Thursday, April 6, 2017 Edition

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Thursday, April 6, 2017 / Rajab 9, 1438 AH

. . . putting the people first

1088 Days after

@pmlonline

peoplesdailyng

Vol. 25 No. 56 N150

The nation awaits rescue of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Economic plan to make Nigeria export based - Buhari page 5

Targets 7% growth rate by 2020

Reps reject bill empowering them to remove govs, deputies UN team in Court refuses to order AGF to Nigeria to assess Boko Haram probe Magu, ex mines EFCC chairs pAGE 3

pAGE 7

FG approves $1.3bn for Development Bank of Nigeria take-off pAGE 5

>> pg 3

pAGE 5

President Muhammadu Buhari flanked by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, Zamfara State Governor Alh Abdulaziz Yari, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, during the formal launch of the Nigerian Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) at the State House Council Chamber, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

Navy Admiral found dead in his Lagos home pAGE 7

PAGE 2

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

News

CONTENTS News 2-10 Editorial 11 Op.Ed 12 Letters 13 Politics 15-17 Business Stockwatch

19-20 18

Meningitis: We’re caught off guard-FG *Assures situation is under control

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he Federal Government has said that it was caught off guard by the outbreak of rare Type C meningitis in the country.

Briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday, Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the government was only familiar with the control of Type A meningitis which it had vaccines for.

Ehanire, however, assured that the government was doing all within its means to combat the outbreak by ordering vaccines from across the globe.

Asked why the government was not proactive even when the Nigeria Meteorology Authority had hinted that there will be more heat this year, the minister said “Yes, it is true there was a signal that this thing had started in Niger and was going to enter the country.

Like I said before, it was the Type A that we have known that has worried us in the last years but the Type C came this time as a bit of a surprise because that wasn’t the pattern in the past.

So, the preparedness for treatment was very much on ground but the preparedness for vaccines could not have been predicted until we begin to diagnose and do tests and

discover that this is a different trend from what we had before and that the immunity you had before against Type A will not work against Type C. There is largely immunity against Type A in the country at the moment. If it had been Type A, we would not have seen an epidemic of this nature.”

Asked whether the federal government shared the view of the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara state governor that sin of fornication was the cause of the outbreak of meningitis in his state, Enihare said “The federal government does not have views of that nature and I am not sure the state government can really continue to make that statement.

When things happen, yes you can begin to look this way and that way for the cause of it but like I said nature played us unfortunate stroke but that is not to say we committed sin or anything. It does happens that things occur out of the blues.”

Explaining what the government was doing about the outbreak, the minister said “There has been a very robust response of the ministry and the governments of the states concerned along with the Nigerian Center for Disease Control, Nigeria Primary Health Care Development Agency, World Health Organisation, UNICEF and other partners.”

“We have mobilised vaccines to come

in from all corners, 500,000 units doses of vaccines are being distributed and they have started vaccination campaign already.

“Government is also getting 826,000 units which are being shippedfrom Europe to us within the next few days.

“The most affected states have been Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina and together they have about 85 per cent of the cases. As of today, there have been 2,996 cases in 16 states and 54 local governments . There have been 336 fatalities of which 141 have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

“There is reactive vaccinations going on already, there is social mobilization going on, teams are working in various states affected particularly the most affected ones.

“There are two treatment centers being set up in every local government and lumber puncture kits have been distributed so that doctors can take samples to laboratory for testing. There are cases of field epidaemologists who are doing findings and contact tracing in other to interrupt the spread of this epidemic.

So, in other to allay the fear of Nigerians we want to make it clear that this is not a sign of the failing of the system; it is a fact that nature played a very different stroke this time that caught everybody off guard.”

On the cost of the vaccines, he said “The vaccines are extremely expensive to make and if you acquire and store and you

don’t use, it might expire and is bad business.

So companies make the vaccines on request and on demand and they store just as much as they calculate will be uses.

“So, the Type C was not very much in demand but right now this present epidemic has led to a big demand. Like I said before 500,000 was gathered from all over the place with the help of WHO and another 826,000 is on its way which is given to us free of charge from Europe and the ministry has placed order for additional two million doses.

As the situation goes on we will be able to determine if we need to increase the order or if this one will be sufficient. You don’t want to order more than you need because they all have limited life span but on the other hand you need to have more of these vaccines to be able to take care of the epidemic.

Right now it seems there is a control going on, it is beginning to decrease in Sokoto state; Zamfara is still trying to even out and we hope that with the reactive vaccinations going on, we shall be able to bring the epidemic to a gradual halt.”

Boko Haram mines: UN team arrives Nigeria Page 7

Int’l 23-24 Metro

21-22

Feture 26 Sports 27-28

Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees and Migrants, Hajiya Sadiya Umar- Farouq (2nd R), inaugurating the distribution of relief materials to IDPs in host communities, yesterday in Maiduguri.

Columnist 32

We want to hear from you The Peoples Daily wants to hear from you with any news and pictures you think we should publish.

You can send your news and pictures to: adverts@peoplesdailyng.com pictures@peoplesdailyng.com contact@peoplesdailyng.com

Phones for News: 08142929046 08024432099

OUR MISSION “To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”

OUR PEOPLE Chairman Malam Wada Maida, OON, Fnge Chief Operating Officer Ali M. Ali Editor, Daily Hameed M. Bello Manager, administration Hassan Hammanyaji

OUR VISION “To be a reputable, profitable, innovative and technologically reliant media company offering world class services and products”

Page 3

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

News

Court refuses to order AGF to probe Magu, ex EFCC chairs

A

n FCT High Court, Jabi, has struck out an application seeking an order to compel the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, AGF, to investigate former heads of the antigraft agency, EFCC. Justice Abba-Bello Muhammad, struck out the application after listening to the submission of the applicants’ counsel, Frank Tietie.

Plaintiffs in the matter with suit number M/4853/17 were George Uboh and George Uboh Whistleblower Network.

Mr. Muhammad struck out the suit on the ground that the applicants lacked the locus standi to compel the Attorney- General to investigate past chairmen of Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC. According to the judge, the applicants have no power under the provisions of the law to decide for the AGF who to prosecute.

“I have examined the application of the applicants seeking an order of the court to commence an action of mandamus on the respondents.

“Applicant must have a locus standi before such an application can be granted,’’ the judge said.

According to Mr. Muhammad, a private legal practitioner has no locus standi to compel the AGF to prosecute a person.

The judge added that Section 383 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, was specific on when a private legal practitioner could compel the AGF to investigate an individual The applicants had prayed the court, to exercise its powers under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution and order the AGF to investigate and prosecute former and present EFCC chairmen.

Those listed for investigation were pioneer chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu; his successor, Farida Waziri; immediate past chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde; current acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu; and Access Bank Plc. The plaintiffs claimed that the past EFCC heads were fraudulent, and refused to account for recovered money in accordance with Section 15, 16, and 17 of the EFCC Act. They said that the respondent owed them a duty to prosecute the EFCC chairmen.

Ag News Editor Ese Awhotu

Stop genocide in S/ Kaduna, group tells El-Rufai

From Femi Oyelola, kaduna

A

group, Genuine Peace in Kaduna State yesterday staged a protest calling on Governor El-Rufai to stop the genocide in Southern Kaduna.

The protest which took place at the premises of the Nigeria Human Rights Commission along Warf Road in Kaduna witnessed mammoth crowd of protesters carrying placards with different inscriptions such as: El-Rufai stop

being bias, stop the persecution of Traditional Rulers.

Other placards held by the aggrieved protesters include the following inscriptions: Release the Chief of Kurama now, judicial independence zero, stop killing Education in Southern Kaduna, stop the payment to killers of Southern Kaduna, and re-open schools in Southern Kaduna.

The leader of the group, David Ayuba Azzaman while speaking to journalists during the protest said

that without any delay governor El-rufai should release Chief of Kurama whom he said has been in the detention in the last 14 days and other detained persons.

According to him, “We are concerned people of Nigeria and therefore, we call on the governor not to be a spokesman for the Fulanis but, to be the governor of everybody in the state.

“Southern Kaduna people are peace loving people and we are not trouble makers.

David urged governor El-rufai to consider the students schooling in the various schools closed in Southern Kaduna and not to make any attempt to relocate those schools out of Southern Kaduna axis.

The group also accused the governor of not allowing the judiciary to be independent in carrying out its legitimate duty, saying that the judiciary has been gagged in the state.

Officers of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Plateau State Command during a Shooting Competition at the Passing Out Ceremony of NSDCD Training on Weapon Handling, yesterday in Jos. Photo: NAN

Refugee commission distributes relief materials to Borno IDPs From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

T

he National Commision for Refugees , Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons ( NCFRMI ) on Wednesday distributed food items to the Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs)in Borno state.

Federal Commissioner of NCFRMI , Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq distributed the items in

Maiduguri, saying the commission is working towards empowering all IDPs with skills acquisition materials before returning to their respective communities.

Hajiya Sadiya said the measure was aimed at giving a new better life for the IDPs to have sources of liveluhood and be self reliance.

The federal commissioniner also re- affirmed the agency’s unwavering commitment to finding the best solutions for each individual

, family and communities that have been displaced or that have been affected by internal displacement.

She said the provision of the relief materials demonstrated the commision’s empathy with the affected populace so as as to feel a sense of belonging.

The commission also donated assorted drugs and medical facilities for 105 Composite Group of the Nigerian Airforce for contributing to the amelioration of the suffering

of IDPs through its intervention programms.

She added that the facilities in the Airforce clinic both at Bama and Dalori IDPs camps are testimonies of concerns of Airforce to the plight of IDPs which deserves commendations. “ I must commend you for putting those facilities there for the IDPs . It goes to show the love and care the Airforce have for the displaced persons “, she said.

CSOs commend Senate over Meningitis response

By Christiana Ekpa

A

coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), that work to ensure equitable access to vaccines in Nigeria, has commended the 8th Senate for its resolution, which called for meningitis vaccination to be made free in public healthcare facilities across the country.

In a statement signed by Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, the national convener of the coalition - Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA) - the CSOs “noted with pleasure, the motion

on the floor of the Senate calling for free Meningitis C vaccination for all Nigerians.”

The group noted that the timely response of the Senate and its readiness to approve a supplementary budget to enable the executive tackle the menace shows that all relevant stakeholders are “responding to the epidemic by ensuring adequate coordination, awareness creation, social mobilization, case management, infection prevention and control, active surveillance, and reactive vaccination in the affected States.”

The National Convener of WAVA, Dr. Chizoba Wonodi said: “My heart bleeds for all Nigerians who have lost loved ones or have been hospitalized following the meningitis outbreak in the country.

“We at WAVA are however, consoled by the fact that all arms of government are working together to deal with the outbreak decisively.

The resolution by the Senate to support free Meningitis C vaccination and supplementary appropriations to procure the vaccines is highly commendable.

“We urge the National Assembly to go further and appropriate sufficient funds for all vaccines as Nigeria transitions from Gavi support. We laud the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the state governments, the World Health Organization and other partners who are dealing with this outbreak.”

The National Convener of WAVA concluded by stating that, “the Meningitis C vaccine, like other

vaccines, saves lives, prevents illness and saves the cost of treatment.

Nigerians should cooperate with the outbreak response and avail themselves of the Meningitis C vaccine.

“Government has an important role to play in assuring that we have vaccines to protect the health of our people. This role is now more important than ever before, as Gavi gradually withdraws its funding support over the next five years. The government and people of Nigeria must rise to the occasion and raise the needed funding for vaccines.”

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

PAGE 4

News

Senate moves against sea pirates, as Bill scales second reading

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi and Christiana Ekpa

T

he Senate yesterday scaled up measures to tackle sea piracy in the Nigerian maritime borders, as the upper chambers passed second reading the Bill seeking to provide separate legal framework to enable government met out adequate punishment against culprits in sea piracy on Nigerian waters.

The Bill which passed second reading in the Senate yesterday, was sponsored by senator Nelson Effiong (Akwa-Ibom South), and is titled “A Bill for an Act to make provisions for the suppression of piracy and to provide for punishment for the offense of piracy and for matters connected

therewith, 2017”.

This was as the Upper legislative chamber also passed for second reading, several other bills meant for addressing emerging realities in some vital sectors of the country, including the bill for an Act to repeal the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 2004 and Re-enact the Arbitration and Conciliation 2017 for the modern regulation of Arbitration and Conciliation processes sponsored

by Senator Andy Uba. In the anti sea piracy bill sponsored by Senator Nelson Effiong, imprisonment for life is proposed for offenders as well as death penalty for any accused who in the act of sea piracy, caused death of any of the victim.

According to Senator Effiong

in his lead debate on the bill, Nigeria is presently losing about $1.5billion a month due to sea piracy, armed robberies at sea, smuggling and fuel supply fraud on sea.

He said Nigeria being an import dependent economy must do more to guarantee the safe arrival of goods at her shores, adding that it is therefore important and urgent that a law be put in place that will discourage, suppress sea piracy and punish those who engage in it.

He added that the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), in its report said while the incidence of sea piracy is dropping in other territorial waters, it is increasing here in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, stressing that the observation by IMB is a clarion

call on this Senate to make laws that will make potential pirates to weigh the enormity of the punishment that will be meted to them, if caught.

In their contributions, Senators Murtala Nyako, Shehu Sani, James Manager, Godswil Akpabio and Abdullahi Adamu emphasised the need to domesticate international laws on piracy to help tackle the problem which had continue to affect economic activities and security.

They expressed concern that the issue of piracy was on the decrease in other countries, it was on the rise in Nigeria, adding that when people are arrested we find it difficult to prosecute them because our laws do not apply to the crime.

In his remarks, Deputy Senate

President, Ike Ekweremadu who presided over plenary said the issue of sea piracy is an embarrassment that has done a lot of damages to our economy.

“In the past, parliament had responded to this kind of call by making separate legislations to such crimes that are embarrassment to us as a country, like terrorism, obtaining money by false pretenses and other of such offences which are already in our criminal code and penal code, necessitating the one against sea piracy”, he said.

Senator Uba in his own lead debate on the Arbitration and Conciliation bill said it was conceived in order to regulate the practice of Arbitration and Conciliation in Nigeria as far back as 1988.

He added that modern Arbitration practice has evolved all over the world, hence the need for this Bill, in order to make Nigeria compliant to the dynamics and indeed, International Best Practices in this regard.

L-R: Former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke; Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Bala Bantex and the Speaker Kaduna State House of Assembly, Alhaji Aminu Shagali, at the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: NAN

Why Jaiz Bank is listed at Stock Exchange - MD

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

M

anaging Director/ CEO of Nigeria’s noninterest bank, Jaiz Bank plc Mallam Hassan Usman has justified listing of the bank’s shares at the Nigeria Stock Exchange( NSE) on twins reasons - to enhance transparency and openness in the bank activities.

Besides, Usman said the gesture fulfilled pledge by Jaiz

bank board in 2012 at its Initial Public Offerings( IPOs), that its shares would be publicly listed at the Exchange.

The step he added was also taken, to create additional values for its shareholders.

Jaiz bank was officially quoted two months at the trading floor of NSE, making it the first noninterest bank to be so listed at NSE. The MD gave these insights

yesterday in Abuja at an interactive forum with members of Finance Correspondents of Nigeria( FICAN) , Abuja chapter.

He said the relatively young bank which commenced operations in 2012 encountered some challenges expected of other businesses but said the management was up to task in tackling them. “ Overtime, the bank has gone through many challenges

which include awareness and infrastructure. Awareness is one the pronounced challenge we faced in the past”, he said.

He said the bank has been able to neutralize assumption that the bank was for muslims alone, noting that, the bank is another mode of finance service open to all. Usman said Jaiz is like other banking institution set up to serve everybody irrespective of religion and ethic afflictions.

He commended Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) for step taken by apex bank to address forex liquidity crisis . He said the logjam is easing off compared to its acuteness in 2016.

Started with a single branch in 2012, he said the bank has expanded to 30 branches spread across North and South West while arrangements are in top gear to extend it to remaining regions.

Reopening of Abuja airport: Minister installs countdown clock

T

he Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has installed a countdown clock at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to mount pressure on contractors to meet the six weeks deadline.

This is in fulfilment of his promise to install the clock to remind contractors that the April 19 reopening date of the airport would not be extended.

Mr. Sirika said the clock was a sign of

seriousness and commitment of government to ensuring that the programme of work was followed by contractors, and remind to them that time was of essence.

According to his twitter @hadisirika, the countdown clock installed at the gate of Abuja airport to remind and pressure contractors to deliver in 6 weeks.

When the News Agency of Nigeria visited the airport on Wednesday, the

clock was displayed, “13 days: 13 hours: 24 minutes: 40 seconds” to the reopening of the airport.

One of the clocks was installed at the access gate (toll gate), the second one at the entry of the terminal and the third in the main hall.

However, the contractor handling the runway has achieved an appreciable progress in the rehabilitation work while the

electrical installations on the runway were being done.

Sirika also announced on his twitter handle that the rehabilitation work had reached 75 per cent as at Tuesday night.

“Happy to announce we are at 75% completion of Abuja airport rehabilitation.

Programme of work is running as outlined,” he said.

NAN reports that the Federal

Government shut the Abuja airport on March 8 for six weeks, to enable Julius Berger to carry out much needed repair on the failed 3.6 km runway.

The runway was said to have been in use for 35 years without any major rehabilitation and proper maintenance as against the original 20-year life span.(NAN)

PAGE 5

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, march 30, 2017

News

Economic plan to make Nigeria producing nation

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration’s economic plan was to make Nigeria a producing nation even as he maintained that the country was on the track for economic recovery.

The President gave the assurance yesterday while launching his administration’s economic blueprint tagged Economic Recovery and Growth Plan” (ERGP: 2017-2020).

Buhari, who stressed that his administration inherited a battered economy, said his political campaign was based on the tripod of improving security, tackling corruption and revamping the economy.

He said “We are committed to delivering on the three key areas that we promised – That is improving security, tackling corruption and revitalising the economy. Security in the North East, and other parts of Nigeria, is significantly better today

*Targets 20 percent growth rate by 2020 than when we came in. With regards to our fight against corruption, as you all know, our law enforcement agencies are prosecuting very many cases of corruption. Our successes in these two areas are clear for all to see.

I want to assure all Nigerians that we are approaching the solution to our economic challenges with the same will and commitment, we have demonstrated in the fight against corruption and in the fight against terrorism and militancy.”

The President described the ERGP as one which brings together all his administration’s sectoral plans for agriculture and food security, energy and transport infrastructure, industrialization and social investments together in a single document.

“It builds on the Strategic Implementation Plan and sets out

an ambitious roadmap to return the economy to growth; and to achieve a 7% growth rate by 2020,” he said According to him, the aim of the plan was to optimise local content and empower local businesses.

He said “We seek not just to take the Nigerian economy out of recession but to place it on a path of sustained, inclusive and diversified growth.

We are determined to change Nigeria from an import dependent country to a producing nation. We must become: A nation where we grow what we eat and consume what we produce.We must strive to have a strong Naira and productive economy.”

He called on state governments to key into the plan so as to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

The President said the plan would

be operational in the next four years.

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma in his address the ERGP was the fulfillment of the President promise to reinvigorate the economy.

He however pointed out that though the plan was launched yesterday, its implementation had begun long ago.

