Sunday telegraph sunday, 8 may 2016

Husband kills Only a fool will pregnant wife, blame Ojukwu for abandons corpse the civil war with children – Col. Ihenacho }6

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SUNDAY Sunday, MAY 8, 2016 Vol. 3 No. 809

Sanctity of Truth

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FULANI HERDSMEN ATTACKS

Food scarcity loomS }4

...as farmers desert farms The threat by OPC and MASSOB that our people should leave their area has made even the few who used to go there to be apprehensive -Northern foodstuff trader

We are afraid of going to farm because there are many Fulani people grazing around our farms with guns and destroying crops -Southern farmer

I tried to avert Nimbo massacre, says SouthEast Fulani leader

lMy people didn’t kill Fulani people Igwe of Nimbo lSouth-East on red alert lHerdsmen obstruct Gov. Okorocha in Imo

}3,7&10

Tiwa Savage: I’ll love to act in movies }41

NEWS

Odigie-Oyegun incompetent -APC Deputy Spokesman }5

NEWS

Anisulowo: Kidnappers trailed me for 2 months }52

2

SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Contents | 08.05.16 BODY & SOUL

Experience meets politics In our dire straits, Nigeria could benefit from 27 years of public service experience of Wasiu Anifowoshe

}20&21

POLITICS

PDP's truce Contrary to all expectations, the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West seems to be ready to forge a common front

}23

BUSINESS

Buharinomics hurts Nigeria’s economy passes through its worst economic crisis in years as inflation rose to four year high of 12.8 per cent

}43

FAITH

Peace in our land The shortest cut to achieving peace in our land, at a time when people are passing through hardship, is for all to seek for peace in their own little corner, T. B Joshua says

}31

SPORT

Magazine

Leicester’s greatness Former Super Eagles striker, Ade Akinbiyi, predicted 14 years ago that lowly-rated Leicester City would become a force to reckon with in the English Premier League

}53 Asthma attacks I spend my monthly income on asthma drugs and hospital bills

}8&9

SUNDAY

Editorial

Fulani herdsmen as a ticking time bomb

A

gain and with unprecedented ferocity, Fulani herdsmen have become unrelenting in their homicidal and destructive activities in many parts of the country in recent times. Typical of them, they continued to leave in their trail blood, desolate buildings and communities as well as widows and orphans alike.

The dusk attack last Monday at Ukpabi-Nimbo community in Enugu State is the latest, leaving behind a mindboggling casualty figure of about 40, besides over hundred critically wounded residents. Most intriguing was the failure of security agencies to respond to an intelligence report by either mitigating the effect of the attack or preventing it altogether.

Earlier, the herdsmen, armed with sophisticated rifles, had wrecked havoc in the Agatu people, in both Benue and Nasarawa states in the Middle Belt. Several other communities in the area have suffered wanton destruction of lives and property in the hands of these herdsmen. However, the Agatu incident still remained the bloodiest and brazen encounter, having claimed about 500 lives.

Thousands of indigenes and residents not only lost their ancestral homes, and farmlands, they lost their means of livelihood in these serial massacres. So bloody and heartrending it was that even the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee described it as what it is –genocide.

Similarly, many Nigerians like the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Zulu Gambari and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, have roundly condemned the killings which have the trappings of gradual descent to anarchy.

Driven southwards by the insecurity in the North-East, the Fulani herdsmen have resorted to outright criminal activities in other states like Ondo and Delta. They had not only invaded the farmlands of peasant farmers and prominent Nigerians alike, but also abducted former Finance Minister and prominent Yoruba leader, Chief Olu Falae for a ransom. And in a sheer display of unmitigated temerity, they

returned to snuff the life out of his security man.

While some members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association have attempted to justify some of these attacks, describing them as reprisals over cases of cattle rustling by farmers whose farmlands and plants are often destroyed by the cattle being grazed, it is not only unjustifiable to graze cattle on peoples’ farmland, even as it remains criminals to hoist rifles on the shoulders to decimate communities over such allegations.

These relentless attacks by these groups which have been described as terrorists in another guise, pose great danger to the nation both in terms of food security and security of lives and property. Worse still is the fact that they have the propensity to escalate as sundry groups have threatened reprisals if government fails to take serious action to stop the murderous people.

It must also be observed that the killings by the herdsmen have festered this long because of Federal Government’s unjustifiable long silence over the issue. This is more puzzling given the fact that government’s reason for existence is the welfare and security of the citizens.

That these kind of brazen attacks on human lives are taking place in unprecedented scale in the contemporary Nigeria and indeed in modern times is most barbaric and intolerable. The activities of the herdsmen cast a great pall of savagery on us as a people.

Coming albeit belatedly, the marching order given by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Inspector-General of Police to secure all communities under attacks by herdsmen, and to go after all the groups terrorizing innocent people all over the country, would be followed by appropriate action.

We call for deployment of security agents to these areas while thorough investigations are ensured into all cases of attacks by these herdsmen, with the view to identifying the sources of their weapons and bring perpetrators of these criminal acts to justice to prevent a ticking time bomb.

DAILY TELEGRAPH PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief

Funke Egbemode

Managing Editor, Business & Strategy n Yemi Ajayi

Managing Editor, Publication & Operations n Emeka Obasi

Managing Editor, South n Emeka Madunagu Managing Editor, North & Abuja n Laurence Ani

Editor n Ayodele Ojo Editor, Sunday n Juliet Bumah Editor, Saturday n Waheed Bakare Deputy Editor n Tunde Sulaiman

Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam Asst. Editor, News & Politics n Biyi Adegoroye

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed Sales/Circulation Manager n Oyebanji Abiodun Head, Arts & Creative n Ugochukwu Nnakwe Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

3

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 08, 2016

NEWS

Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

F

ollowing the attacks on Ukpabi-Nimbo community in UzoUwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, two weeks ago, governors of the South East states of Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Anambra have decided to firm up security in the zone.

Sunday Telegraph investigation in the zone revealed that while the governors have taken some secret steps to stop possible reprisals, they are also working hard to stop a repeat of such an incident in any part of the zone.

The moves, Sunday Telegraph learnt, include the formation of vigilante groups in various communities, apart from other measures not made public.

The moves also followed questions of competence and capacities of the governors raised by stakeholders in the region on putting a stop to the excesses of the gun-wielding herdsmen.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, had, less than 24 hours after he returned from his medical trip overseas, convened a crucial security meeting with traditional rulers across Imo State.

The meeting had just one agendum -protecting Imo communities from the activities of Fulani herdsmen.

Okorocha, while addressing traditional rulers at the parley, called for calm and restraint. He also mandated the monarchs to take absolute control of security in their various autonomous communities and demanded absolute vigilance.

The governor said: “This is an important meeting. I want to kindly request all of you to take responsibility of security in your domains to ensure peaceful co-existence between the Igbo and other Nigerians living in your areas.

“The killings in Enugu State were inhuman and those behind the killings should be made to face the law. As traditional rulers, you are to take charge of security in your autonomous communities. You are now the Chief Security Officers of your communities and you must ensure harmony between your people and others living with them. Yet, you must maintain absolute vigilance and a sustained commitment to the protection of lives in your rural communities.”

Sunday Telegraph also learnt from impeccable sources that the traditional rulers were mandated to set up community based vigilante groups to protect their communities.

“Yes, we were told to set up vigilante groups in our areas, where we don’t have any. It is not strictly because of the Enugu attack but to ensure that we reduced crime in our

Security: South-East on red alert areas. It is just a precautionary measure,” said a monarch.

In Aba, the commercial city of Abia State, since last Thursday’s killing of a butcher at the Waterside abattoir by a soldier, who opened fire on the meat sellers and buyers, the state government has also taken preemptive measures following the violence that shook the city to its very foundation after the shooting.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu declared a plan to enlarge the state vigilance service, aka Bakassi Boys. Every community in Abia State is mandated to send a contingent of 10 able bodied youths. The action became necessary, according to Ikpeazu because though the security agencies may be prompt in responding to incidents of security breach in the urban areas, they lack the capacity for prompt response in the rural communities. In most cases, before they arrive a lot of damage would have been done.

The Bakassi Boys security outfit began as a popular movement against crime and evil in Aba in the 90s.

The success of its operation in sanitising the city made it popular and sought after by neighbouring state of Anambra and Onitsha in particular where it also excelled in cleansing the city of crime and criminal elements.

Ikpeazu also directed the men of the Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) to commence, with immediate effect, a two-week intensive training, for onward deployment to communities across the state to assist in community policing under the supervision of the Commissioner of Police.

Traditional Rulers in the state were also directed to submit names of 10 ablebodied youths from their community to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs from Tuesday 10th to Wednesday 11th May 2016. These youths will be enlisted into the Abia State Vigilante Services (AVS) to further boost community policing in the state.

In Enugu State, the state government, traditional rulers and Presidents-General of more than 400 town unions in the state on May 2, 2016 resolved to take issue of security of the state more seriously. They are now to adopt a proactive approach to security matters but without compromising the activities of statutory security outfits in the state.

After a crucial security meeting with far-reaching resolutions, the state said they will work in harmony with statutory security agencies to secure the state.

One of the major resolutions at the meeting, which took place at Old Gover-

nor’s Lodge Enugu, was the announcement by the state Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, that he would establish a Neighbourhood Watch Board to coordinate the activities of Neighbourhood Watch associations that serve as vigilante groups across the state. Ugwuanyi announced the donation of N100 million as seed money to enable the Board to take off.

Among other resolutions was the amendment of the law establishing the Neighbourhood Watch (vigilante groups) in the state to

strengthen them and possibly enable them to bear arms.

The communiqué of the meeting was read by Ugwuanyi, who had earlier in his opening address announced government’s intention “to activate the provisions of the extant and relevant laws of Enugu State particularly, the Neighbourhood Association and Watch Groups Law 2006, which provides for associations in every autonomous community in Enugu State.”

In Ebonyi State, the situation is the same. Students

of the state University welcomed the move by Governor David Umahi, who ordered herdsmen out of the university campuses.

“We have actually been staying with these Fulani herdsmen in the university for long before the state government ordered for their eviction on Wednesday and their activities have been affecting us,” said a student.

Students and the university management have been complaining about the dangers their activities pose to the institution. Their several complaints did not receive the

attention of past administrations in the state. But Umahi was surprised to notice the presence of the herdsmen in the premises of the institution and ordered their eviction to a more conducive place within seven days. He said there was no reason why cattle should stay with students in the university.

Umahi, however, opposed the calls for a reprisal attack on the herdsmen in the south east zone over the brutal killings in Ukpabi Nimbo, Uzo Uwani Local government in Enugu State by members of the herdsmen.

L-R: Katsina State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Mannir Yakubu; Governor Aminu Bello Masari and President Muhammadu Buhari, during the president’s visit to the state at the weekend

Only a fool will blame Ojukwu for the civil war – Col. Ihenacho Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

W

ar veteran, Col. Lambert Ihenacho has declared that there is a limit to the level of subjugation and injustice a people can tolerate, no matter how small or weak they may seem.

He was referring to the impunity and butchery of Igbo race that preceded the civil war and noted that only the ignorant would blame Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu for insisting on separation from Nigeria.

He said, “It became crystal clear that Ndigbo were an endangered species in the present Nigerian project. If government could look away when a section of the people it claimed to protect was systematically being eliminated by its own agents, then that government has no moral right to govern.”

Continuing Ihenacho said, “Well, that was Nigeria

under Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. Can anybody tell me the difference between this and what happened to the Jews? Yet someone could open his mouth to blame Lt. Col. Ojukwu for insisting on separation. Tell me, what level of massacre of a particular group of people would qualify as genocide?

The humiliation of Ndigbo was simply unbearable.”

Narrating the ordeal of the Igbo nation in his landmark autobiography, ‘A Guided Life’, Ihenacho inferred that the July 1966 coup was just a part of a larger plot that would have become the most horrifying incident of ethnic cleansing in the history of the African continent.

Ihenacho wrote, “Gowon was the visible Head of State and the mask, but there were ambitious and vicious men behind him.

They were men who wanted nothing but total subjugation of a people. In spite of the terrible things that happened, Ndigbo in par-

ticular and the East in general must be grateful to God that the coup of July 1966 did not get to its planned conclusion. It would have been the worst annihilation of a people in African history. It predated Rwanda and could have remained unbeaten by it in its scale of wickedness and savagery.”

Ihenacho is of the view that if Ojukwu had listened to the plea of some misinformed people, doom would have been the harvest of Ndigbo and their neighbours.

According to him, it was sheer bravery and determination to survive that helped Biafra sustain the war for as long as it lasted.

“Ojukwu clearly exploited this fact and he was right to have taken the risk to fight back instead of sitting there and complaining to the world that would not listen and thereby accepting the mass execution of his people,” Ihenacho stressed.

Discussing further, the implication of the January and

July 1966 coups, Ihenacho opined that, “They started a process which they were totally ill-prepared for and incapable of handling. Their ill-fated experiment threw up people like Yakubu Gowon, who, in my view, had not the capacity to act decisively and who had to depend on the likes of Major Theophilus Danjuma, Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed and a few other hotheads to decide the fate of our country. Gowon’s emergence as Commander-inChief, therefore, became the worst misfortune that befell the Nigerian nation at such a pivotal time.”

Ihenacho however noted that Nigeria’s problems neither started with Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi nor with Gen. Yakubu Gowon, apparent beneficiaries of the coups, but noted that the two men had the opportunities to point Nigeria in the right direction early enough in true resolution of the nation’s ills armed with truth and depth of vision.

4

SUNDAY 08 MAY, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NEWS

Herdsmen attacks: Food scarcity looms Ibraheem Musa, Cephas Iorhemen, Emmanuel Cheke, Kenneth Ofoma, Charles Onyekwere

F

ood scarcity is imminent across the nation, following a drastic reduction in food production as a result of insecurity in different parts of Nigeria. Apart from the impact of the activities of the Boko Haram in the North East, which have displaced thousands of agrarian communities, farming activities have also come under threat in the middle belt and southern regions owing to the menace of Fulani herdsmen.

In recent weeks, the armed herdsmen who are now found in almost every community in the South -East, South- South and South- West geo-political zones have clashed with farmers, a situation that has resulted in the death of several persons in the hands of suspected Fulani herdsmen. As a corollary, various groups in Southern Nigeria such as the Ohaneze Ndigbo, Movement for Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Odua People’s Congress (OPC) have issued ultimatums, demanding the exit of the herdsmen from their lands.

This has reduced the movement of cattle and foodstuff to markets in the southern part of the country, as the Hausa/ Fulani traders have become apprehensive that they might be attacked by the aggrieved people of Southern Nigeria.

Our correspondents gathered that while many farmers in the South had abandoned their farmlands for security reasons, traders from the North have cut down on the quantity of cattle, rice, beans and vegetables they move down to the South for sale. The result has been an unprecedented increase in prices of these staple foods in the market.

Few cows, fewer tomatoes “Usually, 200 Peugeot J5 model buses leave the Kaduna Central Market with baskets of tomatoes to Kogi, Edo and Delta states everyday during the peak season between December to March,” Malam Idris Sherrif, the National chairman of Vegetable Farmers Association of Nigeria, told one of our correspondents.

In the same vein, 400 Tangle lorries and about 500 Peugeot J5 Models go to Lagos alone, Sherrif said.

“Mile 12 Market alone used to absorb 80 trailers of tomatoes, apart from other vegetables like onions, chil-

•Farmers desert farms over insecurity lies and hot pepper every day.’’

However, in the last few years, the volume of sales, even within the North, has dwindled and the cost of vegetables has increased, Malam Idris has lamented.

“Right now, the situation is worse because this is not the season for tomatoes,” he said.

Before now, a basket of tomatoes costs just N3,000 during the dry season, but the same quantity now sells for between N10,000 to N20,000, depending on the supply.

“In the South, the price increase will be more because the number of lorries that convey the commodities to the region has reduced drastically because of the recent threats that northerners face, owing to the order given by some groups that herdsmen should leave their areas,’’ Sheriff said.

According to him, most of the dealers were afraid of going down to the South because of the threat of the Oodua Peoples Congress and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra who were peeved by the recent attack in Ukpabi- Nimbo, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.

A prominent cattle dealer at Zango Cattle Market, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar, said that cattle dealers are wary of going to the South in recent times.

“The recent threat by southerners that our people should leave their area has made even the few who used to go there to be apprehensive. Some traders are still plying their trades but majority have adopted a wait-and-see attitude,” he said.

Nasarawa State In Nasarawa State, farmers have complained about the disruption of farming activities by the herdsnen and raised the alarm over the heavy presence of nomads and cows and destruction of crops on farmland in some parts of the state.

Chairman of United Farmers Association in Kadarko in Keana Local Government Area in the state, complained that attacks and mischief by Fulani cattle on farms was slowing down farming activities in the area.

“We are afraid of going to farm freely because there are many Fulani people grazing around our farms with guns and destroying crops. I am calling on government to do something urgently about this to enable us go to farm without any fear of being attacked,” he said.

National President of Middle Belt Youth Development Organisation, Chris Aba, who spoke to Sunday Telegraph in Lafia, expressed concern that food shortage was imminent in the region if attacks on farmers by suspected Fulani herdsmen were not stopped. Aba took a swipe at the Federal Government’s idea to create ranches for Fulani herdsmen, arguing that any person or group of persons in Africa or Nigeria that does not inherit any land should be treated as a foreigner.

Benue State In Benue State, referred to as the Food Basket of the Nation, farmers and residents have expressed apprehension over imminent famine and starvation if urgent measures were not taken by both the federal and state governments to end the intractable attacks on farmers by suspected Fulani herdsmen..

Vice Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, (AFAN), controlling Benue and North East, Mr. Terfa Yalu, stated that 80 per cent of the Benue population depends largely on agriculture, which is mostly done at a subsistence level, and noted that if urgent measures are not initiated with a view to ending the feud, the country will be confronted with serious food scarcity.

“I am foreseeing a situation in Benue State where famine and starvation are likely to strike due to the incessant attacks on farmers. You can see that the farmers who are producing the food and even exporting to other countries are being massacred like animals by the Fulani insurgents and when these farmers are not there, then it means there will be hunger in the land”.

“Let me tell you, Benue State is widely known as the food basket of the nation and when the farmers are killed or their crops destroyed, it will definitely give rise to famine, hunger and starvation”, Yalu predicted.

The AFAN helmsman, who said the Fulani attacks was a deliberate ploy to destabilise the present administration at all levels by those who do not mean well for it, said it was capable of frustrating foreign investors from doing businesses in the country. He commended steps taken by the President Mohammadu Buhari administration so far to end the imbroglio.

He said it was unfortunate that many women and children who are of school age have greatly been affected

in the attacks, and expressed concern that the attacks have come when the country was nursing the bruises it sustained from the deepening economic down turn.

South-East A combination of factors is at work to unleash unprecedented famine on the people of South-East geo-political zone. One of the factors is the late and irregular rain fall this season followed by a reduction in the volume of foodstuff transported from the northern parts of the country to the area. The shortage was due to widespread communal clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen across the country.

The greatest factor, especially as it affects the zone, is the abandonment of farms by farmers in agricultural areas of Enugu State for fear of attacks by Fulani herdsmen. Although kidnapping, rape, armed robbery and killing of farmers are some of the vices the Fulanis were accused of perpetrating in the zone over the years, these vices seem to have quadrupled this year. The worst being the killing of farmers and rape of their women by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

For instance, a community leader from Ukpabi-Nimbo and former Chairman of Uzo-Uwani local government area, Chief Danniel Okweli, told our reporter that the Fulani people have killed up to six of their farmers in the last four years.

“For two decades now, we have been living in fear.

Our people are now hungry because we can’t go to farm again. If their cattle destroy our farm and you complain, they will tell you it is not their cattle. But when you kill their cattle, they will kill human beings. They value their cattle more than human life,” he lamented.

Similarly, the member representing Nsukka East Constituency in Enugu State House of Assembly, Chinedu Nwamba, said: “These days, from my research, many people no longer go to farm. This is a very dangerous trend that is about happening to the Igbos because nobody is free to go to farm again. So in due time, we are going to face hunger because of incessant attacks by the Fulani herdsmen on our people.

“And the major cause is that they are allowed to move from one place to another. If they are being restricted from moving from one place to another they will not see anybody to rob, they won’t see people to kidnap, they won’t

see people to destroy their crops, they won’t see crops to destroy. So people are no longer going to farm in Enugu state for fear of cattle rearers.”

Nwamba told our correspondent that he is currently working on “A Bill For A Law to make provisions for the Control of Nomadic Cattle Rearing in Enugu State and Other Matters Related thereto: The Enugu State Control of Nomadic Cattle Rearing Law, 2016”.

Uzo-Uwani is one of the foremost agricultural local government areas of the state. With farmers in many communities of the council abandoning their farms this year, there is no doubt that it will seriously lead to decline in agricultural output this year.

But the problem is not restricted to Uzo-Uwani. In fact, at various times, other local government areas in the state have allegedly had their own fair share of violent attacks and rape of their women in their farm, making them to abandon their farms for fear of being killed.

Prominent among the local governments where the clash has become pronounced is Awgu, another area where 90 per cent of residents are predominantly farmers. Just last month, 78 youths and men of Ugwuleshi community in the local government were arrested by the military for allegedly waging ‘war’ against Fulani herdsmen.

The Traditional Prime Minister of the community, Chief Stephen Onuoha, who spoke to our correspondent on telephone, said that military men numbering over 50 and armed-to-teeth invaded his community and started arresting everybody they saw.

“On the whole, over 78 persons, mainly young men, were arrested and taken to Abia State. As a matter of fact, from 2010 till date, Fulani herders have been troubling us. We have made appeals to their leaders and we have written to various institutions of government, which include the police, Directorate of State Security, Awgu Council Chairman, Enugu State House of Assembly, Enugu State Government, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and member representing our people in the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Tobi Okechukwu, complaining about the manner the Fulani herdsmen move their cattle to the farm and destroy our crops after farming.

“We had so many reconciliation meetings, yet, ev-

ery season, they destroy our crops. We don’t have any other business than farming and our lives depend on it. However, in 2014, one of our brothers went to the farm, the Fulani herdsmen killed him not only that, they severed his body, put him in a sack and dropped him inside the river. This matter was reported at the Divisional Police Station in Awgu, but nothing happened,” he said.

Delta State In Delta State, several agrarian communities are now apprehensive of what this year’s farming season holds for them in view of the activities of the Fulani herdsmen. Last year, clashes between farmers and the herdsmen were rampant and in some cases, resulted in fatalities.

The incessant conflict between herdsmen and their host communities hit its climax on January 5, 2015, when some armed Fulani herdsmen reportedly kidnapped the paramount ruler of Ubulu- Uku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of the state. The monarch, HRM Akaeze Edward Ofulue III, was subsequently murdered by his captors and his body dumped in the bush. The corpse was discovered 15 days later.

But even the outcry that followed that gruesome incident did not prevent the herdsmen from wrecking more havoc in other communities in the state.

In fact, the apparent inaction of the government and its security agencies may have emboldened these herdsmen as they simply moved on to other communities in the state.

In September last year, three persons were killed when some Fulani herdsmen attacked farmers in Amoji , Onicha-Ukwuani, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State. The conflict was ignited when the herdsmen allowed their cattle to stray into the community’s farmlands, destroying a lot of crops in the process.

A group of eight young men had earlier been massacred by a band of Fulani herdsmen at Ogume, Ndokwa-West LGA while a 30-year old palm wine tapper was also killed by the herdsmen in Ofagbe, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State. There are herdsmen in almost every community across the three senatorial districts of the state and everywhere they go, their story has been that of forceful occupation of community lands, deContinues on page 5

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 08 MAY, 2016

NEWS

‘FG to stop sponsoring foreign treatment for Nigerians from 2017’

T

he Federal Government says it will partner with the Akwa Ibom Government on the operations of Ibom Specialist Hospital, Uyo, to stop Nigerians from seeking medical treatment abroad.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, made this promise on Saturday in Uyo while inspecting facilities at the Akwa Ibom government’s owned Ibom Specialist Hospital.

Adewole noted that with facilities at Ibom Specialist Hospital, medical tourism abroad can be reversed.

“Visiting the hospital complex today is an eye opener, there is no such complex like this anywhere in Nigeria,” the minister said.

He announced that with the proposed partnership, no Nigerian would be allowed to go abroad for treatment on government sponsorship from January 2017.

“We will partner to make sure that it works and reverses medical tourism.

People from Ghana and Togo can come to Nigeria for medical treatment.

“We will start using this facility, with this facility, no Nigerian will be allowed to go abroad for treatment,” Adewole said.

The minister warned medical doctors to desist from running a syndicate of sending people abroad for treatment for pecuniary interest.

Continues from page 4

struction of farm crops and violence against any host community who dares challenge their effrontery.

These incidents have forced the various communities to issue eviction notices to the herdsmen.

But rather than leave these communities, the herdsmen merely retreated deeper into the forests where they graze their cattle. While occupying the farms, these herdsmen also help themselves with the farm produce, leaving the farmers with nothing but hunger and sorrow.

In Onicha-Ukwuani for instance, the herdsmen took over the farmlands in Amoji, Ibabu and Ugiliamai communities for the most part of last year and farmers could not venture into their farms for fear of being killed.

One of the farmers, Ojebo

Adewole, however, said that individuals could go abroad on their own expenses if they so wish but not on government sponsorship.

The minister also said the state owned Diagnostic Centre at Ikot Ekpene would be converted to Lassa Fever Diagnostic Centre.

He commended the state government for constructing the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) at Ikot Ekpene to help reduce the pressure on the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Earlier, the minister and his entourage had paid a courtesy visit on the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, at Government House.

The governor had appealed for assistance from the Federal Government to make the state a healthcare tourism destination in Nigeria.

Emmanuel said the state government had invested much in the health sector and would like the Federal Government to help boost the patronage of the Ibom Specialist Hospital.

This was the maiden visit of the minister to Akwa Ibom since his appointment last October.

Medical tourism is fast becoming a booming business across the globe, with many Nigerians heading to India and even Dubai to receive treatment not available to them in the country.

Bauchi State Pensioners protesting over unpaid four months entitlement, in Bauchi at the weekend.

PHOTO: NAN

Timi Frank: Oyegun is incompetent, destroying APC Johnchuks Onuanyi and Tai Anyanwu

T

he Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, APC, Timi Frank, has blamed the internal wrangling within the party on the party’s Chairman; Chief John Oyegun who Frank accused of gross incompetence.

Speaking in a recent interview, the APC spokesperson also alleged that Oyegun’s inability to bring the APC family together and resolve a number of critical issues within the ruling party is destroying the ruling party.

“The APC I belong to today, sorry to say, has made Nigerians to start thinking twice: ‘Is this a party we can trust? A party that cannot allow a process to take place! So, it’s a very sad one,” he added.

He also alleged that it is

because he came from the PDP that is why the leadership of his party has refused to allow him speak for the party in acting capacity.

On the crisis rocking his party, Frank, however, called for a true reconciliation committee that will ensure a united party.

He said: “I believe for some of us that came from the PDP, we’ve not been treated fairly. Tell me, if this party (APC) has been treating us well, why would they refuse to let me speak?

I still repeat: Is it because I came from PDP to join the party? Today, they have turned some of us to be like outcasts within the party.

“And that is why when my chairman made that statement about the Senate President that the party does not mind if the PDP takes over the position and so on. Shortly afterwards, because of some pressures,

he came back to fine-tune his statement by saying that the party still wants to hold the position. But he never denied making the statement. How can you allow your number three citizen go through what he is going through - no matter what?

It’s because the party is not mediating between the executive and the legislature.

“The party has every power, to go to the president, to appeal to the president, to make it clear that this issue is not just about Bukola Saraki. This is beyond Saraki. It could be anybody.

Anybody could be in his shoes. As a party, we’ve not been able to take a position that will please Nigerians.

What is happening to Saraki is not just Saraki but it’s something that is making Nigerians to look at APC as a party having issues.

Our chairman came out to demonstrate that statement.

“I don’t want us to have a scenario whereby we have power today and in the next four years we’re not in the office. We worked hard to bring this change and we must defend this change.

This is because we have a president that has the goodwill to deliver the change agenda. But how you can do that lies on the party?”

Speaking further Frank said: Frank said: “We have two factions of the party at the National Assembly, especially in the Senate – the Ahmed Lawan group and the Saraki group. As a party, till today, we’ve not been able to summon those two factions and say ‘come what are the issues? Let’s harmonise these issues. Let’s stop this infighting.’ Till today, the party has not found itself to be seen as a party that can unite the family.”

Continues on page 6

Herdsmen attacks: Food scarcity looms Olise, told Sunday Telegraph that he lost all his corn and yams to the herdsmen because there was no way to get to the farm without encountering the armed herdsmen.

“They took over our farms around the month of July and that was about the time we were just waiting for the fresh corn to mature. They occupied the whole place and despite our cry to the Local council and state government authorities, they remained inside the bush waiting to kill whoever would come to challenge them.

“The result is that we lost out in terms of the harvest from last year’s farming season. Imagine planting your

yams and not being able to weed the grass and attend to the crops. At the end of the day, we lost everything,” he said.

Olise told Sunday Telegraph that at the moment, the situation has not changed significantly because even though the communities have again asked the Fulani herdsmen to leave, there were still reports that they were being sighted in some remote forests.

“Many of our people are still not confident going back to their farms because of the presence of these herdsmen. We want the Delta State Government to step into the matter by ordering these herdsmen to leave our

farmlands. We are predominantly farmers who depend on our farm produce for the sustenance of our families.

If herdsmen are allowed to take over our lands by force, how do we produce food for our families and have some surplus to sell to earn some income? We want the state government to look into this matter and avoid violent conflicts with these herdsmen. We want our people to return fully to their farms without having fears that they might be attacked by herdsmen,” he said.

Just last week, the people of Obiaruku community, Ukwuani Local Government Area, Delta State asked the Fulani herdsmen in their community to

leave with immediate effect. The eviction order was announced at a town- hall meeting after eight people were allegedly kidnapped by the herdsmen. It was resolved that the herdsmen must leave so that the farmers in the community could return to their farmlands.

Like in other parts of the state and by extension the South South geo-political zone, the presence of the herdsmen was hindering normal farming activities and have become a threat to security and public peace.

The General Manager, Climate Service, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Mr. Joseph Alozie, said the extended dry season and excessive heat be-

ing experienced this time in the country was expected, saying however that it is not forever.

He said that the changes is responsible for the hot weather, heat, dry conditions and dusty environment, adding that the long dry season is about coming to an end as the rainy season sets in.

According to him, the hot weather is the result of the changes in the atmosphere.

He pointed that though weather was excessively hot this year and the dry season a bit long, “You will start to think of serious negative if it is followed by very low rainfall, but only agriculturist will say what they are expecting this year.

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

News

Husband strangles pregnant wife, leaves kids with corpse

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Juliana Francis

here was shock and outrage yesterday at the Orelope area of Egbeda, in Lagos State, after a husband strangled his wife to death, leaving their bewildered two children with their mother’s corpse.

The mother of two, Mrs. Ronke Bewaji Shonde, was allegedly strangled by her husband in the early hours of Friday.

According to neighbours, the husband, Lekan, was said to be in the habit of beating his wife. Lagos State Police Spokesman, SP Dolapo Badmus, confirmed the incident, adding that the case will soon be transfered to the State Criminal Investigations Department for proper investigations.

Immediately Lekan realised his wife was dead, he bolted, leaving their two kids with their mother’s lifeless body in their living room. Lekan was said to have locked the kids inside the apartment with the corpse, before taking off. The

first kid is seven years old, while the second is just four.

Residents were alerted that something was wrong when they heard the two children, shouting and crying through the window that “mummy refused to wake up.”

Neighbours heard their cries and broke open the door of the apartment. They found Ronke’s lifeless body in the sitting room. with blood oozing out of her nostrils. There were bruises on her fair complexion skin.

According to kids’ nanny, the husband allegedly called her around 5am, on that fateful day and told her not to come to work. He apparently called and gave her the order after it dawned on him Ronke was dead.

She said: “I ignored his order. I was with madam yesterday (Thursday) and she didn’t say anything to me. He must have planned it; this was why he asked me not to come to work on Friday. I have lost a good woman, a good boss to domestic violence.”

Neighbours explained that

they had warned Ronke several times, to leave the marriage before Lekan kills her.

She had however, repeatedly ignored their advice.

One of the female neighbours, crying, said: “I just can’t understand her reason for staying in such a violent marriage.”

Meanwhile, indications have emerged that the stran gled mother may be five months pregnant. This latest information was divulged by a source close to the bereaved family.

The source also said: “I don’t think Lekan was in the habit of beating Ronke. It’s true they were having marital issues, but so are many couples.

It however doesn’t mean he used to hit her.”

The late Ronke, was a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Destiny Sanctuary, located close to late Oba of Egbeda’s palace.

According to a church member, who doesn’t wish to be mentioned, Ronke was in church last week Sunday with her two kids. She was

also expecting the third child.

The church member added that it wasn’t true that Ronke was rich.

The member added: “Ronke is pregnant, but I don’t know the stage of the pregnancy.

Yes, she used to dress nice to church, but that doesn’t mean anything these days. People’s dressing is not a parameter to judge whether they are rich or poor. The truth of the matter is that she was a staff of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), until she was laid off. Since then, she had been doing one business or another.

The member added that she knew that they were having some issues but she could not confirm that Lekan has been battering his wife, especially since Ronke was pregnant She said she could not ascertain while Lekan must have beaten her, moreso when he was not available to state his side of the story.

SP Badmus, however, said that police detectives are on the trail of Lekan , who could not be reached for comments at presstime.

A’Court affirms 25 years jail term for terrorists Muritala Ayinla

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he Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has affirmed the judgment of Hon. Justice Buba of the Federal High Court, delivered on September, 30 2014, which convicted and sentenced the appellants to 25 years imprisonment each.

The Lagos State Ministry of Justice had earlier filed charges against four accused persons for conspiracy to commit a felony, to wit, acts of terrorism, concealing information about acts of terrorism and having possession of prohibited firearms and ammunition contrary to sections under the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 and the Firearms Act, Cap F.28 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Hon. Justice Buba in September, 2016 convicted and sentenced three of the accused persons to 25 years

Bauchi promises support for Balewa’s family Alhassan Yusuf Bauchi

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he Bauchi State House of Assembly has moved to provide assistance to the family of the late first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in the state.

This was disclosed shortly after the sittings of the House by the Majority Leader Hon. Ibrahim Bello Katagum .

In a motion which was moved by Katagun, the House lamented the unfortunate condition of Balewa’s family, stating that the Assembly must act quickly to refurbish and remodel the house of Balewa with a view to bringing succour to

Wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo (left), presenting certificate to Mrs. Fatima Shehu, at the presentation ceremony of 7,500 graduates of the Always-UNESCO Programme on empowerment of girls and women in the use of ICT in Abuja…on Thursday.

PHOTO: NAN

Boys and Girls Brigade honour Obiano

N EWS I N BRIEF

Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obinano has been honoured by the Boys and Girls Brigades in the state.

Speaking during the investiture which started with a ceremonial parade by the Brigade, Obiano said that he had always admired “the colour party” of the group, noting that “this particular award is the most special in all that I have received”.

Obiano further explained that his administration is focusing the youths towards “the values which our society desires” to prepare them for the ideal leadership.

Responding to a special request by the Brigade, Obiano donated the sum of N10million to enable them acquire some musical equipment, and also directed that willing members of the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade be drafted into the numerous agricultural training programmes of the state government for empowerment and effective engagement.

In his homily, Dr. Alexander Ibezim, the Bishop of Awka, cited security, infrastructural transformation of Awka and other laudable achievements of Gov Obiano as examples of great dividends that God’s people get “when a righteous man is on the throne.”

EU Day to focus on women’s rights

The annual European Union’s Day celebration holding tomorrow May 9, has been dedicated to the protection and promotion of women’s rights. This was disclosed by the EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS), Michael Arrion in Abuja.

Arrion said that annually, the global theme for the EU was United in Diversity, but this year it has chosen the same theme like the African Union, which is the African Year of Human Rights, with special focus on the Rights of Women.

He attributed this is to the believe in the universality of human rights and “a clear demand from the people to see an improvement on the way human rights are respected and observed, protected and promoted in Africa.” Arrion said.

At the event, which also had the Head Cooperation, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Brian O’Neil and Head of Politics, Information and Communication Section, European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Pauline Torehall, Arrion added that a lot remains to be done in Nigeria in terms of gender equality and in terms of women rights and education is key to achieving it.

Frank: Oyegun is incompetent, destroying APC CO N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 5

According to Frank, that cannot happen in PDP. “We saw it very clearly in 2011 when the former Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, emerged. Even though he wasn’t the product of the PDP, as soon as he emerged as Speaker, the party had no option but to accept him.”

“But in our own case today, the party has not been able to do that. It’s very important for the leadership of the party to be interacting with party members and the leadership the leadership of the National Assembly. So far as I am concerned, the leadership under Oyegun cannot manage our party,” Frank said.

While calling for a reconciliation committee to bring back the party to the right track, Frank said: “The best way we can resolve the crisis in the party is to first of all acknowledge that we have problem.

imprisonment each while the fourth accused was discharged and acquitted.

The Appellants (Ali Mohammed Modu, Adamu Ali Karumi and Ibrahim Usman Ali) being dissatisfied with the judgment of Buba filed their respective appeals to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they were charged under inapplicable laws, the 25 years terms of imprisonment were excessive and the conviction of one of the Appellants (Ibrahim Usman Ali) was inadvertently convicted and sentenced for a count with which he was not charged.

While the Court of Appeal agreed that one of the Appellants was wrongly convicted under a count with which he was not charged, they affirmed the Judgment of Buba J. which convicted and sentenced the three appellants to 25 years imprisonment each.

the family.

“It pains me a lot to find that in some other states, most pioneers have been immortalised, but ours is just about having a university, teaching hospital and roads named after him, but his family and house have been neglected. All we are saying is about family’s welfare which is most important,” Bello said.

The motion was seconded

by Hon, Ibrahim Galadima Badara representing Kirfi Constituency along with Hon. Yusuf Inuwa Dadiye representing Ganjuwa West, before it received the majority votes of the House members. The Speaker of the House, Hon. Kawuwa Shehu Damina ruled in the favour of the rehabilitation

BOI disburses N1.6bn to 25 entrepreneurs in Sokoto Amadi Nnamdi

Abuja.

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he Bank of Industry (BOI) and Sokoto State Government have established N2billion matching fund for lending to the Micro Small, Medium Entrepreneurs (MSME) in Sokoto State.

Announcing the sealing of the MSME fund deal between BOI and the state Government in Abuja, the Acting Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Waheed Olagunju said BOI had so far disbursed about N1.6bn to 25 industrialists in the state.

Olagunju, said the state would be required to provide N1bn, which would be matched in sum by the bank for lending to entrepreneurs in the state.

He hinted that apart from Sokoto, the bank is already having a subsisting matching funds arrangement deal with 18 state governments across Nigeria.

Olagunju noted that the bank came up with the finance model because the bank could not singlehandedly finance industries in the country without collaboration with the states, who are the custodians of lands.

He challenged entrepreneurs in the state to come up with viable business plans, adding that once they are bankable, the bank would finance them.

Explaining the rationale behind the partnership with the state government, Olagunju said, “Entrepreneurs are located in the states.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

News

Ohaneze S’Africa condemns Enugu killings Chijioke Iremeka and Charles Onyekwere

l Warns against further provocations

haneze Ndigbo South Africa (ONSA), an apex socio-cultural umbrella organisation of Igbos residing in the Republic of South Africa, has called on the Federal Government to open an impartial Federal Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the recent carefully planned and executed massacre of residents in Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State on April, 25, 2016.

The organisation, with the mandate to represent, act and speak for and on behalf of, all Igbo communities and people living in South Africa, also wants the commission to look into how the Fulani herdsmen were able to bear sophisticated weapons in the pursuit of their trade against the law of the land.

ONSA, in a nine-point

communiqué, signed by its President and SecretaryGeneral, Chief Amadi Obi and Rev. Chidozie Ejimadu, respectively, also demanded the immediate disarming, arrest and prosecution of all the perpetrators and accomplices of the heinous crime committed against Nimbo.

They also demanded immediate arrest and prosecution of all armed Fulani herdsmen with their sponsors, cohorts and collaborators. ONSA insists on immediate arraignment or court martial of all military and security officials that neglected or refused to foil the attack and bloodbath despite the intelligence at their disposal.

Titled ‘Our Demands,’ the communiqué reads in part: “We demand with immediate effect, humanitarian and long term relief programmes

O

by Federal Government for the families and areas affected by the attack, as well as immediate appropriation and distribution of adequate compensation to the affected families.

“We demand increased provision of security, intelligence gathering and visible policing in the areas affected and in other possible areas of future attacks and urgent cessation of all forms of hostility, aggression, violence, acts of war and provocation – tribal, religious or political – against the Igbo people.”

“The world must note that Hausa/Fulani’s murderous orgies of violence are once again becoming a cold culture that is slowly but surely taking the same shape of the antecedents to the 19671970 holocaust plotted and carried out for self-serving and envy-propelled reasons

against the Igbo people.”

