Nigerian observer 25 08 2014

The Nigerian

PUBLISHED SINCE MAY 29, 1968 • Vol. 39 NO. 063• MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2 014 • N100.00

ISSUES Pg. 15

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Hiroshima, Nagasaki:

The Malady Of The Arms Race

Pilgrimage: FG, Israeli Govt ABUJA - The Federal Government and its Israeli counterpart yesterday assured this year’s intending ‘family pilgrims’ to Israel of their safety and welfare.

pledges security

The assurances were given by officials of both countries while addressing the pilgrims

Pg. 27 Queen Iden

Great Woman Of Benin Kingdom

Abuja.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Jones Continues on page 2

Doctors suspend strike ABUJA - The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has suspended its 55 days old strike and to resume work today.

CULTURE

at the inauguration of the 2014 ‘Family Pilgrimage’ at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,

Briefing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the NMA President, Dr Lawrence Obembe, asked members to resume normal work on August 25.

Obembe explained that the suspension was the outcome of the emergency delegates meeting held on Saturday (August 23) in Abuja.

“Delegates resolved to suspend the strike in the interest of urgent national emergencies while negotiations

continue.

“Consequently, all medical and dental doctors are hereby directed to resume duty at their working posts with effect from 8.00hours of Monday.

“The NMA enjoins all her members to remain calm while negotiations continue,’’ he said.

Obembe said the association demands were centred on improvement of the structure and tradition of the profession which had to deal with clinical

• Work resumes today - NMA governance and redress of injustice.

He said a circular had been issued that only doctors whose degrees

were registered with the Nigeria Medical Council would be given the title consultants.

“Also the post of Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee had been reinstated.

“The government has attended to us that there is no effort to repeal or Continues on page 2

Union demands: Govt assures

Edo tertiary institutions

BENIN CITY - The Edo State Head of Service, Mr. Igbaekernen Jerry Obazele has assured members of the coalition of Unions of StateOwned Tertiary institutions of the readiness of the State Government to meet their demands.

The Head of Service, Mr. Jerry Obazele made the position of the government known to the Union Leaders when he led the Commissioner for Establishment and

Special Duties, Comrade Didi Adodo to dialogue with them on the instructions of the Comrade Governor, Adams Aliu Oshiomhole.

The Head of Service reiterated the determination of the State Government to tackle headlong the infrastructural needs of the higher institutions in the state. He told the Union Leaders that the State government in his characteristic style handles the problems of

TIT BIT “While accepting that the problems emanating from the activities of human existence can be better managed by a vested authority; no vested authority should see itself as a helper and superior to its people.”.

- Kingsley-Ogbeide-Ihama

the State in a systematic manner, revealing that having solved the problems of roads, health and secondary and primary schools to a great extent, the next area is now the higher Continues on page 2

L-R: Israeli Ambassador, Amb. Uriel Palti; Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Sen. Hope Uzodinma; Chief of Staff to the President, Retired Brig. Gen. Jones Arogbofa; Executive Secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Mr. John Kennedy Opara and Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Nnenna Ukeje at the commencement of 2nd Batch of family pilgrimage to Israel in Abuja yesterday.

Oshiomhole cautions communities against litigations

BY MORRISON HAYBLE

I R A O K H O R (ETSAKO CENTRAL) Communities in Edo state have been urged to be cautious about taking traditional matters to

court as such step would not engender peace and harmony amongst the people.

State Governor,

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole gave the advice weekend while formally presenting the staff of office to the new

Oghieavianwu of Avianwu clan, HRH Alhaji Jackson Dauda Etokhana shortly after his coronation.

Boko Haram: Army to launch fresh

offensive in N’East - Minimah

PORT HARCOURT The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah has said the army will soon launch a

massive military offensive to end insurgency in the NorthEast.

Minimah made this

known when he addressed troops of 2 Brigade Port Harcourt at a two-day visit to army formations and units in

Rivers yesterday.

According to him, military hardware’s will soon arrive into the Continues on page 2

The Governor who explained that family matters could be resolved without necessarily resorting to court option noted that judgement obtained after all did not often translate to justice, adding that going to court tended to hinder progress as it was difficult to become friends after that.

Governor Oshiomhole e x p r e s s e d government’s desire to give necessary support Continues on page 2

News

Oshiomhole cautions communities against litigations Continued from page 1

to the new Oghieanvianwu of Avianwu to ensure progress and peace in the clan and prayed God for a long reign for which it would take a couple of decades for any Governor to present staff of office in the community.

He assured traditional institution that the state government under his watch would never interfere in traditional matters and would not sponsor anybody or support any petition against traditional rulers adding, “We must respect our culture and traditional basis of our foundation” Oshiomhole recalled that many primary and secondary schools had been built and rehabilitated in the area while many more would be done disclosing that government had finished the design of the road project linking Iraokhor and Apana.

He used the medium to reiterate determination of his administration in applying the resources of the state judiciously in improving quality of life of the people by opening up rural roads to enable them transport their goods and services, Comrade Oshiomhole reminded leaders in the state to think more of what they could do for their people rather than the avaricious tendencies of some politicians bent on sharing the state resources The Governor while emphasizing that he wanted to be remembered for making positive impact stated that he had no apology for those who decamped from the APC for his failure to make available to them, state resources for sharing.

Doctors Continued from page 1 redress the decree establishing the position of Chief Medical Directors.

“In the areas of injustice, we have been able to extract from the government that the relativities which we have been mentioning, there is far commitment now that the arrears of relativities will be paid, they have started paying,’’ he said.

According to Obembe, delegates also demanded immediate withdrawal of the government circulars suspending residency training programme and sack of more than 16,000 resident doctors, who constitute about 70 per cent of doctors’ workforce.

He said delegates commended the efforts of the Federal Government and Lagos State Government in containing the spread of Ebola Virus Disease.

The President reiterated the association continued commitment to catering for the health of Nigerians, saying it looked forward to improving and sustaining cordial relationship with the Federal Ministry of Health.

Obembe expressed the association’s gratitude to all Nigerians for their interventions to resolve the strike.

He called on the traditional rulers and the chiefs to educate their subjects to distinguish between good and evil among the politicians.

“Your Royal Highness, I am not asking you to go and carry a party card, I only urge you

to educate our people to distinguish politicians who will dine only when it is good for their pockets and not when it is good for the larger community”.

Comrade Oshiomhole explained that the advice became necessary because

the people could never do without politicians as they would continue to be governed by them.

“You will distinguish the right politicians on the basis of those who understand that state power is not for the private comfort of those around the state operation”, Comrade Oshiomhole stressed.

Scheme which will be in operation soon, scheduling will be a thing of the past.

On his part, the Commissioner for Establishment and Special Duties, Comrade Didi Adodo reiterated the desire of the Comrade Governor to visit all the institutions to enable him have a first hand knowledge of the decay and dilapidation of infrastructural needs of each school.

On non-payment of promotion arrears, Comrade Didi Adodo stated that the issue and all others will be looked into by the Government.

Following the refusal of the Union Leaders to soft-pedal on the sixteen months arrears, the Head of Service concluded that he and the Commissioner will book an audience with the Governor to enable the Union Leaders

discuss the issue with him one-on-one.

The spokesmen of the Coalition of Unions of StateOwned Tertiary Institutions (COEASU) listed the demands of the Union to include non-payment of sixteen months salary arrears, inadequate funding of state-owned tertiary institution, irregular payment of monthly salaries, non-payment of promotion arrears, the use of staff welfare cooperative funds to pay salaries, decay and dilapidation of infrastructure, nonaccreditation of some courses, non-scheduling of schools and the policy of 65 :35% salary wage bill sharing formula.

At the meeting were Provosts, Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Union leaders from all schools.

Govt assures Edo tertiary institutions Continued from page 1 institutions.

Mr. Obazele taking a cursory look at the demands of the Union, pointed out that most of the demands have been met by the State Government with exception of one which is the payment of the sixteen months arrears accruing from the implementation of the new salary structure as alleged by the Unions.

On the non-accreditation in the institutions, the Head of Service stated that now that the Governing Councils were put in place, the government will set in motion the modality.

On the scheduling of the schools, he pointed out the implication, saying that if the schools were scheduled, it means the institutions will be run as a Civil Service.

According to him, with the introduction of the Pension

FG, Israeli pledges security

Continued from page 1

Arogbofa, said the Federal Government was in touch with the authorities in Israel, stressing that there was no need to entertain any fear.

He said the Israeli government had demonstrated sufficient capacity to contain the crisis and has already assured the federal government of the safety of its citizens in the holy land.

According to Arogbofa, prayers and intense communion with God should pre-occupy the minds and schedule of the pilgrims while in the holy land, because their security would be taken care of.

He urged the pilgrims to be steadfast in their prayers for their leaders and for peace in their various families, in Nigeria and the entire world.

“This exercise provides you with the rare opportunity to commune with God, correct the challenges you face in your families and communities because our

land is sick today and we need healing.

“I want each of you to see this family pilgrimage as an opportunity to bring Christ closer to your families, it is not a jamboree,’’ he said.

He lauded the efforts of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) for its creativity in making pilgrimage a household among the Christian community in the country.

In the same vein, Mr. JohnKennedy Opara, the Executive Secretary of NCPC, urged the intending pilgrims not to entertain any fear, saying adequate security arrangement had been made for their well being in Israel.

He said officials of both countries have studied the situation on ground and are optimistic that the safety of the pilgrims would be guaranteed throughout their stay in Israel.

“We have made adequate arrangements for our pilgrims, everything is okay now, in fact I have the assurances of the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria that all

Army to launch offensive Continued from page 1 country in furtherance of the Federal Government resolve to end Boko Haram activities.

“The equipments ordered by the Federal Government will soon be coming into the nation’s shores in a few weeks time.

“As soon as the equipments come in, we will launch a major offensive toward ending this madness of insurgency in the North-East of the country,” he said.

Minimah said that under President Goodluck Jonathan, the army had

witnessed significant improvement in personnel welfare and institutional capacity to confront the nation’s security challenges.

He said that efforts were also being made to reduce oil theft in the Niger Delta in response to new techniques devised by oil thieves to sabotage the nation’s economy.

“We cannot say we will completely stamp out oil theft in one day, but then the greater act in pursuing oil thieves is ongoing, and we will see greater result with time,” he said.

shall be well with our pilgrims.

“All I want to tell our pilgrims is not to be afraid, they should just obey all instructions given to them by the authorities in Israel,’’ he said.

Opara, however, said pilgrims would not be allowed to visit holy sites around Bethlehem and other locations designated to be unsafe for tourists.

On his part, the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Uriel Palti, said Israel was committed to the safety and security of all pilgrims visiting the country.

Palti said Nigeria’s participation in the 2014 family pilgrimage in spite of the Gaza conflict was a practical demonstration of the Nigerian government’s solidarity with the Israeli government.

He expressed his country’s gratitude to Nigeria for the unwavering faith in Israel’s ability to handle its challenges amidst condemnation by a section of the international community.

“Today you are the heroes of the day; you have shown solidarity with the people and the State of Israel in these times.

“I assure you, you will be safe in Israel, you are going to enjoy your stay in Israel and return home to your families safely,’’ he said.

The first batch of the pilgrims comprised 180 men, women and children from Taraba and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

More than 500 Nigerians have been scheduled to participate in the second edition of the ‘Family Pilgrimage’.

Over 300 families participated in the maiden edition of the ‘Family Pilgrimage’ in August 2013.

Christian Group condemns killing of member by Islamic extremists BENIN CITY - The Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF), Benin Chapter has condemned the killing of one of its members in Bauchi, Pastor Blessing Osakpolo by some Islamic fundamentalists.

The Fellowship which made this known in a press statement signed by its President, Mrs. Uche Chiejina and Secretary, Brother Jide Abiofun said the murder of Pastor Blessing Ehiorobo, an indigene of Edo State, was barbaric, vexatious and unacceptable to the Christian community.

The NCGF expressed anger over what it termed a well-planned Islamization agenda by some religious fanatics in northern Nigeria which has resulted in the murder of thousands of Christians and destruction of churches in that part of the country.

While calling on religious groups in the country to imbibe the spirit of tolerance, respect for the sanctity of life, the Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship charged security agencies and Governments at all levels in Nigeria to live up to expectation in the protection of lives and properties in all parts of Nigeria.

It warned that the patience of Nigerian Christians should not be taken for granted by those who now take delight in attacking Christians and destroying worship centres.

The body enjoined believers to be more prayerful, be supportive of missionary activities and to resist the obvious annihilation of Christianity in northern Nigeria, stressing that holiness and righteousness should not be compromised for any material gain.It called for the Fellowship members across the country to support the widow and children of the slain member and uphold them in prayers.

Pastor Blessing Osakpolor Ehiorobo was a Missionary and former Secretary of the Bauchi Chapter of the Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship.

He started his missionary work among the people of Gerawa, Bauchi State in 2001 until he was murdered in his residence by Islamic extremists on Saturday, August 9, 2014.

His remains have been interred in his home town, Urhonigbe in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State.

He was 40 years old and survived by a wife and four children.

Catholic has no hand in Anglican Church demolition - Director ONITSHA (Anambra) - The Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha, Anambra, has said that the Church has no hand in the demolition of an Anglican worship centre in the state.

It will be recalled that two weeks ago unknown persons demolished Ebenezer Anglican Church situated at Oyolu-Oze Village in NkwelleEzunaka Community in Oyi Local Government Area.

The Director of Communications in Onitsha Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Pius Ukor, told newsmen yesterday that the Church was very civil and diplomatic in its deals and would not involve or associate itself on such an unholy act.

“We as a church condemn such act in its totality.

“We cannot be part of destroying holy property or any place of worship; and we cannot encourage any of our members to do such act.

“The Catholic Church, especially the Onitsha Archdiocese, has continued to treat any case it has with civility and diplomacy knowing that as a Church we

need to show the light,’’ Ukor said.

Meanwhile, the PresidentGeneral of the NkwelleEzunaka Community, Dr Chris Eluemunoh, said that the incident had nothing do with the Catholic Church.

Eluemunoh said that the Church could not have connived with unknown persons to perpetrate such act.

“I am not a Catholic.

“I am a Pentecostal worshiper and could, therefore, not have done any such act or colluded with anybody or organisation for that matter to destroy a holy place such as a worship centre.

“It is, therefore, unfounded and malicious lies against me and the Catholic Church,’’ he said.

It will be recalled that on Monday, Anglican faithful embarked on peaceful demonstration in Onitsha, and alleged that the state government and Catholic Church have a hand in the unholy incident.

News

NIPR Chairman Charges PROs On Conflict Resolution

By PIUS ABAH OGBADA AND FAITH ISIKHUEMEN BENIN CITY- The Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations

(NIPR) and Chief Executive Officer of the Glorious Open Enterprise (GOE), Prince Matthew Owobu has charged Public Relations and Media Officers in the state public service on the need to ensure prompt conflict resolution that

is devoid of victimization in their profession.

Owobu gave the charge in Benin City at a one-day seminar organized by the GOE on conflict management for good governance.

The Director of Training Government House, Mr. Monday Umwani who represented the Edo State Head of Service, Mr. Jerry Obazele addressing participants at a one-day seminar on Conflict Management for Good Governance organised for Public Relations and Media Officers in the state public srvice.

He is falnked by Mr. Sota Irusota, a resource person (right) and Mr. Ikhelowa Muhammed.

The NIPR boss noted that conflict, is in all ramifications a threat to any system, including the government, saying that conflict as a man-made phenomenon must be resolved through man’s effort.

According to him, “A government without conflict may be described as stagnant or dead.

“Conflict in a way is an indication that there is performance, and of course, one can conveniently refer to this present government of the Comrade Governor, Adams Oshiomhole as a government that is performing well.

“The handling of conflict in Edo State is a clear indication of how conflict can be successfully resolved and normalcy restored,” he added.

Owobu therefore enjoined the ‘image makers’ to monitor the trend of internal public behaviour with a view of ascertaining their motives and performance level through close relationship with them.

Declaring the seminar open, the State Head of Service (HOS), Mr. Jerry Obazele expressed joy over the occasion and satisfaction over the state government’s concern for its workers, particularly in the area of regular payment of salary.

The HOS who was represented

Cleric Assures Nigerians Over Turbulent Times BENIN CITY – The Spiritual Leader/Chairman, Church Council of Christ’s Chosen Church of God International (CCCG), Most Snr. Apostle (Dr.) Joshua Osasuyi has called on Nigerians, especially

Christians and believers to have faith and hope in the Lord, even in turbulent times, saying the Lord would make things right and defeat the power of darkness threatening the existence of the nation.

Apostle Osasuyi made the call yesterday during thanksgiving

IGP Deploys 8 DIGs, 28 AIGs ABUJA- The Acting InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, yesterday deployed the eight newly promoted Deputy Inspectors-General of Police to various departments.

A statement issued by DCP Emmanuel Ojukwu, the Force spokesman, said the posting was part of ongoing reorganisation in the force.

With the posting, DIG Dan’Azumi Doma is now the second in command, while Hilary Opara takes charge of the Finance and Administration Department.

Others were Sotonye Wakama, Operations; Mamman Tsafe, Logistics and Supply; Solomon Arase, Intelligence; Saliu Hashimu, Training; Kakwe Katso, Research and Planning; and David Omojola, ICT. The statement also announced the posting of 28 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police with Sule Mamman as the Force Secretary; Ballah Nasarawa, Intelligence Bureau; and Kalafite Adeyemi, Commandant, Police Staff College, Jos. Others are Adisa Bolanta, Commandant, Police Staff College, Kano, Tambari Muhammed, AIG, Zone 1, Kano;

Umaru Manko, Zone 2 Lagos; Mohammed Abubakar, Zone 3, Yola; Adeola Adeniji, Zone 4, Makurdi; and Musa Daura, Zone 5, Benin City.

Others are Mark Idakwo, zone 6, Calabar; Joseph Mbu, Zone 7, Abuja; Christopher Dega, Zone 8, Lokoja; Usman Gwarry, Zone 9, Umuahia; and Bala Hassan, Zone 10, Sokoto.

Ambrose Aisabor, Zone 11, Osogbo and Mhammed Gana, Zone 12, Bauchi.

The others are: Mr Jubril Adeniji, AIG in charge of Maritime Police, Force Headquarters, Abuja; Edgar Nanakumo, Force Animal Branch; Sabo Ibrahim, Border Patrol; Bintua Amajor-Onu, Investments; and Lawal Tanko, Federal Operations.

The statement said that Mr Felix Uyanna is in charge of Police Mobile Force (PMF), Joel Theophilus, Force Communication; Ibrahim Maishanu, Infotech; and Godfrey Okeke, Research and Planning.

The others are Yahaya Ardo, Counter-Terrorism; Wilfred Obute, Armament; and A.J. Abakasanga, Special Protection Unit.

to mark the end of 2014 International Convention of the church at the International headquarters in Benin City.

Reading from the book of Psalms 130:5-6, he called on Nigerians to have faith that only the Lord can bring the security challenges facing the nation to a glorious end and bring peace back to the nation.

“God is the only one to direct this nation to the Promised Land. If only as His children, we can wait upon Him, day and night like the watchman, then He will rise up to the occasion and heal our nation, Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking further, he said, as children of God, man should be patient and never to be in a hurry, adding that at God’s time, man’s glory will shine forth for the entire world to see.

According to him, there is too much killing in the land and the Scripture says, thou shall not kill; today our land is worse than Sodom and Gomorrah; Boko Haram is on one side and other nefarious activities, but we believe that God is in control of Nigeria.

High point of the service was the inauguration of the committee for the building of the prayer city in Lagos.

at the event, Director of Establishment, Mr. Umweni Monday maintained that the seminar was poised to equip the Public Relations practitioners with techniques and skills to effectively boost their professionalism.

Mr. Obazele therefore enjoined the image makers to fully participate in the seminar.

Also speaking, a trained journalist and Computer System Analyst, Mr. Soter Irusota said that information technology which now covers basically every area of life cannot be taken for granted.

The resource person, who urged the image makers to be ICT competent, recommended computer literacy, Personal computer (pc) as well as valid email addresses as tools for adapting to the new trend in information dissemination.

According to Irusota, communication became diversified in the last decade as

a result of which persons now source for news and entertainment in the internet and cell phones.

Similarly, Njoku Achilike of the Department of Mass Communication, Benson Idahosa University spoke on the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Public Relations.

Njoku noted that ethics are the moral principles, by which a person is guided, saying that the ‘image makers’ cannot be exempted from such principles.

