless or bad, with moderate salt, you’ve got butterflies in your tummy, but with excess salt, it’s the other way round.

Never think of adding water or starting all over because you might worsen the case.

Do not panic because there is a way out.

When you notice that you have added too much salt to food - whether still on fire or after cooking - peel a large raw irish potato, cut it into four equal pieces, put the potato quarters in the soup and simmer for 15 minutes and

remove the potato quarters. The potato starch will help draw out the salt and mellow the taste. For a big pot of soup, you use 4-5 potatoes.

You can also put an egg plant in the soup to absorb the excess salt from it.

2. Got too much palm oil in your stew/soup?

Use a spoon to scoop it out or add more pepper to increase the quantity of the soup.

3. If cutting onion makes you cry, chew gum while cutting.

4. If after washing fresh meat or fish, your hand still smells bad, use some salt to wash.

5. Wash your fridge with baking soda to get rid of bad smell.

Scoop out extra palm oil in soup with spoon

Eggplants can be used to reduce salt in soups

Clean refridgerator with baking soda

Onion With Irish potatoes, you can reduce salt in soups

JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Wine & Dine

49

Body&Soul

Treat yourself to Organic wine

Kayode Ibukunoluwa

I

ndulge in a light refreshment to cool off after a hectic day with organic wines. Organic wines add flavour to every occasion with notes of slight astringent on the palate and a harmonious long finish.

Organic wines are made from carefully selected grapes which are cultivated without synthetic fungicides, herbicides or fertilisers. This organically-grown grape is not in a cycle of

chemical dependency which makes it a more healthy drink for the body.

The vine grows in a living soil, full of worms and bacteria, which enable them to draw upon the optimum levels of minerals from the soil. In turn, these healthy vines develop better resistance to diseases.

Organic wines are strictly made from organic grapes; it cannot have any added sulfites. It may have naturally occurring sulfites, but the total sulfite level must be less than 20 parts per million.

The natural sulfite present in organic wine has strong antimicrobial and some antioxidant properties due to the byproduct of fermentation. This is a healthy wine can serve in any given occasion.

Studies prove that the red grape organic wine is more beneficial to the body due to its natural harvesting process. Rich in resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, it protects against cancer, heart disease, is anti-aging and may even extend life span. Other red

wines that contain incidental ingredients like pesticides, allergens and animal proteins during harvest process may contaminate your wine.

This wine is structured not just to lush the palate but also to benefit the health with moderate sip.

It has a perfect weight for a variety of dishes ranging from continental to local.

When buying organic wine, look out for the information that carries ‘sulfite-free’ and labeled ‘made with organic grown grapes’.

Barbecued chicken and couscous salad Biwom Iklaki

C

hicken is a very healthy and tasty meal anyone can partake in. However you decide to prepare or serve your chicken, the taste is definitely elevated to a higher level when it is barbecued. All that tasty goodness from the char grilled piece of chicken cannot be compared to any other. It drips and oozes all the fat and juices mixed with the herbs and spices of choice that is employed for that particular chicken recipe.

INGREDIENTS 1 cup whole wheat couscous (or plain couscous) 1 cup low-fat, reduced chicken stock 0.75 lb. of honey barbecue chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces 1 cucumber, diced 1/2 pint tomatoes diced 1/4 red onion, diced small 1/4 cup fresh mint 1/2 cup feta cheese PREPARATION 1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan.

Add couscous, and stir briefly with a fork, to dislodge any clumps. Cover pan with a lid, and remove from heat.

Allow to stand 5 to 10 minutes, while you prepare other ingredients.

2. Transfer couscous to a mixing bowl, and toss lightly with a fork. Add chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion. Toss gently.

3. Remove mint leaves from stems, stack the loose leaves, and slice them into thin strands. Crumble the feta cheese.

4. Dish couscous-chicken mixture into serving dishes, and garnish with mint and cheese. Salad may be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

BARBEQUED CHICKEN INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp medium hot curry paste 1/2 tsp turmeric 50ml olive oil 2 x 375g packets mini chicken breast fillets Handful chopped fresh coriander PREPARATION 1. Put the curry paste, chutney, turmeric and olive oil into a large bowl. Mix well. Cut the chicken fillets in half and stir into the paste until well coated. Put aside for 10 minutes.

2. Line your grill pan with foil and lay the chicken pieces on top, making sure there is space between them. Grill for 10-12 minutes, turning once, until golden and lightly charred.

3. Preheat your barbecue in the usual way until it reaches the correct temperature. Cook turning once, bearing in mind you may have to adjust the cooking time slightly depending on how hot your barbecue is or how near the heat source the food is placed.

SUGGESTED WINE: Best enjoyed with any sweet white wine to complement the spicy chicken.

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JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Body&Soul

Adorn your little diva Biwom Iklaki

O

f course, we all know every little girl looks cuter when we complement her adorable outfits with the perfect hair pieces.

Every outfit requires that extra special something which may come in a wide range from headbands to hair clips, ponytail holders, tiaras, veils and hair wreaths. These

could either be clipped on, pinned, woven into, attached or just gingerly placed on the crown of her pretty head.

Whether short-haired or long-haired, kids and babies alike love wearing hair clips. These hair accessories do make great fashion statements and are very effective at managing the hair. They usually come in varying colours, the most popular of

which are pink, red, yellow and purple for young girls. These are available in many cute designs. In fact, some clips even have teddy bear designs, Minnie mouse bows, mouse or rabbit ears, feathers and flower designs to give infants and kids a more stylish look. And what’s more, they come in different types too and can be purposeful like the knit warmer for the

baby’s head.

Next time you are at a loss as to how to manage your daughter ’s hair, look no further than a nicely decorated Alice band pulled back to create a neater hair do. You can even resort to the turban for kids which are currently a hot, trendy fashion piece. You can bet no one will be the wiser about the state of her hair.

Interview I’ve mandate to win one billion souls -Pastor Okafore p54

Sermon The power of choice p.56

TAI ANYANWU, titus.anyanwu@newtelegraphonline.com 0706 438 0029

NTWEEKEND ONLINE AT

www.newtelegraphonline.com/faith

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JUNE 8, 2014

Sermon Do away with pride p.52

Faith ON SUNDAY

I express creativity in whatever I do -Bishop Osagie

O

Tai Anyanwu

ne time President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Lagos Chapter, (PFN), and founder of Powerline Church, Lagos, Bishop Lawrence Osagie, recently rolled out the drums to thank God on his 56th birthday celebration.

The venue of the celebration, which began with a special thanksgiving service, was the Omuwo Odofin headquarters of his church. It was a day that featured hearty prayers by friends, relations and the Powerline church congregation, for their beloved Edo born General Overseer.

Expectedly, it was also a time for the cleric, mentor and prolific writer to reflect on his humble beginning, love life, family, Christendom in Nigeria today and general perspective of things.

Incidentally, Bishop Osagie is married to a pretty wife and they are blessed with three boys. How did he meet his wife? With a little laughter, he said, “Oh, we grew up together. I was learning tailoring with my uncle. My uncle’s tailoring workshop was next to my wife’s family house. In the end, God made a way for me to go to school; because I never knew that would happen.

I left the village, went to school.”

But each time he came back, he would always still go back to his uncle’s place and that enabled their relationship to develop from childhood. “I remember then that I told the mother that this girl would be my wife. The mother drove me around with this long spoon they use in steering big pots (ladle). She thought I was the biggest joker because with the level I was at that time, nobody ever believed I would have become anything. But after my youth service I told her that we should now go and get married. That’s how we got married.

At 56 years of age and 28 years in marriage, the bishop now blessed with three boys, who are already doing very well in their chosen professions, still tenderly speaks of those qualities that attracted him to his darling wife. “Number one she is beautiful; number two she had a very quiet spirit. And I can be loud, but I didn’t think it was going to be good for two very loud people to marry, in the same environment. I was looking for a very quiet spirit and God gave her to me.”

With a flourishing ministry, Bish-

op Osagie could afford to bring many children to life; but he chose to bear only three children. Between him and the wife, who decided on the number of children they had and what informed the decision? “I decided that. I wanted a situation where I could give my children the best they can have. And I thought that having too many of them, eh some of them might not have the best. So, I said, let’s stop at three.”

Asked if he was training his children to take after him in the service of the Lord, the bishop said firmly; “Incidentally no.

I am a very adventurous person. I am as curious as anybody else to see what my children would become, what they want to do. I didn’t tell them what to study; I don’t prompt people on what to do. That liberty or freedom is expressed in my home.”

He explained: “My eldest son is into film production. That is what he studied at Portsmouth University in the United Kingdom. The second one is a business person. He studied business education in the UK also. Right now, he is there doing his business. The eldest one is back in Nigeria, doing his business in the film production thing here.

“I hardly see him at home because he is always there on the field, you know young people and so forth and so on. And my youngest one, Gospel, is into I T but he is veering into music right now.”

Un-

51

like many other God’s generals in Nigeria, Bishop Osagie, incidentally believes that pastoral responsibility has to be the call of God. “I have never told any of my children that you must be a pastor. I never prophesied over them; that you look like a pastor. I don’t do such things. If you call yourself you can die inside that. I know what I have gone through pastoring this church,” he declared.

But if anyone of them turns around to say he believes that God is calling him, how would the bishop feel? “I will rejoice and celebrate them because the greatest honour God will ever do a man is to invest his power and grace upon him to lead the people to heaven. I will be glad but I’m not going to force it; I’m not even going to subject it; I’m not even going to introduce it. I don’t do such things. Nobody introduced me to pastoral responsibility, my father never made the suggestion.”

Casting back his mind on who he was before he became a born-again child of God, he explained, “I got born-again in the school, in the final year of my polytechnic education at Auchi Polytechnic.

Before then, I was taking Indian hemp and all those kind of stuff. I got bornagain in the same hall where I once watched pornographic films.”

As he marked his 56th b i r t h d a y, the bisho p said h e

could not thank God enough for the grace of God upon his life. Invariably, Bishop Osagie has a large following; he has also writing many insightful books including ‘The seed of greatness.’ Though his children have taken to other professions other than pastoral responsibilities, they are all born-again children of God. “And my wife is a co-pastor. Yea; the anointing is upon her and the grace to help people, lead people and pray for people and she likes it.

Back in the his palatial white castle situated in Amowu Odofin Estate, after the thanksgiving service, the bishop slipped into a trendy white combat three quarter shorts and a matching T-shirt. And speaking about what style means to him, he said, “It is very important that you express creativity in whatever you do; because we are created in the image of God. If the God who lives in us is a creator and he gave us the ability to co-create, then that should reflect in what we do, what we wear, how our environment is. I don’t have too much money but whatever I do I take my time to do it well. So that God in heaven will look down and see that His investment in me is not wasted.”

How would he describe Christendom in Nigeria today? He explained, “When you talk about Christendom today, and you look back to about the last 30 years, it has been a graph that is being plotted; that is always going up to the upward dimension.

The rate at which people get into pastoral calling was not like that 30 years ago.

“There is awareness, and people are getting interested in the things of God. The kind of massive revival in Nigeria today, you hardly see them in so many other countries. Although we still have a lot of trouble within, but the development is encouraging. You know crime and criminality are citizens of every nation. Even while Jesus was here, there were still bad people. Anywhere you have good people; you will always have the counterfeit.

So I will say that Christianity in Nigeria is good but can be better.”

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Faith

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

Interview

THE Oracles of God

The midnight prophet

by

Frank Oboden Olomukoro frankolomukoro@yahoo.com, 07033621866

T

he midnight cry was given by the midnight prophet.

The cry represents the period his preaching ministry will last, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Acts 3:20-21. Restitution has the same Greek root word as restored and could have read ‘restoration’. So, what is the ministry of this midnight prophet anointed to accomplish? Basically to restore. As I’ve already illustrated, the Gentile church world to which this prophet steps into in this our Laodicean church age had drifted into a mixture of God’s word and man’s tradition. The original doctrine by the apostles, which is the foundation of our belief, has been adulterated. Jude warned the church of this development in Jude 3 when he said, “Contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.”

In other words, apostasy will creep in to corrupt the original truth.

No denomination is innocent

in this regard and no denomination was capable of repenting. They had the word of God, they had the Bible, and from the Bible, the preachers drew sermon texts. But permeating every church and interwoven with every church creed was a collection of traditions, misinterpretations and misrepresentations of the original Apostles doctrines dating back to the original apostatising in the fourth century AD. This prophet’s ministry comes in the days prior to the Rapture, as the forerunner of Christ’s second coming. It is imperative that his message restores the elect back to the pure word of God and corrects the doctrinal hodgepodge created by hundreds of denominations’ private interpretations of scriptures through their Bible colleges and seminarian theological teachings. This is precisely why a prophetic forerunner, with a vindicated “Thus saith the Lord” was essential.