However, the Organisation has scheduled tomorrow (Monday), May 9, 2016 a day to submit a ‘Memorandum’ to the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the International Community, especially the Africa Union, the European Union, United Nation, the Amnesty International, and their host country, South Africa.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called on the Federal Government to take adequate steps towards the protection of lives and property in communities susceptible to attacks and clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities.

The group, in a statement made available to Sunday Telegraph, signed by Morayo Adebayo, said the deadly attack on Ukpabi

Nimbo communities in Enugu State on Monday 25 April, which killed, at least, 30 people and injured several others displayed a callous disregard for human life.

“The attack highlights the urgent need for the government of Nigeria to take immediate steps to protect the lives and property of people threatened by the armed clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities,” the statement said.

The organisation, which made the statement in regard to a research by its researcher, Adebayo in Nigeria, in regard to Nimbo

massacre, also called on the Federal Government to investigate the serial bloodletting between herdsmen and agricultural communities, make adequate provision for the protection of life and property in the areas at risk, and bring those responsible to justice through fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.”

The statement, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving a directive to the security forces to investigate the attacks and bring perpetrators to justice, but pleaded that there should be no recourse to the death penalty in this regard.

Herdsmen obstruct Okorocha in Imo

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or about 30 minutes suspected herdsmen disrupted the schedule of the Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha on Saturday.

According to reports, the incident was said to have occurred between 4.00 and 4:30pm while the governor was on tour of some projects in Amakohia, Orlu Road in Owerri, the state capital.

The governor’s security detail reportedly intervened before the herdsmen were moved on.

Herdsmen have been in the news in recent times over indiscriminate killings

in various states, with the latest occurring in Nimbo, a community in neighbouring Enugu State.

Incidentally, the Imo State helmsman led a delegation of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors who visited Enugu to commiserate with Ifeanyi Ugwuaanyi, governor of the state, over the tragic incident.

In the wake of the persistent killings by the herdsmen, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to curtail their activities.

Kashamu: I’ll mobilise SouthWest delegates for Sheriff Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

L-R: Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi; his wife, Rachel; and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, during the burial of Elder Emmanuel Nweke, father in-law of Deputy Governor Kelechi Igwe in Ikwo on Friday

Diversification: FG to open bidding for bitumen

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he Federal Government is set to commence bidding process for prospective investors to explore the vast bitumen deposits in the country as part of deliberate efforts to grow the economy and diversify from oil.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who disclosed this during a working visit to bitumen bearing communities in Agbabu in Ondo State over the weekend, said the bidding round for license would be for serious investors with proven work and financial plans.

Fayemi said the license issuing process would be completed before the end of the year, and assured the com-

munities of government’s readiness to protect their interest through the right policies and regulations.

The minister, in company of top officials of the ministry, checked samples of bitumen in Agbabu, Ilubirin and Lado, where he had a chat with the leaders of the communities.

“We want your mineral to work for you, and we are fully ready to assist your communities to ensure that you get the best from the process,” Fayemi told the community leaders adding that Nigeria has the second largest deposits of bitumen in the world, spanning approximately 120 kilometres.

Fayemi said the Federal Government would partner with the states, investors

and the communities to ensure that the enabling environment is created, assuring them commencement of bitumen project within the next six months.

Explaining some of the policies that would be put in place, Fayemi said that emphasis would be placed on exploration and exploitation of the mineral, even as he lamented that about 80 per cent of asphaltic materials used for road construction in the country was still being imported in spite of the vast bitumen deposit in the country.

Aside the regulatory frameworks, which are geared towards protecting local and foreign investments, the Minister stated that incentives have been put in place

to encourage serious minded investors, saying that serious investors will get tax holidays and would be encouraged to bring in mining equipment duty free.

Meanwhile, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Segun Mimiko commended Federal Government’s plans to allow state governments engage in mining activities, adding that the decision is a demonstration of government’s commitment to diversify the economy and stimulate economic growth.

Dr. Mimiko stated this while receiving Dr. Fayemi, in his office during the latter’s two-day working visit to the state commended improved activities in the mining sector in recent times.

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he Senator representing Ogun-East, Buruji Kashamu, yesterday, said he will mobilise delegates from the South-West to vote for the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, at the planned national convention of the party.

Kashamu said though he had been called names over his support for Sheriff, he would not be deterred from whatever he believes is in the best interest of the PDP. He spoke in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State even as the controversy continued over the zoning of party positions ahead of the May 21 National Convention of the PDP. The senator had last Wednesday at the expanded executive committee meeting of South-West PDP in Ijebu-Igbo, also said he had no apology for supporting Sheriff’s ambition.

But justifying his deci-

sion yesterday, Kashamu pointed out that it was in accordance with resolutions of the South-West PDP stakeholders’ meeting held in Ibadan in March and the 70th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) held in April.

He said, “The NEC has also zoned the offices of the National Secretary, National Auditor and National Publicity Secretary to the South-West.

“We would mobilise delegates from the South West to support the incumbent National Chairman to continue in office if he indicates his interest in contesting for the position of the national chairman at the convention in Port Harcourt.

“Although we have been called names over our proposals and actions, we remain committed to whatever we believe is in the best interest of our party, the good people of the SouthWest and Nigeria.”

Kashamu urged all interested aspirants and stakeholders to return to their various domains for consultations.

The Sunday Magazine

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I almost passed out while says asthma patient •15m Nigerians are suffering from asthma – NTS

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Chijioke Iremeka

t was difficult for me to live well with asthma. I have always been going to hospital due to asthma attacks even when I use my drugs regularly. But I got relief from asthma attacks when I visited Obafemi Awolowo University Health Centre, Ile-Ife, Osun State, where a consultant family physician educated me on the disease and the best way to use inhaler,” says an asthma outpatient at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Chidimma Agwu.

Chidimma is one of the 15million Nigerians suffering from asthma, who spend a substantial part of their income on drugs and hospitals bills. Perhaps, lack of proper education on the treatment and use of inhaler had been the reason for her regular visits to hospital but since she got the right information on how to control asthma, she has been free from asthma attacks.

She said: “I have not had any attack that would require me to be rushed to the hospital. I think the cost of asthma drugs should also be reduced to make it affordable to all.

The inhaler costs about N4, 000. Government could make it free for the asthmatics.

If we are not paid salary on time, it usually affects me.”

In another development, 35-year-old Segun Adebayo, an asthma patient said: “Living with asthma might not be trying but one wouldn’t want to experience its attacks. You can imagine yourself being pushed into a swimming pool when you do not know how to swim. You can imagine yourself gasping for air, being choked under the water. This will tell you a bit of what it takes to survive an asthma attack.

“To some people, it is more severe and any form of carelessness will be fatal. Inhaler has a way of relaxing the already risen nerves or rather growth in the airways. Asthma has rules that you must obey if you want to live without crises. Some asthma patients smoke cigarette, which is very wrong and against the rules.

“You are meant to keep away from stuffy areas and from smoke. On one occasion that I violated the rules, going to kitchen to fry plantain with red oil, I almost passed out, if not for my friend that helped out. One day, I came back from school, and I was very hungry. I had travelled and returned with unripe plantain, which eventually got ripe in my house.

“Instead of me getting groundnut oil to fry the plantain, I used red oil. I was choked. I couldn’t breathe. I was almost gone, gasping for air. That was a very bad encounter that never repeated itself. I eventually used my inhaler after I have been pulled out of the kitchen, coughing. That was too careless of me.”

Recounting her experiences also, a mother of four, Mrs. Gladyce Osondu, a caterer, said when she was diagnosed with asthma, she rejected the result and said she would not succumb to the burden of carrying inhaler about.

She said: “In one instance, I had been having fever and cough but it got to a point that my husband said I should go for a medical test to determine what the cause of the fever was. To my greatest surprise, I was diagnosed with asthma, the result, which I rejected. I took to prayers, telling God that

Patient using inhaler

NTS on World Ashama Day

there was no trace of asthma in my blood line and I can’t develop one.

“I refused to go to hospital or even use inhaler as recommended. I was praying against it because I can’t imagine myself carrying inhaler up and down and people will be sympathising with me. One day, I was in the house with my children and the attack, which almost claimed my life, came.

I couldn’t breathe; I was restless and was losing strength. My children started praying for me and had to call my husband.

“Suddenly, my husband came back and saw what was happening and left to get an inhaler and that settled the matter. But still, when I recovered, I refused to take the inhaler, I said I shouldn’t carry asthma burden and God did it for me. Today, I do not have asthma symptoms anymore. I do not use inhaler, and I am completely healed.

“But then, if not that God is by my side, such attack would have ended my life.

Asthma is not a problem when you obey the rules, the doctors told me but I paid

deaf ears to that advice. I still bake cakes and other pastries for my clients. I still cook and bake in my kitchen. Asthma does not have cure, rather control and that is why I resisted it. It was by the grace of God that I came through.”

Of course, the case of the late popular politician, the proponent of ‘political arithmetic,’ Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Onyi of Onyi, is still on the minds of many Nigerians. He suffered the same fate of suffocation and choking, when he was tear-gassed with other of his party members during one of their electioneering campaigns. The gas affected his breathing because he was asthmatic, an incident that many said, led to his death.

Asthma will grow by over 100m by 2025 Asthma has been described as one of the most common chronic lung diseases affecting approximately 400 million people worldwide, while about 15million Nigerians are currently living with it. With increasing urbanisation and adoption of western

lifestyle, it is projected that developing countries may have rising incidences of asthma.

According to the Nigerian Thoracic Society (NTS), the number of people with asthma will grow by over 100 million by 2025 in the absence of spirited effort to prevent the burden globally, yet it is the most common chronic diseases in children.

NTS, an umbrella body of all professionals involved in respiratory care, which is committed to regular and continuous update of its members and health workers in management of airways diseases including asthma, said a lot of patients with asthma have died due to usage of alternative therapies that have not been tried.

The Chief Medical Director, University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and President, Nigerian Thoracic Society, Prof. Peters Etete, said asthma is a heterogeneous disease with interplay of the nature and nurture, which is typically

One day, I was in the house with my children and the attack, which almost claimed my life, came. I couldn’t breathe; I was restless and was losing strength. My children started praying for me and had to call my husband

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 08, 2016

Sunday Magazine

frying plantain, characterised by recurring respiratory symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightening; the symptoms are variable and can fluctuate for each individual over time.

Vitamin ‘D’ deficiency and cigarette smoking during pregnancy lead to asthma in children According to Etete, several studies have also shown that the environment can have a huge impact on asthma exacerbations, whether from cigarette smoke or pollution within the atmosphere. Similarly, climate change and air pollution have been linked with increasing asthma incidence and exacerbations. Also, low level of maternal Vitamin D, during pregnancy has been linked to asthma in children, while more Vitamin ‘D’ intake has been shown to control symptoms of severe asthma.”

Sequel to these discoveries, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) has decided to institute and organise the World Asthma Day (WAD), an annual event to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. The event, marked yearly since 1998, takes place every first Tuesday in the month of May. “You Can Control Your Asthma,” being the theme of the concluded WAD, underscores the need for strong patient education that though asthma may not be cured, it can be controlled.

Meanwhile, despite the availability of different asthma drugs, a significant number of asthma patients are still limited with their asthma drugs. While a sizeable number still die from the disease, an estimated 75 per cent of hospital admissions for asthma and 90 per cent of the deaths are avoidable, according to studies.

“Nigeria has lost many gifted and illustrious sons and daughters prematurely due to asthma. That underscores the theme of the WAD 2016, ‘You can control your asthma.’

More than 75 per cent of asthmatics do not achieve control and the underlying reason is inadequate education,” Etete added.

A Consultant Physician/Pulmonologist at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals, Ile-Ife and Secretary General, NTS, Dr. Olufemi Adewole, said: “As we have observed, physicians and health workers’ continuing education also plays a significant role in enhancing control. The Society has equally been involved in community mobilisation and public education on various chest diseases including asthma, emphasising the need for optimal asthma control.

“We are also involved in providing continuing medical education on asthma to health care practitioners in different parts of Nigeria. With increasing urbanisation and uptake of western lifestyle, it is projected that developing countries may have rising incidence of asthma. Patient education should also focus on the appropriate use

of controller medications and discourage injudicious use of relievers, which are often abused.”

He continued: “The aim is to access asthma control rather than overreliance on symptoms alone for which most patients with asthma have poor sensitivity of their symptoms. We use this medium to encourage all patients and relatives of individuals with cough and dyspnoea, noisy breathing, and breathlessness that have been recurrent, to report to the nearest health facility for necessary tests. We appreciate our partners and collaborators in this task of ensuring healthy living for all, especially those with lung diseases.”

Ways to prevent asthma and monitor severe attacks However, Chief Examiner, Faculty of Internal Medicine, West African College of Physicians and Consultant Chest Physician (OAUTH), Prof. Greg Erhabor, noted that severe asthma attack is fatal. He said chronic inflammation causes an associated increase in airway hyper-responsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, particularly at night or in the early morning.

According to him, maternal smoking during pregnancy, widespread use of antibiotics, western diet, parental history of asthma and sensitisation allergies are risk factors, which in most cases, lead to asthma in the newborn but will be prevented if there is change in lifestyle.

He explained: “These episodes are usually associated with widespread but variable airflow obstruction that is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. Severe attacks are common causes of death from asthma and one of the major problems is that, those, who are asthmatic, are not able to recognise the seriousness of their attacks.

“There are a number of pointers that would help in determining whether an attack is severe or not. If these pointers are well understood and monitored by asthmatic patients, less fatality would be recorded.

They need to watch out, if there is an increased frequency of night attacks, that is, waking up more than once a night because of wheeze, cough or difficulty in breathing.

“Again, asthma attack is visible when there is an increasing limitation to day-today activities, such as climbing stairs, cooking and other household chores; increased dependent on bronchodilators – drugs that open the airways. For instance, using inhaler, between four and six times a day is a sign of a severe attack. Another aspect to watch out for is the present of fever, infection of the throat, sinuses and lungs, which may trigger a severe attack. Deterioration of peak flow reading and bluish appearance of the tongue, lips and finger tips are also to be observed.”

Birthday mates touch hearts of less privileged, widows in Lagos Stanley Ihedigbo

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s part of their efforts to appreciate God, four Nigerian youths recently celebrated their birthdays with less privileged kids and widows in Ajegunle community in Lagos State.

The youths, who partnered with an nongovernmental organisation, Asha Initiative, to celebrate their birthday are Co-founders of Stutern.com, Taiwo Ayanleye, 24; and Kehinde Ayanleye, 24; Tea’s Nature’s Chief Executive Officer, Tobi Oluwaleye, 25, and Rhoziegold Makeover’s Chief Executive Officer, Roseline Adeshola, 25.

Speaking with the Sunday Telegraph, the group’s team leader, Taiwo Ayanleye, said that the purpose of celebrating their birthday with the less privileged and widows was to put smiles on their faces and at the same time led them to Christ.

He added that some of the gift items they gave to them were sourced through the social media awareness scheme, as they appealed to friends and good hearted Nigerians to support them with materials they are no longer using or want to give out.

According to him, they went to peoples’ homes and offices to pick up the items for those who responded through their social media requests.

“So, we didn’t buy all the gift items we gave out to the people. Friends and good hearted Nigerians through the social media made donation towards the event.

“People have things they are no longer using and through our request, we are asked to come over to their homes and offices to pick them up. We are just a medium to the people that have and people that need them,” he said.

Ayanleye further said that some people gave things that were still valuable to them, like good clothes, shoes and other items.

On the quality of the items they gave out, Ayanleye, said that when they picked up the materials from the givers, his team examined the items and washed ones that needed to be washed.

“So, everything we collected went through our personal cleaning, to make sure that the materials were very clean and in decent condition to give out as a gift items,” he said.

On her part, Tobi Oluwaleye, said that it gave them more joy to share from the little they have with people that don’t have at all.

She added that through this gesture lives are being touched and is worth celebrating with people who would appreciate a little thing shared with them as an act of love.

She further added that what they have done was also a wakeup call to Nigerians who have to remember that there are millions of people who are still wallowing in poverty in the country.

“Also, it is a good thing that youths would learn from us what we are doing, that they can as well put smile on somebody’s face in this country from the little they have.

“We don’t earn much to give but we have something, somebody needs to better his or her life. So giving isn’t determined by factor of ages, even in other developed countries,

people give even at age of five years,” she added.

Also speaking, Kehinde Ayanleye, said that the less privileged and widows who honoured their invitation to celebrate with them on their birthday have needs and their needs are what they can afford, which were the little gift items the group gave out.

He added that with the help of social media, a lot can be achieved through giving because there are people who have a lot of things they wish to give out, but the opportunity has not provided itself for them to do so.

In his words: “If every Nigerian is believes in the spirit of giving, this country would be a better place to live in. When people are in need of food, shelter and clothing, a Nigerian somewhere that has them in abundance will make them available to the people.”

He noted that a lot of people give for personal benefit or to show off like politicians who after they get what they want, they turn back on the same people.”

“But ours is not for any benefit or to show off, we give in order to bring people to Christ. We have been doing this in a small way but this year is a major one, we are doing it together. We realised that we have people of like minds and so decided to come together to celebrate our birthday,” he said.

Global Programme Director of Asha Initiative, Ms. Vweta Chadwick, said that her NGO partnered with the youths because they decided to celebrate their birthdays with the less privileged and widows in the community.

She added that the young men and ladies motive was not for publicity but a sincere effort to share with the people in need.

“It is not an event to get millage with the press or friends, but is what they love doing, talking to the community people and I see them doing this so often. I also want to appeal to Nigerians not to always identify with those people only on their birthdays but it should be a regular thing,” she advised.

She said that the youngsters were not only giving people gifts, but also encouraging them on how to be better citizens, responsible youths and good members of the society.

“We should try to balance our project towards charity; it is not only about food or relief materials but also share other things that are important. We have a society where the poor are everywhere and we need to empower them so that they too can reach out to other people,” she said.

Esther Innocent and Banca Ike, who were some of the beneficiaries, commended the youngsters for the gesture, adding that they are happy to celebrate with the young men and ladies on their birthday.

The Baale of Ajegunle Community, Chief Moyosola Oladunoye, also commended the celebrants on their gesture and prayed that they would continue to thrive in life on their various endeavours.

He also appealed to other Nigerian youths, who are in position to assist the less privileged in the society, not to be self-centred and think about themselves alone but help those in need.

10

SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Igwes can’t control the youths, says Baso, Fulani leader in South-East What do you think was the cause of the herdsmen attack on Ukpabi-Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State recently?

What happened at Uzo-Uwani was that before Christmas last year, I heard that about four Fulani people were killed -four Fulani boys. Later, they killed two more boys. I heard they were from Nasarawa.

The father of the two boys got the sad news and decided to come to find out what happened that resulted to the killing of his two sons. That was his first visit to this part of the country. When he arrived, the same people that killed his sons killed the man also. The two boys that were killed, the name of one of them is Hassan; I can’t remember the name of the other boy. I don’t know the name of their father. The two boys that were killed, it was policemen from the Uzo-Uwani Police Station that came and took their corpses away. But their father was killed across the border with Kogi State, at a place called Odolo. So it was the Odolo DPO that came and carried the corpse. But I don’t know whether it was the Fulani people at Nasarawa that came to attack Ukpabi-Nimbo people.

Before it happened, the governor (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi) had called us and asked whether we heard about the rumour that there would be an attack on Nimbo people.

I said, yes, that I heard it. The chairman of the local government (Cornel Onwubuya) also asked whether I heard the rumour, I said, yes, that I heard it. He asked what I could do to forestall the attack. So I tried to reach one man from Nasarawa State who had earlier informed me that Fulani people were killed. I tried his number again but it was not ‘going through’, and I don’t know him in person, even if I see him now, only his phone number that I have. But I continued to get information that people from Nasarawa are gathering in preparation for an attack. I rushed to the chairman of the local government area again to inform him.

I told the Special Adviser (can’t remember his name) to the governor also about the rumour. But the local government chairman asked me what he would do now, that he had told the governor about it. He pleaded with me to go to Nasarawa to find out whether I would see those people. He gave me transport money to enable me go see if I could invite them so that we would resolve the matter. I embarked on the trip, but on reaching Otukpo in Benue State, I heard that the people had already gathered at Amaeke in Nsukka. They gathered in a bush.

When you got the information that the people gathered in the bush around Amaeke what did you do next?

So I turned back to report to the chairman. He asked me which village the people want to attack, I told him I heard Ukpabi and Nimbo. I heard also that those Fulanis killed at Uzo-Uwani in December that they removed their private parts and head. So I heard, I did not see the corpses myself.

It could be a rumour. So I gave the local government chairman the information on Saturday, and by Sunday I made effort to reach the man from Nasarawa to hold on and not attack the community, that they should come for discussion, and that government was interested. But early morning that Sunday, the man’s phone was switched off. So on Monday morning, I heard that the thing had happened. You know I reported this impending attack to the chairman of the local government area, to SA to the governor, to the Area Commander Nsukka and the Commissioner of

The leader of Fulani community in South East and deputy leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Dealers, South East, Alhaji Ardo Saidu Baso, in this interview with KENNETH OFOMA, gives an insight into what may have caused the invasion and massacre of Ukpabi-Nimbo residents by suspected herdsmen recently and his efforts to avert the ugly incident tack, I could carry my people, may be 15 of them, to go to that place they gathered.

But there was no vehicle. If government helps us with mobility, I will like it. If we are mobile, anytime there is a problem anywhere, in the next one hour or two hours, we would have reached the place to intervene. Like now, if I want to go to UzoUwani, if I don’t charter a vehicle there, is no way I can get there same day, maybe it will be the next day.

There are rumours that Fulanis may attack again. Some said they had written some communities threatening that they would attack them again. How true is that?

That is not true. If there is any such letter, it must be fake. You know some people want to create crisis among the Fulanis and the people of Enugu State. There is no Fulani planning any attack. No Fulani person is happy with this attack on Nimbo.

Are you saying that you register every Fulani person that comes to Enugu?

No, if government does not form the committee or direct us to do so, how will you register them? Any person can enter anyhow. I’m from Katsina State and most of the Fulani you see in the state are from Katsina State. All these Fulanis you are seeing, may be if you count them, out of 500 people, you will not get up to Fulanis from another state.

Miyetti Allah

Police before the thing happened.

My own is that if you say they are accusing Fulani, I’m not denying that it is Fulani because of those two boys and their father (Fulani) killed in that place. I heard that it could be them that came for the attack, if I see the people I don’t know them. But truly that Nimbo area, I heard they had killed many Fulani people, because since the last 10 years till now, about 30 Fulani people have been killed around UzoUwani generally. I’m telling you the truth.

But the Fulanis living in Enugu State were not among those killed. And we don’t like the attack. That is why we are not running away, only the Fulanis around Uzo-Uwani that are running away because they were hearing rumours of possible revenge attack. No Fulani living in Enugu is part of that problem, I’m telling you the truth and it is because of God I’m telling you the truth. I have stayed 34 years now in Enugu State, even though I’m from Katsina State.

Anybody who fights Enugu State people is fighting me. I don’t have any other place to go, it’s Enugu State that I have my family, my children, everything; how will I like the people fighting Enugu people. There is no Fulani living in Enugu that is happy over what happened.

So do you think that this attack could have been prevented if the necessary authorities had done what they were supposed to do?

Yes, I think so because there were reports that it would happen but nothing

was done. Before this attack, government called us that it had set up committees in the 17 local government areas and some Fulanis with me went to some local government areas to discuss with the committees.

Those in the committee are supposed to be the local government chairman, the youth leader, the president-general and the Igwe, now the thing is not working. I transport myself to see the local government chairman because of this problem. But at times, they prefer to use somebody who came to Enugu newly, but they don’t involve me who have stayed in the state for 34 years on how to resolve the problem with herdsmen. For instance, if a new person comes, he doesn’t know anything or anybody, he doesn’t know what is happening, he doesn’t know any Fulani; that is what is happening. Mine is that the Enugu State government is supposed to call Fulani and add them as members of the committee.

It is the Fulani who knows other people entering Enugu State for cattle rearing, they register those who enter any local government so that if there is any problem, they will know who to hold responsible. If that committee is in place and new Fulanis enter Enugu State, before one month, I must have known about it and they will go and register. If he registers that name by now that this thing happened, you will go and apprehend them, is it not so?

Secondly I’m urging government, if they set up this committee, it should provide us with mobility, like Hilux van. Like now, that very time they gathered before the at-

So what is causing this problem between farmers and Fulani herdsmen?

Another thing is that anywhere you see Fulani, he moves with his cows. He didn’t go to school; he has no other work, only to rear his cattle. In the past, they go about their business peacefully. You won’t hear that youths went after their cows, hunting cows as if they are hunting wild animals.

If you hear that farmers and rearers are fighting, you may conclude that the cows entered the farm, is it not true? But that was before, nowadays, the youths will gather to and kill the cows and share the meat. If the cow destroys any farm and the Fulani refuses to pay compensation, why not invite the police? Why don’t you tie the cow in the farm as evidence? Instead, you kill the cow and sell the meat without complaining to the owner of the cow, what do you call that one? Is it not stealing?

Secondly, in the days past, the Igwes controlled the youths but now, the youths have over grown the power of the Igwes; they can’t control them anymore. Let me give you an example, if you, the Fulanis, come to Igwe to request to stay in his community, if Igwe calls the community, the community will say if Igwe collects the money, he shouldn’t sell the land. But they will go back and hide behind and send the youths to go and collect money again from the Fulanis, sometimes N100, 000, sometimes N200, 000 and sometimes N300, 000. I’m telling you the truth. They will collect the money and tell the Fulanis to go and stay, that there is nothing the Igwe can do; after all, they are the people that will fight the Fulanis or kill the cows. Igwe can’t control them anymore.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

11

OPINION

Between unpaid salaries and electricity supply Adetunji Makinde

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et me confess that I see Nigeria and its leadership as a nation with conflicting priorities. The issues of unpaid salaries by state governments and which used the bail out funds given them by the Federal Government for other things besides paying their workers’ their salaries for which the bail outs were given, is a case in point.

The other case is the ordeal of electricity distribution companies called discos which are to deliver electricity to our homes and industries but which themselves have no electricity to distribute . Yet the discos have been given a deadline of a year to deliver one million meters to consumers yearly and have not been helped in any way financially by government to fulfil this important function which is far more important than the bail out for unpaid salaries given out by government to insensitive , profligate and dishonest state governments.

One can’t but wonder on which is more important to government between steady supply of electricity on which we have been lamenting from time immemorial and un-

paid salaries for which state governors should have been readily condemned or prosecuted according to the rule of law for fiscal indiscipline and recklessness.

The advantages and benefits of regular supply of electricity are so numerous and important for Nigeria or any nation for that matter. If power is regular and generated as expected in the best practice of electricity generation and service ratio of 1000MW to a million people then Nigeria would need 175,000MW for our reported population of 175million. Yet the highest we have ever generated here in Nigeria is about 5000MW. Funny enough it was reported that the President promised 10000MW of power generation by the end of 2016 but just after that, the Minister of Information (Lai Mohammed) was quoted as saying that the 10000MW could only be generated by 2019 which is when new elections are due.

It would appear therefore that politics has relegated the goal of regular power supply to the background in terms of government’s concern and priority; and that is just very wrong .

Obviously workers’ salaries are being paid so that state governors can deliver

their states to their respective parties especially the APC and PDP governed states.

There is also the issue of averting industrial actions, strikes and demonstrations and agitations that may overheat the political system and embarrass government.

But what is the opportunity cost of that in terms of steady and regular power supply to our hospitals, factories, universities and homes nationwide ?

The alternative cost of regular power and electricity supply are immense and include the resuscitation of our industries , the production of goods and services and the creation of decent jobs for our teeming unemployed and well educated youths .

Surely that makes the prospects of people including unpaid workers voting for any government in power better and I cannot see why the Buhari Administration cannot make power supply its absolute priority .

Indeed the time is ripe to bail out the generating and distribution companies called gencos and discos in this regard .

The looted funds being recovered can be channelled to fund discos to provide the one million quota of meters allotted them by the authorities which has put a cap on their capital expenditure while it is well

known that their tariffs are cost reflective, which means they cannot make profit for about five years after their huge capital expenditure to come aboard the electricity distribution industry.

There is nothing new in this regard except that the recovered looted funds will have a direct , positive and beneficial effect on the economy and its revival which is a priority of this government. It is relevant to mention that the CBN Intervention Fund of N213 billion earlier given, benefitted the National Integrated Power Project, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. It is with that in mind that we call on government to rather make funds available to the discos and gencos than to kill two great political and economic birds with one mighty stone. In making money available for the gencos and discos to make power available the government will galvanise the poor and ailing economy we have and get the goodwill and political capital of the voters to return it to power in 2019.

Adetunji Makinde, an analyst, writes from Abuja

Joe Igbokwe: 60 garlands for an unfaltering activist Emmanuel Nwagboniwe

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andidly speaking, chronicling the life of Mr Joe Igbokwe, mechanical engineer, pro-democracy and human rights activist, author, publisher, politician, public commentator and motivational speaker, who turned 60 years on April 30, 2016, is unarguably akin to jogging in the jungle. This is so because navigating through the life’s trajectory of this Nnewi-born enigmatic personage, is like a bumpy ride on a terrain dotted with landmines.

Truth is, from whatever prism this Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Publicity Secretary is viewed from by any writer, remains largely subjective, as he conjures the image of the African folklore moonlight tale of the elephant and the five blind men, who had varied descriptions of the gargantuan animal depending on which part of it they touched. Igbokwe means different things to different people and readily courts the impression of a controversial figure.

For his critics, Igbokwe is seen as one of the arrowheads of what many call the propaganda machinery of the ruling APC especially during the electioneering campaign period, and has been consistently taunted for playing Hitler’s Goebbels for the party.

But his admirers often counter these critics, justifying his unrepentant ‘alarms and alerts’, echoing that as a patriotic Nigerian, who has been in the trenches for over three decades as a pro-democracy activist, Igbokwe’s ultimate mission is the enthronement of good governance, which he believed the now defeated PDP was incapable of providing the nation.

But beyond the divergent views held by many of this publisher of National Vision Newspapers, and aside his limitations, Igbokwe at 60, is worth celebrating given the fact that his is a life anchored on perseverance, tenacity of purpose, Spartan doggedness, and above all, service to God and

humanity.

Obviously, when the little Joe was born 60 years ago to a humble parentage, there were no comets seen nor did heavens brace forth his arrival to this tricky world.

However, the young lad knew early enough that if he allowed the circumstances of his birth to eclipse his determination to carve a niche for himself, then he will sadly remain a mere footnote in the sands of time. He rejected this passive posture of life, and like the late former British Prime Minister and war hero, Winston Churchill, Igbokwe did not blame his parents, himself or his star for his little beginning, rather, he took his destiny in his hands and has become a trail blazer in his many callings.

Armed with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1985, Igbokwe’s foray into human rights activism and national reckoning began immediately after his National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme in Ogun State. He became involved in the war against the military’s continued stay in power and actively participated in the many protests across the country against military rule.

But Igbokwe’s activism became more apparent in the wake of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election which was won by the now late Chief MKO Abiola. Through his many newspaper publications and protests with other pro-democracy activists, like the indefatigable. Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana, Olisa Agbakoba, NADECO, among others, Igbokwe became one of the outspoken apostles for the revalidation of June 12.

Like he has often said, he is a pan Nigerian who believes that injustice perpetuated against anybody irrespective of his tribe or religion, remains an evil that should be condemned and resisted.

On the political sphere where he has continued to make his marks not only as the Lagos State APC’s spokesperson and Chairman, Conference of APC Publicity Secretaries (CAPS), Igbokwe has made no

pretensions about his commitment in building a truly pan Nigerian progressive party where all hands need to be on deck in rebuilding Nigeria to take her rightful place in the comity of nations. He has consistently preached the gospel of national integration, believing that no single tribe in the country can clinch the presidency without reaching out to others.

And against the backdrop of his being seen as a ‘deviant on the other side’ of the political divide to the chagrin of most of his Igbo kinsmen, and his being tagged Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s ‘anointed son’, Igbokwe readily dismisses such insinuations. He rather affirms to those who care to listen that the dynamics of today’s politics transcend primordial and clannish considerations of ethnicity and tribalism, but rests on a resolute resolve to build a strong, virile, united and economically stable nation for the good of all.

This virtue of ushering in a better Nigeria, Igbokwe vows, Tinubu and the APC represent in all ramifications, hence his unrepentant attachment to this political prodigy and the party. He assures that despite the present challenging times in the country, the APC led-administration as a change agent, will still give Nigerians a new lease of life after what he calls the 16 years of PDP’s brigandage and plunder.

As the author of: Igbos: 25 years after Biafra; Heroes of Democracy and 2007: The IBB Option, Igbokwe through his books, stressed the need to truly reintegrate the Igbo into the polity, just as he echoed the urgency of ensuring an enduring democracy in the country and lambasted the then Gen. Ibrahim Babaginda regime for taking Nigeria on a political rigmarole For a man who has contributed over a thousand articles on national issues in the last three decades, Igbokwe’s message is apt: Nigeria needs purposeful leadership for true national rebirth!

Igbokwe, who is former General Manager, Lagos State Infrastructure Management and

Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) and now Chairman, Wharf Landing Fee Collecting Authority, also mentors the youths in the country as a motivational speaker, inculcating in them the rare virtues of hard work, honesty, contentment and patriotism.

Aside his role in nation-building, Igbokwe, who is a member of the South East Professionals, has continued to be in the vanguard of ensuring a more economically stable South East and also plays a pivotal role in the campaign for the youths in the South East zone to embrace education, which he echoes remains a veritable tool for self actualization.

As an Anglican, Igbokwe’s life is anchored on the indisputable fact that God as the author and finisher of man’s faith need be revered and worshipped at all times. He strives to live a pious life and renders selfless service, believing in that timeless biblical injunction, “Do unto others what you like others do unto you.”

Suffices to say that for this father of five who began life as a mere village folk, but who through dent of hard work, diligence and perseverance these 60 testy years, has metamorphosed into a celebrity of note, Igbokwe deserves all the kudos and accolades for attaining three scores.

Undoubtedly, this avid reader and public affairs commentator who is married to Dr Grace Igbokwe, can beat his chest in utter satisfaction after reminiscing on his life these past 60 years and affirm that he has ran a good race and represented his generation credibly well, even in an age where crass materialism and intellectual aridity have been elevated into a creed.

For us your compatriots, we pray that God guides and protects you to continue your service to humanity and may your voice and pen not dry up at a time like this when Nigeria is in dire need of a new beginning.

Emmanuel Nwagboniwe, a media practitioner wrote from Lagos.

12

Sunday Mail

SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

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EMAIL

thesundayletters@gmail. com and sundayletters@ newtelegraphonline.com

MAIL BAG

* Letters to the Editor

The Sunday Telegraph

Dear Editor,

AWUNAH PIUS, MPAPE, ABUJA

Three missing features in the 1999 Constitution Dear Editor, The Abuja Area Council election is not the first local government election making headlines. Indeed local government elections have been a controversial issue since the return of democracy in 1999. At present, Nasarawa House of Assembly is in turmoil over the appointment of four local council sole administrators which has led to the suspension of six legislators who dared to address the press on the issue without the permission of the Speaker. That brings to mind the idea of independent candidacy which is one of the three missing features in the 1999 Constitution. The other two are referendum and Constitutional Courts.

The relevance of independent candidacy in this contest

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08037613380 Normal message fees apply

Beware of the banana skins of the herdsmen

Open letter to Berger construction Your mining work at Mpape, one of your sites in Abuja, refers. The site has created a very deep and large pit that accommodates water, and is always waterlogged, even when it is dry season.

The stagnant water in the pit in question breeds mosquitoes ceaselessly, thereby causing malaria. You might have forgotten about the pit and the unmovable water in it, that’s why I am writing to remind you and inform you of its negative effect on the residents of Mpape and beyond.

However, aside the above mentioned effect, a lot of evil things are going on in the area. Looking at the gigantic fence around the pit, criminals and other evil men are using the place as their hideout. A few years back, a pastor was killed and dumped in that pit.

The criminals that operate within Mpape are always fleeing to the place for safety, knowing that people would be scared to get there in search of them.

Therefore, it is important that something is done to chase away mosquitoes from the place and as well, prevent people from using the place as their hideout for carrying out ungodly activities. I believe that the management of Berger Construction Company will do everything possible to address these issues.

(

Dear Editor,

Black marketers in search of fuel at Gwagwalada in Abuja

applies to local/grassroots politics across the nation.

One of the reasons the Supreme Court allowed late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s appeal against restriction of political parties to only three PDP, ANPP and AD was the concern about stifling political opinions. If independent candidacy was not missing in the constitution, it would have been convenient for politicians not affiliated to any political party to vie for positions in their localities. Given the role which the apex court played in widening the political space in the 1999 Constitution, Constitutional Court is also critical at this moment considering the congestions in our courts.

Elections are about constitution provisions, the relationship between the legislature and the executive; separation of powers; whether the leadership of the legislature requires immunity from prosecution or not.

A Constitutional Court will serve as dictionary, Wikipedia and interpretation tool for the constitution. Both independent candidacy and Constitutional Court were captured by the intellectual minds of the makers of the moribund 1995 Constitution. That was a draft produced by a 45-man panel led by eminent retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Godwin Adolphus Karibi-Whyte who distinguished himself as an erudite judge and constitutional expert.

The missing feature which is not necessarily relevant to local government elections is referendum. It is usually stuck inside the Constitution

to enable people to vote on issues that require decision either way. They often use it to determine whether people are carried along in their decisions to establish certain projects/policies or not; but in the case of constitutions it has proved dangerous as sitting government leaders have elongated their tenures through referenda in Cameroun, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Congo DRC, etc. Even if the three missing features are suddenly found in the 1999 Constitution, I doubt if those are enough to cure the problem of the third tier of government that remained political pawn in the hands of equally bankrupt state governments.

IYKE OZEMENA, LAGOS

Criticise Buhari with facts, figures Dear Editor, Those that criticise the government of President Muhammadu Buhari should do it with facts and figures because when he entered office, he met an empty treasury but he is trying to put things in order. Let us give Buhari time because he has a vision and mission for Nigeria. I know the beauty of democracy is strong opposition but let’s criticise with reason and facts. Nigerians voted this change and I believe that the ‘change’ will surely come.

This government is for

four years and not one year to give scorecard of Buhari’s government. We must commend Buhari for diversification of the economy into agriculture, mining, technology and other sectors instead of oil.

MRS IJEOMA NNOROM, LAGOS

Bello missteps in Kogi Dear Editor, One should not say it’s too early to start complaining about Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration, looking at the fact that he recently assumed office.

However, despite the above fact, one should also not keep quiet when the beging is wrong and things are beginning to fall apart. Since the inauguration of Governor Bello as the fourth executive governor of Kogi State, the state has remained static compared to the previous administrations of the late Prince Abubakar Audu, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and the immediate past Governor Capt. Idris Wada. The state has been in turmoil, from one problem to another, ranging from constitutional crisis to political crisis, administrative crisis to economic crisis and development crisis. He said the state is broke but his first misstep was to appoint incompetent men to his cabinet as senior special advisers and special assistants whose track records have failed Nigerian institutions.

Some of these men are sacked professionals and

PHOTO: NAN

dismissed appointees from various positions of government because of their incompetency. So far, impunity has become the talk of the day in Kogi State. The past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, where 16 was greater than 19 is what has replicated itself in Kogi State House of Assembly and the state governor, Bello, happened to be on the side of the smaller number that is greater than the bigger one, which necessitated the impeachment of the Speaker.

It is obvious that Governor Bello can’t distance himself from Kogi State House of Assembly problem. In terms of development, Bello’s slogan “New Direction”, the socalled new direction cannot lead us to Confluence River because of his inability to manage the state by properly controlling its resources.

Recently, he embarked on demolition of a popular roundabout in the state capital constructed by the late Prince Abubakar Audu, the act was motivated by political interests Kogi voted for change and not anarchy.

Kogi voted for change and not impunity, Kogi voted for change and not suffering, Kogi voted for change and not corruption, Kogi voted for change and not sentiment.

Therefore, there is need to advise Governor Bello to appoint technocrats into his cabinet and abide by the rule of law to ensure credibility, accountability and transparency in order to bring back the lost image of the state.

IKANI JOSHUA, KOGI STATE

“Twenty persons reportedly killed in Enugu State by persons suspected to be Fulani Herds men,” was the news caption recently.

When that former governor who swore to an oath to protect the integrity of state – introduced the political form of Sharia to a section of a country known over the years for extolling the principle of multiculturalism and secularism, the president at the time with the power to engage him in a tussle, owing to the secular nature of the Nigerian state looked the other way. The effect of that inaction needs no recounting.

With my eyes, I saw a lot and watched pigs eat the remains of people when crisis erupted after protestations.

People in the Niger Delta live in dangerous times, no thanks to kidnapping which was simulated here, but wouldn’t have been if hordes of men were not armed by politicians, after which sprang up the now rested militancy movement which the state could not control.