The Don charged them to uphold such ethical courtesies as honesty, fairness and objectivity while urging them to desist from unethical acts such as stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.

Njoku maintained that image makers must exhibit mastery of the laws of contract, libel, slander as well as other laws governing civilized conduct in the society so as to be fully in charge of affairs.

ABUJA- A group under the aegis, Northern Adamawa and Southern Borno Elders (NASBE), has urged the federal and the state governments to find lasting solution to the recurring attacks in the areas.

The Chairman of the steering committee, Sen. Paul Wampana, made the call at the maiden meeting of the group in Abuja on Saturday.

Wampana told newsmen that the meeting was called to discuss how the group could assist their people, who had been affected by terrorist attacks.

“The thrust of this meeting is to see how we can collaborate with the federal and state governments to bring succour to the people affected by the activities of the insurgents.

“It is also to look at the long term way of bringing these people back to their domain, resettle them and provide their immediate needs,’’ he said.

The Chairman said the group would get the statistics of the people that had been affected by the attacks so as to avoid a repeat of what happened after the 2012 flood disaster.

“The disaster came, affected people and the Federal

Government voted huge sum of money but it went into the wrong hands.

“Our zone is situated either directly inside Sambisa forest or share borders with the forest currently the epicenter of the Boko Haram insurgency and the theatre of war.

“Our people are being killed, maimed, displaced and their lands and property destroyed, instances such as the abduction of our Chibok girls yet to be found and released remain fresh in our hearts,’’ he said.

According to him, Northern Adamawa and Southern Borno Elders is a non-partisan, nonpolitical and non-sectarian group.

“It is also not an advocacy or a pressure group; it is simply the coming together of people concerned with the plight and suffering of their people,’’ he said.

Northern Adamawa and Southern Borno comprise 16 local government areas, Adamawa North had seven while Borno South had nine.

They are Adamawa North: Hong, Madagali, Michika, Mubi North, Mubi South and Maiha, while Borno South: Askira-Uba, Biu, Bayo Chibok, Damboa, Gwoza, Hawul, Kwaya-Kusar and Shani.

Wampana commended the Federal Government, Adamawa and Borno for the steps taken so far to check the attacks, adding that there was still much to be done to restore security.

He appealed to the government to make sure that various programmes, including the Victims Support Fund Committee, Safe School Initiative and relief materials, reached the affected people.

Members of the National Assembly from the areas and many retired military personnel from the affected areas attended the meeting.

Some of them, who spoke to newsmen on the condition of anonymity called for the deployment of more troops as well as mobile quick response squad to check the incessant attacks.

Newsmen also report that, at the meeting, a minute silence was observed in honour of those who had died in various attacks.

Adamawa, Borno Elders Meet Over Insurgency

Rev. Fr. John Bosco Ezehi (right) pose with the President of Esan Progressive Union, Italy, Mr. Ekuyiwolo after a presentation.

Voter Cards: Residents Want Distribution Extended AWKA - Some residents of Anambra have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) distribution in the state.

The PVC Distribution and Continuous voter registration commenced on August 15 and ended yesterday, August 24.

Some of the residents, who spoke with newsmen in Awka, decried the inefficient machines used in the exercise.

The Chairman of the Campaign for Democracy, South-East zone, Mr. Uzor Uzor, said the distribution should be extended by one week, so that more people could be captured.

Uzor noted that heavily populated areas like Onitsha and Nnewi had not been well covered because voters who wanted to obtain their cards complained of breakdown of machine.

“It is going well but at a very slow speed, people do not have adequate knowledge of the exercise because most of them are not aware,’’ Uzor said.

Also, Chief Godson Ezenagu, a politician, said with the way the exercise had

gone, only about 35 per cent of potential voters would be captured if INEC ends the distribution yesterday.

Ezenagu urged INEC to extend the closing date, deploy more machines and create more awareness if it hoped to record a significant success in the exercise.

“I will say the process is very slow, INEC should buckle up, with the pace at which they are going I am not sure they will cover up to 35 percent of the potential voters.

“If their intention is to cover all eligible voters, they should extend the days, bring more machines and better trained personnel.

“INEC should also ensure that every community receives not less than four machines because one machine for a ward is grossly inadequate,’’ Ezenagu said.

Other people that spoke with newsmen advised INEC to extend the date of the exercise and give it more publicity, so that eligible voters could be captured.

According to them, in 2015 election, there may be more voter apathy because if they end up capturing this low number, only 50 per cent of this population will come out to vote.

News GWAGWALADA (FCT) Victims of Friday’s heavy downpour which ravaged many parts of Gwagwalada Area Council in the FCT yesterday called on the Federal Government to assist them.

Newsmen who visited some of the affected areas reported that the rainstorm destroyed over a hundred houses, rendering residents homeless.

At Angwan Bassa area, many houses were completely submerged and one could barely

Flood Victims Count Losses, Seek Govt’s Assistance

see the rooftops of some taller buildings.

Vehicular movement on the ever-busy New Kutunku and Park Roads also hit an all-time gridlock due to the water which over-flooded the roads.

Commercial activities were also disrupted as the flood water entered most shops in the area,

sweeping away goods and valuables said to be worth millions of Naira.

A cross-section of victims who spoke to newsmen bemoaned their plight, saying that the flood had become an annual occurrence and appealed to government to come to their

R-L: The Chief Executive Officer of the Glorious Open Enterprise, Prince Matthew Owobu (JP); Computer System Analyst, and resource person, Mr. Soter Irusota; Mr. Umweni Monday who represented Edo State Head of Service, Mr. Ikhelowa Mohammed and Mr. Haruna Momoh at a one-day seminar on Conflict Management for Good Governance organised in Benin City for Public Relations and Media Officers in Edo State Public Service.

Union Donates To Orphanage

Govt Warns Against Eating Bush Meats

Ebola:

AWKA - The Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Mr. Josephat Akabuike, has warned the residents to desist from having contact and eating bush meats to guard against Ebola virus.

Akabuike told newsmen in Awka that the disease could be contacted through the preparation of the bush meats.

“However, no case of Ebola has been recorded in the state but those eating bush meat should stop taking it for now until further notice,’’ he said.

According to him, from investigations so far, there is no trace of Ebola virus in the state and the Federal Government has given the state a clean bill.

“Anambra has been given a clean bill. There is no Ebola in the state and we are taking the necessary measure not to allow it in the state,’’ he said.

He said the ministry had investigated the alarm raised in some parts of the state about the virus, adding that the alarm was false.

Akabuike said the state government had established four isolation centres at the General Hospitals, in Amaku, Ekwulobia, Onitsha and Osamara.

He said that state government had also ordered the ministry of health to acquire at least 400 Personal Protective Equipment to prevent health workers in the state from contacting the virus.

The Commissioner said the state government had instituted a rapid response team saddled with the responsibility of responding to emergencies.

Akabuike said the state had concluded plans to train physicians on how to manage persons with suspected cases of Ebola virus.

“We are also doing public enlightenment through the media, communities and churches to keep people at alert,” he said.

He urged the people to constantly wash their hands to avoid being infected.

The Commissioner said the symptoms include malaria, persistent diarrhea, fever, weakness, waist pain and bleeding from nose, ears and eyes.

According to him, the virus can also be contacted through sexual intercourse.

“Ebola virus is incurable but symptomatic treatment can be given to the patient for rehabilitation.

“The state government has acquired equipment for health workers to protect them from contracting the virus,’’ he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Glorious Open Enterprise, Prince Matthew Owobu flanked by resource persons and participants at a one-day seminar on Conflict Management for Good Governance organised in Benin City for Public Relations and Media Officers in Edo State Public Service.

Impeachment Dismissal Diffuses Tension In Yobe - APC

DAMATURU - The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yobe yesterday said that the dismissal of alleged impeachment plot against Governor Ibrahim Gaidam by the state lawmakers has diffused tension among the citizenry.

This is contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Damaturu by the state Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Bakabe.

“The party commended the timely response of the legislators to the allegation and also passed a vote of confidence on the

aid.

One of the victims, Hajia Shukarat Abdulrahaman of Abattoir area, said the flood destroyed her valuables as her belongings were swept away.

“The rainstorm and accompanying flood destroyed virtually all that I have laboured for over the years as almost everything in my house was either destroyed or swept away.

“As you can see, my entire compound is littered with evidence of the havoc caused by the flood; the bedrooms, sitting room and all the corners of the building were affected.

“Oh God, I am finished, what am I going to do now?’’, she lamented.

The victim appealed to relevant authorities to come to her aid, adding that she had yet to recover from the losses she suffered from last year’s similar disaster while receiving no help.

Another victim, Mrs. Roseline Joshua, sat outside her desolate compound weeping when newsmen arrived the compound.

Amidst intermittent sobs, she explained that all the goods she bought from the market worth millions of Naira a few days back were washed away by the flood.

“As it is, I do not know where to start from. I returned from the market two days ago, now all the food items worth N7 million have been washed by the flood,’’ she said.

governor,’’ Bakabe said.

The APC scribe said that the lawmakers’ decision had also calmed frayed nerves among APC supporters across the state.

He hailed the legislators “for refusing to be distracted by political job seekers planning to sow seed of discord among our party members and to over heat the polity”.

“As the ruling party in the state, APC has a sitting governor, three senators, six members of House of Representatives, 24 members of the State House of Assembly and 17 local

government chairmen.

“All the elected officers are collectively united and focused to the task of developing the state.

“The legislators under the leadership of the Speaker, Alhaji Adamu Dala-Dogo, have clearly disassociated themselves from the alleged impeachment plot and endorsed him (the governor) for 2015,” he said.

The party expressed its support to the lawmakers, saying “we assure you of our strong support and commitment to protect our party structure and

government’’.

Bakabe praised the people for their cooperation to the APCled administration in the state which he pledged would continue to provide viable development projects.

He listed the projects to include roads, healthcare delivery, functional education and employment opportunities for the benefit of the people.

Members of the state House of Assembly have also dismissed rumours that they had perfected plans to impeach Gaidam.

UROMI – The Esan Progressive Union, Pedova Veneto, Italy last week Friday, presented food items to an orphanage in Uromi, Esan North East local government.

Making the presentation of the items which include bags of rice, beans, vegetable oil, provisions and toiletries, the president of the union, Akilomhen Musa Ekuyiwolo, said the gesture of the union was to give hope and succour to the less-privileged children.

Mr. Ekuyiwolo seized the opportunity to call on individuals, groups and organizations to always let their humanitarian light shine on the poor, particularly poor children as a way of showing love and empathy.

Chairman of the Association of Proprietors/Proprietress of Ophanages and Children Home, and Director of Catholic JESS project and Holy Family Home, Rev. Fr. Dr. John Bosco Obeahon Ezehi, praised the Esan Progressive Union for what he described as a thoughtful and laudable effort to assist the children.

While urging them to continue to help the under-priviledged at every opportunity, he urged other well-meaning individuals to emulate them.

Fr. Ezehi said the business of running a children’s home was a calling from God as it takes a lot of care and understanding to handle children.

He explained that the orphanage had different classes including Pre-KG, nursery, primary, secondary and those in the category of learning different trades.

South/South Farmers Seek Rehabilitation Of Abandoned Cassava Mills ASABA - Cassava growers in Delta State have

appealed to the State Government to rehabilitate the three abandoned cassava

Electricity Coy Decries Equipment Vandalism YENAGOA - The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) said yesterday that the vandalism of its

Leboli Festival

Council Boss Assures Of Security UGEP (CROSS RIVER) The Chairman, Yakurr Local Government Council, Cross River, Mr Ibi Akpama, has assured tourists attending this year’s Yakurr International Leboku Festival of adequate security.

Giving the assurance in an interview with newsmen in Ugep, headquarters of the local government, Akpama said that the festival would take place on August 26.

“There will be no security threat; we are very peaceful and we have also made adequate arrangement for security in case of anything.

“So I am assuring tourists who will be coming from within and outside the country of a peaceful atmosphere.

“As for Ebola virus disease, I received a team of medical experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in my office recently.

“We discussed all the precautionary measures to check outbreak of the disease during the festival; so there is no cause for alarm,’’ he said.

The chairman said the festival marked the official commencement of eating of new yam by the community, adding that yam was regarded as the king of all crops in the area.

He commended the state government for promoting the festival, noting that it had attracted private sector participation and brought the area to international limelight.

“We will continue to celebrate it in a manner that we will all be proud of,’’ he said.

He appealed to the official sponsors of the festival, MTN Nigeria to improve on their services in Yakurr, pointing out that the area is very rural and required better services.

equipment in Yenagoa, Bayelsa capital, was affecting its operation.

The Public Affairs Manager of PHEDC, Mr John Onyi, told newsmen in Yenagoa that 10 of its 200kva and 250kva transformers were vandalised in the city in recent months.

He said the transformers were located in Gwegwe St., Ebis Mechanic Road, Ministry of Tourism, BossyWater-Tombia Road, Mgbongbon Plaza, Opolo Housing Estate and Sani Abacha Expressway.

Onyi also disclosed that the company was faced with the challenge of non-payment of electricity bills by consumers.

He said the business unit had recorded about 65 per cent loss of revenue in the state since it started operation in November, 2013.

According to him, only 2,585 of the 12,350 registered customers in the state capital paid their electricity bills for the month of July.

He further decried the harassment of the company’s field workers by some consumers, noting that the company could not remain in business if consumers refused to settle their bills.

Onyi therefore appealed to the residents to desist from such acts as the company was working hard to improve on power supply in the state.

He also appealed to the residents to protect electricity installations in their areas and report any suspicious movement of persons around such installations to law enforcement agents.

The spokesman said that the company had improved on its operation in the state in spite of the challenges.

He said: “The Yenagoa business unit admits that the expected 24-hour uninterrupted power supply has not been achieved yet.

“But Yenagoa receives between 34 and 50 megawatts of electricity out of the load demand of 60 megawatts, which translates into 13 to 19 hours power supply on a daily basis.

“What the business unit receives from the national grid is not enough and this has necessitated load shedding in the city.”

mills established by Governor James Ibori.

The state Chairman, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Mr Justus Kachikwu, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Asaba yesterday.

Kachikwu said that the mills were located at UbuluOkiti, Aniocha South Local Government Area; Oghara in Ethiope-East, and OgbeIjaw in Warri South-West council area.

According to him, the processing mills were at various stages of completion with the equipment already procured and waiting for installation, before the projects were abandoned.

He, however, said that the state government had proposed to build six new cassava processing industries across the state, locating two in each of the three senatorial districts.

Kachikwu said although the farmers’ expectations from the proposed industries were high, but they preferred the government to complete the abandoned mills.

“I want to appeal to the state government to please help us and complete the abandoned three mills.

“If the proposed six cassava mills cannot be ready before the expiration of the tenure of this administration, the old ones should be completed,” Kachikwu said.

The chairman said that with the completion of the three mills, the association will be sure of producing quality starch and other cassava by-products.

He said that the association had gone into negotiation with the communities where the six new ones would be established for procurement of lands for large scale cassava cultivation.

Kachikwu said that the measure was to ensure that enough cassava would be produced to feed the mills when established.

However, he urged the state government to expedite action on the proposed six mills to create job and ensure food security in the state.

News Monarch Counsels On Hand Washing Campaign

Ebola:

OSOGBO- The Elerinmo of Erinmo-Ijesha in Osun, Oba Michael Ajayi has urged Nigerians not to reduce the renewed campaign on hand washing to mere media hype.

Reports state that experts have called for sustained hand washing with soap and water to check the spread of the ravaging Ebola Virus Disease.

The monarch, however, told newsmen in Osogbo that many policies and programmes fail because the sensitisation campaigns were often restricted to the media. “ It is important that we all accept policies that are of benefit to us wholeheartedly without deceiving ourselves. ‘’The campaign on hand washing is not new in Nigeria; it is unfortunate that a deadly disease like Ebola is responsible for the new reawakening. ‘’ Hand washing has always been a major component of community-led total hygiene as well as the very basis of personal hygiene. ‘’Like tree planting, many of us only remember the campaign to plant trees on the day set aside by organised bodies; meanwhile, it should be part of our daily lives.

‘’With the outbreak of this deadly virus, it is high time we all gave more attention to our personal hygiene. “ A clean hand and a clean environment are worth more than any set of medication,’’ Ajayi said.

According to the monarch, the hand washing campaign should now be the responsibility of traditional rulers, religious leaders as well as other critical stakeholders in community mobilisation efforts. ‘’ We have to understand that our healthy status or otherwise is in our hands and we must not toy with keeping the hands clean. ‘’As simple and easy as it is to wash the hands, it goes a long way in promoting healthy living,’’ Ajayi said.

The traditional ruler said he was already leading the campaign in sensitising the residents of his domain on the values of handwashing and the need to report any strange ailment to the appropriate authorities. “ As a traditional ruler, I must not be found wanting in the discharge of this duty, ‘’ he said.

Minister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye (middle), presenting an award to the Principal partner, Etteh Aro and partners, Rev. Etteh Ette at the 2014 National Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Highway Engineers (NIHE) in Abuja recently. With them is the NIHE President, Mr. Isa Emoabino.

Don Advocates Use Of Calculators In Schools

IBADAN - Alade Abimbade, a professor of Educational Technology at the University of Ibadan, has urged examination bodies in the country to encourage the use of calculators in schools.

Abimbade made the call in an inaugural lecture he delivered least night at the Trenchard Hall of the university.

His lecture was entitled: “ Technology and Resources in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics: Antidote for Maths-Phobia.”

He said school authorities should allow the use of calculators to supplement teachers and students instructional aids in the teaching and learning of mathematics

Abimbade said there must be effective teaching in the nation’s educational institutions for any meaningful and sustained development.

“Mathematics is the language of science and technology. “ Science, Technology and Mathematics are interwoven and the school system must lay a sound foundation of mathematics teaching and learning from the primary school.

“Fear, anxiety and phobia are not helpful in the acquisition of mathematics-knowledge, whether early in life of mathematics learning or later in

future.

“The teachers of mathematics and mathematics educators have a responsibility to deal with these phenomena,” he said.

Abimbade also advocated the need to show love and commitment to mathematics and science subjects. “ Studies show that secondary school students do not really show commitment to the learning of the subject.

“The subject of love and commitment will play a significant role in helping learners to build confidence in the learning of mathematics and also produce high achievement in the subject,” he said.

3-Day Old Baby Shocks Experts, Feed Self

Director of Publication, Rivers Ministry of Information and Communication, Mr. Samuel Iyoyo; Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Cordelia Peterside and Director, Public Enlightenment, Mr. Paulinus Nsirim at a media sensitisation campaign on Ebola in Port Harcourt recently.

Community Seeks Govt Intervention

Disruption In Oil Production: YENAGOA - Communities hosting operations of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) at Biseni, Bayelsa, have appealed to the State Government to ask the company to fulfil its obligations to the people.

The communities had shut five oil wells in Idu Oil Fields operated by Agip over Agip’s non-fulfilment of community development obligations to its host communities.

The oil wells 3, 6, 8, 11 and 12 earlier shut down and put out of production by youths of the area were re-opened after a meeting between community representatives and Agip officials on August 5.

Chief Solomon Ogiama, Secretary of Egbebiri II community, told newsmen

yesterday that officials of NAOC, who had pledged prompt implementation of agreements reached before the oil wells were reopened, had reneged on the promise.

“We are appealing to the Bayelsa Government to wade into this and ensure that we do not have to resort to disrupting oil production, which has a direct bearing on revenues accruable to the state.

“Agip officials pledged to immediately pay off all outstanding debts to surveillance contractors once the wells were re-opened, but nothing has happened.

“From the time frames they gave us during the meeting at their Port Harcourt office, they ought to have done a lot as we were assured that in just a few days they will pay contractors who were owed for up to one year.

“The community leadership conveyed the resolutions at the meeting to the entire community and now all eyes are on us and the pressure is mounting on us.

“We want the government to come in and further mediate,” Ogiama said.

The scribe said that the intervention of the state government was necessary to forestall revenue loss if the oil

wells were shut again.

He said that the community had communicated the development to the government.

Ogiama said the community resolved to give peace a chance to show its readiness to provide a peaceful environment to the oil firm to operate.

In an e-mail response to newsmen on the development, Mr Filipo Cotalini, Media Relations Office Manager at Eni, which operates in Nigeria as NAOC, had said the Italian energy firm was investigating the incident.

Cotalini said the firm would issue a statement on the matter in due course.

LONDON - Three-day old Baby Amara Chiedozie, has shocked British doctors by learning to feed herself.