You will notice that only Christ’s first forerunner, John the Baptist, was able to identify the scriptures such as Isaiah 40:1-3 which were being directly fulfilled and only he was able to identify the coming lamb, John 1:29.

So will it also be in the ministry of this end-time Elijah or the midnight prophet to the Gentiles. He will restore all wrong doctrines as the churches over the years relaxed their standards of holiness until the conduct of the people has conformed almost completely to that of the world.

Usually, only a minority few will hear, recognise and act on the word of God preached by the midnight prophet. This is not strange, it’s only a repeat of the usual patttern of the people’s responses to God-sent prophets. Considering Matt. 25:6, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him,” only the wise virgins made themselves ready by ensuring that their oil (the Holy Spirit) was sustained; being not entangled or indulged in worldly affairs. Those who rejected the midnight prophet among others were the

Do away with pride

T

he Bible says “And the rich man died and went to hell where he is tormented perpetually.”

May ask you, did he go to hell because he was rich? No. He found himself in hell because he did not acknowledge his creator.

When people attain some level in life, they allow it to enter into their head; and become pride.

And pride is from the pit of hell.

It is common to see people assuming too much air. When people have e little encounter with others, you hear them boasting; “Do you know who I am; a whole me?” Each time I hear people uttering that phrase: ‘a whole me’, I look at ‘as a hole already’. If you really want to see who you are, find time to go to a cemetery and you will know how whole you are. I accompanied some people to bury their dead relative at the cemetery one day. When I got there I saw wonders.

In my village if someone is to be buried, people dig six feet; but at that cemetery people dig just about one foot. That day I was surprised because as they dug, they dug out bones of people that were buried earlier. And those grave diggers at the cemetery felt as if they were digging up nothing. The diggers threw out the head and threw it to one corner like any other trash. When they had dug a little the casket was lowered into a hole that could hardly cover it. The remaining part of the casket was covered with sand. It was clear to me

Anyanwu

that after one month the same grave would be excavated and the bones remove to make space for another body to be buried. Who knows whose body would be next to take the space so created?

Yet people still say “a whole me. Do you know who I am? If I finish with you then you will know who I am.” They keep bragging. If you have gone to mortuary you will see how dead bodies are treated; and you will see people of different sizes and looks. You will see those who are your size and other who are bigger and smaller than your own size.

There are some that are more beautiful than you; some others are uglier and visitors to the mortuary step over them to search for their dead relatives who are lying on the hard floor like dead woods. One fact remains, they are dead and gone.

What is next for them?

It is possible that many of them went about life so recklessly because they wanted to make money at all cost. They must have done all manner of evil things in order to get rich. The truth is, once dead, they have no idea where the possessions they struggled to acquire or their bank account cheque leaves are again. Other people still alive, who did not know how the wealth was acquired, will be spoiling to get a share of their riches. And the one who had killed, maimed, cheated, lied, done abominable things to make this money

would now go to face his or her creator. At the judgment seat of God, you alone will know your stand. Whether you are to spend eternity in heaven or hell, only you shall face it on the last day. Check what kind of life you are living.

For want of job, some ladies would accept the condition to sleep with an employer even if he is old enough to be their grandfather. In our society today, the banking industry has created a set of corporate harlots in the name of setting targets for pretty ladies who are employed as marketers to win large accounts from rich male customers. These bank mangers do not mince words about their intention; the ladies can sleep with anybody as long as they bring in the accounts and of course the ladies get promoted and are given flowery incentives. May God help this generation?

Likewise some married women will yield themselves to strange men because they want to win contracts. Some stand by the road side at odd hours and follow different men who would offer few naira bills to have a quick one with them. Unfortunately, some of these strange bed partners have been reported to have done money rituals with these women of easy virtue. Some of the women engage in the immoral activity just to flow with fashion. In the seventies, it was fashionable for young men to wear bongo trousers on

foolish virgins and the denominations. They possibly presumed him to be a false prophet and reckoned his teachings to be heretic and thus overlooked the prophet as a true sign.

Every visitation of God produces two classes of believers: the make- believers who are usually in the majority or the genuine believers who are the minority few. This manifested in the ministry of the first forerunner of Christ’s first coming as recorded in Luke 7:29-30 - “And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptised with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves (not against John), being not baptised of him. Only those who respond to the restored truth by the forerunner of Christ’s second coming as read in Matthew 25:1-13 will go in the Rapture. This is just as only the eight souls that honoured Noah’s call to go into the Ark he built escaped from the destruction of all creatures by the flood.

The cry at midnight by the prophet’s message has

sounded. The Elijah of this final age that should come before the Rapture and subsequently before the great and dreadful day of the Lord has been commissioned with a message which would carry the Bride through to the Rapture. God cannot forsake His predestinated elect and in spite of the dismal endtime scenario He promises a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such things (creeds, dogma and traditions of church). Ephesians 5:27 Once again, as it was in the days of Noah preparing the Ark, God has prepared an Ark for a lovely, but tiny end-time Bride. Her final call is two fold: one “come out of her (Rome, the harlot woman, a whore and her denominational daughters) my people. Rev. 18:14 and 2 Corinthians 6:17-18. Two “come into Christ (Ephesians 1:10, 2 Cor. 5:17) the living word of God” not into church membership. Are you in Christ, or you are still now as you read this piece a church membership Christian? Now is the time to migrate from church membership into Christ Jesus, the living word of God.

Hour of LIBERATION by

Chidi Anthony Tel: 08124284979

layered foot wears. But if you are seen in such attires today, you could be mistaken for a mad person.

Some young men actually joined robbery gangs in other to meet up or wear the trending fashion items. Then, some got into trouble; others were jailed but today it is no longer in vogue. Brethren, fashion is transient. Why should any person lose control because of fashion? What will you give as an excuse for not preaching or heeding the gospel?

What excuse would you give for not being born-again? Will you tell God that you were poor and that you had nothing to eat? Lazarus will come out from his comfort zone in heaven to rubbish your excuse. I’ve come today to tell you and prepare you for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The time is ripe; any moment from now the trumpet shall sound and the saints will be lifted to meet Him in the sky. May I remind you of what the Bible says about all these things that are happening on earth today? It says, when we see these things happening, we should know that the coming of the son of man is at hand. Check your life and make quick amendments

before it is too late.

God is crying because of iniquities committed on earth.

A young man would seize his own mother and use her for ritual in order to make wealth.

No wonder the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. People can do anything today to make money. Trust is no longer found among us. A Christian will change his name to Abudulahi Muhammadu, an Islamic name, just to get a visa to travel out. Young men and women will attempt suicide, swallow cocaine and smuggle it abroad for the sake of riches.

On many occasions, the stuff had burst inside their stomach and they died. After they are dead, what happens to the riches? Where will they go to spend eternity? May God help us to make heaven?

Hear me brethren, do away with pride. I’m tired of preaching prosperity. When you get salvation, you get prosperity. When you get salvation, you get your healing.

When you get salvation, you get your open door. In salvation, everything is complete.

That is why the Bible says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything shall be added unto you.”

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

Faith

The just shall live by faith

T

he devil may paint a horrible and negative picture of your situation, just to smash your faith and frustrate you; but stand on God’s word and promises. Hold on to God in faith and He will surely give you victory.

Faith saddles God with the responsibility of redeeming and fulfilling His word. Since your faith challenges God and moves Him into action, you can go to bed in peace and wake up in full assurance of faith. Faith does not know worry. By faith, just allow God to do what He alone can do. Why worry when you can depend on God through faith?

This is a confessional progressive faith: This was the type of faith which the Shunammite woman manifested when her child died. She refused to believe that her child was actually dead and refused to confess with her mouth that her child was dead.

Even when the servant of the man of God asked her, “Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy child?” She said, “It is well.”

“So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Camel.

And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant; Behold yonder is the Shunammite woman. Run now, I pray thee, to meet her and say unto her, is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered it is well.” 2Kings 4: 25-26.

In Mark 5:28, the woman said,

“If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be made whole.” She took this conviction and set out to meet our Lord Jesus Christ.

When she got there, she carried out her plans and her faith paid off. Thus, the Bible records, “And straight away the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the plague.”

Another dynamic progressive faith was demonstrated by the blind Bartimeus. When he heard that Jesus was around, he seized the opportunity to get the attention of our Lord Jesus Christ despite obvious obstacles and opposition before him. He cried, cried and cried aggressively and unstoppably until he got the attention of our Lord Jesus Christ and his sight was restored. Thus, the Bible records, “And they came to Jericho and as He went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimeus, (the son of Timaeus) sat by the highway begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say Jesus, thou son of David have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise he calleth thee.

And casting away his garments rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, what will thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said

unto him, Thy faith hath made thee whole, and immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.”

The other type of faith is faith in obedience to divine command. There is a human side to every miracle. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ ascertains the faith of his ministerial beneficiaries by asking such question as, “Do you believe?” “Believeth thou this?” “What will thou that I should do unto thee?” The most fundamental requirement from God to man is obedience.

This was why God tested the faith of many people prior to his miracles as a precondition for their miracles. It comes as a divine command or divine directive.

When you fail in this test, you lose your miracle, but when you succeed, it gives birth to a resounding testimony. For Abraham, the Almighty God directed him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. When he obeyed, he became the father of many nations. For Namaan, the divine instruction and command was to go wash himself seven times in River Jordan. When he completed the process of obedience, at the seventh dip, he was made totally whole and clean.

When our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected Lazarus from the grave, He first tested the faith of all his relations, who eagerly and zealously desired to see Lazarus alive again, by commanding them to roll away the stone

MYSTERY OF ANXIETY with

Bishop John Ogbansie gbe Tel:08033416327

which was used in covering his tomb. As soon as they fulfilled their humble side in absolute obedience to that divine order, the miracle took place and Lazarus came back to life. The word of God records, “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the stone.”

John 11:38-39. In verse 41 the Bible records, “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said father I thank thee that thou has heard me.”

There is another type of faith which I call the ‘Mustard Seed Faith’. The mustard seed is one of the tiniest seeds of grain, but when it is sown or planted, it grows rapidly, massively and dominantly.

This is the faith that moves mountains. You don’t need a mountain size of faith to move mountains. A little mustard seed size of faith is what moves your mountain.

To this end, our Lord Jesus Christ said in His word, “Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible.” Mathew 17:20.

The faith that moves your mountain must first move you into a radial action; it must move you to obey. It must move you to make a little move of faith. For instance, the Bible recorded in respect of the healing of the 10 lepers by our Lord Jesus, “That as they went, they were cleansed.” They had not reached their destination. Just the attempt they made to obey, a little body movement of faith, their mountain of leprosy, which stood gigantically before them for many years moved away. Thus, the word of God records, “And it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem that he passed through Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him 10 men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master have mercy on us, And when he saw them, He said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto thy priest, And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.”

Luke 17: 11-14.

Have faith in God and nothing shall be impossible and your worries shall also be over. Aforesaid, faith makes us operate the ever possibility mechanism of God. As you apply these principles, may all your worries and anxieties be over in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Don’t sow that seed “B

e not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Gal 6:7 Everything you do today is a seed. There are experiences you are having now which are simply repercussions of yesterday’s actions. Often times, in life, it is necessary to be sincere to yourself and re-evaluate your dealings with people – both Christians and non-Christians.

Sometimes when I saw people languishing in pain and regret, I wondered and ask God why. The answer never came but as I began to become mature in the Lord, I came to realise that all that we are going through now is as a result of the seed someone somewhere had sown sometime ago.

Have you wondered the reason one of the plagues God brought upon the Egyptians was the killing of their first sons by night? It was simply because they had sown

the seed earlier when the firstborn sons of the Israelites were being killed (Exodus 1:22). Was He not the one that created them?

So why did He have to kill their first-born sons? God did it so that they also would have a taste of what it means to lose a son. “…for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Rom 12:19 Beloved, there is a law that prayer and fasting cannot stop; it is the law of seed time and harvest (Gen. 8:22). It does not matter who you are or how spiritual you may be. Once you sow you must reap. In I Kings 22, Ahab went to war and because there had been a prophecy saying he would not return alive, he disguised himself. Meanwhile, the king of Syria had given express instructions to his men saying, “…Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel”. (Vs 31). To cut the story short, he was eventually killed.

“And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: …for I am wounded.” I Kings 22:34 Ahab exchanged robes, and they pursued Jehoshaphat, thinking it was Ahab. Then, he shouted, “I am Jehoshaphat not Ahab,” and one of the soldiers just said, “if I had captured Ahab, I would have killed him like this and…” fired the arrow up (demonstrating) but God took the arrow and sent it directly to where Ahab was. He eventually died.

