Thursday, January 7, 2016. Edition.

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Thursday, January 7, 2016/ Rabi’ul Awwal 26, 1437 AH

No apology on Zaria clash with Shi’ite- Army pAGE 6

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Expect new US pledges increased electricity tariff Feb investment in 1- NERC Nigeria pAGE 19

IMF to Nigeria...

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Vol. 21 No. 88 N150

FG orders audit of revenue agencies

>> pg 3

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Oil subsidy should go Recommends tough decisions on economy

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GOC, 1Div. Nigeria Army, Major-General Adeniyi Oyebade (right), inspecting some weapons allegedly seized from Members of the Islamic Movement (Shi’ite), yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

633 Days after

Will the abducted Chibok schoolgirls ever be rescued?

EFCC closes-in on more top politicians, businessmen page 2

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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News CONTENTS News 2-10 Editorial 11 Op.Ed 12 Letters 13 Politics 15-18 Business Stockwatch S/Report

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Feature

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IMF to Nigeria:

Oil subsidy should go

By Ali Abare Abubakar and Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, yesterday told the federal government to remove oil subsidy, just as she called for hard decisions to be taken by the government to revive the economy of the country.

“Indeed, fuel subsidies are hard to defend. Not only do they harm the planet, but they rarely help the poor. IMF research shows that more than 40 per cent of fuel price subsidies in developing countries accrue to the richest 20 per cent of households, while only 7 per cent of the benefits go to the poorest 20 per cent.

“Moreover, the experience here in Nigeria of administering fuel subsidies suggests that it is time for a change—think of the regular accusations of

corruption, and think of the many Nigerians who spend hours in queues trying to get gas so that they can go about their everyday business”, Lagarde said when she visited the Senate leadership.

While advocating for strict economic measures to revive the economy, she said “I see an immediate priority - a fundamental change in the way government operates.

This means that hard decisions will need to be taken on revenue, expenditure, debt, and investment going forward. Act with resolve—by stepping up revenue mobilization.

“The first step is to broaden the tax base and reduce leakages by improving compliance and enhancing collection efficiency.

At the same time, public finances can be bolstered further to meet the huge expenditure needs. For example, the current VAT rate is among the lowest in the world and well below the rates in other

ECOWAS members—so some increase should be considered.

“Build resilience—by making careful decisions on borrowing.

Nigeria’s debt is relatively low at about 12 percent of GDP. But it weighs heavily on the public purse. Already, about 35 kobo of every naira collected by the federal government is used to service outstanding public debt.

On recurrent expenditure, efforts should be made to streamline the cost of government”, Lagarde said.

She also said with falling oil price, which will remain low for long time, the fiscal challenge facing Nigeria is no longer about how to divide the proceeds of Nigeria’s oil wealth, but what needs to be done so that Nigeria can deliver to its people the public services they deserve, including education, health or infrastructure.

While cautioning the government against borrowing, Lagarde said “Nigeria’s debt is

relatively low at about 12 percent of GDP. But it weighs heavily on the public purse. Already, about 35 kobo of every naira collected by the federal government is used to service outstanding public debt”.

Speaking earlier, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who led other members if the Senate to receive the IMF MD said the new government also has a supportive legislature which is devoted to enacting legislations that will create a conducive atmosphere for business to thrive.

He said that at this critical period when the economy is affected by the oil price, what Nigeria requires from international institutions like the IMF is solid backing for its policies aimed at diversifying and modernising the economy, creating more jobs, rebuilding the national infrastructure and attracting foreign direct investments.

US pledges increased investment in Nigeria Gov. El-Rufai Southern Kaduna attacks: Traditional leader wants El-Rufai to resettle displaced victims Page 14

S/World

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Digest 36 Feature 37-38 Sports 41 Columnist 48

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By Umar Muhammad Puma

T

he United States Embassy in Nigeria, has promised to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between the US and Nigeria and will also increase foreign investment in the country.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to Rep Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonayinma, (PDP Edo), in Abuja, the US officials said they will help the country in her effort to economic recovery through the diversification of the economy, including investment in the transportation sector.