He said the objective of the plan was to restore growth, invest in the people and build a globally competitive economy.

“Our aim is to create a culture where Nigeria continuously seek ways to add value to the resources we have been blessed with. In short, our aim is to change nigeria, and change for good,” he stressed.

He added that the economic growth envisaged with the plan was to be achieved without compromising

core values of discipline, integrity, social justice, self reliance and patriotism.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Zamfara state governor, Abdulazeez Yari, gave the assurance that the governors would may into the plan to ensure an all inclusive growth the country.

Yari said “The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) marks a significant milestone in the economic management process of our country.

The plan is important not only to the federal government, but also States, as it provides a basis for inclusive growth and development planning. lt is my pleasure to announce on behalf of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), that the 36 State governors will take ownership and ensure its effective execution at the sub-national level, as this is the surest way to achieving sustained inclusive growth.”

R-L: Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, DIG Shuaibu Gambo and DIG Valentine Ntomchukwu, during the decoration of some newly promoted Commissioners of Police, at the Force Headquarters, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Reps reject bill empowering them to remove govs

By Musa Adamu

M

embers of the House Representatives yesterday struck out a bill seeking to empower the National Assembly (NASS) with legislative powers to remove governors and their deputies from

office.

The bill, meant to be read for the second time and sponsored by Rep. Edward Pwajok and Rep Ali Isa, could not go further because other members kicked against it.

Leading the debate on the bill, Rep Pwajok explained that the bill seeks to alter the constitution

to delete the Proviso to Section 11(4) of the constitution to enable the NASS remove a governor or deputy governor of a state in “Appropriate Circumstances.”

The lawmaker stated that the bill also seeks to delete the section of the constitution which specifies that the NASS could take over

state Houses of Assemblies in times of crisis.

However, lawmakers, kicked against the bill, saying it would make the NASS too powerful and would create unnecessary tension in the country.

Contributing to the debate, Rep Nkeiruka Onyejeocha,

said the NASS had no business removing state Governors or their Deputies.

Also speaking, leader of the House, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, said the bill was ineffective and lacked moral and legal sense.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep Edward Pwajock, subsequently withdrew the bill following superior argument by his colleagues.

FG approves $1.3bn facility to kick-start DBN

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he federal government has approved credit facilities totalling $1.3 billion to support the kick-off of the newly created Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN).

This is coming as the government has also approved the request by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to bring the 200,000 military personnel in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Adeosun made this disclosure yesterday while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

She said “As you know the Development Bank of Nigeria recently received its licence and is being funded by some long term loans from some of our development partners.

So the World Bank had given us $500million repayable over 21 years and all of this is at concessional rate.

The African Development Bank are giving us $450million and KfW are giving us $200million and the French Development Agency are giving us $130million.

“To access this money, we are ready to disburse but there were two requirements that we need to make and one of them is the legal opinion by the Attorney General of the Federation and the other is the National Assembly approval.

“Before it goes to the National Assembly it needs to be approved

by FEC and the FEC simply approved today that these loan

requests should go to the National Assembly for approval so we can access this money and the Development Bank of Nigeria can take off fully as it is expected to transform financing to our MSME sector.

The council enthusiastically approved these facilities which are long tenured meaning that the DBN will be able to lend to our MSEs over mich longer periods and at much lower rates. So the impact on the SMEs will be quite considerable.”

Asked whether the nation’s

rising debt profile was not worrisome, Adeosun said “What is the money being borrowed for?

That should be your question.

Currently out debt to GDP ratio is just 13% while many African countries are 60 and in the West some are 100 percent and above.

“So the question is what are the loans being used for and will actually generate growth in the economy that will therefore create additional taxes which will be used to pay them back? We are borrowing for things that will generate wealth in the economy.”

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

PAGE 6

News

R-L; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Women Affairs, Senator Aisha AlHassan, SGF Engr Babachir David Lawal and NSA to the President, Major General Babagana Mongonu during the FEC meeting held at the State House Council Chamber, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

By Paschal Njoku, Abuja

A

Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Maitama yesterday dismissed all the 18-count criminal charges preferred against Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court Abuja, his wife, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria Joe Agih by the Federal Government.

Specifically, the Federal Government had alleged that Justice Ademola and his wife conspired and also received N30m gratification from Joe Agih and Associates between March 11 and March 26, 2015.

However, delivering ruling on a no-case-submission filed by the defendants after the prosecution had closed its case, having called 19 witnesses, trial judge, Justice Jude Okeke held that the prosecution counsel has failed to establish a prima facie case to warrant the defendants to enter defence in respect of count one.

Justice Okeke was of the view that the prosecution did not adduce substantial evidence to prove the allegation of conspiracy between Agih and Mrs Ademola to influence Justice Ademola with N30million gratification in the discharge of his official duties.

The court stated that going by the provisions of Section 36(8) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, count

Court acquits, discharges Justice Ademola, wife of corruption charges one was predicated on a law that has no legal framework.

Justice Okeke agreed with the defence counsel that you cannot put a person to trial on an offence not backed by law.

He held that the prosecution had failed to show how Agih transferred the sum of N30m to Justice Ademola through his wife.

“Having painstakingly gone through the evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses 8 and 9, I can’t find any prima facie evidence showing conspiracy.

“The Zenith bank staff had testified that no N30m was transfered to the 2ns defendant (Ademola’s wife) but that the 3rd defendant did make transfers of N10m in three tranches on March 11, 16 and 26 to the woman.

“From the totality of evidence by the prosecution, there is no iota of evidence showing that N30m was transferred to the 2nd defendant’s account as gratification to influence Justice Ademola in discharging his official functions.

“There is no sentila of evidence

showing that the 1st defendant was influenced by the N30m.

Consequently, the court ruled that Section 36(8) of the Constitution is applicable in the case and therefore has rendered the charge of conspiracy levelled against the defendants “incompetent”.

In view of this, the Judge struck out count one, and subsequently discharged and acquitted the three defendants.

In count two, bordering on conspiracy among the three defendants, the court noted that “The 1st defendant is not a split personality, he cannot influence himself with N30m gratification.

The court agreed with PW 16 that the evidence trying to link Ademola to the N30m was speculative and holds no water.

Justice Okeke therefor dismissed the charge and discharged the defendants.

On counts three, four and five, the court also dismissed them, insisting that “it reckons with hard core evidence and not speculation”.

The court held that a gift does

not imply gratification and therefore discharged the 2nd defendant.

On counts six, seven and eight, the court said the prosecution witness did not disclose the particular function of Justice Ademola which the 3rd defendant sought to influence through payment of N30m gratification.

“This alone is fatal to the charges” the court.

On the issue of large sums of local and foreign currencies found in Justice Ademola’s house, the court said being a grandson of former Chief Justice of Nigeria, a practicing lawyer for over 20 years, before becoming a judge, he is likely to own such monies.

“There was no complain that anybody lost his money and no evidence to show that 1st defendant received the monies for gratification, the court said.

The charges that relate to receiving of a BMW car gift through his son, Ademide Ademola from Agih as well as being in possession of firearms were all dismissed.

Recall that jstice Ademola

7 Nigeriens, 20 Nigerians arrested for allegedly razing civil defence office

T

he Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Jigawa said it arrested 27 suspects, including six nationals of Niger republic, for allegedly burning down its office in Maigatari Local Government Area of the state.

The corps’ spokesperson, Adamu Abdullahi, confirmed the arrest to journalists in Dutse

on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some suspected hoodlums had on March 30 razed down the NSCDC’s office in Maigatari town.

“As I told you the other time, we had identified those suspected to have participated in burning down our office in Maigatari.

“So, yesterday in the night, we sent our men to the area and were able to arrest 27 suspects.

“But six of them are from Niger Republic, while the rest are from Maigatari town.

“Also, seven of the 27 suspects are juveniles,” Mr. Abdullahi said.

He said investigation into the case had since commenced after

which the suspects would be charged to court.

“For these juveniles, after our investigation, we will decide whether to send them to juvenile court or invite their parents to sign undertaking, depending on the outcome of the investigation,” he said.(NAN)

was also accused of “dealing with property subject matter of an offence”, by transferring N85m and N90m, totalling N175m, to Franco Dan Parker on February 24, 2014.

Both offences were said to be contrary to section 24 of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under the same law.

He was also accused of attempting to receive gratification in the sum of N25m from one Sani Shaibu Teidi on February 21, 2014.

The FG alleged that he had on January 5, 2015, in his capacity as a public servant, “corruptly received from Joe Odey Agi, a BMW Saloon 320i valued at N8,500,000, through your son, Ademide Ademola, as gratification”, in the exercise of his official functions as a Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.

On October 7, 2016, Justice Ademola was said to have had in his possession, “one Pump Action Rifle with serial number AVAR MAGNUM 6084 without a valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, 2004”.

Also on the same date of October 7, 2016, another Pump Action Rifle with serial number AVAR MAGNUM 6284 without a valid licence was found in his possession.

He was equally accused of having in his possession on the same date of October 7, 2014, “35 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without a valid licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, 2004”.

The offences relating to gratification were said to be contrary to section 8(1) (a) of the Corrupt Practices and other related offences Act, 2000.

All these charges were dismissed.

PAGE 7

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

News

Court refuses to order Attorney General to investigate Ribadu, Waziri, Lamorde, Magu

A

n FCT High Court, Jabi, has struck out an application seeking an order to compel the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, AGF, to investigate former heads of the anti-graft agency, EFCC. Justice Abba-Bello Muhammad, struck out the application after listening to the submission of the applicants’ counsel, Frank Tietie.

Plaintiffs in the matter with suit number M/4853/17 were George Uboh and George Uboh Whistleblower Network.

Mr. Muhammad struck out the suit on the ground that the applicants lacked the locus standi to compel the AttorneyGeneral to investigate past chairmen of Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC. According to the judge, the applicants have no power under the provisions of the law to decide for the AGF who to prosecute.

“I have examined the application of the applicants seeking an order of the court to commence an action of mandamus on the respondents.

“Applicant must have a locus standi before such an application can be granted,’’ the judge said.

According to Mr. Muhammad, a private legal practitioner has no locus standi to compel the AGF to prosecute a person.

The judge added that Section 383 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, was specific on when a private legal practitioner could compel the AGF to investigate an individual The applicants had prayed the court, to exercise its powers under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution and order the AGF to investigate and prosecute former and present EFCC chairmen.

Those listed for investigation were pioneer chairman of EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu; his successor, Farida Waziri; immediate past chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde; current acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu; and Access Bank Plc. The plaintiffs claimed that the past EFCC heads were fraudulent, and refused to account for recovered money in accordance with Section 15, 16, and 17 of the EFCC Act. They said that the respondent owed them a duty to prosecute the EFCC chairmen.

They said available evidence showed that Messrs. Ribadu, Waziri, Lamorde, Magu and Access Bank had committed “serious acts of fraud and corruption.”(NAN)

Nigerian Navy Admiral found dead in his home

T

he Fleet Commander of the Western Naval Command, Nigerian Navy, Teikumo Ikoli, was on Wednesday found dead in his Lagos home.

The spokesperson for the Western Naval Command, Chinwe Umar, said in a statement that the cause of Ikoli’s death had

not been known, but investigation was going on.

“In the early hours of Wednesday April 5, 2017, gunshots were heard in the vicinity where Rear Admiral Teikumo Daniel Ikoli resides in Apapa, Lagos.

“When his room was opened,

he was found dead,’’ the naval spokesperson, a lieutenant commander, said in the statement.

He said that the police had been invited for investigation into how the naval chief died, adding that more “updates would be given when the situation is clearer.’’

Mr. Ikoli, a rear admiral, was

Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS)

BEECROFT

and

later

appointed into the Presidential Committee on the probe of arms deal before he became Fleet Commander,

Western

Naval

Command.(NAN)

Regional Coordinator SON, Mr. Dauda Yakubu (2nd left) presenting the calendar to the Commoner for Agriculture Kaduna State, Dr. Kabiru Mato (left), during the Sectorial Stakeholders Workshop on Reduction of Substandard Goods in Nigeria North West Zone/Improvement of Agricultural Produce for Export, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: BASHIR BELLO

Boko Haram mines: UN team arrives Nigeria

A

team of UN experts has arrived in Nigeria to assess the number of landmines Boko Haram terrorists have laid in the Sambisa Forest.

Agnes Marcaillou, Director, UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, told a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria in New York that the team arrived the country on Tuesday.

According to her, the assessment is with a view to demining and clearing the area of landmines.

UNMAS collaborates with 11 other UN departments, agencies, programmes and funds to ensure effective, proactive and coordinated response to the problems of landmines and

explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, had on Sunday called for deliberate efforts to remove mines from the Sambisa forest after the sack of the insurgents from the area.

Mr. Buratai, a lieutenant general, said the efforts required the assistance of the UN, NonGovernmental Organisations and development partners as the country could not do it alone.

Speaking on the UN response, Marcaillou said: “UNMAS has sent some people to Nigeria and they have arrived already today (Tuesday) to explore this matter further.

“I would say that the standard

is that we need first and foremost, the involvement of the country in looking at the threat, it’s a partnership.

“The United Nations and UNMAS have no magic wand.

We need to get an assessment of the problem together; UN brings the capacities of the UN and the government together.

“And then the Government of Nigeria will take the lead in mobilising the international community support.

“This is because everything that we will do together at one point or another in Nigeria will require funding to meet those needs.

“We need the concrete engagement of the government.

We need to have evidence that the Government of Nigeria has put this question as a top priority on its agenda.”

She, however, pledged the commitment of the UN mine service to working with the Federal Government to rid the conflict-prone areas of landmines.

“But right now, the positive side of the story is that we have responded to the call.

“And we have a number of people who have already arrived the country today (Tuesday) to discuss it further,” she said.(NAN)

PAGE 8

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

News

Nigerian Postal Commission Bill scales second reading in Senate

By Christiana Ekpa

A

Bill for an Act to repeal the Nigeria Postal Service Act to provide for the establishment of the Nigerian Postal Commission passed second reading at the upper chamber.

Leading the debate on Wednesday, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos) said the Bill was read for the first time on March

9, adding that the Nigeria Postal Service Act was an Act of Parliament of 1992.

He said the Bill sought to establish the Nigerian Postal Commission with the sole and exclusive responsibility for the regulation and supervision of the postal sector.

“It will facilitate investments into the Nigerian market and protect and promote the interest

of consumers against unfair practices including but not limited to matters related to tariffs, charges and availability of quality postal services” He added that it would promote competition in the postal industry and protection of postal services.

Ashafa said the Bill would further grant and renew licenses, undertake general responsibility

for economic and technical regulation of the postal industry among others.

“It also seeks to establish a Public Postal Operator with the sole responsibility of providing universal postal services in Nigeria. The Public Postal Operator shall be a limited liability company in accordance with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004.

Governor of Niger State Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello congratulating the new head of service, Alh Yabagi Sule, shortly after being sworn in at Government House, yesterday in Minna

Lagos to establish health insurance management agency From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

T

he Lagos State Government on Wednesday revealed plans to establish an agency by law to manage the State’s health insurance scheme expected to be rolled out soon.

Briefing journalists at the end of a meeting of the AXA Mansard Insurance Group with the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris said the Government would provide the enabling environment for the private sector to participate in the scheme with the view to increasing access to healthcare delivery.

He said the Mansard Group

has already indicated interest to be part of the State’s Health Insurance scheme, adding that government would also appoint health insurance agents who would act between Government and the people to ensure the success of the scheme.

“They (Mansard Group) have expressed their interest to partner with us on our health insurance scheme which we are rolling out very soon. It is a financing scheme for the system and a way of introducing reforms, re-jig the system and make it better.

“We have provided that enabling environment in the sense that we are going to have an agency by law and every resident of Lagos

is going to contribute to that purse.

We will be using both public and private health providers and that is where AXA Mansard comes in with healthcare facilities.

“Also to enable us process the programme properly, we are using what we call health insurance agents. Those ones will act between Government and the people with respect to providing the health insurance scheme,” Idris said.

The Commissioner also said that AXA Mansard Insurance Plc would also be partnering with the State Government to deliver affordable and quality health care service to the people and transform the State into the medical tourism centre not just for Nigeria but Sub-

Saharan Africa.

Giving more details on the partnership, Chief Executive Officer of Mansard Insurance, Mrs Yetunde Ilori said “We are here to show our intention to partner with the State Government in the area of healthcare delivery and we are about putting in place in Lekki a world class 150-bed hospital.

“This is just a tiny bit compared to our need in Nigeria but we want to run like a hub and expand subsequently. We are going to have some Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) on the Mainland in Lagos and from there we go to entire Nigeria.”

The Postmaster General shall be the Chief Executive of the Public Postal Operator” He added that the Bill would also establish a Universal Postal Service Fund (UPSF) which would harness monies from contributions by licenses which shall be 2.5 per cent of their annual turnover.

Ashafa noted that the Fund shall be managed and administered by a board in accordance with the provision of the Act. He said with the current trends in globalisation and digital advancements in all facets of life, there was the need to keep up with the changing technological trends for the benefit of the nation.

Contributing to the debate, Sen. Albert Bassey (PDP-AkwaIbom) said the Nigeria Postal Service had ``totally collapsed”.

“The repeal and the reenactment of the Act will bring about a robust postal service in the country. It will change the face of postal service in Nigeria,” he said” Similarly, Sen. Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi) said it was true that the Postal Service Act had not only gone moribund but at present, could not meet the technological and scientific demands of recent times.

“Postal service has gone beyond the analogue approach of just posting letters,” he said.

However, I know that the Nigeria Postal Service is undergoing reforms. I am aware that they signed agreement with a company that is partnering with MasterCard for money transfer across over 40 nations.

“This Bill will make all these operations very easy especially when we are signing bilateral agreements with other countries.”

Also speaking, Sen. Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra) said the Postal Service was a huge platform that was capable of enhancing job creation in the country.

“Postal agency as is global best practice is a revenue generating agency and so I believe, when this is done, we will have a holistic overhaul.”

She said that the Act when reenacted would benefit Nigerians immensely.

In his remarks, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu said with the relevance of telecommunication and postal service diminishing, there was the need to refresh the Bill to meet with the demands of the time.

WHO, Yobe govt. collaborate on health sector devt From Uche Uche, Damaturu.

I

n an effort to support and assist Yobe state government to improve on its health sector services drive, the World Health Organisation country representative for Nigeria, Dr.Alemu Wondima Gegnehu, along with other member of the WHO in the country and the state, paid a courtesy visited to the

state governor, Alh. Ibrahim Gaidam at the state government house, Damaturu.

Addressing the governor on the reasons for the visit, the WHO country representative told the governor that it was a fact finding mission to familiarize himself with the humanitarian situation on the ground in the health sector to see areas of intervention by the WHO, especially with regard to sustaining the

polio free status in the state and the country at large.

He told the governor his findings after visiting some areas of importance and discussions with members of the state health sector, saying he appreciated the laudable effort of the government especially, its investment in the health sector in areas of keeping up to date with immunization

programmes, investment in human resources and putting in place infrastructure in the health sector, the free maternal and child health services, free treating of accident victims for the first 48 hours among others.