Years later, after Ahab had died, Jezebel continued living her life.

Jehu, under an intense anointing, decided to visit her and he said, “Throw her down.” (of course, these were not empty words). She was thrown down and something happened; a spiritual whistle blew, and dogs from nowhere came around waiting to fulfill prophecy by licking up her blood just the same way Naboth’s blood was licked up. No one knew where or how she was buried. Jezebel and Ahab sowed wind and they reaped the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7) Please, don’t sow the seed you will never want to reap.

Don’t sow scandal in the life of anybody if you don’t want to reap same. Pay those you owe. When you needed the money, you came begging; when you needed help, you came looking helpless and very sober. Now that you seem to be a little better or more comfort-

able, you are now saying he is a Christian, he should understand.

Don’t sow a seed you will not like to reap its fruit.

Don’t spoil other people’s sons and daughters in the name of sugar daddy/mummy because some other people too will defile and do same to your own children too.

Don’t sow the seed.

Young lady, you are troubling someone’s marriage, that woman is not enjoying her husband because you have taken over her home. By God’s grace, you also will get married and the seed would germinate. Just as you are troubling someone’s home now so also will some little girl arise to come and trouble yours too. Don’t sow the seed.

There was a brother who happened to be a member of a committee in a big ministry. The committee raised an agenda for increase in a pastor’s pay. And right before the man of God, he stood against it saying, “What does he need it for?” At the time he was a banker and the pastor wept. Twelve years later, he also got the call to the ministry; you would not believe the same thing happened to him. His own case was so severe that he couldn’t afford his children’s fees (Prov.

17:13).

Don’t be rebellious, don’t be part of the downfall of another man. Do not damage or assassinate the reputation of your leader/pastor today because you will

surely lead tomorrow.

Do you remember the story in Numbers, chapter 16 of three men - Korah, Dathan and Abiram - who rebelled against Moses and Aaron? These men gathered 250 nobles and princes and hired them into rebellion. They said, “Moses could not be the only one God is using. We are all anointed.

We prophesy and we hear God also. Give us a censer to handle too. Moses cried onto the Lord and God caused the earth open up and swallowed them. The 250 men who joined in the rebellion were consumed by fire from heaven.

Don’t sow that seed. Absalom could not succeed in killing David because David never raised his hand against the Lord’s anointed; not even when he had the opportunity to kill Saul. That is why when Absalom rose up to strike and disgrace him – he died between trees, meaning he was rejected by heaven and earth.

If you have in anyway sown any evil seed, you need to first Agboli ask God to forgive you, then go and restitute as this will make the judgment mild. Discuss this with your pastor and you will be advised on how best to go about it.

I know you have been blessed.

Write and share your testimonies, comments, etc., through.

Rev’d Femi Akinola – The Hebrews International, Lekki, Lagos.

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Interview

Pastor Chris Okafor, General Over seer of Liberation City Ministries, had no theological training. But today, he leads a flourishing 10-year-old ministry and has also established Liberation Television for soul winning. He spoke to TAI ANYANWUas he marked his birthday recently with the donation of various items to widows

I

How can a genuine man of God be identified? am not God and I don’t judge anybody.

The Bible says that by their fruits you shall know them. Everybody claims to be called but all are not called. Just as there are fake men of God, there are also fake journalists. Some of them will go their way to exploit from many people. So, it does not mean, we don’t have genuine one!

Why do some men of God who should be role models, speak ill of one another?

With the level of what God has given to me you can’t expect less. I have nothing against anybody. No pastor is my enemy, if any has anything against me or if I have offended any of them, they can go to God in prayer. I tell you so without fear or doubt, and many pastors will not say what I am telling you now, Prophet TB Joshua is a man of God. Whether they are against me or not, they are not the God that called me. Why should

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

I’ve mandate to win one billion souls -Pastor Okafor

I drink Panadol for another person’s headache? But the fat meat will prove itself in fire. If anybody is against me, look at their result, look at my ministry and their ministry and then that will balance the answer.

Who really is Pastor Chris Okafor?

I am a normal Christian. I was born and brought up in a Christian background, but I encountered Jesus Christ at the age of eight. My parents are elders in the Anglican Church. When my mother was pregnant, many prophets gave my mother a prophesy that she was going to give birth to a great man of God, that will be well known around the world; and whom God would use to do mighty things all over. So, it was not a surprise to my mother and all people around her then. It was not also a surprise regarding these gifts that I manifest, because in Jeremiah 12:5, God said to Jeremiah that before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew who you are. I ordained you a prophet before you were born. So it is something that is predestined, ordained. God has always been precise. We were raised in a family that is well disciplined; we were awake as early as 5am for morning devotion on a daily basis. Whether you are two years old or not, you must be involved, then by 9pm, everybody must come for night prayer. Then everybody under that roof must fast three days a week, you must fast on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. So, the upbringing shaped me into my calling, ministry and what God called me to be, it really helped me.

Had you worked under any servant of God before you went into full time ministry?

I have always said that I have indirectly been influenced by many men of God. You know that one can influence somebody indirectly; you can mentor somebody in-

directly or directly through books, televi- person is no longer idle. That means you sion, and so on. I was born in Benin, and I have disengaged the person from crime. was privileged to be under the teachings of That is why they say an idle mind is the Archbishop Benson Idahosa. I was greatly devil’s workshop. So, when people are idle influenced by this great man of God and they become ready tools for destruction. some other ministers, just as you have your If you are busy nobody will tell you to go biological father and a spiritual father. and rob or kidnap. So, we try to disengage them from crime and engage them in things Do you have any theological training?

I was tutored under Archbishop Benson of light. It has been a mandate God gave Idahosa’s influence. There is one thing we me to reach one billion souls. Our church fail to understand here. Bible school does is beyond the four walls of the church by not make you one that is called of God. It is delivering them and making them useful God that calls people, sometimes you may to the society by giving their life a meaning. go to Bible School but you are not called; How far have you gone with the task God and this is the fact. Let me show you some- has given you to reach one billion souls?

By God’s grace the church is 10 years thing in the Bible specifically in the book of Matthew 10, so you can know the difference old; and I can tell you we have reached between a call and the Bible school. This millions upon millions of souls because does not mean that we should not study, if number one, God has added another you go to my study room, I have read over medium through Liberation Television.

1,000 books. The Bible in that chapter says, And through the Liberation TV which is “.... He called and gave them power.” The watched all over the world, our platform Bible did not say the Bible school called and is watched in some parts of Europe. We gave them power; but He called his chosen are currently reaching the continent. Libones. So I have read books and they also eration TV is watched in Canada, South shaped my life. I did not go to any Bible and North, we are reaching out to cover school, I don’t have any certificate from any Asia and by so doing we will reach out to Bible school, so the Holy Bible is my Bible one bilion souls by God’s grace. school.

What impact has Liberation TV added Why don’t you belong to any Christian to the ministry? body like CAN, PFN and others?

It has added tremendously well because No, I did not say I don’t belong to these through Liberation TV people are getting bodies. I believe in them, they are Christian converted to Christ, people are getting associations. If I don’t attend their meetings, healed, delivered and different testimomaybe I wasn’t around. If one of my pastor nies are being shared. It is like bringing the dids, that means I am there. church to your home. If you turn to LiberaYou are marking your birthday celebration TV, it is just as if you are in the church tion with generous empowerment of wid- service because we run a live telecast. So, we have people who follow us around the ows and indigent people. What informed world through the Liberation Television, it this?

It is a mandate that God has given to me. has made so much impact.

God asked me to reach one billion souls for the kingdom with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and teach GENESIS JUDGES KINGS them God’s word and demonstrating God’s power raw. PROVERBS EXODUS ESTHER Jesus did something; the Bible DEUTERONOMY LEVITICUS JOB says after preaching he healed the sick, NEHEMIAH NUMBERS PSALMS delivered those that were oppressed.

SAMUEL CHRONICLES RUTH His disciples wanted to send those people away but D S T U E L E V I T I P R O V E Jesus said no you don’t need to send E E S G C R Y H E H J A M E D G them away, we are bound to give U L U H C E G K G A F O E F U D them something T C D T L E V I T I C U S B Y N to eat, that church goes beyond a E I O U E S P N B M H N T H G I spiritual point of

WOR D S EA R C H

Some books of the Old Testament

view, church is not only about coming to pray. In Luke 44:6 he said the spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to heal the broken hearted.

Who are the broken hearted? The less privileged among us, the Bible also say he that winneth a soul is wise.

When people are empowered, the rate of crime will reduce. The moment you give somebody something good the

R N X R S R R G S E R E H P U K O O E Z I E O S E H O H E R D A V R I O A B V N T E M E R O E J

E H U R S M E Y O N I M T V U O R C Z D T U R G E M C F D T T S T E Y V E N B V S S Y G G B E H G E N E S I S M L A S P B J R E D E S I M E H E N M V O R B O V L E V I T S E G D U J D U D N O C U S E X O D S F E B F I S J R S A M U L H R O N L I C L V N P

Olulana Kayode

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2014

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Faith

Unveiling the Wonders Dominion of Thanksgiving! (2) The Voice of by

Bishop David Oyedepo

L

Phone: 7747546-8; E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

ast week, we were exploring the many wonders embedded in thanksgiving, within a broader context of the Mystery of Faith.

Further to that teaching, I shall be exploring those wonders that grant us access to a world of dominion.

What are the wonders in Thanksgiving?

The following are some of the wonders embedded in thanksgiving: Preservation of our Blessings: Thanksgiving is the mystery behind the preservation of the blessings of God in our lives. Therefore, if we want our blessings preserved, we must be addicted to thanksgiving. We must thank God in faith, not casually or religiously but from the depth of our hearts, so that our blessings will not be turned to curses (Malachi 2:1-3; Jeremiah13:15).

Fresh Unction: Thanksgiving is also a covenant gateway to fresh oil. The more thankful we are, the fresher the oil on our head. When the oil on our head is fresh, we are empowered to live an overcomer’s life, because the fresher the oil, the greater

our command in the day of battle (Psalms 92:1-2, 10-11/2 Chronicles 22:7).

On the other hand, with fresh oil we gain greater depth into the truth which empowers us to be more than conquerors in the battles of life (1 John 2:27; Psalms 45:3-5).

Supernatural Restoration: Thanksgiving will restore anything, any day and at anytime, because it carries restoration virtue within it (Habakkuk 3:17-19). Perfection of our blessings: We cannot enjoy perfection by grumbling and complaining; perfection comes by the mystery of thanksgiving. Through the mystery of thanksgiving, whatever may have been damaged in any one’s life experiences perfection because perfection answers to heart-rooted thanksgiving; as it was in the case of the one leper that returned (Luke 17:17-19).

Supernatural Strength: We also understand that everyone that comes into His presence goes from strength to strength.

Therefore, thanksgiving is our visa into His presence, which makes us go from strength to strength. We are required to

enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise (Psalms 84:7; Psalms 100: 4). Supernatural Fruitfulness: Thanksgiving rejuvenates our system for supernatural fruitfulness. We cannot be joyful and not be ‘praiseful’ and we cannot be ‘praiseful’ and not be fruitful. We don’t say ‘thank you’ with a cold face; every genuine ‘thank you’ is with a smile. Hannah got Samuel by being grateful; Abraham also got Isaac by being grateful, he refused to grumble, complain or murmur, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and that resulted in his supernatural fruitfulness (Romans 4:20-21; Psalm 67:5-7). Signs and Wonders: Thanksgiving is a covenant platform for the eruption of signs and wonders. This was graphically illustrated in John 6, when Jesus gave thanks over five loaves of bread and two fishes. They multiplied supernaturally to feed 5000 men, excluding women and children. Jesus also gave thanks and Lazarus came out from the grave (John 11:41-43).

PowWhen will slavery be eradicated? er of

S

lavery as we know is an act of keeping someone in bondage; this is a stage of subjecting someone to a form of hardship with little or no reward.

This was practised some times in the world a business called slave trade that lead to trafficking of human beings from one place to the other for to be used in achieving a form of developmental purposes.

People against their own wish are subjected to it forcefully, some because of hardship willingly accepted to do it for a token, many are lured into it taken them from relations or friends creating an impression to be helped and latter being forced to be used as a slaves.

Some hid under the pretext of marriage only to latter found they are turn to slaves.

MATTHEW 11:28-30 28. Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

29. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.

30. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.

These act has been in existence from Adam; take an example of the Like of the slave boy Joseph, the slave girl Esther, Hagar the mother of Ishmael, Naaman slave girl that lead them to Elisha for her masters leprosy to be healed.

In the time past we read in history of a global campaign to eradicate slave trade that lead to freeing many, we read about how many are freed in Freetown.

This trade actually as we read lead to colonisation, forcing people into culture, tradition and acts other than theirs.