According to UK Dailymail Amara weighed 6lbs 3oz when she was born on August 3 at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, UK. The baby, whose pictures were displayed on the newspaper glugging milk from a bottle, looked like any other contented three-week-old, except for the fact that she was already capable of holding the container on her own.

Her mother, Onyi Chiedozie, 20, from Nigeria, claimed she has been doing it since she was three days old. The strength of her grip at such a tender age has amazed her family and medics.

She said: “When we were feeding, she started shaking, and then she just grabbed the bottle.

She was holding it by herself.

“We couldn’t believe it because babies don’t normally do it that young. I’m so shocked that I have been documenting it every day. It’s unbelievable.

“When she doesn’t want it she will push it away; she isn’t strong enough to throw it away, but she does push it, like she does with her dummy.

“If she is really hungry, she starts shaking. Then she will just

grab the bottle as you give it to her,’’ she said.

Miss Chiedozie said her progress had astounded medical professionals.

The student added: “Even nurses are really surprised. When my health support nurse came, she was shocked as well. She couldn’t believe that this could happen.

“Whenever we go to appointments, we take pictures of her doing it. The midwife and even the doctor we had an appointment with on Saturday were actually amazed. They couldn’t believe it.’’

Chiedozie, who also breastfeeds Amara regularly, said: “The breastfeeding is better now, it’s comfortable. It used to be painful and sore before but it’s good now.

“When she breastfeeds she is touching and holding on to me.

It’s a really nice experience and way to bond,’’ she added.

Chiedozie, a single mother who lives in Chadwell Heath in Essex, said she makes sure she is always watching her daughter when she is feeding herself.

She said: “Sometimes I hold her or sometimes you can prop her up with a pillow and give her the bottle. I’m always watching her, I don’t let her out of my sight.’’

South West

Ondo Inaugurates C’ttee On Ebola

AKURE - The Ondo State Government has inaugurated a 19-member committee saddled with the responsibility of checking the spread of the Ebola virus.

Speaking at the inauguration of the committee in Akure, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Ayo Adeyanju, said the body would use

advocacy to prevent the spread of the virus.

Adeyanju, who is also the Chairman of the committee, said the body would assess relevant information while working on the feedback received.

He expressed optimism that the caliber of the committee members would enable the

body achieve the objectives for which it was set up.

Government, he said, was embarking on an aggressive publicity campaign while surveillance of borders was being carried out.

The commissioner said that the committee members would meet regularly to discuss ways to educate

Traders Appeal For Coldroom

LAGOS -The General Secretary, Oba Ogunji Market Traders Association, Agege, Lagos, Mr Lamidi Lukmon has urged the Lagos State Government to provide cold rooms at the market for the preservation of perishable food items.

Lukmon told newsmen in Lagos that a government cold room at the market would help to check the rising cost of storing perishable foods items.

According to him, the privately-owned cold rooms in the market are not enough and the cost of storing items in them are becoming expensive for traders.

He also said that the market needed to be upgraded and that a cold room was one of the items that would make meaningful impact.

“Oba Ogunji Market is over 65 years old; we appeal to the government to come to our rescue and help us to achieve our desire,” Lukmon said.

He lauded the World Bankassisted FADAMA III Project, which built 42 shops in the market, which were inaugurated on December 14, 2013.

“We are enjoying that facility and we hope more will come from the state government,” he said.

residents on preventive measures.

He, however, advised residents to observe the rules of hygiene, adding that they should avoid contact with body fluid such as blood, saliva and sweat.

The commissioner also debunked claims that the disease could be cured through eating bitter kola and

bathing with salt water.

Also speaking at the inauguration, Bishop Joshua Ketiku, the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ondo State Chapter, lauded the state government for setting up the committee.

In his remarks, Dr Felix Akingbade, the Director of Veterinary Services in the state, promised that the committee would work hard to prevent the virus from spreading to the state.

The reports state that the committee comprises representatives of relevant ministries, religious bodies,

LAGOS - A laboratory technician, Modupe Ajayi has called on an Igando Customary Court, Lagos to grant the dissolution of her 12years old marriage with her husband whom she alleged to have been caught in bed with her best friend.

Modupe, 40, who was responding to her husband, Ajayi’s petition, urging the court to dissolve his 12-year old marriage for alleged threat to life and lack of respect from the respondent declared, “My husband is a shameless man.

He slept with my best friend.

My husband is a womanizer; I

Olusegun Mimiko, Governor of Ondo State

Man, 31, Paraded Over Lovers Death

On-going expansion work on Abuja-Lokoja road in Abuja recently.

LAGOS - The Lagos State Police Command has paraded a 31-year-old man over alleged murder of his 39-year-old secret lover, a mother of four.

Parading the suspect, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, told newsmen in Lagos that the suspect allegedly strangulated his lover identified as Mrs Lizzy Nzewi, a businesswoman.

Hoses connected to a vandalised NNPC pipeline in Ukwa West Local Government Area in Abia recently.

Couple Seeks Dissolution Of Marriage

By RAHEEM IBRAHIM

UNICEF and nongovernmental organisations in the state.

caught him making love with my best friend in her house. I refused to employ any house help again as he has turned them into sex machines”.

According to her, she had stopped having sex with Ajayi, 50, since September last year because “I always had sexual infection some days after he made love to me, saying, “I stopped making love with him and I stopped washing his clothes when I discovered that I always see and smell sperm on his boxers”.

The mother of three alleged that days after their wedding, her husband abandoned her to stay with another woman after telling her that he wanted to travel to the village to see his father.

“I called his father when he did not show up for days, but his father told me that he did not see my husband”, she narrated, adding that she later found the telephone number of the lady in question in her husband’s handset and she called her to leave her husband alone.

“After the warning, my husband rushed home, dragged me out of the bathroom naked and beat me up for calling his girlfriend. It was my brotherin-law that ran to cover my nakedness.”

The respondent, therefore, urged the court to grant her husband’s petition, saying that she was no longer interested in the marriage.

Earlier, the petitioner had told

the court that his wife always threatened his life with dangerous weapons, “Whenever we are fighting she always picks up knife or other sharp objects to stab me”.

Describing Modupe as a pompous, disrespectful and arrogant woman, he claimed “She is so full of herself and does not have respect for me despite all I have done for her.

I bought her four cars within our 12 years of marriage yet she does not have regard for me. She does things without telling me. She even travelled out of Nigeria without my consent”.

According to him, his wife has made his house miserable for him as she fights him and always ‘rain’ curses on him,

accusing his wife of living an extravagant life with lots of money spent on luxury items such as jewellery.

He said that he would have divorced her two-years ago, but he thought she would change for the better only to discover that it was worsening, “Her behaviour became unbearable for me.

We live as enemies in the house. We stopped talking to each other since June last year”.

He therefore begged the court to dissolve the union on the ground that he was no longer in love with his wife.

The President of the court, Mr. R.I Adeyeri, adjourned the case till August 27, for further hearing.

Manko said the deceased, a resident at No. 34, Real Estate, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, was murdered on July 19 at about 2. 20 a.m.

The police boss said the suspect, who was arrested in Ghana by the Interpol, allegedly absconded with the victim’s belongings.

“The suspect and the victim met in Ghana while transacting business and he had visited the woman twice at home.

“After killing the woman at about 2.02 a.m. on July 19, the suspect collected her ATM card and withdrew about N100, 000 from her account.

“He also drove off the woman’s Land Rover jeep with registration no. EKY 509 AZ. “At about 10.00 a.m.when the woman’s door has not been opened, the security man used a ladder to look through the window of her room and found her dead in the pool of her blood,“ Manko said.

The commissioner said after the suspect had absconded to Ghana, the Police Area ‘E’ Commander, Mr Dan Okoro, informed the start command which contacted the Interpol.

“We got in touch with the Interpol and by the time the Interpol got hold of the suspect, he was almost on his way out of Ghana.

“Prior to that time, he got himself a new international passport bearing the woman’s surname to facilitate his escape with the loot.

“He was arrested and brought back here and we were told that he was found with hard currencies and phones belonging to the victim.

Manko, however, warned Nigerians against going into a relationship with people they had not properly screened.

The elder brother of the deceased, Mr. Christian Mekowun told newsmen that the woman, a mother of four, has filed a suit seeking the dissolution of her marriage before her untimely death.

Across The Nation Lack Of Rest Can Cause Bad Breath -Expert

ABUJA - Dr Machu Abraham, Managing Director of a private Oral and Medical Care outfit has said that resting during working hours could help prevent bad breath.

Abraham, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, added that carrying out regular checks at the dentist could also help prevent bad breath.

“If you don’t rest or go for a vacation, your body system will fail, and once your body system starts failing, with age, of course those things (bad breath) will come.

“So, to chief executives, it is very important; don’t overwork yourselves and have a rest no matter the nature of your work.

“So, for the mouth, you go to the dentist, there are some debris that would irritate the gum, if you go, the dentist will tell you whether it (bad breath) is from the mouth or from the inside.

“Once it is clear that it is from the mouth, you do the cleaning; we advise that you do it every six months; you will be okay with that.“ According to Abraham, although diabetes, ulcer, and infection of the tonsil can cause bad breathe, it (bad breath) is curable.

“There is the systemic one (bad breathe) that is inside; this one is mostly with diseased people, people with diabetes, ulcer, and those that have infection in the tonsil; they can have bad breath.

“If you come to the dental office, if we check and the thing is not there, we refer you to the medical section.

“They will now take over because if you have an infection in the tonsil and it is not treated, it is going to ooze out bad breath.

“Because of the drugs diabetics take and because of the things that are happening in the body system, you can have bad breath.

“Ulcer patients too, there is a wound deep inside your system; nobody is seeing it, but it is there; so, if it is a chronic one, it can ooze out breath.

“So, basically if you come, you treat the dental one first.“ Abraham, therefore, encouraged Nigerians to seek medical attention for any health condition, including bad breath.

Sales Rep Docked

Fraud:

L-R: Deputy FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr. Adeyemi Omidiji; President, National Union of Raod Transport Workers, Alhaji Naseem Yasin and Head of Department, GLO Gateway, Mr. Steve Stretch, at the Launch of NURTW Official identity card in Abuja recently.

ABUJA- The police has arraigned David Obalowo in a Gudu Upper Area Court, FCT, for allegedly defrauding his employer of N3.1 million.

Obalowo of No1 Wisdom Street, Rafinsanyi, Suleja, Niger State, is standing trial on a threecount charge of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and cheating.

The prosecutor, Insp.

Emmanuel Edet, told the court that one Isah Abdullahi, an executive of Big Bowl Company Limited, Games village, Abuja, reported the matter at the Apo Police Station on July 10.

He said the accused, being the sales representative of the said company, was entrusted with some tobacco products valued at N3.1 million for sale.

He said the accused was

instructed to remit daily proceeds of the said products to the bank, but instead, he conspired with one John, now at large, and converted the said amount to his personal use.

He said the offence contravened sections 97, 314 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The counsel to the accused, Obiayi Echefule, applied for the bail of his client, assuring the court that a reliable surety will be provided if granted.

The presiding officer, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, granted the accused bail in the sum of N3.6 million with a surety in like sum.

He said the surety must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned the case until September 17, for hearing.

Threat To Life

Wife Divorces Husband

Erosion cutting Marabar-Musawa to Kafin-Soli Road near Musawa Town in Katsina State recently.

Court Refuses Suspects Bail

Bus Hijack: ABUJA - An FCT High Court has refused the bail application of the two suspected terrorist who alleged hijacked “The Vine International Academy, Nyanya, school bus.

The suspects were Victor Essein, 39, of Udobana Street, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Bassey Uboh, 49, of Iwuru Village, Akankpa Local Government Area of Cross River.

In his ruling, Justice Velantine Ashi, held that “there is nothing urgent in this application’’.

Ashi, who is a vacation judge, refused the application for bail, remanded the accused persons at the Kuje Maximum Prison and returned the case to the trial judge.

The Counsel to the accused persons, Mr Omoloja Adegoke, had filed a motion

for bail pending their arraignment.

Prosecutor John Ijagbemi had opposed the application for bail, arguing that the accused persons were been tried of felony.

According to him, the offence attracts a maximum punishment pursuant to Section 6 (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provision Act) and the Section 341 of the Criminal

Procedure Code.

It would be recalled that the case, earlier slated for July 24 before Justice Sylvanus Oriji, could not hold because of the JUSUN strike.

and carrying more than a passenger.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr Iliya Aku, delivered the judgement after the convict pleaded guilty to the fourcount charge.

Aku gave him an option of N3,000 fine for each of the offences to be run concurrently.

The Police Prosecutor, Cpl .John Jacob, had told the court that the convict drove in a reckless manner and knocked down a Police

Officer, Cpl. Sule Okoh, who was on official duty.

Jacob said the police officer was attached to New Nyaya Police Division Headquarters.

“The convict caused injury to him and ran away immediately after the accident; the police officer was receiving treatment in the hospital,’’ he said.

He said the offences contravened section 28, 23, 17 (1) of the state laws.

Motorcyclist Jailed For Reckless Driving M A R A R A B A (NASSARAWA) - A Mararaba Senior Magistrates’ Court, Nasarawa State, has sentenced a motorcyclist, Isaac Doctor, to 12 months imprisonment for reckless ridding.

Doctor, 21, of New Karu, Nassarawa State, was convicted for causing grievous hurt, failure to stop after accident, driving without identification mark

LAGOS - An Igando Customary Court in Lagos has dissolved the two-year-old marriage between Jumoke,25, and her husband, Mosuru Ige, over threat to life.

“All efforts to reconcile the couple have proved futile as the petitioner insisted on divorce,’’ the court’s president, Mr R.I Adeyeri, said.

“The court has no choice than to dissolve the union in spite of the fact that the husband still claims he loves his wife.

“Both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways.’’

Jumoke filed for divorce on March 26 seeking dissolution of her marriage to Ige, who she accused of always threatening her life at the least provocation.

Jumoke said she filed for divorce in spite of the blood covenant she and her husband entered into not to separate from each other.

“I’d rather die than to continue with the marriage; I regret my action but I am ready to face the consequence.

“I don’t care about the consequence of the blood oath we made before our marriage; I can no longer cope with his threat to my life,” she told the court.

She said her husband was always threatening her life with either a knife or a bottle anytime they had misunderstanding.

“He always stabs me with a knife or bottle anytime we have misunderstanding or he beats me up.

“My husband will kill me one day if I continue to live with him; my life is no longer safe.’’

The mother of a nine-monthold baby further said that her husband once stabbed her elder brother with a bottle when he tried to mediate in their misunderstanding.

Ige, 32, who is businessman, confirmed that he and his wife made blood covenant not to separate.

Abuja Ebola: Nigerians Commend Govt’s Quick Response

ABUJA An Educationalist, Mr. Iyola Fadiya, has commended the Federal Government’s quick response to combat Ebola virus disease outbreak in the country.

Fadiya told newsmen in Abuja the Federal and the

Lagos State government took proactive steps to stop the virus from spreading.

He said that government had actually done well to create awareness on the virus as well as providing the needful to fight the disease.

According to him, other

states and local governments in the country should intensify efforts in their preventive measures against the deadly disease.

He also urged the stakeholders, nongovernmental organisation and international bodies to

assist in addressing the plague in West Africa.

Also, Mrs Nike Aluko, an environmentalist, told newsmen that the Federal Government should be applauded for the steps taken so far in tackling Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria.

Chairman, SURE-P, Retired Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (3rd left), inspecting the Gwagwalada Inter-Change in Abuja recently.

Aluko, however, said that much still needed to be done to prevent the disease from spreading to all parts of the country.

He appreciated the World

Space Agency Provides Mapping Data ABUJA - The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has provided relevant satellite datasets for resource monitoring, socioeconomic and intelligent mapping across Nigeria and other parts of the globe.

NASRDA Director General, Mr Seidu Mohammed, made this known in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Abuja.

According to him, NASRDA satellites imagery are being used by 18 universities, six MDAs and more than 100 academic researchers across Nigeria, Africa, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.

“It is our belief that the satellites in their life spans would prove effective and efficient in solutions to human questions in environmental

Commission Concludes Arrangement For 2014 Hajj ABUJA - The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said that it had concluded arrangement for a hitch-free 2014 Hajj operations.

The National Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Muhammed Bello, made this known after a stakeholders meeting in Abuja.

Bello, who said the meeting was the final for 2014 exercise, thank God for granting participants journey mercies to Abuja to brainstorm on 2014 hajj.

“As you are all aware this year’s operation is supposed to commenced within the next few days and Alhamdulillah on our part we have done our best to commence the exercise,” he said.

He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his continuous and tireless support to Hajj operation in the country.

“We have received tremendous cooperation from the president and thus making

our job much easier because if we do not have the support of the government, we will not have gone this far.

“We have seen the benefit and progress made so far in hajj operation in our country.

We have had smooth sailing in the last six to seven years since the commission came to be,” he said.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji sa’ad Abubakar, said that the problems confronting hajj operations in the country had been reduced by the commission with the help of the stakeholders.

Abubakar expressed confidence that the commission would in no distance time overcome any challenges facing hajj operations in the country.

“In a very short time, the issues facing the commission will be completely removed from government’s intervention.

“The commission will only be requesting for government to provide essentials to

Nigerian pilgrims’ in area of security, medical, consular services, among others.

“This has been our hope in the last three years and we have requested the president to look into it so that we will be a bit independent of

government,” the Sultan added.

He decried comments from some quarters that hajj was being sponsored by the government, adding that government was only

Health Organisation (WHO) for its strategy plan to combat Ebola virus in the West Africa over the next six to nine months.

performing its responsibility.

“We are not asking for too much, the government is only doing its own part of ensuring provision of needs to the citizens of this country,” he said.

and natural resource exploration and exploitation.

“We will leverage on the progress made through the development, launch and utilisation of Nigeria Sat-2 and Nigeria Sat-X products to advance space technology in the sustainable development of our beloved country, Nigeria,” he said.

He stated that the agency would harness its potentials to translate all past failure and achievements into a propelling fuel for attaining greater heights in space science and technology.

Mohammed maintained that Nigeria embraced space science and technology not for pride, but for a tool for scientific, defence and security as well as socioeconomic development of the country and her citizens.

According to him, space technology remains the most powerful driving force behind the economies and security of developed countries like USA, Russia, China, Britain, France, Italy, India, South Korea and Brazil, among others.

He said that the agency was intensifying effort towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the country and Africa at large.

L-R: Coordinator, SURE-P Programme, Mr. Ali Fatoma; Convener, Roads and Bridges, Alhaji Kassim Bataiya and Chairman, Retired Gen. Martin Luther Agwai during the inspection of section 1 of Abuja Lokoja road recently.

Business + Economy Association Calls For Nat’I Carrier

National Directorate of Employment (NDE) trainees in Adamawa undergoing computer lessons in Yola recently.

Enroll In Graduate Attachment Programme, NDE Urges Unemployed Graduates ABUJA - The National Directorate for Employment (NDE) in FCT advised unemployed graduates in Abuja to key into its Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP).

Mr Abdulrahman Mohammed, the Head, Information and Public Relations of the organisation, gave the advise in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

He said the programme, organized for unemployed graduates, was run under the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Employment Programme (SURE-P).

Mohammed said unemployed graduates in the country should use the opportunity to register with their NDE in their respective states to enable them acquire skills.

He said 50 selected graduates were sent to government organisations in the territory for six months to acquire necessary skills before being recruited.

“We have the special public works programme; it is a department that catered for graduate employment.

“We send 50 people to government organisations, especially those who registered according to their professional inclination; we source for places for them to be attached.

“Government pays them N20, 000 monthly for the period of six months attachment.

“This programme enables

them exhibit their skills at places they are posted.”

Mohammed, who described the programme as a huge success, said most of

the participants had gotten jobs after the attachment.

go”, he said.

According to him, it is the initial sacrifice consumers had to make given the huge financial investment made by the new power investors who are yet to obtain adequate returns on their investments.

Dikki said it was like what happened at the initial stages of the reform in the telecoms sector when the cost of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and cell phones was as high as N50,000 per SIM. He said just like SIM had crashed and sold for almost nothing, with free air time, electricity fixed charge would also crash.

The BPE boss said Government was addressing the non-availability of electric metres, as the Presidency had approved N33 billion low interest intervention funds to support the Distribution Companies.

He said that this money would

assist them to buy meters and other electric power accessories.

He pointed out that Nigeria required three million meters yearly.

ABUJA - The Director of African Travel Market, Mr. Ikechi Uko, has restated the need for a national carrier as part of measures to grow the tourism sector.