Responding, the Governor commended the efforts of the WHO for providing technical support for the conduct of monthly disease

surveillance, review of surveillance focal site and outbreak investigation, the training and capacity building and payment of stipends extended to the state health personnel assigned to perform health related ad-hoc duties like conduct of vaccination, quality assurance survey and funding for neglected tropical diseases mapping, among others.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Page 9

News

L-R: Director General, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, Maj-Gen. Bamidele Ogunkale, presenting a Magazine to the President, Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) Mr. Otis Anyaeji, during the visit of NSE President to Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

Catholic Knights protest high rate of rituals, abortion in Asaba From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

C

atholic Knights and hundreds of its Faithful in Asaba and its environs in Delta State yesterday protested the increasing cases of rituals and abortion, saying that God hates those who indulge in the act.

The protesting Catholic Faithful armed with different banners with the inscription “Abortion does not make

you un-pregnant, but the mother of a dead child” adding that the answer to a crisis pregnancy cannot be abortion, rather eliminate the crisis through dialogue chanting songs against the increasing cases, the protesters observed that apart from the cases of abortion, all nooks and cranny within Asaba and its environs have been recently littered with “ritual materials” including alleged bizarre killings for ritual purposes. Insisting

that such act portends evil before God as it will consume the perpetrators.

The protesters marched through Saint Bridges road, Umueko, Umuaji in Asaba with their banners causing partial vehicular movement’s disruption for close to two hours before they retire to the premises of Saint John Bosco along Nnebisi road for a brief meeting.

Speaking to journalists, the president of Saint Mulumba and the

leader of the protesters, Sir Okey Ofili, said abortion indicates war “against God’s decision”, adding that in such situation, it behooves on the victims to manage the issue without going contrary to what God hates.

He said that the rally was not a ritual, but a spurge to stop destroying the fallopian tubes of women, adding that the rally also stands as pro-life rally to create awareness against the evil of abortion.

“It is a total mis-conceived idea that the procession is a cult as it subjects itself to the rules and regulations” he added.

He noted that the issue of abortion had remained serious challenges in the society, especially as it has been “killing process” for unwanted pregnancies, explaining that the protest demonstrated the reality aimed at eradicating the evil acts

NLC lauds Jigawa pension scheme From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse

T

he Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the Jigawa state and local government pension scheme as better than the Federal Government pension scheme.

The NLC National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Jigawa state Governor, Muhammad Abubakar Badaru adding that Badaru is the best leader Nigeria is in need.

He explained that, no doubt with current development in both social and economic sectors in Jigawa, governor Badaru can be describe as the best leader who can manage the little resources that would turn Nigeria better among the rest.

The NLC president, who described governor Badaru as the best among the Nigerian governors, said “with regard of quality and good governance Jigawa state is the best as non liability of salary, gratuity as well

as pension in the state”.

According to Wabba, the governor also succeeded in the settlement of liabilities he inherited from the past administration urging the other governors to learn from him for better development of their state. “ We urged you to continue using your calculator to cut the cost of administration and meet the obligations through diversify the economy in the state as agriculture is taking its root for more jobs opportunities to Jigawa

teeming populace” he said.

The NLC president than, assured more support and partnership with Jigawa government to make greater giant state in the country.

While making his remarks, Governor Muhammad Abubakar Badaru said that, the distribution of the buses is part of the state government policy on job creation and empowering people through their jobs which is consider demand drives.

The Governor added that, the

buses is given out as a soft loan that has no any single Kobo charges and the beneficiaries are expected to pay back within 36 month.

“What we are doing today is fulfillment of our campaign promises, we promise to provide 10,000 jobs within two years and I can vividly said we achieved this through various youth, women empowerment programmes” He added that, the remaining seventy buses will be distributed in three batches in the next few month.

PAGE 10

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

News 2017 hajj: NAHCON, states to partner on medical services

By Maryam Garba Hassan

I

n its effort to effectively manage medical service delivery to the Nigerian pilgrims for this year’s Hajj, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has reaffirmed its policy to partner with State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, Agencies and Commissions to save cost for

State and federal governments.

The Commission said with the policy initiated and partly implemented in the last Hajj, NAHCON will provide 40 per cent of the total required medical personnel while states will complement the remaining 60 per cent.

The Commission further said it will provide 70 percent of all medical consumables while states

will be left to provide the balance of 30 per cent.

Briefing senior management staff of the Commission on the development, NAHCON Chairman, Barr.

Abdullahi Mukhtar, reiterated the resolve of his leadership to ensure that Nigerian pilgrims receive maximum services due to them during the forthcoming Hajj through the initiatives introduced

in all critical components of Hajj including accommodation, feeding, medical amongst others.

He said last year, the Saudi Arabia government commended the medical reform and expressed happiness with Nigeria for reducing the number of clinics in the Holy Land.

He said Pakistan with over 260,000 pilgrims has only one big clinic in Makkah and about 150

medical personnel compared to Nigeria which previously had many clinics and thousands of personnel to serve its 75,000 pilgrims.

“These medical personnel are needed in our hospitals. The reform will drastically reduce the number of personnel who would be useful in our states and federal hospitals and medical centers”, he said.

Abdullahi urged state boards to fully key into the system for a more coordinated, efficient and effective medical service delivery as personnel would be posted to states other than their origins for them to share ethno-cultural experiences, thus enhancing national integration and coexistence through Hajj.

Gov. Abubakar signs the public property recovery tribunal law From Bauchi

Ahmed

Kaigama,

B

auchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar has signed the public Property Recovery Tribunal Law for 2017.

Signing the law at the Exco Chambers of the Government House Bauchi yesterday, Mohammed Abubakar said that the signing of the law was in line with the pledge that his administration was not toeing the path of the previous government which wasted

huge resources by setting up Judicial Commission of inquiries to probe government officials.

The governor assured that his administration will bring back to the coffers of the government every public fund that was filtered away by the previous administration

without due process.

“Nigerians are aware that because of the rigorous fight against corruption embarked by the government of President Buhari, the federal agencies that have been charged with the responsibility of anti-corruption have more than

Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State (left) in a handshake with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative and Chief of Mission for Nigeria, Dr. Alemu Wondimagegnehu when the UN official paid a courtesy visit to him at the Government House, yesterday in Damaturu

they bargained for to the extent that Nigerians believe that the fight against corruption is becoming very slow” “For that reason, in Bauchi state, we have decided to devise a means whereby we can carry out our prosecution ourselves and what we have done is to propagate a law that will enable us prosecute all offences including federal offences” He said The governor said that his administration has obtained a fiat from the attorney general of the federal government to enable his government prefer charges under federal laws and prosecute offenders in Bauchi state.

The governor who assured that the fight against corruption in Bauchi state was a continuous one, vowed that his government will not be deterred by politicians who are fighting corruption by publicizing blatant lies against his government. “ Corruption is attempting to fight back by using the wrap sheets of the newspapers to publish ridiculous lies against this government and discerning Nigerians will know that this government is working” ‘To say that this government from inception to date got more money than the government of Isa Yuguda is laughable, nobody will believe that lie, so corruption is fighting back and we will not be discouraged” Abubakar said

Asaba: 8 feared injured in fresh herdsmen, community clash From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

E

ight persons were alleged to have been feared injured yesterday in Okpanam community, near Asaba Delta State in a clash between they and Fulani herdsmen over destruction of farm crops.

It was gathered that the victims had gone to their farmlands when they met the herdsmen allegedly grazing their crops; a situation they were said to have challenged them to a fight, unfortunately the herdsmen armed with dangerous weapons overpowered them as they were attacked with machete cuts on their bodies.

It was further learnt that the farmers had gone to their farms to

harvest German Mangoes, but their mission was allegedly thwarted by the herdsmen who had destroyed the fruits by their cows while grazing.

Confirming the incident, one of the victims, Titus Ezenwilo said they were confused to see their crops destroyed by the herdsmen who brought their cows to their farm lands, adding that when they put up a challenge on why they came to their farms the herdsmen allegedly drew out their weapons to attack them.

“Yes my daughter challenged the herdsmen and suddenly they drew out their weapons to attack us, but with run to abandon our bags after they had injured us with their machetes” he added.

Saying that the matter had been reported to the police, the victim, a septuagenarian father confirmed that two of the suspects were arrested on the spot while others escaped. But Police Officers at the Okpanam Police Division who did not want their names in the print, said the two suspects arrested were being detained at their Division for further investigation.

Expectedly, the Police Commissioner, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim had on Monday called on members of the public to provide the police always with useful information that will uncover those behind the continued attacks on residents of host communities to cattle grazing, disclosing that some suspected Fulani herdsmen were being

detained for further investigation.

Investigation revealed that three families in Okpanam community had recorded series of their crops destroyed by herdsmen, particularly their cassava, yam and other crops in the past two weeks and have raised the alarm of an alleged attempt by the herdsmen to kill them during which they confronted them.

While the victims of the continued attack by herdsmen have called on the security agents and the state government to come to their aid, they urged them to take aggravating issue with seriousness and as a major break down of law and order. Meanwhile, strange storm has damaged no fewer than six buildings in Okwe including

mango trees in the area.

The storm which began like a moon light play on Tuesday night took up the stage for over thirty minutes, destroying some of the buildings roofs, ceilings and bill boards.

The intensity of the storm according to our informed sources, pulled down a portion of a church building in the area.

But reacting to the impact of the storm, Mr. Sunday Ani stressed the importance of tree planting culture, especially in Asaba, adding that the absence of trees in the state capital to checkmate such challenges will continue to worsen residents fear during such storm.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, march 30, 2017

Page 11

PAGE 12

Opinion

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Nigeria’s Adventure and one China policy

By Mohammed Jamu Yusuf

I

n January this year, the Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government of Nigeria made a significant diplomatic shift. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama informed the world that Nigeria would no longer recognize Taiwan as a country but committed to one China policy. This was concretized in a Memorandum of Understanding the Nigerian government entered into with the People’s Republic of China government. This development was further prompted by the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi to Nigeria.

One China policy implies that Taiwan is absolutely part of China and that only a single nation-state called China exists in the world. Accordingly, that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal authority undertaking the government business of the country. Nigeria’s support of one China policy means a backing to engender China’s national unification.

To underpin this new diplomatic move, Onyeama made two instructive policy statements. One, that Nigeria had withdrawn all diplomatic relations with Taiwan as a country. Two, that Taiwanese office in Abuja would be shut down and be relocated to Lagos as soon as possible.

He captured the government’s new position rather succinctly during a press briefing thus: “Taiwan will

stop enjoying any privileges because it is not a country that is recognized under international law.” “Chinese Government does not oppose trading with Taiwan as long as there is no formal contact with the government that will suggest recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign country.”

He said the step being taken was to right the wrong that no one could specifically say how it came. Onyeama is right. This is so because Nigerian government headed by Yakubu Gowon established diplomatic ties with China in 1971 when it severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan on account of one China policy. But twenty years later, that was in 1991 Taiwan returned to Lagos in a seemingly indiscreet fashion and established Trade and Cultural Office. The office was relocated to Abuja in 2001 and commenced operations as a quasi-embassy in 2013. How Taiwan re-established its presence in Nigeria after its diplomatic ties were disconnected remains a big puzzle to many.

The new move by the government if implemented would potentially eclipse the Taiwanese seemingly diplomatic presence in Nigeria and essentially correct the diplomatic anomalies. Not a few Nigerians have commended this diplomatic modification which they believe is consistent with Buhari’s government change mantra.

This is more so because the fresh move is supported by international law resulting in the wide-ranging recognition accorded one China policy

thrust by other nations including the advanced democracies.

Similar to Buhari, Donald Trump who also rode on change mantra to emerge as the 45th United States President earlier in the year has decided to tow the same line. Shortly after assumption of office, he stated his commitment to one China policy and has accordingly taken steps to cement it through bilateral meeting planned to hold in Florida, the United States between him and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping.

But shockingly and worryingly enough, more than two months after the agreement the federal government reached with China over the one China policy the matter has remained a mere rhetoric and evidently unmatched with action. The Taiwanese office in Abuja which the federal government directed its personnel to shut down and be relocated to Lagos is still operating at full capacity. Although the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Onyeama reacted that the government would investigate the veracity of the media report that the Taiwanese chancery still has a full presence in Abuja, the matter intrinsically questions the government’s diplomatic and political will to enforce its policy directive.

Besides, the situation has the propensity to have a far-reaching negative impact on the good bilateral relationship existing between Nigeria and China. In international affairs, a country usually defines its ties with other nations based on interests,

mutual benefits, comparative advantage and other factors that favor the country. Accordingly, if China is placed side by side with Taiwan in the bilateral relationship with Nigeria, Nigeria stands to benefit more largely from China than Taiwan.

The reasons are not far-fetched.

Apart from being more technologically advanced than Taiwan, China is the second largest economy in the world.

It commands a big market for Nigeria’s oil exports and has demonstrated high commitment towards supporting the Buhari-led government in its infrastructural development drive.

This makes it imperative for the federal government to deepen its diplomatic ties with China by implementing all the agreed provisions of one China Policy.

Given the failure of the West to pull Nigeria out of its infrastructural development challenges, the country should plausibly and strategically turn to China for a veritable bail-out. Nigeria should not allow Taiwan’s obstinacy to reintegrate fully into its nation China to obliterate the many gains derivable from its excellent ties with China.

On a lighter note, however, how would Nigeria feel if China attempts to recognize the defunct Biafra that pushed for secession in the late 60s?

This is indeed a palatable food for thought!

Mohammed Jamu Yusuf is a Public Affairs Analyst.

Policy Perspective: Fixing Nigeria the health way

By Seyi Makinde

U

nlocking Nigeria’s greatness can sometimes look as simple as flipping a coin – that is how blessed my country is – but making that flip remains problematic as the two contexts below illustrate.

First, Nigeria’s Eurobond, part of the Federal Government’s strategy to fund the 2017 budget, was oversubscribed to by almost 800 percent. However, N2.9 trillion (40 percent of the nation’s budget proposal) will service non-debt recurrent expenditure. This amount exceeds, by almost N1 trillion, the total expected oil revenue of N1.985 trillion for 2017.

Second, we have a health crisis, the socioeconomic burden that confronts us daily through news of premature deaths are due largely to causes that are preventable. Our health crisis is only kept in check for now by two factors: the estimated figures are that our birth rate eclipses our death rate by almost 300 percent, and we are fortunate that there are international grants available for fighting top killer diseases in Nigeria.

Take malaria for instance, since 2005, more than 80 percent of the funding for malaria interventions have come from external sources like UNICEF, the World Bank, USAID, and Global Fund.

The question is: What if those sources stop funding these interventions in Nigeria?

The first context paints a picture

of excess and the second fills the imagination with abscess – too much in one place and too little in the other.

We need a flip, something that will shift Nigeria’s resource allocation efficiency from ‘top-down’ to ‘bottom-up’. This is where my policy team and I found the National Health Act (2014) somewhat magical as a tool that can foster bottomup innovative change in Nigeria.

Apart from the Petroleum Industry Bill, the NHA should rank next on the list of the most controversial bills introduced since 1999. After all interests have been considered fairly, the Act has become one instrument that commands the buy-in of all stakeholders and therefore a tool that any serious government should exploit for national transformation.

The potential of this National Health Act to flip the proverbial coin is rooted in the consensus that its impact is strongest at the primary healthcare level due to the proposed Basic Health Care Provision Fund, 50 percent of which will finance a “basic minimum package of health services to citizens”. According to our analysis, its implementation promises three transformative potentials, in addition to many other derivative benefits.

First, it will roll back the increasing burden of health in our society. If health is wealth, then the process of rebuilding the Nigerian society should take the healthy route. Today, conditions once deemed as rich men’s

diseases’ – cancer, hypertension, and diabetes – are commonplace and to most families, they are what a death sentence is to a convict. According to the WHO fact file on Nigeria, 66 percent of deaths in Nigeria are caused by communicable diseases, maternal and child mortality, and nutritional conditions. 24 percent of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCD), chief of which are cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

In Oyo State, for instance, according to our findings, the Disease Management Scheme (DMS) in most of the Primary Health Centres (PHC) in the state’s 33 Local Government Areas (LGAs) are below par and the Ministry of Health Drug Stock Level is approximately 30 percent, thus, the problem of inaccessibility to drugs is prevalent. Also, the current capacity and availability of medical laboratories in the state is less than 20 percent, and there is the lack of monitoring and evaluation of services, alongside acute personnel shortage and dilapidated infrastructures. All these will change with NHA. Second, it will boost patriotism because funding citizens’ healthcare will become a ‘first line charge’ account.

The NHA provides that at least one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) be dedicated to the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund. This is another magic in the Act to flip the

proverbial coin I referred to earlier.

This is, perhaps, the first legislation that will so honour Nigerian citizens with such premium as a guaranteed or statutory access to the CRF. Third, it will restore governance to the path of a phased development plan.

Nigeria was making steady progress up till the second national development plan. We have been wobbling since then from one plan to another. A consistent commitment to the implementation of NHA 2014 will ensure steady development of the health sector, which will have a positive spill over effect in other sectors.

Clearly, the benefits of this Act to national development far outweighs its drawbacks and it is a litmus test for any government that claims to be driven by populist interest. I therefore appeal to all Nigerians, the National Assembly, and international partners to commit to actions that will put its implementation on the front burner.

Seyi Makinde could be reached at: abiodunmakinde@aol.com

PAGE 13

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Comment

Open Letter to Indian Prime Minister

By Ahmed Sule Dear Prime Minister Modi, Please Stop The Hate Crimes Against Africans Residing In India As the most influential Indian at the moment, I believe that you have what it takes to put a stop to the never-ending hate crimes directed at Africans residing in your great country.

On 27 March 2017, hundreds of Indian’s in Noida went on rampage attacking African students whom they accused of dealing in drugs. That was not the first time Africans have been assaulted in India. From Bangalore to Punjab to Noida to New Delhi, Africans have been racially abused on the streets, pelted with stones, stripped naked, beaten to coma and hacked to death.

We have been dehumanized, refused accommodation and when we walk through the streets of India, the hairs on the back our necks rise as we feel the hostility coming from the intense gaze of our Indian brothers and sisters. Many of us have been stripped of our African names and rechristened “Habshis” as our first name and “Bander” as our surname.

The violence inflicted on us has turned us to hermits because we now believe that a living African hermit in India is better off than a dead African in India.

Despite the assaults over the years, the Indian government has done little to stem the racially motivated violence.

The silence of the Indian government is deafening. Evil prevails when men and women of goodwill remain silent in times of great moral conflict. In the rare instances where government officials choose to speak out, their statements are often punctuated with the word “But” – “African students were attacked, but the government is seized of the matter”; “It was a criminal act, but it should not be construed as racial attacks”; “It is unfortunate to see Africans attacked, but India is the land of Gandhi and Buddha and we have fought consistently against racial discrimination”; “Some clashes took place, but the violence has been exaggerated by the media.”

Africa and India share a common history. We were colonized by a common oppressor and we were comrades in the war against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism. When India gained its independence from Britain in 1947, many African countries were motivated to fight for their own independence as we saw India’s freedom as the first crack in the ruthless British Empire. Ten years later, Ghana was freed and a couple of years later most of the countries in the continent were freed from the shackles of the British and French colonialists.

Your forerunner Jawaharlal Nehru joined hands with our very own Kwame Nkrumah and Gamal Nasser to set up the Non-Aligned Movement to challenge the Western hegemony.