God made man and woman not to be enslaved He made adequate

provision for them and made everything free and easily accessible and He commanded them to have dominion on other creatures not fellow beings.

GENESIS 1:26-31 26. Then God said, “Let us make people* in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals,* and small animals.” 27.

So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. 28. God blessed them and told them, “Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals.”

29. And God said, “Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

30.

And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food.” And so it was.

31. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.

All at once we see him creating the world in a majestic display of power and purpose, culminating with a man and woman made like Himself But before long, sin entered the world, and Satan was unmasked.

Bathed in innocence, creation was shattered by the fall (the wilful disobedience of Adam and Eve). Fellowship with God was broken, and evil began weaving its destructive web. In rapid succession, we read how Adam and Eve were expelled from the beautiful garden, their first son turned murderer, and evil bred evil until God finally destroyed everyone on earth except a small family led by Noah, the only godly person left.

These act of slavery is practised in

almost all works of life in today’s world but in different dimensions.

• Child trafficking • House help • Personal Assistance • Casual workers (Temporary staff) • Body guides • Touts In child trafficking, children are moved from one location or the other to serve other children like them, they lived in the same environment but not subjected to the same condition of life, while the masters children are in school the slave boy or girls are engaged in one form of domestic work or the order, some are frustrated to an extent that they lose their values and purpose in life.

Some are made to serve their master for several years and are promised to be settled, only to find out that at the expiration of the agreement they are thrown out without benefit, some are even sent to jail for an offence not committed.

Some left their parents with complete body and came back maimed and defective that could render them useless for life, even when they are sent to school while their own children are in private and good schools the slave boys and girls are sent to nearby public schools so as to close early to continue their domestic assignment.

Clearly at a glance they can be identified by their mode of dressing different from their master’s children.

Some under the pretext of marriage or to be given a better life, traffic our girls abroad to be commercial sex workers, nannies, house helps, some are even forces to be used by animals for peanuts, some die in the process, some imprisoned, some youth being employed are trained as fraud stars, rubbers, kidnappers, some are kept in slavery

Let me conclude with these inspired thoughts on the great subject of Thanksgiving: * To be ‘thought-full’ is to be ‘thankful’ – Psalms 103:1-3 * Ingratitude grieves God and when God is grieved, man becomes vulnerable – Psalms 78:40-42 * If we understand the mystery of thanksgiving, satan will find it difficult to wear us out – Habakkuk 3:17-19 * Every complaint only complicates our issues – Psalms 78:40-42 * If we genuinely give thanks, we shall become sweatless mountain-movers, because God will always back us up – Psalms 114:6-7 * To take God for granted is to be grounded – Psalms 78:40-42 * Anything we thank God for, supernaturally multiplies – John 6:11 * When things are happening as expected, give thanks and to keep them happening, give thanks the more – Psalms 135:1-7 * Our enemies are helpless when we become truly thankful – Psalms 60:12

* When we forget God’s benefits, He forgets our needs – Psalms 103:1 * To be thankful is to be ‘winful’ – Psalms 92:1/10-12 * Thanksgiving is a covenant gateway to our high places in life - Habakkuk 3:17-19 Friend, you can access the wonders of thanksgiving when you are born again? You can become a redeemed soul, by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can be God’s child now, by saying this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan, to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me! Now, I know I am born again!”

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. respectively.

From the Pulpit by

Olasupo E.A. Oladele

Email: eaolasupo@yahoo.com, Tel: 08058161864

by drug trafficking.

Youths are engaged as tugs for some leaders to achieve their ambition in life after which they are employed as task force, some having access to ammunitions against an opposition, even when they commit crime people highly placed will give them backup without the fear of God. Drivers drives their master where ever they are assigned to go, some don’t have closing hours, the master goes to good eatery places driven by the driver, but drivers manages what they see, when they travel with their boss the car is their hotel room while the master is in 5 star hotel, why will he not set you up, many accident happens due to several ways drivers are treated, some slap their driver from the behind as if it were not enough, their children also does same and were not rebuked.

Some personnel are employed as staff of a particular company, while others having the same qualification even attended them institution are employed as casual or temporary staff in the same organization, i met some casual workers that have worked for over ten to fifteen years, and some companies are tagged labour employers, collecting huge amount on behalf of the labour supplied only to pay them peanut, a country that is said to be independent foreigners are our labour suppliers, they are virtually everywhere, no government agent is checking that. What is the government policy about temporary staff, today in some organizations managers, supervisors are staff with full benefit others

are temporary staff not having access to medicals, recreations, pension, etc.

Majority of the bankers are temporary staff and they are in sensitive area of the bank why will rubbers not have adequate information to rub the bank, staffs are earning hundreds and casuals less than N30,000 how justifiable is that.

NYSC is a good program that would have made our youth to have a preknowledge of what they studied in higher institution of learning, how can a mechanical, Electrical or civil engineer be posted to schools as a teacher when they did not study education, after being given discharge certificate what relevant is that assignment to their area of specialisation, we are talking about unemployment instead of employing trained teachers, Government through the NYSC is also practising slavery give inadequate allowance because corpers have no choice rather than to teach according to the set and approved policy by the governing body who refused to employ teachers, their PA salary alone can pay ten corpers, instead of sending such corpers to engineering firms they gave opportunities to such firms to bring in foreigners that comes here to learn on the job and latter become boss and Nigerians serve as slaves under them.

Pastor Dr. Olasupo E.A. Oladele Snr. Pastor Christ Kingdom Apostolic Bible Church ( No. 1, Ogale Farm Road Nchia Eleme, Rivers State) Managing Director (Tenidel Integrated Ventures Ltd, Ajoor Shopping Complex Obo Nwanke Road, by Coca Cola Junction Ogale Nchia Eleme Rivers State).

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God is God

t is very pertinent for us to realise that God is God in every situation. Despite what we are passing through, all we need to bear in mind is that God is God. He knew everything about you ever before you were conceived.

No wonder He says in the book of Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations”.

God knows where we belong.

He knows what we will be. He knows our beginning and end, that is why He is called the beginning and the end. Even when we were still blood in our mother’s womb, He already knew what the blood would be in future.

Before I was conceived, the Lord told my parents that they would deliver a baby girl, that her name shall be called Joy. That this baby Joy will be His servant. At the appointed time, Joy was delivered and she started from her tender age to minister in and outside the family. She started leading her mates in the children’s church.

God also ordained her voice and through her songs people are elevated, souls are revived, sick people receive their healing. God still receives His glory in order to show us that He is God. This is the inheritance of those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, you should not be afraid of the plans of the enemy because you are standing on the Rock of Ages, that is Christ Jesus who is our God. He has promised us that we shall not die, rather we will live to declare the goodness of the Lord.

In my book, ‘Healing To The Broken Hearts!’ we read that when God appears in everything that concerns us, we shall be happy all the days of our lives. My God does not sleep, nor slumber and I tell you, He is really watching you closely, considering that you are a tool in His hands.

The Psalmist says that He will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in his mouth. Having seen the plans of God for you, promise to bless His name always just

like the Psalmist; for He (God) spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast and His counsel stands forever.

The problem most of us have is that we find it difficult to wait for God’s plans for our lives. We are always in a hurry. Wait for any promise the Lord made to you, whether it is when you were still blood in your mother’s womb or in your tender age. Despite how long it may be, you need to wait for it will come to pass.

Don’t rush, don’t worry, don’t cry because God is God. He is not man that He should lie. God cannot lie. All His promises over your life must surely come to pass. Instead of His word not to come to pass, it is better that Heaven and earth pass away. I have confirmed it that God’s promises are forever sure. My parents told me what the Lord said before I was delivered, and I continued to wait on Him. Though the manifestation was seen even in my tender age but I still decided to wait for the full manifestation of God’s power in my life. God has been showing me that He is God and the message that my parents received was from him. This is to show to the whole world that He is the all-sufficient God and He will not share His glory with any god.

God said it and I believed it and that settled it. Once again, wait on the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. The Psalmist says, “Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Psalm 27:14.

When I started growing up, I really noticed the touch of God upon me. People were telling me that I’m God’s servant indeed, and through what God used me to do, a lot people gave their lives to God. Praise God! Ever since, God has been faithful to me. He has been confirming that I’m really His servant. Despite all the problems I encountered on my ways, He has never failed me for He is God. I believed that God created me for a purpose and I must surely live to realize the purpose.

As I grew up, I found myself ministering in songs, working in the church, attending Bible school.

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othing in life is as important as the choices we make. The choices a man makes are the sum total of who he becomes. The implication of this statement is that your choices can either make or mar you. They can either bring progress or retrogression in life.

Now there are different types

of choices: the choices that are made for us or on our behalf and the choices that me make ourselves. The choices that are made for us are external. We have little or no control over them and they include where we were born, the families we are born into, the day we will exit the world, and other such

I established a ministry, became an author and other things. These made me know that I’m a pencil in the hands of the Creator and a golden spoon indeed.

Satan is not happy seeing what God deposited in you. He knows that I was made to sing and praise God. He knows that you are made for signs and wonders. The Bible records in the Book of 2 Peter 2:9 that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special person, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Satan having known this has not rested. He fights so hard to make you not to be that which God wants you to be. He makes you sick even to the point of death but God promised me that He will neither leave you nor forsake you.

A song writer says that the Devil is roaming about seeking whom to devour. He moves about like a wounded lion seeking your soul because he knows that your future is bright. But glory be to God for He promised in the Book of Isaiah 54:17 that no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, his righteousness is from me,” says the Lord.

A song writer says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”

The Lord will direct your path only if you will lean on Him and acknowledge His sovereignty; bearing in mind that every high calling of God is a crown and this crown is enthronement. Every genuine vision leads to enthronement.

One of the major characteristics of a genuine vision is that it has its source from God. It is God’s revealed plan and has to be traceable to him. Any vision that does not have its source in God leads to destruction.

God, having revealed what I would be to my parents before I was conceived, made me to hold unto my faith, and all His revelations came to manifestation. This is

Word of FAITH byby Apostle Clement Apostle Clement Ogbonna Ogbonna apostleofgraceinwof2010@gmail com, apostleofgraceinwo clementogbonnaya2007@yahoo.com Tel: 08036774737 .

to remind us that God is still God, though it may tarry but just wait for it because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in Him: but the just shall live by faith.

Habakkuk 2:4.

I discovered peace ever since the vision manifested, and every God-given vision is characterised by peace and also has peace as its companion. God will always speak peace to His people.

No wonder the Psalmist says: “I will hear what God the Lord will speak for He will speak peace unto His people.” Psalm 85:8 A man who desires a vision and a man who desires wisdom must necessarily separate himself from every distraction and make enquiries from God. Also, we should try to ascertain our area because genuine visions are plain. “… make it plain upon tables…” it clearly states what to do, when to do it, where to do it and how to go about it.

Having received messages from God, do not relax; rather be praying for God to help you. When I said this prayer, God gave me a divine zeal. Every God-given vision always imparts a divine drive which will help you to accomplish your area of calling. Zeal is the inward excitement that rushes you forward to accomplish your mission. When the zeal of God consumes you, every other factor becomes subsidiary. God cannot call you to a task without giving you the zeal to perform it.

I also waited for God’s own timing because timing is very important in God’s programmes. There is always the time for take-off. John the Baptist was on a divine mission.

It had been said even before he was born, that he was going to prepare the way of the Lord. He knew it but he didn’t go about it immediately until he came to the fullness of age. He waited for God’s time. The Bible says: And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel, Luke 1:80.

Jesus also knew of His own mission but He waited, and at the appropriate time, He carried it out. The time God calls you into the ministry is not necessarily the time for you to step out. Always get God’s appointed time and walk in it. And if your vision must be accomplished you must run. You must pursue it. Every calling of God culminates in glory but there is a demand to press.

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14.

There is of necessity a pressing on attached to every prize. No press, no prize.

God has not called you to be a referee. Referees don’t win prizes.

Just like God revealed His plans for me even before I was conceived, He is also willing to reveal His plans for you. He didn’t make His plans for Himself. He made it for you and I. Therefore, we need to know His plans for us to enable us to work for him, not only working for Him but also to work with Him. He said: “… I am the Lord the God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.” Isaiah 48:17.

God has taken upon Himself the responsibility to lead you into your destiny. He does that by revealing His plans, by showing you your own little portion in His master plan for your life.

It was specially designed for you, so go for it. But in all, you must not forget to seek God in prayer because prayer draws the hand of God into a situation. It is the link that connects man to the throne room of God. If you want to know the ways of God in any situation you must pay. You must ask Him and He is very close to answer you.

There is a path God has prepared for everyone born of Him. It is left for you to walk on the path in order to attain the heights God has prepared for you but when you decide not to walk on the path, you will have yourself to blame.