Uko, who made the call in an interview with newsmen said “tourism flies on the wing of a national carrier and Nigeria needs one to become a tourism destination.

“I have always been an advocate of a national carrier because I have seen the benefits.

“I have worked with African airlines that are mostly government-owned and I know that the national carrier provided capacity that no airline can provide.

“The amount of training that the national carriers give in Africa is enormous. Capacity enhancement is one of the biggest problems we have because an airline will think of bottom-line.

“I don’t want to train pilots for other people to poach or train an engineer for a Middle Eastern

carrier to pay them double our offer.

“However, if you have a national carrier, this will be seen as national development.

“So, there are some things that are beneficial to the national carrier; there are some rights the national carrier will have which I think are missing”, he said.

Uko said Nigeria does not have any airline protecting its people.

“There is a gap in the aviation environment due to this fact.

According to him, Nigeria needs a national carrier that will represent and promote its tourism sector.

He also said the minister should go ahead to make sure Nigeria had a national carrier to drive tourism patronage.

Uko stressed the need to upgrade the aviation industry in order to boost tourism.

Mr. Osita Chidoka, the new Minister of Aviation, on assumption of office, promised to build on the Nigerian Aviation Master Plan to fast tract the growth and development of the sector.

Electricity Consumption: BPE To Remove Fixed Charge

ABUJA - The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said that the fixed charge currently borne by electricity consumers would be dispensed with as soon as power generation becomes economically sustainable.

The Director General of BPE, Mr Benjamin Dikki, stated this in a press statement signed by the bureau’s Head of Public Communications, Mr Chigbo Anichebe in Abuja.

In it, the DG appealed to electricity consumers to bear the burden as it was a temporary measure.

“The country has an installed power capacity of 6,000 megawatts but is currently generating only about 3,000 to 4,000 megawatts.

“The revenues from the 3,000 megawatts are not sufficient to support the power infrastructure.

When power generation increases, the fixed charge will

Dikki also said that the reforms undertaken by the privatisation agency had impacted positively on the Nigerian economy.

He added that the bureau

intended to focus attention on the transport sector in the next phase of the reforms as it contributes about 30 per cent to the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

Skill Acquisition: NDE Trains 50

LAFIA- The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Nasarawa State has said that it would train 50 women on how to use local fabrics to make fashionable shoes and bags.

The organisation said the scheme was designed to make the beneficiaries to become self reliant and employers.

Mr Monday Dalyop, the state Coordinator of NDE, said this in Lafia while declaring open a two-week skill acquisition training programme organised for women in the state.

He said: “NDE came in to existence in 1986, saddled with the responsibilities of training people especially the youths and

Women

women in different skills acquisition programmes in the country in order to be self reliant and to contribute their quota to national development.

“There is high rate of unemployment in which the situation has degenerated to antisocial activities such as violent crimes, insecurity, armed robbery, drug and human trafficking, among others.

“Today’s programme is designed to train and empower 50 women on the use of local fabrics in the making of modern fashionable shoes and bags in order to make them to be self

Adamawa State Coordinator, National Director of Employment (NDE), Malam Ismaila Yar’Adua (2nd left), inspecting shoes and and bags made by women trainees of the Directorate in Yola recently.

reliant and to enable them contribute their quota to national development.”

According to him, it is better for government to teach one how to catch fish than to give one fish to eat.

The coordinator advised youths against waiting for white collar jobs and embrace skills acquisition for the overall development of the country.

Dalyop renewed the commitment of the directorate to initiate more people’s oriented programmes in order to tackle unemployment, youth restiveness and poverty in the state.

On his part, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed, the DirectorGeneral of the NDE, commended the Federal Government for initiating programmes aimed at fighting unemployment and poverty in the country.

Mohammed, who was represented by Mrs Carol Godswill, urged the trainees to take advantage of the programme to sharpen their knowledge, saying the exercise was free of charge.

The Chairman of the occasion and General Manager, Alhaji Ibrahim Adamu, Nasarawa State Vocational and Relevant Technology Board, pledged the state government support to address unemployment, youth restiveness and poverty.

Responding on behalf of other beneficiaries, Miss Cynthia Agu, thanked NDE for organising the programme and promised to use the skills to contribute their quota to national development .

Discourse ABOUT a fortnight ago, a thought-stultifying myth created mass hysteria in Nigeria. Many Nigerians based on hearsay eagerly embraced the salt-water bath as otherworldly vaccine against Ebola.

Seemingly, its efficacy was not questioned by the general public. Rather it was a moment of eureka.

Our cultural pride ballooned, herbalists were elevated to Olympian Heights, although fleetingly. Many kept vigil, joyfully calling and sending messages to loved ones to inoculate themselves against the dreaded virus. This presents a poser. Why did many of our compatriots treat this “untested hypothesis” as proven medical fact? There are many possible answers to this question. Let’s consider some.

First, many Nigerians are lovers of myths. Given the fact that the vestiges of oral culture abound in our collective consciousness, our sense of what is really real is somewhat mythbased. Stereotypes are ingrained in the shared frameworks of ideas that shape our understanding of reality. How we derive meaning from lived experiences is susceptible to the influence of agelong assumptions. Second, we deeply hanker for quick fixes. Short-termism seems to run in our cultural DNA. Third, mythmaking fuels religious revival in Nigeria, particularly, the infusion of native esotericism and theosophy into monotheistic religions. Fourth, myths are the motif of Nollywood. Inadvertently, Nollywood has triggered a renewal of public interest in myths about black

The Triumph Of Myth

magic. Fifth, myths are part of urban reality, not peculiar to the uneducated, rural poor. They influence modern social practices even in echelons of power and prestige.

Recently, one of the leading national newspapers reported the plight of a homeless nonagenarian woman in Lagos. According to the newspaper report, the 90something-year-old woman was sent out of her

In myth-oriented cultures, like ours, people are credulous. Healthy scepticism is not one of our intrinsic merits.

Hence, the old woman was implicated in the death of a child that allegedly was a sufferer of sickle cell anaemia.

This demonstrates one lesson: The rules of rational

from the river do not get cooked. Consequently, the huge economic value of its seafood is untapped by locals. Similarly, certain forests in Igbo land are designated evil, unfit for agrarian and economic uses.

Nollywood and demon-

son’s house following the death of one of his tenant’s child. She was accused of killing the child with her “unusual supernatural power.” After the tenants gave her the beating of her life, her son sent her out of his house. Without honourable and viable options for survival she resorted to street begging.

decision making are in abeyance wherever myths are more or less governing principles of life.

Myths have far-reaching effects on us. They fairly influence the way we harness natural resources for human wellbeing. For example, it is said that the Inachalo River in Kogi State is cursed, and so, fish

obsessed deliverance centres have accidentally become key reinforcing agents of myths that debar the spirit of equality. Their subliminal influences entrench a culture of social ostracism.

A good example is the portrayal of “Osu women” as harbingers of evil. By rehashing myths like, if a

By OMOZUWA G. OSAMWONYI

“We cannot make giant leaps in our collective quest for an egalitarian society, if we keep considering questioning myths and challenging status quos as taboos.”

man sleeps with an Osu lady, it will cause lumps to appear in his private parts, social harmony is deterred.

Governments’ spirited efforts to fight certain crimes in our society will not yield the desired results, if the root causes

of such crimes are not addressed, particularly those induced by superstitions and cultic practices. A good example is ritual killing of albinos, which is on the increase, because it is alleged that they posses magical powers for prosperity and political stardom. They are often dismembered.

Even their graves are dug up with ignominy by spiritualists and powerbesotted necrophilia. For these debased acts to stop, agents and institutions of cultural enlightenment must stop glorifying myths and superstitions.

Due to our love for myths, we mystify

success. Some religious profiteers parading as God’s spokespersons trade on this illusion. As a result, we hardly see success as by-products of internalised values, but of talisman. Evidently, our popular pastime of demonising the youngrich-and-handsome guy springs from this mistaken notion of success. For this reason, we fail to teach our children that hard work is a recipe of success.

There is a tendency to dismiss this skewed notion of success and power as peculiar to the underclass.

But the sad encounter of Ambassador Sam Edem, former chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), with a sorcerer indicates that this thinking is widespread. It is reported that he spent approximately N800 million for a dubious sorcerer to help him woo fortune, ward off evil and consolidate him in power.

We cannot make giant leaps in our collective quest for an egalitarian society, if we keep considering questioning myths and challenging status quos as taboos.

Great nations are not built on retrograde systems of thoughts, stereotypes, and hate myths. To build a society where the elderly are treated with love, human dignity and care demands that the portrayal of the aged as half demon and half angel should stop.

Aspiring architects of national transformation must muster the courage to question accepted assumptions. We need to rethink assumptions about who we are in relation to others, and pull down every oppressive structure built on myths. Very likely, a new day of glory will not dawn in Nigeria until our national psyche is liberated from the tyranny of myths. @omozuwaspeaks (On Twitter)

Agriculture Training And Re-Training Of Workers For Agric Transformation

Introduction AGRICLTURE is a business and also a profession. According to the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, training is defined as the process of learning the skills that one need to do a job.

In the recent book by the writer on viscous and dreams in the fulfill went of life desting by Deacon Mark Olumese, it was emphasised the importance of training and re-training in any organization. It is equally mentioned that in our contemporary world today, an apprentice or trainee needs several years of deliberate training with devotion and a lot of commitment before he or she can be regarded as a specialist or consultant on the job for example, it takes a minimum of 3 years before a WAEC holder can obtain a National Certificate in Education (NCE) to be regarded as a professional teacher in a secondary school similarly to be regarded as an Agricultural Assistant in the

By OLUMESE MARK Ministry of Agriculture, it takes minimum of 2 years to obtain the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Agriculture and another extra 2 years to obtain the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Agriculture from any of the Colleges of Agriculture in Nigeria or overseas.

The same condition applies if one is interested in obtaining a degree in Agriculture from any of the universities in Nigeria.

The focus of this paper therefore is on “training and re-training of workers for Agricultural transformation in Nigeria.

There is a popular saying that if you don’t train them, don’t blame them, training gives the employee or trainee the advantage of updating and upgrading his knowledge and skills which leads to higher productivity. Organizations that

invest their resources in training of staff have this testimony that their staff get better motivated with high morale to render efficient services to them employers. One cannot give what he or she does not have.

Training and re-training cause acquired from both formal institutions of leaning or private agencies.

It is suggested by the writer the need for employers of labour to invest more on training or retraining of them workers especially in the agricultural sector.

What are the various type of trainings workers can be exposed to for agricultural transformation. * In-service training programmes in higher institutions of learning.

* Short term workship or seminars not more than 3 to 5 days.

* Excursions to university firms * Excursions to commercial enter preneurs involved in agric projects. * Monthly trainings at places like Armt, union, IITA, Ibadan Sorghai farms in portnood etc.

In conclusion, extension workers are required to be constantly in touch with research from ringing to be able and equately equipped to solve farmers problems under the TXV system of extension programme in ADP.

Business IN recent times the word entrepreneur is almost becoming a cliché at it has dangled on the lips of many people across the world but still, Nigerians have not yet realized how important and beneficial this act is.

Entrepreneurship involves making money by starting or running business especially when this involves taking financial risks. In political economics, entrepreneurship is the process of identifying and starting a new business venture, sourcing and organizing the required resources while taking both the risks and rewards associated with the venture.

Thus, entrepreneurship is an act individual should engage in.

Meticulously looking at our society and nation at large. I deemed it fit to say Nigerians both young and old should take time to get themselves involved in entrepreneurship.

I do not propose to persuade an on looker to invest in stocks and shares saying it is all rosy.

Investing in stocks and shares has its rewards and risks just like the cliché. “life is full of risks”.

Meanwhile this is not to scare you. Saving and investing is the best thing reasonable and responsible person should do.

It does more good than harm.

Even the Bible itself encourages it in Mathew 25:1430.

Tenaciously money had wings and has the ability to fly so far away that our eyes can see it no more. But another truth is that investing it is that trap that can hold it down and prevent it from flying away.

It is possible to have all the money in the world today and have nothing in the next few minutes. This is because man has needs and the answer to his need is money. Investing is what entrepreneurship is all about. There is increasing recognition of the fact that small and young ventures account for economic growth and that entrepreneurship can be important source of innovation. In entrepreneurship specialization. It is seen as the process of creating and exploiting opportunities by means of novel combinations of resources leading to new (social, societal and economic) value.

By and large, it is no more news that a lot of young Nigeria graduates are out there looking for jobs. Another fact is that the job space in Nigeria is far too small than the population of people seeking for jobs. So why

Let’s Talk About Entrepreneurship wasting your time? The reason why many Nigerians are not into entrepreneurship is the fear of taking risks.

Have you come to realize that rich men and women of the world are confirmed entrepreneurs? They have gotten themselves the tree that grows money for them very second of their lives. Who said they never went through challenges? Man by nature is subjected to challenges in every

facet of life and entrepreneurship is not an exception it is definitely tedious to climb the ladder of success but the reward of being high there is the glory of it all.

Every investment decision makes an assumption about the future. Where investors do not make forecast of results, they have obviously assumed that the present level of corporate performance will be continued into the future. Investors can

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister for Finance

“It is possible to have all the money in the world today and have nothing in the next few minutes. This is because man has needs and the answer to his need is money.

Investing is what entrepreneurship is all about.”

By STANLEY UGAGBE

project future results by drawing the trend of past results over the past five years and by projecting the same growth rate over the next year to obtain the likely performance of the company for next year.

However there is need to possess certain qualities to become a real and successful entrepreneur. Some qualities blogged by a notable entrepreneur, dason browser are strong leadership qualities.

Leaders are born not made.

Do you find being the go to person most of the time? Do you find people asking your opinion or to keep guide or make decisions for them, have you been in management roles through your career?

A leader is someone who values the goal over any unpleasantness the work it takes to get there may bring. A leader is more than just tenacious.

Willingness to fail Successful entrepreneurs are risk takers who have all gotten over one very significant huddle. They are not afraid of failure. Infact, entrepreneurs are often successful because they are calculative and able to make the best decisions even in the worst of cases.

Nevertheless, they also accept that even if they make the best decisions possible things don’t always go according to plan and may fail any how. The old adage “nothing ventured nothing gained” lends credence to this fact. Do not be afraid to

fail, put it out there and give your best shot.

A good entrepreneur acts out his idea, and keeps on acting and acting until his actions yield profit. A good entrepreneur is a legendary actor!.

Strong sense of basic ethics and integrity business is sustainable because there is a common understood code of ethics universally that underpins the very fabric upon which commerce is conducted.

You will find the successful sustainable people maintain the highest standards of integrity because at the end of the day if you cannot prove yourself a credible business person no one will do business with you and as such to that effect you will be out of the team.

Highly self motivated Self motivation is one of the engine rooms of most famous business entrepreneurs in history that leaders are typically pretty intense personalities.

They are also very passionate about their ideas that drive towards these ultimate goals and are notoriously difficult to steer off the couse.

Complementarily, it is not mandatory to start up with something big. You could start small. In fact that is the fun of business starting small like a mustard seed and watching it grow like an iroko tree.

Do you want to be rich and successful? Start up something today.

Remember “a child that is afraid of falling cannot walk”.

Issues

The Malady Of The Arms Race

Hiroshima, Nagasaki: “So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise Upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors war shall remain the chief pursuit of ambitious minds” Edward Gibbon (17371794) THE intellectualization of trite statements remains the stout tradition of the literati and the academia. But no amount of academic acrobatics and pedantic romanticisation can stop or prevent the chrysalis from carrying its own load-so mankind has borne its own selfinflicted tragedies and bestialities of war to an enormous extent.

The month of August marks the 69 th anniversary of the unleashing of the atomic bomb on the people of Hiroshima-6th August, 1945 and Nagasaki-9th August 1945 respectively. Over 150,000 people were killed and millions injured, and some would carry an emotional eternal wound in their hearts. It ultimately culminated in the end of the 2 nd world war (19391945).

The dropping of the “ANOTA GAY” as it was called, climaxed the writing of one of the saddest, darkest and bleakest pages in the history of mankind, confirming the Shakespearian refrain that “Men have lost their reasons and powers have flown to the brutish beast” and further resonated by Nicholo Machiavelli (1469-1527) in his

By BOBSON GBINIJE

book “The Prince” that “you must know that there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient it is necessary to have recourse to the second” and this the Allied Forces led

by America did.

Paraphrasing the renowned scientist Albert Einstein –“It is not the weapons invented that are dangerous, it is the ‘Man” who put them to wrong use”.

The extent to which “Man” could go in exercising his primordial and Neanderthal propensities came to the fore in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedies. It remains not only a tragedy for Japan but also for the human race.

In the “Memoirs of Survivors” (publication of the Japanese authority) quoted in the “AWAKE” A Jehovah’s Witnesses publication of

August 22, 1985-one Nosuyo Fukushima said “when we got to the hospital, it was packed with people. The heads and faces of many of them were covered with blood, while others had burned flesh dangling in strips. The hair on some of them, being singed by the heat, was standing on end.

Others with fragments of wood and glass blasted into their bodies, were groaning deeply. Their faces were so bloated that it was difficult to tell one from the other. The city had become the large, burned outfield, with only an occasional crushing concrete wall still standing in the ashes.

Everynight, there were fires on the river bank where the dead were cremated. I vividly recall the red glow of the fires and the terrible odor of the burning bodies, like oily fish being grilled. I still shudder and feel sick at heart whenever I think of it”

This is just one testimony from a catalogue of so many. It vividly portrays how gruesome a nuclear war could be. But have we learnt any lessons from this hideous nightmare, belligerency and sanguinary proclivities of man. This deep scar and cicatrix will be left on the minds and consciences of many Japanese and, nay, mankind for a long time to come. We remain inveterately chagrined at the horrors and destructiveness of war. But have we learnt any lessons?

In the historic, concessionary and statesmanly speech of Emperor Hirohito of Japan on the 15th of August 1945 he said “It is according to the dictates of time, and fate that we have resolved to pave the way for a great peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering the insufferable”. By this singular act and subsequent amendments of their constitution Japan became a “Pacific Nation” denouncing and renouncing war as a means

of settling disputes.

In Japan’s constitution, Article 9 glaringly states that “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized”.

From the foregoing, Japan seems to have learnt its lesson from the atomic bomb episode.

But a more insightful view will show that in recent years Japan is on course again to acquiring weapons and the setting up of military units. It was superlatively present, although playing background supportive role to America and is allies in the Guff war. It is a known fact that Japan has stepped –up it military budget and there are many unmentionable covert activities of the Japanese government. Does this show that Japan has learnt its lessons?

The allies have of course become worse. Even after the end of the Cold war era, Glasnost and Perestroika.

America and Russia are still covertly and overtly busy stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The wanton acquisition of dangerous weapons like the Tomographic X-Ray Laser, Neutron, Atomic and Hydrogen bombs. Different ranges of missiles- the exocet, patriot, scud and the intercontinental ballistic missile (Z range-ICBM) etc. Does this stockpiling of nuclear weapons show any penitence on their side?

In the midst of fear of neighbours, likely outbreak of the third Word War and distrust, the nuclear weapon acquisition fever is currently taking over the whole world, with America as the supreme culprit. There is current nuclear craze in South East Asia. Recently India tested, followed by Pakistan and Bangladesh. We hear that Iran has followed suit. There is massive nuclear weapons proliferation. Africa is not left out. South Africa has also publicly acknowledged its nuclear capability. Its likely Nigeria is doing something underground or it will do something as soon as there is political stability. Nigeria now has Satellite in Space and more.

In the light of the aforesaid one could state without fear of

“Even after the end of the Cold war era, Glasnost and Perestroika. America and Russia are still covertly and overtly busy stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. The wanton acquisition of dangerous weapons like the Tomographic XRay Laser, Neutron, Atomic and Hydrogen bombs.”

contradiction that the world has not learnt any lessons from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s colossal malady and genocide.

The Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement (SALT 1& II) have all turned out to be more paper protocols and placeboes with no bite. The United Nation that is supposed to broker a call for sanity has only turned out to be an appendage, a legislative arm and a moralistic eunuch of the American government. As the millennium tapers on, we need no ghost to tell us that the political Apocalypse and Armamental Armageddon looms in the horizon.

America and Russia has a dual role to play if the situation must be sanitized. America and Russia must shed some nuclear weight, thereby giving them the moral locus standi to ask others to do same. Their dual constabulary status in the world and their continuous bossing over every Nation will serve to intensify the nuclear race.

Afterall, America singlehandedly caused the Hiroshima and the Nagasaki tragedy. But students of International Relations called it a collective action, but the facts remains that one nation gave the go-ahead and carried-it out.