Are we to put this shared history aside

because we have different skin tones?

Absolutely not. We may have different shades of skin tones but in reality, we are all black/brown. I need not remind you that the recognition of the equality of all races and mutual respect is one of the guiding principles of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Bilateral trade between Africa and India, which is valued at $72 billion, is at the heart of Afro-Indo relationship and you have played a key role in making this a reality. However, Africa shouldn’t be viewed solely as a cash machine for Indian entrepreneurs. What is the point of seeing Africa as an investment destination while ignoring the cries of African students screaming “Why Is India So Racist Towards Us? Your Excellency, you have shared your vision to make India a first-class country, however, India cannot be a truly first class country as long as it has third class black Africans and third class brown Indians discriminated because of the color of their skin. Having the largest democracy and being a key pillar of the BRICS nation comes with responsibilities. You may want to give some thoughts to how India is viewed by the wider world. Is it that the country, which once had the moral capital to look Britain straight in the eye and tell her, “We have had enough of your racism,” is now following in the footsteps of its former colonial master?Sir, nobody has the monopoly over violence. We now live

in an age where news travels very fast.

The images of Indians brutalizing their African brothers and sisters has been widely shared on social media. As these images spread throughout the world and finally arrives at East Africa, which is home to over 3 million of Indian descent, it could only be a matter of time before a demagogue begins to stir up anti-Indian sentiments thereby putting these Indians in Diaspora at risk. Some may try to justify the attacks on Africans in India by creating equivalence with the policies of Idi Amin who unjustly expelled Asians from Uganda in the 1970’s. Amin’s act was morally wrong and two wrongs don’t make a right.

I appreciate that it is difficult undoing the legacy of colonialism (which engraved a hierarchy of race) and the caste structure in India completely, but I plead with you to use your good offices to speak out and put measures in place to reduce the racial discrimination inflicted on black Africans and lower caste brown Indians. If there is anyone that can do it, it is you.

I end this letter by quoting the great Nehru, “The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction.”

Selah.

Yours faithfully, Mr Ahmed Sule, CFA can be reached at suleaos@gmail.com <mailto:suleaos@gmail.com

Finance Minister: You are hurting the economy (2) Obafemi Aluko

I

n December 2016, I wrote about the Finance Minister’s public statements that are inimical to the health of the economy and some few individuals felt I was too hard on the woman. Then she had without facts named 33 agencies of government based on an audit exercise conducted by one of the parastatals under her Ministry, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation of non-remittance or under-remittance of their operating surpluses to the tune of N450billion generated over a period of 2010 and 2015. Among those agencies found culpable were CBN, CAC, NTA, JAMB and others. But few hours after her public press conference, her colleague ministers quickly denied her claim. She was thoroughly embarrassed.

Few weeks after this public this, our madam on the eve of one of the MPC meetings of the CBN took to the gallery again, ordering the MPC Committee members to lower the interest rate in order to stimulate the economy, which she had announced to the public was ‘technically in recession’. With the attendant public outcry over her naïve estimation of monetary policy issues, she came out later to say her comment was her own personal opinion as she lacks the capacity to dictate to the Committee members.

I thought the madam had learnt her lessons. But few days past, when

receiving House of Representatives Tactical Committee members on Recession allegedly blamed the ‘excessive powers of the CBN governor for the disconnection between the monetary and fiscal policies. She therefore pleaded with the National Assembly to consider a legislation to whittle down the powers of the apex bank governor and institute a check and balancing mechanism in the legislation. According to the report, she was puffed that the CBN had the effrontery to decide and act on issues of ‘finance’ without recourse to her, the constitutionally authorized person saddled with such responsibility. To her, the audacious action of the CBN governor attest to the excessive powers massed by the CBN governor that must at all cost be curtailed.

Allegedly grieved, she blamed the National Assembly for yielding to Professor Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Bank’s request for more powers in 2007. In her view, to have allowed such approval as enshrined in CBN Act 2007 is what we are experiencing its consequences today and she was on her knees begging them (legislators) to revisit that Act and cut down the CBN Governor’s powers, and probably make the Bank a parastatal in her Ministry.

I dare ask madam Adeosun to come out openly about her agenda. What is her pedigree in monetary/financial issues until she was propped up in

the Ogun State as its Commissioner for Finance, and because of political power play and favour showed up at the national turf as a powerful minister in charge of finance? Haaba madam!

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Senator Nenadi Usman and Dr. Segun Aganga (all former Finance Ministers) worked harmoniously with the same Act you are grieving over. I do not want to share in the sentiment milling around that you are a member of the fifth columnist bent on easing the CBN Governor out of the his exalted position. You want CBN submerge under you ministry, and for what? Madam Adeosun, if you need more powers to do your job, you are at liberty to approach the National Assembly, and stop campaigning for what you lack capacity to use.

It is a fact that, if what you are campaigning for is granted and politicians like you are allowed to control the CBN, the economy will be in serious trouble. And with your obvious lack of depth in issues of fiscal matters, not to talk of monetary matters, burying CBN in your ministry would not only endanger the apex bank’s independence, but doom for the nation.

If I may ask, what can the Finance Minister point to as her achievement to reflate the economy since it moved into recession? The problem is not the autonomy of the CBN, but inability of the elements within the fiscal authorities to forge seamless coordination with monetary authority.

What impression are you creating to the investing world about Nigeria, particularly at this troubled period of the economy, or is the Minister cowed by the achievements of the CBN under the watch of Godwin Emefiele?

We have not seen the required synergy between her and her National Planning counterpart. Everyone is advocating a harmonious synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities, but the Minister is threading a more sinister path that will lead the nation nowhere. One is not therefore surprised that there have been clamours for her sack from the ministry.

So far, the CBN has helped the government in its economic diversification agenda, even intervened in critical sectors in the economy. It is unfortunate that at this time of dire national economic challenge when all agencies ought to have a common front and device a strategy to enable us come out of the present recession, it is rather worrisome that key elements at the temple of economic management chooses to evince centrifugal tendencies just for selfish aggrandizement.

This campaign, once again, the Honourable Minister, is an unnecessary distraction that the economy does not need now.

Obafemi Aluko contributed this piece from Ago Iwoye, Ogun State

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

PAGE 14

News

JAMB registration: Hilux van crushes 2 candidates to death, injures 3 others in Nasarawa

From Gambo Ahmed, Lafia

A

Hilux van belonging to the Nasarawa State Police Command has allegedly crushed to death two persons and inflicted severe injuries on three others who were prospective JAMB candidates waiting for their PIN number at Sky Bank in Lafia.

An eye witness told newsmen that the incident occurred at about 3pm of Tuesday when the driver

of the police van who was said to be on a high speed, even as he was reported to have been eating while driving when he eventually missed control of the vehicle and rammed into an Okada rider who was about to convey one of the prospective JAMB candidates to her destination.

According to the eye witness, “The vehicle crushed the Okada rider and the girl as well as knocking down three other persons who were standing on the direction where

the van was heading to. The Okada rider died on the spot while JAMB candidate later died the same day at about 6pm at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital where she was rushed for medication.”

One of the surviving victims, who narrated his ordeal to newsmen on his sickbed, James Chima, said, “I was standing by the roadside beside the Sky Bank premises, when suddenly a police van rammed into me and I ended up seeing myself

under a stationary truck.”

Another eye witness who never wanted his name in print, told newsmen that the police van was on high speed when its rammed into the victims, said , “I was together my sister who had just completed her JAMB registration process in Sky Bank and we were discussing the destination she may take than When contacted, the Nasarawa state Police Public Relations Officer, Kennedy Idris, denied that the accident did

not involve members of the force as according to him, “neither the van nor the driver belong to the police. suddenly the police vehicle knocked her down and other prospective JAMB candidates.”

Efforts to interview Aisha Ikpanago, one of the casualties, by journalists in her hospital bed failed as she was in pains and could only raise her hand to demonstrate that she could not speak.

When contacted, the Nasarawa state Police Public Relations Officer, Idirisu Kennedy denied that the accident did not involve the police as neither the van nor driver involved in the accident belong to the command.

Kaduna authorities deny seizing land from owners at Kaduna Millennium City From Mohammad Kaduna

Ibrahim,

T

he Director General, Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), Malam Ibrahim Husaini, has said the state government has not forcefully taken over any land from the owners at Millennium city in the

state.

According to him, Governor Nasir el-Rufai will meet with the affected people next week Wednesday to listen to their cries and react to all issues relating to the lands.

He assured the land owners in Millennium City that government is considering to allocate

alternative land to them.

The KADGIS boss warned the land owners not to allow themselves to be used for political motives.

Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, while reacting to Monday’s protests by land owners over revocation of their land at the Millennium City, Husaini, said

many of the land owners acquired the lands illegally as government has gazzeted that nobody should buy or sell land in the area since 1994.

He said the land owners with or without title will be compensated with another piece of land within Millennium City or elsewhere. “ The protest by some land

A scene of accident at Thomas Bus Stop, Ikorodu, yesterday in Lagos

owners in Millennium City around Danhonu II, Danbushiya, Kadaore, Gidan Daji villages over land taken over by government and allocated for mass housing to people without compensating them is uncalled for.

“They claimed that government forcefully collected their lands and were developing without compensation.

“Government is not contesting that they have the land but government would not take it over without paying compensation.

Government may not pay direct compensation but will replace the land either within Millennium City or somewhere else.”

“In 1994, government discovered that Kaduna metropolis was congested and identified eastern sector as planning area, 12,000 hectares of land from Rigachikun to Kakau, with directive that nobody should develop any piece of land in the area. The gazette override any land title in the area but the traditional owners of the land are allowed to continue farming their land.

“We had engagement with the people, we have assessed over 400 hectares of land, we identified them, we have list of the people, we are compiling the comprehensive list to submit to the Governor for approval.

“The Governor has agreed to address the people on Wednesday April 12, we have letter of invitation through local government chairman, Saa Gbagyi and district heads in the area to come and interact with the Governor over the land to resolve any grievances.” he said

Group commends FG, Senate for prompt action on Meningitis

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

T

he Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA) have commended the quick response and synergy among the various arms of government in dealing with the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in Nigeria.

The commendation was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, by National Convener, Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA) Dr.

Chizoba Wonodi.

The statement said that the coalition of over 40 civil society organizations (CSOs), working to ensure equitable access to vaccines for all Nigerians, noted the motion in the floor of the Senate calling for free Meningitis C vaccination for all Nigerians, and the support of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) through appropriation of a supplementary budget to deal with the outbreak.

It said WAVA members also

expressed their delight with the manner in which the FMoH, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners are responding to the epidemic by ensuring adequate coordination, awareness creation, social mobilization, case management, infection prevention and control, active surveillance, and reactive vaccination in the affected States.

While reacting to the CSM outbreak in Nigeria, the National Convener of WAVA, Dr. Chizoba Wonodi said, “My heart bleeds for

all Nigerians who have lost loved ones or have been hospitalized following the meningitis outbreak in the country. We at WAVA are however, consoled by the fact that all arms of government are working together to deal with the outbreak decisively. “ The resolution by the senate to support free Meningitis C vaccination and supplementary appropriations to procure the vaccines is highly commendable.

We urge the National Assembly to go further and appropriate

sufficient funds for all vaccines as Nigeria transitions from Gavi support. We laud the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the state governments, the World Health Organization and other partners who are dealing with this outbreak.”

PAGE 15

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Senate constitutes c’ttee over Buhari’s assent withdrawal to some Bills By Christiana Ekpa Ikechukwu Okaforadi

and

T

he Senate yesterday set up a conference committee to resolve the reservations raised

by President Mohammadu Buhari on some bills, for which he refused to sign

Why Kaduna is fastest growing state in Nigeria – El-Rufai *Ageing civil servant would be eased out

T

he Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said his state is the only one in the country to have started the year 2017 with an approved budget.

El-Rufai, who made the disclosure at the second edition of the Kaduna Investment Forum, Kadinvest 2.0 in the state, noted that the state has been ranked the fastest growing state in Nigeria by African Finance Corporation, AFC. The governor noted that the state’s Ease of Doing Business Committee led by the deputy has delivered some results.

He said,“I am happy to say the Ease of Doing Business report was approved by the executive council and the results are beginning to show. African Finance Corporation recently ranked Kaduna as the fastest growing state in Nigeria, and we appreciate that.

“Our Kaduna Infrastructure master plan is Kaduna 2018 to 2050; the plan looks at the needs of Kaduna state including population projections till 2050. As you know that by the year 2050, Nigeria will have a population of 450 million million, and will be the third largest nation in the world in terms of population, after India and China.

“And about six percent of that population will be living in Kaduna state. This master plan takes in account all these factors. We hope to unveil it today.

“Our budget for 2017 was approved by the state house of assembly on the 22nd of December 2016. We are the only state that started the year with our budget and I thank the speaker and the members of the house of assembly for the hard work they are doing.”

Also speaking on the need to reform the State Civil Service, El-Rufai emphasised on the need for young and experienced Nigerians to govern states in the country.

The governor insisted that giving the younger generation opportunity to lead the country was the right way to go.

“Public service is for young people.

I’m too old to be a governor. I should have been a governor when I was 40-something.

“That’s the right age because you are active, you have experience, you can put in long hours. I know how many hours I could put in when I was the minister of FCT, I can’t do that now.

the bills as passed by the Senate and forwarded to him.

Peoples Daily recalls that President Buhari, in a letter he addressed to the Senate last month, had notified the lawmakers that he will not sign some of the bills sent to him, such as: Dangerous Drugs Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017; Currency Conversion (Freezing) order Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017; the National Assembly Budget and Research Office Bill, 2017; and Forestry Research institute of Nigeria Bill, 2017.

In the letter, the President said the bills, as passed by the senate, contain some contradictions with the principal Act, which will negate the real intentions for enacting the Act originally, just as he urged the lawmakers to have a second look at the

bills, address the issues at conflict and return to him for assent.

In response to these reservations, the Senate constituted a conference committee, yesterday, to address those reservations, and resubmit their findings to the Senate for consideration and approval.

Bringing a motion titled: Re Committal of the Dangerous Drugs Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and Currency Conversion (Freezing) order Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017, to the Senate, the Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawal, reminded his colleagues that the President had signified the withholding of his Assent on the Bills. The Senate: “Observes that Mr. President withheld assent to the Dangerous Drugs Act (Amendment) Bill based on the concern regarding certain words

and phrases reflecting in the bill that may be inconsistent with principal Act in sections 6 and 21 respectively; “Observes also that Mr. President withheld Assent to the Currency Conversion (Freezing) orders Act(Amendment) Bill on the concern regarding modalities for the communication of Assent forfeiture; “Constitutes Conference committee on the Respective Bills to consider the observation of Mr. President C-in- C on the Bill.”

On the National Assembly Budget and Research Office Bill, 2017 and the Forestry Research institute of Nigeria Bill, 2017, Lawan said the Bills were passed by the Senate and House of Representatives, and transmitted to the Clerk National Assembly for further legislative action.

The Senate also “Observes that the Directorate of Legal Services scrutinized the Bills in line with its mandate and raised fundamental issues that needed to be addressed, before the Bills could be transmitted for President assent.”

The Senate Majority Leader added that there is no defined procedure on the reconsideration of Bills passed by the National Assembly that have not been transmitted to the President for assent.

So, the Senate “Invoke Order 1(b) of the Senate Standing Order as amended, 2015 to refer the Bills to the respective Conference Committee that had earlier worked on them to consider the observation raised by the Directorate of Legal Services and report back to the Senate within one week.”

INEC..1 L-R: Representative of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Wale Olokode, Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Mr. Joe Nwanko, Director General, Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, President of National Union of Road Transport wORKERS (NURTW), Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin and Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, during the Stakeholder validation conference on INEC strategic Plan 2017-2021, at Transcorp Hilton, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Executive, Senate rift: APC warns Sagay, others against inflammatory statements

By Umar Muhammad Puma

F

urtherance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) efforts to resolve the rift between the Executive and the National Assembly, the APC urges all government appointees to stop making statements that may further worsen the relationship between the two arms of government and derail the party’s effort to make peace.

Specifically, the party urges Prof.

Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) to exercise restraint and desist from making utterances that may be misconstrued as an attack on the

institution of the National Assembly.

The Party acknowledges the fatherly role being played by the President, Muhammadu Buhari to resolve outstanding issues with the National Assembly by setting up a high-level committee led by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

“We believe the comments attributed to Prof. Sagay are uncalled for, regrettable and could further complicate the relationship between these vital arms of government.

“Our expectation would be that as a Law Professor of repute, Prof.

Sagay would appreciate the need to not denigrate the institutions of democracy, be it the Executive, Legislature or Judiciary.

“Moreover, as an appointee of Mr. President, we should expect the learned Professor to key into his principal’s temper and help him to make friends that would make his job easier and not make enemies of people who, by virtue of the position they occupy under our law, are critical to the running of government and the nurturing of our democracy.

“The Party specifically objects to the Professor’s call on the Senate to withdraw invitation extended to him. As someone appointed by our government, we find this kind of posturing unacceptable and potentially injurious to the peace efforts by the Party.”

“The Party wishes to reiterate

its earlier position admonishing all elected or appointed officials of our government to desist from utterances that may endanger efforts to build harmonious relationship between the two arms of government. Prof.

Sagay should not operate outside this admonition.”

The Party expresses happiness with the meeting it had with the Senate Caucus on Tuesday and is confident that all the issues raised will be addressed. It also urges the National Assembly to further intensify its efforts to ensure timely passage of the 2017 National Budget.

PAGE 16

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Politics

By Ali Alkali

T

he Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmud Yakubu has called on political parties to help consolidate and solidify the gains of the nation’s democracy by rigorously investigating their candidates before fielding them for elections.

Prof. Yakubu made the call during stakeholders validation conference for the Commission’s five-year strategic plan for stronger democracy held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The INEC boss lamented that parties in some cases nominates ex-convicts, drug traffickers and people with forged certificates as candidates for elections.

“In some cases, some of the candidates shouldn’t have been nominated. Some parties recommend ex-convicts for election, certificate forgery, only for the court to nullify that election and for INEC to conduct fresh election.”

Parties must do basic due diligence before fielding candidates - INEC boss He noted that the electoral umpire lacked the powers to prevent such candidates emerging from primaries to contest elections.

He said, “If a candidate that emerges from party primaries is changed, how can INEC intervene? We can only appeal to the political parties to respect their rules. The laws say that INEC has no power to reject names submitted by the headquarters of a party. The parties should do basic due diligence.”

The INEC boss, however, refuted the claims in some quarters that the commission followed the position of the Attorney General of the Federal and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on the controversy that followed the death of Alhaji Abubakar Audu in the last governorship election in Kogi State.

He said, “I have explained

this over and over; but I am going to say it again. About what happened in Kogi State, it came with its own complications that challenged our electoral jurisprudence.

“There was the impression that our response came late, and it came after the comment by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, suggesting that there was an indication or inference that we took a cue from what he said.

That wasn’t what transpired.

“The election was declared inconclusive, and the APC candidate died on Sunday.

The election was conducted on Saturday. We had a meeting on Monday; we looked at the laws; we sought for the advice of our legal service department before we issued our statement.

But our statement didn’t hit the newspaper pages until after AGF comment; and

people thought we took a cue from the AGF. No, we didn’t.”