In Nigeria, the state was made for man and not man for state, hence state is under the control of man to be dealt with as deemed fit by man.

Cattle rustling is now a brisk business for many, those irresponsible lots who bring misery to the herdsmen but that regardless is no excuse for herdsmen to trade sticks for guns, tormenting Nigerians in deathly rampages at every corner of the country.

The inaction of Nigerian leaders overtime has caused the state to be hot under the collar. Irredentism here, militancy there, Boko Haram somewhere and now Fulani herdsmen and yet we ask for investors to come develop the country. It is time the president began to use the bully pulpit to make them bow to the will of the state.

Security of lives shouldn’t be negotiated with people who do not value same.

SIMON ABAH, PORT HARCOURT YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HEARD! SEND YOUR LETTERS AND PHOTOGRAPHS TO THESUNDAYLETTERS@ GMAIL.COM. LETTERS SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 200 WORDS AND MUST HAVE THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE SENDER

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

Army kill 20 bandits in Zamfara Idris Salisu

T GUSAU

he troops of the 223 Light Battalion, 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, have killed 20 suspected cattle rustlers and armed bandits who planned to attack three communities of Ruwan Tofa, Babban Doka and Malele villages in Danasdau district of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

Speaking to journalists at Dansadau area, a 100-kilometer drive from Gusau, the capital of Zamfara;

the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Abdullahi Adamu, said the troops averted the attack as they ambushed the suspected rustlers who came in large numbers on motorcycles, fully armed with dangerous weapons.

The troops, according to him, killed 20 of the bandits among which two were their commanders. According him, several others escaped with gunshots wounds. He added that during the encounter with the bandits, the military destroyed their camps and recovered motorcycles and number of weap-

ons and ammunition.

“We received information two days ago that armed bandits living in Dansadu forest planned to attack three communities and in a swift action the unit patrolled the areas and have encountered with them for the past 48 hours or more.

Today we were lucky the bandits were intercepted before the attack,’’ he said.

He stated that the success recorded in the operation was in collaboration with the state police command, DSS, and other security agencies, adding that the army and other security

agencies would continue to pursue the criminals up to their hideouts in the forests and other places.

Some of the items recovered from the armed bandits after the encounter included 11 AK47 rifles, one G3 rifle, one locally made pistol, 11 magazines of AK 47 rifle, a magazine of G3 rifle and a total of 161 round of 7.62mm (special) ammunition.

Col. Adamu however, explained that over the last four month since the army embarked on various operations against the armed bandits and cattle-rustlers in Zamfara state, it has being

news

My people didn’t kill any Fulani man – Igwe John Akor Kenneth Ofoma ENUGU

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he traditional ruler of Nimbo community, HRH Eze Ikemefuna John Akor has denied the allegation that two Fulani people were killed at Nimbo in December 2015.

He said although his community and Fulani herdsmen have been having skirmishes over destruction of crops and killing cattle, he was not aware that any Fulani person was killed in the area.

He said if such a thing

happened then it must have been outside the border of Enugu state by other people but not his people.

Igwe John Akor, however, stated that the attack on his community and matters associated with it is now a police matter.

“They should be able to give account of what happened,” he said and declined further comment.

Effort to speak to the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ebere Amaraizu remained unsuccessful, as he had earlier told our correspondent that he was in Abuja.

Cleric endorses return of Bakassi Boys Okegbo Kenechukwu ONITSHA

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Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole (6th right); Miss Nigeria, Leesi Peter-Vigoro (6th left) and other officials at the V.I.P starting point of the 2016 Okpekpe 10km Race in Edo State…yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

2016 Budget: Yakassai raises issue on status of Calabar-Lagos rail project

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igerians will like to know if the N80 billion Calabar – Lagos rail project is included in the 2016 budget recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

An Elder Statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Leader of the Northern Elders Council, stated this on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He also expressed happiness that controversies generated by the passage of

the budget had finally been resolved.

“I think everybody in the country is happy that at long last the budget has been passed and all controversies about it had been put to rest.

“However, I hope the passage will enable the country to know the position of the Calabar-Lagos railway line.

“Is it part of the signed budget or not, because there was a lot of controversy surrounding it.

“So the position of that project I believe is what ev-

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

TEMITOPE I, formerly known and addressed as Temitope Oluwakemi Adeyinka, now wish to be known as Temitope Oluwakemi Quadri.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

SALAKO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Tamar Funmilade Salako, now wish to be known as Mrs. Mary Funmilade Ayandiji.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

BELLO I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs Taibat Bello, now wish to be known as Mrs Taibat Ayinke Bello.

All former documents remain valid. First Bank, Wema Bank and general public should please take note

MOSUNMOLA I, formerly known and addressed as Banire Aminat Mosunmola, now wish to be known as Oladunjoye Banire Aminat Mosunmola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note

eryone is anxious to know so that we can begin to anticipate its execution,” he said.

Yakassai lauded Buhari for signing the budget into law, saying that its effective implementation would reduce hardship being faced

by Nigerians.

“It’s not about just passing the budget; it’s about ef-

fective implementation.

“Because it is only by effective implementation that a lot of Nigerians will be better off.

“It is my prayer that by the time the budget is implemented, the hardship that Nigerians are going through will reduce drastically,” he said.

No faction in Imo PDP, says Ejiogu Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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eputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Imo State Caretaker Committee, Mr. Martin Ejiogu has declared that there is no faction in the state chapter of the party, just as he said that all conflicts within the party hierarchy have been resolved.

Addressing newsmen in Owerri, the capital of Imo State yesterday, Ejiogu noted that the PDP ward congress conducted in the state was free and fair, peaceful and all-inclusive.

He revealed that the party believes in the tenets of democracy and is committed to returning power to the people, adding that the party’s pres-

ent strategy was to give every body a sense of belonging.

The party chieftain also pointed out that the congress was a road-map to the party’s political victory come 2019.

The PDP stalwart, however, cautioned fifth columnists in the party to desist forthwith or seek another political platform to test their popularity. Meanwhile Ejiogu had insisted that the party needed peace so as to execute and focus effectively on 2019 political project.

He said that though the party’s ward congresses had been completed in Owerri and Okigwe senatorial zones, only four Local Government Areas in Orlu zone has been completed yet remaining eight.

he Bishop of the Niger Diocese of the Anglican Communion in Anambra State, Most Rev. Dr Johnson Ekwe has described the return of the Bakassi Boys as a welcome development.

Bishop Ekwe, who was furious over the killing of innocent Nigerians in Awgu and Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Areas of Enugu State told Sunday Telegraph at Igboukwu Aguata Local Government Area in an exclusive interview that the first law of nature is self defense. He said the return of the Bakassi Boys was for their self defense and not to perpetrate evil and nobody would like to fold his or her hands and allow enemies kill him for nothing.

His words: “I am one of strongest supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari, but the recent insecurity in the country where women and children are killed, raped and maimed without government taking any drastic measures to nip in the bud, such is not

accepted to the Christian Churches and Muslims.”

“How could one describe the invasion of a community in Awgwu and Nimbo in Uzouwani where reports said the DSS and Police were informed before the incident, yet nobody has been held responsible?

“Nigerians must rise for justice and equity to govern this country or else the unity, peace and development of the country will remain bleak.

“I don’t understand what is happening in this country, security is the most primary role of leadership.

“You can see an insensitive statement from the Governor of Borno State, Gov. Kashim Shettima, warning that people should not describe as criminals the herdsmen who have killed, rape and committed arson. Then if they are not criminals, then is qualifies to be referred to as a criminal?

“He should resign his position as a governor because he has no respect for the sanctity of human life and should therefore not be entrusted with leadership,” he said.

LASU suspends 4 over alleged cultism

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he Lagos State University (LASU) has suspended four students for cult-related activities and improper conducts.

This is contained in the university’s official bulletin obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

The bulletin quoted the institution as saying that conducts of the suspended students could cause breach peace on the campus.

The bulletin said the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, took the decision on behalf of the university authority.

It said the decision to suspend the students was taken

by Vice-chancellor, who invoked section 28 of the law establishing LASU. The statement added that the four students allegedly abducted a fellow-student from his hostel for initiation.

It said the affected students were suspended from the university pending their appearance before the Students Disciplinary Committee.

The affected students are: Shola Rapheal-Olatoye, Department of Management Technology, Saheed Shittu of Social Science Department, Rapheal Anifowose of Economics Department and Muritala Babajide-Ikuforiji, Faculty of Education.

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news

Force Intelligence smashes Kaduna kidnapping syndicate Emmanuel Onani Abuja

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he Force Headquarters (FHQ) has announced that its Intelligence Response Team smashed a syndicate gang operating in Kaduna State.

A statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mrs. Olabisi Kolawole, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), said the Police have since taken six of the suspects into custody.

The statement reads in part: “In line with the resolve to make the country safe and secure for the citizens of Nigeria, the Nigeria

Police Force has smashed a notorious kidnapping syndicate operating in Kaduna State by the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Team.

“Currently, six members of the syndicate have been arrested namely: (1) Kashimu Shehu ‘m’ aka Baliago (the gang Leader); (2) Aliyu Mato ‘m’ aka yellow; (3) Muhammedu Mamman ‘m’; (4) Hassan Bello ‘m’; (5) Bala Mohammed ‘m’; and (6) Ishiaku Kabiru. The arrested kidnappers, who have been terrorizing Kaduna and Zaria area of Kaduna State will soon be arraigned in court.

Don’t militarise our youths, Gov. Bello warns Dan Atori MINNA

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iger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello has cautioned youth volunteer groups, especially those affiliated to religious bodies not to militarise their members but to operate within the confines of the law.

He frowned at the display of military simulation exercise by youth volunteer groups in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace in Minna on Saturday.

He observed that volunteer groups were deviating from their primary function of ensuring orderliness at the gatherings especially during Sunday Service in churches and the Friday Jumat prayers in mosques to acquiring military training and practice.

“Volunteer groups are to operate within the letters

and the intent of the law.

These groups to the best of my knowledge are to help ensure orderliness during congregational prayers, direct and ensure free flow of human and vehicular traffics before, during and after Jumat prayers on Fridays and church services on Sundays.

“The growing and disturbing trend that I have noticed across the divide is the militarisation of these groups. They are now being drilled in the act of weapon handling and carrying guns. Instead of indoctrinating them into the use of arms, we have to inculcate the values and virtues of peace into the psyche of our youth. Let them embrace peace and live it.”

Bello further advised that the use of wood as gun for parade is uncalled for, adding that “all these military simulations should be discouraged.”

Nkanu people hail Ugwuanyi on development Charles Onyekwere Enugu

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he people of Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State have commended Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for his sensitivity to their plight by attracting massive infrastructural development to the area.

Speaking on behalf of the people of the area during an inspection tour of the ongoing construction of the Inyaba Bridge recently awarded by Ugwuanyi’s administration, the Transition Committee Chairman of the Council, Hon. Ikechukwu Ubagu thanked the governor for keeping his promise to construct the dilapidated bridge for the people of the area.

The Transition Committee

Chairman noted that the governor through the commencement of the construction of the bridge has demonstrated his love and commitment to the wellbeing of the people of the area who have been experiencing difficulties in accessing the Council headquarters in Amagunze and other neighboring communities due to the poor condition of the bridge.

Hon. Ubagu disclosed that the dilapidated wooden bridge which connects Amauzam, Amechi-Idodo, Inyaba and Umunevo communities to the headquarters of the council, has been a nightmare to the people of the affected communities, as they usually travel to their neighboring communities through long distance roads.

Fayose warns EFCC against executive rascality Sulaiman Salawudeen

G Ado-Ekiti

overnor Ayodele Fayose has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to exercise caution in what it described as indiscriminate arrest of suspects of financial crimes, and warned the agency against executive rascality.

Fayose described continued detention without trial of Mr. Warimopei Dudafa, a former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and invasion of the Abuja residence of former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi FaniKayode as “irresponsible, barbaric and undemocratic”.

According to him, it was the height of executive

rascality for the EFCC to have held occupants of Fani-Kayode’s residence hostage for eight hours despite that he was only invited to come to the EFCC office on Monday and there was no evidence that FaniKayode refused to honour the EFCC invitation.

His words: “EFCC under President Mohammadu Buhari is acting as if it is above the law and Nigerians and the international community must remind the commission that we are in a democracy where rule of law is sacrosanct.”

Fayose said actions of the EFCC have shown clearly that it was an instrument of victimisation against perceived oppositions in the country, adding the antigraft agency should copy other countries to do its job

better.

Said he: “The EFCC must be reminded of the judgment delivered in March this year by Justice Yusuf Haliru of the Federal High Court in Nicholas Arinse Vs EFCC & Nigerian Army where the judge held that the EFCC did not behave as if we were in a civilised society and that the anti-graft commission was behaving as if we were in a military dictatorship, where they arrest and release person at will.

“In the case of the former Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Jonathan, no one is saying those suspected of corrupt practices should not be investigated and tried, but it is wrong for Warimopei Dudafa to have been kept in EFCC custody for over two

weeks without trial.

“Also, it is a demonstration of barbarism for the same EFCC that invited Fani-Kayode to its office on Monday to have invaded his house yesterday, holding the occupants hostage for eight hours when there is no evidence that FaniKayode refused to honour EFCC invitation,” he said.

It could be recalled that several other suspects, including the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Nigeria Plc Nnamdi Okownkwo have been detained for over a week over alleged violation of Financial Intelligence Unit’s laws on compulsory disclosure and complicity in the $115million election fund former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke for election purposes.

Ambassador of Belgium to Nigeria, Mr. Stephane De Loecker (left), with the Minister of State for Solid Minerals Development, Abubakar Bwari, during the Ambassador’s visit to the minister the...weekend

PHOTO: NAN

Buhari urged to extend probe beyond Jonathan’s tenure Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

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he National President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Reverend Samson Ayokunle, has charged the anti-corruption agencies not to limit the sanitisation of the nation’s system to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration but make it all encompassing to include past administrations.

Reverend Ayokunle, the Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said this in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, where he noted that “corruption at the local and state government levels ought to be probed as well in order for justice to be done.”

While lauding Buhari’s government for waging relentless war against corruption, which he said had retarded growth of the nation through mismanagement and/or misappropriation at the local, state and Federal Government levels, Ayokunle said: “this act was perpetrated by the political leaders and the civil servants. However, as others have observed before, this fight against corruption has to be more embracing beyond the last administration in the country.”

Ayokunle, who is contesting as President of CAN having been nominated by the body, enjoined Buhari to use the funds recovered from corrupt people to develop the almost non-existent in-

frastructural amenities in the nation. He equally urged the government to, in the same token, treat cattle rustlers otherwise known as herdsmen, caught with guns, like common criminals.

“Checkmating the violent acts of these herdsmen in time would be helpful to all in this nation before they become a terrorist group that is too formidable to overcome. We need to urge the present administration to learn from the mistake of the last administration in the country who did not take quick and necessary action on Boko Haram terrorist group until they became almost too formidable and better equipped for criminality. We cannot afford to lose the souls of

many innocent citizens again as we lost them to Boko Haram attacks,” he said.

On his ambition to head the largest Christian body in the country, Ayokunle said having been in the saddle as Vice President and his experience as the President of Nigerian Baptist Convention with verifiable achievements in the area of Church’s global expansion, transformation of church’s investment portfolio, construction of hostel accommodation for both university and secondary school students and recovering of church’s property and establishment of cable Television video, he was of the view that CAN would witness better developments than it is presently obtainable.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

SUNDAY

Body Soul S U N D AY, M AY 8 , 2 0 1 6

Patra’s dilemma 2 22 Grow healthy nails naturally 39 I regret not finishing school –Rosbarbara Oschiter Abang 42

Sequins: Girls love to sparkle!

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Body&Soul

Contents 08.05.2016

COVER

FASHION

I’m a father and a grandfather. I have been married for 39 years and my wife is and will be the only one in my life. God gave me my own wife; the wife of my dreams and choice

Sequins are so bold and eyecatching and one of the statement dresses that makes you stand out at every red carpet event

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BEAUTY ZONE While nail polishes protect and strengthen nails while adding beauty, polish removers that contain acetone dry out your nails leaving them open to damage

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GLAM DUDES The beauty of a print blazer is that you can wear the simplest outfit then completely transform your look by throwing on a floral print blazer

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MY PASSION My parents were exposed and never saw anything wrong in me exposing my body while modelling

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Bod

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After the tests, the doctors told him the same thing -he couldn’t have fathered any child! He went home an angry and dejected man.

Angry that ‘simple’ Ruth was smart after all. He thought of all the things he had done for her -the car, well-furnished apartment, the salary and everything. He wished he had a pistol

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T h e Te a m Vanessa Okwara (Editor) Wole Adepoju (Snr. Correspondent) Biwom Iklaki (Correspondent) Abiola Alaba Peters Edwin Usoboh (Graphics) Isma’il Akintunde (Graphics) +234 (0) 818 0515840, +234 (0) 701 110 1014 vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com, julietbumah@gmail.com

Associates

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ing your moment you br e’s status. The dged in ju on be to y sto ad ith re w rife last week life online, be al as w on e coin. ia rs m ed pe sa e m l th ic cia The so the two sides of between mus s p It’ r. ku ea ne br ry? an m ge d at ria Tunji th e us judge an ju ries of the mar and her husband, ! same, who mad ould know they e ge th va ll A Sa a w Ti r, supersta s, we sh ch a buzz matter the statu ) and it made su t them Balogun (Teebillz re the economy is on a No man beings and we need to cu ve a he hu ha w e , y ar try ad re un e al In a co know they barely surviv e s W en . iz ck cit ing sla y e ok an m lo m ople are der so nose dive and r day, it’s no won s followership and a lot of pe efore, appoint pe r lla do a an er th any new on less ld not, th rs will pounce on f; even if up to them. We shou their matter. social media love lie er re ov ic es m co dg ju ry es ra is like rselv mpo at every celebrity that will act as te e demise of a superstar’s ou th se ali re w no u era yo th o ca D e be side that th m it happens to n that has a dark to conceal from the oo m a . to ge hing marria e quick mmentators wer of what man would do everyt roes and idols are also Social media co he ns ur tio ta yo , re ar rp cle te s in It’ ited blic? isted. offer their unsolic marriage. Jokes, memes, pu tw it t ge week man. Don’t the uple and hu , Body and Soul is packed this went wrong in co e th of ns io at Sunell in ur W ss yo sa e as r ak ote m charac g stories to circulated. Pe in ly at ick iv pt qu will e ca s er ge ith w w pa fashion called their marriage joyable one. Our sing fingers and en cu that an ac les y d te da sty in g in po e ed az pl l you with am me even laugh ril so th y, dl ly ges Sa ite . pa es fin e m es de na er to th eir expense. you trendy. Go ov ep ke and rejoiced at th ill w le peop your eyes. iI know a lot of since and feed missioner for Ministry of Phys m s will argue that eir Co go e La Th t, en pm elo and Urban Dev they made th ng ni ac an gr Pl is l , ca he es Anifowos marital differenc onourable Wasiu recounts how the H e, at St ve week. He public, they ha ing our cover this to power in overtly invited present administration came in velations re l fu to ht the world ad his insig Lagos State. Re r ei th on feed ges. on our cover pa about ‘Patra’s carcass. Reblowing series, d Life page d in m e Th ally, some r Bed, Work an Dilemma’ on ou and I’m sure you don’t k things are ee w is continues th meant to be it. iss m to want personal reEnjoy! of ss le rd ga

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Patra ’s dile mma 22 1 Denim like a rock 18,39 s t ar Dan cele gote is – Sylvbrity crumy ya Olu sh 42 chy

BED, WORK & LIFE

te o n s ’ r o t Edi

TELE

Helen Paul

Eyitayo Aloh

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

StyleSta ker

Body&Soul

Ene Maya Lawani Regal style icon

Biwom Iklaki

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eauty pageantry has become a big deal in our times. For Ene Maya Lawani, her rise to fame began in 2004, when she grabbed the coveted crown of Miss Nigeria. Because the gods were smiling at her and forgot to arrange for the next beauty queen, we saw Ene reigning on the throne for all of six years before she was replaced in 2007 by Miss Damilola Agbajor. This made it possible for her to make history as the longest reigning queen in Nigeria. Not only that, she has created a brand of herself and is also a maestro of sorts when it comes to hand crafted fascinators.

Her personality being super fun and carefree actually reflects in her style as she shows a preference for chic, eccentric, elegant and classic pieces which she often ties together with a turban or fascinator.

Shoes are also a thing for her and she often comes out exuding the glam reminiscent of the 30s and 40s era.

She is often a cynosure of many admiring gazes on the red carpet and at events, including the Lagos Polo Club event where sports and fashion play nice and drink choice champagne. Because it showcases ladies in heels and hats with pretty dresses, Ene gets a chance to dress the heads of most of the guests while not looking too shabby herself. As the life after the pageant of beauty queens go, Ene Maya Lawani has made a name for herself even as she stands out in her pretty fashionable heels.

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Sequins: Girls love SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Vanessa Okwara

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hen you’re wearing a sequin dress, all eyes are sure to be on you; but then, that’s the whole idea of wearing it in the first place. Nothing helps you stand out in a crowd like some sparkle!

Sequins are so bold and eye-catching and one of the statement dresses that makes you stand out at every red carpet event. They are show-stoppers for an evening affair. Sequins are bold pieces. They are the

perfect way to inject some sparkle into an everyday look. They are very glamorous and make you the centre of attention.

Sequins often get a lousy reputation.

They’re shiny and jazzy, but they don’t have to be tacky. In fact, sequins can look extremely chic when styled in a modern way.

When you’re wearing a sequin dress, its shine and sparkle inevitably makes it the focal point of your outfit; loading up on statement accessories can make you appear over-dressed. Instead, keep your look simple and understated. To make sure that you look classy and not trashy, incorporate accessories that give the dress a more elegant feel. Pearls are an ideal option when

you want to make sure that your sequin dress looks sophisticated.

Stick to only one sequined item per outfit. Mixing sequins with simpler articles of clothing that do not have embellishments will almost always look good. Be moderate when incorporating glimmer and shimmers to your ensembles.

Shoes can certainly make or break your outfit. You want your sequin pieces to shine and the best shoes for sequin dressing should complement, rather than compete for the sparkly part’s attention.

Go ahead and shine like a star with these dazzling frocks!

Editor’s current obsession

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Here Beyond

Craziest red carpet looks!

Vanessa Okwara

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lame it on the make believe world they are constantly replicating, celebs love to go wild on the red carpet! From Madonna’s bedazzled PJ pants to Lady Gaga’s egg carriage at Grammy’s and our own Susan Peters’ peacock dress, it’s all about the va va voom on the red carpet for special awards such as the Grammy’s, AMVCA, MET Gala and all other special awards going on both here and abroad.

Obviously, at special events like the Met Gala that held recently, or the Headies awards that held earlier in January in Nigeria, our favourite part

of the entire evening is the arrivals: Who’s there, and more importantly, what they’re wearing. Above all, we want to see who’s bold enough to take the fashion risks - because those are the dresses we’ll be talking about the next morning. And those who really make a mark could end up being either on the best or worst dressed list. Aside from this category, there are also red carpet looks that fall nothing less than bold and crazy.

But the best ones are an amazing combination of both. Sit back as we take a look back at some of the most fashionably daring dames on Nollywood and Hollywood’s biggest nights.

Body&Soul

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

I never thought I will be made a commissioner – Wasiu Abiola Anifowoshe A technocrat and quintessential planner, Wasiu Abiola Anifowoshe started his career in the Lagos State Civil Service at the then Lagos State Lands and Physical Planning in 1985. By dint of hardwork and commitment to excellence, Anifowoshe rose to the peak of his career.

ABIOLA ALABA PETERS had a one on one with the current honourable commissioner of Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development where he shares his love for soccer and ties with the governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode A brief background?

I studied Architecture and Town Planning at Howard University, United States of America. I came back to Nigeria in 1994, did my NYSC with Lagos State Government and got employment with the Lagos State Government in the Governor’s office then. I worked there for 27 years and retired as the general manager of Lagos State Urban Rebrand Authority. I retired when I clocked 60 and I started my own private practice, Contemporary Consultant Group. I’m a principle partner in that organisation. It’s a group of architects, planners and development consultants. I was very involved in politics in 2012, knowing Akinwumi Ambode, we were both in government. So he lured me into it and I bought his idea. When we started, a lot of people didn’t give us a chance and to God be the glory here we are today.

How does it feel being the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development?

First, I want to thank God Almighty. I also want to thank my governor, His Excellency, Akinwunmi Ambode, who gave me the opportunity to serve my state. As a commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, that’s going to be the icing on the cake for whatever he thought I might have had. So, I say a big thank you to God, Governor Ambode, all members of the great party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the state as a whole for the opportunity.

When you started, did you see yourself going into politics?

I’m not a born politician and I’ve never practiced politics all my life. What I did was to support Akinwumi Ambode; I actually supported him because I believed in him. So I did everything for him as at then, he was the only one I supported, I don’t have a counsellor, deputy governor or senator; it was either Ambode or nobody else, if he wins, so be it and if it came out otherwise, to God be the glory.

Even though you were born in a rich family, did you see yourself going this far?

Well, in my family, as I told you, I’m from Epe. I’m from a noble family. I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth. I was born influential, my father was one of the richest men in his time and I love him very much. He gave me the best of education you can ever think of. He sent me to America to go and pursue my career and I came back as an architect and a town planner and I believe that the sky is the beginning for me. I joined the government doing what I know how to do best, I never did otherwise. So to everything that you do, there’s always God there for you, I believe that God knows the tomorrow of everybody. I didn’t know what God had in stock for me, but I thank God for my life so far.

You were in the civil service for 27 years. What would you say were your biggest challenges?

Well, as a civil servant then, there’s one thing that is in me, I made sure I put in my best. I have never been found wanting; that love and passion

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Body&Soul made them love me so much. I am ready to work any time. I cannot say because I’m a civil servant, I’m supposed to close by 4pm. If the work demands me to close by midnight, I will, because I am a Lagosian.

I work in Lagos State that is the passion I have. This is my father’s land and I have to put in my best.

Considering your background, has it in anyway deprived you of anything?

Well, as I have told you about my background. Let me believe that if you are focused, if you know what you are doing, there is nothing you can’t achieve positively. While I was in America, I told my dad that, fine you are rich, we have people in the US who do not have people to help them, leave me alone to do things myself and he gave me the chance. The only thing I didn’t do in the US was steal; I did everything for a tax paying job. I washed dishes and so many things and I was focused. I made sure my schooling was very intact.

How would you describe your father?

My father is the best father anybody can have. My father was a transporter, a religious person, he loves people and people loved him, he is a cheerful giver, you can never cry to my father’s house and cry out.

If you cry going in, you must laugh coming out; that is the kind of person that my father is and that is one thing I learnt from him. When God gives you, he gives you for others not because of yourself alone.

Was your appointment as a commissioner arranged?

When I started doing what I know how to do best for Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, it never crossed my mind that today I will be rewarded with this post. I actually believe in that gentleman, I gave him everything that I have. We never sat down one second for the three and half years we worked together and I asked him that at the end of the day, what’s going to be my share. All I wanted was for him to get there because I believed in him. If Fashola can do it, he can do it better and thank God he has been there for barely one year and Lagosians have seen it and believe me, they’ve not seen anything yet. That gentleman has just started, by the time he spends three years in office, you will see the difference. He is a man that has courage, and he doesn’t talk much.

Since you assumed office, what has been your major challenges?

Well, since I’ve been in the office as the honourable commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, there will always be challenges but I thank God, it is an office that you can’t sleep in. It’s 24hours activity and we have been able to manage things. That is the ministry in which I started my career and I ended it there. I don’t think there’s anything in that ministry that I don’t know , but as a human being, we learn every day. We don’t know all at once, but because of my background and it’s an office I’ve worked for 27 years, so coming back there is like a blessing and I thank God. How do you relax?

In that office you can never say you are not busy. Sometimes, I get home late; there was a time I left my office at 1.30am the next day. I’ve worked for 36 hours a day, from site to assignment and all.

So how then do you manage your home front considering your tight schedule?

It is a thing that has been in practice for long. Ever since I joined government service, I have been trained to do my best. So, I keep on doing the best. So, working late is the norm in this ministry. If you

want to better what you’re doing, you have to put in your best because it’s a ministry that cuts across all spheres of life. You just have to keep on doing your best.

Do you a see yourself becoming the governor of Lagos State some day?

Well, it’s only God that knows everything, it is in the hands of God. Funny enough, I never hoped to become a commissioner, so I don’t know what God has in stock for me tomorrow.

How would you describe your fashion sense?

I love to look good. When it comes to fashion, I can spend all my money because I love looking good. Looking good for me is big business. I don’t care how much it costs, I just love to look good.

Your favourite food and drinks?

I’m a Lagosian, we eat rice. I’m from Epe and I love fresh fish a lot and my favourite drink is water. I love drinking water.

Tell us about your marriage.

I’m happily married to a wonderful and most beautiful wife and blessed with wonderful children. I’m a father and a grandfather. I have been married for 39 years and my wife is and will be the only one in my life. God gave me my own wife; the wife of my dreams and choice.

As a very successful man, how do you manage women?

All you need to do is to remain focused; I have the best wife ever, so what else do I want from another woman? Once you are focused, no matter the trick they come up with, just be focused. I have travelled far and wide and I have seen it all.

What would you like to be remembered for?

In two places, one in my community, I want to be seen as a community leader and I believe so far, with what God has given, I have been doing my best. Then two, in my office that I’m heading now, I want to achieve what I haven’t achieved before with the kind of people I’m working with and staff that is supporting me and God on top of it, I believe for now, I’m the best commissioner that ministry has ever produced.

How well is your office affecting Lagos State in its capacity?

We l l , the Ministry of Physic a l

Planning and Urban Development cuts across every human endeavour that lives in this state. You have a house over your head and all, you see, it’s a ministry that cuts across every human being that lives here; so there’s no citizen of this state that doesn’t have one or two things to do with my ministry.

Let’s talk about the man that appointed you. Could you recall how you and Governor Ambode first met, three years down, do you think he is still in line with the vision?

Fortunately, the present governor and I are from the same town. He came into my house and told me his vision and I asked him a few questions. I used to call him Akin, but now he is my boss. I asked him why this and he said, if I believe that Fashola can do this, can’t we do it better? I looked at him and said that’s a statement of fact, because where we came from, our town, it’s one of the least developed communities in Lagos State and I, as a person, can give my life for my community because the love is too much. That was what my father, grand-father and great-grand-father did, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t do it. He said, as our community is, are you satisfied with it? I said I’m not and he said let’s come together and build this town and I took it from him and we started from that day on, holding our meetings every day and every time, believed in each other and up till the time we held the election, it never crossed my mind that he will make me a commissioner. I never thought of it, as a matter of fact, the first day he told me about being a governor and I agreed, my mind told me that he will be the next governor of Lagos State a n d since

then I have been calling him ‘My Excellency’. Other candidates came to me for support and I told them that I have given someone my support, that I am not a twofaced person. He came first and I have given him my total support.

In your own words, how would you describe Asiwaju Bola Amed Tinubu?

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not belong to this generation; he is a man of great value. I was never close to him until now, but all along, I have been following his path.

When he started in Lagos, there’s nothing we didn’t see. He laid a solid foundation, and he had a vision. He spent eight years laying foundations because things had gone bad and when Babatunde Raji Fashola took over, look at what he did, it is what Fashola did that Akinwumi stepped in to complete and by the time he finishes, whoever is going to take over, I don’t think he will have anything to do. This man is tireless, he works too hard and hardly sleeps. The advantage he has is that, he has also worked in the government and for years, so he knows it all. He had the best result during his time, so I’m happy for him.

Before we finally put this to an end, let’s briefly look at the Oshodi demolition. What really went wrong?

Well, I have said this countless times, and it’s the truth. The part that was demolished was an acquisition under the defunct Western region. It is an acquisition as part of Ilupeju Industrial Scheme. It was a plot. If you go through my records, I can get you the plot and block number of that very particular area. It is because of the express and by the time they did the layer plan, there was no Apapa Oshodi Express. It was the construction of Apapa-Oshodi Express Road that divided Ilupeju into two. If you look at the back before you get to Oshodi, you will see some industrial buildings there, and it goes all the way to that junction that was demolished, but because it was not developed, some people took the chance to jump on the land and started building. Before the demolition, we served them a notice. We asked them to vacate the place, so they were duly notified.

A word for every Lagosian, especially the youths and Nigerians at large?

They should be patient and focused, it’s not everybody that is privileged to have it all. So whatever you do, be focused, remember your creator and God will be with you.

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Juliet Bumah +234 81 1 675 9770

julietbumah@gmail.com

Patra’s dilemma 2 Juliet Bumah

P

ius swore again, as a cloud flickered across his face.

“Any thing wrong?” Patra asked again.

“The sheath,” he replied, groping on the bed. He found it right beside her. No one knew when it slipped off.

She jumped off the bed and moved to the bath on shaky legs. She felt warm and sticky. It was obvious everything went into her. She panicked.

Pius stood at the door and watched her wash off. His forehead creased into a frown.

She looked up.

“You poured everything into me,” she said alarmed.

“I’m sorry my love. It wasn’t intentional. I lost it and didn’t know when the sheath slipped off. I assure you, I’m clean. I donate blood at the National Hospital every three months since I lost my wife. I donated a day before we met. We can go to any hospital of your choice for tests to confirm that I’m clean,” he said.

Patra noted the worry in his voice.

“I’m clean. My childless state makes me visit the hospital almost on a weekly basis. I do all tests and take every treatment recommended,” she replied.

“But what about pregnancy? Are you safe?” Pius asked and she gave a short, mirthless laugh.

She said, “I used to think it was possible. For six years, I’ve been with Richie. Five out of those years, we have tried desperately for a child. Nothing happened, not once.

I believed it could happen until I got to know that my husband had a family outside. He has a daughter already and the lady is pregnant again. What does that tell you?

That I can’t conceive!”

She was surprised that she didn’t cry. She also didn’t feel angry any more.

“Let Richie enjoy his children. I wish him well. No man wants a barren woman,” she added.

“But I want you. I want you for keeps, my love,” Pius said, and meant it. ******* Richie shifted uneasily on Patra’s bed. “Who is this Facebook friend? Why is he asking my wife such intimate questions? How come my wife knows so much about such things? What else does she know? That I spurt impotent fluid? Who is Cherish’s father? Who is Ruth sleeping with?”

Questions and more questions danced in his brain.

“Oh my! This torture is killing. I’ll see another doctor tomorrow.”

He ignored the glass on the table and swigged from the bottle of cognac. He gulped three times and shook his head as the spirit burnt his throat.

He picked the laptop again and with shaky fingers, scrolled to the next question.

Royalty: Can there be sexual satisfaction without emotion?

Patra: There can’t be sexual satisfaction if there’s no ‘connection’ emotionally. That connection leads to a desire which invariably is satisfied if the man knows what to do. Most times, however, the right words, the right touch, lead to great tumble in the way.

Royalty: There is so much talk about cyber affairs among married people and telesex. Wonder where our society is heading to.

Patra: Hahahahaha...you’re wondering where our society is heading to? The rocks of course! On a more serious note, cyber affairs among married people is on the increase...really, I need to clean the house now. Chat later.

Royalty: Thanks dear. You have been of immense help in this research. I may drop some questions for you. I’ll appreciate if you answer them when you can. Will send you a copy of the book when published.

Richie exhaled audibly and laughed.

“So it wasn’t personal? I had worked myself up! Now I know how jealousy can choke a man to death. Phew!

I trust Patra wouldn’t have done anything silly. Hahahahahahaha.”

He swigged from the bottle again and frowned. How come Patra knew so much about sex?

He longed for Patra’s touch. ****

Richie heeded Dr. KC’s advice and visited another hospital. After the tests, the doctors told him the same thing -he couldn’t have fathered any child! He went home an angry and dejected man. Angry that ‘simple’ Ruth was smart after all. He thought of all the things he had done for her -the car, well-furnished apartment, the salary and everything. He wished he had a pistol.

“If I have one, would I have the heart to use it? Can I hurt my daughter, Cherish? Can I hurt Ruth? Daughter?

The doctor just told me I didn’t father her. The doctor just made me know that I had been spurting water which couldn’t have fathered a baby. How could a woman be so cold and calculative? Ruth! I need to find out the truth.

Ruth owes me that explanation. How would I convince Patra that what she saw was a lie? How would I tell her that I had been the cause of her childless state?” Richie’s mind wandered.

He pulled his boxers and took hold of his limp man, shook it and screamed, “So all the joy and excitement I got from you were all for nothing?” He moved to the mirror in his room, stood in front of it and contemplated his body. For the first time, he realised that his body had aged considerably. He noticed the almost flabby tummy.

By now, his man seemed to have shrunk a tad more. It hung lifeless, like an armed robber that had just been executed at the Lagos Bar Beach.

He hissed and picked his phone. He dialed Ruth’s number and she picked it immediately.

“Daddy Cherish, I was about to call you. She’s been running temperature and I need to take her to the hospital. I’m also not feeling too strong, not been sleeping very well. Your baby kicked all night and I woke up very weak...”

Richie didn’t hear all she said. His mind was elsewhere.

“What if the doctors were wrong? What if the results were mixed up? It’s possible. No, it’s not possible. What if some enemies he didn’t know cast a spell on the doctors so that they made wrong assumptions?”

He slapped himself hard.

“Hello...hello...helloooooo...”

Ruth was still on the phone. He hadn’t said a word since.

“Hello,” his voice was a croak.

“Are you alright,” she asked, a ting of worry in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m good. Cherish? Who? I mean...yes Cherish... listen Ruth, we need to talk. We need to, it’s absolutely necessary. I’ll call you back,” he said and ended the call.

************* Ruth held on to the phone. She heard the disconnection beep and an alarm bell went off in her brain.

“Wetin he talk?” the old man with rheumy eyes asked anxiously.

“When he wan send the money? Look, Patricia, since you go Lagos come back, you never talk true. You talk say him wife catch you. Wetin she do? Woman wey no born dey talk for man house? Abeg make you....” He ranted on and on. Ruth hardly paid him attention.

Something was definitely wrong. Richie was not himself. She wished she never went to Lagos for that Valentine’s Day celebration. Everything changed after that.

The baby in her womb kicked. She was due in less than three weeks. The doctor said the baby might come earlier.

“Patricia, Patricia, I wan eat. Go cook food for me o,” the man said as he reached for his snuff bottle.

Ruth sighed and moved towards the kitchen. Midway, she turned and told the old man, “I don tell you say make you dey call me Ruth. I no just understand why you no fit call me Ruth.”

The old man laughed and said, “Your papa and mama name you Ruth? Na for my body you dey get power.”

Ruth hissed and walked into the kitchen. She was really worried. Richie didn’t sound like the man she knew. He didn’t even show any concern when she told him that Cherish wasn’t feeling fine. Strange. She wondered what he wanted to discuss with her. **************** Richie looked at the phone in his hand. He had wanted to ask Ruth who had been impregnating her but couldn’t.

He wanted to know Cherish’s father.

He dialed his wife’s number on the phone and Patra picked.

“Hello dear,” she cooed into his ears.

“Darling, I’m missing you. The house is so empty without you,” he said into the phone.

“I understand dear. I’m coming back tomorrow,” she replied.

“I love you,” he told her... *************** I just can’t wait to know what happened next. If you feel the same way, then make it a date with me here on Sunday.

•Send your observations to: julietbumah@gmail. com

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It’s not insensitive for lawmakers to buy cars –Hon. Ogun p.25

Umoh: Akwa-Ibom witnessing silent transformation p.26

The Sunday Interview

Farouk: Nigeria must look deeper into ‘herdsmen terrorism’ p.28-29

Politics Babatope Okeowo Akure

A

head of the May 21 National Convention of the opposition PDP, leaders of the party in the South-West geo-political zone seem to have closed ranks in order to present a common position at the congress.

The meeting at the instance of the only two governors in the zone, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and Mr Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) had in attendance virtually all the leaders of the party in the Yoruba speaking states. Those who could not make it like former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja sent representatives.

Present at the meeting held at the International Event Centre, the Dome in Akure, the Ondo State capital were former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, former Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Jelili Adesiyan, South-West Chairman, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and former FERMA Boss, Engr.

Jide Adeniji, Others included former leader of House of Representatives, Mulikat Akande-Adeols, former ministers, Chief Mrs. Jumoke Akinjide and Prof Taoheed Adedoja. Former South-West leader, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipupo, former governorship candidate of the party in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, former Commissioner in Second Republic, Chief Segun Adegoke and former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe.

The Akure meeting ignored the factional meeting convened by Senator Buruji Ksamu in Ijebu-Igbo on the same day and focused on the need for unity of the party both at the state, zonal and national levels.

Attempt to refer to the factional meeting was rebuffed by Governor Mimiko, who presided over the meeting. The thinking is that the meeting convened by the Chairman of the party’s Governors Forum and attended by the voice of opposition as represented by Fayose is the only legitimate meeting holding in the zone.