The power of choice

choices.

The choices we make ourselves could range from mundane choices like the choice of what to wear and when to eat to important and life-changing choices such as whom to marry, choice of career, choice to serve God and so on.

One of the greatest tragedies in life is to pass through life itself as a choice for failure.

According to Webster ’s dictionary, a choice is the power or privilege of choosing. It is the ability to make a selection or alternative, to make a pick.

Every day, in life, we make choices, ether consciously or unconsciously. When a man

decides not to exert himself, for instance, he has made an unconscious choice for failure in life. When a man decides to be choiceless, life will hand him its own choices, which may be unfavourable.

A man may be born in poverty and squalor but despite these unfavourable choices life handed over to him, he decides to update himself, undergoing training and chooses to enrich himself with knowledge in order to upgrade his level in life . This is a choice and is not dependent on where he found himself initially Dear reader; you can be all that God intended for you to be, despite

where you are right now. A man is not limited by his situation and circumstance, but by the CHOICES he makes. How then can I make the right choices, you may ask? This can be done in three simple steps: 1) Acknowledge God and hand your life over to him (Rom 10 :) 2) Ask him to speak to you, concerning the choice you wish to make (Jeremiah 33:3) 3) Obey him by choosing his way rather than your own ways choose life, choose to know more!!! Next week, we shall discuss the benefits of education and how this can be achieved.

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Faith

The Seeds of by Greatness Apostle Clement by Ogbonna Bishop Lawrence Osagie apostleofgraceinwo

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A

n attempt to live beyond your means, the natural man would say, is the step to robbery. Societal norms therefore dictate that individuals, families and even nations plan their budget strictly according to the amount of income or resources available to them. Since these immediate incomes or resources are always in short supply, the lives of most people and families are today under a great yoke of limitation and outright bondage.

All through the day, week, month and year, their budgets are watertight, not allowing any form of flexibility or freedom; they live in constant fear of insufficiency. This is not God’s will for man.

Man, I want to let you know, is not just natural, he is a spiritual being. For the Bible says, “Then God said, let us make them man - someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the seas. So, God made man like his maker, like God did God make man.” -Genesis 1:26-27). You can see that from the very beginning.

In spite of this truth, most children of God totally limit

themselves solely to their salaries or business contracts. They cannot see or plan beyond the limits of their salaries or contracts. They believe that their salary or contract is their only source of supply. The truth is that salary or contract is just one of many channels through which God meets their financial needs. God Himself, the maker and possessor of the heaven and earth is your source of supply. The Bible says: “The world and the fullness thereof is the Lord’s. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50: 10 and 12) All the silver and all the gold belong to Him (Haggai 2:8).

That same God is your source; child of God - let that sink into your spirit.

The flow of all the resources of the world is under His control (Hebrew 1:3) God Himself orders the channels through which those resources flow to you. He does not withhold any good thing from us. All that are His are ours as well. All that is God’s is ours because we are His heirs (Romans 8:17, Galatians 1:7). Most of us are like the

Obedience takes you into God’s abundance brother of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. He became angry because his father killed the fattest calf to celebrate his younger brother ’s return.

When his father learnt of it he came to him and began to plead with him, saying, “My son (child of God) you are always with me and all that is mine is yours.” – Luke 15:31. Until now, he realised this fact. Otherwise he would have recognised that it was from his own resources that his father was celebrating his brother ’s return. All his father ’s wealth because he was staying in obedience to his father was his as well. All that God has is ours.

God’s will and desire for us are to live in abundance. In Genesis 2:8-10, the Bible says that God planted a garden eastward of Eden and made to grow from the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; and a river went out of Eden to water the garden. “And there he put the man He had formed.” Genesis 2:8. Everything that Adam needed was provided for in that watered garden. He was placed in the midst of the abundance. My friends, God has placed you

Your miracle and your mind

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his message is written to inform you that any man of God you have doubt about, or any method your mind does not yet agree with may not help you much, except God decides to use it to teach you not to criticise.

I allow God to use any person, any method and any means to deliver me and the people I pray for.

The person God uses is not always a curious person. He is not an over-cautious person or given to argument and debate.

A person God uses is not the person who is always conscious of fear of error. He or she is a person of faith and love. Fear has torment, and there is no fear in love.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love (1John 4:18).

If your relationship with the Lord is love, you need not fear whether you are offending Him or not. What He makes agreeable to your spirit and mind, accept. If it is not agreeable with your spirit, wait until it is agreeable before you say or do anything.

Stop looking for faults. Stop looking for errors. Stop fears and stop being over-cautious.

That your mind does not agree with something today does not mean it will not do so in the future. You might see yourself

tomorrow doing what you criticise in others when it is agreeable with your spirit.

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded, and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you (Philippians 4:15).

Inner conviction (Voice of God) versus Reprobate Mind When one consistently ignores the inner voice of God in him/her, and does what he/ she thinks will please others; and when a person continues to change the truth of God into a lie and worships and serves the creature more than God the Creator, the Lord will give him/ her up unto vile affections.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (Rom 1:28).

What then is the result of turning to a reprobate mind?

The experience of the person is described by the following scriptures: For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not but what I hate (i.e. what the mind disagrees) that I do (Rom 7:15).

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: O wretched man that I am!

Who shall deliver me from the

body of this death?

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin (Rom 7) If you refuse consistently to follow the law of God or the voice of God ‘after the inward man’ i.e. your mind, and if you refuse to serve the law of God or the voice of God ‘with the Mind’, you will not be able to appreciate, acknowledge or do even what you feel is right.

Do not neglect your inner voice, the inward man. It is a candle of God searching the inward parts (Proverb 20:27).

The more you obey the inward man, that inward voice, the more the Lord reveals His will, and leads you by the inner voice. This is exactly what Jesus said: If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself (John 7:17).

The more you allow yourself to be led by this inner voice in you, the more He leads you by it. Conversely, the more you go against what your mind (God’s inner voice in you) tells you, the more He stops leading you.

The results of this is confusion; secondly, failure; and, thirdly, loss of ability to follow His subsequent directions. Saul refused to follow his inner conviction, God’s inner voice in him twice, and came to a site

in the midst of abundance.

All that we will ever need for food, clothing, health, cars, shelter etc- have been provided for by God. Stop living in misery and asking yourself what you can do with this little salary or contract. Reach out with your faith, your salary does not bind your life.

God’s infinite provision covers every area of our lives.

Some people today, when in sickness or disease, do not see beyond the hospital or the doctor. They depend totally on the doctor. Such people are living in bondage because if the doctor fails they also fail. But God expects us to live beyond the ability of doctors. The medical world has no cure for many diseases today, e.g. AIDS. So if you have got AIDS or cancer, the doctors will tell you that there is nothing they can do about your case. Period. But the scriptures say, “He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. Confess this scripture by faith and every disease and even cancer

will die. This is the abundance of God for you. Living in the abundance of God is the exclusive privilege of children of God - born-again and washed by the blood of Jesus. Adam through disobedience to God’s word lost the abundance of God he was living in. God drove him out of the watered garden to toil for bread in scarcity; but thank God that Jesus came and by his death restored man (regenerated man) back to glory.

The unsaved person has no access to God’s abundance.

The doorway into God’s abundance is through the Lord Jesus Christ. You must receive him as your Lord and Personal Saviour, to experience the fullness of God’s blessings. That is the initial step for us all to take. The word of God contains principles to follow, if we must walk in the unlimited resources of God. In the book of Deuteronomy, 28:1, the Bible says: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments... that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth...”

WORD OF LIFE by

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as described in 1 Sam. 28:5,6: “And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim nor by prophets.”

Saul went to the final war in this state of mind.

Just as I was writing this chapter a man narrated his story to me. He married his wife but was asked to send all the money and the traditional requirements atot the bride’s mother’s place and not the father’s place. He, the groom, was not very comfortable with that instruction, but he was forced to do so, or else the wedding would not go ahead.

He was disturbed because his spirit, his inner self, told him that it was wrong.

He finally forced himself to obey the mother-in-law. Initially, things went on fine. They had two or three children but the next childbirth resulted in the death of the wife. It was eventually traditionally traced to the issue of performing the marriage rites for the wrong persons.

He did not obey his mind. He

forced himself to do what his inner voice told him not to do.

He also narrated a story of a very rich and prominent man in his state. The man was believed by all his enemies to be a very tough, invincible and unconquerable man. His enemies believed that he joined a secret society and that was why they were not able to kill him.

In that secret society or cult, it was a law that one cannot see a dead body. Doing so meant breaking the law and that would result in a death penalty. When his attackers discovered this, they attacked his wife and she died.

What would the man do?

He refused to see the dead wife’s corpse. This man was pressurised by people, in-laws and relations to do so. He only showed them where the wife was to be buried.

The pressure became unbearable to him, so he forced himself to do what was disagreeable with his mind.

If your mind does not agree with any particular thing now, wait until it is agreeable. Do not be forced to do anything and accept, if it is not agreeable with your spirit.

Football Top Nigerian stars to watch at Brazil 2014 p.59

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Dapo Sotuminu, Deputy Sports Editor dapo.sotuminu@newtelegraphonline.com 08099400190, 08038154192

Sp rt

Rufai: With Enyeama Eagles will go far in Brazil A

Dapo Sotuminu

Did you know?

Shirt numbers were used for the first time at the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and since then a clear pattern has emerged about the most dangerous digits

former Super Eagles World Cup goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, has declared that with Lille FC of France safe hands as Nigeria’s number one choice keeper, the sky is the limit for the Eagles at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. He told New Telegraph on Sunday in Lagos that, Enyeama has grown very big in the trade as a world class goalkeeper and he would exhibit some brilliance at the 2014 World Cup. “For those who think that the Nigerian team would be defeated easily at Brazil 2014, they should start having a rethink and re-plan their strategies towards the group games against the Super Eagles.

“Enyeama, again showed the world that his performance at the French Ligue 1 was no fluke as he made some world class saves in the friendly game against Greece.

“Ordinarily, some of those dangerous shots at goal taken by the Greek attackers would have beaten any goalkeeper that is not at his best. Vincent was calm, calculated and very agile. This is an indication that he is in his best form.”

Rufai who kept the goal for Nigeria at the USA 94 and France 98 World Cup, noted that, Nigeria is lucky to have Enyeama in such top form especially in a World Cup year.

“I read a report where

somebody said that, in Brazil, Nigeria will not be presenting any superstar.

That to me is not correct, as Nigeria’s reliable superstar to the 2014 World Cup in no other than Vincent Enyeama. And I have no doubt in my mind that he would help Nigeria go far in the competition.”

The former Stationery Stores of Lagos goalkeeper however warned the Super Eagles defenders to give Enyeama adequate cover so as not to expose him in crucial games.

“The Eagles defence line marshalled by Joseph Yobo and Kenneth Omeruo improved greatly in the match against Greece compared to the uncoordinated game they played in the first friendly match against Scotland in London. With the dedication showed against Greece, I know that the Eagles’ defence would continue to improve as the team progresses in the competition and if this trend continues, the Super Eagles will surely make Nigeria and indeed Africa proud as they have the potential of shocking the world.”

H e stressed

that, Enyeama’s assistants Austin Ejide and Chigozie Agbim are not in their best form presently and that is not good for the team, as there would be so much pressure on the players who as they battle to defeat opponents would at the same time be praying that Enyeama should not get injured. That alone is distraction and it is not good for the team.

He advised that, the Eagles should take all their group games serious and approach every match as they come. This would help them to play with less pressure a situation that would make them the team to beat at Brazil 2014.

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Brazil 2014 / Sport

Vincent Enyeama

Efe Ambrose

Mikel Obi

Top Nigerian stars to watch at Brazil 2014

Vincent Enyeama (Lille); age 31; 89 caps Captained Nigeria to the 2013 African Cup of Nations title but actually vice-captain of the Super Eagles and first choice goalkeeper since Keshi took over in late 2011. Was in goal against England at the 2002 World Cup and played in all three Nigeria games at the 2010 World Cup. Named best player in the Israeli league in 2009 and moved to France in 2011.

He is a good shot-stopper. The 31-yearold has been in top class for his French Ligue 1 side, Lille Metropole, as they clinched a Uefa Champions League slot as was duly voted the African Footballer of the Year in France.

Efe Ambrose (Celtic); age 25; 35 caps Won a first cap in 2008 but did not play again for three years before quickly securing a regular right-back berth in the Nigeria line-up. Signed for the Scottish

Victor Moses

champions Celtic in 2012 after two years playing in Israel. Says he spends his holidays playing football.