The conference was held to unveil the second Strategic Plan (2017 – 2021) mapped out by the Commission to consolidate on the gains of the previous Strategic Plan (2012 – 2016), as implementation of the first plan was believed to be responsible for the significant improvement witnessed in the conduct of free, fair and credible general election in 2015.

Two documents, ‘Strategic Plan’ and ‘Strategic Plan of Action’ approximately 50 pages each, were presented to chairmen of all political parties, civil society groups, security agencies, the media and other stakeholders, not for, merely, their endorsement but for thorough examination, discussion, input, identifying any gap and validation of the contents.

Members of the Inter Agency Standing Committee of Gender Base Violence (GBV) Gombe State at 2-Day Interactive Session organized by United Nation Population Fund, yesterday in Gombe

Fayose is agent of destruction – APC

T

he Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti state, Taiwo Olatunbosun, has described the state governor, Ayo Fayose, as a ‘destroyer’ and an agent of destabilization in the country.

He said this while addressing party faithful in Ado Ekiti Local Government of the state.

Olatunbosun added that Fayose gagged the civic power of the people through the use of military apparatus and enemies of democracy to rig his way into power in 2014.

According to DailyPost report, the party spokesman also noted that the governor had notoriously beaten up

judges in court and tore court records in his fit of anger and raging temper.

He said: ”Fayose is an agent of destabilization in the Nigerian federation; his past is haunting him.

“You will recall that he took on the Judiciary in the past by beating up judges in the temple of justice, tearing court record.

“Fayose is jittery and he is being haunted by his past as regards to the 2014 election which he knows was manipulated through the muzzling of civic power of the people, using military apparatus and enemies of democracy to foist himself on Ekiti people.”

It could be recalled that the APC

had vowed to snatch power from Fayose in 2018, declaring that the governor must be ready to face justice for allegedly violating the electoral law in the 2014 governorship election.

The State has vowed to snatch power from Governor Ayodele Fayose as the 2018 poll draws nearer.

The party also declared that Fayose must be ready to face justice for allegedly violating the electoral law in the 2014 governorship election.

The state APC Deputy Chairman, Mrs. Kemisola Olaleye, who spoke on Tuesday at a rally organized by the party for members in Ado Ekiti Local Government said Fayose was being

haunted by crimes allegedly committed against the constitution.

She said: “Fayose has been saying that he is about to be removed from office and we in the APC are saying a resounding amen to his prayer. We are taking over power from him and we are determined to chase him out of office.

He is afraid of his own shadow. ”If he likes let him call thousands of press conferences. Ekiti people are tired of his government, civil servants, artisans, market women, youths, students, all of them are tired and they are waiting for APC to give them better life.”

APC leaders lack moral ground to call PDP members thieves - Lamido From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse

T

he former Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido lambasted the present APC administration, at both federal and state levels, saying members of the ruling party have no moral ground to accuse members of the past administration of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as thieves.

Lamido stated this while speaking to newsmen in his home town Bamaina in Jigawa state.

He explained that the present administration of APC that claims to be a purified government is fully surrounded by the same PDP members who occupied different positions as ministers, governors, senators and commissioner in the last sixteen years of PDP administration.

According to him, “Today in Nigeria no matter how corrupt you are, if you join APC you are purified and a saint, while no matter how good you are if you remain in PDP you are corrupt, and you will remain subject of intimidation by the government.”

He described the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership as “leadership enmeshed in confusion from confused people”, adding that the pattern of APC leadership both at the Federal Government and States level had failed to define what governance is all about.

“The party and its government at all level is confused and consequently are further more confusing the nation by their incredible ignorance of leadership and what it entails.”

Speaking on the present Jigawa State administration, Lamido challenged and lambasted Governor Badaru Abubakar for addressing members of the past administration in the state as ‘thieves’ adding that, “he openly told the world that he has concluded arrangement to arraign thieves that stole over N8 billion from my administration. The same Badaru was a beneficiary of former Governor Saminu Turaki’s fraudulent administration when he imported vehicles and failed to execute the contract for the Independent Power Project which never saw the light of the day, is today calling people thieves.”

Lamido expressed dismay on how Jigawa State is suffering from what he described as unpurposeful leadership like other states under APC control.

“Today what we are only witnessing in Jigawa is a manifestation of clueless leadership with relentless bragging, with no any meaningful developmental project that could improve the common man’s life,” he said.

PAGE 17

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, march 30, 2017

Politics

Executive, legislature face off : 72 community organizations storm Senators office in Jigawa From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse

A

bout 72 community organizations from Jigawa Central have, last weekend, stormed the office of the Senator representing Jigawa Central, Alhaji Sabo Muhammad Nakudu, expressing their dissatisfaction on the ongoing misunderstanding between the Senate and Presidency.

Peoples Daily gathered that the protesters, who gathered at Birnin Kudu town, have took to the street carrying placard with inscription such as: “We are Hundred Percent Behind President Buhari” “We Denounce

Senate Move to Scuttle Buhari War Against Corruption” and “Senate Must Not Hold Nigeria’s Progress to Ransom”.

Speaking to newsmen, chairman of Birnin Kudu Development Association and PRO Jigawa State Civil Societies Forum, Yusif Jafaru Birnin Kudu, said, they took to the street to express their dismay on the attitude of Nigerian Senate towards the good policies of President Muhammadu Buhari which he designs to move the country forward.

He said, during the protest, they also handed over a written letter to their Senator’s aids and also presented the copy to the district head of the town.

According to him, the ongoing feud between the presidency and Senate over some national issues had shown that the senators have abandoned what they were voted for, and shifted to using national interest as a bargaining cheap for their personal interest.

He revealed that in the letter written to their Senator they urged him to stand up at the Senate chamber and support any good policy forwarded to them by the presidency; and also to distance himself and vehemently kick against any move by any group of unpatriotic senators who want to sabotage President Muhammadu Buhari and stop him from transforming

Nigeria to a decent, strong, peaceful and happy country.

Jafar also said, the letter also warned the senator that if he fails to visibly show up supporting presidency at the Senate chamber, the people of his constituency will not be hesitant to initiate his recall and replace him with one that can represent their true and right interest.

During the demonstration security personnel were seen monitoring the movement of the Protesters, to ensure the demonstration was in order.

Constituency disowns Jibrin over call for Buhari’s resignation From Edwin Olofu, Kano

H

Gov Umaru Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa state inspecting guard of honour, during the graduation of the second batch of 1500 youth empowerment scheme (NAYES) programme, at the NYSC camp, recently in keffi

undreds of residents of Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency yesterday told former chairman, House Committee on appropriation, Abdulmumini Jibrin Kofa, that he is on his own and a disgrace to his constituency for calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign on health grounds.

The constituents who stormed the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat along Maiduguri road in Kano city, openly disowned Jibrin, their representative in the House of Representatives, over what they described as, “mischievous and unwarranted utterances.”

The protesters, who marched round the Kano State APC secretariat, demanded for the sanction of Jubril.

Alhaji Mutari Ishyaku Kiru, APC chairman in Kiru Local Government who led the protest, together with Alhaji Sani Kanti Ranka, APC chairman in Bebeji Local Government Area, the two local government Jibrin is representing said, “the people were dissatisfied over the unscrupulous comment of Jibrin. He did not consult us who voted for him before making such reckless utterances.

“We remain loyal to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, we are loyal the government of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, we are loyal to the leadership of Hon. Abbas Abdullahi, our party chairman in Kano.

Senate seeks guarantee for goods safe arrival ashore

By Christiana Ekpa

A

Bill for an Act to make Provisions for the Suppression of Piracy and to provide for Punishment for the Offence of piracy and for matter connected therewith 2017 yesterday passed second reading at the senate plenary Other Bills which passes second reading includes the amendment of Armed forces restriction on use of Arms in certain internal security operation Peoples Daily reports that, the bill on Suppression of Piracy scaled first reading on Jan. 20, 2016 Sponsor of the bill, Senator Nelson Effiong said that Nigeria being an import economy must do everything to guarantee safe arrival of goods ashore.

According to him, it is important that a law be put in place to discourage, suppress and punish those who engage in act of piracy.

Effiong forward disclosed that, presently the offence of sea piracy is treated in our criminal Code Act as robbery.

Contributing to the bill Senator Shehu Sani commended the sponsor of the bill for a detailed lead debate on the crime.

According to him, if piracy is not nipped in the bud it would escalate to an uncontrollable level.

Debating on the restriction of Arms in certain internal security operation, the sponsored of the bill Senator David Umaru from Niger East and Chairman Senate Committee on Judicially, said the bill intend to protect Nigerians from aggressive operations.

The bill among other things seeks to enact an Act to provide for the establishment of the Armed Forces restriction on the use of Arms in certain internal security operations.

Ruling on some of the bills, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the plenary said that sea piracy is an embarrassment and it has done a lot of damage to Nigeria economy.

He said that in the past the parliament had responded to this kind of call by making separate legislations on such crimes that are embarrassment to the country, like terrorism, obtaining money by false pretenses and other offences which are already in criminal code and penal code.

At end of plenary, 10 bills were considered and referred to various committees for further legislative deliberations.

Nigeria is burial ground for good ideas – Dogara

S

peaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Wednesday described Nigeria as a “burial ground for good ideas.”

Dogara made the remark at the launch of the Economic Recovery Growth Plan, ERGP, at the Presidential villa, Abuja.

The Speaker assured that the lower legislative chamber will pay close attention to the economic plan to ensure that it does not end up like other programmes in the past.

According to Dogara, “Today marks one of those days that some of us who are students of economic

development will be proud.

“For the first time, the plan has the inputs of all stakeholders. I am happy that the inputs of the National Assembly, most of it was adopted.

I have no doubt that if properly implemented, it will turn around the economy.

“My concern was the implementation but we have been reassured by the minister that it will not go the way of good visions that failed because they were never implemented. We have in the person of Mr President a good captain.

“I pledged the unalloyed support

of the house to the implementation of this document, and we promise that we will follow through to see that it being implemented… because this nation is a burial ground for good ideas, some ideas were never implemented.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Health

Can the study of epigenomics lead to personalized cancer treatment?

POSTED BY ADMIN

M

olecular insight into our own DNA is now possible, a field called personal genomics. Such approaches can let us know when we might have cancer-causing alterations in our genes. Well-known examples are the melanoma oncogene BRAF kinase, the breast cancer gene BRCA1 and the prostate specific antigen PSA. But there is more to cancer and other diseases than our genes. In addition to the DNA code, there is a hidden layer of regulation controlling the activity of genes – while not changing the DNA itself. This field, called epigenetics, is the study of how genes are regulated to express themselves, even though they rely on the same genetic information.

A gene is still a gene, but it responds differently to many facets of its chemical environment.

For example, have you thought about why identical twins are different? How it is possible that the lifestyle of our grandparents can affect our lives today?

Something beyond our DNA is at work.

This is epigenetics.

The hidden layer responsible for fine-tuning alongside our DNA is called epigenomic regulation. Epigenomics is the field of quantifying epigenetic marks on a genome-wide scale, thereby capturing a snapshot of our epigenetic state.

Recently, the systems biology and cancer metabolism lab at UC Merced published discoveries about an epigenetic factor called Jumonji. This factor not only affects how an entire network of cancer genes behaves; it actually takes on the role of a cancer gene, bringing uncontrollable cell growth.

Epigenomics captures how gene activity is controlled Already, doctors and others who diagnose diseases can, to some degree, use personal genomics tests that integrate our unique genetic makeup into clinical decision-making. However, there is more to our genome than what such tests can reveal.

Epigenetics makes sense of chemical modifications that can switch genes on or off. Importantly, none of these modifications changes the DNA sequence. Alternatively, our own cells use epigenomic regulators to control the activity of genes. If the right chemistry is in place, the right gene products are expressed at the right time.

Environmental influences like nutrition or cigarette smoke as well as our own hormones have strong epigenetic impact and affect how active our genes are.

In a disease such as cancer, epigenomic regulators such as Jumonji are often mistuned, causing them to affect gene activity. One thing they may do is to fail to put the right chemical modifications on their target genes, which rely on many factors to switch their activity on or off.

This can lead to altered metabolism, which promotes unlimited cellular growth. Once cells have unlimited ability to divide, a tumor forms.

The researchers found that Jumonji

Artistic illustration of an epigenomic handprint capturing regulation of a person beyond changes in DNA. In background research campus with art statue ‘New Beginnings,’ symbolizing hope for cure.

Credit: Systems Biology and Cancer Metabolism Laboratory, Fabian V. Filipp is overabundant in cancer cells and promotes uncontrolled division of cancer cells, which leads to unstoppable tumor growth. Jumonji takes the role of an epigenetic master regulator of cancer genes.

In addition, Jumonji teams up with hormone-dependent regulators that are responsible for treatment-resistant cancers.

Systems biologists can help to understand how we can overcome resistances. Systems biology opens possibilities to understand regulatory signals and circuits that govern our cells. If we are able to comprehend these signals, we can design drugs to break unwanted circuits and overcome resistances. Given its hidden, complex nature, epigenomics benefits from a systems biology approach that lays open critical wiring of our cells.

Toward personalized epigenomics Epigenomics has a lot of promise for cancer treatments, but there are still many more questions that we need to answer. What does the epigenome of a healthy person look? And how does the epigenome change as we age? How does the epigenome of a sick person differ?

In the future, these important questions will be addressed by personalized epigenomics, which tries to extract information out of a comprehensive picture of a person’s epigenome.

You may ask: Why can we not create a simple test that tells us if we have good

genes but an unfavorable epigenome?

Our epigenome is highly dynamic.

Epigenomic regulators are nonstop at work, including Jumonji, removing or adding chemical marks allowing for transient gene readouts while blocking it in the next minute.

Is it too early for consumers to think about personalized tests? Is the information still too cryptic or too unreliable to draw conclusions?

Personal gene tests for cancer exist.

Hollywood actor Ben Stiller claims a simple genetic test for abnormally high levels of the prostate antigen saved his life.

Abnormally high levels of the prostate specific antigen in the blood can mean that a man has prostate cancer, but not always. That is why the test is not FDAapproved. And this test does not take epigenetic factors into account.

Artistic illustration of an epigenomic handprint capturing regulation of a person beyond changes in DNA. In background research campus with art statue ‘New Beginnings,’ symbolizing hope for cure.

Credit: Systems Biology and Cancer Metabolism Laboratory, Fabian V. Filipp Cancer drugs against epigenomic factors promise hope Drugs targeting the epigenomic machinery raise optimism as a viable direction of clinical research. Present-day clinical questions relevant to epigenetic

research address which drug molecules modify the epigenome and which specifically kill cancer cells. It is open whether epigenetics is on the good or on the bad side of cancer. Researchers found that epigenetics can even assist the cancer cells to manipulate our own immune system and to evade the drug targeting approaches.

According to recent genomic insights, researchers compare the delicate equilibrium to Yin and Yang, complementary forces that keep each other in check. If one force overtakes the systems, it is out of equilibrium. For the cells this means either unlimited growth, cancer or death. Without doubt, once we have a better understanding of epigenetic regulation, we can design drugs that counterregulate these factors.

This is beginning to happen with some cancers. Recent breakthroughs in melanoma research identified a genetic mutation of an epigenetic player. Cancer resistance to treatment is a major obstacle. However, epigenetic drugs, on their own or in combination with other drugs, can be a viable alternative.

The epigenetic drug used in the laboratory study stops the ability of cancer cells to hide from the immune system and makes the tumor vulnerable.

For cancer patients with epigenetic activation, epigenetic drugs promise hope.

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

NUPENG Bridging Allowance, not to increase Petrol Price -NNPC

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the recent increase in bridging allowance to transporters from N6.20 to N7.20 per litre will not lead to an increase in the pump price of petrol from the prevailing price of N145 per litre.

Making the clarification in Abuja yesterday, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), in charge of Downstream operations of the Corporation, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, said there was no plan by government or any of its agencies to review the pump price of petrol above N145 per litre.

He explained that the rise in the bridging cost was achieved after an adjustment was made in the “lightering expenses” from N4 to N3 per litre and the difference transferred to compensate for the cost of bridging within the same template.

The bridging allowance refers to the cost element built into the products pricing template to ensure a uniform price of petrol across the country, while lightering expenses involve charges for moving products to depot area from mother vessels by light vessels due to the inability of the former to berth in shallow water depth.

“What happened, in simple language, is a rebalancing of the margins allowed and approved for

stakeholders. So what the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, did was to take N1 from lightering expenses and add same to the bridging allowance. That is how we arrived at N7.20. Therefore, PMS remains at the ceiling of N145 per litre,’’ he said.

On the availability of product supply, the COO said as at today, the country had 1.3billion litres of petrol which translated to an inventory of 36 days. ``What this means is that even if we stop importation or refining of petrol right now, we have enough products in-country to provide for the needs of every Nigerian for a period of

36 days,’’ he said.

Obih noted that the supply availability was bolstered with the production of petrol from the three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna. ``There is absolutely no risk of shortage in supply as we also continue to import to support the production from the refineries, we have informed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce the prevailing N145 per litre price regime and also ensure that every service station that has fuel is selling to the public,’’ he said.

The COO reiterated the readiness of the NNPC Management under the leadership of Dr Maikanti Baru to

sustain the existing cordial relations between the NNPC and the leadership of the downstream industry unions and other stakeholders.

He said the DPR which is the regulatory arm of the industry had been alerted to sanction fuel station owners who engage in hoarding or charge consumers in excess of the approved pump price of petrol.

A statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu said, NNPC GMD, Dr Maikanti Baru had announced the review of the bridging allowance on Monday at a mediation meeting between the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, and the Nigerian Association

of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, leading to suspension of a strike action embarked upon by members of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

In attendance at the resolution meeting were the NUPENG National President, Comrade Igwe Achese, who announced the suspension of the strike; the National President of PTD, Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, his NARTO counterpart, Alh. Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya; and Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Downstream, Honourable Joseph Akinlaja.

Adeosun approves N54bn to pay accrued pension of retirees

By Etuka Sunday

M

inister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun yesterday approved a total of N54 billion for payment of backlog of accrued pension rights of retirees.

The National Coordinator, League of Federal Contributory Pension Retirees, Mr Chike Ogbechie disclosed this in a text message to our Correspondent in Abuja.

Ogbechie who expressed happiness over the development,

thanked the Minister of Finance for her effort.

He however, disclosed that the amount would not be able to clear all the backlog, consequently, struggle continues.

“We’ve got news that the Minister of Finance has approved a total of N54 billion for backlog of our accrued pension rights. This’ll clear much of the backlog of our pension, but not all. So the struggle continues”, he said in a text message.

Recall, members of the League

of Federal Contributory Pension Retirees last month protested at the Federal Ministry of Finance, asking the Minister to intervene in their plight.

Accordingly, the Minister concerned about the plight of the pensioners who retired under the Contributory Pension Scheme cleared the inherited arrears of accrued pension benefit for the year 2014, 2015 and 2016 by releasing N41.5 billion to the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) for onward

L-R: Managing Director, NEXIM Bank, Mr. Bashiru Wali; Managing Director, Alibert Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Taan Naged and Chairman House Committee on Banking and Currency, Hon. Jones Onyereri, during the NEXIM Bank and House Committee oversight visit to Alibert Company’s, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

payment to the retirees, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has disclosed.