That nation is America and it has both the causative and curative antidotes in its hands.

The Arms Race must stop.

The Hiroshima /Nagasaki tragedy has necessitated the earmarking of the twentieth century as the most gory and bloodiest century since the creation of the world. Professor Burns’s agrees with point of view when he said in his book “Ideas in Conflict” that, “ In all probability, historians of the future will look back upon the twentieth century as one of the most crucial in the records of mankind. They will doubtless invent neat characterization for it, calling it perhaps the age of revolution and counterrevolution, or more simply the age of agony”.

The Late Satyagrahi, Chief P.A. Gbinije admonishes that “it is a proverbial disgrace for a man to hit his legs against the same stone twice.” The time has come for men of reason to call our moribund world to order. This mundane rush for the things that will put an end to the human race must be nipped in the bud. Let us begin to learn the great and sad lessons of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedy. America, Russia and European Nations must be called to order in Ukraine, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Nigeria. The United Nations must be more proactive in checkmating the metastatic tentacles of Arms proliferation and wars.

CHIEF BOBSON GBINIJE MANDATE AGAINST POVERTY (MAP) WARRI :08023250378

Foot Print

TODAY’S edition of Foot Prints peruses the life and works of George Wa s h i n g t o n ( 1 7 3 2 1799), first president of the United States (1789-1797) and one of the most important leaders in United States history. His role in gaining independence for the American colonies and later in unifying them under the new U.S. Federal Government cannot be overestimated. Laboring against great difficulties, he created the Continental Army, which fought and won the American Revolution (1775-1783), out of what was little more than an armed mob. After an eight-year struggle, his design for victory brought final defeat to the British at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced Great Britain to grant independence to its overseas possession.

George Washington was born on his father’s estate in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. He was the eldest son of a well-to-do Virginia farmer, Augustine Washington, by his second wife, Mary Ball. The Washington family was descended from two brothers, John and Lawrence Washington, who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1657. The family’s rise to modest wealth in three generations was the result of steady application to farming, land buying, and development of local industries.

Young George seems to have received most of his schooling from his father and, after the father’s death in 1743, from his elder halfbrother Lawrence. The boy had a liking for mathematics, and he applied it to acquiring knowledge of surveying, which was a skill greatly in demand in a country where people were seeking new lands in the West. For the Virginians of that time the West meant chiefly the upper Ohio River valley.

Throughout his life, George Washington maintained a keen interest in the development of these western lands, and from time to time he acquired properties there.

George grew up a tall, strong young man, who excelled in outdoor pursuits, liked music and theatrical performances, and was a trifle awkward with girls but fond of dancing. His driving force was the ambition to gain wealth and eminence and to do well whatever he

set his hand to.

His first real adventure as a boy was accompanying a surveying party to the Shenandoah Valley of northern Virginia and descending the Shenandoah River by canoe. An earlier suggestion that he should be sent to sea seems to have been discouraged by his uncle Joseph Ball, who described the prospects of an unknown colonial youth in the British Navy of that day as such that “he had better be put apprentice to a tinker.”When he was 17 he was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, the first public office he held.

In 1751 George had his first and only experience of foreign lands when he accompanied his half-brother Lawrence to the island of Barbados in the West Indies.

Lawrence was desperately ill with tuberculosis and thought the climate might help, but the trip did him little good.

Moreover, George was stricken with smallpox. He bore the scars from the disease for the rest of his life.

Fortunately this experience gave him immunity to the disease, which was later to decimate colonial troops during the American Revolution.

Lawrence died in 1752.

Under the terms of his will, George soon acquired the beautiful estate of Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County, one of six farms then held by the Washington family interests. Also, the death of his beloved half-brother opened another door to the future. Lawrence had held the post of adjutant in the colonial militia. This was a full-time salaried appointment, carrying the rank of major, and involved the inspection, mustering, and regulation of various militia companies.

Washington seems to have been confident he could make an efficient adjutant at the age of 20, though he was then without military experience.

In November 1752 he was appointed adjutant of the southern district of Virginia by Governor Robert Dinwiddie.

During the following summer, Virginia was alarmed by reports that a French expedition from Canada was establishing posts on the headwaters of the Ohio River and seeking to make treaties with the Native American peoples. Governor Dinwiddie received orders from Britain to demand an immediate French withdrawal, and Major Washington promptly volunteered to carry the

George Washington: Pa governor’s message to the French commander. His ambition at this time was to secure royal preference for a commission in the regular British army, and this expedition promised to bring him to the king’s attention.

Washington took with him a skillful and experienced frontiersman, Christopher Gist, together with an interpreter and four other men. Reaching the forks of the Ohio, he found that the French had withdrawn northward for the winter.

After inconclusive negotiations with the Native Americans living there, who were members of the Iroquois Confederacy, he pressed on and finally delivered Dinwiddie’s message to the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf, not far from Lake Erie. The answer was polite but firm: The French were there to stay. Returning, Washington reached Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, to deliver this word to the governor in midJanuary 1754, having made a hard wilderness journey of more than 1600 km (1000 mi) in less than three months.

With his report he submitted a map of his route and a strong recommendation that an English fort be erected at the forks of the Ohio as quickly as possible, before the French returned to that strategic position in the spring.

Dinwiddie, who was himself a large stockholder in companies exploiting western lands, acted promptly on this suggestion.

He sent William Trent with a small force to start building the fort. Major Washington was to raise a column of 200 men to follow and reinforce the advance party.

This was Washington’s first experience with the difficulties of raising troops while lacking equipment, clothing, and funds.

Apparently he thought his efforts worthy of some recognition and successfully applied to Dinwiddie for a lieutenant colonel’s commission. He left Alexandria, Virginia, early in April with about 150 poorly equipped and half-trained troops.

Before he had advanced very far, Washington received news that the French had driven Trent’s men back from the Ohio forks. He did not turn back, but pushed on to

establish an advanced position from which, when reinforced, he hoped to turn the tables. He set part of his men to work building a log stockade, which he named Fort Necessity. On May 27, 1754, he surprised a French force in the woods and routed it after a short battle. The French commander, Ensign Joseph Coulon, Sieur de Jumonville, was killed in the clash, and Washington took prisoners back to Fort Necessity. He had won his first victory.

The French, on hearing of Jumonville’s death, sent out a larger force. Unfortunately for Washington, these troops reached Fort Necessity before he had received either the men or the supplies he expected from Virginia. On July 3 the fort was attacked by the French and some Iroquois who had allied with them, beginning what would be called the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The fort did not have the soldiers or arms to hold out. However, the French offered surrender terms that were not humiliating: The Virginians were to abandon the fort and withdraw to their own settlements, leaving two hostages for good faith.

Washington’s papers and journal were taken, and he was to sign a surrender document. Washington accepted the terms on July 4 after the surrender document was translated for him and did not appear to contain any offensive statements.

Back in Williamsburg, Washington had become famous. The victory over Jumonville was applauded, and he was not blamed for surrendering his fort to superior forces. The expedition was written up in a British magazine and thereby came to the attention of the king, George II. The magazine quoted Washington as saying that he found “something charming” in the sound of the bullets whizzing past his head at the Jumonville skirmish. At this the king remarked, “He would not say so if he had been used to hear many.”

There were two repercussions that caused Washington some regrets. First, he found that his translator had been mistaken. An accurate translation of the surrender document showed it to contain the phrase “assassination of Sieur de

but pushed on to establish an advanced position from which, when reinforced, he hoped to turn the tables. He set part of his men to work building a log stockade, which he named Fort Necessity. On May 27, 1754, he surprised a French force in the woods and routed it after a short battle.

The French commander, Ensign Joseph Coulon, Sieur de Jumonville, was

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killed in the clash, and Washington took prisoners back to Fort Necessity. He had won his first victory.

Washington had succeeded in getting the king’s attention, but he did not get the royal commission he hoped for.

The king’s military advisers, while admitting his “courage and resolution,” believed that officers in the British regular army were better qualified to lead troops against the French. Later in 1754, the Virginia military was reorganized in accordance with that opinion, now made policy: Regular army officers coming from Britain would now have command over officers who held colonial commissions. This meant that Washington might find himself reporting to officers

Th the B at th On J was the Ame (7 m The Was “im such noth prev Bra wou best and troo His und r e The Virg dang

By OBUSEH JUDE

Jumonville,” implying that Washington had killed the French commander dishonorably. Secondly, the French published a translation of Washington’s journal. But it was heavily edited and the emphasis changed to make it appear that the French soldiers were merely on a diplomatic mission. Representatives of King George inquired into the matter but were satisfied

George Washington that Washington had acted correctly. He was not held to account for the mistake of his translator.

This was Washington’s first experience with the difficulties of raising troops while lacking equipment, clothing, and funds.

Apparently he thought his efforts worthy of some recognition and successfully applied to Dinwiddie for a lieutenant colonel’s commission. He left Alexandria, Virginia, early in April with about 150 poorly equipped and half-trained t r o o p s .

Before he had advanced very far, Washington received news that the French had driven Trent’s men back from the Ohio forks. He did not turn back,

Foot Print

rtriarch Of The USA

outranked and who had s experience than he had. nding that possibility olerable, he resigned his mmission. However, a ong British force under ajor General Edward addock arrived early in 55 with orders to drive the nch from Fort Duquesne, ich they had built at the ks of the Ohio. shington’s local military putation was such that addock invited him to join staff as a volunteer aidecamp.

August 1755, Governor Dinwiddie appointed Washington commander in chief of all the colony’s troops, with the rank of colonel. For the next three years, Washington struggled with the bitter and endless problems of frontier defense. He never had enough resources to establish more than a patchwork of security, but he acquired valuable experience in the conduct of war with the logistical and political problems peculiar to American conditions. In the fall of 1758

he advance was slow, and British soldiers were not heir best in forest warfare.

July 9, 1755, the column surprised and routed by French and their Native erican allies, only 11 km mi) from Fort Duquesne. e British troops, in shington’s words, were mediately struck with h a deadly Panick that hing but confusion vail’d amongst them.” ddock was mortally unded. Washington did his t to try to rally the regulars to use a few Virginia ops to cover the retreat. coolness and bravery der fire enhanced his p u t a t i o n . e western frontier of ginia was now gerously exposed, and in

he had the satisfaction of commanding a Virginia regiment under British General John Forbes, who recovered Fort Duquesne from the French and renamed it Fort Pitt.

With Virginia’s strategic objective attained, Colonel Washington resigned his commission and turned his attention to the quieter life of a Virginia planter. In January 1759 he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a charming and wealthy young widow.

As a planter, Washington showed eager interest in improving the productivity of his fields and the quality of his livestock. He read all available works on progressive agriculture and constantly experimented in

crop rotation. He invested in new implements and used new methods and fertilizers.

He found that planting only tobacco, the chief cash crop of Virginia, did not pay. It was too dependent on the weather, the state of the British market, and the honesty of the British agents who managed the overseas end of the transactions. He developed fisheries, increased his production of wheat, set up a mill and an ironworks, and taught his slaves clothweaving and other handicrafts.

During his years as a gentleman farmer, Washington matured from an ambitious youth into the patriarch of the Washington clan and a solid member of Virginia society. He remained somewhat shy and reserved throughout his life. He was sensitive and emotional, with a violent temper that he usually held firmly in check.

But most of all he was a man of great personal dignity. His connection with the wealthy and powerful Fairfax family, through his half-brother Lawrence’s marriage, perhaps as much as his own energies, made him a wealthy landowner and, from 1759 to 1774, a member of the House of Burgesses, the lower chamber of the Virginia legislature. In all, as Washington prospered and his responsibilities grew, his character was enriched and grew to keep pace.

Washington’s perspective broadened and he became involved in the protests of Virginians against the restrictions of British rule. He became yearly more convinced that the king’s ministers and British merchants and financiers regarded Americans as inferior and sought to control “our whole substance.” His wartime experience had given him ample evidence of the contempt felt by British military men for colonial officers. Now he began to see the deepening division between the true interests of the American people and the view held of those interests in Britain. As a member of the House of Burgesses he opposed such measures as the 1765 Stamp Act, which imposed a tax on the colonies without consulting them, and he foresaw that British policy was moving toward doing away with self-government in America altogether.

The introduction of the

Townshend Acts in 1767, s t r e n g t h e n e d Washington’s anti-British feelings. These acts imposed more unpopular taxes. His voice joined in Virginia’s decision in 1770 to retaliate by banning taxable British goods from the colony. His belief in the colonies’ right of free action resounds in his words written to Virginia statesman George Mason: “... as a last resource ...Americans should be prepared to take up arms to defend their ancestral liberties from the inroads of our lordly Masters in Great B r i t a i n . ” By 1774, when the spirit of American resistance was well developed, Washington had become one of the key Virginians supporting the colonial cause. He was elected to the First Continental Congress, an assembly of delegates from the colonies to decide on actions to take against Britain.

Although he did not enter much into debate, his viewpoint was uniformly sound and acceptable.

However, he knew that more than paper resolutions would be needed to safeguard American liberties, and he spent the winter of 1774 and 1775 organizing militia companies in Virginia.

When Washington attended the Second Continental Congress in May 1775, he appeared in the blue and buff uniform of the Fairfax County militia. These colors were later adopted for the army of the colonies, called the Continental Army. As he entered the hall, the country was already ringing with the news from Massachusetts, where the battles at Lexington and Concord had been fought, and the only British army in the colonies was besieged in Boston by the militia of the surrounding towns. The Continental Congress, on June 15, 1775, unanimously elected George Washington as General and Commander in chief of its army. He was chosen for two basic reasons.

First, he was respected for his military abilities, his selflessness, and his strong commitment to colonial freedom.

Secondly, Washington was a Virginian, and it was hoped that his appointment would bind the Southern colonies more closely to the rebellion in New England. Congressman John Adams of Massachusetts was the moving spirit in

securing the command for Washington. He realized that, although the war had begun in Massachusetts, success could come only if all 13 colonies were united in their protest and in their willingness to fight.

On June 25, 1775, Washington set out for Massachusetts, and on July 3, he halted his horse under an elm on the common in Cambridge, drew his sword, and formally took command of the Continental Army. In his general order of the following day, Washington’s emphasis was on unity: “... it is to be hoped that all distinction of colonies will be laid aside, so that one and the same spirit may animate the whole, and the only contest be, who shall render, on this great and trying occasion, the most essential service to the common cause in which we are all engaged.”

To this high ideal of unity in a common cause, Washington remained unswervingly loyal through many trials and disappointments. Indeed, he was to become the living symbol of a national unity that at times seemed to have little actual substance.

Washington found his army in high spirits due to the heavy losses inflicted on the British troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17. He was pleased at what had been done toward entrenching the semicircular American front, but he was appalled at the disorganization and lack of discipline among his soldiers and the officers’ ignorance of their duties. Also, he soon realized that the term of service of most of his men was soon to expire, producing for him the double task of trying to train one army while raising another to take its p l a c e .

Washington began at once to impress these difficulties on Congress, pointing to the need for longer terms of enlistment.

He asked for better pay, which alone could induce men to enlist for the necessary term.

Almost immediately he came up against Congress’s fear that a standing army would bring with it the peril of a military dictatorship. The legislators only gradually understood that the immediate peril of political dictatorship by the king’s ministers was much more real than a possible future threat of a military dictator.

However, Washington did the best he could with the available means. He took

stern measures to restore discipline. Insubordination and desertion were punished by flogging with the cat-o’-ninetails. A few deserters, especially those who repeated the offense, were hanged. The worst problem of supply was the shortage of gunpowder. It hampered all of Washington’s plans for months, and appeals to neighboring colonies brought little help.

Meanwhile, the only British army in North America remained cooped up in Boston throughout the winter. There was no real fighting, but Washington was preparing a surprise for Sir William Howe, the British commander. During the winter 50 heavy cannon from the captured British Fort Ticonderoga in northern New York were dragged by sled to Boston. In a brilliant move, Washington mounted the cannon on Dorchester Heights, which commanded the city. Howe, recognizing that his position was untenable, evacuated the city by sea on March 17, 1776. From there the British went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Howe awaited reinforcements from across the Atlantic. The rebellious American colonies were, for the time being, entirely free of British troops.

Amid much public praise and rejoicing, Washington arrived in New York City, which was the obvious objective of the British forces now gathering in Nova Scotia. Having seen to the immediate measures necessary for the defense of that city, he proceeded to Philadelphia with the aim of persuading Congress to rectify the enlistment situation.

This time he came in the bright glow of victory, which gave authority to his arguments.

Congress not only authorized three-year enlistments for the future, but also voted bounties for the enlistees. In addition, a permanent Board of War and Ordnance was created to deal with military matters in place of the makeshift committees that had previously held this responsibility. However, these measures, although wise, proved of no immediate help to Washington in meeting what was then his chief military problem: the forthcoming British attack on New York City.

British ships carrying the first units of Howe’s army of 20,000 arrived in New York Bay on June 29, 1776, and the troops began landing on Staten Island. By midAugust the British force, which included German mercenaries (soldiers serving merely for the pay), had increased to more than 30,000, backed by a powerful naval squadron. Howe moved slowly, and this gave Washington time to gather a considerable force of militia from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Even so, his total strength was not more than 18,000, and at least half of these had little or no training.

To be contd.

Development nationwide through the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme at subsidised rates.

Value chains on staple and cash crops, which include rice, cassava, soyabean, sorgum, millet, cocoa, ginger and groundnut, among others, were introduced to encourage agri-businesses and stimulate increased food production.

Nevertheless, there are mixed reactions to the feats recorded by Nigeria in efforts to attain MDG 1.

While many farmers attest to the effectiveness of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), a crosssection of Nigerians insist that the effects of ATA on the society have been minimal and inconsequential.

Increasing food prices, unrest in some parts of the country, increased ruralurban migration due to factors such as hunger and unemployment are some of the factors plaguing the

Assessing Nigeria’s Strategies To Eradicate Poverty

IN 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) named Nigeria as one of the 38 countries that are set to meet the Millennium Development Goal 1 target of reducing hunger by half before the 2015 target date.

The recognition earned Nigeria an award at the high-level FAO conference ceremony in Rome.

The first goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — “Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty’’ — is targeted halving the proportion of the population who suffer from hunger and those whose income is less than 1dollar (about N162) a day.

The other targets of the goal are to reduce the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five years and the proportion of the population whose food intake is below the minimum level of dietary energy consumption.

The progress of Nigeria’s achievement was measured from 1990 to 1992 and 2010 to 2012, against benchmarks established by the

By MAUREEN OKON/MAGDALENE UKUEDOJOR

international community at the UN General Assembly in 2000.

FAO’s Director-General José da Silva commended Nigeria and the other 37 countries for “leading the way to a better future”.

A report on the MDGs in Nigeria indicated that recent economic growth, particularly in agriculture, had markedly reduced the proportion of underweight children from 35.7 per cent in 1990 to 23.1 per cent in 2012.

Dr Precious Gbeneol, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, said that Nigeria had been able to attain the target of MDG 1 relating to hunger reduction.

“We have been able to reduce hunger from the 1991 prevalence of 19.3 to 8.25, well ahead of the 9.6prevalence rate set-target for 2015,’’ she said.

Gbeneol attributed the feat to pragmatic government initiatives which scaled up poverty eradication

programmes and encouraged agricultural production via distribution of improved inputs to farmers.

At the onset of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pledged that efforts would be made to add 20 million tonnes of food to the nation’s food stock by 2015.

He said that additional 15 million tonnes of food were produced between 2011 and 2013, thereby reducing drastically the menace of hunger in the country.

Moreover, the country’s

research institutes, in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), have produced more nutritious food crops, thereby increasing the body mass of infants and adults, in line with target of MDG 1.

Such crops include yellow-fleshed cassava and potato varieties which are rich in Vitamin A, maize hybrids that are resistant to metsulfuron methyl herbicide and the noxious parasitic weed striga hermonthica.

Besides, improved rice varieties, fingerlings, livestock, poultry and feeds were distributed to farmers

society, some observers say.

Mr Segun Ade, a civil servant, said that a lot of Nigerians were still living in extreme hunger and poverty.

“There is poverty in the land; we stay here in Abuja and give statistics but whether you like it or not, a lot of people are quite hungry; they cannot afford good meals.

“Even many of the government workers find it difficult to feed, not to talk of taking care of their families; we are merely striving to survive.

“These officials should go to core villages and see the things happening there, they should even endeavour to visit the slums around here

in Abuja,” he said.