Mikel Obi (Chelsea); age 27; 58 caps He is used in a more attacking role by his country who do not have a playmaker but is much more effective as a crunching midfielder. Obi Mikel, who, as a teenager, was the subject of a tug of war over his services between Chelsea and Manchester United, has not been able to command a regular berth at his London club. His real name is John Obinna but the Obi Mikel tag has stuck since the Nigeria Football Association botched his paperwork ahead of a Fifa youth tournament. Missed the last World Cup through injury.

Victor Moses (Liverpool); age 23; 19 caps Former England under-21 international who changed his allegiance after growing

Emmanuel Emenike

up as an asylum seeker in Britain. Was first spotted by Crystal Palace, who sold him for ÂŁ2.5 million (Dh15.4m) to Wigan Athletic, who in turn sold him to Chelsea. This season he has been on loan at Liverpool, featuring mainly in his favourite left wing position.

The Chelsea winger did not have a good season on loan at Liverpool but on his day can create havoc for any team with his pace and trickery.

Moses will hope to do well at the World Cup to kick-start his career and his brilliance in the friendly against Greece surely gave him a stake for a starting berth in Brazil.

Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce); age 26; 21 caps Top scorer at the African Cup of Nations finals last year despite suffering serious injury in the semi-final that robbed him of

Ogenyi Onazi

a chance to feature in the final. Also scored the vital goals for Nigeria in the World Cup qualification play-offs. Arrested but later released in Turkey for alleged match fixing.

Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio); age 21; 19caps Diminutive yet a combative midfielder.

He plies his trade in Italy with SS Lazio.

He was influential in midfield as Nigeria clinched the Africa Cup of Nations last year. One of the first names on Keshi’s team list. In his debut season for S.S. Lazio, Onazi got an impressive 28 appearances under his belt. He had a total of 15 Seria A appearances with 8 starts and 7 substitute appearances, 2 Coppa Italia starts and 11 Europa League appearances. In his second season where his maturity comes to fore, Onazi had made a total of 16 appearances for the team as at 27 November 2013.

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Sport / Brazil 2014

World Cup Fixtures

Eagles’ World Cup statistics and breakdown of events T he Super Eagles of Nigeria would on June 16 begin campaign in their fifth FIFA World Cup outing after earlier appearances at USA 94, France 98, Korea/ Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010. Here are the team’s statistics and breakdown of events in the history of the Mundial which has been more of under-achievement in the planet’s biggest soccer fiesta.

The Eagles scored 7 goals in one edition of the World Cup this was achieved at USA 94 where the Eagles tutored by Dutchman Clemens Westerhof scored seven times in four games. The Eagles’ least number of goals was recorded at 2002 edition of the Mundial where Julius Aghahowa converted only one goal after connecting a Joseph Yobo cross. It was against Sweden in a 2-1 defeat.

Nigeria’s fastest goal in the history of the World Cup was scored in just 8 minutes of play by Samson Siasia. He achieved this feat with his strike on June 25, 1994 against Argentina that had Diego Maradona and Cannigia. It was at the Foxborough Stadium.

Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha is the first Nigerian soccer player to feature 9 times in the FIFA World Cup. He boasts of this record with nine games in three FIFA World Cups 1994, 1998 and 2002. He made six starts with three from the substitutes’ bench, winning three games, losing five and drawing one.

Nigeria has played a total of 14 matches at the FIFA World Cup finals, making them the second-highest playing African country in the history of the competition after Cameroon. This figure also represents the total number of points gathered by the country in all World Cup matches to date. Cameroon boasts of the most points (19) by an African team at the tournament.

Nigeria has failed to make it to the FIFA World Cup competition 15 times. The country did not make it to the inaugural edition of the competition staged in Uruguay in 1930, and did not book a ticket to play at the biggest stage until their debut in the 15th edition hosted by the United State of America in 1994.

Nigeria has scored 17 goals in all FIFA World Cup. They have conceded 21 goals in the same number of outings. The Super Eagles also boast of this same number of shots on goal in the history of the competition which makes them the best African team in terms of attacking prowess.

At age 17 years, Femi Opabunmi is the youngest-ever Nigerian to have represented the country at 17 years, three months and nine days. He is the third youngest player

ever after Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside (17years, one month and 10 days) at Spain ‘82 and Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto’o Fils (17 years, three months and seven days) at France ‘98.

At age 20years, Julius Aghahowa is the youngest Nigerian player to score at the FIFA World Cup at the age of 20 years and four months. He achieved this feat at the Home’s Stadium in Kobe where the Eagles lost 2-1 to Sweden. Aghahowa’s 27th minute strike put the Nigerians ahead before Henrik Larsson’s brace caged the Eagles.

Nigeria made its debut at the FIFA World Cup finals on June 21, 1994 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. Nigeria made her debut in the FIFA World Cup by beating Bulgaria 3-0 with goals from Rashidi Yekini, Daniel Amokachi and Emmanuel Amunike.

The Eagles have bagged 4 yellow cards in four appearances at the World Cup, an average of six cautions per tournament.

Rashidi Yekini at age 30 years and eight months remains the oldest Nigerian player to score a goal at the World Cup. The goal came against Bulgaria on June 21, 1994 at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. Incidentally, it was Nigeria’s first World Cup goal.

Nigeria has received only one red card since making their debut at the USA 1994 World Cup. Sani Kaita was given marching orders by referee Olegario Benquerenca in the 33rd minute against Greece in a group stage game at the Durban Stadium on June 6, 2010.

The Eagles twice played a draw at the

tournament. The first was against England in Korea/Japan 2002, while the second was in the country’s last group game against South Korea that ended 2-2 four years ago.

Each of Nigeria’s three highest goal scorers in the World Cup history have scored 2 goals each. By Kalu Uche, Daniel Amokachi and Emmanuel Amuneke who are Nigeria’s joint highest goal scorers.

The number of times Nigeria have faced Argentina is 3, with the Eagles losing all to the South Americans. Both countries will meet at this year’s edition in Brazil for a record fourth time.

Nigeria has won four games in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, a record that falls far short of the all-time record (held by Brazil with 67 wins). The Super Eagles have lost eight matches, while they have secured a draw just twice.

The highest number of goals conceded

by Nigeria in a single World cup game was 4. The Super Eagles were spanked 4-1 by Denmark in a second round encounter at France 98 in a match played at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis on June 28, 1998.

The Nigerian team has beaten 4 European countries so far in the World Cup. They defeated Bulgaria and Greece at USA ‘94 and Spain and Bulgaria at France ‘98.

At age 34 years and 10 months Super Eagles goalkeeper Peter Rufai is the oldest player to feature at the FIFA World Cup. His last game was in Nigeria’s 4-1 spanking

by Denmark on June 28, 1998.

Nigeria is ranked as the 37th best country ever to have participated in the senior World Cup. The country occupies the third spot in Africa with Cameroon occupying the 28th position in the world while Ghana, with just two appearances are placed 34th.

Thursday 12 June 21:00 Brazil Vs Croatia Friday 13 June 17:00 Mexico Vs Cameroon 20:00 Spain Vs Netherlands 23:00 Chile Vs Australia Saturday 14 June 17:00 Colombia Vs Greece 20:00 Uruguay Vs Costa Rica 23:00 England Vs Italy Sunday 15 June 02:00 Côte d’Ivoire Vs Japan 17:00 Switzerland Vs Ecuador 20:00 France Vs Honduras 23:00 Argentina Vs Bosnia Monday 16 June 17:00 Germany Vs Portugal 20:00 Iran Vs Nigeria 23:00 Ghana Vs USA Tuesday 17 June 17:00 Belgium Vs Algeria 20:00 Brazil Vs Mexico 23:00 Russia Vs South Korea Wednesday 18 June 17:00 Australia Vs Netherlands 20:00 Spain Vs Chile 23:00 Cameroon Vs Croatia Thursday 19 June 17:00 Colombia Vs Côte d’Ivoire 20:00 Uruguay Vs England 23:00 Japan Vs Greece Friday 20 June 17:00 Italy Vs Costa Rica 20:00 Switzerland Vs France 23:00 Honduras Vs Ecuador Saturday 21 June 17:00 Argentina Vs Iran 20:00 Germany Vs Ghana 23:00 Nigeria Vs Bosnia Sunday 22 June 17:00 Belgium Vs Russia 20:00 South Korea Vs Algeria 23:00 USA Vs Portugal Monday 23 June 17:00 Australia Vs Spain 17:00 Netherlands Vs Chile 21:00 Cameroon Vs Brazil 21:00 Croatia Vs Mexico Tuesday 24 June 17:00 Costa Rica Vs England 17:00 Italy Vs Uruguay 21:00 Greece Vs Côte d’Ivoire 21:00 Japan Vs Colombia Wednesday 25 June 17:00 Bosnia Vs Iran 17:00 Nigeria Vs Argentina 21:00 Ecuador Vs France 21:00 Honduras Vs Switzerland Thursday 26 June 17:00 Portugal Vs Ghana 17:00 USA Vs Germany 21:00 Algeria Vs Russia 21:00 South Korea Vs Belgium Saturday 28 June 17:00 Group A Winner v. Group B Second Place 21:00 Group C Winner v. Group D Second Place Sunday 29 June 17:00 Group B Winner v. Group A Second Place 21:00 Group D Winner v. Group C Second Place Monday 30 June 17:00 Group E Winner v. Group F Second Place 21:00 Group G Winner v. Group H Second Place Tuesday 1 July 17:00 Group F Winner v. Group E Second Place 21:00 Group H Winner v. Group G Second Place Friday 4 July 17:00 Quarter-Finalist 5 v. Quarter-Finalist 6 21:00 Quarter-Finalist 1 v. Quarter-Finalist 2 Saturday 5 July 17:00 Quarter-Finalist 7 v. Quarter-Finalist 8 21:00 Quarter-Finalist 3 v. Quarter-Finalist 4 Tuesday 8 July 21:00 Winner Quarter-Final 1 v. Winner Quarter-Final 2 Wednesday 9 July 21:00 Winner Quarter-Final 3 v. Winner Quarter-Final 4 Saturday 12 July 21:00 Semi-Final 1 Loser v. Semi-Final 2 Loser Sunday 13 July 20:00 Semi-Final 1 Winner v. Semi-Final 2 Winner

Past Winners 2014 - ?????

2010 - Spain 2006 - Italy 2002 - Brazil 1998 - France 1994 - Brazil 1990 - Germany 1986 - Argentina 1982 - Italy 1978 - Argentina 1974 - Germany

1970 - Brazil 1966 - England 1962 - Brazil 1958 - Brazil 1954 - Germany 1950 - Uruguay 1946 - not held 1942 - not held 1938 - Italy 1934 - Italy 1930 - Uruguay

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NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY JUNE 08, 2014

Brazil 2014 / Sport

Nigeria favourites to join Argentina in Round of 16

Rooney

Fabregas

D

espite the hard luck to avoid all but one of world football’s super powers, Argentina, in their group, the Eagles who failed to book a ticket to play in the knock-out stage at South Africa 2010 and, at Korea and Japan in 2002, still has an impressive pedigree in the early stages of the World Cup having topped their groups in both competitions in the 90’s.

Emulating that success will be the target at Brazil 2014 with a battle with Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 21 likely to decide who joins Argentina in the knock-out stages. As ever, Nigeria’s direct approach has the potential to be at odds with their lack of defensive cohesion, but their ambition coupled with the lack of quality in the opposition lying in wait should see them qualify.

Chelsea trio of Victor Moses, Mikel Obi and Kenneth Omeruo will each lay claim to responsibility in different areas of the pitch in efforts to secure progress for Nigeria, and perhaps their own club futures too.

Vincent Enyeama, the Eagles’ 31-yearold goalkeeper took on Lionel Messi in a phenomenal duel when Nigeria met Argentina four years ago in the group stage, denying the Barcelona star with a thrilling string of saves as he embarked on a one man mission to keep his side in contention. The Eagles eventually lost 1-0 and exited the 2010 World Cup bottom of their group, but the presence of the Lille of France shot stopper would go a long way in rectifying that this summer.

But the burden of expectation has often tripped up the Super Eagles, who represent a country with passionate, demanding and fickle fans who easily turn on their team when results are not achieved.

As it was at USA 1994, Nigeria played at the World Cup as African champions but the current team has none of the charisma and strong personalities of two decades ago when the team was captained by Stephen Keshi, who is now the coach, and featured established players like Daniel Amokachi, Sunday Oliseh and Rashidi Yekini.

Keshi’s current squad has no inter-

Toure Kuyt

World Cup stars share Brazil 2014 dreams

S Sabella Keshi

national stars. The team’s two most influential players come from the Premier League but neither Mikel of Chelsea nor Liverpool’s Victor Moses hold down regular places at their club sides.

The team has the ability to become the first African country to get past the World Cup group phase on three separate occasions but it’s increasingly an unpredictable force.