The Minister also announced that the sum of N12.5 billion being outstanding for January, February and March 2017 has been settled based on 2016 appropriation, bringing the tally to over N54 billion.

“Despite conflicting demands for available cash, President Muhammadu Buhari has always expressed concern about the plight of workers and pensioners. Consistent with this, we have released N41.5 billion which clears the arrears inherited from the previous administration relating to the period 2013-15 and underpayments in 2016.

This will bring relief to thousands of our elders who have served and deserve to be paid their entitlements promptly and fully,” Mrs. Kemi Adeosun emphasised.

The N41, 566, 565, 184 released to PENCOM was the outstanding appropriated for the year 2014 and 2016 by the National Assembly for the settlement of the retirement benefits of Federal Government employees.

She explained further that “the amount we paid includes arrears and the impact is that those who retired as far back as 2013, who had been unable to access pension under the contributory scheme due to non payment, will now be paid.”

To avoid future accumulation of pension arrears, Mrs. Adeosun assured that henceforth “the monthly allocation to the PENCOM based on the appropriation of 2017 will regularly be paid along with monthly salaries of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”

Forex: CBN makes Special Intervention in BDCs ...injects $10,000 Midweek Intervention

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its bid to sustain supply of liquidity to the foreign exchange market, has decided to make a special intervention in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the market on Thursday,

April 6, 2017.

Disclosing this in Abuja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor, said the special intervention of $10,000 for BDCs was meant to meet the upsurge in the forex requests of low-end customers, which has been on the sudden

increase in the past few days.

According to him, the special intervention does not in any way contradict the Bank’s newly amended sale policy of selling not more than $10,000 only to BDCs once a week. He further explained that the intervention arose due to the increasing demand for forex by Nigerians to

address other legitimate needs.

Meanwhile, the CBN spokesman also disclosed to newsmen that the CBN is collating retail requests from authorized dealers upon which sale would be finalized.

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Page 20

Business Adeosun on Facebook Live, assures continuity of Youwin Programme

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, yesterday held her first-ever Facebook Live session.

The 23-minute event, filmed at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, and broadcast live through her Facebook page (Facebook. com/HMKemiAdeosun),reached an audience of more than 130,000 persons within the first hour.

The Minister kicked off the Facebook Live interaction with an overview on developments in the Nigerian economy over the past few months, highlighting the Finance Ministry’s work in supporting SMEs, creating jobs, improving transparency, cutting the cost of governance, and boosting Government revenues.

Acknowledging the challenges the

Nigerian economy faced recently due to low oil prices, the Minister said: “the good news is that we are working through the issues one by one, and trying to ensure that as we rebuild the economy, we get away from the boom and bust cycle of the past -- we want to build an economy where, whether oil price is high or low, there’s sustainable growth for Nigeria and for Nigerians.”

The Federal Government, she said, is doing this by investing heavily in infrastructure and working to create an enabling environment for businesses.

One evidence of this renewed focus is the fact that the Ministry of Finance has so far released a Trillion Naira for infrastructure projects in the 2016 budget; a level of infrastructure investment unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.

Responding to a Facebook

question about the YouWiN! Entrepreneurship program, Mrs Adeosun explained that the Buhari administration has no plans to scrap it.

According to her, the Federal Government has reviewed the scheme and repositioned it as YouWiN!Connect, which focuses on continuous enterprise education and skills building.

In a statement by the Director, Information, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta the Minister noted that as part of the restructuring, YouWiN!Connect now publishes weekly editorials in four national newspapers.

She added that the principles of YouWiN!Connect would be incorporated into university curricula across Nigeria.

The Minister also revealed that efforts are on-going to improve payroll assurance through continuous

audit and migration of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the IPPIS Platform.

On the Federal Government’s Whistleblowing Policy, the Minister said it was introduced not only to recover stolen funds but to also serve as a deterrent against corrupt practices.

“Just last week, a whistleblower made claims of long-term fraud and funds misappropriation in YouWiN!,” she disclosed, adding that the Government was now investigating those claims with a view to taking appropriate action.

Speaking on the take-off of the newly-licensed Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), the Minister noted that it was established to provide access to funding, specifically for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

According to her, even though

SMEs account for over 45% of all businesses in Nigeria, less than 10% of them are able to present collateral to access bank loans. “DBN affords young people access to loans for doing business cheaply and conveniently,” she said.

While answering a question on the economic recession, she said: “We got into recession because, for the last 10 years, even when the oil price was extremely high, and we were borrowing, our reserves were decreasing. We didn’t have enough of a productive economy.

The only real thing that was happening and creating growth was the oil price, and as soon as the oil price went down, growth disappeared.

What we are trying to do now is to reset the economy, so that we are not so dependent on oil.”

The session ended with Mrs Adeosun expressing appreciation to viewers and participants, assuring them that she would continue to actively engage on social media, through her Facebook and Twitter accounts: Twitter.com/ HMKemiAdeosun, Facebook.com/ HMKemiAdeosun.

FAAN committed to delivering modern airport services, Dunoma assures From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

T

Participants at the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: NAN

Air Peace emerges airline of the year, pledges better days ahead From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

F

ast growing Nigeria domestic carrier Air Peace, has emerged the City People’s Airline of the Year Award for its outstanding performance despite the huge challenges faced by carriers in the country in 2016.

Receiving the award during the 20th edition of City People Awards for Excellence, the airline said it was further raising the

quality of its services to guarantee air travellers the best flight experience in the country and beyond.

Speaking at the award ceremony held in Lagos, Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah and Cabin Services Manager/Head of Commercial, Florence Opia, said the carrier had maintained an unbeatable record of ontime performance and safety

of air travellers since it started commercial flight operations in 2014.

The City People award, they said, was a confirmation that the airline was providing exceptional flight services in the country.

The airline said the launch of its Accra-Ghana route on February 16 was the first step in projecting its capacity to deliver top-notch regional and international flight services.

Air Peace confirmed that it was finalising arrangements to service its planned long-haul routes, including Guangzhou-China, Mumbai, Dubai, Atlanta, London and South Africa, with the Boeing 777 aircraft it was acquiring.

The airline pledged not to let its huge customer base down, saying it had distinguished itself as Nigeria’s preferred airline because of the trust and support of the flying public.

he Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reiterated its determination to deliver modern airport services with safety, security, and improved passengers experience as it bedrock.

Managing Director of the agency, Engr. Saleh Dunoma told participants at the 57th ACI Africa Board and Committees Meeting and Regional Conference and Exhibition in Livingston, Zambia, that the airport authority is poised to deliver four new terminal buildings for the four international airports.

According to him, the terminals will soon be ready to give the country an increased capacity for passenger processing and facilitation.

At the open dialogue session where he made his presentation, Engr. Dunoma told delegates that the ongoing Abuja airport runway rehabilitation is part of the great plan by Nigerian government for improved safer aviation and sustainable aviation system that is attractive to investors.

The FAAN helmsman, who is also the current President of ACI Africa seized the platform to praise the Buhari administration for assenting to this very crucial and aviation safety need irrespective of the economic disruption the closure of the airport is going to cause but reassures that the completion date of 19th April 2017 is very feasible as work is intensified to meet with the set deadline.

Page 21

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

FCTA to revoke undeveloped plots in Karshi Stories by Onyekwere

Stanley

A

llottees of undeveloped plots of land in serviced areas within Karshi Satellite Town of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are at verge of losing them, as the FCT Administration is set to revoke such forthwith.

Accordingly, the

Administration warned all those who have plots of land in Karshi to develop them or have them revoked immediately.

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello who made this disclosure while on an unscheduled visit to assess some of the ongoing projects in the area, expressed dismay that the FCT Administration had spent several billions of

Naira to provide engineering infrastructure to service those plots but the allottees have left them undeveloped.

According to him, most of the allocation papers to such plots of land have ended up in briefcases and therefore used the occasion to notify them to end the speculation and free the plots for development.

“As you can see based on

our inspection, the primary infrastructure in the Karshi township layout has all been completed, but nobody has put up any building there. The whole idea of opening new areas is for development to take place.

“So, we have extant regulations that once primary infrastructure is in a location and there is no development, plots in that location will be revoked.

“I want to use this medium to advise all those who have allocations in Karshi town centre where the primary infrastructure has since been completed to commence development or else, we are going to revoke the plots and allocate to the teeming millions of Nigerians who really want to develop them,” he stressed.

Security: AMAC Marshal assures unrelenting collaboration with stakeholders

A

n Abuja grassroot based security outfit, AMAC Marshal Guards ltd has reiterated readiness to expand its partnership with more stakeholders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for the purpose of providing maximum security services.

The Public Relations Officer of the organization, Mr. Kingsley Madaki made the reassurance when he received some stakeholders (mainly Abuja residents) in his office at AMAC Secretariat Extension, in Apo. “We assure you of our sustained commitment and willingness to accept other partners that you may introduce to us. AMAC Marshal whose motto is; ‘Our community, Our Responsibility’ is willing to provide an affordable security services for every individuals and companies.

“AMAC Marshal is a grass root based security outfit that knows every corner of the territory because the guards are selected from the grassroots.

“Our clients are not going to regret their partnership with us, we have qualified and experience personnel as our guards and they are also good in gathering development intelligence and facilitate effective monitoring and evaluation of projects, people and issues in AMAC

communities.”

He also commended the Marshal General, Comrade Kashim Ishiaku Chicha for his wisdom and experience as a retired soldier in piloting the affairs of AMAC Marshal.

Speaking earlier, one of the stakeholders, Mallam Yunus Bako thanked the AMAC chairman, Abdullahi Adamu Candido for having the hindsight to establish a security outfit, which should

not be allowed to die; a security remains a big challenge in the Council and FCT at large.

“You (Candido) as a first local government chairman to establish this security outfit, I know he is going to face

different kind of challenges, but you have to maintain it and you will see the dividend.

As for clients, we are going to mobilize companies for AMAC Marshal,” Bako stressed.

Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Prof. Sonni Tyoden (Middle) with the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Lynda Barau (Left), during the 1st Plateau State Agricultural Summit, yesterday in Jos. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Proudly Nigerian Expo harps on Govt’s support for young inventors

T

he convener of 2016 Proudly Nigerian Expo, Mrs. Jumai Ahmadu has called on governments at all levels to support young indigenous inventors of children’s toys and other items, aimed at discouraging the importation of such into the country.

According to her, the move will not only save Nigeria millions of naira used in the importation of children’s toys, but will boost indigenous technology at the grassroots level.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja, during the ongoing Technology and Innovation 2017 Expo, organised by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, she noted such support for young inventors will reduce the pressure on the naira.

Mrs. Ahmadu also called for the establishment of inventors’ institute of technology that will groom upcoming inventors, even as she advocated for the review of school curriculum to accommodate innovation both

at primary and secondary school levels.

“The organisers of 2016 Proudly Nigerian Expo are passionate about the growth and development of indigenous technology.

“Since last year, we have followed up progress reports of some of our exhibitors during the expo especially these young inventors. And if they are encouraged by relevant agencies of government to mass produce some of these toys, it will go a long

way to discourage importation of children’s toys and by extension reduce the pressure on the naira.

“Last year, we noticed that some of the toy cars exhibited were not mobile, but today we can see great improvement as the toys are being remote controlled by battery; with further encouragement from both public and private sector, these young inventors will go places,” she stated.

One of the young inventors who invented a toy aircraft,

Master Yahaya Hussani told our correspondent that he was inspired by flying objects, just as he lamented lack of support from relevant agencies of government.

Hussani who is an SS1student of Government Secondary School Karu revealed that with the right environment, the technology can be improved upon to compete favourably with global standard.

Recall that 2016 Proudly Nigerian Expo was organised to expose young inventors to modern technology.

world news

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, April 6, 2017

Page 22

international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com

Ecuador’s populist electoral victory for Moreno shows erosion of democracy After 10 years in power, Ecuadors President Rafael Correa will step down.

P

analysis

olitical power isn’t falling far from the tree. Correa’s hand-picked successor and former vice president, Lenin Moreno, has declared victory against liberal banker Guillermo Lasso. The election has calmed fears that Correa might attempt to cling to the office after he changed the constitution in 2015 to allow for his permanent reelection.

However, Moreno’s election lacks legitimacy for about half of the electorate amid allegations of electoral fraud. To make matters worse, he won in an unfair electoral field. Correa and his party, Alianza País, used their power as elected officials to campaign for Moreno.

State-controlled media blatantly favored Moreno. His party intimidated the opposition and even used thugs to attack Lasso.

They branded Lasso as a corrupt banker who would roll back social policies designed to reduce inequality and bring back the free-market past.

He was portrayed as an enemy of the common people, and as a representative of the Latin American right that aimed to reverse social policies that benefited the poor.

Correa constructed the election as a vote on the legacies of his administration, and more broadly on the sustainability of a political “left turn” in Latin America.

Other recent elections show evidence of a shift to the right in Latin American politics. For example, the election of President Mauricio Macri in Argentina, the transfer of power to Michel Temer in Brazil and the election of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in Peru.

Lasso was supported by rightand left-wing parties and some social movement leaders who were the victims of Correa’s administration.

For Lasso’s supporters, the contest was between Correa’s autocracy and the promise of the liberalization and democratization of Ecuador.

Rafael Correa’s populism Correa was first elected in 2006 after running against Ecuador’s political and economic establishment. To reverse privatization and shrinking of the state, he strengthened the state and used it to reduce poverty and inequality.

Rafael Correa campaigning at a political rally in Zumbahua, Ecuador in 2006.

Word Bank data show that the number of people living under the national poverty line in Ecuador was reduced from 37.6 percent in 2006 to 23.3 percent in 2015.

Alianza País wanted to rule until they achieved their long-term project of revamping all political institutions.

They wanted to transform the nation’s model of political and economic development from what they saw as a bourgeois democracy into a real democracy with equity and social justice. Correa claimed to be the leader of a “citizens’ revolution” tasked with bringing Ecuador to its second and definitive independence from foreign domination and anti-national elites.

Like Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and other populists, Correa saw the people as a homogeneous entity with one interest and will embodied under his leadership.

For example, after wining the 2009 election he asserted that “Ecuador voted for itself.” Correa believed he was the only voice of the people. He branded his rivals as enemies of the nation and his citizens’ revolution. Dissent even within his left-wing coalition was interpreted as treason, and Correa used discretion in enforcing laws to intimidate and repress independent social movements and his left-wing critics.

But Correa’s state-centered model of development fell into jeopardy. The price of oil, which accounts for 58 percent of Ecuador’s exports, collapsed. Ecuador developed a bloated bureaucracy and began overspending without saving for times of economic scarcity. He faced massive demonstrations against his intention to indefinitely remain in power. In 2016, Correa announced he would temporarily step down from politics, named Moreno as his successor and promised to come back in 2021.

The end of ‘correismo’?

Lenin Moreno will inherit institutions designed for autocratic control of the public sphere and civil society. His party controls the congress, the judiciary, the electoral council and all institutions of accountability like the comptroller and the ombudsman.

Correa took over media outlets and formed a state media emporium. He regulated and closed NGOs, and formed loyal social movements.

But Moreno lacks Correa’s charisma.

In my opinion, he will have difficulty controlling the different factions of Alianza País made up of left-wing activists, technocrats, businesspeople and traditional politicians. This is especially true since Correa might

actually encourage clashes within the coalition to set himself up as the ultimate deal maker. He might try to dictate to Moreno how to govern. Yet, it is uncertain that Moreno would become his puppet, and quite likely he would have his own agenda and ambitions that could clash with his mentor’s.

Moreno may also face an opposition emboldened by the tight race and allegations of electoral fraud. Perhaps he’ll follow the example of Venezuelan P res ident Nicolás M aduro, the handpicked successor to Hugo Chávez.

In the absence of Chavez’s charisma, Maduro has turned to an autocratic approach to silence critics. He has jailed members of the opposition and repressed protests. Venezuela is now in crisis.

Moreno will also confront increasing resistance to natural resource extraction from indigenous people, increasing protests against corruption and his election.

The Ecuadorian elections show the perils of populist succession. In order to win, Correa and Moreno used the state and the media, and packed cronies in the electoral council. Even though Moreno won, he lacks legitimacy. Accusations of fraud will haunt his administration.

Reuters

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Page 23

News From Africa

South Africa President Jacob Zuma survives impeachment

S

outh Africa’s embattled president has been backed by a major decision-making body within the ruling ANC. It was looking at a complaint by some of the ANC top executives that Jacob Zuma had failed to consult them over reshuffling his cabinet.

After considering the complaint, the ANC has decided not to press for Mr Zuma to resign, a party official said.

Mr Zuma has been under growing pressure since sacking respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

That led to South Africa’s credit rating being cut to junk status putting more pressure on a

troubled economy.

Mr Gordhan was dropped as part of a major cabinet reshuffle which left some in the ANC leadership questioning whether Mr Zuma should remain as president.

Key ANC allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the main trades union federation Cosatu, joined in the calls for him to go.

But the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), discussing the cabinet reshuffle, has given the president its backing.

It accepted that the dismissal came because of the “irretrievable breakdown” of Mr Gordhan’s relationship with the president, the ANC Secretary

General Gwede Mantashe told a news conference in Johannesburg.

Mr Mantashe praised new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, saying that he “is going to do a good job”.

Mr Zuma has been cleared by the NWC of the charge that he reshuffled the cabinet without consultation.

He is said to have briefed top ANC officials in December of his decision to dismiss Mr Gordhan, but the leaders persuaded him to delay the sacking.

The NWC is the ANC’s second most important decision-making body, the first being the party’s integrity committee.

It now remains to be seen how the integrity committee will proceed from this point, the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says.

What is significant with this situation is that it is the first time key ANC’s allies publicly turned on Mr Zuma, our correspondent adds.

At his press conference on Wednesday, Mr Mantashe lashed out at the SACP and Cosatu for speaking to the media about ANC’s internal affairs.

He accused the two allies of betraying the ANC’s confidence when they went public with disagreements over the reshuffle list.

DR Congo President Kabila warns against foreign meddling

T

he Democratic Republic of Congo will not tolerate any foreign interference in the country’s electoral process, President Joseph Kabila has said.

He told MPs in the capital, Kinshasa, that he will name an opposition prime minister within the next 48 hours to lead the country to the polls.

He has been under pressure to salvage a political deal after it collapsed last week, leaving the country on edge.

Critics said he delayed the elections on purpose to hang on to power.

Mr Kabila was supposed to step down after his second and final term came to an end last year but the vote to replace him was not held.

The electoral commission cited financial and logistical difficulties.

The failure to organise the polls led to a wave of deadly demonstrations by

opposition supporters, with calls from diplomats for the president to respect the constitution.

The Catholic Church stepped in to broker a deal right at the end of last year which outlined the creation of a transitional government that would

oversee the elections.

The deal collapsed because the government and the opposition were unable to agree on the power-sharing mechanism under the arrangement.

In response to calls by the Catholic bishops, Mr Kabila told MPs the polls

will go ahead as planned.

“I would like to solemnly announce to our people that the elections will be held. That those who are still in doubt we will stick to the electoral calendar,” Mr Kabila said.

“This process is the work of the

Congolese, financed by the Congolese people themselves, without any foreign interference,” he added.

Mr Kabila’s address came days after the UN Security council voted to downsize Monusco, its peacekeeping mission in the country.