Similarly, Mr Efe Osagie, a mechanic, also rejected claims that hunger and poverty had reduced considerably in Nigeria.

“The gap between the poor and rich keeps widening; people still live in abject poverty; so, why should we not strive to wipe out poverty completely?

“We can do it because Nigeria is a very rich country, the problem is that a few citizens want to take over everything,” he said.

Mrs Rita Onah, a trader at Garki Market in Abuja, said that food production in the country had increased considerably due to the feats recorded in the agricultural sector.

She, however, noted that some factors such as inadequate storage facilities, bad roads and high transport fares had lessened the impact of the achievements.

“The farmers have more crops to sell but how can they bring them out from their farms? They spend so much on transportation and there are no storage facilities around to preserve the produce.

“If the roads are good, food prices will definitely come down. We buy the food from farms and markets in interior places but due to our transportation problems and the number of days we spend on the road, food prices cannot come down,” she said.

Experts, therefore, underscore the need for improved infrastructure, agricultural mechanisation, food preservation facilities and hitch-free government interventions in efforts aimed at improving the country’s food security.

They also call for more concerted efforts in meeting the targets of all the MDGs, as they all aim at facilitating the country’s socioeconomic development in a pragmatic way.

“If the roads are good, food prices will definitely come down. We buy the food from farms and markets in interior places but due to our transportation problems and the number of days we spend on the road, food prices cannot come down.”

Archival Matters

‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’

By MICHAEL ODIGBE

ON December 13, 2013 Mr. Friday Ewansiha, a top civil servant in Edo State was murdered in cold blood.

While I was features Editor of a newspaper base in Benin City, he used to contribute articles to my pages. So, I can claim I know him.

From my editorial interactions with him, he was an easy-going, humble and soft spoken person never like some of us who eat and spit fire at the evil in society. All the same, some people felt he

other words, there is no justification whatsoever for innocently taking another person’s life. All lives are sacred.

Therefore, when I read in The Nigerian Observer of August 6, 2014 that a human rights activist Mr. Daniel Ailegbe was killed in his country home at Eme-Ora in Edo State I felt very bad.

What assassins fail to realise

had the same, some people felt he had offended them.

Therefore, they killed him in the month of December last year forgetting the biblical injunction THOU SHALT NOT KILL. Why? It is because the wages of sin is death. Yes, death on earth here of your soul and spirituality. Death of your physical body through execution by the state if caught. Death in the hands of invisible super organic forces who as custodian of morality avenge the killing of innocent victims. And finally, eternal death, by God’s judgement and sentence to hell fire when you die. Or, will a killer live forever?

That is four deaths awaits any malicious killing. In

is that if quixotic unclean people in society are easily provoked into taking other people’s lives, what will the scenario be when puritans with equity also decide to kill out of real disgust for the ills of society? Certainly, all our streets will be painted red with spilled human blood.

There will be only few men and women standing in Nigerian!!

However, such a scenario hasn’t played out not because puritans don’t know how to pull triggers, nor because they lack the courage to do so.

The reason they keep the peace is because of their allround, wise and matured understanding that any one who kills will suffer not only earthly perdition but eternal

damnation.

This is, therefore, calling on all those sending death threats to people including to Rev. David Ugolor, executive director of ANEEJ to drop them. He alleged that such threats to his life in a statement published in The Nigerian Observer of August 6, 2014. according to him, following his interventions in the on-going Edo House of Assembly

crisis, he has been receiving death threat messages on his facebook calling him an “APC activist”. One of them warmed that “the treatment you got when your friend , Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, was killed will be used again or preferably a deadly one”.

At this junction, I feel it is

time rituatists, murderers, assassins, cultists, witches, insurgents, thugs, corrupt road builders, drug/product fakers and their ilks know why taking lives is abhorrent.

Of courses, there are several reasons that can be adduced for why no one should kill without formal authorisation.

However, what concerns me today is the existentialist, esoteric dimension of such reasons.

Here it is. To start with, you have spiritual or psychic laws

just as you have laws in chemistry, biology or physics. One of these psychic laws states that anyone who kills willfully on his or her volition has set in motion vengeful super organic forces which will definitely kill the person at the end of the day.

No cycle of activity does not come full, 360 circle to a close. None . there is no

therapy for aura or soul cleansing as well as renewal when you spill human blood by deliberate action since remorseful restitution is not possible in this case. No one can recreate the life he has taken.

Too true, killing another person for obtuse reasons is a sin against the Holy Spirit.

It can never be forgiven. The act amounts to sowing death.

So, it is death you will reap in return starting first with damnable death here on earth.

For a theoretical perspective, let’s take a literary trip to MACBETH, a play written by William Shakespeare. In this play, the main character Macbeth killed his king called Duncan out of a wild, vaulting ambition to take over his crown. By his action, Macbeth murdered sleep.

Right from the day he killed Duncan, he never again slept well. Among other things, the ghost of Banquo, killed by Macbeth also, tormented him until finally he was slain by Mac duff. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.

Behold, that is the natural law of reciprocity in life. Nobody can over turn it except, maybe, he can upstage the law of gravity.

Beyond fiction, anyone who kills usually gets killed, too, in our real world. See, Pa. Odigie, a celebrated traditional medicine man from Opoji Town in Edo State provided me with evidence of this truism.

Before he passed on in the home of his late son, who was my friend, I happened to be the one treating a turmour on his left big toe.

Maybe, because I refused payment for my medical services which I did diligently, he gave me the name Omono and revealed many things to me which he never even told his son, my friend. In one of his revelations, he told me the story a very rich man who once sought help from him.

Hear Pa Odigie: “ I divined for the man and saw death all over him. Because he had

killed people. I told him my findings. In response, the man said he knew death was near from signs around him. He said I should help him banish the death away. That he would pay me any amount I charged him. I laughed. Then I replied that nothing could be done to help. The man drove away with his driver. In tears.

On the way, the car crashed.

The man died on the spot while the driver was unhurt.”

Pa Odigie continued: “The driver told me that on their way home, the road became four. Before he knew it, the car veered off the road and crashed into a tree. So you can see, Omono, that when you shed human blood to become rich, out of anger out for other reasons your days are numbered.”

There is a man I know from a distance because I used to buy honey from his wife.

Each time I went to his home, I wondered why all his two sons, under 10 at the time, had dreadlocks. Not long after, news broke that he was involved in the ritual killing of a 6year-old child. Alas, he was a ritualist!! Who therefore knows the life errand of his sons with dreadlocks?

Now, enter a suspect who confessed to killing Dr. Terry Ehis, an AAU-trained medical doctor, in Ekpoma during a kidnap saga. Hear high confession to press men about two months ago in his police cell. “Since I killed the man, I have seen his ghosts 12 times at night and in the day always pointint four fingers at me. I know what it means when the spirit of person you kill is appearing to you. “He was kneeling down in tears begging for forgiveness as he spoke.

So, killers watch it. A Grail messenger on Radio Bronze Benin programme of August 13, 2014 warmed:!! Anyone who hacks someone down is not human. He has only invited self-destruction to himself. Therefore, my advice is LET REV. DAVID UGOLOR be. Touch not the anointed!!

“What assassins fail to realise is that if quixotic unclean people in society are easily provoked into taking other people’s lives, what will the scenario be when puritans with equity also decide to kill out of real disgust for the ills of society?”

Science

Plant Hormones

PLANT growth is regulated by plant hormones. What are hoimones? Hormones are chemical substances that are produced in small quantities by the cells of one part of the body and carried to all or some parts of the body where they produce a response.

Plant hormonies and animal hormones differs from each other, out they produce a response.

Plant hormones are sometimes reffered to as phyto hormones, thing influence the plant internally, while light, temperature, gravity and water also influence the plant externally.

We all know that hormones are needed in small quantities. They are manufactured in the meristemature tissues of the plants like the apical meristen of the shoot and roots of plants, young growing leaves of plant developing seeds or fruits of plants and are diffused to other parts of the plant, to produce some special effects on the plant.

We have three types of plant hormones namely Auxins, cytokines and cubberelins.

Auxins Auxins are a group of related chemical substances that affected the physiological process in plants. It is most abundant in plants. And the most abundant auxins that is natural and manufactured by the plant is indole acetic acid CI AA. It is secreted abundantly at the tips of shoots, developing leaves, flowers, fruits, cambials cells and root tips, hence it has been observed that whenever you cut leaves like vegetables at their apex, they grow back gradually and that is one of the great difference between plants and animals that plants exhibits apical growth while animals exhibit intercalary growth what we mean by this, is that animals will grow all over the body parts hence our hand is not bigger then any portion of the

body we maintain a specific size, but plants can only grow at the extremities not all over the body.

It has been observed that Auxins has been artificially synthesized. An example of such synthetic Auxin is dichlorophenoxy ethanic acid (2,4-D).

Auxins functions is various ways like they help in influencing cell elongation and enlargement, hence they are mostly reffered to as growth harmones. They can as well unbit growth, hence on the other hand, they can also be reffered to as growth regulators. Auxin has played some important functions in agriculture like. * It has been able to bring about the bending of shoots and roots during tropisms. * They inhibit the development of lateral buds. * Auxins have been used to stimulate the ripening of fruit and also the development of fruit. Lets take mango, it could be realised that mango use to be two species when we were growing up, but now we have assorted mangoes producing at different seasons. Even maize now produces almost throughout the season. All these are due to Auxins production in plants. * They bring about leaf abscission in plants, hence

With Oyakhilome Clementina

plants most times are not infected with disease, you many use your cutlass to cut the stem of a mango tree or you just pluck as leaf out of a stall gradually, the cut is sealed up and disease find it difficult to enter the plant through that cut portion. * Auxins has infested cell division as well as inducing cell elongation and differentiation. * They bring about the germination of seeds, through to the growth of the seedlings and eventually the development of the plant organs. * Auxins have been able to initiala the growth of adventitious roots in stem cuttings of plants.

Modern application of auxins in agriculture Weed control 2, 4 – dichloro-phenoxy ethanoic acid has been used by farmers as herbicides when it is been applied to a lawn, it kills the weeds that have broad leaves, without killing grasses, then on the other hand it kills dicotylechonous plant without killing monocotyledonous plants. It is known to be a selective herbicide. This type of herbicide is known to control weeds in several acress of cultivated cereal crops Development of seedless fruits Fruits without seeds are reffered to as parthenocerpic fruits, scientists have been able over the years applied Auxins to flowers that has not been pollinated by wind or insects, as a result fruit were developed but at the end, the fruits lacked seeds examples of such fruits include seedless water cucumber, water melon and tomato.

Preservation Yams and potatoes are commodities that cannot be preserved for a long period of time but due to scientific discovery of synthetic Auxins, yams and potatoes can now stay for a very long time. How is this done, farmers treat their crops with sufficient amount of synthetic auxins, and when there is high auxin concentration, inhibits the sprinting of these crops and this automatically increases the period of dormancy on the plants.

Harvesting It has been observed that some certain fruits like orange and tomato cannot be stored for a long time, because they would get rotten, farmers find it difficult storing these products and when they think about the low policing of the commodity and the extent of money they used to invest into it they find it difficult to part with there products like that instead Auxins are applied to the plants, to make the fruits star longer on the plants.

Reduced amount of Auxins stimulate the formation of abscission layers but a situation whereby Auxins are applied to the plants, abscission layers are not formed and fruits do stay longer on the plants, before they are harvested by the farmer at his will.

Stem cutting A stem of a desired plant is cut into pieces and Auxins is sprayed on them, as this is done, adventitious roots, spring up and in this way the propagation of the plant is been ensured.

“Reduced amount of Auxins stimulate the formation of abscission layers but a situation whereby Auxins are applied to the plants, abscission layers are not formed and fruits do stay longer on the plants, before they are harvested by the farmer at his will.�

Viewpoint

Defining Your Purpose In Life

By MBADUGHA KINGSLEY

OVER the years, mankind has been trying to figure out life’s purpose. Understanding your purpose in life compels you to make conscious decision about your life, it will help know how to use those decisions successfully and how to courageously take action on them. That is having the confidence to be totally responsible for your relationships, your emotions, your habits and your spiritual belief.

For you to be fulfilled in life, you have to take a long, hard look in the mirror and lay your entire life out before you, to examine what works and what does not. You are the only one who can decide just what kind of person you are going to be and develop a living philosophy that is compatible with who you are.

Our life purpose is more like a compass than a goal or a destination. It helps you stay on track, heading in the direction of your choice and influences your decision making process. (J.Kyle Hourard Insight Joumal) Do I Have A Life Purpose Absolutely not. Nobody’s saying you have to have a life purpose. Unless you want to improve your chances of experiencing as much or more happiness, success and fulfillment that you can stand for the rest of your life. The choice is always yours.

Having a clearly defined life purpose does not guarantee anything. There are no guarantee in life. But without a defined direction, you’re leaving the direction of your life up to chance; that is you are gambling with your chances of survival in life.

One funny thing is that we have become robots, creatures of habit and character, not questioning why we do thing we do, why we do things the way we do them and why we act towards things the way we do. We go

about our daily activities the same way, the same time each and everyday. Quite often we chose to do the same thing or go the same type of place each and every year.

We tend to engage ourselves and do different things sometimes, yet the situation remain the same. Many will ask is this what we are here for?

Have you asked yourself, why, even, when things go well and we are doing things we enjoy, yet there is always this nagging feeling of not being fully satisfied.

Don’t you think there is more to life than just spending all your time in trivial pursuits?

Deep in our introspections, we know that there is more to life; that indeed we do have a purpose, but what is it?

We know that there’s something else that life is calling us to do; but for many different reasons, we don’t answer the call. We tend to sit inside our own self built prison cell or cage looking outside to the void wondering what is out there but never bold enough to embrace it.

When this happens, we become the essence of mediocrity.

Isn’t it amazing that the one thing that should be of the utmost importance to us, our purpose in life, is often the one thing that we understand least. We study to become doctors, lawyers, journalists, etc yet we spend little to no time trying to understand ourselves. Sure we listen to the experts who tells us who we are and what we should be.

Every individual is born in to the expectations of other people but don’t forget that your are the sculpter of your life, only you have the final say of what you become in life.

According to Kareem Wolff, he said, if finding your life

purpose seems like an elusive undertaking, don’t panic, you are not alone. He said that while it’s ime some people seem to find their life purpose easier than others, it is also time that God really does have a plan for every single person, even if it takes a while to see what it is.

Most people think finding your purpose means doing something you truly love. It’s an area that just seems natural to you and things seem to fall in place. But what if things are not clear for you? What if you are not sure what your gifts are? What if you haven’t discovered any particular talent that makes you think it could be your time calling in life? Or what if you are working somewhere and you are very good at it, yet you don’t just fell fulfilled?

Don’t panic. Make a recollection to the bible about the disciples. Before Jesus on the scene, the disciples were fishermen, tax collectors farmers etc. They must have been good at what they were

doing because they were seeding their families and making a living.

When they met Jesus, their time calling came into focus very quickly, because they wee obedient to their thought, their inner most part.

You wouldn’t dream of moving forward with a rock solid foundation.

Nowadays, parents tends to define their children purpose in life. We have cases where someone want to study but the parents would choose otherwise. I have a friend when I was in secondary school whose parents forced into studying science subjects. This guy does not have interest in anything called science but he was forced into it. He didn’t attend classes and his result was very poor not because he was dull.

When school management called his parents in respect to his poor grading, because it was strange to see someone like him failing, the boy put all the blame on her parents

“It is within your jurisdiction to choose and decide on your life purpose. When you have done that, don’t be lazy and expect manna to fall from heaven instead work towards it.”

that they forced him into that.

Finally the boy was taken to arts class. What am saying is don’t allow someone else to choose your life purpose for you; two things are involved; its either you fall and you blame the person or you pass and the person will take the Glory.

It is within your jurisdiction to choose and decide on your life purpose. When you have done that, don’t be lazy and expect manna to fall from heaven instead work towards it.

Sometimes when talk with friends, I would jokingly say that I alone can change myself in the sense that only me can decide what I become in the future. If I decide to live a careless like am doing so at my own risk.

Finally, as someone trying to define his purpose in life, why don’t you try the following; as enumerated by wokitt Atom feed.

Make Lists of things You Really Do For Fun This list is of your passion.

The things that you love to do or would do simply for the pleasure, they bring you such as sports, singing public speaking etc. They level of your happiness determines how fulfilled you are.

What Are The Names Of Your Model And Write Why Your Admire Them.

When you admire people you look up to, look at the list of the things you admire in them, and know if you those things. Check if those qualities that attracted you to them are in you.

What Are Thinks You Do Naturally

You may want to ask others for feed back, as it’s common for them to see talents in you that you don’t see yourself.

Such talents, such as; a great sense of humor, a nurturing side, the ability to focus intently etc.

Those things you without needing to expend a lot of energy. We are expected to use our genius in service of our life purpose.

One very thing that is for sure is that, if you are living you life purpose, you will feel exhilarated, excited, happy and alive. If you are not feeling these then look back and check yourself.

You must be rest assured that defining ones purpose in life is not a very simple thing to do, don’t forget that this is what will take you for the rest of your life, so it is normal and natural to feel seared when stepping into your life purpose.

Fritz Perls said,” fear is really just excitement without the breath” So, keep breathing and take the next step.

If it’s worth doing, you are probably going to fell a little seared doing it. Just think of the fear as the energy you need to take the next step.

I will like to end on this note which said thus; “The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief, But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love” See your life purpose in this light and never let fear stop you from venturing into your life purpose.

International

Qatar Denies Funding Islamic State DOHA - The Gulf nation of Qatar is hitting back at suggestions that it supports the Islamic State extremist group, saying that “determined, collective action” is needed to end sectarian violence gripping Iraq and Syria.

The energy-rich OPEC member has come under renewed scrutiny over its ties to militants, including the Palestinian Hamas and Syrian rebel groups. A German official last week suggested that Qatar may also play a role in funding the Islamic State group, which is fighting in Iraq and Syria and recently beheaded American journalist James Foley.

Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammed alAttiyah unequivocally denied funding the extremist group.

“Qatar does not support extremist groups, including ISIS, in any way,” he said in an emailed statement dated Saturday, using an alternative name for the group. “We are repelled by their views, their violent methods and their ambitions. The vision of extremist groups for the region is one that we have not, nor will ever, support in any way.”

Qatar was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to condemn Foley’s murder, saying it was “a heinous crime that goes against all Islamic and humanitarian principles, as well as international laws and conventions.”

The tiny Gulf emirate has supported Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. The Islamic State group is battling Assad’s forces, but it has also clashed with other rebel groups that don’t embrace its extreme interpretation of Islam.

The group has carved out a self-declared Islamic state, or caliphate, taking in wide expanses of territory on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border.

Experts say the group generates at least some of its funding from kidnapping, extortion and other criminal business enterprises.

Germany’s Development Minister Gerd Mueller suggested Wednesday that Qatar also could be supporting the group.

In a television interview with public broadcaster ZDF, Mueller said it was important to examine who is financing the group, and that “the key word is Qatar.”

German officials quickly tried to smooth over that allegation.

Mueller spokeswoman Katharina Maenz told reporters Friday that he had merely been referring to

media reports about Qatar’s involvement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schafer said German diplomats in the Qatari capital Doha had met with Qatari officials to reassure

them that Berlin considers the country a partner and that “if there were misunderstandings then we regret this.”

In his statement, al-Attiyah

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister

said the killing of civilians and the forced flight of hundreds of thousands of people threatens both Iraq’s existence and “the peace and security of the entire region.”

He called for collective action to end the sectarian violence raging in Iraq and Syria.

“There is no single answer but it must include cutting off the flow of funds to support extremist groups throughout the region,” he said.

Qatar has also come under fire over its perceived support for Hamas, which Israel and the West consider to be a terrorist organization.

The Gulf state is home to exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and is a key financial patron for the Gaza Strip, which Hamas controls.

Qatar denies financially backing Hamas, however, and has sought to play a role in brokering a truce to end fighting between the group and Israel.

The Qatari emir, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, last week held talks in Doha with Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement has strained relations with Hamas. Abbas also met with Mashaal during his visit.

Netanyahu Warns Gaza Civilians After Israel Destroys 13-Storey Building

GAZA/JERUSALEM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian civilians yesterday to leave immediately any site where militants are operating, one day after Israel took the Gaza war to a new level by flattening a 13storey apartment tower.

Israeli aircraft first fired a nonexplosive rocket at the building, a sign to residents to get out, before attacking it on Saturday.

Seventeen people were wounded in the strike on the structure, which Israel said had housed a Hamas command centre.