The US Embassy officials in Nigeria led by the embassy’s

Economic Officer and sister of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kelly Moon and the Political Officer of the Embassy, Martin Hardinger also said that they will collaborate with the government of Nigeria on the diversification of the nation’s economy.

Welcoming the guests, Rep Agbonayinma commended the American government for her support to the country in the areas of health and security, adding that the US government believed in selfless leadership.

The lawmaker said his main task was to pursue legislations that would promote “a Nigeria of our dream”, adding that his goals and vision was to ensure a better

country.

He appealed to the United States Agency for International Developments, USAIDS and other US agencies to collaborate with a Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO, in his constituency for the benefits of his people.

Agbonayinma solicited the assistance of the US Department of Education on federal students aid, grants and scholarships loans, work study jobs and students financial assistant.

He also appealed to the US Department of Health-Care System to assist in establishment and supply of equipment to the two local government areas that make up his constituency so as to

address the health needs of the people.

He further called on the US Department of Security to assist in the provision of training facilities and security consciousness of his constituents especially in the alert system and publications to his constituency office.

Other areas he appealed for help in his constituency include in agriculture, capacity building and support for Civil Society Organisation for better legislation and policy formulation that would benefit the youth in politics.

The US embassy officials however, entered into a closeddoor meeting with the lawmaker after the opening remarks.

EFCC closes-in on more top politicians, businessmen

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi with agency report

T

he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday hinted that more influential Nigerian politicians and businessmen would soon be arrested to face prosecution, saying the anti graft agency has now reinvigorated the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

Chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, who made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja, said since his appointment as acting chairman of the EFCC, he had undertaken the re-ordering of the agency’s priorities for effective implementation of its mandate.

“The effect of this, which is obvious for all to see, is the investigation, arrest and

prosecution of some of the most powerful forces in Nigeria, who have questions to answer on their stewardship whilst in office.

“A former National Security Adviser, former ministers, former governors, serving and retired military men, a media mogul and several others, are among those we have called to answer critical questions concerning the management of our commonwealth.

“As we speak, many more influential Nigerians are on the radar of the EFCC and, in the coming weeks, they would have their days in court and Nigerians will be kept fully abreast of the results of our investigations”, Magu said.

Speaking further, he said in carrying out the mandate of the commission, he has been guided

by the “fear of God, national interest and the rule of law”, adding that apart from bringing corrupt public officers to justice, EFCC is determined to prosecute offenders.

The EFCC chairman, however, said the commission cannot succeed in carrying out its mandate without the support of the media, pointing out that President Buhari has given them total support to function as an agency of government.

By far more inspirational is the political will of Mr. President to fight corruption. This unbending will, which some now call body language has given the needed traction to the anti-graft campaign,” he said.

The judiciary, he said, has responded with some practical steps in the form of the designation

of selected courts to try EFCC cases and some practice directions.

“We believe that when holistically and effectively put into practice, the measures would drastically cut the time corruption cases spend in court before Nigerians know whether the accused is guilty as charged or innocent of the crime.

“As a Commission, the EFCC is very determined to put into productive effect, the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA), 2015. This law, which has been rightly labeled a legal “revolution”, by none other than Professor Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anticorruption, could not have come at a better time than now, when Nigerians are yearning for justice”, he said.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

News

FG orders audit of revenue agencies

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he Federal Government has ordered the audit of all revenue generating agencies in the country in order to ensure that all funds collected are remitted into its coffer.

Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who briefed Villa Correspondents after the first Federal Executive Council (FEC)’s meeting in the year chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, also disclosed that those agencies have been mandated to present their budget for approvals.

The minister also denied the report that the 2016 budget presented to the National Assembly by the President has been discreetly withdrawn for adjustment following public outcries against some subheads considered bogus.

Adeosun who addressed newsmen in company with her Information and National Orientation counterpart, Alhaji

Lai Mohammed, said the initiative was meant to plug all loopholes in order to free funds for the implementation of the budget when passed.