The Akure meeting was convened, according to the leaders, in order to harmonise different positions of the leaders and prevent further decimation of the party.

Governor Mimiko who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum said the unity of the party was necessary in order to prevent the formation of another political party that would rival both the PDP and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Setting the tone for the discussion, Mimiko spoke about the need to foster unity among the leaders of the party in the country. According to him, disunity would only lead to further decimation of the party with the aggrieved members leaving the party to form another political party with the relics of the APC who would also leave for various reasons. He said PDP for now, is the alternative political platform to the ruling APC in the country today, but he expressed the fear of third force if there is no unity in the party.

His words: “Whether we like it or not, PDP is the alternative political party in the country, but if we mess it up another party will come up. There is no doubt about it; Nigeri-

Biyi Adegoroye Assistant Editor biyi.fire@yahoo.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

PDP’s peace of the graveyard in South-West

Mimiko

ans are waiting. If we mess up, a new party will emerge and become the darling of this country because this country is waiting.”

Mimiko said there are issues that are bigger than politics growing up and rearing their heads, saying it is when there is unity among the leaders that these issues can be addressed. His words: “Our people are watching the position that we will take whether our interest is in who becomes zonal publicity secretary or secretary or we will unite to confront the monster in the Yoruba nation. Our people are the most enlightened in the country, whether you like it or not.

They are watching, they are taking notes and at the appropriate time they will pronounce judgment on us “If we don’t show enough concern about the issue affecting the people now, there is no way people will have confidence in us through their votes as 2019 is around the corner. We need to realise our position today Whoever you are, if the purpose of politics is to serve the greatest interest of the people, this is the time to come together in the South West. When we say we are coming together, in the short run, there must be winners and the losers. That is what is called give and take. But whoever gives up what you think is critical today, can gain something that is monumental in the future.

Mimiko said he and Fayose have decided to come together in the interest of Yoruba nation. On his part, Fayose harped on the unity of the party at all levels and stressed the need to form a formidable opposition to

George

confront the ruling APC which, he said has plunged the country into needless crisis including fuel scarcity, herdsmen attacks and economic problems. He also refuted the report that he and some leaders of the party in the South-West were having issues over the forthcoming election of the national executives of the party.

He said specifically that he had no score to settle with Governor Mimiko and Chief Bode George over leadership matters.

His words: “I read it in the newspapers that Chief Bode George abused me, but you can see us sitting beside each other here. He and I have come a long way, we are together. Dr. Mimiko and I have no score to settle either, we are together, we are bound to agree.”

While charging the leaders to embrace unity for the party to move forward, Fayose urged members to elect people with ideas to run the affairs of the party at the forthcoming National Convention.

He said: “There is nothing wrong with the PDP but the individuals in the party, I want us to push forward people with great ideas, Nigeria is too big for octogenarian to be the President. We need young people with energy to do this job for us,” he declared.

The communiqué which emerged from the meeting captured the need for unity, sharing of positions allocated to the zone by the party and the need to confront the APC. The communiqué read by Prof Adedoja on behalf of the leaders agreed to set up a committee to allocate the positions zoned to the zone among the six states.

The positions zoned to the South-West by the Governor Udom Emmanuel Committee on zoning arrangement in the party included National Secretary, National Publicity Secretary, National Auditor and Zonal Executive Committee.

The meeting which discussed, among other things, the urgent need to re-energise the structure of the PDP in all the South-West states and Nigeria at large, said the time was ripe for all members of the PDP in the zone to forge a common front and pursue a common agenda towards regaining their leadership position in Nigeria.

“That the PDP will not shy away from effectively playing the role of an opposition.

This role is crucial to democratic survival and the Party shall continually make Nigerians look up to it as a credible alternative to the ruling party,” the communique said.

It commended the on-going conscious efforts of the party in ensuring genuine reconciliation of aggrieved party leaders and members towards ensuring that they become stronger. That the party will continue to encourage the collaboration of old and younger generations of party leaders, while it will do everything possible to allow fresh minds and ideas to thrive.

For now, the leaders of the PDP in the geopolitical zone have agreed to chart a common course, with exception of a few dissenting voices, political watchers are concerned that sharing of party positions both at zonal and national levels may still polarise the party in due course.

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politics

A friendly chat with an old friend Femi Fani-Kayode

T

he following discusion took place on my Facebook friends page on May 2 2016. Since it is already in the public realm I have taken the liberty of sharing it in my column as well.

Though we have not seen much of each other for a while I have known Alhaji Muktari Shinkafi for the better part of the last 35 years and we are more like brothers than friends.

We spent a lot of time together in our youth and in those heady and blissful days of the early and mid-1980’s when I was still at Cambridge University and when I spent most of my leisure time playing polo at the Lagos Polo Club or at the Guards Polo Club in the U.K., eating caviar and drinking champagne. We had great fun in those days and Nigeria was a much better and happier place than it is now.

At that time Lagos was something of a melting pot and everybody that was anybody in the country had a home there. These were the days before Abuja was built and Lagos was still our nation’s capital.

Most people were very comfortable then because the naira was still strong at approximately two naira to one dollar. It was often the case that people would travel to London, the South of France or the Bahamas for long weekends with their loved ones and be back in Lagos for Monday morning. Then of course there was late night chicken suya in Obalende which was always a delight. I wonder if they still have that?

More importantly it really didn’t matter which part of the country you came from or what your religious faith was because nobody cared in those days.

The only thing that mattered was whether you had a good education, a good pedigree and whether you had class. Whether you were a northerner, a southerner, a Christian or a Muslim didn’t matter at all. Lagos was home to all and we loved it.

It was in that pleasant setting that Muktari and I became close together with a large number of other Polo Club buffs.

His older brother, a legend in intelligence circles and in the world of spying, the former head of Nigeria’s dreaded spy agency the NSO, a much loved and reverred elderstatesman and the former Presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, the Marafan Sokoto, brought me into politics in 1989 and he was my leader and political mentor for many years.

Simply put, Marafan was like a second father to me. He was an arch-conservative and a man of immense discipline and courage and all of us at the Lagos Polo Club were in absolute awe of him. When he walked in the room with his head held up high there would be pin drop silence as we all stood up.

We were his boys and we were all very proud of that fact. I learnt everything from him from the art of politics to the murky and grey world of espionage.

In addition to that, I had the distinct honour and privilage of being appointed his Special Assistant in 1992 when he ran for the Presidency before General Ibrahim Babangida banned him, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (who was the presidential flagbearer for the rival Social Democratic Party) and all the other ‘oldbreed’ politicians from contesting.

I have nothing but the deepest respect and affection for the Shinkafi family and that remains so till today. I was therefore delighted when Muktari made his contributions on my Facebook wall.

The conversation was prompted by the fact that I posted some graphic pictures of the victims of the Fulani herdsmen in Agatu and Enugu. Those pictures can still be seen on my Facebook friends’ page.

Fani-Kayode

Muktari did not feel that it was appropiate to post the pictures and the following conversation took place between him and I on the thread.

I believe that it was an interesting discussion which brought out two distinct and separate perspectives (if you like call them the northern and southern ones) to the whole issue of the Fulani herdsmen.

I believe that both sides have something to learn from one another on this issue which is why I chose to share it with my readers.

Enjoy!

MUKTARI SHINKAFI wrote: “Since we already have the Senate and House of Representatives in place, it will be easier to bring the issue next week of dividing Nigeria immediately after the budget issue.

The division of the country should be proposed based on six Geo-polical zones based on the following basis and natural/human resources to sustain each zone.

1. South South - Oil, sea port, 2. South West - Service industry, seaport, agriculture 3. South East - Oil, commerce 4. Middle Belt -Agriculture, solid minerals 5. North East - Oil, agriculture 6. North West - Oil, strategic solid minerals, agriculture.

We in the North don’t deserve this negative propaganda and name-calling.

Let us separate peacefully for the sake of our children since even after the separation, we will be surely bonded together by commerce and personal relationship.

We have millions down there that we are friends through business, marriages etc. I dont think posting these pictures is necessary as no one is sure of their source, they may be accident victims but some people are posting them to propagate messages of hate among us”.

My Response: “Before I would post such pictures on my wall, I have to be certain of their authenticity and in this, case I am.

There are other pictures which are far worse and which I cannot post here. My

brother, your people kill ours and we are not supposed to even complain about it or let the world know what is happening?

Enough of this madness. If the Fulani leaders cannot reign in their herdsmen and terrorists themselves, then we will do it for them.

This barbarity has been going on in the Middle Belt and core North for years unchallenged and now you guys want to extend it to the South.

We will not take it, we will not allow it and we will not sit by idly as your kinsmen slaughter, rape and abduct our men, women and children and occupy our land.

It has been going on for far too long and now we are prepared to resist it. I agree with you that maybe it is time that we begin to consider the division of this country and the best way to start is simply to let the core North go its separate way first and leave the rest of us alone.

Either that or a clean North/South break.

We in the South cannot be expected to continue to live peacefully with what the Global Terror Index has described as the first (Boko Haram) and the fourth (Fulani militants/ herdsmen) most deadly terror organisations in the world.

They both come from the North and the northern leaders would do well to look within, accept the fact that they have a major problem with their youth and try to fix it.

What baffles me is that most northern leaders are more concerned about the fact that these atrocities are being exposed before the world and evidence of it is being adduced than the fact that people are being killed.

They are very comfortable with it when the slaughter is being done in silence but when we scream about it, they get upset.

This strange and alien mindset is unacceptable to us.

If this rubbish goes on, sooner or later, the South will rise up as one together with our brothers in the Middle Belt and there will be a terrible reckoning.

I do not spread hate and I have no hate in me for anyone or any ethnic group. The truth is that, as you know, one eighth of the blood that flows through my veins is Fulani.

I cannot hate myself.

You know very well that our leader and older brother, the Marafan Sokoto, brought me into politics in 1989 and I love him as if he were my father.

Yet the North no longer has strong, decisive and fair minded political leaders like Marafan or gentle, kind, wise and accomodating ones like President Shehu Shagari.

That is the problem. If Marafan was President today, this herdsmen problem would have been history long ago and so would Boko Haram.

He would care as much for the South and the safety of its people as he would have for the North where he comes from. Yet how many northern leaders think like that today?

As I wrote in my last column, there are a few like Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar, Nuhu Ribadu, Kashim Ibrahim Imam, Col. Sambo Dasuki, Ibrahim Turaki SAN, Atiku Abubakar and a few others but not many.

What is in me and millions of other southerners and Middle Belters is not hate for the Fulani or the core North but anger: a very great and powerful anger that is growing by the day.

We trusted and loved you like brothers for the last 56 years, but in recent times, what have we got in return except for suspicion, persecution, misunderstanding, violence and pain? First, it was Boko Haram and now it is cold blooded murder and the claiming of our lands by your herdsmen.

Nobody can take all that with a smile. Nobody can tell us to take it all and keep quiet.

You are my brother and you always will be.

We go back such a long way and it pains me to write all this.

Yet the truth is that if only the North could change its attitude and leadership, we could all be one big happy family again.

Sadly though, they will not because there are a few northern leaders who relish all that is happening today and who believe in the utter crushing, destruction and subjugation of everything and everyone South of the River Niger”.

MUKTARI SHINKAFI replied: “Honestly we the northerners have been at the receiving end since the beginning of this insurgency and fulani herdsmen terrorism.

If the division of Nigeria will bring peace, we wholeheartedly welcome the idea and the sooner the National Assembly begins deliberation, the better.”

My Response:“We both know that the National Assembly will not do it because the northern legislators and those that they represent are addicted to southern oil.

We can do it without the National Assembly if we so wish and the way things are going now, we are getting close to that final parting day.

All we have to do is to begin to mobilise our people and tell them the benefits of going our separate ways and breaking up the country.

I guess it is long overdue. When that day comes, the parting of ways will be peaceful if the North lets us go in peace, but if they try to stop us, it will not be so peaceful.”

MUKTARI SHINKAFI replied: “I think the issue here is that you refused to acknowledge the frustrations of all Nigerians. We are all making these comments and postings because of total failure of the APC governmemt to address critical challenges facing the nation instead, its over one year now, but they are still associating their failure to PDP which to me is a sign that they just won the election without proper plan but based on change propaganda.

Where are Bakassi boys, kidnappers and the Niger Delta militants? Since the govCONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

politics

It’s not insensitive for lawmakers to buy cars –Hon. Ogun We were told that Mr. President wrote about some issues in the 2016 budget, out of which is the N4.3 billion inserted by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations for his constituency alone and the disparity in the figures passed and the one contained in the details sent to the President?

The National Assembly has the powers to aggregate and appropriate. It is the powers of the National Assembly as spelt out by section 80 of the Constitution, so at the end of the day we want a budget that will work for Nigerians. We are closest to the people. I’m not saying that for that reason we should mutilate whatever comes from the Executive because at the end of the day they are the ones that will execute. We would superintend. I think we are used to this military background where everybody thinks the center will say it, the Executive will execute it but the Constitution gives us the power to appropriate so budget is actually our baby. The Executive can write anything and then we will turn the page and turn it entirely that is why you say you have the adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters at the Senate, Ita Enang and the House of Representatives, Ismaila Kawu to interface. It is a thing to harmonise and say it should be reworked and all of that. We are not talking. The Presidential Liaison Officers are not talking with the National Assembly and all the talks in the media will not help the country in painting the National Assembly black. How is that going to help you, how is that going to help my constituency? And now, Ita Enang and Sulaiman Kawu and even the minister of Budget and Planning, Udo Udoma was a senator, so they all know the law so I don’t think they will advise appropriately.

Hon. Serguis Oseasochie Ogun represents Esan-North East/Esan South East Federal Constituency of Edo State and is the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In this interview with PHILIP NYAM, he speaks on the budget impasse, the purchase of cars by lawmakers and forthcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State a thing happened. I came from the private sector in the oil sector; when they give you a car for four years, they say it is a loan but they take out some amount of money to pay for the car and they give the money back to you for maintenance and fueling.

At the end of the day, it is actually your car.

But here I discovered the money given to you, you have to pay for every dime. Cars that are given to us in the House are even Peugeot. The speaker told us that we are going for made in Nigeria cars. I am excited about that because I have never driven a Peugeot before, so I am looking up to that day that the Peugeot will be given to me.

I think the NOA should be funded to do its work. Now, we are talking about N2 billion misappropriated in PTAD today; we are talking about the biometrics they are going to do for the pensioners, how the AGF and the SGF are fighting with PTAD over the project; because there is money involved. Committees of the House are going to look into this and save Nigeria a huge sum of money and you think buying cars for lawmakers is a waste. But the executive is there buying luxury cars and nobody is talking about it.

Another concern is whether the purchase of these vehicles followed due process.

Did the National Assembly comply with the provisions of the Procurement Act? I don’t know. You can ask the Chairman House Services Committee. But I know they invited Mazda, they invited Peugeot and I even recommended INNOSON. The truth is that I will not rely on that car to take me to everywhere in Nigeria because I have my own car.

But will you say the Attorney General of the Federation is doing enough to educate the President as custodian of the law of the country?

I don’t know, but I think there are wrong people in the cabinet, but it’s left for Nigerians to judge whether they are delivering on the election promises or not. We have some reservations about some of the people recruited by the President; their capacity to deliver. For example, I made promises during election campaign and I went to hire people ….I have my family members, I have brothers and sisters in the constituency, I could as well packed them here but because I wanted to deliver on these promises, I hired people that are qualified from different places. That is why I expected them to do.

if she misappropriated money because she has achieved some milestone? No! That is why we want to look into this so that it does not go the way of the past chairman of PTAD. The pensioners are the people we are representing and we cannot sit back and watch their benefits being cornered by some individuals.

You sponsored the motion for the probe of Pension Transition Arrangement Department (PTAD). Why did you do that?

There were allegations of highhandedness; that she employed people … without capacity and without due process.

Then, there are also allegations that she (Nelly Mayshack) was taken N60 million monthly as salary and that she misappropriated over N2 billion. But from seeing people being carried in wheel barrows to go and collect their pensions and yet they are turned back, you cannot keep quiet about these allegations. They said she expended N500 million annually on office accommodation, whether these allegations are true or not , the fact is that they deserve investigation. It is also possible that she did well because she is said to have re-enrolled over 4,000 pensioners, which is good. But should we keep quiet

It has been confirmed that the Senate bought jeeps at the cost of N36 million each and the House is also following in their footsteps. Don’t you think this is insensitive on part of National Assembly lawmakers in view of the suffering Nigerians are going through?

I don’t think so. I strongly believe some of these things are coming from the executive.

I am told the minister of information has five cars in his convoy and nobody is talking and he has justify why he should have five cars. Go and check these cars: they are state of the art cars- they are SUVs. Ministers, I am told have two jeeps in their convoy. The one that the minister of state for labour unfortunately died in was a brand new Lexus. And we were inaugurated before the ministers were appointed but they already have their cars. Two, for you to be qualified to be a minister, you have

Ogun

to be qualified to contest for elections into the House of Representatives. The NASS members go through elections; we spend a lot of money to campaign and we get here to represent the people. Then to give them a car that will facilitate their oversight to ensure that the MDAs are working well, you say it is wrong? These are cars we are going to use for committee work. They are not for private use.

But they are allegations that the cost of the cars was inflated?

I don’t know about any inflation. Check on the average, a senator is like a governor of his senatorial zone. He is going to traverse the entire local governments in his zone every other week. For example, I am from Edo state and I know my senator very well; he had a bullet proof car which he crashed on Okene-Lokoja road because the road is in bad shape. One of my colleagues in the House crashed his jeep on the same road. Though I don’t travel much on the road but I crashed mine too. These are brand new cars. I’m in Abuja today, and the car that brought me is car hire. What we have been given is a car loan and deductions are made from our salaries every month. It is only in government that such

You are a PDP member and the Edo governorship is around the corner. Do you see your party dethroning the APC in the state?

We will, if we can manage the post primaries crisis. If we can bring everybody together, we can wrestle power from them.

Are you saying the APC administration of Governor Adams Oshiomhole did not perform?

When you say perform it is relative. The governor, I give it to hi, has expanded the IGR and more money is coming into the state as compared to when his predecessor was there. So, more money is coming.

But has that money been used judiciously?

The governor has tarred the road to my village; I give it to him because I can drive there now. But there is poverty in the land.

Governance does not mean you wait at the end of the month you come to Abuja and pick a cheque and you do a couple of roads. But they don’t tell you how much is generated internally. Then the red roof for which the governor is been credited for is just 30 per cent of the state money, the rest is coming from the federal. But I even heard that it was Prof. Osareimen Osunbor that invented that and even paid the counterpart funding. If you look at the lenses, I do not think the governor has done so well to warrant people to vote for his party.

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

politics Mr. Uko Umoh is the Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State on Local Media. In this interview with TONY ANICHEBE, he x-rays Governor Emmanuel’s administration in the last one year and gave insight into silent transformation in the state

Umoh: Akwa-Ibom witnessing silent transformation they are coming with employment, coming with new economic opportunities and new economic supply chain management.

I see Akwa Ibom prospering, I see a new middle class coming up. The state will also earn taxes and have revenue to continue to provide social services for the people.

So employment is key, industrialisation is key and political inclusion is key. You can see the way the governor is doing. He is consulting widely on every matter, putting together the stakeholders, carrying them along, discussing with them and so on. If you look at his five-point agenda, he is pursuing them very methodically.

I can rate him a five star in terms of how he has done what he promised the people of Akwa Ibom State. He is executing them courageously. I see Akwa Ibom State of 2023 to be an autonomous state because this is where all the Industries will reside, this where all agricultural produce for Nigeria would come from. Believe me, 50 per cent of Nigerian feeds will come from here. I see Akwa Ibom State attending a height of Dubai. I am speaking with passion; I am speaking with knowledge of what is happening.

His Excellency Akapbio prepared the foundation for Udom Emmanuel to fly because he knows his onions, he knows what he is doing and he knows what to bring into that foundation. So he takes off complete. You see, he is not only talking about industries, he is talking about even the road networks. He understands what thrives with industries. If he does not open up where there were no roads, how would the industries fly there? He says he wants to create roads even to the swamp so that even the people in the sea can bring their product out.

Last week you hosted journalists to a ceremony where several working tools were distributed to state based media houses what informed this gesture?

Well, I did conceive that gesture as a way of encouraging the local media here to perform optimally, I had been chairman of what we know here as League of Publishers and I fully understand the plight of the state-based media houses. Fortunately too we have a governor today whose interest in ensuring that the media performs their constitutional duties well is legendary. So what you saw that day is just the beginning of the many good packages geared towards improving the efficiency of information dissemination in the state through our local media houses whether government or privately owned.

How will you rate Gov. Emmanuel’s performance in the last one year?

He has performed exceptionally well perhaps beyond the imagination of critics who felt aggrieved with emergence as the governor, but I think it’s about the future of Akwa Ibom State. For me he’s coming is divine and in the interest of Akwa Ibom State.

Whether you are talking about the Godswill Akpabio’s era or Governor Udom’s time, the idea is about developing Akwa Ibom State. And clearly, Governor Emmanuel has demonstrated that capacity, he has demonstrated that ability. He has shown the leadership prowess and skills required for the governance of a complex state like Akwa Ibom State. There are very clear signs that Akwa Ibom is moving forward. The state has taken a quantum leap in terms of the developmental projects, in terms of changing the psyche of the Akwa Ibom person, in terms of changing the thought processes of the people of Akwa Ibom State. So, for me, it is a great feat. He started by looking at the people. If you look at his manifesto, it’s anchored on development, infrastructure, physical, mental, social, economic, if you like. If you say social infrastructure, you are now talking about building roads, building bridges, continued airport development and investment in capital infrastructure like aviation, maritime infrastructural development.

How would you rate the impact of the administration on youth development?

Exceptional, he is one man that came to governance fully prepared to impact on the lives of our people. He has demonstrated this in all his undertakings since assumption of office as the state chief executive. If you talk of skill development, that is one huge area, and it involves technological process and skills. The governor is trying to close skill gaps between Akwa Ibom children and others and strengthen knowledge that will make them independent and self-reliant.

More than 1000 of them were trained in Oracle technology. And you know about the youths who went for training in Israel, more than one hundred of them. We have another 329 trained in photography and film production. And we also have about 200 trained in electric engineers and qualified

Umoh

chaps in electrical engineering and other related fields. That is creating skills, empowering the people properly. The young men that will come out of these trainings cannot look for what to do; they would have been equipped upstairs to be able to think for themselves and there is an old adage that says that any man with a good head cannot be a pauper. That is what the governor has done for Akwa Ibom State.

Looking at the work force, he went in there and ensured that he cleared backlog of teachers salary, and about 10 years arrears of pension, and restored normalcy even within NULGE. That has restored a lot of confidence and helped the pensioners and workforce to stabilize a little bit.

In the healthcare, the mother-to-child care programme, immunization programme; various sensitization programme is going on at the moment. There is so much happening in the state in the last one year. I know that a lot more will happen, in the weeks ahead, the months ahead and the years ahead, culminating in the totality of the tenure, of the two terms that Governor Emmanuel will stay.

The power sector is improving. Power supply is improving significantly in the state. We have had a record of about 13 over 24 and it is still growing. So many sub stations have been built, a lot will be built.

There is a lot of extension work going on to ensure power is distributed within the state, particularly the state capital, and of course, the stabilisation of Ibom Power which is now outputting about 110 megawatts and then redistributed inwards. That is helping.

There is internal reticulation of public water with the hope of ensuring that actual

public water runs through public means back into the tap for the people of the state to have access to public water as it were. So many overhead tanks have been restored to ensure proper pumping of public water and reticulation of water. There is so much, but beyond this, there is something the governor is looking at that needs to be brought out here. The reorientation of Akwa lbom people is what he is looking at called the ‘Dakada theory.’ And this is something I am very interested in; Arise. Akwa Ibom arise, Akwa Ibom people, arise. You must rise and stand to be counted. You must be seen to be contributing something to your society and the development of the state. So, for me that is a major re-orientation drive and we must all support it to succeed.

Where do you see Akwa Ibom in the next eight years?

The industrialisation policy of the state is a clear case of a government that wants to create wealth. The wealth creation initiative is anchored on industrialisation and creating economic partnerships. And this is going on. We have had ground-breakings; from the automobile assembly plant to the lead manufacturing and electrical component, plant, of course to the rehabilitation and revitalization of the peacock paints state. I see Akwa Ibom moving higher and higher. Akwa Ibom will become an industrial hub in the Gulf of Guinea by the time the deep seaport is being completed, and an economic window is opened through the seaport, the industrial concern will now flow into the different parts of the state from the Atlantic Coast to the upland. And as they come,

To what extent would dwindling revenue affect other sectors like infrastructure of the state?

Government is about planning. Anyone who doesn’t plan is planning to fail. This government is full of planners, thinkers and dreamers. The governor cannot just emphasise in talking about industries, I believe he has balance the economy and the policies.

If you listen to the slogan of the government or the manifesto of the governor, it was consolidation of infrastructural sector.

Everything will be done side by side.

What do you think is the governor’s driving force in the pursuit of this vision?

He has milk of human kindness in him, a large heart and accommodating spirit.

He is so passionate that when he came up with the fact that he sees the youths during working hours on the street as abnormal.

There is a milk of passion from him that says these people are not supposed to be here.

They could utilize their lives a lot more than this. It is not that he doesn’t want crowd, it should be certain number. When it is overwhelming the production is suffering. They should have been useful somewhere. I see the state of that nature coming in future with the leadership of His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel. The passion that he has for the youths of Akwa Ibom State is overwhelming. That is why you are seeing the various training programme that is beginning to take place. He knows for you to have one thousand workers, you have to train two thousand. For me that is the real beginning of industrialization because it sensitises the youths and the whole state, telling them that something is coming and prepares them for the future. This is not a future you are looking at but a very near future.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 8 MAY 2016

politics

Enugu killings and Ugwuanyi ‘s passion for national unity Levi Odogwubueze, Jnr.

T

he misconceptions, pain, emotions, anger and condemnations that greeted the recent senseless killings of innocent citizens of Enugu State in Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen are quite understandable and appreciated.

The unfortunate incident which has threatened the unity and existence of our nation as one indivisible entity has equally set a new agenda for the renewal of our national unity and integration. It has also sensitized the world against the growing national terror culture of the herdsmen that has fast snowballed into an endemic disaster against the peoples’ right to life, with all the imperious features not too away from that of BokoHaram insurgency.

The herdsmen attack in Enugu has equally caught the security agencies lacking in intelligence, hence it has received the widest attention so far witnessed since the itinerant herdsmen opened their wild killings on an industrial scale, to the extent that every ethnic group in the country and indeed the globe has risen to condemn the heinous act as criminal and barbaric.

President Muhammadu Buhari while condemning the Enugu attack, did not only direct the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Abayomi Olonishakin and the InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, to immediately secure communities under the attacks of herdsmen, he also gave a presidential directive that the perpetrators of these dastardly acts be arrested and brought to justice.

The President’s intervention which was sequel to a meeting he had with the Enugu State Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who was at the Presidential Villa to brief the former on the unfortunate incident and seek the best ways to tackle the inherent challenges with circumspection, could be best described as a major breakthrough towards finding lasting solution to the menace of the herdsmen. I commend the President for his prompt and decisive decision. I hope that the outcome of his directive will yield the expected positive result.

There is no doubt that Governor Ugwuanyi who first visited the traumatised Nimbo community to sympathise with them and offer necessary assistance to the survivors and families of the deceased, displayed a deep sense of maturity and wisdom in handling the matter by not making inciting comments C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 4

ernment cannot protect our brothers and communities there, let them come out and protect its people against these bandits (herdsmen).

They killed 25 people in my local government 10 days ago, stole grains and their valuebles.

We resorted to use the vigilanties and our young men to protect our farmers from the so called herdsmen bandits from neighbouring countries. Its time government take this issue seriously and I believe our police, armed forces and civil defence can take them out squarely, grazing reserve will not solve the problems because these criminals are not the same Fulanis we knew years ago.

They used to live peacefully on Hausa farmlands grazing their animals but today, Hausas are their worst enemies”.

My Response:

Ugwuanyi

that could have fueled a reprisal attack.

Even though, the governor’s peace approach was initially misunderstood and mistaken as a sign of weakness, especially in the social media, the recent turn of events has vindicated his wisdom in calming frayed nerves and maturely de-escalating the very tense situation.

He did not stop at that, he assured the people of the state that he will do everything possible within his constitutional powers to put an end to the menace of the herdsmen and bring the culprits to justice. Today, I am elated that he has taken decisive actions towards fulfilling his assurances through his administration’s donation of a seed fund of N100m for the reactivation of Neighborhood Watch in all the communities in the state, redeployment of the then Commissioner of Police by the Police headquarters, among others.

At the time the people were reacting negatively in the social media against the governor’s approach to the matter, I was convinced that his stance on peace, against outright retaliation or reprisal attacks was in the overall interest of Ndigbo, especially our brothers and sisters who reside in the Northern parts

of the country. I saw the consequences of a reprisal attack on our innocent brothers and sisters in the North who could fall victim to a possible counter- attack. I wondered what would have been their fate if such an ugly incident occurred. I asked myself, would all these people criticizing the governor’s peace approach in the social media come to their rescue if anything strange happens? Of course not! The loss would have been unimaginable and regrettable in all its ramifications. There lies the foresight of Gov. Ugwuanyi.

All these informed my recent post in the social media supporting the mature and peaceful approach of the governor in handling the matter. I commended his wisdom and maturity and assured him that posterity will be kind to him at the end of the day for not allowing a reprisal attack that would have sparked counter-attack on our loved ones especially those in the North.

Today, the governor’s maturity has brought a radiant hope towards a new order of national unity and integration among our brothers and sisters from other tribes of the country. It has proved that most wars do not end through the barrel of the gun but

A friendly chat with an old friend “I acknowlwdge the fact that it happens in the core North too but if the leaders and people of the core North can live with it, the rest of us cannot.

They have a duty to fight it and to put a stop to it more than anyone else because these beasts, militants and religious extremists that call themselves Fulani herdsmen are their kinsmen.

They are their slaves and their serfs. The cows that they are herding all over the country and destroying peoples lives for belong to the Fulani elites and not to the herdsmem or cattle-rearers themselves.

The herdsmen are too poor to own the cows and they do not have the resources to purchase the AK 47’s that they carry around and kill people with.

It is their sponsors, the Fulani elites, that provide all that and, together with the government agencies, they also give them protection and free passage. Since

President Buhari came to power, they have been virtually untouchable and so have their cows!

What you said about APC’s incompetence and inability to run government is true though. The APC more than anyone else used religion and ethnicity to win power at the centre They are not only the Boko Haram party, but also the Fulani herdsmen party. Even though there are a few token and Uncle Tom Christians in their midst, they are essentially like the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

They believe in the total and complete domination of all other tribes by the Fulani and they wish to islamise our country.

That is their agenda and for the last 10 months, we have witnessed it all unfold before our very eyes. That, together with the obsessive drive to use the various security agencies to discredit and destroy President

through the ability to identify peace as the best alternative measure.

I was touched by the narrative of the governor on his painstaking efforts to forestall the attack on Nimbo and the assurances given to him by the security agencies that the attack will not happen. After the governor’s statement on the attack on Nimbo community, I did not hesitate to concur with his stance that only the security agencies can answer the question concerning what happened in Nimbo between 6.30am and 7.30 am on the day the attack took place despite assurances from them.

The APC governors through their Forum’s Chairman, Governor Rochas Okorocha condemned the attack and commended Governor Ugwuanyi for the show of maturity in handling the provocative incident, describing it as a criminal act that cannot be associated with tribe, religion or political party.

I was equally glad to note that Governor Ibrahim Shettima of Borno State, who spoke on behalf of the northern governors under APC, told the people of Enugu State that they were in the state to register their profound condolence over the tragic loss. “We have lived with our brothers and sisters in the North-East ravaged by Boko-Haram for years. What kept us going was the empathy from people living outside the North-East.

Times like this call for maturity, calmness, leadership role. We are one nation with a common destiny. The killers should be treated like criminals and should be fished out and dealt with.”

Osun State Governor, Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola from the western part of the country, also condemned the carnage as callous, saying that the people of Enugu State are not alone in this moment of grief as the governors will collaborate with the Federal Government to put an end to the incessant killings by the herdsmen. He equally commended Governor Ugwuanyi for the manner he has handled the matter by not allowing a reprisal attack.

In all, it seems that the sad incident in Nimbo and Gov. Ugwuanyi’s display of maturity in the face of provocation, have renewed the quest for national unity and integration, in line with the dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers.

Let us therefore, work together as a family to end these incessant killings and maiming of innocent and defenceless citizens of the country by the marauding herdsmen to be able to achieve our common goal for a prosperous and united Nigeria.

Goodluck Jonathan’s legacy and to ruthlessly silence and persecute all dissenting voices.

I warned Nigerians during the presidential campaign that this was their agenda, but they wouldnt listen. Now they know better”.

The conversation ended there. My brother Muktari did not respond to my final contribution and we have not spoken since then.

Despite all, I still cherish him and I hope that we shall remain brothers, even after the great divide, if it ever comes.

No matter what happens in the end I will never forget those beautiful and youthful days in Lagos when we were proud of our rainbow nation, when we were all one and when tribe, faith and tongue did not matter. · Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

The Sunday

Farouk into ‘he

Former Director General of the Nati public sectors. Farouk once served he addresses several issues in the p religious stereotypes around people

Farouk

What do you make of the prolonged tussle between the executive and legislature over the 2016 budget?

As we speak, you are aware that the budget is about being signed. It has been passed by the National Assembly but there are certain things that the President believes should be looked at again before he assents to the budget. I think that it is good to note that both the National Assembly and the Presidency have net to reconcile their difference on the budget.

But you see we run a democracy and things like this can happen. It is not as if without the budget government has stopped to exist; the only thing is that the budget will make things move faster and better. It is not usually the way the budget goes that it comes out.

The Presidency is also not bound to take everything the National Assembly sends to him as budget. There has to be a synergy between both arms of government and I am sure that that synergy is gradually building up. By the time it comes to next year’s budget, I am sure that we shall have a better outing. But remember that this is not even the first time we have had delayed budget and since we have come to change, things like this are bound to happen.

Look at the controversies about missing budget, padded budget and multiple versions of a single budget other stories. Couldn’t we have

done without these hiccups?

These were things that occurred because there was no synergy. What do you mean by budget is missing? Budget could not have been missing. It is a document presented to the whole parliament. If you can’t find your copy, another one can be re-produced from the original copy. It was all politics. The controversies were unnecessary. I don’t even understand what you mean by budget padding. How does this zero -based budget work? It is basically how a budget should be. You sit in your agency or office and you decide that in this fiscal year, this is how much you will require for different items. You send your projection to the Ministry of Budget and Planning. If they agree with you, it is passed on to the Presidency who now collates the projections of the differed MDAs and presents it to the parliament as the budget from the executive. The National Assembly will look at it and if they believe there is need for some amendments, improvements or reductions, they make the necessary changes to the document. What is all these talk of padding? I believe it was all politics at play and it was unfortunate.

In the last couple of months, Nigerians have been faced with the twin problem of acute fuel shortage and lack of electricity in their homes. Do you think the government of the

day responded appropriately to the plight of the people?

It is my opinion that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is too much for one person if we expect effective service delivery. You all know that there is a lot of pilferage going on in the system. The minister has explained and I believe him, that the market has been hurt by lack of gas which is as a result of vandalism brought upon the gas pipelines. But I am sure that with the measures they are taking now, things will improve. As we speak, even in my house, stabilsation of the power supply has started taking place. It appears that the power generating plants have started getting the gas that they require. I hope that vandalism would reduce and I hope that we can get enough gas into the system so that we can resolve this problem.

As for the fuel shortage, I have said in other fora that this is not the first time we are having such shortages. During the recent Town Hall Meeting in Lagos, I heard the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources saying that part if the problem was that some petroleum product marketers we’re diverting products meant for local consumption to neighbouring Republic of Benin and that it will require a whole army to stop it. I disagree with this entirely.

First and foremost, he told us that Lagos requires 250 trucks of fuel a day but they al-

located 300 trucks to the state. That means they gave Lagos 50 trucks over and above what they required. I want to know the reason behind such an action and what was done to monitor the distribution to ensure that these products got to their designated filling stations in Lagos. This is not rocket science.

Sometimes, I see officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) going round and sealing some filling stations for alleged hoarding of products. In my opinion, that is not the way to go. Let us look at it very closely.

Abuja, for instance, probably needs 200 trucks per day and out of these maybe 20 trucks is for Oando, 15 for Total and so on and so forth. Those managers, who receive these 20 trucks and 15 trucks as the case may be, are the ones to be monitored because it is they who have the liberty to decide which of their filling stations will have fuel and which should not have fuel.

They can assign two or three trucks to their stations in Abuja metropolis and the other trucks could be diverted to the black market.

So these are the people to be monitored.

In Kaduna State during the Sani Abacha regime when Governor Lawal Jafaru Isa was the Governor and I was his Commissioner, there was a similar fuel scarcity. We met with marketers over 15 times to resolve the issue.

The day you hold meetings, the next day there will be fuel. The day after that, there will be no fuel. It got to a point that one day, when we had a meeting with the marketers, the governor told them that we can’t continue like this; if you don’t have a sustainable solution, I have mine. He called off the meeting after 10 minutes and told all the commissioners and permanent secretaries to wait. When he came back, he unfolded a new strategy to solving the problem. He led us to the NNPC Depot and demanded to see the fuel allocated to Kaduna State.

It took about 10 hours, we were in that place, waiting for them to load the whole trucks meant for Kaduna State. By the time they finished, it was already night and we all left for the Government House in a convoy. The tankers were led by siren and in each tanker there was a commissioner or permanent secretary.

The governor was riding behind the convoy till all the tankers got to the Government House and parked.

The next morning, all the marketers came and the governor were there to supervise the distribution of the fuel tankers. With that he ensured that about 70 per cent of the trucks allocated to each marketer were distributed within Kaduna metropolis because that is where the demand for the products was higher than the rest of the state. Eighty five per cent if the vehicles in the state are in the Kaduna metropolis. The remaining trucks were sent to Kachia, Kafanchan, Saminaka and the other towns.

If you allow the marketers to do it, they will send one or two trucks to their stations in the city and divert the rest to the rural areas or even across the birders where they sell at black market rates for huge profits. So when you have this kind of fuel scarcity, you’ve got to

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY 8 MAY 2016

y Interview

k: Nigeria must look deeper erdsmen terrorism’

ional Orientation Agency (NOA), Alhaji Idi Mohammed Farouk is a versatile administrator with a lot of experience in both private and d as a local government chairman and later, Commissioner for Information in Kaduna State. In this interview with ONWUKA NZESHI, polity including the conflict between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers across Nigeria, warning against the dangers of creating ethnoe of different cultures and its implications on national security look at the distribution chain and you also got to look at your depot managers because for every truck they load and release, money exchanges hands.

The filling station is the wrong place to go for monitoring fuel shortage because the marketers are in business to sell and it is how they buy it that they will sell. If they don’t get it at the recommended cost price, they can’t sell it at the official pump price. So when you find marketers selling above the approved pump price, you need to investigate your depot managers. You don’t just go to close down fuel stations because you never can tell how much the marketer paid to get the products.

So, the Minister if State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu should appreciate the fact that private sector and the public sector are two different scenarios. Although, both are driven by monitoring and supervision, there are still some peculiar characteristics in what is required to run a product distribution chain efficiently. I don’t buy his story that he requires an army to ensure efficient distribution of petroleum products.

How many people have been caught and sent to prison? What about the tankers? Don’t they have drivers and owners? Who is monitoring them? He is supposed to know how many trucks loaded at the depots and their destinations. He is supposed to know how many delivered to the designated points. So I think that he needs to begin his monitoring from within the NNPC or PPMC before calling on other agencies to assist him. He needs to put himself together and supervise appropriately.

What do you make of the announcement that Nigeria will continue to import fuel till 2019 even when we were told recently that the Warri and Kaduna refineries have resumed production?

I think what he was saying was that even if all our refineries were producing at optimal capacity; we will still not be able to get enough products to meet our daily needs. In other words, we will still have to import some quantity of petroleum products to augment what we are able to refine locally.

In recent days, the Fulani herdsmen have been involved in violent clashes with farmers in different parts of Nigeria. The latest was the incident which occurred in Uzo- Uwani Local government area of Enugu State where about 20 persons reportedly lost their lives. .

What do you think the government should do to stop these killings?

Let us get it right; the more we begin to say Fulani herdsmen did this, Fulani herdsmen did that, the more we begin to lose the point. The Fulani herdsmen could have some criminal elements amongst them, but the way it is presented, it’s like every Fulani man is a potential criminal which is not true. If you had listened to the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, you would have heard him say that those who attacked Nimbo - Ukpabi were not Fulani herdsmen. He said they were hoodlums. He did not mention any tribe. He said hoodlums were responsible for the attack.