At the moment much of the Eagles’ game is based on pacey attack, with a lot of emphasis on wide play, but their main goal scorer, Emmanuel Emenike, is often guilty of not taking his chances, while the team’s defence has an air of vulnerability with injury prone Kenneth Omeruo, in-experienced Godfrey Oboboana, aging Joseph Yobo, below average Azubuike Egwueke, inconsistent Ambrose Efe and the ever-gambling Elderson Echejile.

In tournament debutants Bosnia and Carlos Queiroz’s limited Iran side, Nigeria must be considered favourites to join Argentina in the next round.

NIGERIA SQUAD Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim Defenders: Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile, Juwon Oshaniwa, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kenneth Omeruo, Efe Ambrose, Kunle Odunlami Midfielders: John Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ramon Azeez, Michael Uchebo, Reuben Gabriel Strikers: Osaze Odemwingie, Ahmed Musa, Shola Ameobi, Emmanuel Emenike, Babatunde Michael, Victor Moses and Uche Nwofor

ome of the world’s best footballers, including Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Tim Cahill, Paul Pogba, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Diego Forlan among many others shared their 2014 World Cup dreams.

Each gives a personal insight into what playing a World Cup in Brazil means - and what the ultimate dream really is, whether it’s scoring a hat-trick in the final, or simply reaching the second round.

Wayne Rooney: The England striker says his World Cup dream is to entertain the fans and make his country proud.

Cesc Fabregas: Spanish midfielder says his World Cup dream is to score the winning goal in the final of this year’s competition.

Yaya Toure: Ivory Coast midfielder says it would be a “dream” for an African team to play in the final of the World Cup. Didier Drogba: The Ivorian striker says his World Cup Dream is to win the tournament and take the trophy back home to the Ivory Coast.

Diego Forlan: says it would be a dream to go all the way at what could be his final World Cup for Uruguay.

Tim Cahill: The Australia’s all-time leading goal scorer says his World Cup dream is to win every game in the group stage.

Kevin Prince-Boateng: Ghanaian playmaker’s World Cup dream is to play against Germany in the final.

Paul Pogba: French midfielder says his World Cup dream is to score a hat-trick and win the tournament.

Carlos Queiroz: Iran’s head coach’s World Cup dream is for his team to play with honour and qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.

Dirk Kuyt: Dutch midfielder said his World Cup dream is to play in his final tournament in Brazil.

Asmir Begovic: Bosnian goalkeeper says his World Cup Dream is to represent his home country at the tournament in Brazil this summer.

Salomon Kalou: Ivory Coast striker says his World Cup dream is to be part of the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

Luka Modric: Croatia midfielder says his World Cup dream would be to match the feats of his country’s famous 1998 team.

Pogba

Forlan

Boateng

Eagles striker, Victor Moses in a battle for the ball with a Greek player

Modric

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E-mail: ifeanyiandrewibeh@gmail.com Tel: 08085973490

NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

JUNE 08, 2014

Countdown to FIFA World Cup

Stars who could trouble Nigeria in Group F ARGENTINA Pablo Zabaleta, defender (Manchester City); age 29; 36 caps.

Captained Argentina to their Under-20 World Cup victory in 2005 and has also skippered City.

Helped Argentina win the Olympic football gold medal in 2008 and has won the Premier League, the FA Cup and League Cup trophies with City.

Javier Mascherano, midfielder (Barcelona); age 30: 95 caps.

The “Little Chief” who captained Argentina at the 2010 finals in South Africa, he made his name as a fine ball winner and distributor with good positional sense who has been playing in central defence for his Spanish club side for the last two seasons. Has won league titles with River Plate, Corinthians and Barca and also played for West Ham United and Liverpool in England.

Lionel Messi, striker (Barcelona); age 26; 84 caps.

World’s top player, a multiple title winner with his club, small and nicknamed “Pulga” (flea), with exceptional ball control at speed, some of whose skills are reminiscent of Diego Maradona.

He is the all-time second highest scorer for his country with 37 goals, 19 behind Gabriel Batistuta having overtaken Hernan Crespo (35) and Maradona (34) last year, yet remarkably has a record of only one in seven appearances at two World Cup finals, which he scored in the 6-0 rout of Serbia in 2006. Will turn 27 on June 24.

Gonzalo Higuain, striker (Napoli); age 26; 36 caps.

Brilliant finisher who scored a World Cup hat-trick against South Korea in 2010, he was also eligible for France having been born in Brest where his defender father “Pipa” – hence the nickname “Pipita” – played. An intelligent player who prefers to run onto passes but will also do a good job with his back to goal holding the ball up, he has a tally of 20 international goals.

Sergio Aguero, striker (Manchester City); age 26; 50 caps.

Nicknamed “Kun” after a Japanese cartoon character, Brazilian clubmate Fernandinho says he is one of the funniest people he knows. A regular scorer for his club side, with tremendous ability and agility to turn defenders, a penalty box menace for the best defences, he has 21 Argentina goals. Father of Diego Maradona’s first grandson Benjamin.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINIA Asmir Begovic, goalkeeper (Stoke City); age 26; 28 caps.

The towering keeper will undoubtedly be first choice in the World Cup after a string of impressive performances for club and country in the past four years.

Begovic’s qualities have put him in the spotlight as a prime target for several of the Premier League’s bigger clubs.

Emir Spahic, centre-back (Bayer

Lionel Messi

Edin Dzeko

Ashkan Dejagah

Leverkusen); age 33; 72 caps.

Bosnia’s captain is a rock-solid centre-back marshalling the defence. After five good years at Lokomotiv Moscow and French side Montpellier, he has been somewhat less consistent at Sevilla and his present club with his age becoming a factor.

Miralem Pjanic, midfielder (AS Roma); age 24; 46 caps.

Effervescent either as a playmaker or a winger, Pjanic made his international debut as an 18-yearold and has improved ever since, having joined Roma in 2011 after three good seasons at Lyon. Close control, vision and an excellent right foot from set pieces have made Pjanic indispensable in Bosnia’s first 11.

Edin Dzeko, striker (Manchester City); age 28; 58 caps.

The robust and versatile striker

is the tip of Bosnia’s spear and he will have to shoulder huge expectations from the Balkan country’s fans and pundits in Brazil. One of the most recognised scorers in the game, Dzeko also has the ability to hold the ball, take on defenders and assist his teammates. Known as “The Bosnian Diamond”, he is the Balkan country’s all-time leading scorer with 33 goals.

Vedad Ibisevic, striker (Stuttgart); age 29; 51 caps.

Thrived alongside Dzeko in the qualifiers as the two combined for 18 of Bosnia’s 30 goals. A perfect complement to his more heralded strike partner, Ibisevic got just reward for his hard work when he scored the winner in a 1-0 defeat of Lithuania, which sealed Bosnia’s berth in the finals.

IRAN: Jalal Hosseini, defender (Persepolis); age 32; 84 caps.

The rock at the heart of the Iranian backline that booked a fourth World Cup appearance based on a miserly defence. Also an attacking threat from set pieces, he scored the opener in the Asian Cup qualifying win over Thailand in October and needs to be closely marshalled.

Javad Nekounam, midfielder (Al Kuwait); age 33; 139 caps.

Captain and deep-lying playmaker, Nekounam will take part in his second World Cup after appearing in Germany in 2006. The set piece specialist became the first Iranian to play in the Spanish top flight when he joined Osasuna after the 2006 finals.

Andranik Teymourian, midfielder (Esteghlal); age 31; 76 caps.

Powerful defensive midfielder, who has long been a mainstay of the team having appeared at the 2006 World Cup and also at the 2007 and 2011 Asian Cups. Played for Fulham, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers in England before returning to Iran to play his club football. Nekounam’s midfield sidekick.

Ashkan Dejagah, midfielder (Fulham); age 28; 11 caps.

Born in Tehran but moved to Germany at an early age, he played for the Europeans at youth level.

Was called up by Queiroz for the World Cup qualifier against Qatar in February 2012 and scored twice on debut. A tricky winger who can also play through the middle, Dejagah joined English side Fulham in August 2012 following in Teymourian’s footsteps.

Reza Ghoochannejhad, striker (Charlton Athletic); age 26; 11 caps.

Born in Iran but emigrated to Netherlands as a child, Queiroz convinced Ghoochannejhad to represent Team Melli after the striker had played for the Dutch youth teams. Made a blistering start to international football, scoring nine goals in his first 11 appearances, including the crucial winner in their final qualifier against South Korea.

WITH IFEANYI IBEH

HOLE IN ONE

Injuries plaguing Woods’ record quest

J

ack Nicklaus played in an astonishing 154 consecutive major championships for which he was eligible. The upcoming U.S. Open will be the sixth major Tiger Woods has missed in the last six years. And if he is to have any hope of surpassing Nicklaus’ 18 career major victories, a record he once seemed certain to shatter, then he must make dramatic concessions to the injuries that are plaguing him.

So says 14-time Major winner, Curtis Strange, on the 25th anniversary of his second consecutive Open championship victory. Strange was the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1950 and ’51 to repeat at the Open, and he said: “I sympathize with the aches and pains. I really do, and I think he’ll come back pretty strong.

Everything I’ve heard about his back surgery, the pain’s been alleviated, it wasn’t massively invasive. It just corrected the fault.

“My question to Tiger is: Are you going to modify your workout?

Because we know your body isn’t holding up. So we’re going to have to adjust, aren’t we? So maybe we don’t hit so many golf balls (on the range). Maybe we don’t work out so hard. Because we have got to save what we have left.

“If you’re going to win five more majors (to surpass Nicklaus), there’s got to be a helluva push. So how are we going to get to that level of play again? It’s not about how big your biceps are anymore. It’s about how we can modify and how we can push this last stretch of the

next five, six, or seven years to win five more majors. … That’s what I would say to him as somebody’s who’s done it and been there and had minor injuries.”

Strange is 59 and doesn’t play much due to a cranky back. But in his prime, he didn’t endure the back, knee and Achilles issues that have dogged the 38-year-old Woods.

“If I had to do it all over again, and I’ve thought about this for years, I’d hit half as many golf balls and I’d chip and putt the other time,” Strange said. “And I wouldn’t have been any less a ballstriker, and I would have been a better chipper and putter. But that’s not the sexy part of the game and so you beat balls and beat balls and you don’t improve (all that much).

“I think everybody wants to see, can he do it? But he’s given up too much time to injuries and he’s missing so many majors. When you change your swing, it takes months and months and months to have that become part of you. And then when you get injured, you have to start up again.”

And Strange hopes Woods can return for next month’s British Open, which ESPN airs, even though he fears that might be too soon and thinks the PGA in August is more realistic.

“Not for his back,” Strange said, “but just for being in golf shape.

Because he’s not going to play, if he’s not (close to) 100 percent. That serves no purpose.”

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun being cheered by his wife, Olufunso (3rd right), Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Aremu Adedotun Gbadebo (left) and others while teeing- off the Golf Tournament organised by the Abeokuta Golf Club in commemoration of the 3rd anniversary of the Senator Amosun-led administration at the Golf Course, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta yesterday.

McIlroy named Euro Tour player of the month

R

ory McIlroy has been named The Race to Dubai European Tour golfer of the month for May following his victory in the BMW PGA Championship.

McIlroy came from seven shots behind with a closing round of 66 to beat Shane Lowry by a shot at Wentworth, just days after announcing he had split from fiancée Caroline Wozniacki.

“Winning the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth was something very special,” the

25-year-old said. “My first victory on European soil is a really important and welcome addition to my career titles to date.

“The European Tour has always been good to me and this win really cements the great relationship we enjoy. To have won the BMW PGA Championship, and with it the golfer of the month award, is the coming together of some really good, recent form.

Hopefully the win will be the start of a big season for me.”

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JUNE 08, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH ON SUNDAY

Sport / News

French Open 2014: Sharapova wins Ladies Singles title

M

aria Sharapova claimed her second French Open title after coming through a marathon battle with Simona Halep 6-4 6-7 6-4 at Roland Garros.

The Russian seventh seed was forced to battle it out for just over three hours by her diminutive Romanian opponent, who kept coming back time after time in a pulsating contest in Paris as the women’s final went the distance for the first time in 13 years.

After Sharapova just edged the opening set, the second set swung backwards and forwards in a real thriller, with four breaks of serve on the bounce sending it into a tiebreaker.

Sharapova lifts French Open trophy

Omeruo set for ankle scan

K

enneth Omeruo was left out of the Nigeria squad that played against the USA in a World Cup warm-up game as a precautionary measure.

The 20-year-old Chelsea defender is, however, expected to be in good enough shape to take part in the World Cup in Brazil.

“Kenneth expectedly had a scan on Saturday and that was why he was ruled out of the match against the United States. His injury is a minor one though, according to the team doctor,” Super Eagles spokesman Ben Alaiya said.