She said “The principal discussion in our meeting today was the initiative by this administration to plug revenue leakages in our MDAs that generate revenue. The presentation to FEC was to remind ministers who supervise these revenue-generating boards of their responsibilities under the Fiscal Responsibility Act. “Let me remind you that under FRA, these boards and corporations who generate pour revenue are supposed to generate and operating surplus , 80 percent of which is to be credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but we have discovered that many agencies have never credited anything and never generated any operating surplus including some whose salaries, overheads, capital is paid by the federal government.

“Then in addition to that,

they generate revenue which they spend without any form of control.

So one of the big initiatives and changes of this administration is to bring all those agencies into line; to insist that they must submit a budget, that that budget must be subject to approval and they must operate within that budget so that the surplus that is meant to come to the federal government can be seen to be used as appropriate.

“Concerning the order for those agencies, including NNPC, NIMASA and several others, to submit their budgets for approval, she said “We had issued a circular in December requesting that they send us their budget and what we discussed today was the responsibility of the ministers to ensure that whether those agencies have boards or not, those budgets are prepared that the Ministry of Finance is going to sit down with the supervising ministers and with the boards concerned, where necessary, to go through their budgets and make

sure that they are reasonable, that the costs are not inflated.

“The expected outcome of this is that there will that internally generated revenue (IGR) which new budget is banking on will actually become a reality.”

On the alleged withdrawal of the budget proposal, “You know the budget is presented to the NASS and then there is what we call an interactive budget approval process and you know the agencies will still go and defend their budget at the NASS. So, ordinarily in budget processes, anywhere in the world, there can be amendments to the budgets arising from that interactive process, which is normal.

“But let me make it very clear.

The budget is not being withdrawn or replaced. The budget has been presented and will go through normal process whereby MDAs defend their budgets. It is possible in the process of that, because as you know the legislature is not a rubber stamp, their job is to scrutinize the budget and to

approve that budget. So there may be some changes that occur as a result of that interactive process, but that process is normal everywhere in the world where a budget is presented. So I think it us important to make that clarification,” she said.

The minister also dismissed the insinuation that the budget could be padded by the lawmakers insisting that such was impossible considering the parlous financial position of the country.

On some agencies collecting revenues in foreign currencies and remitting same into government coffers in Naira, Adeosun said “We have done a comprehensive audit of all the agencies that actually collect money in foreign currency and remit in Naira, the requirement is that such monies should go to CBN, which should exchange the money into Naira.

She disclosed that those heads of agencies found culpable in the act after the ongoing audit would be dealt with appropriately.

Why we rejected TSA - Reps From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

R-L: President Muhammadu Buhari, congratulating Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, after her swearing-in as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, yesterday Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

El-Rufai dissolves LGs interim management C’ttees From Mohammad Kaduna

T

Ibrahim,

he interim management committees of the 23 local government councils in Kaduna State have been dissolved by the state governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.

The dissolution was announced in a government statement which explained that the decision was based on the expiration of their six-month term of office.

The statement was signed by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan and made available to newsmen in Kaduna.

“The interim management committees of the 23 local government councils were appointed on 3rd July 2015 for a period of six months in the first instance. The Local Government (Administration) Law No. 12 of 2012 provides that their tenure can be extended by the Kaduna State

House of Assembly.

“The government has made appropriate submissions for the extension of the tenure of the IMCs, but the House of Assembly is currently on recess.

Therefore, the lawful thing to do is to dissolve the interim management committees with effect from 6 January 2016.

“Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, has therefore approved the dissolution of the interim management committees.”

The governor also extended his profound appreciation to all the IMC members for their selfless and dedicated service to their local governments in particular and Kaduna State in general.

“The Government has also directed each IMC to handover to the most senior director in their respective local governments, who will oversee the office of Chairman pending action by the honourable members of the House of Assembly.”