You see, even when Boko Haram started, there was this burning of a church today, burning of a police station and then burning of a church the next day. They tried to create religious crisis amongst us but as God would have it; they were exposed for whom they were, criminals. They knew that once they burn a church, the story would be that Muslims have burnt the church. If Christians do not launch a reprisal, later on, the same people would go and burn one mosque so that it will look as if some Christians have retaliated. But as God would have it, they were exposed. What they planned for Nigeria was not achieved.

Later on, they began to send girls aged between four and seven in hijab to go and kill thousands of people. There was one story when they were going to attack Maiduguri.

They put cattle in front of them, but for the fact that the security agents were smart, they would have fooled them and gone ahead to launch their attack. The soldiers were able to detect that they were not moving the cattle the way the normal Fulani herdsmen used to do it.

The cattle were all in front and they were behind and when the soldiers opened fire, there were an exchange of gunfire.

Let us be very careful. Boko Haram is very deadly. Terrorists have a thousand and one ways of fighting their fight.

We should not continue the name game but we should look for solutions. I am tired of the story of Fulani herdsmen....Fulani herdsmen.

Is the Fulani herdsman so stupid to go, burn a complete village and leave his cattle there to be roaming? My take here is that enemies of state have a thousand and one ways of fighting their wars. Let us not give these enemies protection because immediately you attribute every attack to the Fulani herdsmen, you have protected the criminal because he wants you to take it far away from him and put it on someone else.

I think that our security agencies should do more in giving us information as quickly as possible. The current trend where an attack occurs and before you know it, MASSOB is issuing a statement, OPC will issue and Arewa will follow suit is not healthy. No. That is what the enemies of our country want and we are paying into their hands. They want to knock our heads against one another. Even the press is not helping matters. Before you jump to criminalise the Fulani herdsman, please investigate. But we are in a hurry to publish our stories. I think that is dangerous and amounts to playing into the hands of those people who want to create problems for us in this country.

Are you saying that Nigeria might be under a fresh attack from Boko Haram or another terrorist group disguised as herdsmen?

I am not saying so. I am not a security person but I am only addressing the issues in the ongoing crisis that has been attributed to the Fulani herdsmen. We should be careful. While the burning of villages or indeed the burning of any house cannot be justified, we should be careful as to whom we attribute these incidents.

The clash between herdsmen and farmers

has become a major security issue. It has happened in Agatu, it has happened in Enugu and no one knows the next destination. People are becoming suspiciously of the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari and his government. Are you satisfied with the way the Federal Government has been handling it?

How can people be suspicious? Suspicious of what? Mr. President is someone who gives you an assignment and expects you to do it right. In reality, government should not rush into issues like this. Am I satisfied with the way he (Buhari) is handling it? The question is: Am I satisfied with the way the security agencies are handling it? I don’t even agree that the President has done nothing about it because that cannot be true. I am sure that at the appropriate time he will address us on this issue. But who says he has not done anything? Have we not heard about the Federal Government talking about creating grazing reserves? All these are being done so that the Fulani herdsmen will have less friction with the farmers.

The Fulanis are nomadic in nature and if you go to any state in Nigeria, you will see them there. When you see him, you will know him because he is always going with his cattle. He probably knows Nigeria more than most of us because he doesn’t use our normal route.

He goes via the forest and bush paths and the

Farouk

terrorists among us can build on that model.

They can imitate this nomadic style of living. If the President is fighting terrorism, he is also by extension fighting all those people who went to Agatu and other places to kill people and destroy property. So it’s untrue that the President is not doing anything about it. I don’t agree with that line of thought at all.

What do you think about the proposed Grazing Reserves Bill now before the House of Representatives?

I haven’t seen a copy of the bill, hence I cannot comment on it. I need to see it in its totality.

What is your ideal solution to this problem of the nomadic Fulani?

We are talking about Fulani nomads; all of us are nomads.

Are we?

Yes! Why are you here in Abuja? Why are you not in your home town? Why are you not in your village? You left there and went to live in Ibadan; you leave Ibadan and went to Lagos after which you came to Abuja. Tomorrow you find yourself in Maiduguri. Are you not a road? Why is Amadi in Kano? Why is Bello in Aba? It’s only the Fulani that we see as nomads but all of us are by nature, nomads. ( Laughing)

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Body&Soul

The Foolish King Part 2

T

he King welcomed him and demanded to see the tools that he brought. Vonik started unpacking them, and the King’s dog came into the room. Seeing a stranger, the dog went up to Vonik and sniffed him.

“There is another problem, your majesty”, Vonik told the King. “This dog just told me that my wife is seriously ill, your majesty. I have to go. Please lend me your best horse, so I can reach there fast”, requested Vonik.

The King relented on the condition that he will return as early as possible. Vonik reached his village and sold the black horse given to him and bought a black donkey instead. He came back sitting on the black donkey.

“What is this? What took you so long and where is my horse?” the King exclaimed.

“The horse turned into a donkey on the way and that’s why it took me so long to reach home and return. Why did you give me such a horse?” he asked the King.

“Sorry, I didn’t know that. He was fine all the years I rode him”, the King sounded almost apologetic.

“Now forget all that, have a seat. And when are you going to try and trick me? “ the King queried.

“Sit down your majesty. Let me ask some questions. Did you ever use any tools for outsmarting people? asked Vonik.

“No”, said the King.

“Then how did you believe that I use some tools to do that. If you focus, you will realise that I already tricked you once,” said Vonik.

The King had no alternative, but to accept.

“Now did your dog ever talk to you? How did you ever believe that it I talked to me? “ asked Vonik.

The King was beginning to see the light.

“Now did the black horse ever turn into a donkey all these years? You believed that as well. If you notice, I tricked you three times already”, Vonik said triumphantly.

Crossword puzzle

Colour by numbers

Moral: Those who think they are the smartest, are usually the biggest fools. People who think they are wise, when they are not are worse than fools.

Celebrations

Roll out the trumpets and drums as Katriel marks 3 years. She is fiesty and loves colour green, Sophia the 1st and eating pizza! Happy birthday princess!

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

my Turning point I’m super happy having found Jesus – Samahar

Interview

Put on garments of patience –Bishop Elimiaga urges Nigerians p.33

p.32

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Tai Anyanwu he General Overseer of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, has called on Nigerians and all people the world over; to seek and create a paradise of peace in their own little corners.

According to the man of God, a little investment in peace from each individual would definitely go a long way to avert more trouble in the land.

Joshua, who made the call during his sermon at the SCOAN last Sunday, noted that people are faced with myriads of challenges, afflictions, temptations and circumstances in our world today.

“We are walking on the pool of blood of innocent people. How can we explain this?” he asked He added: “The only thing we have achieved is crises. All what our fathers achieved we have destroyed; and nothing matters to anyone. When we realize that we are not fit before God, the next thing is to destroy.”

Speaking on the topic ‘Believing First and Seeing’, Joshua urged all believers to ensure that trying times in the land do not shake their faith in God adding that they should rather solidify their relationship with God by believing in Him first without necessarily seeing any proof of His promises.

Joshua frowned at the state of the world today pointing out that so many people build their faith more on the things they see rather than on those things they should believe in their hearts.

His word: “The thing that keeps us from despairing is not what we see but what we believe. This is why we have so many rich men today with wealth, just talk about it but yet, they are despairing. They are not happy, they are worried. With the material wealth, properties and money we can see with them, yet, no joy.”

However, the man of God explained that, in spite of their belief in God, Christians are not free from the troubles of this world pointing out that, the only difference between believers and unbelievers is that while troubles may consume unbelievers the world would only strengthen and prepare as Christians for future glory.

“As a Christian, believer, born again, friend of Jesus, favourite of the Kingdom of God, lover, that you will enter the Kingdom is very sure, that does not mean you are ‘out of touch’… Sickness will test you. Hardship will test you but they cannot destroy you. Affliction of all kinds may test you, they can only test you. Tribulations may test you but they cannot destroy you.”

He enjoined all Christians all over the world to embrace peace: “The only thing that will give you peace of heart is to consider your neighbour while looking for your way out. You neighbour can be someone who does not share

sermon

The power of your venison p.51

FAITH

Let there be peace in our land – T.B Joshua

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Tai Anyanwu Head, religous Desk titus.anyanwu@newtelegraph © Daily Telegraph Publishing

Okogie opposes controversial educationcurriculum

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he Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos archdiocese, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogies has taken a swipe on the controversial Nine-Year Basic Education Curriculum, saying that it is defiant and poses serious danger to the already fragile religious harmony in Nigeria.

Okogie, who was reacting to a recent statement by the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), disagreed with NERDC’s claim that earlier condemnation of the controversial curriculum was speculative, false and unfounded.

Okogie faulted the position of the NERDC in the statement: “Having judged them misinformed and mischievous, the NERDC wrote: “For the avoidance of doubt, the management of the NERDC hereby states categorically and unequivocally to all Nigerians that the Religious Studies and other components of the Religious and National Values Curriculum under Basic Education are distinct.”

Read full statement on page 34

Pope calls for severe punishment for paedophiles

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Joshua

the same faith with you, your enemy, friend. You who are a Christian today can be a criminal tomorrow.

That is why you have to consider others. Your greatest enemy today who wants to kill you, may be your Saviour tomorrow,” Joshua counselled.

The man of God also took a swipe on the universal propensity of human beings, who he said, repose their faith in man and other things that were created by God. He urged the world to seek God’s face by believing in Him and putting all their trust in Him, stating that faith relates to the invisible.

He said: “The challenge we have today is that if we have faith in anything today it is in man. That is man’s experience. Our faith is always based on the experience of man – what man has done – science, works, organisation and the Bible says we must never make the tragic mistake of believing in an experience.”

He, however, encouraged humanity

to stop the departure from God’s will through making wrong choices but adhere to Gods words and promises in order to salvage their already fragmented relationship with Him. “There is no logical explanation for every act of God. All we need is the knowledge of the word of truth concerning the act. The Spirit makes us to know that believing is possessing.

The instant you believe, you have.

“God rewards those who serve Him when things seem hopeless. That proves our sonship. The Bible says, in this world there will be tribulation but in the midst of that tribulation, I will save you,” Joshua assured.

A little investment in peace from each individual would definitely go a long way to avert more trouble in the land

addened by new story surrounding the death of a six-year-old girl in Naples, Pope Francis called for a “severe punishment” for paedophiles saying the case was tragic and should not be tolerated.

“We must protect minors and severely punish abusers,” he said, departing from his draft weekly Sunday message and blessing to tens of thousands faithful that have gathered at St, Peter’s Square.

The case of Fortuna Loffredo in June 2014 disturbed most of Italy’s third largest city.

It became more shocking when homicide police re-opening the case found new evidence that the girl was allegedly raped in a housing block in the city’s rough area, and to try to hide the crime the culprit threw her out the building.

“We should not tolerate the abuse of minors,” the pontiff said referring to the Fortuna’s rape-slay case that has dominated the front pages of newspapers for days.

Vatican itself has its own score of scandals committed by priests, but the pontiff did not indicate them in his message.

Police arrested and charged 43-year-old Raimondo Caputo suspect, and hinted that Fortuna was not only his victim. One of his children also complained to the police to the police that their father sexually abused them. Police said Caputo threw the girl off the building to hide his crime, an accusation Caputo denied in his detention cell in Rome.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella is pleased with the way the investigation of the case is going and called for an “ample, rapid and severe” judicial process of the case. With regards to the sexual abuses in the Church, Pope Francis had earlier vowed “zero tolerance”, and created a commission to help him on how to root it out.

Last March, Cardinal George Pell, came under fire for his handling of the cases of abused children decades ago in Australia.

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faith

Asian Christians now read Bible in their mother tongue

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or the first time in 128 years, Christians in Southeast Asia are able to read the New Testament in their own language thanks to the tireless work of Wycliffe Associates (WA).

According to a report shared on the Wycliffe Associates, an organzation that accelerates Bible translation around the world by empowering national translators and equipping the local church, nearly two centuries ago, missionaries came to Southeast Asia with the gospel. At the time, there was no translation of the Scriptures available, so they had to study God’s Word in a foreign language.

“Miraculously, they held onto their faith through hardship and persecution.

God’s church in this remote region survived,” reads the report.

However, through the Wycliffe Associates’ Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation program, a pioneering method that enables mother-tongue translators to translate the Bible in an unprecedented time, the New Testament has now been translated, and translators

plan to complete the Old Testament by the end of 2016. The Southeast Asia language group was one of 14 people groups in the world, representing 17 million people, who have never read the Bible in their own language.

“They’ve endured persecution. They’ve struggled to teach the Scriptures to their young people in other languages. They’ve been told for generations they have to keep waiting until Westerners can translate the Bible for them,” said Bruce Smith, president and CEO of Wycliffe Associates.

Translators worked tirelessly to translate the Bible, drafting verses simultaneously before using a fivestep process to check them for accuracy, Wycliffe notes.

“In my 30 years of work in international missions, I’ve often heard there will be a day when the church takes its place, when the old-fashioned missionary model is no longer the only way. This is that day,” Smith said.

“Christian churches, planted by missionaries in the 1800s, have survived - and they will drive the translation of God’s Word into their own languages.

Plot to attack Vatican, Israeli Embassy in Rome thwarted

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talian police thwarted the alleged plot to “attack” the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome with the arrest of four people, all Moroccan nationals, for conspiring to join the Islamic State Thursday last week.

Gospel Herald reported that they were six of them - three men and three women one of whom is Italian, who had slipped the country with the other member to Iraq and Syria, and are still on the loose.

Milan Prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli said the transcript of a wiretaped phone conversation between three of the suspects indicated their link with Islamic State because they were discussing possible attacks on the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome.

The arrest warrant for the suspects was issued by the transcript, and Romanelli said: “We are not talking about a generic indication (of attack) but a specific person being appointed to act on Italian soil.”

After the terrorist attack in France and Belgium,

Italy and the other neighbouring countries have tightened security resulting to the arrest of people suspected having an inclination with IS ideology or were planning assaults.

Last month police arrested and detained a 22-year-old Somali asylum seeker who worked as an imam on suspicion of planning an attack in Rome.

One line of the transcript read as “I swear I will be the first to attack them in this Italy of crusaders, I swear I’ll attack it, in the Vatican God willing.”

In the same conversation, one of the three suspects said he wanted to hit the Israel embassy in Rome and that he has an Albanian contact to provide him weapons.

“Rome attracts attention because it is a destination for Christian pilgrims,” the prosecutor added.

A lawyer appointed to represent two of the suspects chose to refrain from commenting on the charge until he gets hold of the court documents.

My TURNING P

INT

I’m super happy having found Jesus – Samahar

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retty-faced Samahar Daniel, an Ethiopian-born French national, was an atheist until two Sunday’s ago when the Holy Spirit singled her out for deliverance.

Before that fateful day, Samahar used to follow her parents to church but never believed a single thing about the word of God. One day, she met an unknown guy through the internet and decided to marry him.

“Actually I was married through internet when I was 15 years old,” Samahar said.

But unknown to her, that was the beginning of her descent into deterioration, addiction, insatiable hunger for sex and unprecedented unhappiness.

“After that internet relationship ended, when I even used to date people or go out with some guys, I was not satisfied. I mean the only thing that could satisfy me is have a relationship with an unknown person that I have never seen in my entire life,” she explained.

That problem led Samahar to dabble into smoking: “I used to go out; I used to drink and smoke day by day. Everyone who stayed around me will ask me when are you gonna stop smoking.

When are gonna stop drinking. I used to take excesses and continued smoking cigarette, weed every single day. And every year it got worse, worse and worse.

“I will fight with my parents; I was very aggressive and uncontrollable. My breakfast was my cigarette and coffee.

That was the only thing that could calm my soul, but if I wouldn’t get that, if I wouldn’t smoke, I will be very mad and so aggressive, very impolite actually.”

At that point, Samahar said that her mother, who used to be antagonistic to was T B Joshua, had to push her to the Synagogue Church of All Nations, to seek for God’s intervention.

“I came here last week Thursday; I was staying in a hotel. As I told you, I was 15 years old when I got married through the internet. And that was something I never ever shared in my life. I even

Samahar

life depends on everything forgot that that happened that I will take.” in my life.

Samahar also recalled “So, I came here on Sunthat even while she was day, I was sitting behind sitting in the church that over there; and the man fateful Sunday, “Everyof God came to me and thing bored me. I wanted prophesied that straight to to go out and smoke, beme. I was really shocked, fore I came to church I had surprised and very thanksmoked four cigarettes. ful that God has done And I was fighting with this to me because I was the ushers I wanted out I very hopeless,” Samahar want to smoke, I don’t feel narrated.

She actually came to Syn- good please.”

But that was the prelude agogue with lots of doubts due to experiences she had to the turning point of her frustrated life. with some churches that “So, when the man of she had been to in search God came and prophesied of deliverance. to me, I was like thank Her words: “I was very God, actually there is a hopeless for the fact that I true man of God in this had an experience before world. Every man is not when I used to go to other truly people. I was very churches. Then I used happy; it was like a dream to tell the junior Pastors, who are the first to see me, coming true.

“Immediately after that, I my problems. And when don’t smoke anymore.”

I finally meet the Senior What made Samahar Pastor, he would prophesy finally believe that God everything that I told the really exists? She said: junior Pastor.

“The prophecy I received “So, I was like no, God doesn’t exist and what is the proof that God is alive or He does I am things? So, when I came here, I super happy. I was like Ok; had never found this so now we are going to happiness in my entirely see. I was life before. So yes, God has not a believer; but I was protected me and my pleading like please Jesus if spiritual life system you are alive, has changed just help me. I am struggling and I am tired of it because my

here is true because this is something I have never ever shared in my entire life. This is something that leads me to everything, this was the root of my problems, this was the reason I became who I was in the past. I never discussed it with anyone, this is something I even forgot, and when the man said it I was like ah yes it is true. And I went to my seat, I was thinking about it. That night I was also thinking about it. You know, I had this flash back; I remembered everything and things were coming on and coming on. God was showing me, you see when I did it; everything was very clear after that it was so visible in my life.”

Now Samahar is very happy.

“I am super happy. I had never found this happiness in my entirely life before. So yes, God has protected me and my spiritual life system has changed because me, I would never stay five minutes in the church where my mum takes me, bring pastors home to come and pray I would go out just smoke. I give to everyone, for the first time in my life I attended a whole long service from the morning to the night and I pray, I read the Bible. Yeah I thank God,” Samahar said.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

faith

Put on garments of patience – Bishop Elimiaga urges Nigerians Prior to the 2015 elections, many Pastors prophesied that Goodluck Jonathan would be re-elected. Should we now say they did not hear clearly from God? There was nothing wrong. They have another god which is money. They were not speaking the true God’s way but they were speaking the god of money, the god of connection and the god of wrong negative relationship, because God cannot be.

It’s not that Goodluck Jonathan was a bad person but God needed a change and God need an instrument to effect that change and the only instrument God needs now is Buhari. If you see the handwriting on the wall, things are collapsing; he is not talking because he is not confused. He is not talking because he is not shaking. He knows where he is going; he knows all this things must happen, he knows that Nigeria is at the border in his wilderness. It took the children of Israel only 37days to get to the Promised Land, now they stayed another 37 years at the border and when it was time to cross, they needed only three days to cross over the Jordan and get to the Promised Land. So, Nigeria has been in his wilderness, now we are at the border and at the border we are fighting many nations, that is why they could go up the mountain and see the Promised Land. That is why they can go up and see the giant there yet they were not content with the giant. But when the time came, when Joshua came he didn’t see any giant. A journey that took them almost 39 years and 362 days took them only three days to get there.

So, what we are seeing is normal. I told my members that the first four months of this year will be hell, people will hit their Jordan but from the fifth month of this year, we will see the head of the demon. So, there was nothing wrong. Goodluck Jonathan was a child of prophecy.

From the minority God brought him to stabilize to teach people, that a minority can take that seat. After that, he brought in somebody from the majority to continue the race by his grace.

Do you support that clerics should go into politics?

God is the first politician. Politics started from God because politics is the people coming together. Democracy is government of the people collecting ideas. God has never created anything by himself all alone, he will say, “let us” that is the beginning of democracy “let us”. When the righteous are in place, they will be exalted.

When the righteous men are in positions things will work well.

There are three sets of clerics. The self imposed cleric! The man imposed cleric: and the God imposed clerics. John the Baptist was working for God people came looking for God through baptism; but when Jesus saw him he said “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased”. The Same work John the Baptist came for was what Jesus also came for, bringing the people back. Is the same work Jacob came and everything came for. Joseph came leading the people to the Promised Land. But when Moses came, God told the people of all the prophets, this is the one that has seen me face to face.

God’s accredited clerical cannot function in Nigerian politics because we are not matured, but the best thing is that true clerics should be in position. If you check the history of the children of Israel, even the kings takes instruction from the prophet.

A nation where the clerics, the true prophet had no voice the nation suffers because they work in darkness. The children of Israel tried it they had to go to war twice

The president, Holy Family Prayer Ministry Lagos, Bishop Wilson Elimiaga talks about politics and the present administration in this interview. Excerpts: and they were defeated until they came to the prophet and were instructed on what to do to please God. So clerics can go into politics Can you advice Nigerians?

They should buy a garment of patience.

In our lives, we have always been in a rush when we are not Russians. For the first time let us learn how to take things slowly.

It is only in Nigeria that we don’t have a speed limit; in other countries there is a speed limit to determine how fast they can go. So, let us not be on the fast lane all the time, let us slow down a bit, because in the fast lane we forget many things, we run over so many things, we are looking to where we want to get to we don’t care what happens around the road. But this man is slowing us down. Before it gets to your turn you slow down so the money can get to you and by the time it gets to your turn you will know what to do with the money.

What is your advice to the President?

He should focus on his dream. Any man that has a dream must be bold that means he is the Joseph of our time. If you sell him drop him in the pit, Joseph has no voice. If you stone him, he will be looking at you, if you send him to prison and even take him out of the prison, he will just be looking at you. Buhari should hold on to his dream, he will get there, he will succeed. He is going to plant for other people to harvest.

Elimiaga

Jesus shouldn’t make people so uncomfortable, says actress M elissa Joan Hart, star of the hugely successful faith-based film “God’s Not Dead 2,” has expressed heartbreak over the reality that that many in today’s society feel “uncomfortable” when they hear the name Jesus reported Gospel Herald.

“In the past few years, I’ve been taking my religion seriously, taking Bible study and praying,” the 40-year-old actress told Metro in a recent interview. “I find that if you say ‘Jesus,’ it makes people feel uncomfortable instead of feeling love and peace.

It’s very unfortunate.

She added, “The idea with the movie is that Jesus shouldn’t be an uncomfortable name to say... Whether or not you believe he is the Messiah, Jesus started a huge movement that changed our world. Why is it not OK to talk about that?”

In “God’s Not Dead 2”, which hit theaters in April, Hart plays Grace Wesley, a high school teacher who finds herself in legal trouble for answering a student’s question about the similarities between Jesus’ teachings to those of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

As the religious freedom battle between Hart and the school escalates, the help of the ACLU is enlisted, whose representative decides to “prove that once and for all, God is dead.”

In its opening weekend, the film earned an estimated $8 million, going toe-to-toe

with major Hollywood movies and taking the fourth spot at the box office, according to boxofficemojo.com.

Despite receiving high praise from faithbased groups, “God’s Not Dead 2” received its fair share of mockery from the secular media, with some critics accusing filmmakers of pandering to a “heavy persecution complex” and “stoking a sense of paranoia.”

In an earlier interview with ABC’s Paula Faris, Hart, who formerly starred in “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” admitted that the role was incredibly “challenging,” as she has received a great deal of “grief” from Hollywood for playing a Christian woman who stands up for her faith.

“For the longest time, while I played a witch on television [on ‘Sabrina, The Teenage Witch’], the Christian community attacked me for popularizing the magic aspects on that secular TV show,” Hart said during a March interview with the Chicago Sun Times. “Now it’s the opposite. I’m getting grief for playing the good Christian woman who is being persecuted by the outside world!”

“There shouldn’t be any one religion represented in anything. But at the same time, we need to be tolerant of all religions,” Hart answered.

Paul Kwo, who starred alongside Hart in the film, echoed her sentiment regarding Christians in Hollywood during a recent

interview with The Gospel Herald.

“We live in a diverse era, so we have to be very careful about the things that we say,” he said. “But at the same time, we want to be aware that just because we’re in this kind of a world, that doesn’t mean we should throw away our own beliefs and not stand up for what we really believe in.

This film really touches on that the idea that we can find a good balance in this diverse world to share what we believe, but do so in a very loving and supportive way. This film gets that message across and inspires others to share their faith with the world.

It’s very important for us in this day and age to do so.”

Melissa

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

faith

Education curriculum: Who Mom saves toddler, looses life then are the mischiefs?

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n a statement bearing the title “NERDC and the 9 Year Basic Education Curriculum”, published in the Guardian Newspaper edition of Tuesday, April 26, 2016, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) responded to what it described as “certain insinuations and misinformation” regarding the Religion and National Values Curriculum.

According to the NERDC, reactions to this Curriculum have been “speculative, false and unfounded”.

Having judged them misinformed nand mischievous, the NERDC wrote: “For the avoidance of doubt, the management of the NERDC hereby states categorically and unequivocally to all Nigerians that the Religious Studies and other components of the Religious and National Values Curriculum under Basic Education are distinct.”

The Council’s response completely fails to address serious and glaring deficiencies in the curriculum, and the danger it poses for interreligious harmony in an already fragile Nigeria.

In fact, a careful examination of the contents of the book, Religion and National Value for Junior Secondary Schools 1, published by Heritage Integrated Link simply contradicts the Council’s categorical denial. In one and the same book, to be used by young and fragile minds, can be found “Christian Religion Knowledge” (pages 1-49); immediately followed by “Islamic Studies” (pages 50-81).

This curriculum raises at least two sets of issues. One borders on contents, the other on quality. First, on the issue of contents, although the NERDC told the public that the curriculum was developed with the involvement of “curriculum experts” and “subject specialists”, among others, there are good reasons to question the pedagogical principle that informs including materials to be taught in the two subjects in one and the same book to be placed in the hands of our young pupils. What is a Christian pupil in possession of the book to make of the content of Islamic Studies in one and the same book?

And what is a Muslim pupil in possession of the same book to make of the contents of Christian Religious Knowledge in the book. Well founded fears of confusing the minds of our children are simply glossed over by the NERDC’s statement when it said the subject listings “should be taught and studied separately”, and that pupils would not

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be “coerced or compelled to learn or be taught” any religion other than that professed by the child and his or her parents.

The Council’s argument that the curriculum was put together with the input of “critical stakeholders including policy makers, curriculum experts, subject specialists, teachers, parents, faith based organisations and civil liberty organisations” does not stand. If indeed, these “critical stakeholders” were involved, why is it that reactions to this curriculum have been overwhelmingly negative?

Instead of seeing mischief in these reactions, the Council should ask itself if it is carrying along the real stakeholders. There are well-meaning Nigerians— Christians, Muslims and African religionists—whose voices are raised against this curriculum. To simply label them as “peddlers” who “operate from the oblivious side of information” amounts to utter disrespect on the part of a government official even if he is signatory to a document emanating from a government organ referred to as “the Think Tank of Nigerian Education”. Politeness is an attribute of an efficient public servant.

The problem with this curriculum is not just with the table of contents. There is also a problem of quality.

The section on Christian Religious Knowledge simply misuses the Bible and ridiculously misrepresents the Christian religion. For example, on page 39 of the book being referred to, one of the roles of the father in the family is to “love his wife or wives as Christ loved the Church”. This is

a misrepresentation of what is really said and meant in the Letter to the Ephesians chapter 5, verses 21-33. It would take a reading out of context to interpret the passage as suggesting that Christian marriage can be polygamous.

Apart from polygamy, polyandry, endogamy, exogamy are listed among types of marriage (pages 8-9) in teaching Christian religious knowledge. Treating consequences of lack of repentance (pages 24-25), the author of the section on Christian religious studies listed divine rejection from God, untimely death, and oppression from enemy. In other words, untimely death and or oppression from enemy are symptoms of lack of repentance.

Many young Nigerian soldiers have died at war, defending their fatherland.

Was their death a consequence of their lack of repentance? What of many who have died in bomb blasts?

What of those oppressed

by Boko Haram? What has just been listed here is not exhaustive but illustrative of the caricature of Christianity in this curriculum. Who then are the mischiefs, those who express grave concerns about this curriculum or its authors?

The theme of repentance in Christian religion is surely richer than what is being presented in this curriculum. It was in fact the first thing Jesus Christ preached in the first Gospel to be written – the Gospel according to Mark. But it got such superficial treatment in the curriculum because the curriculum largely ignores what Christ teaches. Of the 58 references to Biblical passages, only 17 are taken

from the New Testament.

Of these 17, only 2are direct references to the teachings of Christ. In other words, this curriculum very rarely refers to the teachings of Christ. Can such a curriculum be said to represent the Christian religion? The answer to the question would have been in the affirmative if it were possible to teach Christianity without the teachings of Christ.

The curriculum is totally silent on the death and resurrection of Christ, a belief that is at the heart of the Christian religion. As a result of this deafening silence on the death and resurrection of Christ, in its treatment of the call to obedience (pages 26-29), the curriculum makes no reference to the obedience of Christ who, for the Christian, is the perfect example of obedience.

A good teacher not only knows what to teach, but also to whom it is to be taught, when it is to be taught, and how it is to be taught.

These are imperatives of pedagogical prudence.

But on each of these scores, the much advertised basic curriculum fails. Its misrepresentation of Christian religion means it is not teaching the right thing. It is not teaching Christianity.

Its inclusion of Christian religious studies and Islamic religious studies in one and the same book meant for primary and secondary school pupils, and within each other’s proximity, flies in the face of pedagogical prudence. This abuse of Sacred Scripture is simply intolerable.

•Anthony Cardinal Okogie, is Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos

t’s not the kind of sad news you ever want to hear, but especially not just before Mother’s Day; a young mom falling to her death.

However, the reason she fell is heroic... She was trying to save her 3-year-old son.

Stephanie A. Cohen, 37, was hiking with her four children and husband on the narrow trail at Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge on Sunday afternoon.

Little Oliver had been riding on the shoulders of another family member, according to a KGW report, but when he was put down, the toddler ventured too near the edge of the cliff.

“Oliver was getting close to the edge and his foot wiggled on a rock and he started to go down,” Stephanie’s mother, Lisa Schroeder, explained. “She just did what she instinctively thought to do and

that was go after him.”

The two fell 50 to 60 feet at first, and then another 20 to 30 feet down a slope, said the Oregon Live report.

According to KPTV, Family members said that Stephanie was still conscious and asking for her son when help arrived.

They say she died shortly after finding out he survived.

Oliver was taken to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland with a possible neck injury, bumps and bruises, but is expected to recover.

Schroeder, owner of Mother’s Bistro in Portland noted of her daughter, “Her motherly instincts prevailed; she gave her life to save his.”

She added: “She was full of life and full of love. She was a shining star. Even though she leaves four children motherless, we all plan to step up as a village and help raise those kids.”

Miracles trail Iginla’s Zambian crusade

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he General Overseer of Champions Royal Assembly, Bro. Joshua Iginla’s three-days preaching visit to Lusaka the capital city of Zambia last week, was trailed by diverse miracles.

The crusade which has the theme ‘Extravagant Glory’ started on Thursday and ended on Saturday, 7th May, 2016.

It was an awesome miracle night in Lusaka Zambia The crippled; blind, deaf and possessed who thronged the Heroes Stadium to participate in the prophetic nights, received instant healings and deliverance.

The stadium was filled to the brim and the overflow facility outside the stadium witnessed an unusual turn out. Some of the participants said the gathering broke national record in the history of crusades in Zambia.

During ministration many

Iginla

people revived prophetic solutions to their problems.

The turning point was when the prophet ordered all the crippled, sick, deaf among others to receive their healing.

A man, who has been crippled for 20-years, was among the first to walk.

Others worshippers at the crusade were thrown into unprecedented uproar of shout of jubilations.

Those who were possessed or afflicted manifested openly and were all delivered.

The crusade, which was witnessed by the political powers in Zambia, has been adjudged a record-breaking crusade in Zambia.

It would be recalled that Prophet Iginla was the single voice who predicted the emergence of the incumbent president of Zambia prior to their election two years ago.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

Body&Soul with

Wole Adepoju 07037763410

Femi, Funmi Falana in joyous mood

Munirat Marwa steps out

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lawe, Ekiti State born former governorship hopeful, Femi Falana, may have become so engrossed and eaten up by the law profession and activism that what readily comes to the mind of anyone when his name is mentioned is nothing else but law and activism. And true to this perception about him, Falana has not only done very well for himself through his profession, he has made the profession attractive just as he’s today enjoying followership of many whose hearts he has converted, based on his selfless service and commitment to justice and humanity.

True to the mind of many that Falana is not given to any other thing but his passion, Law, even as he has gotten an ‘accomplice’ in his wife, Funmi, who is also a lawyer and activist. Of course, there are times they have reason to throw bashes but modesty has always been their watchword.

This unique couple, Femi and Funmi Falana, and their entire household have since been basking in the euphoria of a worthy reason to celebrate in the home. It was the birthday anniversary of the matriarch of Falana dynasty, Funmi, as well as the twenty-eight years anniversary of the marriage of the two love birds few days ago.

Wole Oladiyun on the move

Bolatito Ladoja Idakula off the scene

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aving served under the tutelage of leading men of God, Pastor Wole Oladiyun has since moved on to found his own worship centre according to the dictate of his calling. Today, Christ Living Spring Ministry, CLAM, has grown in leaps and bounds in the last seventeen years of its establishment.

Aside of the fact that his Omole, Ikeja area located church has become a Mecca of sort for those who crave the word of God as well as deliverance among others, the man of God has also distinguished himself by ceaselessly contributing to the social needs of the society for which he built a hospital for the use of the people.

The thrust really is that the man of God may have decided to spread his tentacles as he looks to establishing the church’s presence on the Island part of Lagos, having conquered on the Mainland. Although, the ministry does not have a structure for worship yet on the Island, Oladiyun, as you are reading this, would have held his first service at Lekki, which will signify berth of CLAM on Lagos Island.

or Bolatito, daughter of shipping magnate who doubles as the former number one indigene of Pacesetter state, Oyo, Chief Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja, the usual saying that life is not a bed of roses may aptly come handy as far as her story is concerned.

Coming from the background she was privileged to have come from, light skinned Bolatito had the best of everything growing up, as everything to leverage on to be better in life were readily at her disposal.

And to crown it all, she had the best legacy anyone could bequeath to his offspring, education even at the best places as she’s a graduate of a University in the United Kingdom.

While all that was enough reason for her peers to be envious, settling down into matrimony too appeared as easy as it could be when she got married to musician, Bez Idakula, about two years ago in a glamorous wedding. The opposite of everything she had enjoyed would come early last year when after being pregnant for nine months, she lost the baby girl to the cold hands of death, barely 24 hours after delivery.

Needless to say, it must have been a difficult situation for the young couple to deal with. But the enterprising lovers have been able to cope well. While Bez has continued making exploits in his music career, the wife, Bolatito has since moved on to clinging to her passion which is broadcasting. Bolatito has been one of the unique presenters making things happen on the newly established women oriented radio station, WFM. Meanwhile, the beautiful lady may have taken time off air, all in a bid to take necessary precautions to guard against what may have likely been a factor to the sad experience she had. Informed sources revealed the lady has been off air because she needs to rest since she’s said to be pregnant and growing heavy.

Taiwo Afolabi pulls a big one

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fore mentioned name may not readily ring a bell because the bearer is one who enjoys the comfort of his shell. But the fact that cannot be denied is that the name needs no second mention in the business world, especially as it concerns maritime industry because he has proven to be a factor in that sector over the years.

Taiwo Afolabi, after struggling early in his days, was able to find himself in what is called clearing and forwarding business, where he cut his teeth before he eventually travelled to take relevant courses in the same field. From a small scale investment, Sifax Group, has moved to become a factor as it currently operates port terminal, off dock facility and a shipping firm to mention a few.

woleadepoju@yahoo.com

Taiwo Afolabi, who is often referred to as Sifax, is an easy going man who keeps away from unnecessary noise and does not blow his trumpet even though he’s well connected and influential. The illustrious dude, however, for once exhibit what he’s capable of doing recently when he marked his 54th birthday. He did not roll out drums to show how much he could afford; rather, he chose to celebrate in-house but in a classy way. Of course, there were many important personalities at the birthday party that was held in his Ikoyi home. But the highpoint of the event was the showing up of topmost South West revered and respected monarch, His Imperial majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ooni of Ile Ife. This feat, no doubt, added spice to the day and has earned Sifax more respect.

he name of former military administrator of the Centre of Excellence, Lagos, Brigadier Buba Marwa, may have sunk into the history book of the state, at least as a former administrator of the state but beyond that, his name has become indelible in the minds of Lagosians based on what was described as his excellent performance while his days lasted in the state.

Meanwhile, apart from his primary assignment that made him a popular leader, another factor that added to his popularity, although some call it a side attraction, was the fact that he paraded a wife whose beauty was not only outstanding among her counterparts, but was indeed a head turning one. The wife, Munirat, was also well loved because of her kind heart and cool mien.

This former first couple of Lagos State has since moved on, but with the husband being more in circulation based on his political activities and aspiration while the wife has since remained in the background. It was a surprising sight recently in Lagos when the beautiful woman, Munirat, was spotted in a social gathering where she had come to identify and celebrate with one of their own who was marking her milestone birthday.

Needless to say she was cynosure of all eyes because it’s not a usual thing to find her at a social gathering.

Munirat is gracefully showing signs of aging, but she was still in her element as she looked beautiful, radiantly blessed in her usual quiet nature.

Gani Adams celebrates

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hose who are conversant with happenings with the national coordinator of Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, Otunba Gani Adams, will have no issue to pin point one thing that has become part and parcel of the dude and that is the celebration of his birthday in a big form on a yearly basis, at least since he broke into limelight. Of course, it has reared its head as a subject of controversy around Adams but he has continually held it with a pinch of salt reiterating it’s just his way of giving thanks to his creator.

As it has become his tradition, the dude who just added another year to be forty-six few days back, threw a bash to herald the celebration that also served as a way of giving back to the society, going by how he reached out to the less privileged. A lot of people benefited from his gesture.

Crowing it all, all roads led to an event centre around Ikeja, where family, friends and associates had come to celebrate with him even as popular Fuji singer, Pasuma, and gospel singer, Atorise, were on hand to add spice to the day. Also, numerous important personalities as well as artistes were in attendance to share in the joy of the day. The Akoko born carpenter turn celebrity, Gani, it will be recalled, hit the limelight many years ago upon his decision to liberate Yoruba race through his activities as a founding member of the Yoruba ethnic group, OPC.

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Body&Soul

Wine & Dine

SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Savour powerful Blueberries Ibukunoluwa Kayode

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lueberries are sweet, nutritious and wildly popular. They are not just low in calories and incredibly good for you, but often labelled a ‘super food’.

It’s tasty and convenient that many people consider them to be their favourite fruit juice due to its attachments of so many health benefits.

The blueberry is a flowering shrub that produces berries that are coloured blue to purple, also known as blueberries.

They are small, around 5-16 millimeters (0.2-0.6 inches) in diameter, and have a flared crown at the end. At first, they are green in colour then change to blue-purple as they ripen.

The two most common types are; High bush blueberries are the most commonly grown species in the US Low bush blueberries are often referred to as ‘wild’ blueberries. They are typically smaller and richer in some antioxidants.

The Blueberries are among the most nutrient dense berries which can either be eaten or

Biwom Iklaki

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ating healthy is no mean feat and it could be pretty expensive sometimes. What you have to do however, is to make it a lifestyle choice and when you commit to this plan, search out the easiest and most organic food stuff, fruit and vegetables. You must be on top of your game when you eat, what you eat and how you eat. Get healthy snacks to eat between meals so that you are not starving when it is time for your next meal, that way, you are less likely to eat too much. Here is a simple, healthy and filling snack you can DIY very easily. You could even make a large batch and save the rest to eat later.

Ingredients 1 cup pitted moist and sticky dates 5 tbs honey 1 ½ cups oats 1 cup mixed nuts (I used almonds, peanuts, roasted) 5 tbs salted peanut or almond butter A handful of dark chocolate chips Preparation Blitz the dates in a food processor until it forms a ball. Toast the oats until golden. Place oats, chocolate chips, almonds and dates dough in a bowl and set aside. Warm the honey and peanut butter in a saucepan and pour over the oats mixture and start mixing. When all is incorporated properly, pour onto an oven tray lined with parchment paper. Press down to achieve a dense bar. Place in the refrigerator or freezer for about 15 – 20 minutes or until set and cut into bars or squares. Eat a bar as a snack for a burst of energy.

made into juice preferably.

The following are the unbeatable health benefits of blueberries juice: Low in Calories, high in Nutrients One cup serving (148 grams) of blueberries contains: Fibre: 4 grams, Vitamin C: 24% of the RDA. Vitamin K: 36% of the RDA. Manganese: 25% of the RDA. Also holds small amounts of various other nutrients.

It contains about 85% water, and an entire cup contains only 84 calories, with 15 grams of carbohydrates making them an excellent source of several important nutrients.