More than 3,000 people have fled to neighbouring Uganda

A

South Sudanese rebel group, the National Salvation Front, has called for an investigation into what it says was the murder of innocent civilians by government troops in the small town of Pajok.

More than 3,000 people have fled into neighbouring Uganda, and the UN refugee body says many are visibly in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

Some of the refugees say their loved ones were shot dead as they tried to flee, or were arrested and then killed.

A South Sudanese army spokesman reportedly denied that his troops had attacked civilians, saying they had been fighting rebels in the area.

One refugee, who did not want to be named, told the BBC soldiers had arrived in Pajok on Sunday and began shooting people at random.

He said there had been beheadings, children had been attacked and looting had taken place.

Another refugee, 30-year-old farmer Password Okot, told Reuters how he lost two brothers.

Having fled the initial fighting, he crept back to his home in Ywayaa village on Pajok’s outskirts to collect his belongings.

There he saw government soldiers

grab his brother, 35-year-old mechanic Ayela Peter, from a crowd, tie his ankles, slit his throat and sling up his body in a doorway.

“When they saw them slaughtering my brother, people scattered and started running. When they were running, they shot my other brother,” Mr Okot said at the Ngoromoro border crossing.

SA court ‘ends ban on rhino horn sales’

S

outh Africa’s top court has dismissed an appeal by the department of environmental affairs to keep a moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn, according to court documents seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Pelham Jones, chairman of South Africa’s Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA) which was one of the respondents in the case, told

Reuters this meant that the sale of rhino horns was legal in South Africa.

A global ban in the horn trade, which is regulated by a UN convention, remains in place.

The PROA says that rhino horn can be obtained humanely from live animals and legalising the trade in rhino horns would mean more private ownership of rhinos, more funds for conservation

and less pressure on wild rhino populations.

Just last month poachers killed two rhinos during a vicious attack on an animal orphanage in South Africa.

Twelve white rhinos have also just left their native South Africa for a new life in a nearby country as part of an anti-poaching project.

The country saw a decline in the numbers of

rhinos killed for their prized horns in the first half of 2016, down to 702 from 796 the previous year.

However, the reduction came after several years of increases.

Poachers have even struck in Europe - killing a rhino at a zoo outside Paris before cutting off its horn.

Page 24

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, april 6, 2017

Asia&Middle-east

Trump says ‘heinous’ chemical weapons strike in Syria ‘cannot be tolerated’

P

resident Trump condemned the deadly chemical weapons strike in Syria in his strongest terms yet on Wednesday, saying the attack which he blames on the Assad regime “cannot be tolerated” – just minutes after his U.N. envoy hinted at the possibility of unilateral action.

The president, speaking at a joint press conference in the Rose Garden with Jordan’s visiting King Abdullah II, called the attack “horrific.”

He condemned the strike against “innocent people including women, small children and even beautiful little babies” and said “their deaths was an affront to humanity.”

“These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated,” Trump said.

“The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this horrific attack.”

Trump declined to specify what, exactly, he might do in response, but indicated his past resistance to intervention in the region could be softening – just days after reports that the administration was shifting U.S. focus away from trying to push Bashar Assad from power.

“My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much,” Trump said Wednesday, saying the latest attack “had a big impact on me.”

He again lamented the Obama administration’s “blank threat,” after it did not respond with military force the first time it accused the Assad regime of crossing a

Trump “red line” with chemical weapons.

Asked if the latest attack crossed such a line, Trump said: “It crossed a lot of lines for me … That crosses many, many lines,

beyond a red line.”

Abdullah, standing beside Trump after meetings at the White House, said the “threshold of inhumanity and savagery”

is being crossed every day and he fully supports Trump on the issue.

The two leaders met amid a host of international crises, the most pressing of which is the chemical attack in rebel-held northern Idlib that killed dozens of civilians Tuesday -- one of the worst attacks since the civil war began.

The White House says Assad’s government is responsible. But Russia says anti-Assad rebels are to blame. Russia’s military says the chemicals were dispersed when Syrian warplanes bombed a facility where rebels were building chemical weapons.

At the United Nations, Trump’s envoy threatened unilateral U.S. action if the world body failed to act.

“When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action,” declared Ambassador Nikki Haley. She addressed an emergency meeting of the Security Council, which was weighing a resolution condemning chemical weapons use in Syria.

Russia, which has veto power, is opposed.

Officials say Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will discuss Syria with Russian leaders next week when he visits Moscow.

It’s the first announced visit by a top U.S. official to Russia since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

North Korean missile fired ahead of US-China summit

N

orth Korea has test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile from its eastern port of Sinpo into the Sea of Japan.

South Korea’s defence ministry said the missile flew about 60km (40 miles).

It is the latest in a series of tests which the North has been conducting in pursuit of its goal of developing a nuclear missile.

The launch comes on the eve of a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping to the US to meet President Donald Trump.

The two will discuss how to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes as the US steps up the pressure on China, a historic ally of Pyongyang, to help more on the issue.

Mr Trump said in a recent interview that Washington was ready to act without Beijing’s cooperation: “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”

The North is banned from any missile or nuclear tests by the UN, though it has repeatedly broken those sanctions.

“The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America,” it said.

Last week, the US Treasury slapped sanctions on 11 North Korean business representatives and one

North Korea has repeatedly carried out missile tests in recent months company.

On Tuesday US politicians overwhelmingly backed a bill relisting the North as a state sponsor of terror.

North Korea responded by warning that it will retaliate if the international community steps up sanctions, saying the US was forcing the situation “to the brink

of war”.

China has long been North Korea’s closest diplomatic ally and trading partner, but the relationship has become increasingly strained over Pyongyang’s refusal to halt nuclear and missile testing.

There are fears that Pyongyang could eventually develop the ability to launch long-range nuclear

missiles capable of striking the mainland US. In the interview to the FT, Mr Trump added: “China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t.

And if they do that will be very good for China, and if they don’t it won’t be good for anyone.”

PAGE 25

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

Environment

By Mashe Gwamna

IPCC outlines two new reports for human activities on climate change

T

he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has outlines two new reports that will help governments in understanding the impact of climate change on human activities, nature, land and sea and how human activity in these areas is affecting climate change.

The agreement took place at the 45th Session of the IPCC, held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from March 28 to 31, 2017.

The Panel approved the outlines of the “Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate”, and “Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems”, both to be finalised in September

2019.

The decision on the outlines, or tables of contents, which had been drafted by scoping meetings in December and February, clears the way for the IPCC to launch the call for nominations for authors for both reports in early April.

The IPCC Vice-Chair, Ko Barrett, who chaired the scientific steering committee for the scoping meeting that, drafted the outline of the Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate said the outcome combines the best scientific expertise available along with policymakers’ requirements to help advance our knowledge of how climate change affects the oceans and cryosphere. The IPCC looks forward to working with experts from around the world on this important topic that impacts

billions of people, from the high mountains and Polar Regions to the coasts.

The cryosphere – from the Greek kryos meaning cold or ice – is a word to collectively designate the areas of the Earth where water is found in its solid state. This includes ice sheets, frozen lakes and rivers, regions covered by snow, glaciers, and frozen soil.

“This report will address some of the key issues that countries are grappling with in responding to climate change: how to sustain the ability of our land resources to sustain our societies in the face of a changing climate, and how emissions from the land sector can be reduced without jeopardising other development goals,” said IPCC Vice-Chair Youba Sokona, who chaired the scientific steering committee for the scoping meeting

that drafted the outline of the Climate Change and Land.

“The report will look in detail at desertification, land degradation and food security, but will also assess options for integrated responses that support sustainable development and respond effectively to climate change,” he added.

IPCC is the world body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly, to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

Gov .Bello wants field office for NESREA in Kogi

T

he Executive Governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello, said he wants a field office of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in the state with a view of creating a “safe and secured” environment .

The Governor stated this when he received in audience the Director-General/ Chief Executive Officer of NESREA, Dr Lawrence Chidi Anukam during a courtesy call on Tuesday, at his office in Lokoja.

The Governor Bello who noted that his government is “environmentally friendly” emphasised the non-implementation of the original Master-Plan of the State, leading land speculators to embark on unnecessary defacement of the environment.

According to a statement signed by Chief Press Secretary Sule Oyofo said the Governor expressed disappointment with the noticeable deficit in infrastructure and revealed that machineries were now in place to correct the anomalies in the State.

The Governor further disclosed that he was ready to move KogiState forward by ensuring their physical presence in the State to check the menace of bad environmental practices.

Responding, Dr Lawrence Anukam pointed out that he was glad to note that Kogi State’s passionate interest in protective environment was in tune with promoting good environmental governance and ensuring sustainable development.

Dr Anukam emphasized that Federal presence in the State would enhance effective environmental compliance and monitoring as Kogi represents a nexus for oil pipelines and tanker drivers.

“Only constant awareness creation and education can help to put preventive measures in place and secure the environment”, he declared.

The Director-General was in Kogi State along with some of his Management Staff and Officials of the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA) led by their Director-General, Sir Peter Idabor. Also in attendance were Hon. Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, Kogi State Commissioner for Environment, and theSecretary to the State Government, Dr (Mrs.) Ayoade Folashade, Head of Service and other Cabinet Members.

Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Dr. Godwin Ojo (left); with the ERA/FoEN Head of Media, Philip Jakpor, at the media briefing

Ogoniland clean-up yet to commence, five years after UNEP report

O

ver five years after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recommended that Ogoniland in SouthSouth Nigeria should be cleaned of the last drop of spilled oil, not a single drop has been removed from the beleaguered community.

Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/ FoEN), Dr. Godwin Ojo, disclosed this at a press briefing on the issue on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Lagos.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland in August, 2011. The report, delivered to the Federal Government, recommends to the government, the oil and gas industry, and communities to begin a comprehensive clean-up of Ogoniland, restore polluted environments and put an end to all forms of oil contamination in the region.

The clean-up is expected to last 30 years, from 2011. Initial $1 billion was to be released by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for the project.

However, no verifiable effort was made in that line until 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari promised to start the implementation of the UNEP report.

“It took exactly five years after the report was submitted to the Federal Government before acceptance of responsibility by Shell Oil Company and the Federal Government. With pressure from civil society groups, the cleanup exercise proper was flagged-off in 2016 in

Bodo City, Rivers State, by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

“The expectation that greeted that ceremony, which had the Ogoni people and hundreds of civil society groups in support, has however dimmed barely a year after, as the promised clean-up exercise is still bogged down in bureaucracy and controversies. The plan for the clean-up is still shrouded in secrecy and has not been formally subjected to public scrutiny.”

ERA added that, even with the inauguration of the Governing Council to provide for an institutional framework to drive the process, no verifiable progress has been made as, according to the organisation, “not a drop of oil has been cleaned from Ogoni”.

Again, ERA fears that “Shell is bound to compromise the process, if it continues to be a member of the Governing Council with oversight functions for the clean-up of its own mess”.

While these go on, the environment and people of Ogoni are at the receiving end. They suffer impoverishment and misery, says the activist.

In November 1995, Kenule Saro Wiwa and eight other members of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), who were fighting against the degradation of Ogoniland, paid the supreme price, when the military government led by General Sani Abacha took them to the gallows. Even till date, people of the area drink benzene-polluted water and farm on hydrocarbon-soaked soil, according to Ojo. To “add insult to injury”, he adds, “the

pre-clean-up emergency relief measures recommended by UNEP such as access to clean water, rather than the benzene-polluted water sources they rely on, has not been addressed.

Similarly, healthcare delivery and compensation for lost livelihoods continue to suffer neglect and inaction. Poverty is rife in Ogoni and the life expectancy of the people (reportedly put at 41 years) now considered the shortest in Nigeria.”

ERA said that as the clean-up remains in limbo, damning disclosures of wilful exposure of oil-producing communities to hazards continue to mount against Shell which, says the group, “continues to operate with impunity in the Niger Delta”.

“The most recent is from Kay Holtzman, a leading oil spill expert previously employed by Shell Nigeria. Holtzman revealed that Shell tried to conceal data on the potential health effects of its oil spills on Bodo community. Shell had lied to the court in the Bodo versus Shell case held in London and had no option than to withdraw the case for an out-of-court settlement for $83 million,” Ojo said.

ERA’s demands In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government and relevant agencies are mandated to, among others: • Draw up and publish firm timelines through a participatory and transparent process, and publicise the step-by-step of the planned implementation of the clean-up process in conjunction with all interested parties.

• Abrogate or amend the HYPREP

(Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project) gazette to provide the legal backing to the clean-up process. To this end, (they should) establish the Ogoni Environmental Restoration Authority as a means of empowering the Ogoni as recommended by the UNEP report.

• Commence emergency relief measures and ensure the clean-up process is comprehensive, including environmental remediation such as biodiversity restoration, and compensation for loss of livelihoods.

• Set up a new structure called Technical Partners Unit headed by UNEP and other interested institutions with expertise in complex multi-disciplinary clean-up process.

• Empower NOSRA (National Oil Spill Environmental Agency) that currently lacks the capacity to detect spills, to be able to conduct proper clean-up process, or monitor clean-up independently through the joint investigation visits currently dominated by the oil companies.

• While the UNEP report had recommended a $1 billion initial restoration fund for Ogoni, ERA/FoEN recommends $100 billion clean-up and restoration fund to cover the entire Niger Delta. This will pave way for conflict resolution in the Niger Delta.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

PAGE 26

feature

Tomorrow’s Cities: A day in the life of a smart slum Cities need new ways to create energy and cut down on waste, and some of the most innovative - and lowtech - solutions may well be found in the parts of town the city authorities are least likely to talk about.

The new pitch has delighted local children, although they now are trying to source more boots

W

hile some bemoan crowded commutes, for slum-dwellers it is access to basic services such as running water or electricity that is the real issue.

And where there is need, there is often innovation.

So can the technology being rolled out in the world’s most deprived urban areas offer not just hope for those who live there but also lessons for the richer parts of the city?

Night football Image copyrightPAVEGEN Image caption The new pitch has delighted local children, although they now are trying to source more boots In Brazil, just 0.02% of electricity is supplied by solar energy, despite a plentiful supply of Sun. But in some of Rio’s most deprived favelas, that is changing and solar is proving to be a cheap, clean alternative to traditional electricity.

Football is hugely important in Brazil, and all of its famous favelas have makeshift pitches full of children playing the beautiful game.

For most, the match ends when the Sun goes down, but in the Morro da Mineira favela, in Rio de Janeiro, play can continue long into the night, thanks to lights powered by the players themselves.

The six LED floodlights surrounding the field are powered by 200 kinetic tiles buried under the Astroturf, which capture the energy generated by the players’ footsteps.

As players put weight on the tiles beneath the pitch, it causes electricmagnetic induction generators to kick in and generate electricity.

Pavegen is a clean energy company founded by UK entrepreneur Laurence Kemball-Cook.

“We changed the way a whole community looks at energy and science.

We ended up inspiring a whole favela of children who saw that the power of sport could turn the lights on,” he told the BBC Those children spoke about how it had changed their lives.

Luis Guilherme, 13, said that the lit pitch made him feel like “a professional football player”.

“The project is really nice because, now, the field is wonderful. There aren’t holes anymore, so I can play without hurting myself. I’m very glad because I have a nice place to play with my friends.”

His friend, Lucas Catro de Almeida, said: “The new pitch is nice and beautiful.

I love soccer, so I can say that the project changed my life.”

And Matheus de Souza Claudino, 15, said: “The pitch really changed my life.

Soccer is my favourite sport, and before the works of repair, there were many holes in the field and we used to hurt all the time. Now, it’s really a nice place to play.”

But a new pitch, even one with floodlights, brings new problems.

Luis said: “We can only play if we are wearing boots, so sometimes my cousin lends me his pair.”

Lucas too relies on “someone to lend me boots to play”.

Korogocho, the fourth largest slum in the capital, Nairobi, has just become one of 50 locations in Kenya to benefit from solar lighting powered by gravity.

GravityLight offers a clean, safe, affordable and reliable alternative to other fuel sources, including kerosene lamps, which are used in homes by millions of families in Africa.

The low-carbon innovation does not need batteries or sunlight and costs nothing to run.

It works by connecting an elevated bag filled with 12kg (1st 12lb) of rocks or sand to a pulley system.

“

Each time the weight descends to the ground, it powers a generator to create 20 minutes of light.

It takes three seconds to lift, for 30 minutes of light.

“The money saved from not buying paraffin, I use for tuition for one of my children,” said Asha.

It is estimated that buying kerosene costs between 10% and 20% of the income of the very poor, and a single lamp burning for four hours a day can emit 100kg of carbon dioxide per year.

The next step for GravityLight will be to test an assembly line in Kenya to manufacture its product and work with local distribution networks and communities to create jobs.

GravityLight, like Pavegen, is one of seven green energy ideas being supported by oil giant Shell.

Shell Kenya country chairman Brian Muriuki said. “Across Kenya, 77% of people are living without access to electricity.

“Bringing GravityLight technology to the country shows how collaboration and smart thinking really is the key to providing the most basic of human rights, while enabling people to prosper and progress.”

Recycling hub Urban planners are increasingly considering high-tech solutions to deal with increasing amounts of rubbish with some investing in vast underground systems for clearing waste and others turning to smart bins that can inform the

GravityLight offers a clean, safe, affordable and reliable alternative to other fuel sources, including kerosene lamps, which are used in homes by millions of families in Africa.

The low-carbon innovation does not need batteries or sunlight and costs nothing to run.

refuse collection service when they are full.

Meanwhile, a slum in Mumbai is getting on and solving the problem for the whole city.

Among the dark alleyways of Dharavi are an estimated 15,000 single-room factories, employing about a quarter of a million people and turning over an estimated $1bn (£0.8bn) each year. All busy recycling.

Mumbai generates more than 7,000 tonnes of waste each day, which the slumdwellers - known as rag-pickers - sell to scrap dealers who process it and sell it on to be recycled or used directly by industry.

In Dharavi’s 13th compound, over 80% of Mumbai’s waste is given a new lease of life.

One environmental group described Dharavi as “the green lung stopping Mumbai choking to death on its own waste”.

About a third of India’s 1.2 billion people live in cities, with numbers growing every year as migrants leave their villages in search of a better standard of living in urban areas. is impossible to say how many end up in slums but it is many, many millions.

Their future is by no means certain as the Indian government pledges to create 100 smart cities, with little thought for its poorest communities.

Much of the money for the smart cities initiative is going to small, often wealthy, regions in cities, according to Bhanu Joshi, a research associate at New Delhi think tank The Centre for Policy Research.

“The problem with the smart city spiel is it is seen as having to be modern and create a certain template for cities, which removes you from acknowledging the real texture of city life,” he told the BBC. “The talk of world class cities leaves the informal settlements, the waste collectors, the cleaners out.

“They become invisible, and the fact that they are important to the economy is not acknowledged.”

Source: BBC

PEOPLES DAILY

Sports

thursday, April 6, 2017

Page

27

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

FG to equip 2018 commonwealth athletes

Athletes

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari has promised to support the 2018 Commonwealth Games bound athletes with adequate resources for training and participation in Gold Coast, Australia.

The President made the remark at the National Stadium Surulere Lagos where he received the Queen’s Baton Relay team.

Speaking on the occasion,

President Buhari who was represented by the Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung expressed gratitude that such event has provided a unique opportunity for Nigeria to share in the excitement of the Commonwealth Games.