The National Assembly has explained why it refused to comply to implementation of the new policy of Treasury Single Account (TSA) introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari According to Abdulrazak Nandas who is the Chairman House Committee on Information, the Nigerian constitution gave members of National Assembly full and independent rights to carry out their expenditure based on provision of the constitution.

The committee chairman who spoke yesterday on the Hausa Service of Radio France International monitored in Jos, said that they might accept the TSA when it comes to the income from revenue generation but not with the expenditure of the National Assembly.

He said, “there are arms of government in the country and the legislature is an independent body on its own because the constitution has assigned power to each of the arm of government, “ he added.

He further explained that the House of Representatives would not accept the TSA because it could not be going back to the executive anytime they wanted to make spending, emphasising that the legislature was different from the executive.

“We don’t need to go contacting the executive on expenditures regarding the legislature. We want Nigerians to know that we are different from the executive. Everyone has its responsibility. It is not as if we are not loyal to the government but only want due process to follow.” he said.

On the issue of 40 billion naira give to National Assembly to purchase cars, the chairman said , “ it is not true because the has not collected any many from anybody. It is a mare speculation in order to tarnish the image of the house.”

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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Page 4 Report

Menace of Lassa fever in Nigeria

By Ese Awhotu

J

ust recently the World Health Organisation, WHO, announced that the Ebola scourge had been curtailed in Guinea bringing joy to Africans and the world at large.

The curtailment of Ebola in Nigeria and other West African countries is a pointer to the fact that the region despite its challenges has capacity and the will to tackle its health problems.

However, just as the smiles are still very much on the faces of West Africans over Ebola breakthrough, especially in Nigeria where the dreaded disease was dealt with professionally and tactically, here comes Lassa fever.

Barely one week after Taraba state confirmed the outbreak of the disease; it has spread to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital where a nursing mother and her two-week-old baby have been confirmed to have died of the deadly viral disease.

Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Theophilus Odagme, while confirming the death of the mother and child said “First incident happened between December 30, 2015, and January 1, to a mother and later to her two weeks old child. Yesterday, at about 10:00 pm, I received a call that a mother and child died in a hospital following similar and serious fever which killed them and was suspected to be Lassa fever. After series of test conducted on them, it was confirmed they died of the disease.”.

He said that contact tracing had begun and sensitisation of health care providers was ongoing to address the disease.

Lassa fever is a deadly viral disease that is transmitted by infected rodents. The virus is usually transmitted after exposure to infected rodents and also through direct contact with a person that has been infected with the virus.

Precautionary measures to avert being infected include ensuring a clean, rodentfree environment, putting food in rodent proof containers and wearing protections such as masks, gloves, gowns among others.

According to the WHO, Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused

by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses. It is transmitted to humans from contacts with food or household items contaminated with rodent excreta. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa. Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in the hospital environment in the absence of adequate infection control measures. Diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential.

Though first described in the 1950s, the virus causing Lassa disease was not identified until 1969. The virus is a singlestranded RNA virus belonging to the virus family Arenaviridae.

About 80% of people who become infected with Lassa virus have no symptoms. One in five infections result in severe disease, where the virus affects several organs such as the liver, spleen and kidneys.

Lassa fever is a zoonotic disease, meaning that humans become infected from contact with infected animals.

The animal reservoir, or host, of Lassa virus is a rodent of the genus Mastomys,

Prof. Isaac Adewole

commonly known as the “multimammate rat.” Mastomys rats infected with Lassa virus do not become ill, but they can shed the virus in their urine and faeces.

Because the clinical course of the disease is so variable, detection of the disease in affected patients has been difficult. However, when presence of the disease is confirmed in a community, prompt isolation of affected patients, good infection protection and control practices and rigorous contact tracing can stop outbreaks.

Going by WHO facts, the incubation period of Lassa fever ranges from 6-21 days. The onset of the disease, when it is symptomatic, is usually gradual, starting with fever, general weakness, and malaise.

After a few days, headache, sore throat, muscle pain, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cough, and abdominal pain may follow. In severe cases facial swelling, fluid in the lung cavity, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract and low blood pressure may develop.