King of Antioxidant Antioxidants are important to protect our bodies from damage by free radicals, unstable molecules that can damage cellular structures and contribute to aging and diseases like cancer. Blueberries are believed to contain the highest antioxidant capacity of commonly consumed fruits and vegetables belong to a large family of polyphenols, called flavonoids.

​Homemade healthy granola bars

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

KITCHEN DECOR

Versatile range cookers Biwom Iklaki

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arge families have a greater advantage from using range cookers which as the name connotes, gives a full range of options. For most people, the range cooker is the focus of the kitchen; some could go as far as choosing the cooker first and then building the kitchen around it.

These range cookers are such a darling but would be more appreciated by cooking enthusiasts because they offer more gas

burners and induction zones than most other cookers and built-ins.

They are multifunction with at least two ovens allowing you to prepare more than one dish at the same time using different oven functions. Of the two ovens, one is small and the other large allowing you to choose which oven to use depending on the size or quantity of your cooking. You are better off using the smaller one if you have a small quantity to cook because you also save en-

He Cheated on Me While I Was Pregnant For some time now I’m confused about my feelings and I think by writing the story it would be easier for me to find an answer.

After marring the man with whom I thought I would spend the rest of my life with, we started trying for a baby. After 4 years and several IVF attempts, I finally got pregnant. It was a hard pregnancy.

The whole time I felt that my husband was cheating. We had many conversations, and of course he denied it. It got to a point where I started to think that I was hormonal, crazy or just imagining stuff because of the pregnancy. I decide to find out if I was right and was not surprised he was cheating on me the whole time. There I was pregnant and the man decided he was in love with some girl, who smugly decided to come to my home with a bunch of her friends.

After that I was scared for the baby and myself. After he said he was “sorry” and that he “loved me” I decided to stay with him until I give birth and then make a decision.

Currently my child is alive and well, a really happy baby, very loved by everyone, including his father. But this relationship does not work for me, I cannot swallow the insult.

He lost my trust and in some ways my love. I think I will be better off without him.

Please tell me what you think.

Bolatitio, Akure

ergy or gas.

These range cookers can be fun too as they come in a variety of styles and could be colour coordinated to suit your kitchen décor. Whether your kitchen is traditional or contemporary, there is a style to fit your tastes and needs. You could protect your home from the heat production by also purchasing a cooker hood for your range cooker as you will often be cooking on a large scale.

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HEARTTHROB

Send SMS only to 07057201814 or vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com

I want to snatch my friend’s boyfriend I am a student in 400 levels. And I only think about my school because I just want to make my parents proud of me. I never thought that I’ll fall in love with somebody at this point in my life. But of course I did but with my friend’s boyfriend! I love him so much. But, apparently my girlfriend also loves him but she does not treat him well because I know she has a sugar daddy. He seems to like me too because he gives me special attention anytime my friend is not around. I don’t know if I have what it takes to snatch him from my friend because she is very pretty. I am not the type of girl that runs after men but I don’t want to lose this great love that I’ve found. Will it be wrong to snatch my friend’s boyfriend?

Nkemdilim, Asaba Coping with a jealous wife My name is James and my wife’s name is Angela. We have been together now for 5 years. The problem is that my wife is suspicious of me on everything; she checks

my mobile call log, messages and even my wallet. She keeps calling me all day checking where I am, what I am doing, who I am with.

She checks my mobile for unknown numbers and calls them back from her mobile to see if it is a male or a female. If it is a female, she creates such a ruckus that I feel like I am becoming a murderer with all the negative things she will say. Well, being a manager I have a lot of responsibilities and get calls all day long. I really don’t know what to do; I love her but her behaviour has made to think again. I have sacrificed my life so much for her and still sacrifice a lot but she pushes me to the limit.

It is no use talking to her, I have tried so many times to try to talk to her and have her understand that her behaviour is not right. By God’s grace I have everything now and financially well settled. I am just thinking if she is really worth all my sacrifices or if I should move on without her, after all there is no child yet between us.

James, Lagos

My name is Honey, I live in Enugu. I need a girlfriend for a relationship-07087699800 I am Amaka, 24 years old. I am very pretty, beautiful and caring. I need a caring nice working class man for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage between 30-50 years old.-08133040832 My name is Prince. I need a wife08074600653 I am Opeyemi. I live in Lagos and I need a girlfriend between 20-30 years-07054915930 My name is Oreoluwa, a mother of one.

I am 30 years old. I need a Christian businessman for a serious relationship that can lead to marriage-08167290613 Nifemi by name, 36 years Engineer by profession; 5.7ft tall chocolate in complexion and a Christian from Lagos.

I need a God fearing lady that is ready to settle down for marriage-08166770572, 08025330742 My name is Olawemimo Johnson Benson, 43 years old businessman residing in Ajah Lagos. I need a decent and working class lady between 27-30 years old for a serious relationship-08168848723 I am Alex, 38 years old I am from Ghana living in Lagos. I need a God fearing lady that is serious for a relationship that will lead to marriage-07034964949, 08093105010 Samson Ayobami is my name. I am 24 years old residing in Ibadan. I need a girl between 18-22 years-07063491337 I am Edward, 43 years old single father, tall and dark I need a lady between 25-35 years old for a serious relationship that will lead to marriage-08034204414 My name is Bebe from Imo State.

I am 24 years old. I live in Lagos. I need a mature and serious man for a relationship-08144433178

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

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Choose right from the beginning

he need to take the right decision in every area of our lives cannot be over emphasized. Every step we take in life whether right or wrong is a product of a decision we took and the choices we made. We see these choices reflect in the way the wind of life sway to our direction-making. Right choices lead to success while the wrong choices we make are the highways that lead to failure. That is why it is crucial to always endeavour to make the right choice from the start. This is so important to bear in mind when you want to get a life partner.

Fine, you may think you have the right to date as many men or women you desire and when you want to get married, you simply look at the long list of your conquests or ex’s from the past and do the guessing game we are all familiar with - mini manny mo- and the right person that will fit into your life as your future partner jumps out from the list as we see in puppet shows.

Well, dear friend, you couldn’t be more wrong!

I am also not here to tell you a particular pattern to follow when you want to take the decision who you want to marry. There is no checklist that exists that will help you find the right partner.

Everyone has different ideas about what they want in a partner. I will encourage you not just to make a checklist that includes physical attributes of the man or woman you want to spend the rest of your life with such as tall, dark and handsome, boobs, sexy, slim, fat but to also consider who you are; what’s important to you, and the type of life you want to live. Once you have thought that through, consider the qualities your potential partner must possess in order to compliment this vision.

This will help you have a clear idea the

I

CONNECT NG vanessaonsunday@yahoo.com kind of choice you must make in order to see your desire in marriage come to pass. Taking the decision from the onset to only date men or women who will likely fit into your desired marital vision is the key to unlocking right choices in marriage partners. I wish you all the best in your hunt!

RESPONSES Your article last week was thought provoking for me. This is a very articulate article. I now see the need to marry someone who appeals to me physically as a well as psychologically just as Eddie Murphy said in that movie ‘Coming to America’.

Gabriel, Umuahia This is the first time I visited your column on the newspaper web. I discov-

ered entertaining stuff in your Newspaper. I guess I’m not the only one having all of the leisure right here! Please keep up the fantastic work.

Alexander, UK Hi Vanessa, I have not met you before but you have touched my life through your advice and counsel and I am truly grateful. I am an ardent reader of your Sunday Telegraph column. I read your post about avoiding evasive relationships. It was a great help to me. Thank you once again.

Moses Adigun, Lagos Aunty Vanessa, I truly appreciate your wonderful piece on relationship issues...... God bless you!!!

Angela, Aba

Right choices lead to success while the wrong choices we make are the highways that lead to failure. That is why it is crucial to always endeavour to make the right choice from the start. This is so important to bear in mind when you want to get a life partner

Helpline Hi, please I need your advice. I am in love with a guy and we are both AS. I am AS while he is AS ! We are confused and don’t know what to do! Please I will prefer you reply me back privately on my email and not disclose my email address. Thank you Nkechi (Real name withheld) My answer Your situation is a very heartbreaking one. I understand your confusion. Love is a beautiful thing especially if it is with the right person. But, I must confess that you need to put a check to the love you feel right now.

You might be compatible with this person in every way, but medically you are not. You stand the chance of having children born with sickle cell anaemia if you proceed to marry your love. In the long run, having such a child can take a terrible toll on the love you both have now and you might end up being frustrated in that marriage. I know it will be a painful decision to take, but you need to think very carefully about the future and the possibility of bringing children with sickle cell anaemia into the world. All the same, if you both still insist and want to go ahead with your plans, I’ll advise you to seek medical counsel before proceeding. I will also advise you to visit the SICKLE CELL FOUNDATION in Idi Araba, opposite LUTH, if you live in Lagos or you can visit any Sickle cell centre in your own locality if you are not in Lagos for more medical advice since there are experts in these things.

Marriage is a lifetime issue. Please do not play with it. Seek advice from professionals on your case before taking any final decision. I wish you the best in what you decide.

Papa Wemba: How to treat an artiste with honour

t is one thing to write about stuff that you have always known is right, it is a whole new concept to witness it happen before your eyes and you suddenly realise that your imagination is just a tip of the iceberg. Last week, I witnessed, first hand, how an artiste can turn from villain into a national hero. I witnessed first hand, what it means for an artiste and prophet to be honoured in his homeland and to be celebrated as a hero and a statesman. I saw a man skilled in his art stand before kings and before commoners and I witnessed his art speak for him. Yes, I saw Congo honour Papa Wemba.

Please, don’t get me wrong. I was there when Lagos stood still for Fela Anikulapo Kuti and I will not forget how artistes thronged the National Theatre for Gbenga Adeboye, but what I witnessed last week is on another level and if you are an artiste and wondering what it will be like to be sent out in a blaze of glory, just go see Papa Wemba’s final rites.

Jules Wembadio Kikumba, the founding father of Soukous music and popular culture icon of Democratic Republic of Congo, is a national treasure to the Congolese and if truth be told, to Africa as a whole. Not only was he a music icon, who popularised and catalysed the Soukous and Makossa music genre, he was a fashion icon, whose indelible mark is still being copied today. While alive, Papa Wemba delighted the world with his music, preached against oppression but also showed that African culture and fashion can blend with other cultures without losing its soul. He wore his native clothe with

a Fedora, sew blazers made out of local material and sang in a mixture of both French his native tongue. To him, culture is only limited by the imagination of men.

He even encouraged young ones and most of Makossa and Soukous exponents will credit him as their influence. He supposedly gave Kofi Olomide the name. Femi Kuti counts Papa Wemba as one of his musical influence.

It will come as no surprise that Papa Wemba was so devoted to his art, that we can say it took him away. He died to the beat of his own song, collapsing on stage in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, during a concert and eventually passed away before help

could be rendered. Now, this is where the story of an icon who is celebrated becomes legend. Papa Wemba died in Ivory Coast, his native country declared a national day of mourning in his honour for he was a national hero. But, this national hero died in a foreign land. Heroism knows no boundary and so the government sent a state aircraft to bring his body home, drape it in the national flag of DR Congo, and then took the coffin on a procession around Kinshasa. A state funeral, considered the sole preserve of political elites has been accorded an artiste. Five star applause to the government of Joseph Kabila for their treatment of Papa Wemba. It shows

It will come as no surprise that Papa Wemba was so devoted to his art, that we can say it took him away. He died to the beat of his own song, collapsing on stage in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, during a concert and eventually passed away before help could be rendered

a government that puts a high premium on arts and artistes.

Now, please if you may, compare this to the shabby treatment given to our artistes back home either when alive or in death.

Take for an example the treatment of actor, Ashley Nwosu, before and after his death (sincere apologies to the family if this brings back bad memories). Not only was he abandoned while he was sick, the money supposedly given to the family by the state government became the source of national embarrassment to his friends in the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). Not only did they share the money amongst themselves in a show of shame, they also had the guts to come to the public and say the money was not for the family but for the welfare of the actors who went for the funeral. So, actors now need to be paid to attend the funeral of their friend and colleague? Are they going to act mourning at the real funeral? Why didn’t the state government send a delegation straight to the family to help with arrangements and then provide assistance? Please, this is just an example of the continuous neglect of artistes in Nigeria and it is a case worthy of intense study, how Nigeria still manage to keep a functional cultural industry. This also extends to the Sports sector where no one remembered Rashidi Yekini but I reserve this for next week.

Papa Wemba has gone to rest and the honour accorded him by his government is a testament to what a man’s dedication to his art can accomplish. He may have his shortcomings, but isn’t that what makes him a man?

Y 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

to sparkle!

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2016

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39 19

Grow healthy nails naturally Biwom Iklaki

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t may well be time for you to stop fixing ypour nails with acrylic or stick on nails. These may look pretty, but may not be the case for your cuticles which will over time become vulnerable to infection and weaken your natural nails. Here are easy tips for growing long, healthy nails, naturally.

Olive oil By now, you must know that olive oil is one of the nature’s best gifts. It has so many purposes. The vitamin E content helps to nourish damaged nails and promotes growth. Warm the oil and massage into nails concentrating on the cuticles. You could also add a bit of lemon to the oil. Wear cotton gloves or wrap to sleep.

Protein Add more protein like fish, beef, eggs, lean poultry, green leafy vegetables and nuts to your diet to strengthen your nails.

Orange juice The abundance of folic acid and vitamin C in orange juice are essential for nail growth. Soak nails in it for 10 minutes, rinse off, pat dry and moisturise.

Tomatoes The high content of biotin and vita-

mins A and C in tomatoes makes them great for nails and skin. Mix a half cup of tomato juice to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Soak nails for 10 minutes, rinse off and moisturise for long and thicker nails.

Nail polish While nail polishes protect and strengthen nails while adding beauty, polish removers that contain acetone dry out your nails leaving them open to damage. Use sparingly and moisturise immediately after.

Moisturise Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands and nails from harsh detergents and water which soften and dry out your nails. After doing dishes or laundry, pat hands dry and moisturise while massaging your nails with olive oil.

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul

dude OF THE WEEK

Spruce up in

floral print

blazers Vanessa Okwara

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ith men’s fashion industry currently embracing creative, distinctive looks, the statement suit and floral blazers are back again with a bang.

Pattern and floral prints blazers have become prominent in men’s fashion in recent times.

Floral motifs have long been admired by the world’s fashion elites. Whether you wear them with denim jeans, or classic dress pants, sporting floral and print blazers will surely make you one of the most fashionable gents in at least a 500 mile radius!

The beauty of a print blazer is that you can wear the simplest outfit then completely transform your look by throwing on a floral print blazer. Wear it as a statement part of your outfit and it instantly adds to your look.

Keep the rest of your outfit simple to ensure the blazer is the key focus.

Men’s fashion is great when you have awesome blazers to wear but can be daunting when your closet is not graced with stylish, modern floral blazers. Get these popular trends to stay in style.

Here are a few tips to bear in mind when wearing a floral print blazer: Contrast with Neutral Colours: With bold pattern prints it may be wise to compliment with neutral block colours such as whites, black and creams. Remember the blazer is the main focus here so you don’t want to create a colour or pattern clash with other clothing; otherwise your whole style will just come across to be far too busy.

Wear a Blazer you’re comfortable with: floral print blazers are often creative, bold and worn to make a statement. But never buy a colour or design you are not familiar with. You won’t feel comfortable and it’ll be left gathering dust in your wardrobe. My advice would be to stick with a colour palette you feel at ease with.

Wizkid

Pop star style icon Vanessa Okwara

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izkid, whose real names are Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun is currently one of the fastest rising Nigerian entertainers in the music industry.

He started his musical career at age 11, when he recorded his first album by popular music producer-OJB. He was known then as ‘Lil Prinz’ and rebranded his name in 2006 when his music career came into limelight.

He is 26 years old and has grown to become one of the forces in the Nigerian music industry. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Banky W.’s imprint Empire Mates Entertainment. He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song ‘Holla at Your Boy’ from his debut studio album, Superstar.

After parting ways with EME music, Wizkid went on to start his own record label, Starboy Records and now has a couple of artists signed under the label.

His work and contribution to the Nigerian Music Industry has earned him several achievements, including a BET Award, a MOBO Award, three The Headies Awards, two Channel O Music Video Awards, four Nigeria Entertainment Awards, a Ghana Music Award, two Dynamix All Youth Awards, two City People Entertainment Awards, and a Future Award. In addition, he has been nominated three times at the MTV Europe Music Awards as well as four times at the World Music Awards. He was ranked 5th on Forbes and Channel O’s 2013 list of the Top 10 Richest/Bankable African Artists.

In February 2014, Wizkid became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over 1 million followers on Twitter.

Wizkid is highly controversial and always in the news for both good and crazy things with other celebrities and recently with popular blogger, Linda Ikeji.

One thing you can’t take away from Wizkid is his great fashion sense. Wizkid has not only become a force to reckon with in the music industry, he has also become a style icon. Earlier this year, he was featured in Vogue. com as ‘Nigeria’s Best-Dressed Pop Star’ due to his trendsetting styles and fun approach to wardrobe.

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NEW TELEGRAPH SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

RazzleDazzle

Body&Soul Abiola Alaba Peters

with

08062622328 abiolaalabapeters@rockmail.com

Afro-Makossa exponent Xellente, hails Nigeria music industry

Fast rising Lagos based Cameroonian musician, Xellente, has described Nigerian entertainment industry as truly the pride of Africa. In an online chat with New Telegraph, Xellente, son of an On Air Personality in Cameroon, whose father was also among the celebrated Sweet Mother fame, Prince Nico Mbarga shared his thought with SONY NEME How would you describe your brand of music?

The brand of music I play is Makossa. However, I also experiment a lot so as to bring in another flavour to the traditional Awilo/Koffi type of Makossa to suit the new generation. So it’s safe to say I do Afro-Makossa.

I’m open to act in movies – Tiwa Savage

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ulti award winning and Nigeria’s top music diva, Tiwa Savage, who is presently hurting following her marital crisis with her ex-manager turned estranged husband, Tunji Balogun aka T-Billz, has been trending on social media all week. Shortly before the news of her marriage crash hit the media, RazzleDazzle had an exclusive one on one chat with the proud Lagosian who returned to Nigeria few years ago to pursue her music career.

On her album and alleged rumours of her making a movie debut, the dark complexion singer, who made a cameo appearance in Funke Akindele’s Jenifa’s Dairy, Season six, says her album is doing well, and that while she is open to act in movies, she doesn’t have any offer yet.

“My album is doing really well. I have dropped it on itunes. I’ve got new videos coming out soon, and the movie debut, I’m not really aware of that, but it’s definitely something I’m open to. But for now, there’s actually nothing formal in the works,” she said.

On the other hand, the Managing Director of Seven Up Bottling Company, Mr. Sunil Sawhney, has debunked reports that the singer has been dropped as a Pepsi Ambassador as a result of her marital issues.

With the trend today, what kind of message do you pass with your lyrics and the body language from your video clip?

Mine is simply a message of happiness. I try as much as i can in my own little way, to just get people in a happy or groovy mood whenever they see me or listen to my songs. I chose this path because the world is full of things that suck away peoples’ joy, so I try to be that person who will make you forget any stress and just get entertained.

How did you get into music, and for how long have you been in it?

That is an interesting question because I have been an active musician for a decade now. I grew up in music as my father used to play for Prince Nico Mbarga. And my mum being a journalist will always have me with her at the radio station where she worked and will always play songs while on air.

I will say I was always around music.

comes natural that I produce most of my music and help out some of my friends I wouldn’t want to mention now for obvious reasons.

How would you describe the social life in Cameron compared to Nigeria?

Well, Cameroonians are more open and can easily relate with people but here in Nigeria everybody ‘dey shine him eye’. But Nigerians are hardworking though.

Apart from your parents who apparently influenced your career, who mentored you and what where you doing before taking up music?

Apart from my parents influence, I used to like Nigerian musicians like Timaya a lot. There was a time I even copied his style, but as I grew up I developed my own style. Though I believe my mum mentored me more, as she always sang backup for me when I sing and she taught me a lot about music. Before music, I was a marketing student at the British Chartered Institute of Marketing.

What is your candid opinion about the Nigerian music industry?

My opinion about Nigerian music industry is that there is really no money in Nigerian music, unless you can break out of the Nigerian boarders. Because here in Nigeria there is so much competition and so many options for show promoters. I have personally helped negotiate some deals for some Nigerian artist to perform in a country like Niger for up to 80 thousand US dollars.

There is another Nigerian female singer whom I negotiated a show for in Cameroon for up to five million naira with her just having a single hit. I won’t disclose names but I have been in both worlds and Nigeria to me is the factory.

Apart from singing, which musical instruments do you play?

I play the key board and I produce music as well. So it just

How would you describe yourself?

Xcellente? I am the future.

ID Cabasa, others thrill Omega1 Entertainment raises the bar with ‘Samba’ 9ice, fans at Lagos City Mall Edwin Usoboh

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t is no doubt the rhythm of a new dawn as Omega1 Entertainment, a Cameroonian outfit, berths with ‘Samba,’ an ambitious 52 episodes TV series. The star-studded production was conceived to lead the pace of TV series entertainment in Cameroon.

The carefully planned project, shot in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon, brings together the top brass of Anglophone Cameroon actors and a passionate crew that is determined to surpass their best so that Cameroon’s audiovisual prominence would be perpetuated on the African and world entertainment stage.

Samba (the rhythm of a new dawn) is directed by multiple awardwinning Enah JohnScot and starrs the crème-de-la-creme of Cameroon’s motion picture industry. Nigeria’s versatile entertainer, Helen Paul, is the only foreigner in the series. The array of stars in the production includes Epule Jeffrey, Ade Kelly Evenye, Nsang Dillong, Libota MacDonald, Elung Brenda Shey, Desmond Wyte, Vugah Samson, Cosson Chinepoh and Nina Marie.

Written by Proxy Melvin Buh, ‘Samba’ tells inspiring and educative stories of marriage counsellors, Mr. and Mrs. Fosto, who successfully win communal admiration for their 33 years of professional union.

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t promises to be an explosive evening at the Lagos City Mall today as one of Nigeria’s finest afro hip-hop artistes, 9ice, leads other stars for a ground breaking musical concert as Gaise, an Afro fusion musician, unveils his new record label on. The concert, which starts with a red carpet, will hold at Ace-Olivia Event Hall, Lagos.

Akinade Ibuoye, also known as Gaise Baba, is a graduate of Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University who came into the music scene with his self-titled album ‘Gaisebaba’ in August 2011. The Afro fusion gospel artiste is a unique and gifted musician whose style is different from others.

Also on the performance list are ID Cabasa; Isaac Heralds; multi-talented musician, comedian, compere and song writer EmmaohmaGod; Ranti, and Ayodele Okundalaiye, the self-acclaimed Senior Advocate of Comedy (SACO) among others.

Tagged, ‘Korinsodi, an evening with Gaise’, the event promises the best in music, comedy and other forms of entertainment for fun seekers this weekend.

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SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Body&Soul Rosbarbara Oschiter Abang has worked with British super model, Naomi Campbell, before developing a fashion line, La Maison Rosbarbara, for human hair extension and fashion accessories. In this interview with EDWIN USOBOH, she talks about her career, fashion secrets and obsessions

Could you capture your background in few sentences?

I am from Boki LGA, Cross River State, born in Lagos, brought up in Ikom. I attended the University of Calabar before I travelled out of Nigeria.

How did you get into modelling?

I started modeling as a vacation job. That was back in 1995, when on holiday in Paris.

My friend then was also doing modelling part-time and I just decided to do something, which was how I started. It was just like a holiday job. Presently, I have a business line and a brand for human hair extensions, hair products and I have my own retail shop for luxury female shoes and bags and luxury belts for men.

Why did you abandon modelling?

I didn’t abandon modelling. Like the Bible says, ‘There is a time for everything’. I guess it was just time to move on to the next stage of my career. You also have to think about age factor because I wasn’t getting younger.

Can you tell us some of the big jobs you did as a model?

At the peak of my modelling career, I did a couple of big jobs outside the shores of Nigeria. I did TV adverts like ‘Oil of Olay’ in USA, Canada, South Africa and then lots of editorials for fashion of the Times Magazine, New York Times Magazine, worked for Diza Jeans, Dr. Damana. These are just the few I can remember.

If not modelling, what else could you have done?

I regret not finishing school –Rosbarbara Oschiter Abang I love modelling, if I come in the next life, I will do it again. If not modelling, I would have been a pilot. That was my first dream, to be a pilot.

What was your parents’ reaction when you told them you wanted to become a model?

Thank God my parents are exposed; I didn’t have any problem convincing them.

They were very happy for me. But the problem was that they felt let down because I had to abandon my education after two years at the University. I still regret that till today.

It was easy for me to decide, but my father would have loved me to be a pilot because when I finished my JSS3 back then, he bought me so many science textbooks.

My mum was always excited seeing me on magazines and showed everybody around her that this is her daughter. She was very proud of me.

Were they not worried about you exposing your body?

No, I remember a picture for Diza

Jeans where I was wearing a bikini, and kind of exposed some parts of my body. My parents were exposed and never saw anything wrong in me exposing my body while modelling, but my mum will always advise me never to let modelling get into my head and always remember that I am an African lady and I should always remember where I was coming from.

What can make you pose nude?

My job as a model.

Recall your most embarrassing moment as a model.

When I started, I never knew I was beautiful enough to be a model because during my first bikini show/shoot, I was hiding and trying to cover my body because it was embarrassing. I did not feel I had the right shape. But I have outgrown that now. I also remember when I once fainted in front of the audience.

Can you share your beauty routine with us?

It depends on what you mean by beauty, because for me beauty is from the inside. I wake up early every day to pray and meditate; maybe that is part of my beauty routine.

Frankly, I just try to control myself a bit because after my child’s birth, I added weight.

So presently, I am not doing anything to keep fit, I think it’s God’s modern nature that I am still like this even after child birth.

What does fashion mean to you?

To me, fashion means style, passion and uniqueness.

What is that fashion item you cannot do without?

My sunshades is never negotiable.

Taking a peek into your wardrobe, what kind of fashion items are we likely to see?

You are likely to see a lot of shoes and bags; I love beautiful shoes and bags.

Who is your favourite designer, local and international?

I love Toju Foyeh designs.

She seems to have something unique. Internationally, there’s no one in particular.

What is your life philosophy?

Be yourself and be at peace. Because holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other

person to die.

What is your passion?

Modelling, I also have passion for nice bags and high heel shoes.

If you are to make a wish, what are the three most important heart desires you will like fulfilled?

Be at peace with myself, peace and love in Nigeria, for everybody to see themselves as brothers and sisters and to see my business, La Maison Rosbarbara, in all the major fashion cities in the world.

What does La Maison Rosbarbara mean?

My name is Rose Barbara and La Maison means The House. Therefore, La Maison Rosbarbara means The House of Rosebarbara, which represents what I stand for. We promote quality human hair extensions and fashion accessories.

Now that you have mellowed down the modelling, what do you do now?

I thank God I have my own successful business since 2009. I have a store in Milano, Italy; London and in Ikoyi, Lagos. As you can see, I am into business now and I hope to do more in the years to come.

How have you successfully combined motherhood and your career?

Motherhood is the best career in the world.

I am enjoying the challenges every day, my family, daughter and this business is giving me satisfaction.

If you are going for a red carpet event, how long does it take for you to dress up?

Apart from makeup, it will take up to 30-45 minutes.

What is your favourite perfume and watch label?

I have more than one brand of favourite perfume, but my favourite watch label is Roger Debuis.

Where is your favourite vacation sport?

I don’t have a favourite vacation location yet, since I’m still exploring the world. I love travelling. But for now, Cayman Island, I guess, because of how far you have to go.

What would you say are the pains of being a celebrity?

People will always question the good things they hear about you and believe the bad ones without a second thought.

What’s your greatest fear about life?

I guess that would be failure.

You are married to an Italian. What is the attraction?

I met him as a very good friend, I don’t see any difference. I met him and I fell in love with him.

Your advice to aspiring models?

Beauty is not mainly about your outer appearance, but what is inside of you. True beauty is within you. I will advise them to follow their dreams. But like other professions, they must work hard, be sharp and remain focused. Modelling is highly competitive. It is not everyone that goes into it that will make it. Education comes first.

Your modelling career could stop anytime, but when you go to school, you can always get ahead in life.

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

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Nigeria urgently needs tyre manufacturing plant – Oyeyemi

2016 Dodge Durango: Available for immediate delivery – Weststar p.47

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Business

Paul Ogbuokiri Head, Business

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Telecoms: NCC moves to tackle spectrum crunch Kunle Azeez elecoms regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has declared its determination to address the challenge of insufficient spectrum resources available to telecoms players in the country.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated this at a stakeholders’ consultative forum on spectrum licensing in Lagos.

Danbatta, who was represented by the Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, said the essence of the forum was to discuss spectrum plan, pricing scheme and licensing of service providers in the 38 & 42GHz bands.

The forum also discussed the re-planning of the 23GHz microwave spectrum band within the Nigerian telecoms industry in line with global best practices.

He noted that the spectrum bands when fully released and re-farmed would accelerate the growth of broadband internet in the country. Up from the current 10 per cent broadband penetration, the Federal Government is putting measures in place to deepen the penetration to 30 per cent by 2018 in line with the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

“We are committed to deepening access to telecoms services, especially with regard to broadband penetration, which is regarded as the next growth frontier for the industry.

“Being able to achieve this also requires that, as regulator, we make necessary spectrum bands, as the spectrum is made available to us by the National Frequency Management Committee (NFMC),” he said.

Making presentation on the 38Ghz and 42GHz bands, Deputy Director, Spectrum Administration, Mr. Oluwatoyin Asaju, explained that the in coming up with the pricing and licensing of the spectrum, the Commission had put into consideration the international standards and benchmarks.

“Studies, research and consultations were carried out in a number of areas including but not limited to the desired band plan, technical specifications, benchmarking other administrations that have licensed this band as well as equipment availability in the market,” he said.

While noting that the two spectrum bands are new and such are not yet being used in the country, Asaju explained that the countries such as United Kingdom, America, Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland and Uganda have fully licensed the 38Ghz spectrum band.

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L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Nicholaas A. Vervelde; Finance Director, Mark P. Rutten, and Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Uaboi Agbebaku, during the company’s Pre-Annual General meeting press briefing in Lagos PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Analysts: Buharinomics hurting Nigeria’s economy

Buhari

A

Paul Ogbuokiri

ccording to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the first quarter of 2016 was $710.97 million.

It said this marked a yearon-year decline of 73.79 per cent, an indication that the country is passing through its worst economic crisis in years, caused by low crude prices which have led to currency controls being imposed by

the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This is even as the troubled economy further bled last week as over 74 foreign investors in equities and Government (FGN) Bond markets left the country.

Published data on forex disbursement last week showed that investors divested $6.97 million through Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, representing over 50 per cent of $12.91 million total funds disbursed by the lender.

The figures on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE’s) Domestic & Foreign Portfolio report showed that Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) outflows stood at N58.2 billion in January and February surpassed inflows of N27.95 billion by 108.2 per cent.

Analysts say that the reservations foreign investors hold at the moment is likely to persist until there is clear market friendly shift in forex policy direction by the monetary regulatory authority.

The analysts at Afrinvest West Africa Plc, an investment and research firm, expect that the relative calm in the forex market will spill over into this month.

Amidst devaluation uncertainties and shortages of forex, most foreign investors remain cautious about entering the Nigerian market whilst currency and reinvestment risks linger.

Founder and managing partner of Kynikos Associates, Jim Chanos said: “Nigeria is a borderline failed state in our view. Chanos, who predicted the 2001 collapse of Enron Corp further said that profits to MTN shareholders could be “eviscerated” by about 50 percent.

“MTN does not share Jim Chanos’ views,” MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng said in an e-mailed response to questions said; “Our views of the future prospects of The figures on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE’s) Domestic & Foreign Portfolio report showed that Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) outflows stood at N58.2 billion in January and February surpassed inflows of N27.95 billion by 108.2 per cent

MTN, as occasionally shared with shareholders, remain positive and unchanged.

The investors see foreign exchange (forex) policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), especially its reluctance to devalue the naira, unfavorable to their investments.

Investors’ preference precluding Nigeria is not a coincidence or a chance move, experts say. Much can be pinned on government’s lack of “clear economic policy direction,” he said.

Explaining that several factors are responsible for the herd movement out of Nigerian equities and bonds, Ogho Okiti, CEO of Time Economics says, “While flexible/stable currency arrangements are often a consideration, there are other considerations that would have made the outcome indifferent, given the exogenous shocks, the decisions and expectations of the Fed actions, outlook for emerging economies in general given the slowdown in China, and the lack of a clear economic policy direction in Nigeria.”

CO N T I N U E D O N PAGE 44

Dambatta

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Business

G sets up intervention fund for mining

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L-R: Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Mr. Folarin Adeyemi; Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin Suarau: Special Adviser on food security, Mr. Ganiu Sami and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya at 2016 Ministerial briefing on the Ministry activities and achievements in Lagos

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

FG targets 100% budget implementation in 2016 Paul Ogbuokiri

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espite 2016 appropriate law becoming operational in the second quarter of the year, the Federal Government said it was targeting 100 per cent budget implementation for the year.

“Our aim will always be 100 per cent implementation,” the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, told State House correspondents Friday.

“We know we started late and we may not achieve it.

But 100 per cent achievement is our aim. The budget is a law, we will try to implement it as quickly as we can.’’

Although the minister

said details of the approved budget would be given later, he however said what was assented to by the president was slightly lower than what he presented to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015.

He said his ministry would set up a budget monitoring committee to ensure effective implementation of the law.

To ensure the 2017 budget did not suffer similar delay, the minister said the executive planned to submit the draft bill in October this year, to enable passage before the end of the year.

He said the ministry already sent a memo to the Executive Council of the Federation on the matter, securing approval was for a timetable for the early presentation of the 2017

budget.

The minister said the administration was determined to get the budget ready by December because the dry season remained the best time to commence budget implementation, particularly for road construction.

“Our intention, going forward, is to get us back to where we can get a full January to December budget implementation cycle.

We are working with a time table to achieve this,’’ he said.

Mr. Udoma said going forward, there would be extensive consultation with the National Assembly and non-governmental organisations prior to the presentation of the next appropriation bill to speed up the approval process.

The Minister of State

for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that FEC had already approved a budget monitoring and evaluation framework submitted by the ministry.

The framework, Mrs. Ahmed said, would guide the implementation of the budget, while the ministry has developed a specific implementation guideline for the implementation of the 2016 budget.

She said the guideline would be disseminated to all ministries, departments and agencies and would be monitored vigorously and reported upon to FEC on a quarterly basis.

“The implementation plan has some checks the ministry would follow as best as possible,” Mrs. Ahmed said. (NAN)

Analysts: Buharinomics hurting Nigeria’s economy CONTINUED FR O M PAGE 43

Reacting on the NSE Tuesday figures, Matthew Ogagavoriua, a financial analyst and a stockbroker, said it calls to question the stance on openness and transparency.

“What has happened is that we have a government that is opaque. The government has not been upfront with its economic policy direction. What we have seen so far has been a management of foreign exchange regime that lacks openness and

transparency. Any foreign investor knows that it will be too long for Nigeria to be forced to do the right thing,” he said Also, the NBC in a report last week disclosed that the nation’s inflation has risen to a four year high of 12.8 per cent after having crossed the single digit the past administrations maintained.

A former Minister of Education and social critic, Oby Ezekwesili, described the economic policies of the Buhari administration as bearing the resemblance of those

he promulgated during the military regime he led in the 1980s.

Speaking at ‘The Platform’ last week in Abuja, she said the administration’s economic policies are “archaic” and “opaque” which are hurting the poor they were intended to help.

“During the first coming of this our new president, a command and control economic system was adopted.

During that era, inflation spiralled. During that era, jobs were lost. During that era, the economic growth

level dipped,” Mrs. Ezekwesili said.

“That era wasn’t the best of eras in economic progress. What did not work in 1984 cannot possibly be a solution in a global economy that’s much more integrated.”

Mrs. Ezekwesili said President Buhari was rehashing the same “command and control” approach towards economic issues which has left the country’s economic indices worse off since he assumed office almost year ago.

he Federal Government has commenced the process for the establishment of a mining intervention fund.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, said the fund was part of government’s determination to diversify the country’s economic base and ensure that the solid minerals sector contributed significantly to the gross domestic product, particularly its jobs creation efforts.

The minister said the fund was designed to provide incentives for local miners and investors in a bid to stimulate growth in the sector.

The minister disclosed this during a breakfast meeting organised by the Stanbic IBTC Bank with investors in the Iron and Steel sector in Lagos on Friday.

Mr. Fayemi said the ministry was already working with the Bankers Committee and the Bank of Industry (BOI) towards achieving that objective.

The Bankers Committee is made up of managing directors and chief executives of all the commercial banks in the country and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)..

The minister said the intervention fund was part of the incentives government was putting in place to boost local production of solid minerals.

He reiterated the ministry’s commitment to exploit the nation’s mineral endowments in an environmentally sustainable manner.

“Government is determined to establish a vibrant minerals and metal industry for wealth creation, poverty reduction, promotion of economic growth and significant contribution to the country’s gross domestic product,” Mr. Fayemi said.

He decried a situation where the country currently imports an estimated $3.3 billion (about N650.1 billion) of processed steel and associated derivatives every year, representing 80 per cent of the total annual expenditure of $4.2 billion (about N827.4 billion) on metal products imports.

He said despite the country’s relatively robust iron ore reserves, the combined national installed capacity of the 30 steel rolling mills was 6.5 metric tons per annum.

Of the 30 mills, the minister said only 18 were operational, with annual production capacity of about 2.8 metric tons using 100 per cent scrap metals.

He was confident that government would realize its plan for a major turnaround in the solid minerals sector through a strategic support for the local and foreign investors to create the enabling environment through the right policy for mining activities.

Kachikwu

Ondo oil producing communities eye NDDC leadership

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ndo State’s Oil Producing Communities have appealed to the Federal Government to grant them due consideration for the top managerial positions in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

In a statement on Friday signed by the Coordinator, Charles Ebimomi and Secretary, Omopariola Odusola, they drew attention to recent newspaper publications by interest groups in the Niger Delta bent on producing the next Managing Director of the agency, in violation of the law of the Commission. They noted that in no single instance in the course of their agitation have those groups made reference to the law.

They anchored Ondo’s case for the post of Managing Director and two other member-States for Executive Director positions in the Commission on the following grounds, among others: Ondo State is the fifth largest oil producer in Nigeria; The post of MD and those of Executive Director, Finance, and Administration, and Executive Director, Projects, are by law to be filled on rotation, beginning with States with the highest quantum of oil production; and The other four States before Ondo have each produced the MD and an Executive Director of the Commission, for a combined number of years as follows: Delta,15 years; Bayelsa, 8 years; Akwa-Ibom, 11 years; and Rivers, 10 years.

“None of the five other member-States of the Commission (Ondo, Edo, Imo, Abia and Cross River) has been allowed to fill any of the three Senior Management positions since the inception of the Commission in 2001,” the communities claimed.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

Business/ INTERVIEW

The FRSC 2016 corporate strategic role?

Nigeria ranks second in Africa in road traffic accidents but at least the good news was that last Thursday (two weeks ago), the National Economic Council (NEC) presided over by the Vice President with the 36 state governors approving the Nigerian Road Safety Strategic Policy document. We now have a policy strategic document for road safety in Nigeria. It is milestone for the country.

Last week, the court affirmed that FRSC has power to enforce the new number policy. My concern here is enforcement not pricing or marketing and I have never opened my mouth to say that we are fixing price. I have never spoken on price I am not involved. That was part of the prayers of those transparency and anti-corruption groups.

Whatever we can do to bring road crashes down to the barest minimum, we will do, ours which is enforcement. With the court judgment and the presidential approval and the upcoming public hearing coming on we are moving on.

Now, Mr. President has provided us with more vehicles, delivery vehicles and ambulances. We are really motivated by the passion of Mr. President has for road safety in this country.

The second one has to do with the use of rear seat belts. We want everybody to join the campaign to save lives, promote it for us, we are starting the campaign soon.

You are aware that we have a biometric data capture portal, it is now working. This is what I am talking about, the big support from the highest level of government.

I commend all the people who contributed

Nigeria urgently needs tyre manufacturing plant – Oyeyemi The Corps Marshall, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi is upbeat with the presidential approval given to the Nigerian Road Safety Strategic Policy document. He recently spoke Transport and Motoring Journalits in Lagos. PAUL OGBUOKIRI brings the excepts: to the production of this document. Now we can beat our chest and say that Nigeria has a road safety document. Now we have the highest government body in the country presiding over the road safety issues and I have the opportunity of meeting the governors at every one of their Council meetings to brief them on the country’s road safety situation and review the programme. With this document everybody knows his responsibility and their role in the road safety business; the FRSC, VIO, states, LGAs, Red Cross, etc. The issue of overlapping has been addressed and coordination taken care of.

On enforcement of the seat belt rule?