“I call on the inhabitants of Gaza to evacuate immediately from every site from which Hamas is carrying out terrorist activity. Every one of these places is a target for us,” Netanyahu said in public

remarks at a cabinet meeting.

With no end in sight to fighting now in its seventh week, Netanyahu’s tough talk could indicate a move towards bolder strikes in densely populated neighbourhoods, even at the risk of raising more international alarm.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged in the conflict. Nearly 500,000 people have been displaced in the territory of 1.8 million where Palestinians, citing Israeli attacks that have hit schools and mosques, say no place is safe.

Israel has said Hamas bears responsibility for civilian casualties because it operates

among non-combatants. The group, it said, uses schools and mosques to store weapons and as launching sites for cross-border rocket attacks.

Palestinian health officials say 2,108 people, most of them civilians and more than 400 of them children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since July 8, when Israel launched an offensive with the declared aim of ending Palestinian rocket fire into its territory.

Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and four civilians in Israel have been killed.

Israel launched more air strikes on Gaza on Sunday, killing at

least six Palestinians, medical officials said.

Palestinian militants kept up their rocket fire in what has become a war of attrition that has defied attempts by regional power Egypt to broker a durable truce.

The bombing on Saturday of Al Zafer Tower in Gaza City marked the first time in the Gaza war that Israel had brought down so tall a structure. It had housed 44 families.

It launched the attack a day after a mortar bomb killed a fouryear-old Israeli boy. Israel’s president attended his funeral on Sunday near the Gaza border.

Egypt called on Israel and the

Palestinians on Saturday to halt hostilities and return to talks. But there was no sign that negotiations, last held before a ceasefire collapsed on Tuesday, would resume any time soon.

The start of the school year has already been delayed indefinitely by the Education Ministry in the Gaza Strip, and Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israelis should be prepared for the war to continue after classes begin on Sept. 1.

At one U.N. run school in Gaza where Palestinian families have been sheltering, children chanting “glory and eternity to our martyrs” stood in line for the national anthem, but no classes were held.

Deposed Egypt President’s Spokesman Faces Trial CAIRO - The former spokesman for Egypt’s deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi faces trial for allegedly helping an ex-premier try to flee to Sudan, a judicial source said on Saturday.

Yasser Ali, who was arrested in Cairo in December, is accused of aiding a “convicted man sought by the judicial authorities”, a reference to Islamist former prime minister Hisham Qandil.

Qandil was detained, also last December, for trying to leave the country illegally for Sudan.

Another 12 people are being sought in connection with the same case.

Qandil, premier under Morsi, had a one-year jail sentence overturned on appeal in July.

Ali is also being charged with

membership of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, proscribed since December as a “terrorist” organisation accused of carrying out attacks on the security forces.

The Brotherhood denies such accusations, saying its activities are non-violent.

The judicial source said no date has yet been fixed for Ali’s trial.

Since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, now president and then military chief, ousted Morsi in July 2013, the authorities have cracked down hard on the Brotherhood, with an estimated 1,400 backers of the ousted Islamist killed.

Thousands more have been detained and imprisoned.

Hundreds of people have also been sentenced to death in speedy mass trials that have sparked an international outcry.

Egyptain Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali speaks in Cairo, Egypt on January recently.

Scott Anderson, Deputy Director of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said although school has been cancelled, instruction could be provided by other means.

“It is very important that we use our satellite channel, our Internet active learning program, the computer labs and the selfhelp material - all these lessons we learnt in Syria and they have proved to be very successful there,” he said, referring to remote schooling during Syria’s civil war.

Hamas has said it will not stop fighting until the IsraeliEgyptian blockade on Gaza is lifted. Both Israel and Egypt view Hamas as a security threat and are demanding guarantees that weapons will not enter the economically crippled enclave.

The Cairo talks had aimed to secure a lasting deal to allow reconstruction aid to flow into Gaza. The current conflict is the longest and deadliest between the Palestinians and Israel since the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising) a decade ago.

Israel also faced rocket fire from the north on Saturday.

Two missiles launched from Lebanon struck Israel’s Galilee.

Lebanese and Israeli sources said it was not initially clear who was behind the attack, which caused no casualties or damage.

At least five rockets fired from Syria landed at various locations on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli army said.

All fell in open areas. It was also not immediately known who launched them.

Late on Saturday, an Israeli air strike destroyed a commercial centre in the southern Gaza town of Rafah and three people were hurt, local medical staff said.

International

TRIPOLI - Islamist militias openly challenged the legitimacy of parliament after announcing their seizure of Tripoli airport, plunging Libya’s rocky political transition into a fresh crisis yesterday.

The militias, which the elected parliament branded as “terrorists”, said the house had lost its legitimacy through its alleged complicity with a deadly air strike on the airport that they blamed on Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Emirates and Egypt are implicated in this cowardly aggression,” Mohammed Hadia, spokesman for the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militia, said late on Saturday.

Parliament, for its part, fired back at the militias which announced their seizure of Tripoli airport after a weeks-long battle against nationalist rivals for control of the strategic facility.

“The groups acting under the names of Fajr Libya and Ansar al-Sharia are terrorist groups and outlaws that are rising up against the legitimate powers,”

Islamists Seize Airport

parliament charged in a statement.

The parliament, which sits in Tobruk, 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of the capital, said it was determined to deal with the challenge through the regular armed forces.

Fajr Libya is a coalition of Islamist militias, mainly from Misrata, east of the capital, while Ansar al-Sharia, which Washington also brands a terrorist group, controls around 80 percent of the eastern city of Benghazi.

“These two groups are a legitimate target of the national army, which we strongly support in its war to force them to halt their killings and hand over their arms,” MPs said.

Fajr Libya said Saturday it had captured Tripoli’s battered international airport.

The announcement came a day after an unidentified warplane raided Islamist positions around the airport, killing 13 fighters,

Boat Mishap: Italy Rescues

3,500 Migrants

ROME - Italy’s maritime search and rescue service saved 3,500 migrants and found 19 corpses in the Mediterranean Sea since Friday as thousands attempted to cross to Europe by boat over the weekend, the Italian navy said.

Calmer summer seas have led more people to make the perilous crossing this year from North Africa, where a breakdown of order in Libya has been exploited by human traffickers, pushing the number of arrivals into Italy since January past 100,000.

The Italian ship Sirio recovered 18 corpses and 73 survivors from a raft, the navy said on Twitter yesterday after a frigate picked up one corpse along with 1372 survivors on Friday night.

The deaths were reported shortly after a boat carrying up to 200 migrants sank one kilometer from the Libyan coast on Friday, with most of its

passengers feared drowned.

The Mare Nostrum search and rescue mission began after a shipwreck near Italy’s coast killed 366 people last October.

The mission costs around 9 million euros ($11.92 million) a month and has sparked fierce debate in Italy, which slipped back into recession in the second quarter after years of stagnation.

At the frontier between Europe and Africa, Italy has long attracted sea-borne migrants, but the number of arrivals this year is already above a previous record of just over 60,000 for all of 2011, when the Arab Spring uprisings fueled migration.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has called on the European Union to take responsibility for rescuing migrants by investing in border control agency Frontex, and on the United Nations to intervene in Libya to manage the flows of refugees.

Bombs Kill General, 3 Yemen Soldiers ADEN - Separate bomb attacks

by Al-Qaeda suspects on Saturday killed a senior army officer and three soldiers across Yemen’s restive south and southeast, military officials said.

“A bomb planted by Al-Qaeda on a road linking the towns of Seiyun and Shibam (in the southeastern province of Hadramawt) exploded when an army vehicle passed, killing three soldiers and wounding six others,” a military official told AFP. The official added that two suspected Al-Qaeda members were arrested at a checkpoint at the entrance to Seiyun just hours before the attack.

Hadramawt has been the scene of frequent attacks on the army.

On August 17, six Al-Qaeda suspects and three soldiers were killed in clashes in the restive province where the army has boosted its deployment.

In the main southern city of Aden, meanwhile, a senior Yemeni army officer was killed on Saturday when a bomb

planted in his vehicle exploded, another military official said, also blaming Al-Qaeda.

“A bomb exploded in the car of General Ahmed Mohammed Saleh al-Omari, logistics and supplies officer of the third military region... wounding him and his son” in Aden’s AlMansura district, the source said.

Both were hospitalised but Omari later died of his wounds, the official and a medical source said.

Yemeni authorities blame AlQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has been branded by Washington as the extremist network’s deadliest franchise, for most attacks on members of the security forces.

In late April, the army launched a ground offensive against AQAP in Shabwa and nearby Abyan provinces, both in the south.

The group is active across several parts of Yemen, having exploited the collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

according to Fajr Libya which says it is defending the gains of the 2011 revolution.

The fall of the airport would be a major defeat for the nationalist fighters from Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, who have held it since the overthrow of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

Early yesterday Islamist militiamen attacked the Tripoli studios of private television station Al-Assima which supports the Zintan nationalists and kidnapped its crew, the station said.

Al-Assima, in a news bulletin, said equipment was destroyed and the crew went missing.

On the political front, the outgoing provisional General National Congress (GNC), which was dominated by Islamists, was to resume operations at the request of Fajr Libya, despite being superseded by parliament, its spokesman said.

Its members were summoned to meet in Tripoli, adding to the political chaos in Libya and splitting the North African state into two centres of power.

The airport 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the Libyan capital, has been shut since July 13 because of the deadly clashes between the Islamists and the Zintan force.

The Islamist fighters charged that Libya’s provisional government and parliament had both lost legitimacy through an act of “treason” with their alleged approval of foreign intervention.

Egypt on Sunday denied any role in the air raid.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi,

quoted by state news agency MENA, said: “There are no Egyptian aircraft or forces in Libya and no Egyptian aircraft participated in military action inside Libya.”

There was no early reaction from the Emirates, an ally of Cairo against Islamist extremism.

The battle for Tripoli airport was the fiercest in the capital since the revolt three years ago that ousted the Kadhafi regime.

On April 27, the health ministry said the first two weeks of clashes had killed almost 100 people and wounded 400.

The Islamists aim to capitalise on their military success with a return to the political front after their defeat at the ballot box in June 25 polls.

A tank during fighting between rival militias around Tripoli International Airport.

War Planes Attack Libyan Capital

TRIPOLI - Unidentified war planes attacked targets in Libya’s capital Tripoli yesterday, residents said, hours after forces from the city of Misrata said they had seized the main airport.

Tripoli residents heard jets followed by explosions at dawn but no more details were immediately available.

In recent weeks Libya has seen the worst fighting since the NATO-backed campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Renegade general Khalifa Haftar has declared war on Islamistleaning forces, part of growing anarchy in the oil producer.

His forces claimed responsibility for air raids on Tripoli on Saturday and last Monday, targeting a group called Operation Dawn. But this group, consisting mainly of fighters from Misrata, said on Saturday that it had captured Tripoli’s main airport from a rival faction from Zintan in western Libya.

In the campaign to overthrow Gaddafi, fighters from Zintan and Misrata were comrades-in-arms.

But they later fell out and this year have turned parts of Tripoli into a battlefield.

Libya’s neighbours and Western powers worry Libya will turn into a failed state as the weak government is unable to control armed factions.

Libya faces the prospect of two competing parliaments, after the claimed Misrata victory at Tripoli airport which Reuters could not immediately confirm.

In a challenge to the parliament elected on June 25, a spokesman for Operation Dawn called for the old General National Congress (GNC) to be reinstated. Misrata forces have rejected the new House of Representatives, where liberals and lawmakers campaigning for a federalist system have made a strong showing.

In a sign of deep divisions

between Libya’s regions and political factions the House of Representative declared the Operation Dawn as well as militant Islamists like the Ansar al-Sharia as “terrorist groups”.

The House of Representatives, which has fled to Tobruk in the east with senior officials to escape fighting, asked renegade general Haftar to fight the Operation Dawn forces.

Haftar launched a campaign against Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi in May and threw his weight behind the Zintan fighters.

His air defence commander, Sager al-Jouroushi, told Reuters on Saturday that his forces were responsible for the air strikes on Saturday and a similar attack on Monday.

Misrata forces have blamed the air strikes on Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, two countries which have cracked

Yemeni soliders man a checkpoint leading to the capital Sanna recently.

down on Islamists. Libya’s government says it does not know who is behind the attacks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi denied his country had conducted any air strikes or other military operation in Libya, state news agency MENA quoted him as saying.

Western and NATO officials have also denied any involvement.

Fighting also erupted between Haftar’s troops and allied army special forces with Islamists in two Benghazi suburbs on Saturday, killing eight soldiers and wounding 35, medics said.

Helicopter Crash Kills Rescue Workers MADRID — Authorities say three policemen have died after their rescue helicopter clipped a mountainside and crashed during a mission in northern Spain, killing all aboard.

The regional government of Castilla y Leon says in a statement that yesterday’s accident happened after the rescue team dropped a fourth crew member by winch to help an injured mountaineer. The crash didn’t hit anybody on the ground near Polinosa, 435 kilometers (270 miles) north of Madrid.

The surviving crew member reported seeing the helicopter’s rotor blades brush against the mountainside, causing the aircraft to plunge down a slope.

The regional government said four more helicopters and an ambulance were deployed to the crash site.

The dead, all members of Spain’s rural Civil Guard police, were identified as the pilot, copilot and winch operator.

Culture

Great Woman Of Benin Kingdom

Queen Iden: BETWEEN 14401473AD, Oba Ewuare prophesied that there would be a time when Benin Kingdom would experience bad times if Prince Idoca wore the crow. Prince Idova’s father, Akennuama, was too old to become the Oba. So, he appealed to the kingmakers to crown his son the Oba. Eventually, Prince Idova changed his name to Ehenuegha. During his coronation, he took the title of Oba Ewuakpe in 1700 A.D. He was married to Oloi Iden who lived with him in the royal palace built with red soil mixed with palm oil instead of water.

Not long after Oba Ewuakpe became the king, his Chiefs and people rebelled against him because of his misrule. Therefore, they suspected all meetings at the palace. Social services were grounded. His other wives and scimitar bearers were driven to their different home. At the end of the day only Oloi Iden remained with him at the palace.

With time, life in the palace became unbearable for Oba Ewuakpe. So, he decided to go to his mother’s town Ikoka. But he wasn’t well treated there. When he arrived, he wasn’t received with open arms.

He was treated unkindly.

For instance, they asked him to join the youths of the town to clear the road path in cleaning the

By EKAIWE OMO OMOREGIE

community well in preparation for the rainy season.

He was angered by the disrespect for his esteemed position. This made him to place a curse on the people and town of Ikoka. Having done this, he returned to Benin City.

Thereafter, Oloi Iden advised him to consult a diviner to find what to do to bring back peace to his kingdom as well as improve his relationships between himself, his chiefs and his people. The diviner told him to offer a human sacrifice, pour palm oil around the palace and carry out other rituals.

After the diviner had spoken, a waiting game began. Moment later, Oloi Iden urged Oba Ewuakpe to perform the rituals as prescribed by the diviner. But he informed her that given the current situation in the kingdom only other rituals could be performed, not a human sacrifice. At this stage, Oloi Iden offered herself to be sacrificed but she directed that no dirt should remain on the spot where she will be buried.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that Oloi Iden displayed great love, empathy and kindness for Oba Ewuakpe and Benin Kingdom. She reemphasized one of the principles of the Supreme God and Olokun which says: Always put your community and nation

first before yourself.

Soon after Oba Ewuakpe made the sacrifice, peace began to return to Benin Kingdom.

The congregation of

events gladdened him, he was full of painful memory of his beloved wife Oloi Iden who laid his life for the kingdom and the unity of his people.

heroine of Benin kingdom. For instance, women in particular should learn the attitude of faithfulness and dedication to their husbands both bad and good times.

Marriage after all is for “better for worse, until death do us apart”. In other words, women should stop deserting their husbands in times of

Iden Bronze cast

chiefs, elder citizens, men, women and visitors coming to the palace continued to grow in size and strength. Gradually, homage and loyalty to him increased, therefore.

Although the turn of

Today, we can hear her voice calling out to all Binis to unite because we are all one family.

Okunists is hereby advising that we should all emulate the great example of Oloi Iden, a

“Beyond all this, I am of the opinion that a day should be set aside in Benin Kingdom to celebrate Iden day. Also, the directive of Oloi Iden that her grave should be a sacred place shouldn’t be ignored. This is why it is disheartening to see traders defacing the area surrounding her grave by Oba Market.”

hardship; or killing them so that they can move on with their newfound lovers. On a sadder note, you will find some women even deserting their husbands to take to prostitution as a profession.

Certainly these behavior won’t make Oloi Iden happy. A great woman, she was! She gave her life to enable her husband, Oba Ewuakpe derive pleasure in life.

Shouldn’t we celebrate

this amazing love of a woman for her husband?

So why should some women be refusing to learn from her unequalled example?

Beyond all this, I am of the opinion that a day should be set aside in Benin Kingdom to celebrate Iden day. Also, the directive of Oloi Iden that her grave should be a sacred place shouldn’t be ignored. This is why it is disheartening to see traders defacing the area surrounding her grave by Oba Market. This practice is bad and should be stopped immediately. All traders should vacate the area immediately. The other day when the palace wanted to venerate the heroine it took a lot of time to clear the traders from the frontage of her grave. This is not how things should be. Iden’s resting place should be.

Iden’s resting place should be respected by all and look like that of Emotan. For this reason, I am humbly appealing to Benin Traditional Council to take strict measures to keep Iden’s grave away from desecration by traders.

Finally, as I said, it is high time we honour Iden.

Few years ago, we honoured Generals O l o g b o s h e r e , Eboikhiumwin, Obakhaobaye, Uso, Obaradesagbon and Ugiagbe who laid down their lives for Benin kingdom during the British punitive expedition. I commend the palace for doing so.

However, I m pleading that a similar gesture should be extended to Iden who died for the unity and oneness of all people in the Kingdom.

Let’s consider naming a road in her honour.

May the Supreme God, Olokun and ancestor whom we worship and Venerate always hereby give us the wisdom and capacity to take the right decision on how to honour Iden.

Gerrard Wants Rooney To Lead England

STEVEN Gerrard insists that there is no better player to take over the England armband from him than Wayne Rooney.

Gerrard led England to a disappointing performance at the 2014 World Cup, where they exited in the group stages, and then retired from international football this

summer. Manager Roy Hodgson has yet to decide who will lead the Three Lions for their 2016 European Championship qualifiers, but with Louis van Gaal recently making Rooney captain of Manchester United, Gerrard believes the striker should

Markovic Confident Of Liverpool Title LAZAR Markovic believes Liverpool will win the title this season and is confident he can become one of the best players in the Premier League.

Markovic, 20, is used to winning championships, having lifted three league titles in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade and one in Portugal with Benfica. And the forward said that “of course” he expects his new club to do the same this season.

Asked why he chose to join Liverpool, he told the Sunday Telegraph: “Firstly, it is one of the best clubs in the world.

Secondly, it is one of the best leagues in the world and, thirdly, Liverpool are superior and the strongest team, in my opinion, in England.”

He added: “I watched Liverpool — I watched every one of their games last season because I love the Premier League. Their style of football is one of the main reasons why I came here.

Last season, only bad luck played a part in the outcome: Liverpool were the best team.”

A hamstring problem has seen Markovic so far restricted to a single 45minute appearance for Liverpool against Olympiakos on their preseason tour of America. However, he could

be involved for Liverpool’s clash at Manchester City on Monday night, against the team who pipped them to the title in dramatic style last season. Now that he is fully fit, Markovic expects to hit the ground running and go about establishing himself among the Premier League’s elite players.

He said: “Most likely. I am hoping so and I believe I will. I was lucky enough to play in Serbia and play in Portugal but although Liverpool is different I have experienced a lot so young and obviously that has given me confidence.”

Markovic joined Liverpool for 20 million pounds this summer with Brendan Rodgers set to make Mario Balotelli his 10th signing of this transfer window as he continues to bolster his squad. Rodgers’ spending, so far more than 100 million pounds, has been largely funded by the 75 million pound sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, and Markovic is relishing to opportunity of playing with Balotelli, who is set to join for 16 million pounds from AC Milan.

“I am excited — I love good players and want to play with good players,” Markovic added. “We are all competent and good enough to win the title. It’s the confidence that I feel.”

Podolski To Leave Arsenal LUKAS Podolski is expecting to leave Arsenal in this transfer window and his advisers are assessing “several offers” for the German World Cup winner, sources have told ESPN. Podolski’s future at Arsenal has been the subject of speculation throughout this summer and the 35 million pound signing of Alexis Sanchez appears to be the trigger that will end the forward’s time with the north London club.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said that he would be

Lukas Podolski

- Sources resting his German stars at the start of the season and has repeated played down speculation over 29-year-old, but it is increasingly evident that he does not have a future at the club now.