Protein may be noted in the urine. Shock, seizures, tremor, disorientation, and coma may be seen in the later stages.

“

Deafness occurs in 25% of patients who survive the disease. In half of these cases, hearing returns partially after 1-3 months.

Transient hair loss and gait disturbance may occur during recovery.

Death usually occurs within 14 days of onset in fatal cases. The disease is especially severe late in pregnancy, with maternal death and/or fetal loss occurring in greater than 80% of cases during the third trimester.

Humans usually become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats. Lassa virus may also be spread between humans through direct contact with the blood, urine, faeces, or other bodily secretions of a person infected with Lassa fever. There is no epidemiological evidence supporting airborne spread between humans.

Person-to-person transmission occurs in both community and health-care settings, where the virus may be spread by contaminated medical equipment, such as re-used needles. Sexual transmission of Lassa virus has been reported.

Lassa fever occurs in all age groups and both sexes. Persons at greatest risk

“In health-care settings, staff should always apply standard infection prevention and control precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.

are those living in rural areas where Mastomys are usually found, especially in communities with poor sanitation or crowded living conditions. Health workers are at risk if caring for Lassa fever patients in the absence of proper barrier nursing and infection control practices.

Because the symptoms of Lassa fever are so varied and non-specific, clinical diagnosis is often difficult, especially early in the course of the disease. Lassa fever is difficult to distinguish from other viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola virus disease; and many other diseases that cause fever, including malaria, shigellosis, typhoid fever and yellow fever.

WHO said that definitive diagnosis requires testing that is available only in specialized laboratories. Laboratory specimens may be hazardous and must be handled with extreme care. Lassa virus infections can only be diagnosed definitively in the laboratory using the following tests:antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA),antigen detection tests, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay and virus isolation by cell culture.

The pertinent question, however, is whether the disease can be treated, WHO says the antiviral drug ribavirin seems to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever if given early on in the course of clinical illness. There is no evidence to support the role of ribavirin as post-exposure prophylactic treatment for Lassa fever.

There is currently no vaccine that protects against Lassa fever.

Meanwhile, Lassa fever can be prevented, the prevention of Lassa fever relies on promoting good “community hygiene” to discourage rodents from entering homes. Effective measures include storing grain and other foodstuffs in rodent-proof containers, disposing of garbage far from the home, maintaining clean households and keeping cats.

Because Mastomys are so abundant in endemic areas, it is not possible to completely eliminate them from the environment. Family members should always be careful to avoid contact with blood and body fluids while caring for sick persons.

“In health-care settings, staff should always apply standard infection prevention and control precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices.

“Health workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Lassa fever should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. When in close contact (within 1 metre) of patients with Lassa fever, health-care workers should wear face protection (a face shield or a medical mask and goggles), a clean, nonsterile long-sleeved gown, and gloves (sterile gloves for some procedures).

“Laboratory workers are also at risk. Samples taken from humans and animals for investigation of Lassa virus infection should be handled by trained staff and processed in suitably equipped laboratories.”, WHO said.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

PAGE 5

News

1000 traders displaced, as Lagos demolishes Oshodi market From: Ayodele Samuel,Lagos

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esterday, the Lagos State government commenced the demolition of about 40- year old Owonifari electronic market in Oshodi, which displaced over 1000 traders.

Traders in the market said the demolition has rendered over 10 thousand people jobless.

Officials of the Lagos State Government lead by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had stormed the popular market located at the loop in Oshodi early hours of Wednesday to commence the demolition exercise.

Ambode was accompanied by the Commissioner for Environment, Babatunde Adejare, officials of Kick Against Indiscipline, the police and other top government functionaries to supervise the exercise.

Traders however, lamented that they were deprived the opportunity to remove their goods before demolition; even after they rushed down to the market with the aim to removing their goods.

“We were prevented from entering our shops by heavily armed officers,” Ebuka Austin, a trader told our correspondent.