The President added that Nigeria will be represented by a compact team which will be adequately prepared to do better than its previous outings.

“Our plan is to send a compact

team of Athletes to the 2018 Games with the hope of surpassing our outing at the previous Games in terms of medals. Government will not renege in its role of ensuring that the athletes are equipped with adequate resources for training and participation in the competition. I, therefore, urge our sportsmen and women, coaches and other officials to intensify preparations for the Games so as to guarantee victory at

the competition “.

Earlier, the leader of the Queen’s Baton Relay team Sam Gideon thanked the federal government and the good people of Nigeria for their warm hospitality and urged the federal government to do all it can to prepare the athletes ahead of the games.

The countdown to 100 days to the commencement of the Commonwealth Games begins yesterday.

Eagles: local players need patience to excel - Garba Manchester United escape defeat as Ndidi wins again

Page 28

By Albert Akota

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

Page 28

Sport Olympic gold medal means more than Barcelona titles - Messi

Eagles: local players need patience to excel - Garba

B

arcelona superstar Lionel Messi values his Olympic gold medal more than his club titles and insists he pays no attention to any criticism his performances for Argentina receive.

Messi has enjoyed a glittering domestic career at Camp Nou, but has failed to replicate that success with the national team.

The prolific forward won Olympic gold in 2008; however, Argentina fell short in the final of the 2014 World Cup and was also runners-up in the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas, the latter defeat seeing him briefly retire from international football.

Messi has often been the subject of criticism for Argentina’s failures and the 29-year-old came in for more scrutiny after receiving a four-match ban for verbally abusing an assistant referee during a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Chile last month.

Messi

G

ombe United technical adviser, Manu Garba has called on stars in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) to be patient as they will get a chance to prove their worth in the Super Eagles.

Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has concentrated on predominantly overseas-based talent following his appointment as Nigeria national team helmsman in August 2016.

Many have made a case for NPFL top scorer, Stephen Odey and several others to be given a chance to strut their stuff in the national team and Garba believes they will get their chance sooner rather than later.

“Apart from Stephen Odeh, there are also other good players like (Rivers United right back), Ifeanyi Nweke doing well in the league,” Garba said.

“There are so many good players in the NPFL and in the near future, I think these boys need to be given (a chance to play for the Super Eagles).

“There is (Super Eagles

assistant coach), Salisu Yusuf in the technical crew and he is the one that is supposed to recommend the players to Rohr,” he said.

Garba has earned his stripes as a trainer with an eye for unheralded talent.

He famously coached current Super Eagles and English Premier League stars, Success Isaac and

Manu Garba Kelechi Iheanacho at U7 and U20 levels.

The widely-respected trainer is certain domestically-based stars should not be viewed as good enough only for Nigeria’s squad for the African Nations Championship

(Chan).

“I believe that in the near future, the local boys are going to be there.

“They should be invited only to play with the Chan squad; they need to be invited to the main team to contest for positions too,” he concluded

Manchester United escape defeat as Ndidi wins again

M

anchester United narrowly escaped a home defeat in the English Premier League as they had to rely on a late penalty to secure a 1-1 draw against Everton.

Everton, who were thrashed in their last outing which was the derby game against Liverpool, came determined to the Old Trafford.

Phil Jagielka gave the visitors the lead in the 22nd minute and they were looking good to cause an upset before Toffees centre-back, Ashley Williams, saw red for handling inside the Everton box in secondhalf stoppage time.

Ibrahimovic stepped forward for the penalty kick and did justice to it, thus stretching Man United’s unbeaten league run to 20 matches.

At the King Power Stadium, the fine run by Wilfred Ndidi and his Leicester City teammates continued as they secured their fifth successive win in the Premier League, beating relegation haunted Sunderland 2-0.

There was something to celebrate for another Nigerian, Isaac Success, who came in for Watford in the latter stages of their 2-0 win over West Brom.

Man. U managed to secure a 1-1 against Everton.

Page 29

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

Sport

Beware of Sa’adatu FC of Niger, coach Ladan tells NWFL clubs

By Amaechi Agbo

N

ewly promoted private club, side to the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Sa’adatu Football Club of Niger State has vowed to take the NWFL by storm.

Speaking in an interview, the coach of the side, Ibrahim Yahaya Ladan said his girls are going into the league to make name and also made the state proud.

The gaffer who said that his team is the only female club from the state to play both in the Pro-League and the Premier league, noted that finance and lack of government support have been the major challenges his lads are facing.

What are your expectations for the female league?

So far so good, my team is ready for the league. We are a newly promoted team.

We just got promoted from the Nigeria Proleague last year into the Nigeria Women Football League, NWFL, We are hoping to do our best despite the challenges What are the Hurdles you encountered in ProLeague?

We had a lot of challenges on the road to the NWFL because there are two teams in the league; we are privately owned teams and the government club, the private teams, like ours, are run and managed by private individuals.

It has not been easy for us financially because travelling for matches and getting accommodation for players is a heavy task.

Also, we faced challenges with officiating but I thanked God I was able to breakthrough to the NWFL. We are hoping to see a brand new league which the administration of Aisha Falode can offer because we can see she is laying a very good

foundation.

What assurance are you giving to Niger State despite the challenges the club is facing?

For the very first time in the history of Niger State, we are the first female club to play in the Nigerian Women Football League. So I keep history because as far Niger State is concerned, they have never had a female team that has played in the premier league before or even played in the Nigeria Proleague.

I am the first and that has drawn attention of the people today.

Due to my promotion to the league, many people are picking interest now even the state government is interesting to come in.

I am giving the people of Niger State assurance that we are going to make them proud. We are going to take the name of the state very high in the NWFL. Some football stakeholders have seen NWFL as nest for National team, what is your take on this?

We are in the league to support our country, to lift the name of the country high. We are also there to produce quality players for the country.

I want to tell Nigerians that we the club owners in various leagues in the country – Pro-league, amateur or premier league have to ensure that we produce more quality legs for the country especially in the cadet teams.

What efforts have you put to reinforce your team?

Sofar, I have signed some players and I have added them to the team. I have prepared them very well, for the league, I have registered 22 players for now and I am hoping to keep 28 in the tournament.

What are you

support receiving

from the state government?

I have not been receiving support from my state government.

This is the first time the government is trying to do something for the club.

I don’t know whether it is because we are now in the premier league that is why they are coming in but all the same, some good Samaritans in the state have been there for us.

They have been given us the best but for the state government, this is the first time it is coming in to support or identify with us and we pray we have a good relationship with them.

What is your advice to private club owners who wish to be where you are today?

My message to them is that they have to be patient because I did not start it one day and I did not get there easily.

They should also be straightforward with their players because the problems we are having with the Nigerian Women Football management is that sometimes the coaches, mangers or club owners are not straightforward with their players.

For me, I have good discussions with my players and I open up to them, tell them what I can do and what I cannot do so that they would know what they are expecting or not expecting from me.

Other clubs do not do that; they hide things from their players and try to treat them the way they ought not to be treated.

Football is a business because you use them to play and make name, you have to treat them well. For me, I am advising my fellow private club owners to be loyal and straightforward, let us encourage these girls because we are picking them off the street and we should do what is right to them so that they can excel.

Captain of Sa’adatu FC

Page 30

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, april 6, 2017

Page 31

Leisure

Some Interesting Facts 11.

General Johnson Thomas UmurakweAguiyi-Ironsi on 24 May 1966, with Decree No. 34, dissolved Nigeria’s regions, creating provinces. He unified Regional Public Services under a single Commission. Riots were provoked in Kano and mutiny in Abeokuta; eventually there was a coup.

12. In 1967 Gowon split the four regions into 12 states.

13. Gowon’s Decree No. 8 of 1967 after the Aburi conference restored Nigeria as a confederacy.

14. Late President MurtalaMuhammed’s dad, Pam AzatusIyok was from Dogon-Gaba,

Say what?

near Vom in Plateau state, Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Pam became a Muslim and married Ramat from Kano. MurtalaMuhammed’s wife, HafsatAjoke was a Yoruba lady.

15. Ex- President Yakubu Gowon from Jos state (Middle Belt) is a Christian. General Obasanjo was his Army chief who helped him defeat the Biafra attempted secession from 1967-1970.

16. Nigeria has been ruled for 30 years by Christians (25 years if Azikiwe is excluded).

17. MujahidAsariDokubo, the leader of the southern Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the most vocal enemy of the north, is a Muslim.

18. Nigeria is not roughly divided between a Muslim north and a Christian South. The far north, east and far south do have concentrations, but the rest of the nation defies such demarcations.

19. In the Southwest, Osun, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo have a higher population of Muslims than Christians according to counts. Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau in the north have Christian majorities.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

By any means necessary Cont. from page 32

during the Afro-American struggle for civil rights in the deeply racial democracy of the 50s and 60s in the United States. It is as ideologically relevant as Shakespeare’s “ten to one” which he says “is no impeach of valor’. By any means necessary is not encumbered by the rigors of law because “amidst the rumblings of arms” as one of the maxims of law posits, “laws must necessarily silent’ (silent legis inter arma’). Malcolm X did not believe in ‘sit-down action’. He believed that all revolutions are bloody, violent.

All oppressors are the same. They kill in disregard of the law; but they insist that the oppressed must exhaust the rigors of the law.

They hate the oppressed, but they preach the virtue of the oppressed ‘loving’ his enemies. Let the oppressed love his enemies, no problem.

But let him be alive to do so.

By any means necessary, let him be alive.

Re-‘WHAT TO DO WITH SARAKI NASS’ +2348062887535:- Wonderful piece of the week. Your pen will not dry in Jesus name. Amen –Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia

+2348030508667:- “Salaam Mohammed. The legislators behave the way they do because, as you rightly said, ‘they do not feel obligated to respect the will of those who elected them’; and that is because we ACTUALLY did NOT have much say in their being elected” -Tafida Online:- “I am foreseeing a situation that the people will do the needful if things should continue to move the way the way they are going in the National Assembly” –Nasir Rabiu Online:- “At which seminar did you deliver this prodictatorship paper, Moammed?” –Bolaji Adebiyi Online:- “This highly incisive, well researched and articulately presented wake-up call in all intents and purposes is not a campaign for enthronement of dictatorship or disorder.

It only seeks to sensitize all Nigerians of good conscience to mobilize for peaceful positive action to check ruinous legislative excesses, impunity, greed and arrogance” –Balarabe Nazeephy Online:- “Ultimately, the tipping point will be reached. If, for whatever reasons, good and not-too-good me decidedly rise above principles and elect to swing, perchance we may yet abort what appears to be a rollercoaster to legislative dictatorship.

For now, the existence of what could easily pass for balance of terror between the executive and legislative arms is welcome, as it provides ample time for the people to organize and lay in wait for the next bold step, an increasingly inebriated legislature. It’s truly about time for all to get their back off the wall. May the ink in your pen never dry” –Abdulrazaq Magaji.

Online:- “Good write up, keep it up Sir. Allah ya saka da alkhairi. We are proud of you” –Mujitaba Ibrahim Online:- “Keep us posted should you be SERMONED over the weekend. In the meantime, just note that I read the piece more than thrice” –Kabir Isa Re-‘BUHARI’S POOR GAME’ +2348066677668:- “My friend, your masterpiece on ‘Buhari’s Poor Game’ is articulate and educative; it is a political and democratic enlightenment of the human mind, of salient points about the democratic process and procedure hitherto forgotten in the Presidency, with its belated suffering and regret! Please let your pen-like sword not pity and shy away from the President’s deficit spending. Thank you. Thank you” –Rev(Dr.) Lawrence S Okwori, B/S

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

thursday, april FEBRUARY 6, 2017 16, 2017

SPORTS latest

Kogi United appoints Abdulrahman as coach Nigeria National League (NNL) outfit, Kogi United, have hired Tunde Abdulrahman to take charge as their head coach for the remainder of this season.

The 58-year-old replaces Ishaya Jatau who was relieved of his post after losing the club’s opening game in the second tier to FC Zamfara.

Kogi United chairman Abdul Sule explained why they appointed Abdulrahman as their head coach in place of Jatau.

He also believes that Abdulrahman has an impressive record of helping clubs win promotion to the top divisions in the past and now expects that he would bring his experience to bear at the Lokoja club.

Abdulrahman made his target clear by stating that he wants to lead Kogi United to win promotion to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

“I’m happy to be here, it’s a great opportunity. We don’t have time to delay, we know our aim and target is to go to NPFL. It’s overdue for us to be in the NPFL. Let my coming be plus for your aspirations.

The former Wikki Tourists and Niger Tornadoes man will take charge of his first game when Kogi United play hosts to Jigawa Golden Stars this Saturday.

Taye Taiwo and Oduamadi

Advert: business: news: lagos:

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“While “It willitbeis extremely generally admitted difficult to that attract as a nation good and our development competent men and growth and women has stagnated to the bench, as a and result oftothe make menace themofindependent corruption, itwhen is also the telling salaries that and the allowances fight againstofcorruption judges arehas notbeen regularly painstakand ingly cumbersome punctually because paid.” of the inadequacies in —Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, in some of our core anti-corruption laws.” an open letter sent to PresidentAbubakar Muhammadu Buhari —Senate President, Bukola Saraki

By any means necessary “When the moment comes either the Cortes (Spanish legislature) will submit or we shall make it disappear.”

- Jose Maria Gil Robles’, Spanish politician.

THURSDAY Column WITH

T

he right of Nigerians to picket or to occupy the National Assembly may be legitimate, founded either in constitutional or human rights law -or in both. But the right of the people, forcefully to evict members of the National Assembly, or even to shut and to abolish for good that arm of government or any part thereof, is a revolutionary one and it is exercisable by the people without regard to existing laws which, by the way are laws the people themselves had made -or permitted to be made to govern their affairs. Gradually the capacity of Nigerians to harness their pockets of individual discontent into a hot bowl of collective majoritarian anger is gradually gathering the necessary democratic momentum.

For too long we have maintained a reputation only for mouthing revolutionary hogwash. The “right to revolt”, said U.S jurist William Orville Douglas “has sources deep in our history.” But we have a poor history for the demonstration of collective anger against the excesses of our usually wicked political leaders.

We are now –like in the case of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt- in the throes of two possible revolutions: “one demanding that we should unite together, love one another and strain every nerve to reach our goal; the other forces us...to disperse and give way to hatred, everyone thinking of himself.” If we could, we should long have been stealthily about town, singing and swinging. Even in what should, demonstrably, have been a hot bed of partisan disunity, -namely the National Assembly- our lawmakers have managed to forge a unity of mutually-shared fate in the very roguery that binds them. But we are still entrenched in our diverse geopolitical and ethno-religious trenches hauling obscenities at each other and still pretending to shout ‘aluta continua’ and ‘we shall overcome’! We should be realistic enough to add ‘or be overcome!’

Those who should be angry and tearing down fences, are the ones who are preaching law and the due process of law. Yet those who steal our patrimony have not the littlest scruple subverting the law. In truth ‘singing’ and ‘swinging’ in a democracy, are not the enemies of law or of the due process of law. Said Jean Paul Marat, the 17th century French revolutionary

0806 564 8620 0704 385 9705 0814 292 9046 08074420617

Mohammed Adamu (08035892325 sms only)

dankande2@gmail.com “It is through violence that one must achieve liberty”; and that sometimes “a temporary despotism of liberty” may be necessary “to crush the despotism of kings.”

In my last week’s piece titled ‘What To Do With Saraki NASS’, I quoted one of America’s former presidents, Abraham Lincoln at his first inaugural where, in underscoring both the ‘constitutional’ and the ‘revolutionary’ rights of the people in a democracy, he announced radically that: “this country, with its institutions, belong to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, OR THEIR REVOLUTIONARY RIGHT TO DISMEMBER OR OVERTHROW IT”. (emphasis mine).

Constitutional provisions abound by which the people, through their elected representatives at the legislature, can remove their presidents either by impeachment or by some other laid down constitutional procedures. Plus the people also have a constitutional right to periodic elections at which they can freely and willfully elect, reelect or remove their governments. All these and more are democratic ends which are regulated by the Constitution and which can only be legitimated by adhering strictly to the due process stipulated by the Constitution. Thus ‘constitutional powers’ are regulated, limited powers; as are the very ‘rights’ inherent in them, regulated and derogate-able.

But from Lincoln’s inaugural outburst it is clear that there is another species of ‘peoples power’ which is contradistinctive with constitutional power, and which because it is not legitimated by the Constitution, it cannot therefore be in conflict with; -and that is the ‘revolutionary right’

“

to act even extra-constitutionally in resolving any democratic state of affairs. Lincoln was suggesting –and rightly so- that beside the popular ‘constitutional right’ available to the people, whenever they are dissatisfied with their governments or any part thereof, to amend it, there is also an unwritten species of ‘right’ –namely a ‘revolutionary power’-, equally available to them, whenever they so desire, to overturn the whole damn system or any part of it, and in fact in its place to establish entirely another.

The ‘revolutionary power’ of the people in a constitutional democracy cannot answer to the Constitution since it is an unwritten power that ante-dates and is thus superior to the Constitution itself. It is pristine and transcendental. The people did not give to themselves their revolutionary power like they did their Constitution and other laws.

The revolutionary power of the people is a natural right deriving from natural law itself. This extralegal -or should we say ‘extraconstitutional’ power?- is available to the people only when they have been moved to collective anger; and by which time it is strictly their prerogative to remain bound by the constitutional remedies that they gave to themselves, or to repudiate the entire document and to upturn everything that a priori they had willfully and collectively legitimated into existence.

Nor can the Constitution therefore contain the due process by which the revolutionary temperament of the people should be expressed. The people may choose to sing ‘we shall overcome’ or they may choose to go swinging in order to overcome. It is ultra vires the Constitution to purport to set the

The tragedy of the working class is the poverty of their desire; I have no apologies” he said “for inciting the poor to live less Spartan lives”

terms for the expression of peoples’ revolutionary anger; the same way that scientific man cannot set the terms for the behavior of destructive natural phenomena (tsunami in my mind). At the peak of its destructive or reformative anger, the revolutionary power of the people in a democracy, like the tsunami, can only be allowed to wear itself out. It is thus equally ultra vires any ‘public opinion’, no matter how enlightened it may be, to seek to regulate the conduct of peoples’ revolutionary anger by citing mere constitutional and statutory laws which essentially are inferior to the revolutionary right of the people –to be angry when moved to anger; and to ‘explode’ when they are ‘ignited’.

It is like the logic of Shylock in Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’, and by which the Jew justifies taking his pound of flesh. He says something to the effect; ‘if you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? And if you offend us do we not therefore have recourse to anger?’ The people have a right not only to anger when they are willfully and brazenly offended, but they equally have a right to the demonstration of that anger. A certain British labor leader was the one who said “The tragedy of the working class is the poverty of their desire; I have no apologies” he said “for inciting the poor to live less Spartan lives”. Said Antonio Maceo, the Cuban soldier-revolutionary “Liberty is won with the edge of the machete: it is not asked for. To beg for rights is the domain of cowards”.

POSTSCRIPT By any means necessary, was Malcolm X’s rallying call to arm Cont. on page 31

DAN GAYE Kaduna refinery loses N2bn annually to vandalism - News

Then what you are doing about it?

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141