Podolski completed 90 minutes in the Premier League for Arsenal just five times last season and has admitted that Wenger’s decision to persistently substitute him was a source of annoyance.

“Of course you cannot be happy when you always go out after 60, 70 minutes. Of course I am not happy always to be substituted,” Podolski told reporters last April. “It’s the decision of the boss. It’s not always easy when you play for a big club but of course I am not happy to always come out and watch from outside. You cannot be happy with this situation.”

The former Bayern Munich and Cologne forward, who won the World Cup with Germany last month, was omitted from Arsenal’s squad for the trip to Everton on Saturday, but he still sent a message of support to his Gunners teammates.

also be skipper for his country.

“As far as I am concerned, there is no more worthy candidate to take over. Roy has tremendous faith in Wayne,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

“When the Manchester United striker was under pressure in the summer, when there was increased speculation about his place in the England team, his manager stuck by him and played him in the games that mattered. It was a big show of respect.

“Perhaps other managers would have taken him out of the firing line and put him on the bench when the scrutiny increased, but Roy knows what Wayne brings to England’s team and, just as crucially, what he will continue to contribute in the next few years.

Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach

Ancelotti Reveals Di Maria Will Leave REAL Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says that Angel Di Maria is leaving the La Liga giants — so a move to Manchester United for around 80 million euros is now likely to be completed in the coming days.

Di Maria’s future has been a huge talking point around the Bernabeu all summer, with club president Florentino Perez apparently keen to sell to at least partially balance the books after spending the same amount on World Cup star James Rodriguez from Monaco.

Ancelotti had at first appeared keen to hang on to a player who was so important to Madrid winning the Champions League and Copa del Rey trophies last season, but changed his perspective last week when he claimed that Di Maria himself was now trying to force a move away.

Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to bring in Gareth Bale this summer.

ESPN sources have learned that Manchester United are close to agreeing a fee, but that Real Madrid want the same deal as they paid for James: 75 million euros, plus five million euros in incentives.

Still, Ancelotti revealed that a transfer is so close to completion that Di Maria had already said goodbye to his soon to be former Blancos teammates. “[Di Maria] came in, but this morning he did not train,” Ancelotti said. “It is not fully done, but he is close to a transfer. He came to say goodbye. We thanked him for what he has done for this team and we wished him luck for the future. It is not official, but it is resolved.”

Ancelotti — who fought

hard to keep Di Maria through last season and kept playing him even after the player thrust his crotch at Madrid fans whistling him at the Bernabeu — said the club had done everything possible to keep the player but the Argentina international had himself decided to go.

“I have a very good relationship with him,” he said. “It was

his own decision, the club did everything possible, offering him all that he could get here.

He has decided something else, so we wish him much luck.”

Di Maria’s unhappiness at Madrid is thought to stem from him not receiving sufficient recognition from Perez for his contributions through recent seasons. AS report

that the player was last season on about 3.5 million euros a year, putting him outside the ‘top 10’ of the club’s best paid players.

The sports daily say he was offered about five million euros to stay this summer, while United made an offer of eight million euros to his agent Jorge Mendes.

Fans Attack Match Officials After TEAP FC 1-2 Loss To Plateau Utd Bookmark FANS on Saturday assaulted Gimba Mohammed the centre referee who officiated their match against Plateau United FC of Jos, after a 1-2 loss.

The match a week 25 encounter of the Nigeria National League (NNL) saw assistant referees Idris Alhassan and Mohammed Dankogi, been assaulted by the rampaging fans.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the attack on match officials was in reaction to the two penalties awarded to the visitors which were converted

by Plateau united strikers.

John Kim opened score for United in the 10th minute when the centre referee Mohammed blew the whistle for a penalty after a TEAP defender handled the ball in the box.

TEAP got an equaliser in the 61st minute through a penalty kick well taken by Uloha Ndubuisi, but the celebration was short-lived when the referee pointed toward TEAP eighteen yard box for another penalty.

It was neatly converted by Charles Okafor in the 71th

minute.

Efforts by TEAP to equalise proved abortive as United players defended from all the angles to end the game 2-1 with maximum three points.

TEAP fans, who alleged compromised, however, invaded the pitch after the final whistle and rain punches on the match officials.

It took the intervention of some armed men from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to bring the situation under control.

FCT Police patrol arrived about 20 minutes of the incident and drove the match officials away to safety.

Patrick Mancha, Coach of Plateau United, told NAN that the victory was deserved and that Plateau United already had one foot in the Premier League.

“We merited those goals and TEAP players and officials know that; there was no way a referee would see a ball handled in the penalty box and turned a blind eye to it.

“Todayís victory has taken us to the second spot on the table,íí Mancha said.

Samuel Abimbola, Coach of

TEAP FC, said football would continue to nosedive in the country if match officials continue the way they were going.

“I weep for Nigeria football because if Plateau United had outplayed my boys, I will not be complaining, but it is glaring now that it is not how prepared a team is that determines how you win a match.

“I want this referee to explain where he saw the penalties he awarded to Plateau United and more than three times my striker was brought down in the opponentís eighteen yard box.

“A Plateau United player also handles the ball in their box but he waved them off; that is why I say that our football is doomed,íí Abimbola said.

He said that those who attacked the match officials might have been spectators, who were bitter with the officiating of the match and not TEAP fans or players.

NAN reports that TEAP are in the relegation zone with five matches to go in the NNL season.

Tennis Not My No 1 Priority Anymore - Djokovic NOVAK Djokovic has had so-so results in the run-up to the U.S. Open, but the world number one is not concerned.

In fact, he is riding high as a newly-wed and a soon-to-be father.

The 27-year-old Serb tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Jelena Ristic four days after winning the Wimbledon trophy last month and with fatherhood looming he knows his life will be forever changed.

“Without a doubt, life changes. You know, priorities change,” Djokovic told reporters on Saturday ahead of Monday’s start of the U.S. Open, the last grand slam of the season.

“My priorities, my family, my wife, my future kid. You know, tennis is not definitely not number one anymore.”

That is not to say the seventimes grand slam winner is taking his tennis lightly. The proud champion, who thrives on the hard court, aims to make the most of the prime years ahead of him.

Roger Federer says his new racket is working well and he feels confident ahead of the US Open.

“I’m feeling better and better as the days go by. Obviously I want to peak with my form in the U.S. Open,” said Djokovic, who has reached the U.S. final four years in a row, claiming the title in 2011.

“I have high expectations for myself. Especially at this stage of my career where I

feel like now is the time that I’m at my peak physical strength,” he said. “I want to use this time of my career as much as I can to win as many matches as possible.”

The hard court maestro, an Australian Open winner four times on the surface, has understandably not been his usually laser-focused self following a five-set triumph over Roger

Federer at Wimbledon and then leaving bachelorhood behind.

“I wanted to do better in Canada and Cincinnati. Unfortunately I wasn’t even close to

my best. But a lot of things happened in the last two months, and it was a very emotional period. I just felt a little bit flat on the court.

“But it’s all normal. It’s something that I’m experiencing for the first time, right?” added Djokovic, who said he is soliciting advice from all corners about his life change.

“Obviously I talk with people who are around me who have children...how they dealt with that, how that has affected their careers, their mindset, their overall life.”

Djokovic is eager but not anxious about the days ahead.

“I with no doubt have only positive and joyful feelings approaching fatherhood, and hopefully it’s going to happen in less than two months,” he revealed.

“Then I’m going to enjoy it and try to take as much energy as I can, positive energy to kind of transfer that to the tennis court.”

Federer, seeded second behind Djokovic for the Open, said he has chatted with the Serb about family life - an issue in which Federer is an expert after his wife Mirka gave birth in May to their second set of twins, who all travel together on the tennis road.

“I have spoken to him a little bit in the past,” said the 33year-old Swiss. “It’s normal when you’re entering the whole family thing...all you talk about is babies and how to prepare for it mentally. I think it’s a very exciting time.

“I think he must be quite excited about what’s going to happen soon. And with the wedding and everything, I’m sure he’s going through a great spell at the moment with winning Wimbledon, top of it, so things are great for him.

“But I think he’s got to figure it out himself really,” added Federer. “But the good thing, he sees with me with four, so with one it should be a piece of cake.”

Simeone Not Seeking Ronaldo Punishment

Novak Djokovic

It Will Be ‘Miracle’ If United Win The Title MANCHESTER United manager Louis Van Gaal admits it will take a ‘miracle’ for his team to win the Premier League.

United started the season as third favourites for the title behind Manchester City and Chelsea, but the club’s expectations were checked after a poor result and even worse performance against Swansea on the opening day of the season.

Now, in quotes carried by

the Sunday newspapers, Van Gaal admits it will take something miraculous for United to win the title, although he is not ruling it out either.

“To win the league this season would be a miracle,” admitted Van Gaal.

“But that isn’t to say that it isn’t possible. It is always possible, but it shall be very difficult.

“The Glazer family understand this or I would not have accepted this job. I have dis-

THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) have called for “exemplary sanctions” following the death of JS Kabylie striker Albert Ebosse, who was killed by a projectile thrown from the crowd in an Algerian league match on Saturday.

The Cameroon forward was struck on the head by an object allegedly thrown from a section of his club’s own fans as the players left the field at the end of a 2-1 defeat to USM Alger in Tizi Ouzou, a match in which he had scored his side’s goal.

JS Kabylie confirmed in a statement posted on the club’s website that he had passed away in hospital later on Saturday, though they did not confirm the exact cause of death.

CAF president Issa Hayatou reacted by calling for member associations to act strongly against fan violence and for the perpetrators of this incident to be dealt with in the strongest possible terms.

“My thoughts go out to the family and friends of this young man who enjoyed his job peacefully and went further to pursue his passion for football abroad,” Hayatou said in a statement on Sunday.

“African football cannot be the breeding ground for hooliganism whatsoever. We expect exemplary sanctions to be taken against this grave act of violence. Violence has no place in African football in particular and sports in general.

Ebosse Death Should Lead To ‘Exemplary Sanctions,’ Say CAF

cussed everything with them.

We have had long discussions where I have shown myself. I am always open to them.

“That is why we discussed three years, not one year.

They wanted to know what are the consequences when you are hiring me - and I have told them.

“In my experience, in my former clubs, it was always that the start was very difficult.”

Manchester United have already spent around £75m on three players this summer with Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo coming in.

They are also expected to pay at least £56m to sign An-

gel Di Maria from Real Madrid while Sunday’s papers have linked the club with moves for Dutch pair Nigel De Jong and Daley Blind.

Van Gaal said that fans should not judge him on how Manchester United do this season.

“A manager should be judged in his second season,” he added. “Nevertheless, what I have experienced [was that] I was champion in Barcelona and Munich in my first season.

“So, it is possible. What I did at Bayern Munich was a miracle because the team was not stable when I got there.

“When I took over from Bobby Robson at Barcelona, he had won three titles, so there was stability.

ATLETICO Madrid coach Diego Simeone says his club have no plans to pursue a punishment for Cristiano Ronaldo, after TV images showed the Real Madrid player appearing to hit out at Atletico’s Diego Godin during Friday’s Spanish Super Cup second leg clash.

As the players awaited a corner as the game moved into injury time, second half substitute Ronaldo was being marked tightly by Godin, and reacted in frustration — with the images apparently showing the reigning Ballon d’Or forward striking the Uruguayan defender twice.

Referee David Fernandez Borbalan immediately blew for a foul, and booked Ronaldo for his action, but subsequent media reports have suggested that a heavier punishment could be appropriate given the seriousness of the incident.

However the Colchoneros boss told a news conference on Sunday morning that for him such things could happen

United’s New Signing Rojo Could Face Prison Over Bottle Attack MANCHESTER United’s new signing Marcos Rojo is reportedly sweating on a court appearance in Argentina following an alleged bottle attack on a neighbour.

The alleged attack took place in November 2010 but according to a report in the Sunday People newspaper, prosecutors still want the United player to stand trial.

Rojo could reportedly face anything from a year in jail to probation if he is found guilty of the offence.

The incident is understood to have come in La Plata, Buenos Aires as he was celebrating a move to Spartak Moscow from Estudiantes.

Rojo, who signed for Louis van Gaalís side from Sporting Lisbon in a highprofile £16 million deal earlier this week, allegedly had an argument with neighbour Juan Pablo Gomez, who was struck with a broken bottle.

The 24-year-old footballer was formally accused in October 2012 and re-

accused in May this year with prosecutor Marcelo Romero awaiting news from Rojo’s lawyers as to how he will plead.

A medical examination at the time of the incident stated that Gomez’s injuries had been caused to the face, body and forearm.

United are still awaiting a work permit for the defender, who was part of Argentinaís run to the World Cup final in Brazil this summer. He has penned at five-year deal at Old Trafford.

during a game, and nobody at Atletico was planning to petition the authorities to take further action.

“I did not see the image of Cristiano,” Simeone said. “On the television you see very little. These are things that happen in the game. You [journalists] are there to comment on what goes on. We always say that what happens on the pitch stays there.”

Simeone himself was sent to the stands during the game for protesting an earlier decision

by Fernandez Borbalan and reacted by tapping [or slapping] the fourth official on the back of the head. The Argentine is expected now to face a touchline ban of up to eight games, and said he would have to accept what was coming in a disciplinary hearing reportedly set for Monday.

“The matter is closed,” Simeone said. “It is not good to keep talking about the same thing. The people who decide will have to choose the fairest punishment. When you do wrong you must pay for it, we are waiting to see how much.

[Assistant coach] German Burgos is capable and has my confidence, we will see the same type of football. He will be on the bench and I will watch the game from somewhere else.”

Simeone also suggested the club could do further business with potential Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool target Toby Alderweireld perhaps moving on and bringing in funds to then spend. “[Alderweireld] is a player of the club at the moment,” Simeone said. “He has some chance to leave, but we are counting on him when he is here. We really appreciate the work he does with us, and are very happy with his behaviour.

He is one more of the group.”

Alexis Is Not Physically Ready, Says Wenger ARSENE Wenger insists he has no worries over Alexis Sanchez’s stuttering start to life at Arsenal.

Alexis completed a Ä42 million move to the Emirates Stadium from Barcelona in July and has started all three of their competitive games so far this season.

However, the Chile star has failed to find the net yet and was substituted at halftime on Saturday with Arsenal 2-0 down to Everton after disappointing in a central striking role.

Alexis’ replacement Olivier Giroud came on to give Arsenal more presence in attack and the France international headed home in the last minute of normal time to rescue a 2-2 draw.

Having signed Alexis after a season in which he scored 21 times in 54 games for Barcelona, Wenger insists he is not worried by the Chilean’s sluggish start, putting it down to a lack of fitness after a punishing closeseason schedule.

“At the moment he is not completely ready physically, but I do not worry for him,” Wenger told reporters.

“He knows that he’s not at his best physically but once he’s at his best physically, the confidence will come back, it’s all linked together.

“It’s always difficult to know why the confidence is not at the best, I believe it is mainly physical.”

I’m Not Here To Replace Xavi - Rakitic IVAN Rakitic says he is not at Barcelona to replace Xavi, insisting he is there to learn from the veteran midfielder.

Xavi had been linked to a move away from Camp Nou this summer before making a u-turn and being named club captain.

Rakitic, who joined from Sevilla, had been seen as the successor to Xavi in the Barca midfield, but the Croatia star insists the two can work together in the team.

“The best news for me is knowing that Xavi is staying, so that I am able to learn from him and improve,” Rakitic told El Pais.

“But I’m here to play my football and improve the team.

“I have a different place in the plan of Barcelona.

The most important thing

Ivan Rakitic

is to always help out where the team is lacking.

“We all know the direction Barcelona are going in and I think they know what I can give. I can’t dribble like Leo [Messi], I can’t go as deep as Neymar, but Luis Enrique knows my game.”

The 26-year-old also mentioned coach Luis Enrique, saying he is more demanding than he expected.

“He has clear ideas. He leaves no doubts and overlooks nothing. There are details that don’t seem important, yet he sees them as key details.”

Wenger also explained Giroud’s omission from the starting XI and his decision to bring the 27-year-old on at the interval.

He added: “I have more strikers than before so sometimes I can give him a little rest. Giroud has just played one game since the World Cup so I gave him a little breather.

“But I knew we would be dominating the game in the second half and we would need some physical presence, we looked more dangerous because we were not in a counterattacking situation, we were in a dominating situation and his presence was very important.”

Alexis Sanchez

Dortmund And Schalke Both Beaten

KARIM Bellarabi scored the quickest goal in Bundesliga history and then set up another for Stefan Kiessling as Bayer Leverkusen stunned hosts Borussia Dortmund with a 2-0 win on Saturday evening.

Bellarabi struck after only nine seconds, beating the previous quickest goals scored by Giovane Elber and Ulf Kirsten by two seconds to leave the Westfalenstadion shellshocked.

He then teed up Kiessling for the second deep into second-half stoppage time with Leverkusen proving to be

good value for their win in Roger Schmidt’s first game in charge.

Hannover came from behind to beat Schalke 2-1 to increase the pressure on the Royal Blues’ coach Jens Keller.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gave the visitors the lead in the two minutes after the half-time interval after a dreary first 45 minutes at the Niedersachsenstadion.

But two goals in three minutes from Edgar Prib and Joselu turned the game on its head, earning Hannover all

defeat in their Ligue 1 opener against Montpellier last weekend, Marseille re-

corded a 1-0 win at Guingamp on Saturday, with Andre-Pierre Gignac netting the winner.

And Bielsa was relieved to get his first points on the board since taking the reins at Stade Velodrome.

“Winning always brings joy and tranquillity,” he said.

“We had several good opportunities and we managed to score.

“After going in front, we controlled the game pretty well. Defensively, the team played well and individually, the players did the job.

“We could have scored more goals because we had a number of good chances.

“The team defended very well and also constructed good attacks, but, on the other hand, we didn’t finish well.

“Guingamp had two chances to score, once from a constructed attack, once from a set piece, but they have good attackers.”

Bielsa Overjoyed With First Marseille Win

MARCELO Bielsa has declard his joy at picking up a first win as Olympique de Marseille head coach.

After suffering a 2-0 home

three points and condemning Schalke to a second defeat in a week, after they lost to Dynamo Dresden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

The Bundesliga season may only be a day old, but already Keller will have to listen to rumours surrounding his future.

Julian Schieber ’s fourth brace of his Bundesliga career was not enough to earn Hertha Berlin victory as they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Werder Bremen at the Olympiastadion.

The former Borussia Dortmund forward gave the hosts what seemed to be a comfortable lead with goals in either half, but Assani Lukimya and Franco Di Santo scored two goals in as many minutes to earn Robin Dutt’s men a

share of the spoils.

A crowd of almost 60,000 left the Olympiastadion disappointed after seeing their side throw away what looked set to be a winning start to the season.

Schieber joined Berlin this summer as a replacement for Adrian Ramos, who moved to Borussia Dortmund.

Hoffenheim began their campaign with a 2-0 win over Augsburg.

Adam Szalai marked his debut with a goal before Tarik Elyounoussi added a second just two minutes later.

Augsburg, who lost in the first round of the DFB-Pokal last weekend, tried to find a route back into the game in the second half, but they came up against a well-drilled Hoffenheim defence.

Haris Seferov

Palace’s Woes Continue As West Ham Win PREMIER League, Selhurst Park - Crystal Palace 1 (Chamakh 49) West Ham 3 (Zarate 34, Downing 37, Cole 62) Crystal Palaceís dismal week continued as West Ham secured a 3-1 win the Hammers first away victory in five matches stretching back to last March.

After a scrappy start, West Ham began to assert themselves, with Carlton Cole failing to connect with a few chances.

The breakthrough came with a tremendous strike from Hammers debutant Mauro Zarate, a volley from the edge of the box following a short corner.

Stewart Downing doubled the lead three minutes later,

racing round a static Palace defence, cutting in from the right, and bending the ball round Julian Speroni.

James Tomkins had a great opportunity to put the game out of sight in the 48th minute, but could only direct his free header on to the crossbar, allowing the goalkeeper to claim at the second attempt.

Marouane Chamakh responded immediately, picking up Mile Jedinakís ball from the left and unleashing a half-volley past Adrian.

But Cole managed to restore the visitorsí two-goal advantage on 62 minutes as he was left unmarked in the box and allowed to sidefoot it home.