Peoples Daily correspondent who witnessed the demolition gathered that most of the traders whose property was destroyed had travelled home for the Yuletide and New Year celebration and were yet to return.

Few traders however, were seen salvaging little property from the rumbles of the demolition, lamenting that goods worth millions of naira have been lost to the demolition.

The Owonifari market is famous for the sales of used and new electronics.

Arms deal: Why I collected N63m from Anenih- Yakasai From Edwin Olofu, Kano

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he former Special Adviser to ex-President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Affairs, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai yesterday offered an insight on why he collected the sum of N63 million from former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih.

Yakasai who was reacting to Anenih’s claim in with newsmen in kano, said that the N63 million was not given to him personally as it was given to a group of eight eminent northerners which he served as a coordinator.

Chief Anenih had implicated Yakasai in a letter written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), explaining how he shared N260 million during the 2015 presidential

election According to Yakasai, “in the first place, the money was not given to me personally. It was given to a team on the request of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the team to go round the 19 northern states and meet the traditional rulers on an appeal mission over the presidential election.

“Our assignment was to meet with the traditional rulers and appeal to them to speak with their various subjects in order to ensure that the coming presidential election was conducted peacefully.

“In other words, failure to conduct the election peacefully could lead to unpleasant circumstances because if the country cannot hold a presidential election peacefully, the alternative will be a military take-over.”

He said, “we were assigned to

undertake the tour of the entire northern states and we visited 18 out of the 19 states, including Abuja; and at each state we visited, at least, two traditional rulers were met to convey the message of the former president to them.

“So, our tour was not for any campaign for the former president nor was it for any selfish interest for ourselves, we did it in the interest of the nation; for peace to reign.

“The money was made up of allowances to the members of the delegation which was for their transportation and accommodation in the places we visited.”

Yakasai said: Continuing he added: “myself and all members of the delegation are prepared to appear before any court of law to present our case;

L-R: President, Mother Theresa Children’s Home, Yeye Bolanle Dare, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Sarah Alade, Member of IMF, Ms. Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, and others, during the IMF Managing Director visit to Mother Theresa Children’s Home, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Army explains delay in payment of troops’ allowances

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he Nigerian Army on Wednesday explained the delay in payment of allowances to some of its officers, attributing it to challenges of implementing the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Federal Government.

Maj.-Gen. Hassan Umaru, the Theater Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole, told newsmen in Maiduguri that the troops of the Nigerian Army had done the country proud by their gallant efforts against the Boko Haram insurgents.

He said the authorities were doing all within their power to fast track payment of the troops allowances as soon as possible.

He added that ``let me acknowledge the tremendous successes and achievements of our gallant troops in the field. ``Their discipline, determination, courage and selfless service are highly appreciated by our dear nation and the world at large.’’

However, Umaru said that the introduction of the TSA last year by the Federal Government slowed down businesses in some agencies, the military inclusive. ``We are all aware of government’s introduction of the TSA, which in one way or the other affected government organisations. ``The development also affected the payment of salaries to civilians,

more so, all of us are ever ready to answer any call for national duty at any time.

According to him, the team consisted of eight eminent northerners of proven integrity who commands respect all over the North.

Among them are former Commissioner of Finance in Plateau state, Chief John Makiliki, former Commissioner of Education in Kaduna state, Alhaji Suleiman Lawal, former Legal Adviser to Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Bar. Bitrus Gwanga, former Deputy Governor of old Benue state who hails from Kogi state, Alhaji Sule Heiyaji, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador Mohammed Anka from Zamfara state and myself, Tanko Yakasai,” he stated.

apart from the officers and men of the Armed Forces.’’

The theater commander said some troops in the theater had also not been paid allowances due to the development, noting that there were some other administrative issues hindering payment of the troops allowances. ``There are issues of duplication of names, wrong account numbers, improper Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and the new policy of remitting allowances directly into individuals’ accounts,’’ the commander said.