The campaign was very successful and wearing of seat belts by Nigerian drivers and the front seat passenger has almost become a way of life in the country. That is why we are moving to the next stage of commencing the rear seat belt campaign.

Whenever you are driving ensure that your entire passengers wear their rear seat belts to save lives.

Problem of indiscipline on Nigerian roads today?

Overloading is a major problem that I am battling with across the country. It is a major problem that we have in our hands and we need the support of everybody to get Nigerians to comply with the road safety rules. This is my major problem. It is a monster. I am battling with a major monster. You cannot imagine a tricycle (keke NAPEP), carrying three passengers in front with the driver making them four persons, and then four others at the back and another three in the boot.

There is also the problem of vehicles that are not road worthy. I have carried series of operations at the seaport in Lagos to ensure that they comply with the road safety rules by ensuring that at least their containers are latched. That has reduced the incessant fall of containers on the roads. They are complying with that now we are also on the issue of ensuring that the container trucks are road worthy. I will still come back to Lagos to enforce the rules that is my responsibility.

Then there are the small buses, very small, not designed for commercial purpose it can meander anywhere. There is no standard.

But the solution needs multi-sectoral solution because the responsibility of FRSC is limited. Road worthiness is a state function, handled by the VIOs. It is a shared responsibility. I want to go back to the highways where the traffic is more. I want the states to take over the role of ensuring safety on their roads. Apart from Lagos and Abuja, no other state has a road body. We are training them. Last year the National Automotive and Designing and Development Council wrote to the manufacturers to install road speed limit devices in their vehicles. ABC Transport already has standard factory fitted speed limit devices. We are launching the Peace Mass Transit Buses with factory fitted speed devices.

The powers of the Commission to issue the new number plates intact?

It is important that the motoring public disregard the false information often sent out to the public domain saying that the Commission does not have the powers to enforce the new number plate policy. The faceless characters often send out the old court orders they got in March and September last year, but which was later upturned by the Appeal Court. Nobody has challenged the verdict of the Appeal Court since them. But when they circulate the stale news, they made it look like it is new. So our power to e n f o rc e the new num-

Oyeyemi

ber plate is intact. This man has not gone to the Supreme Court but from time to time he will go and publish the old judgment afresh making it look like it is a fresh court decision just to deceive Nigerians. But the truth is that the Appeal Court says FRSC has power to enforce the new number plate policy and we are doing just that.

Before you can get a driver’s licence you must pass through training?

For the fresh applications, you must go through driving schools from there you will be sent to testing, if you are recommended, you will go for capturing. But for renewal, you can register online and there will be verification then you pay.

Delays in renewing of vehicle licence, and need for vehicle manufacturers to be made to start to produce vehicles with features peculiar and applicable to the Nigerian situation?

This has forced me to take up the responsibility of distributing the licence, though it is not my responsibility. It is the jurisdiction of the states. I know how much I spend on bulk SMS to make contact with licence owners, all to ensure that the proper thing is done.

In Lagos the problem, is their ‘Licence Agents’. They said that they have Licensing Agents. Agents for government licence, it is a big problem, because it makes tracing the owners difficult. It rubbishes all the efforts we have made at making sure that the owners’ identifies is known. You put a call through to identify the owner; the agents will pick the call and tell you that he only got the licence for somebody else. The agents distort data by just imputing their personal data and only the name of owners. It is causing a lot of confusing in identification. We just have to get these things right in this country. And until we are able to ensure that if somebody’s licence is confiscated in Lagos, you cannot go to any other part of the country to get another one; we cannot say we have arrived.

Drivers concern over lack of flexibility on the validity of the Drivers’ licence?

We have just got the approval for fiveyear validity Drivers’ Licence. The approval just came out. It will save us in their area of cost of production. The five-year validity for us is better. But those who chose the five-validity licence will pay N10, 000 as against the N6, 000 paid for the three-year validity licence.

Number of registered vehicles in Nigeria?

We have 8.5 million vehicles and out of that Lagos State has about 40 per cent. So if have anybody telling that you have 25 million vehicles in Nigeria, ignore that.

Substandard tyres?

The tyre problem in Nigeria goes beyond ‘tokunbo’ or even expired tyres. There over 150 brands in Nigeria and most of them are substandard. We are collaborating with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria to see it is checked. Most of the tyres imported into the country do not suit our hot environment. And a lasting solution will be the return of tyre manufacturing company in Nigeria. There is urgent need for a tyre manufacturing plant to return to Nigeria.

It is unfortunate that Dunlop shut down.

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Business

Enelamah to improve Nigeria’s Ease of Doing Business rating

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he Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okey Enelamah, has asked the National Assembly to review Nigeria’s existing business laws to attract more investments into the country.

The minister’s call came on Thursday following the latest World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report, which ranked Nigeria as one of the worst places to do business in the world in 2016.

The report says Nigeria remains one of the poorest business destinations in the world, improving marginally by just one step from its ranking last year.

Out of 189 countries surveyed, Nigeria moved from 170th position with 43.56 per cent points in 2015 to 169 with 44.69 per cent points.

Enelamah said the review would help create an enabling business environment for prospective inves-

Warri, Lagos, Brass OGFZs in order – Expert

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legal practitioner Iyobosa Egerin has described insinuations making the rounds that the Warri, Lagos, Brass Oil and Gas Free Zones were illegal establishments as ``cruel, unfortunate, misleading and disheartening’’.

Speaking to newsmen recently in Lagos, Egerin said he was disappointed that such insinuations are now being published by a section of the Nigeria media (not Sunday Telegraph).

He said that the insinuations have negatively impacted on the morale of workers in the OGFZs as they believe that they would be thrown out of their jobs soon adding that such observation informed his decision to reach out to the public with the necessary information to counter the media bashing being sponsored by some stakeholders in the maritime industry.

Egerin said: ``My immediate reaction to the publication was to ignore it and just regard it as the continued campaign of calumny against Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) by some stakeholders for their selfish business interest as against the overall interest of Nigeria. ``However, considering the negative impact such publications would have on the unsuspecting reading public, I have decided to respond in order to put the records straight.”

Egerin said that if the publications were not deliberately inclined to deceive both the Federal Government and Nigerians as a whole in their public pronouncements concerning the OGFZs, they would know that the

``law setting up the OGFZA gave it the statutory power to license oil and gas free zone’’.

Instead of acting like paid agent, Egerin said that the commentators should know that the law ``empowers OGFZA to take over and perform such other functions being hitherto performed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) as they relate to oil and gas activities from any of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones. ``The unambiguous implications of the law setting up OGFZA is that the legislature has expressly limited the functions of NEPZA over all export processing zones by virtue of the oil and gas free zones act,” he said.

Egerin said that anybody who had doubts concerning the establishment and operations of the three OGFZs should do a little bit of research or be more thorough in their work, before making public pronouncement. ``I have confirmed that these oil and gas free zones went through the whole gamut of due process and diligence from the applications through the ministerial recommendations and culminating in the Presidential approval gazetted by the Federal Government,’’ he said.

He called on stakeholders and commentators, who have issues with the establishment of oil and gas free zones, to visit the office of the OGFZA to seek clarifications on grounds that their assumptions and uninformed positions and posture has huge negative financial implications to the Federal Government.

tors and business owners in the country.

The minister made the appeal when he appeared before the House of Representatives committee on trade and investment for the ongoing “Sectoral Debate” on strategies for the diversification of the country’s economy.

Enelamah identified some of the laws that would require an overhaul, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Railway Corporation Act and Nigeria Postal Service Act, to make them

align with the realities of the 21st century as well as global best practices.

He also urged the lawmakers to fast track the Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill and Secure Transactions in Movable Assets Bill, to guarantee financial savings for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs. “When passed, these pieces of legislation will improve access to funding for small businesses and allow investment in infrastructure,” the minister said.

“It is only by reviewing

these laws that we will be able to guarantee the much needed private investments in this sector.

“This move will go a long way to remove many obstacles that stand in the way of business innovation in Nigeria,” he said.

According to the minister, the country would expand its scope of infrastructure, an important part of ensuring ease of doing business.

“By infrastructure, we mean not only the hardware infrastructure like transport networks and reliable power supply. It also

includes transparent regulation, policy consistency, rule of law and culture of efficient collaboration and synergy among various government agencies,” Mr. Enelamah said.

“By infrastructure, we mean not only the hardware infrastructure like transport networks and reliable power supply.

It also includes transparent regulation, policy consistency, rule of law and culture of efficient collaboration and synergy among various government agencies,” Enelamah said

L-R: Company Secretary, Wema Bank Plc, Mr. Oluwole Ajimisinmi; Chairman, Mr. Adeyinka Asekun and Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, at the bank’s Annual General meeting, in Lagos...recently

OPEC split deepens over supply cap

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Paul Ogbuokiri

s OPEC officials gathered last week to formulate a long-term strategy, few in the room expected the discussions would end without a clash.

But even the most jaded delegates got more than they had bargained for.

“OPEC is dead,” declared one frustrated official, according to two sources who were present or briefed about the Vienna meeting.

This was far from the first time that OPEC’s demise has been proclaimed in its 56-year history, and the oil exporters’ group itself may yet enjoy a long life in the era of cheap crude.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s most powerful member, still maintains that collective action by all producers is the best solution for an oil market that has dived

since mid-2014.

But events at Monday’s meeting of OPEC governors suggest that if Saudi Arabia gets its way, then one of the group’s central strategies - of managing global oil prices by regulating supply - will indeed go to the grave.

In a major shift in thinking, Riyadh now believes that targeting prices has become pointless as the weak global market reflects structural changes rather than any temporary trend, according to sources familiar with its views.

OPEC is already split over how to respond to cheap oil. Last month tensions between Saudi Arabia and its arch-rival Iran ruined the first deal in 15 years to freeze crude output and help to lift global prices.

These resurfaced at the long-term strategy meeting of the OPEC governors,

officials who report to their countries’ oil ministers.

According to the sources, it was a delegate from a non-Gulf Arab country who pronounced OPEC dead in remarks directed at the Saudi representative as they argued over whether the group should keep targeting prices.

Iran, represented by its Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, has been arguing that this is precisely what OPEC was created for and hence “effective production management” should be one of its top long-term goals.

But Saudi Governor Mohammed al-Madi said he believed the world has changed so much in the past few years that it has become a futile exercise to try to do so, sources say.

“OPEC should recognize the fact that the market has gone through a structural change, as is evident by

the market becoming more competitive rather than monopolistic,” al-Madi told his counterparts inside the meeting, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

“The market has evolved since the 2010-2014 period of high prices and the challenge for OPEC now, as well as for non-OPEC (producers), is to come to grips with recent market developments,” al-Madi said, according to the sources.

In the past, low oil prices used to push global demand much higher but today’s (Friday) rising efficiency of motor vehicles, new technology and environmental policies have put a lid on growth.

Despite record low prices in the past year, demand is not expected to grow by more than 1 million barrels per day in 2016, just one per cent of global demand.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

Auto beat Motoring tips

FRSC redeploys senior officers for efficiency

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2016 Dodge Durango: Available for immediate delivery – Weststar Paul Ogbuokiri

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he all-new Dodge Durango is back with its latest innovations. Dodge is known to never compromise power for fuel efficiency. This spacious seven-seated SUV is equipped with lush detailing externally and internally. It possesses sufficient best-in-class features to keep passengers basking in the euphoria of this family size vehicle. Feel free to pack your cargo and go on a vacation; with its best-in-class towing and power features, rest assured you are in for an exciting ride.

The Dodge Durango comes with an eightspeed automatic transmission powered by a 3.6L Pentastar® V6 engine or an available 5.7L HEMI® V8 engine to give the car the iconic characteristics of a Dodge muscle car. The Engine Stop/Start (ESS) technology is now standard for all models; it helps to improve fuel efficiency by shutting off the engine when the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Amenities (radio, gauges, heating or air conditioning, etc.) continue to operate, making engine shutoff seamless for the driver as the ESS is activated automatically although a system disable switch is located on the dash if the operator wishes to suspend the feature. The engine automatically restarts when the driver releases the brake, thus, allowing smooth acceleration.

The fierce split-cross hair grille with dark or bright accents is a major highlight of the Dodge Durango’s exterior. Striking projector headlamps with embossed Dodge logo, projector fog lamps and available LED daytime running lights informs other road users of its grand presence while the fullwidth LED race track tail lamps reminds others why Dodge is always a step ahead.

There is a wide variety of colours, wheels to choose from and optional bright tip exhaust pipes for a classy rear view. Multiple safety and security features are available to offer maximum passenger protection.

Key features include Parkview® Rear Backup Camera, Parksense® Rear Park Assist, Forward Collision Warning, Electronic

Stability Control, Ready Alert Braking, Blind Spot Monitoring, Adaptive Cruise Control, Brake Support System and Rain Sensing Wipers.

The Dodge Durango exudes luxury with its plush interiors and comfortable seating which include fold-flat front-passenger seats, 60/40 split-fold-flat second-row reclining bench seat with integrated padded centre armrest and cup holders, and 50/50 split-folding third-row seats to encourage re-adjustments for extra cargo. Seats are covered in cloth or heated leather-trimmed fold-flat second-row Captain’s Chairs with soft-touch armrests and a floor-mounted mini console with cup holders for sixpassenger seating.

A standard seven inch reconfigurable digital cluster and an 8.4 inch Uconnect® screen are available for communication,

navigation and entertainment. Passengers can enjoy a wonderful audio experience with the BeatsTM system which includes an additional 50 watts of power per channel, nine premium speakers, a 506-watt amplifier and a subwoofer.

The available Blu-rayTM/DVD system boasts two nine-inch screens and HighDefinition Multimedia Interfaces (HDMI) for the rear seats while the HDMI /USB ports let passengers tap into the entertainment system and use each screen independently of each other.

Available options of the Dodge Durango at Weststar Associates Limited include the RT (Race technology) and Citadel. As regards maintenance and servicing, the company is also offering the best after-sales services for all Dodge vehicles; genuine parts are also readily available for purchase.

orps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has approved the redeployment of some senior officers across board, as part of measures to step up effectiveness and efficiency in the commission. This was disclosed in a statement signed on Saturday by Mr. Bisi Kazeem, Head, Media Relations and Strategy, FRSC, made available to the media in Abuja.

According to Kazeem, the posting affects principal officers at the commission’s headquarters and other commands as part of efforts to enhance robust implementation of policies.

Kazeem said ``affected principal officers include: Mr. Austin Aipoh, Head, Command Administration and Strategy, at the headquarters to replace Mr. Stephen Maitizumahs, at Zone 11 Osogbo, who will now head Manpower Development (MPD) of the FRSC. Similarly, former Head, Manpower Development, Kingsley Agomoh, now to command Zone 7, Gwagwalada, covering FCT and Niger State while Mr. Jonas Agwu, Zonal Commander, Zone 7, now to Command Zone 6, Port-Harcourt covering Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states),” Kazeem said.

He added that Mr. Victor Nwokolo, Zonal Commander, Zone 1, Kaduna covering Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa and Katsina States, is now to head, Command Administration and Strategy, FRSC headquarters, while Mr. Bitrus Darwang of Zone 6 now to command Zone 1 consisting of Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and Katsina sector commands.

Vehicle size and weight matter

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maller, lighter vehicles generally offer less protection than larger, heavier ones. There is less structure to absorb crash energy, so deaths and injuries are more likely. People in lighter vehicles also experience higher crash forces when struck by heavier vehicles. If safety is a major consideration, pass up very small, light vehicles.

Peugeot 508, most fuel efficient car - Afolayan

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Foremost actor and film producer, Kunle Afolayan, has given kudos to the newly introduced Peugeot 508 after driving the car which is assembled in Kaduna by Pan Nigeria for about five months.

Afolayan, who is the brand Ambassador for Peugeot in Nigeria, commended the car at an interactive session at the recent Lagos Motor Fair, which held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said, “I am here to be part of the auto fair because Peugeot, which is a brand I am part of, is exhibiting. Peugeot is the auto brand that is proudly Nigerian, Peugeot is a household name, am very proud and happy to be associated with the brand, I have the Peugeot 508, which is the top of the range” Peugeot 508, Afolayan added, “Is a very fuel efficient car, in fact, it is the most fuel efficient car I have driven. I do a lot of travels out of town, I have discovered that the engine runs very

smoothly, you can hardly hear the sound, the interior is very roomy and comfortable, I recommend the car to the average executive in the country”.

He also added, “If you compare the features and comfort in the Peugeot 508, then you know that the car is reasonably priced. Already, a lot of my friends have indicated interest in the car, aside the 508, a lot of my other friends have shown interest in other Peugeot models”.

Recalling that he did not just jump into associating with Peugeot brand, he said: “Before I agreed to be part of the Peugeot brand, I requested to test the new cars, and after I did, I resolved to defend and push the auto brand anywhere”.

The film maker also said that you need is car that gives you comfort and cuts down your cost of running it, especially the fuel consumption. “A lot of time when I drive, I see a lot of people staring at the car, and a lot of people

have passed positive comments about the car, it is simply a complete package”.

It would be recalled that the Managing Director Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) Mr. Ibrahim Boyi, had said during the unveiling of the re-designed all-new Peugeot 508, 2016 model, in Abuja, that the improved version of the car is fully automated and has the highest standards in efficiency, emission and environmental compliance.

Elaborating some of the new features, Boyi said that the new edition has met stringent environmental emission regulation standards. In terms of functionality, outlook and the design, the new 508 is a lot better; the front has been designed to give it more elegance and better customer experience, it comes with a touch screen control panel to limit distraction and provide ease of operation for the driver and permanent safety features which are standard for every Peugeot car.

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Business

Why do people drink wine 2

Clinical Consultant pharmacist EMMANUEL A.NWANKWO agmerendis@yahoo.com

08148877648 (SMS only)

Has antioxidants and its sweetness.

2. Wine often gets better with age. As wines age, the natural substance found in grapes used in making the wine transforms into smooth tasty wine.

3. Wine may costs less and one can also afford it.

4. Wine just tastes better because our parents have been drinking it, ever since we were children.

5. Wine is sexier and more romantic.

6. Wine makes you sleep better than beer.

7. Red wine increases women’s libido according to a scientific study through subject to interpretation.

According to Goldman Sacks research, the percentage of American youth in their twenties who prefer wine to beer has increased drastically from 15% in 1990 to 25% in 2014. Gallup’s annual alcohol consumption habit poll shows that Americans are now equally divided in their preference for beer or wine in 2013 36% for beer, 35% for wine and 23% for hard liquor.

Gender and age play a major role in drinking of wine especially for women

NAFDAC said that beside the challenges of corruption in daily regulation that they are doing their best, because it is learnt that for every original product in Nigeria. Its fake alternative is readily available in the market who prefer wine mostly white wine.

70% of women prefer white wine because they think that white wine contains less alcohol, clear in colour and more sexier which may not be correct.

People have the right to know that there are basic standard in wine we drink.

1. Wine 2. Fortifies wine 3. Sparkling wine 4. Spirits ( hard liquor) 5. But the best drink is moderation and abstinence.

Why are we now drinking more wine in Nigeria?

According to market research of Euromonitor in 2014, wine growth in spite of bad economy still remains second in sales after beer in consumption.

Also, according to Global Agricul-

tural Information network, there is a strong growth in wine market in Nigeria due to Nigeria large population, increasing health awareness especially on the perceived benefit of red wine among Nigerians. The increased wine consumption is also due to inexpensive wine availability and affordability, increased social trends and exposure with other cultures of the world. Increased female consumption population, and desire for new types of alcoholic drink contributes because women now have earning power and are more classy.

What do women want in wine?

Women want wines that are balanced, drinkable, enjoyable and easy to deal. Also because most women are peace makers and like to keep things in order. These ia according to international women wine competition.

Does NAFDAC Regulate the inflow of poor quality wine in Nigeria?

The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC have promoted a bill that will punish dealers of fake wines, juices, beer into the country (both importers and sellers). NAFDAC said that beside the challenges of corruption in daily regulation that they are doing their best, because it is learnt that for every original product in Nigeria. Its fake alternative is readily available in the market.

OKWUDIRISM: My Success Quotes (10) Success Nuggets Victor Okwudiri 08037674300 (SMS only)

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he 305. Doing ‘Project 1’ tells you how to go about ‘Project 2’ and how not to go about ‘Project 3’. As you keep executing, you keep getting better until you are up there.

306. Your VALUE is directly proportional to the VALUE you offer.

307. True wealth goes beyond money.

308. Anyone who lacks a network of friendship that constitutes a life support system is ‘poor’.

309. Wealth speaks of resources. Resources are not only financial. Resources can be human.

310. To create wealth, it is important that you NETWORK with people.

311. Your NETWORK can boost your NETWORTH. 312. If everyone consumes everything there is, no one would have been wealthy.

Save!

313. Not everything that comes your way is for consumption. A certain percentage is to be reserved, for two reasons: a) to take care of the rainy day; b) to take advantage of opportunities for investment that may arise in the future.

314. Wealthy men know that money is a tool in the hand of its owner, so they don’t consume it all as it comes. On the contrary, they reserve a portion of the tool, so they can use it when the need for it arises.

315. It is good to save. However, there

is a different place for investment. One who wants to create lasting wealth must strike a balance between the two.

316. Though saving speaks of good intentions, if there is no investment, before long there will be no savings.

317. Investing is like planting a tree.

The tree, which has the potentials of becoming a forest, far out-grows the initial seed sown.

318. Apart from reproducing itself, money invested will empower you for multiple streams of income.

319. Wealth does not just happen. It is created, and it can be destroyed.

320. Just like everything created or made was made from a raw material or more, wealth also has materials for its creation. All those materials put together are what I call ‘Recipe for Wealth Creation’.

321. Nobody goes for what he does not want. You must decide to create lasting wealth before it can become a reality.

322. Decision is what sets you on sail the voyage of wealth creation.

323. Determination should not be mistaken for decision. There are people who made decisions, but could not follow the decision through to the point of birthing a reality. What determination does is to give decision a drive.

324. DECISION backed up with DETERMINATION is what births ACTUALISATION. 325. No man is more than his thoughts, and no man will rise above his thought level.

326. To create wealth, you must think wealth.

327. What we call poverty is a state of the mind, not just a physical condition.

328. Poverty exists in the mind. It is the poverty of the mind that translates to the pocket.

329. SIX and ‘HALF A DOZEN’ are not the same. While six is an independent variable, ‘half a dozen’ is a variable dependent on another variable - a dozen.

330. While the poor will beg fish, the wealthy at heart will ask to be taught how to fish. While the poor will beg money, the wealthy at heart will ask to be employed or, better still, create employment for themselves, no matter how little. It is only a matter of time before the wealth in them translates from the heart to reality.

331. While the poor will ask for ‘STOMACHFRASTRUCTURE’ (food and basics for survival), the wealthy will ask for INFRASTRUCTURE - an enabling environment to invest in the society, so they can generate revenue that will eventually take care of their stomachs and better the lot of people.

332. Whereas some will protest the sale of a small book at a high price, saying, “The book is not worth the price,” a wealthy at heart will think, “I am worth more than the price,” so he buys the book because of the knowledge it will afford him.

333. To create wealth, you must change the way you think (and what you think), if need be.

334. When you begin to develop a ‘wealth and abundance mind set’ instead of a ‘lack mentality,’ you are on your way to wealth creation.

335. There is a way wealthy people talk. There is also a way poor people talk. The poor talk lack, while the wealthy talk abundance.

336. The poor talk problems, while the wealthy talk solutions.

337. There is an unwritten speech syllabus or register for the wealthy, such that you can tell when they talk. Same for the poor.

338. Words are hard currencies.

339. Words are a powerful raw materials for birthing realities.

340. If you must join the league of the wealthy, you must learn to talk like them (positively), even if your present realities do not portray it. It will only be a matter of time before you become one of them for real.

You will succeed.

Apple, SAP to develop IPhone apps for businesses

A

pple Inc. and SAP SE are joining up to deliver software for iPhones and iPads, opening a new avenue for Apple to reach businesses at a time when sales of its mobile devices have tapered.

SAP will develop hundreds of apps specifically designed for Apple’s iOS operating system for doctors, industrial field technicians and retailers.

The two companies will release a software development kit by the end of the year to let SAP customers and consultants write native apps for Apple devices that take advantage of features such as location and touch sign-in. The deal has the potential to attract millions of software developers and sell millions of devices, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and SAP CEO Bill McDermott said in an interview.

“I think back to 2008 when we opened the App Store for consumers,” Cook said. “This is sort of the equivalent of that for the enterprise space.

Enterprise has not really taken advantage of all the great things that happen with mobility.”

The agreement, which the two CEOs sealed last October, would give Apple access to tens of thousands of companies that run SAP’s business software and some 2.5 million developers who customize its programs, which manage operations including accounting, manufacturing, sales and human resources.

Apple two years ago teamed with International Business Machines Corp. to create dozens of iOS apps for industries including energy, health care and air travel. Last year, the Cupertino, Californiabased company inked an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. that makes it easier for white-collar workers to take calls and videoconferences from iPads and iPhones. In September, Apple introduced the iPad Pro, a tablet for business users with a bigger screen and a stylus.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Inter Products Link Ltd, Shuaibu Bello and Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Heritage Bank, S/West, Mrs. Mary Akpobome, during the launching of Oyo State Agricultural Initiative by the bank…Tuesday

Union Bank floats savings scheme for 11 northern states

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he Union Bank of Nigeria PLC recently floated a savings scheme that would help support the economic transformation and growth of the 11 states in northern region of the country.

The scheme tagged ‘UnionKorrect-Dai-Dai’ targets about 30,000 indigent people in each of the 11 states of the region to help redress the economic hardship in the area, especially among low income earners. The chairman of the initiative, Arasaratnam Sheahan, said in Gombe State at the official launching of the scheme, that it was conceived as a strategic initiative to transform the people’s saving culture. The states expected to benefit from the scheme are Gombe, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Kebbi, Katsina, Gombe and Zamfara.

“The scheme will help the common man to save at least N1, 000 per month with the assurance of earning cash benefits from the saving every quarter,” Sheahan explained.

He said the first phase of the scheme, which would last for two years, has an open period of six months from the time of official launching for over 900 beneficiaries to enrol expected to receive cash benefits within the period of the programme.

The branch manager of Union Bank, Gombe branch, Fatai Baruwa, said the programme was coming at the right time when people were facing hardship and difficult times as a result the current economic down turn.

Baruwa said the Union Bank was aiming at providing services geared towards building not only the economic strength of Nigeria’s northern region, but also to bring about economic benefits to the growth of the country at large.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

NSEASI advances by 2.55% WtD F

ollowing the decision of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to maintain status quo on equities in the MSCI Nigeria index, or composite indices which Nigeria is a component, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NSEASI) hiked by 2.55% WtD in the 4-trading day week. Volume and value of transactions declined by 24.72% and 9.92% WtD accordingly, while there were fortyone (41) gainers as against twenty-five (25) laggards in the week to peg the market’s breadth at 1.64x.

TIGERBRANDS led the advancers in the week, after the counter appreciated by 31.68% WtD to close at NGN3.99. Other top counters on the gainers’ list included, AIRSERVICE (+20.41%), ETERNA (+17.39%), STERLNBANK (+16.31%) and NEIMETH (+13.04%). Conversely, PORTPAINT, TRANSEXPR, CCNN, NASCON and FIDSON led the laggards, with respective losses of 9.58%, 8.85%, 6.17%, 6.09% and 5.14% WtD. Earnings releases continued to trickle in, with Ashaka Cement Plc. and Vitafoam Plc., amongst other companies, filing performance scorecards. ASHAKACEM reported its 3M2016 result, indicating Revenue and Profit-After-Tax (PAT) declines of 20.69% and 75.10% YoY respectively; while VITAFOAM’s 6M2016 scorecard showed Revenue and PAT drops of 23.42% and 26.39% YoY correspondingly.

We anticipate that trading activities in the coming week might sustain the current momentum, given that the much awaited 2016 Budget has been signed by the President. We expect investors to key into the counters of companies that are positioned to benefit from the infrastructural and developmental investments of the federal government.

This report reviews events in the current week, with emphasis on different segments of the financial market, while presenting our expectations for the coming week.

Fixed Income: Naira holds value at NGN197.33/USD The average Nigerian Interbank Offer Rate settled at 8.92% mid-week, indicating a year-to-date change of 2.79%, -0.29%, 0.20% and -0.40% for the CALL, 1M, 3M and 6M rates accordingly. The average Money market rate in the week advanced by 0.29% to peg at 3.83%, as the financial system liquidity remained depressed, following the sustained frequency of OMO auctions by the CBN. Also, as at mid-week, the average yield across Nigerian Treasury Bills instruments pegged at 8.23% (-0.20%), following the mixed sentiments that prevailed during the first two trading days of the week. This could be related to the Primary Market Auction that was held during the week.

The Treasury bond space opened the week on a relatively weak note, as average yield advanced northwards across most instruments. At the close of the week, the average offer yield across instruments pegged at 12.57%, implying a week-onweek change of 0.36%.

The domestic currency held steady across board, fixing at NGN322/USD at the parallel market, and NGN197.38/USD at the Inter-bank space.

We opine that the currently weak sentiment towards fixed income assets might persist in the coming week, thus further pressuring the yield on fixed income instruments northward.

Agric. Sector: Records Negative WoW Performance The Agric sector closed the week in the negative territory, as measured by our MERI-AGRI index which waned by 0.07%

…as MSCI withholds the hammer on Nigerian equities

MERI-HLTH index.

NEIMETH (+13.04%) and MAYBAKER (+5.00%) were the two advancers in the week, while GLAXOSMITH and FIDSON waned by 4.97% and 5.14% WoW accordingly.

Investors’ bias for the sector have, thus far, been largely skewed towards companies with fair quarterly earnings performances. We nonetheless envisage bargain hunting activities on some sector stocks in the week ahead.

week-on-week, to peg the year-to-date return at 2.49%. Sector breadth settled at 0.5x on the back of a lone gainer and two (2) decliners.

The sectors’ showing during the week was largely due to the negative WoW performances recorded by LIVESTOCK (-1.23%) and PRESCO (-0.17%), which tempered the positive impact of OKOMUOIL’s 0.38% WoW return. ELLAHLAKES and FTNCOCOA stayed flat week-on-week retaining respective market prices of NGN4.26 and NGN0.50 accordingly.

During the week, FTNCOCOA released its Q1:2016 performance scorecard which revealed declines in revenue and profitafter-tax of 11.99% and 1,793.32% respectively. This unimpressive bottom line performance was due to the 22.29% rise in Operating Expenses, combined with 93.10% hike in finance costs.

We remain upbeat on the performance of the sector over the short to medium term, given the relevance of the Agricultural sector to economic growth and the increased focus of the current administration on same. However, we reiterate that investment decisions should be based on critical evaluation of company fundamentals.

Banking sector: Positive Return Supported by Sector Heavyweights The banking sector advanced this week, gaining 2.92% WoW to bring the YtD return to -9.48% as measured by our MERI-BNK index. There were seven (7) gainers and seven (7) decliners, pegging the sector’s breadth at 1.00x.

STERLNBANK led the gainers after recording a 16.31% price appreciation. The ticker was closely followed by ZENITHBANK, UBN, and GUARANTY which recorded respective gains of 7.09%, 6.52%, and 4.99%. On the other side, FIDELITYBK (-5.83%), UNITYBNK (-5.71%), ETI (-3.33%), and FCMB (2.94%) populated the decliners list.

We see the momentum garnered by a few of the sector heavyweights being maintained over the first few trading days of next week, which may be sufficient to push the sector to a positive return in the coming week. Thereafter, we anticipate that some investors will take profit, which would consequently result in prices falling back by the end of the coming week.

Consumer Goods: TIGERBRANDS Returns 253.10% YtD The Consumer Goods sector of the Nigerian Stock market returned 3.26% gain WoW, pushing the year-to-date return to -15.44%, as measured by the NSEFBT10 index. This performance was buoyed by the nine (9) advancers recorded as aginst five (5) decliners, with sector breadth at the end of the week pegging at 1.80x.

The advancers’ chart featured TIGERBRANDS, NESTLE, FLOURMILL, CADBURY and UNILEVER, which recorded respective gains of 31.68%, 12.15%, 6.38%, 6.19% and 4.98% WoW. Contrarily, the highest decliners were NASCON (-6.09%), HONYFLOUR (-3.85%), PZ (-3.46%), NB (-0.70%) and UACN (-0.11%) Nestle Nigeria Plc released its 3M2016 result which indicated a 31.12% YoY growth in revenue, and 150.23% YoY and 126.16% YoY hikes in Profit-Before-Tax and Profit-AfterTax accordingly. Contrarily, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc recorded year-on-year declines of 23.42%, 56.50% and 26.39% in revenue, profit before tax and profit after tax accordingly.

We do not anticipate a sustenance of the current positive trend, though we acknowledge that investor’s skepticism towards the sector continues to over shadow the fundamentals of the component companies.

Health Sector: Sector Breadth Settles at Equilibrium The sector breadth settled at equilibrium in the week, as equal (2) number of stocks appreciated and declined amongst the sector counters. Performance of the sector settled at -4.80% WoW as measured by the

Industrial Goods: Sector Remains Resilient The industrial goods sector continued to witness mixed investor sentiments during the week ended. Three stocks apiece recorded gains and losses, resulting in a WoW gain of 2.87% and YtD return of -3.83%.

WAPCO rebounded from heightened investor sell sentiments in the previous week, with a 5.16% gain in share price to NGN71.50. CUTIX and DANGCEM were the other advancers, with respective gains of 4.86% and 2.82% WoW. PORTPAINT emerged as the worst laggard for the week having shed 9.58% WoW to close its share price at NGN2.17, CCNN and BERGER made up the decliners’ list with respective losses of 6.17% and 3.51%.

We envisage that investors will react positively to the recent passage of the 2016 budget in anticipation of increased demand for building materials, as the federal government commences its infrastructural development drive.

Insurance Sector: MANSARD Mars Sector Performance In spite of the positive outing for most sector stocks, with four (4) counters appreciating in value against a lone decliner, the NSEINS10 Index waned by 0.78% WoW, pressuring the sector’s year-to-date return to -7.69%.

Following a 4.91% loss WoW, MANSARD emerged the lone laggard in the sector, trimming its share price to NGN2.13 at the close of the week. Conversely, AIICO led the gainers chart, after the counter appreciated by 2.60% WoW to close at NGN0.79.

The counter was trailed by CUSTODYINS, LAWUNION and CONTINSURE, which recorded respective gains of 2.43%, 2.00% and 1.98%.

Custodian and Allied Plc (CUSTODYINS) released its 3M2016 performance scorecard in the week. Gross Premium Income grew significantly by 44.73% YoY to NGN6.91bn, with Profit-After-Tax also advancing by 3.38% YoY to NGN1.54bn. The significant climb (206% YoY to NGN2.91bn) in claims during the period, was responsible for the marginal growth in bottom-line.

Given the news inflow regarding the eventual signing of the 2016 budget, we expect investors’ optimism to be steered in the coming week, thus bolstering investor activities in the week.

Oil & Gas Sector: Sound Cost Management Salvages ETERNA’s Bottom-Line The NSEOILG5 index hiked by 1.66% WoW as bargain hunting activities spurred FO’s performance at the end of the week, after several days of profit taking. Five (5) stocks appreciated in value against a lone decliner, with the sector breadth pegging at 5.0x.

ETERNA (+17.39% WoW) steered the advancers in the week, to close at NGN2.70.

CONOIL (+4.98% WoW), MOBIL (+4.93% WoW), FO (+2.60% WoW) and TOTAL (+1.82% WoW) were the other gainers.

Conversely, OANDO (-0.22% WoW) was the only decliner.

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faith

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Stay clear of sin

ne day, I was returning home from Secondary School in one of the Riverine towns, and stopped over a town to stay with my teacher who hailed from the town. Then, it was impossible to return home same day for lack of good road. My teacher received me and gave me a room to pass the night.

I was in class one then in 1970.

He gave me a room and in the night gave me, his class one student, a girl to serve me and pass the night with me. I thanked him, but rejected the girl. I was not born again. There was no question of HIV OR AIDS in those days.

Why did I reject that have my first experience with a girl? Was it for fear of pregnancy? Was it a trap for me set by the devil?

Was it because I had a good home training? Did I reject such “Opportunity because I wanted to make heaven? Was it a trial from God to see if He could trust me? Did I reject the girl as a form of righteousness?

By the grace of God, I will attempt to answer these questions to say exactly the reason why. I rejected to stay with a girl for the night when offered to me by my school teacher.

1. I was a young boy

O

Word of Life Bishop. Moses Kattey moseskatteyabp@yahoo.co.uk

0808 770 7486

and women involved in such things.

The environment could have instead, affected me negatively. I had some friends who were in Secondary School, and two female teachers’, just young girls, adopted them as their “children” in their junior class 1 or 2. They were virtually staying with the girls (teachers) who taught them how to sleep with girls.

Each of the girls (teachers) chose each of them. You may call it child abuse but these boys were enjoying it.

What future do you imagine these small boys would have when they grew up?

I saw immorality all around me as I was growing up, yet I rejected that offer. So it was not the issue of good-up-bringing.

5. Was it a trap of the devil to initiate me into immorality and have me under his domain? It could be an avenue for Satan to come inside my life. May be, many not be.

1 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot being of the number of the

If you are looking for opportunity to kill, to steal, to commit adultery or fornication, the devil will present it of 17 years old and was in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War that ended that year 1970. I had no church to attend in the war zone and could not say it was anything related or fear of God. I did not reject the offer because I was bornagain, nor for any religious reason.

2. I did not stay with the girl nor had any dealing with her because I was afraid of pregnancy or having a child from her. No. She could not have traced me if she became pregnant.

3. I had no fear of HIV or AIDs or nay sexual related disease for there was not known to me anything of such them. HIV or AIDS issue come up just recently.

4. It was not because of my up-bringing or environment because all around me were boys and girls, men

twelve (Luke 22:3) One cannot predict what the devil can do once he has possession of someone. Judas Iscariot was an Apostle yet he could not control himself once the devil entered him. But for the grace of God, the devil could not get me and could not understand why and how I rejected that fornication.

6. How do you think the Lord reacted to this?

He knew that I would not succumb because His grace was sufficient for me. I was actually not looking for an opportunity to mess up myself even though I saw immorality all around me. If I had looked for one, I could have had the opportunity.

And truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have opportunity to have returned (Hebrews 11:15) If you are looking for opportunity to kill, to steal, to commit adultery or fornication, the devil will present it. The people of Israel were not looking for opportunity to return to Egypt, so they did not see it. I did not look for opportunity to sin so the Lord did not allow me to sin, and I had no regret till today since 1970 when this incident occurred.

Leading your family joyfully

ne of the true tests of a good leader is the ability to lead joyfully even when faced with challenges. I read a book titled “Leading While Bleeding” and I believe that attitude to lead positively and joyfully should be the aspiration of any family head.

There are moments in life challenges must come.

How do you react when they come? Can you lead your family when as a man you lose your job and means of livelihood? Can you as a single mother lead your family in joy when your plans for your child are aborted through a teenage pregnancy?

Can you as a family head lead your family joyfully through the valley of sicknesses, diseases and death?

As a family leader, you are not only responsible for yourself but for every member of your family.

In the sight of God; you are held accountable for their lives here on earth. I have seen children rebel and question the existence of God when faced with a family problem.

In-depth analysis to the behavior of these children might point to the attitude of their father or mother in their low moments.

Marriage & Family Intimacy

Bishop Charles Ighele holyspiritmissioninc@yahoo.com

07066579379/09098845521 There are two angles to this; there are children and spouses who lose their faith in God during a challenge as a result of the attitude of the family leader. Imagine a man losing his job then sitting home every day lamenting, blaming God, his former boss, the society and entire country for his plight; what attitude do you expect his wife and children to reflect? Imagine a mother question God and blame Him for the loss of a child; how do you expect the other children watching her to hold on to God when they face their own difficulties?

Because your attitude as a family leader is the first point of reference and example for those you are leading, you must be very conscious of your attitude when faced with life’s challenges. Your attitude as a family leader cannot only rob your family of joy but can also place permanent doubts in their

minds about the goodness of God. They actually expect a lot from you probably because to them, heads of families are supposed to lead and not bleed or brood over any circumstance that presents itself around them.

They are just looking up to you as the leader.

Sometimes, the family leader may have a positive and joyful attitude yet the family members still possess a negative attitude.

I remember a family who had believed God for a major financial breakthrough during a financial difficult time. They had prayed and stood on God’s Word but when the time came and they did not receive what they were expecting;the family members were so disappointed and this singular event made some of the children to stop trusting God. Our joy should not be allowed to be pegged on anything. We should learn to be joyful in all situations.

What happens when you are trying to maintain your joy as a family leader but your family members are discouraged as a result of life’s trying moments? Know that as a family leader, it is your responsibility to create a conducive environment for joy to thrive in your family. In doing this, I believe that the job of preparing your family for challenges starts even before they face that challenge.

Know that trials are a part of life and serve to make us stronger. Before they come, start teaching your family on how to maintain a joyful attitude in every situation of life.