“But as a precautionary measure it was decided that he should be left out of the team. The scan he is to undergo is to also make sure that nothing really serious has happened to him.

“The coach is concerned about the health of all of the players and won’t take unnecessary risk since we are just few days away from our first match at the World Cup.” Since making his debut 18 months ago, Omeruo has been capped 17 times by his country.

Kenneth Omeruo

The 22-year-old Halep defied the fact this was her first grand slam final to hold her nerve superbly and grind out the breaker to send the final into a deciding final set.

Sharapova broke in the opening game of the third set, but yet again Halep showed bags of courage to hit back immediately, and repeated the dose after Sharapova stole her serve again for 3-2.

However, the third break was just too much for Halept to recover from and with her resistance finally broken Sharapova served it out to claim her fifth grand slam title.

Before receiving the trophy from seven-time Roland Garros champion Chris Evert, Sharapova said: “This is the toughest grand slam final I’ve ever played. All respect to Simona, I thought she played an unbelievable match today.

“I never thought seven, eight years ago I would win more Roland Garros’ when I was 27 than any other grand slams. It’s a dream come true and it means so much.

I’m so emotional right now I can’t even talk.”

Coming on the surface that she had found so difficult earlier on in her career, the fact that the French Open is the first grand slam Sharapova has won twice shows quite the transformation.

AFCON win heaps huge pressure on us – Osaze

O

saze Odemwingie believes winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations has placed immense pressure on the Super Eagles as they get set for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

The Stoke City striker was not part of the victorious Nigerian side at South Africa 2013, but he said: “Winning the African Cup has put us under pressure. Expectations are high but that will make us step our games up be-

Odemwingie

cause it is another level from the African Cup to the World Cup. “We need to step our game up one level higher as individuals and as a team and that’s what we are going to do.”

Odemwingie’s Super Eagles teammate and Chelsea star John Obi Mikel also feels Nigeria should relish the added pressure that comes with their status as African champions.

He said: “We are representing the whole of Africa, the whole continent in the tournament.

But it is going to be tough out there. We know that. It’s the highest level.

“We want to go all the way. We want to get to the final. With the team spirit we have and the calibre of players that we have, we think we have a good chance.

“We will go into every game wanting to win - it does not matter who we are playing, Iran, Bosnia, Argentina in the groups, whoever. Let’s just see what we can do - come out of the group stages and see what happens.”

Etisalat introduces low tariff roaming offer to Brazil

We’ll surprise Nigeria, others – Bosnia keeper N Asmir Begovic

B

osnia-Herzegovina firstchoice goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, has sent out a warning of sorts to Nigeria and other countries he and his teammates will be coming up against at the World Cup, insisting the Blue Dragons can pull off a couple of surprises in Brazil, even though it will be their maiden appearance at football’s biggest stage.

The Bosnians are in Group F alongside Nigeria, Argentina and Iran, and Begovic, who plays for English Premier League side, Stoke City, same club as Nigeria’s Osaze Odemwingie, insists he would love to help his fledgling

nation emerge as the surprise package of Brazil 2014.

Begovic said: “It was amazing to achieve qualification and bring a lot of happiness to the people back home. We’ve never been to a major tournament so for us it’s all new. We’re looking forward to making the most of it. The whole experience should be amazing.

“We have some good quality in our team and hopefully we can show that on the world’s biggest stage.

“We will be competitive – and if we play to our best we can get out of our group. Maybe we can be a dark horse and surprise some people.”

Kanu delighted as Nigeria wins Nestlé MILO U-13 title

N

estlé MILO, the energy food drink of future champions, continues to support the development of grassroots sports in Africa through the most recent edition of the bi-annual Nestlé MILO U-13 Football Championship which took place from May 29 to June 1 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Former African footballer of the Year, Nwankwo Kanu, expressed his joy as the Nigerians won the trophy. “You can see they really have the talent, I am happy for the Nigerian kids but the Ghanaians also played very well.

“I am proud of the boys,” said the former Super Eagles captain.

The finals took place on Saturday,

31 May, before which Nigeria had successfully battled South Africa in Group A of the knockout stages while defending champions Ghana had won against Kenya in Group B. Both Ghana and Nigeria Teams played exceptionally well and the game was very tight. Team Nigeria beat Team Ghana on penalties (5 – 4).

Mustapha Adam Agba, of Nigeria, went home with the golden boots for the highest goal scorer, having scored four goals in two matches.

Olakunle Olusegun, the Nigerian captain, took away the MVP Award.

The South African team was successful in its battle against Kenya for third place, winning 4 goals to 1, closing a very successful edition of

the Nestlé MILO Under 13 football Championship.

The Nestlé MILO U-13 Championship opened with a Gala night celebration, which took place on 29 May 2014 at the InterContinental Hotel in Lagos. The event was attended by the participating teams from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, government officials, sports personalities, members of the diplomatic circle and the media.

Speaking at the event, the President of the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Ibrahim Mohammed, welcomed all the participating teams to Nigeria. Mallam Mohammed also commended Nestlé for promoting school sports in African countries.

igeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunication company, Etisalat, is set to introduce an affordable roaming offer for the upcoming global football tournament slated for Brazil from June 1st through July 31st.

The Director, Business Segment at Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada said the global football tournament is being hosted in Brazil and Nigeria is among the 32 countries that would be competing. The etisalat Brazil roaming offer provides customers with affordable rates so they can keep in touch with their families, friends, and business associates easily, seamlessly and affordably with Etisalat’s discounted roaming rates on local calls within Brazil, calls to Nigeria, SMS and data activities.

Details of the offer show that it is valid from June 1st through July 31st, 2014, and is open to all prepaid and post paid subscribers, except enuf yarn (commercial call operators), while Etisalat is partnering with the vivo network in Brazil to make it possible.

With this special offering, local calls made to local Brazilian networks and calls made to Nigeria from Brazil would be charged at just N200, internet and data activities at N1 per 10kb, while SMS will cost N60 per SMS. Dada advised that customers who travel to Brazil should ensure they are roaming on vivo Brazil by carrying out a manual network search. They should do so by going to settings on their handsets, locate “Mobile Networks” and select “Manual”. On doing this, the customers’ phone will list all available partner networks, so that he/she can select “vivo” to enjoy the special roaming rates in Brazil.

SPORT

With Enyeama Eagles will go far in Brazil, says Rufai }58

FAITH Sanctity of Truth w ww. n ew te l e g r ap h on l i n e . c om

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. – Buddha

VOL. 1 NO. 110

SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2014

N150

I express creativity in whatever I do - Bishop Osagie

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The Nigerian press, insurgency and patriotism

T

he Igbo ethnic nationality have an adage which goes like this, “if a house is on fire, every creature that lives in that house must contribute to ensure that the fire is put off lest, every thing and everybody that makes the house a living shelter would be bereft of shelter.”

This is exactly an instructive note to all Nigerians now that the insurgents have made everybody a target of attack. Initially, at the beginning of Boko Haram activities, many Nigerians were given to believe that the activities of the sect were aimed at mostly Christians, police barracks and army barracks. But along the line, it has become manifestly clear that the sect has no respect for anybody, no matter the person’s religious lineage. In in its seven years operation, the sect has not drawn any line as to its preferred targets.

Few instances of the sect’s indiscriminate shooting, destruction and assassination makes this point very clear. Hence, few examples would be necessary to convince even the most obdurate skeptics that the sect has generally marked the nation and its people their targets of attack.

• 7 September 2010 - Bauchi prison break: • 31 December 2010 - December 2010 Abuja attack: • 12 March 2011 - Assassinated Muslim Cleric Imam Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi for criticising the violent groups in NorthEast Nigeria: • 22 April 2011 - Boko Haram frees 14 prisoners during a jailbreak in Yola, Adamawa State: • 16 June 2011 - The group claims responsibility for the 2011 police headquarters bombing: • 26 June 2011 - Bombing attack on a beer garden in Maiduguri, leaving 25 dead and 12 injured: • 10 July 2011 - Bombing at the All Christian Fellowship church in Suleja, Niger State: • 12 August 2011 - Prominent Muslim Cleric Liman Bana is shot dead by Boko Haram: • 4 November 2011 - 2011 Damaturu attacks: • 25 December 2011 - St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla bombing: •2012 - In 2012, series of attacks and bomb ings continued: • 14 January 2014 - At least 31 people killed, over 50 people injured by suicide bombing in Maiduguri, Borno State: • 16 February 2014 - Izghe massacre: 106 villagers are killed: • 25 February 2014 - Federal Government College attack: Fury at military over Yobe deaths. At least 29 teenage boys dead at Federal Government College Buni Yadi: • 14 April 2014 - 2014 Chibok kidnapping: Government property, including the only girls’ secondary school, attacked. At least 16 killed or missing and 234 female students kidnapped. The Boko Haram militants said it would treat them as slaves as part of the “war booty”: • 14 April 2014 - April 2014 Abuja bombing: Two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station in Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 90 people and injuring more than 200: • 1 May 2014 - A car bomb exploded killing at least 19 people and injured at least 60 in the same area of Abuja as the April bomb-

Rhythm of Wits Chuks Osuji

ing: • 5 May 2014 - 2014 Gambouru attack: Boko Haram attacked the twin towns of Gamburu and Ngala in Borno State, Nigeria.

They started shooting in a busy marketplace, set houses on fire, and gunned down anyone who tried to flee. The death toll of the massacre has been set as high as 336: • 15 May 2014 - Menari, Tsangayari and Garawa: Boko Haram attacked three villages, killing 60 people. Vigilantes fought back, killing 200 Boko Haram fighters: • 18 May 2014 - Kano: Suicide car bomb kills five people: • 20 May 2014 - Jos: Twin bomb explosions killed 118 people.

From the above few selected statistics, it was clear that the sect had no direction nor

MAMA LASISI

any form of coordination, giving credence that the sect has separate splinter groups each working and behaving the way it deems fit.

From a nationalistic stand point, by now, the entire nation would have realised that indeed the country is in a state of civil war.

Although the concentration of its activities has been in the North-East it sometimes spread to Abuja, Kano and Kaduna that do not lie among the North East States.

But with this uncontrollable carnage being inflicted on innocent Nigerians, the Nigerian people but over and above, the Nigerian press, should have been in the fore-front of this war.

This was the case during the Nigerian civil war; all those on the side of Nigeria, collectively supported the federal troops in prosecuting the war. They collected food items and other war supporting materials to support, motivate and encourage the federal soldiers.

On the other hand, those on the Biafran side were heavily committed to the war efforts of Biafrans. They formed several associations and groups to galvanise the people. In fact, everybody in Biafra was involved in the war efforts, hence the war lasted about thirty months, even though Biafran soldiers were mostly rag tag army fighting with make shift and ill equipped war hardware.

It was common knowledge that Radio Biafra was the most effective voice for the fighting and non-fighting people of Biafra.

They drew their inspiration and determination from Radio Biafra where Okoko Ndem was a voice for total mobilisation of the entire people on the Biafran side.

In addition, Radio Kaduna had a lot of war related reports which it aired throughout the war. They were aimed at encouraging those

on the war front and also demoralising the general inhabitants of the Biafran enclave.

Paradoxically, the Nigerian press, particularly a greater portion of the Nigerian press today is not playing its role as expected. One needs to take a look at most of the newspapers to see what most of the Nigerian press is writing against the Nigerian army and its government.

It is disheartening to see how a section of the press has through their presentations been providing support to the sect. Some of them present facts from the perspectives of outright falsehood thereby causing panic of the public. In fact, one could simply suspect that the way some members of the press report issues of boko haram may tend to suspect that the sect has undoubtedly infiltrated the Nigerian press.

Admittedly, three principal functions of the press are to educate, to inform and to enlighten. It does not include “to mislead, to incite and to instill fear.” But going through most of the publications on daily basis, one must have the right to arrive at this assertion.

The press is supposed to be the Fourth Estate of the Realm. This imposes some principles of participatory democracy on the press. But this means that the press should display degree of patriotism which principally means, “love for one’s country”.

In all honesty, our press is contributing to any failure on the part of the military because any act of encouragement by the press goes far to stimulate and reinforce zeal and the determination of our fighting force knowing that the people are behind them.

Our press, some section of it, is giving foreign press the impetus to be castigating and demoralizing our soldiers. This is an act of disservice and lack of patriotism which amounts to “social treasonable felony of kind”.

Our press, particularly those who think that if this country fails that they would not be part of it must have a rethink. Goodluck Jonathan is not Nigeria and Nigeria is not Goodluck Jonathan. We must remember that anybody who sells his fatherland to acquire power may not have a place to stand to exercise such power. Nigerian press must re-examine its attitude towards this national challenge.

By Aliu Eroje

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