When adversity comes, continue to encourage them and remind them of God’s goodness in times past and His promises for the future no matter what the present situation may be. Let your home be that of continuous joy no matter what the economy of your nation is presenting before you and your family. Remember “He hath made every thing beautiful in His time”, Ecclesiastes 3:11 No matter the situation, hold on to your joy and let the joy you have radiate to your family. Be the one to lead them to the source of true joy.

Mystery of Anxiety Bishop John Ogbansiegbe 0803 341 6327 (SMS Only)

When you call with purity “Good cannot lie, he is not a man that he should lie nor the son of an that he should repent of his promises” –Number 23:19 Let therefore build our hope and confidence on the promises of God He said call upon me in the days of trouble and I will deliver thee” The word of God also declared, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto us the heir of promise, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by oath. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie that we have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” – Hebrew 6:17-18.

St Paul asked a question in Roman 8:31-32 and said: “What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

That spared not his own son but delivered him for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Many believers in Christ are nit in the proper spiritual state to call upon God. First, there must be an existing filial relationship (father and son) between you and God, contrary to the provisions of John 8:44 which say “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father of it all.”

These people were created by God, but because of sin, they have a different father, the devil.

This is because they are serving Satan.

Because of sin, Satan and works of darkness in the world God drew a line of demarcation.

Some are God’s children while others are mere creatures, but he hears the prayers of his children particularly.

In St, John’s gospel 1:12, the Lord Jesus Christ declared in his word, “To them that receive him, gave he power to become the sons of God. If you have established

this filial relationship you have a divine impetus and license to call upon him even in your darkest hours as John did and received an automatic answer.

He is capable and able to give the solutions to your problems. He is the uncreated creator, the Ancient of Days, the Rock of Ages, and the Anointed One, the Passover Lamb, the Prince of Peace, the Power of Powers and the God of Wonders.

When you call upon him in purity and holiness, he will hear you faster and better. This was why our Lord Jesus Christ declared in his words, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God,” – Matthew 5:8.

King David even in the height of his kingly glory understood this spiritual fact and declared by the Holy Spirit in the word of God and asked, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand in his holy place.”

By the Holy Spirit, he still answered the questions and said: “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully.”

You can now analyze and examine yourself in the light of these scriptures to know whether you are qualified to call upon him and receive an answer. Are your hands clean? Is your heart pure? As you meditate and think on these Holy Ghost questions, may God hear your prayers, turn your darkest nights into the brightest day and perfect all that concerneth you in the name of Jesus Christ.

King David even in the height of his kingly glory understood this spiritual fact and declared by the Holy Spirit in the word of God

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016

faith

Insight

Rev. Femi Akinola www.thehebrewsng.com

01-790 3163; 0808 584 5864

The power of your venison

“H

onor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12 This is the word of God to everyone. ‘Land’ in this scripture could represent your destiny. So many have failed in destiny and died untimely because they took this commandment of God with levity. Some even got into the land; in other words, they went to school, studied the right course, graduated and were rightly positioned but because they disobeyed God in this one area, their lives were cut short.

Honoring your parents has nothing to do with age; that you are old does not mean you shouldn’t fulfil your obligation to them in honoring and providing for them whether they are rich or poor.

You are expected to get your parents blessing upon your life, marriage, work and family. But the real blessing is never released on a platter of gold; not because your parents don’t want to release it, no! But because such level of blessing must be provoked (by deliberate act of sacrifice).

So many stingy and unwise allowed their parents to depart this world without releasing the blessing on them and as a result, brought very intense suffering on themselves. Don’t allow your parents to leave this world without giving you their blessing.

Parents are like gods on earth because God Himself, ‘honors’ their words/ prayers irrespective of whether or not they are born. Those who understand this mystery don’t suffer what others do. “...And make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Gen 27:1-4 The blessing of your parent is not free, it comes with a price and that’s why not all children get it. Isaac asked his son Esau to go get him that thing such as he loved. That was the price Esau was expected to pay that would provoke the release of the blessing. Isaac was old but his love for his kind of venison was still intact. No matter how old your parents are, they still love their venison. Rebecca understood the power and mystery behind the

transaction that was about to take place that was why she instigated the move for Jacob to collect the blessing instead of Esau, Isaac called Esau, but Jacob, through the help of his Mother was faster so he got the blessing.

May you be the one who would be smart to collect the blessing. You must learn from Esau’s bitter experience especially if you are the first in that family, so as to avoid bitter tears later in life (vs 34,35,38). Many are crying today like Esau because their parents have given their blessing to their younger siblings.

There are things you must give to your parents that would make them release the blessing from their spirit and deepest part of their being on you. Your prayers as a believer are not enough to earn you parental blessing. That’s the foolishness that has stagnated many over the years. Go and do the right thing, buy a car for your parents if you are so blessed, build a house for them if you can. Locate what they love and keep giving it to them until they release the blessing on you.

The blessing of your parents can make your journey through life smoother.

Some, instead of receiving blessing from their parents, have provoked curses from them. Such people need to go and apologise and then bless their parents. And if, on the other hand, such parents are dead, then you must locate a spiritual father for divine instructions on what to do.

“Reuben, you are my firstborn...Unstable as water, you shall not excel...”Gen 49:3-4 Jacob cursed Reuben and his life became a struggle, because the curse of a father on a son takes effect as much as the blessing. In like manner, in Deuteronomy 33:6, Moses made a pronouncement of release over Reuben not as a biological father but as a spiritual one, and thus rescued him from the curse of his biological father. The spiritual rules over the physical, if your biological father is no longer alive, locate a spiritual father and begin to give him his venison so that he can release the blessing on your life.

So many stingy and unwise allowed their parents to depart this world without releasing the blessing on them and as a result, brought very intense suffering on themselves

‘We still celebrate Jonathan as our hero’ How did you manage to achieve so much with your ministry?

God is doing his work by himself. And recently we have been working on our new site. Very soon, we will be out of here. Our new site will soon be ready for occupation. God has been doing the work by himself.

There is nothing like magic here. God is the one doing everything. God is bringing the members because when you have a testimony you must tell your neighbour and if your neighbour has a testimony she tells the other neighbour. So that is how God has been doing it.

Is there any particular work that God used you to do that people have heard that makes them want to come closer?

I cannot count. Country prophecies, state prophecies, village prophecies, prophecies that have to do with countries that have come to pass and for that reason, people must come looking for solution in different places, different states, different countries and by doing that people are coming.

Why didn’t you prophesy on the last governorship election?

I did not prophesy anything concerning the state.

Nothing so special because I know that it will not really go because politicians you cannot predict them because they can use money and sort themselves out. I didn’t come out to say anything, especially about the election.

What was your vision concerning the country?

I said it before the election that we will face problems and trials. I even mentioned this fuel issue. I said the fuel issue is going to last for up to six months. Nigerians will suffer because of fuel and suffer for other things.

And that is exactly what is happening now. But I believe that God will save in this country.

You were always saying that Goodluck Jonathan was going to win. What actually happened along the line?

Our prophecies and our prayers belong to Goodluck and as you can see even Nigerians and the country and the state still have Goodluck and we still enjoy the dividends of democracy during his tenure. We even prefer it more than what is happening now. We prophesied that Goodluck will return but then the manipulations that are politics did not al-

The General Overseer of Divine Winners Ministry International, Bayelsa State, Prophet Confidence Ozor, who leads a fast growing prophetic and deliverance churches, takes a look at the progress the ministry has made in this interview with Pauline Onyibe Excerpts: Before you get to the top, there must be challenges.

If there are no challenges, progress. If you are angry that people are gossiping you, mocking you that mean you are not prepared to grow. But any time you say I want to grow, there will be gossip, and there will be battles, before you finally get to the position that God prepared for you.

Elisha received the mantle, on his way back, river Jordan blocked him. In the journey of success, there must be many River Jordans along the line but then were God destined you to be, you must be there no matter the battle.

Ozor low him to return. And even at that we still celebrate him as a hero.

And in my heart he is still my president.

Did you foresee the current economic hardship in the country and how did you prepare your members for the hard times?

They are equally members of the society. I did not see anything and I did no talk about it. I only said what will happen this year, about fuel and about the sufferings that people are going through now in Nigeria.

What is your advice for youths in Bayelsa in the face of crumbling system, and increasing crime?

We should go to God in prayer as long as Bayelsa is concerned. Because one thing with politicians both Nigerians and Bayelsa, any time you give them prophecy and invite them, they will not come. When we pray and prophesy and invite them to come back, they will not come back to follow up the prophecy or to do prayers. We only need prayers in Bayelsa, nothing more. I believe that God will come to the rescue of Bayelsa state.

How should the issue of Fulani herdsmen be contained?

That is what the bible said about the end time. In the end time, you begin to experience different things.

A lot of things will begin to crop up here and there.

A lot of disasters will come up out here and there. And the whole thing is what Christ told us will happen in the scriptures before he

will come. As you can see, all of them are beginning to happen. That really means that very soon and soonest the trumpet might sound and we will see the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. On that issue you will discover that the devil has no more time. He is creating different things in the state and in the country. Just to kill people. So the country needs prayers. The state needs prayers to cleanse so many things that are happening in the state and in the country.

Some people say their action could lead to Islamisation of Nigeria. What is your take on this?

Nigeria is not Moslem country. Nigeria is a Christian country. The Bible said surely they will gather but if their gathering is not of God, they will scatter. May be they will gather, they will try their best. They will do all sort of things but God will surely defeat them.

Where do you foresee the country in another three years before Buhari rounds up?

The Bible says in the Book of Proverbs twenty eight from verse 28, that when the evil men are in power, the righteous will suffer. And when they fall from power, the righteous will rise and shine. God will help us and give us good leaders.

What do you think of El Rufai’s anti Public Preaching Bill in Kaduna State?

El Rufai is making himself a Pharaoh in Kaduna State.

And you know the end of Pharaoh.

What challenges most confront your ministry so far?

So what has been your most memorable moment?

The Bible says and ye shall suffer for a while and after awhile, he will settle you.

In the work, there is settlement from above. Men that you prayed for may not remember you but the day God will remember you; he can use any body to wipe away your tears.

Also the Bible said it is not good for a man to be alone. Since I found my wife, it is a moment that if I remember, there is joy in my heart.

What is your favourite food?

My favourite food is indomie.

What is your favourite colour?

My favourite colour is green.

Where do you intend to see the church to be in another five years?

In another five years from now, by the grace of God, I expect my church to be in every corner of Nigeria and abroad.

But why have you not gotten other branches in Yenagoa?

The church has grown so big. I have not received a message to get a branch in Bayelsa State. But I have branches in Lagos in Annaba state.

What of that your charity organisation?

I’m running a helping hand home.

How far has it gone?

It is still growing. Helping hand is where we take care of widows, the poor and the needy. They come once in a while and we share gift items and money for them.

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SUNDAY MAY 8, 2016, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

NEWS EXTRA

Buhari to attend anti-graft summit in London

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari will Tuesday travel to London to participate in the international Anti-Corruption Summit which will be held in the British capital on Thursday.

President Buhari will play a “prominent part” in the summit which will be hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron of Great Britain with many other Heads of State and Government in attendance, a statement on Saturday signed by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said.

President Buhari will, ahead of the summit’s opening, deliver a keynote address titled: “Why We Must Tackle Corruption Together” at a pre-summit conference of development partners, the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, Transparency International and other civil society groups on Wednesday.

“The president is one of

the world leaders scheduled to speak at the opening session of the Anti-Corruption Summit with others, including Prime Minister Cameron and the President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. “Thereafter, President Buhari will join other participating heads of State and Go1vernment at special plenary sessions on Exposing Corruption, Tackling Corruption and Driving out Corruption.

“In his address to the summit and interactions with other participating leaders, President Buhari will urge the international community to move faster on the dismantling of safe havens for the proceeds of corruption and the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.

“The President will also reaffirm his administration’s unwavering commitment to the fight against corruption and the Federal Government’s readiness to partner

with international agencies and other countries to identify, apprehend and punish corrupt public officials.

“President Buhari’s delegation to the Summit will include the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Alhaji Abubakar Malami and the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr.

Ibrahim Magu. “Before returning to Abuja on Friday, May 13, 2016, the President is expected to have a separate meeting with Prime Minister Cameron to discuss ongoing Nigeria-Britain collaboration in the war against corruption and terrorism, as well as other issues, including trade and economic relations between both countries,” the statement said.

CBN Pensioners’ Club gets exco

A

new set of executives of the Central Bank of Nigeria Pensioner’s Club, Lagos Chapter has been elected with Alhaji Tijani Abimbowo as Chairman and Mr. Charles E. Okwuos as deputy.

In an election held at the Club House, CBN Learning Centre, Satellite Town during the 246th monthly general meeting of club, Mr. Ayodele Ade Akinsowon emerged General

Secretary and Dr. Kassim Achomhi Assistant Secretary.

Others are Mr. Edwin Oroh, treasurer, Prince Tunji Agunbiade, Financial Secretary, Mr. Godfrey Emiator, P.R.O. Yinusa O. Hussein, Mrs. Mary Inyang, Welfare Officers and Mr. Alli O. Daudu and Alhaji Yakubu Musa as Provosts. The officers will run the club for the next two years

FUTA students to represent Nigeria in Bulgaria Mojeed Alabi

T

he team from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, at this year’s edition of the 8th National Mathematics Competition for University Students (2016 NAMCUS) in Nigeria, which took place in Abuja, have been crowned the best in the country.

This is even as the feat has earned the university the slot to represent Nigeria at the International Mathematics Competition (IMC) being organised by the University College, London and holding in America University, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria between July 25 and 29 2016.

The annual Mathematics competition in Nigeria, which earned them the ticket to Bulgaria, was organised by the National Mathematical Centre.

The team, which was represented by four stu-

dents from the university’s Mathematics Department, comprised Michael Omolaja (500-level), who clinched a gold medal and the title of Best Student Mathematician across Nigerian universities; Mary Akinade and Segun Ofe, (both 500-level) who won silver medals and Desmond Dike, a 300 level student who picked a bronze medal.

Two lecturers from the Mathematics Department, Dr. Babatope Omolofe and Mr. Ayodeji Afolabi, had supervised the team.

They came first from a pool of 24 competing universities with 96 students which earned them a place in the international competition.

The international competition will consist of two sessions of five hours each with problems from the field of Algebra, Real and Complex Analysis, Geometry and Combinatorics with about 80 countries participating.

My kidnappers trailed me for two months – Anisulowo Why did you go to farm on the day you were abducted, specifically Wednesday 27th April?

It rained a day before and so, I thought that it would be good to go and plant maize on the farm, because the soil would have been softened.

It was reported that when you were abducted by a four-man gang wielding guns and sword, they took you away on an Okada, using a hood to cover your head?

That was true. They put me on their motorcycle, they used a cloth to cover my face, but I told them that I could no longer see.

They then used the farm cap I put on to cover my face.

Didn’t you think these people may have been trailing you for some time?

The kingpin of the gang told me that they have been trailing me for about two months, before they finally succeeded in abducting me.

Did they give reason for kidnapping you?

Yes, their kingpin said they heard that I am very rich. They said they were told I had houses in London, Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State. They even said I had foreign account. But I told them I don’t have any house in Lagos and that I don’t have any foreign account.

They told me I was a former Senator and a former minister, and they wanted to share out of my wealth.

But I told them I was a minister over 20 years ago and did not loot the treasury.

And that I was a Senator representing Ogun West Senatorial District at the Senate between 2003 and 2007. I told them I am now a farmer.

What was the first ransom they demanded from you, and what was your response?

First, they demand N100million ransom, and I told them I don’t have huge sum of money. They started threatening me; that then they would hold me for long if I don’t

Former Minister of State for Education, Sen. Iyabo Anisulowo, in this interview relieves her experience in the hands of kidnappers. KUNLE OLAYENI brings the excerps. provide the ransom. They even suggested to me that as a former Senator, I should call the current Senators in the Senate, that they should contribute N1m each, and then call members of the House of Representatives to also give N500,000 each. They said the sum total would be more than N100million.

When they heard that the governor of Ogun State shown interest in my case, they now raised it to N200million.

Did you or your family give them any ransom?

Though the kidnappers were scrolling my phone and asking me whether I don’t have anyone who they could call to pay the ransom, until I gained Anisulowo my freedom we did not pay any ransom.

Where were you kept throughout your one-week ordeal in the kidnappers’ den?

I was kept in the forest throughout and at every point three of the kidnappers were keeping watch over me. One was armed with gun and another one with knife, and the other one was responsible for going to buying me water.

In your first interview at the Government House on Tuesday night, you said you did not eat there but drank only water. Why did you choose to go only on water?

I refused to take the food offered me.

They brought amala in nylon, they brought eba, but since I did not know how they prepared it, I refused to eat it. I only demanded for water, and they were buying two bottles of eva water for me every day. That was what I survived on.

those keeping watch over me would be smoking weed (Indian hemp) and the smoke would cover everywhere.

Did you ever think you will be rescued alive while in captivity?

I knew I would not die there, because I reminded God to remember the role I played in the creation of the two Yewa Local Governments (South and North), and I was held captive within the local government areas. And God did hear my prayer.

Could you recognise the location you were taken to on the day you were kidnapped?

Though it was inside the forest, I could recognise that it was Igan Okoto, then later to Aiyetoro, later Obada Idieme in Imeko Afon Local Government before I was moved to Gbegbinlawo in Abeokuta North. As the security men were closing in on them, they kept moving me from one place to the other. There was a day I was moved four times. They were moving me on a motorcycle. At times, we would be four on the motorcycle.

Were you given mat to sleep on in the forest?

Nobody gave me any mat. I slept on leaves and palm fronds were used as my pillow. I was exposed to the harsh weather.

The first night it rained, it drenched me, and when it was sunny, it came directly on me. In the night, I didn’t sleep because

Did you sustain any injury during your abduction?

Yes, I got injured on the motorcycle, the hot silencer gave a burn on my right leg. There was a time, myself and my captors fell on the motorcycle, because the terrain was a thick forest, full of trees. At times, I would hear songs from a church close to where we were, but nobody could imagine someone could be in the thick bush nearby. At times, it would be call to prayers from a mosque. It was a harrowing experience. I would spend eight hours on ground, eight hours standing and use another eight hours to pray.

How were you rescued last Tuesday?

Perhaps, my abductors knew the game was up. So that day they did not buy me the two bottled water they usually gave me daily. The pressure from the security agents - federal, state and the vigilante - was too much for them. So they brought me out, and they led me to the road and told me how I would trace my way to Gbegbinlawo village. That was how I walked to the village. I went to the palace of the traditional ruler there, it was there the wife gave me the cloth that I wore to the Government House.

SUNDAY

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

Leicester mark victory party in style p.55

Oshiomhole unhappy with Sports Minister p.55

We won’t allow Lobi Stars to die like BCC Lions

SPORTS

Dapo Sotuminu

F

ormer Super Eagles striker, Ade Akinbiyi, who wore jersey number 22 during his days at Leicester City, predicted some 14 years ago that, The Foxes would sometime in the future become a great club in the English League.

The 41-years-old Akinbiyi, was born on October 10, 1974 in London Borough of Hackney, had a much-travelled career with many different clubs with transfer fees totalling more than £11.5 million during his career. He was at a time Leicester City’s record signing at £5.5 million.

The soccer star qualified to play for the Nigeria national football team through his Nigerian parents, and earned one cap for Nigeria in 1999 in a friendly game against Greece.

Ten months after arriving at Wolves, as a result of his fine season, Akinbiyi was snapped up by Premier League side Leicester City, who splashed out a record £5.5 million for his services.

He had big boots to fill in the East Midlands as he was tasked with replacing Emile Heskey, who had moved to Liverpool for £11 million.

Despite failing to live-up to expectations, scoring only 11 goals in 58 league appearances, Akinbiyi,

53

p.55

Deputy Sports Editor Dapo Sotuminu daposotu@yahoo.com © Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Eagles’ star Akinbiyi predicted Leicester’s greatness in 2002 while on the verge of leaving the club predicted that Leicester City would become a great club that would be reckoned with in years to come. He was, however, not specific when the team would attain such greatness.

The player said: “The funniest

I’ve heard about myself was when I was travelling to sign for Leicester City. The deal didn’t work out at first and not because of money. On the radio they were saying that was the reason and I was sitting in the car at the time thinking ‘this is laughable’. Some of the things the press make up are unbelievable.”

After reaching double figures in his first season with the Foxes, Ade had some particularly strong criticism to overcome in 2001/02. The season was to end in relegation for the club and in the first few months of the campaign Ade was going through something of a barren spell. In a 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool he missed three good opportunities and his luck was also out when going through one-on-one at Blackburn in the next game.

And a third clean sheet of the season helped lift Leicester off the bottom of the table to 17th. Once Akinbiyi had sent Filbert Street into raptures with his somewhat fortuitous strike.

His spell at Leicester hit rock bottom in a 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool. He missed four easy chances, including a one from six yards in the last minute. He was booed by Leicester fans whose patience with Akinbiyi had run out. Soon after, he scored his first goal of the season in a crucial 1-0 win at home to Sunderland. This feat prompted him to say that: “hopefully this will start a flood of goals for me.”

Leicester transferred Akinbiyi to Crystal Palace for £2.2m in February 2002, after he played 58 matches and scored 11 goals.

The Nigerian’s playing days are now over following a career that began at Norwich City and finished at Colwyn Bay, with stops along the way at Hereford, Brighton, Gillingham, Bristol City, Wolves, Leicester, Crystal Pal-

ace, Stoke, Burnley, Sheffield United, Houston Dynamo and Notts County.

Since retiring, Ade Akinbiyi has been working as a football consultant with a particular strength in talent identification.

He is currently the forwards coach at Skrill Conference North side Colwyn Bay and has high hopes of progressing up the ladder.

“It could take five, six, ten years. I will always strive to reach where I want to go,” Akinbiyi said.

He has also been working as a consultant in Africa where he has worked in Nigeria and Ghana with talented youths who are looking to further their football careers within Europe.

A lot of money has changed hands for footballer Ade Akinbiyi. He’s played in the premiership for Leicester and Crystal Palace and internationally for his parents’ native Nigeria. In January 2014, Ade, lost his father.

He was devastated, and it wasn’t until later he found out he’d died of prostate cancer.

His dad had kept it to himself. Ade talks about this huge shock, how it’s changed his life and how he feels about his own risk of prostate cancer. Ade is married, with three children and lives in Manchester.

He was in Nigeria at the time- he’d spend some time there each year, sometime in the UK. I got a call to say he’d passed away, but it was only when I went out and saw a copy of the death certificate that I found out it was prostate cancer.

“The hospital out in Lagos was not the best for telling us things – I did wonder if the doctors hadn’t known what was wrong with him, but now I don’t think so. He’d been ill for quite a while, he must have had tests and just decided to keep it quiet.”

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Sport

SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016 SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Nigeria premier football league update

NPFL Fixtures May 8, 2016 Heartland

vs

Kano Pillars

vs

El-Kanemi Warriors Ikorodu United

Pleteau United

vs

Sunshine Stars

Rangers

vs

3SC

Warri Wolves

vs

Rivers United

Abia Warriors

vs

Giwa FC

Akwa United

vs

IfeanyiUbah FC

Lobi Stars

vs

MFM FC

Enyimba

vs

Niger Tornadoes

NPFL League Table

Efugh: El-Kanemi won’t escape defeat in Owerri Stories Dapo Sotuminu

H

eartland Football club of Owerri captain and right back, Chinedu Efugh, has said that the club would definitely take all three points at stake against visiting El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in the matchday 15 game. Winning that match is a certainty for his side.

“Surely, we will beat El Kanemi Warriors on Sunday for the three points

at stake. The encounter will not be an easy one since the Warriors have a highly experienced coach in Ladan Bosso, but we must find a way to claim the points.”

He added: “The victory will boost our confidence as well as put us in a good position to fight for more valuable points to improve our standing on the league table.”

Heartland FC are 11th on the 20-team top flight on 18 points from possible 42 in the 14-week old league.

Efugh noted that Heartland FC are on the right path to challenge for the top flight title despite the initial inconsistency since the league kicked off this season.

“It’s not a hopeless situation for us at Heartland despite the mixed fortune in our performances so far in the ongoing league season. The loss against Ikorodu United is one of those bad results in football. We must forge ahead in the league race.

I know we will triumph

over the recent setback to bounce back to reckoning once we are able to gather ourselves together do the needful the positive results will start coming.”

The team captain identified the fact that, the club has a problem that is not noticeable to the general public, which the players will also want to keep as the club secret. It is a problem that will soon be over a situation that would enable Heartland to pick vital points in away games.

Team

MP

PTS

1

Rangers Int’l

14

27

2

Kano Pillars

14

24

3

Abia Warrior

13

24

4

IfeanyiUbah

14

23

5

Wikki

13

22

6

Lobi Stars

14

22

7

Rivers United

14

22

8

MFM

14

22

9

Warri Wolves

13

19

10

Akwa United

14

18

Returnee MFM striker promises Lobi Stars hell

M

ountain of Fire and Miracles Football Club, MFM FC returnee striker Musa Newman, has promised defenders of Lobi Stars of Makurdi hell when the two teams clash today at the Aper Aku Stadium in the matchday 15 in the Nigeria Premier Football League.

Newman, who was sidelined in two straight matches by injury, said he is happy going back

Okpodu: Grabbing one point in Kano good for Ikorodu

T

he Technical Director of the Ikorodu United Football Club, Sam Okpodu, has disclosed the club’s determination to pick at least one point from today’s fixture against Kano Pillars which has been slated for the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.

He said: “Ikorodu United are in Kano to try our best to pick at worst one point from the match against Kano Pillars. And if my boys can create the desired goal scoring chances, it is possible we pick the three points at stake not minding the fact that we are playing on away ground.

“Before our trip to Kano, the players’ total focus was geared towards getting

l As Pillars seek succour against Oga Boys a positive result in Kano.

Our greatest motivation is the fact that we have proven a point that we could convincingly win a game the way we did against highly rated Heartland FC of Owerri, but the most important thing about it all is that fact that we must sustain this momentum.

“The players and the coaching crew have resolved and have a general belief that a good outing in Kano would go a long way in helping the team escape relegation as it would boost the team’s winning mentality. We know the opponents, Kano Pillars and the environment will be quite different compared with

what obtained in the clash against Heartland,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kano Pillars players believe strongly that after the home crash against Enyimba International FC of Aba right in front of their home fans in Kano, the only succor they can give their bitter supporters is to record a convincing victory against visiting Lagos team, Ikorodu United.

The players said, the scandalous loss to Enyimba was a big threat on Pillars’ aspiration to win this year’s league title which would take them back to the continent as they promised their fans at the beginning of the season. They added that

only a victory against relegated threatened Ikorodu United would revive their title charge before their

Okpodu

fans. They promised to continue to give their best towards winning the trophy at the end of the season.

to Aper Aku Stadium, where he scored his first league goal in the ongoing season against Nasarawa United. In the opening game of the season, Newman scored for the Olukoya Boys in the match that ended 2-1 and also gave a superb assist to Chukwuka Onuwa for the second goal.

He stated that his reaction towards the game is going to be extraordinary as he expect to put up a fantastic performance.

“I will try my best to make sure we get a good result over there by the power of God Almighty on our side. We are going all out for the three points. I pray and I wish that my goals will count again on that ground because that was the same ground I scored my first league goal this season.

“We are going back there this weekend with the same spirit because in our training sessions the boys have shown some fighting spirit and I believe the coaches too have confidence in the boys.”

Due to a one-match suspension, the player did not feature for MFM in their last league match against Akwa United which they won by three goals to nothing at the Agege Stadium.

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SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY, 8 MAY 2016

Sport

Leicester mark victory party in style

Oshiomhole unhappy with Sports Minister Charles Ogundiya Auchi

T

he Executive Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, on Saturday slammed the Sports Minister, Barrister Solomon Dalung, for his absence at the just concluded 4th Okpekpe 10km Race held in Edo State.

Oshiomole noted that sports would indeed thrive more if the rural dwellers are encouraged to participate in sports at the grassroots, as he called on the Sports Minister to always lead by example.

“Today we don’t have the privilege of hosting the Minister and I think that was a shame,” Oshiomole said.

“Nigerians in rural area are the forgot-

T

he party was well underway in Leicester, but the newly-crowned Premier League champions showed no hangover as they beat Everton 3-1 at the King Power.

Leading marksman Jamie Vardy made a goalscoring return, beating Joel Robles after just five minutes. Claudio Ranieri has been hailed the new King in East Midlands, but it was midfielder Andy King who increased the volume in the stadium after 33

minutes when he lashed home with a royal finish inside the box.

Vardy did well to beat the offside trap on 65 minutes and he was brought down in the box

by Matthew Pennington. The England forward stepped up to coolly fire past Robles - his 26th goal for club and country this season - to send the Foxes even further in dreamland.

The home side were awarded another penalty soon after but Vardy opted for power, sending

We won’t allow Lobi Stars to die like BCC Lions

the ball flying into the stands.

Leicester fans cheered ironically as Everton pulled one back in the closing stages of the game, Kevin Mirallas finishing well under Kasper Schmeichel.

Leicester were professional as ever as they put on a show before collecting the Barclays Premier League trophy.

But this was almost a sideshow to the celebrations for the Foxes’ first top-flight title in their 132year history.

Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

T

he chairman of Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi, Engineer Benson Abounu, has said the club would not be allowed to die like the BCC Lions of Gboko which disappeared from the football map of Nigeria year ago due to lack of funds.

The deputy governor of Benue state who gave the assurance on the occasion of the unveiling of a new Logo and four different types of jerseys for Lobi Stars, said the N37 million being paid as monthly salary and allowances of officials and players of the club would be sustained.

He said Samuel Ortom’s admin-

Kenyans win 4th Okpekpe Road race Charles Ogundiya Auchi

I

t was another victorious outing for Kenyan athletes at the fourth edition of Okpekpe 10km Road Race, as they won both the men’s and women’s top prizes at the IAAF Bronze Label Race on Saturday.

From the start of the race, the 22-year-old Simon Cheprot showed admirable composure, running near the front but saving his energy for the latter half, to win his debut race at Okpepke in 29 minutes, 48

seconds ahead of Uganda’s Ismail Juma (30mins:12secs) and Kenya’s Timothy Toroiti.

“I’m really happy to have won the race,” said Cheprot, who admitted afterwards that his winning time was unspectacular. “This is my first time in Nigeria and I am a winner.

The weather was quite humid today and that contributed to the slow time, but in all it was not too bad.”

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Polline Njeru and Ndiema Chemtai won the first and second positions, while Ethiopia’s

Buzunesh Gudet finished third.

The top three finishers were rewarded with the sum of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,000 respectively in both the male and female categories.

Adamu Muazu from Plateau State was the first Nigerian to finish the race in 32mins:36secs, Stephen Joshua (32:37secs) and Emmanuel Gyang (32:39secs) finished second and third respectively. Deborah Pam finished first for Nigeria’s women with Olamide Oluwaseun in second place and Elizabeth Nuhu in third position.

A

and I want the government and other people to come to our aid because it would not be good for me to die in this situation,” she pleaded.

Yekini scored 37 goals in 58 appearances for the Super Eagles and died in May 2012 at the age of 48. He remains the highest goal scorer for the Super Eagles with 37 goals and represented Nigeria in five major tournaments, including two FIFA World Cup competitions in USA ‘94 and France ‘98 respectively.

istration would continue to fund the club until it tops the league table and clinches a continental ticket, maintaining that the club’s watchword would be ‘glory to glory’.

Abounu used the occasion to explain that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, wrongly accused the state government of using part of civil servants bailout funds of N12.5 billion to effect double payment of the salary and allowances of Lobi Stars players and officials not knowing that the N37 million paid twice to the club was in respect of arrears of salaries and allowances owed the workers for two months.

Cameroonian soccer star Ekeng dies on pitch

C

ameroonian international soccer player, Patrick Ekeng, lies on pitch after he collapsed during the match between Dinamo Bucharest and Viitorul Constanta in the Romanian capital of Bucharest on Friday.

Ekeng fell during 69th minute of game and later died in hospital, local media said Ekeng, a 26-year-old midfielder from Cameroon, played for Dinamo Bucha-

Rashidi Yekini’s mum begs govt for help

lhaja Sidikat Yekini, the aged mother of late Super Eagles striker, Rashidi Yekini, has sent a passionate appealed to the federal government through the Sports Ministry to help savage her from untold hardship which has hit her and the family since the death of Yekini, the family bread winner four years ago.

Alhaja Sidikat who now sells bread to survive in Ira Town in Kwara State of Nigeria, said: “My son has served this country,

ten majority, the minister must not sit in the comfort of an office and sermonise sports. We must live by example, that’s why I came to show that when those young men are running, we elders can run too.”

Oshiomole, was part of the VIP race in what would be his last participation as the sitting governor of Edo state.

He appealed to who will be the next governor of the state to continue giving support to the Okpekpe Road race project.

“I believe the next governor of the state will subscribe to the event and put it in his calendar. I also want to implore the organisers to improve on the prize money and also look at the possibility of having a half marathon around the area.

Rashidi Yekini’s mother

WEEKEND RESULTS Barclays Premier League Norwich 0 - 1 Man Utd A’Villa 0 - 0 Newcastle C’Palace 2 - 1 Stoke S’land 3 - 2 Chelsea West Ham 1 - 4 Swansea Leicester 3 - 1 Evertom

rest. His team was playing Viitorul in Bucharest on Friday when he collapsed.

Ekeng fell during the 69th minute of the game and was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead.

The Cameroon Football Federation shared the news on social media. “Lion Patrick Ekeng died ... in full match with his club Dinamo Bucharest,” the federation tweeted.

Solution to Cross Word Puzzle

business Buharinomics hurting Nigeria's economy -Analysts

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FAITH

Sanctity of Truth

SUNDAY

Let there be peace in our land –T.B Joshua

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

N150

SUNDAY, MAY 08, 2016

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Party time as Leicester crowned EPL champions L

eicester City celebrated their coronation as Premier League champions and the first title in their 132-year history with victory over Everton on a day of elation at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester concluded the story that has captured the world's imagination when captain Wes Morgan and manager Claudio Ranieri jointly lifted the Premier League trophy as they completed the journey from relegation battlers and 5,000-1 outsiders to champions in the space of 12 months.

It finished as it started, with a decisive victory inspired by Jamie Vardy.

All that was missing was the glorious sunshine that adorned Leicester's win on the opening day of the season against Sunderland here, way back in August. It rained on

their parade in Leicester, literally, with a spectacular thunderstorm preceding the match.

Not that it mattered terribly. Andrea Bocelli sung; women in burkas waved Leicester City flags; a man in a wheelchair was wearing a Pavarotti mask. Wrong opera singer, but we knew what he meant and where his heart was.

None of the above happens at Manchester United, Chelsea or Manchester City when they win the Premier League.

And just as they did on that first day of the season when they thrashed Sunderland 4-2, it all started in a blur of attacking football led by Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Leicester City have ripped up the rule book with their extraordinary Premier League title win.

Permanent solution to the herdsmen’s scourge

N

Bola Bolawole

obel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has added his influential voice to the growing number of critics of the Fulani herdsmen’s audacity across the land. Last week, WS, as he is fondly called, announced in Abuja at a public function that he, too, had joined the long list of herdsmen’s victims whose property were destroyed and rights and privileges violated.

Couched, as usual, in his difficult-to-decipher language, Soyinka said some herdsmen grazed their cows into his property, leaving behind a trail of destruction and violation.

He said he was not around when the violation happened but that he made enquiries, which confirmed who the culprits were. He then warned that, that incident should be the first and the last of such wilful damage to his property and brazen assault on his peace.

Thank goodness Soyinka was not in when the herdsmen came calling. If he were around, would the “aparo” hunter have encountered the AK-47-wielding herdsmen with Dane guns? Would they have abducted, even killed, him? One thing is sure, Soyinka has a different temper and pedigree from Chief Olu Falae who suffered all indignities at the hands of Fulani herdsmen and lived to tell the story. Had Soyinka come face-to- face with the rampaging Fulani herdsmen, the story, obviously, would have been different.

Fortuitously, the Presidency broke it’s embarrassing but suggestive – as some have said - silence on the herdsmen’s scourge the same day as Soyinka’s rage.

It is 11 months since Buhari came to power and the herdsmen’s scourge had, coincidentally, grown with the enthronement of a fellow Fulani.

Between Jonathan’s procrastination, even denial, of the Chibok girls’ saga and the deafening silence of Buhari on the herdsmen’s atrocities, which is worse? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo counted 18 clear days of Jonathan fiddling while close to 300 Chibok schoolgirls were carted away by insurgents; it took Buhari 11 months before he acted on the Fulani herdsmen’s scourge!

Protests against the dastardly acts of Fulani herdsmen rose to a din in the southern parts of the country before the president acted.

After Falae’s ordeal; the rout of the Agatus in Benue State; and the near-wiping out of

an entire community in Enugu State, the awareness about the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen and the need to rein them in by all means possible have spread like wild fire in the harmattan. Buhari’s silence on the impunity of the Fulani herdsmen’s had been deafening and atrocious.

Nigerians, especially those at the receiving end of the wanton destruction wreaked by the Fulani herdsmen, had been left to draw their own conclusions.

One of such conclusions is that the president of the country had kept silent – some are audacious enough to even say acquiesce – in the murderous instincts of the Fulani herdsmen because Buhari himself is Fulani.

Nigeria is heterogeneous on many fronts – ethnic, religious, cultural, etc. Ethnic sensibilities run high and deep.

Number two is the religious angle, which states that the activities of the Fulani herdsmen, who, obviously, are Muslims, will hardly be condemned by their kith and kin. Suspicion of Islamic fundamentalism was one of the factors that worked against Buhari’s aspiration to rule the country since 2003, until the rainbow coalition that birthed the All Progressives Congress helped build a bridge that took him over the gorge.

Number three is the economic factor: Buhari’s assets declaration shows that he has herds of cattle. Of course, these are entrusted to herdsmen. It is also widespread knowledge that many other prominent Nigerians – powerful traditional rulers, ex-this and ex-that, governors past and present, past presidents, influential nonFulanis - are also owners of herds of cattle which they entrust to herdsmen. So, the herdsmen, most times, are employees of powerful Nigerians and, thus, wear the toga of the untouchable.

These are some of the reasons which many believe have made the Fulani herdsmen the powerful elements they have become.

They are employees of powerful Nigerians.

They are from the “Aryan” ethnic group.

Religion is also a potent factor in their favour. As the Yoruba adage goes, if a dog has powerful backers, it will kill a monkey. A dangerous dimension to the Fulani herdsmen’s problem is the fact that many of them are even said not to be Nigerians.

Fulanis are spread across many countries in West Africa. In fact, history teaches that

the Fulani in Nigeria today migrated from somewhere else. Maybe this explains the mindlessness of the Fulani herdsmen that have been on rampage all over the place.

There are proposals making the rounds of how to solve the herdsmen’s scourge; one of which is the creation of grazing zones/ routes and grazing reserves all over the country. Care must be taken not to institutionalise the Fulani herdsmen’s reign of terror all over the country and legalise their seizure of other people’s land.

Ranches are a better option. Let the Fulani herdsmen amend their ways of life in tune with modern realities. Any state wanting to establish ranches should be free to do so but no man’s land should be commandeered by federal might and handed over to Fulani herdsmen.

By the way, we should begin to sensitize our people to the health dangers of unbridled consumption of beef or cow meat, which is said to aid the growth of cancerous cells in the human body. Even lean beef is said not to be totally free. Generally, cow meat is cheaper than other sources of meat such as poultry, fish or even goat meat. At parties and social gatherings where you need to feed hundreds of mouths, it is most economical to go for cow meat while poultry and fish are reserved for special guests. But the health hazard inherent in the incessant consumption of cow meat is enough incentive for serious governments to invest heavily in the other sources of meat protein and wean our people from over-reliance on cow meat.

•turnpot@gmail.com 0807b 552 5533

Cross Word Puzzle

with Olulana Kayode 08023183727 Instructions on how to play the game •With reference to the ‘clues across’ and ‘clues down’ below, you shall try to provide answers to the clues, by writing the answer in the puzzle box provided on the left side.

•The number in parenthesis indicates the total number of letters making up the solution or answer you will provide.

•Keep on answering all the questions until all the spaces in the puzzle box are completely filled up.

Good luck!

Clues Across 1 6 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 20

Eye disease, (8).

Secret place for hiding things, (5).

Dots per inch, abbr. (3).

Show less lighted area, (4).

Nigeria, abbr. (2).

Delaware, abbr. (2).

In order that, (2).

Japanese board game with stones, (2).

Suggestion, (4).

Erect something, (3).

Inner part of loaf, (5).

Resembling branches, (8).

Clues Down 1 2 3 4 5 7 12 13 16 19

Economist as bureaucrat, (10).

Curved structure, (4).

Take deadly amount of drug, (2).

Additional, (5).

LGA in Akwa Ibom state, (10).

Female sheep, (3).

River in Nigeria, (5).

Small pouch inside an animal, (3).

Japanese wrestling, (4).

General Manager, abbr. (2).

Turn to page 55 for solution

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