He said both the Federal Government and the military authorities were making efforts to provide more logistics to enhance the troops

operation. ``The Federal Government and the military hierarchy are doing their best to support this noble course in terms of logistics. ``I urge you to remain focused in achieving our mandate. ``You should not allow yourselves to be misguided by unscrupulous elements. ``I must as well appreciate the invaluable support of the present administration, the government and the good people of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe for their support in the fight against terror. ``Let me thank the media for their patriotism and commitment in bringing peace to the North East.’’ (NAN)

DPR seals 65 filling stations in Akwa Ibom

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he Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it sealed 65 filling stations for allegedly hoarding and selling petrol above government approved pump price of N86.50 per litre in Akwa Ibom.

Mr Asuqwu Antai, DPR’s Controller Operation in Charge of Akwa Ibom and Cross River, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket, Akwa Ibom on Wednesday.

He explained that the defaulting stations were sealed in Uyo, Abak and Ikot Ekpene.

“Here in Akwa Ibom, from December till date, we sealed a total of 65 filling stations,’’ Antai said.

He said that in spite of closing the filling stations, the marketers

continued to innovate ways of circumventing DPR’s operation.

Antai said the department had embarked on 24 hour surveillance in collaboration with security agencies to ensure that marketers complied with the directive of the Federal Government.

“They sell with our seal; they sell at night when they know that officials of the department will not be visiting.

“Our members will henceforth be going for inspections at night with the support of security agencies for surveillance,’’ he said.

He said that the department would resist marketers from selling above the government regulated pump price.. (NAN)

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

News

FAAN prepares for ICAO audit, assures of safer airports From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

A

Governor, Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar Bauchi state, presenting the 2016 Budget to Speaker, Bauchi state House of Assembly, Hon. Kawuwa Dhamina, yesterday in Bauchi.

Photo: NAN

No apology over Zaria clash with Shi’ite – Army From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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he General Officer Commanding, (GOC) 1 Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade has said that, the Nigerian Army has no apology for its recent encounter with members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, popularly known as the Shi’ite sect and the group got what it bargain for,adding that the Army cannot fold its arms and watch any group or sect threaten the peace and stability of the country.

Addressing newsmen at the headquarters of 1 Division in Kaduna on Wednesday, the GOC said, the Army has no issue with the Shi’ites, saying “they are like any other sect in the land, but as long as they obey the law of the land no problem, but if any group

chooses to challenge the authority of the land, it means they do not value the sanctity of life and the constitution of Nigeria.”

“We have problem with those who choose to challenge the authority of the state and create a state within a state, which do not recognize the laws of the land.”

He insisted that the Army remains the guidance of Nigerian democracy, but states An attempt on COAS is akin to an attempt on a sitting president.

Giving an overview of the activities of the division in 2015, the GOC said, “We want to re assure the members of the North West zone that the army will do everything possible as mandated by the constitution of Nigeria to protect our people and to enable the people go about their activities without

molestation.

He said the governors of the North West have also been assisting in providing the necessary support and collaboration with the army and other agencies of government in the zone to make sure everything is peaceful.

He gave the names of some of the operations in the zone as, operation MESSA, operation restore peace, operation Sharan Daji, among others.

Giving an update of Cattle rustling and banditry the GOC said 37,000 livestock have been rescued and have been handed over to the state committees who are charged with the responsibility of handing it over to their owners.

Also arrested were 294 cattle rustlers who have been handed over to the police for prosecution, 101 armed bandits killed and weapons

recovered and 200 camps destroyed.

In the cause of the year, 6 soldiers were killed in the cause of the operation while about 10 were seriously wounded and 2 soldiers missing in the cause of the operation.

According to the GOC, Boko Haram has been defeated, saying what is happening now is mop up operation and solicited solicit support from the communities and about 21 elements of BH have been picked up within the zone.

There is no organization in the land that respects the sanctity of life than the army; because that is the business we do to safe guard the life of the people.

In the cause of doing our work we make no apology to any group that constitute obstacle to our protecting the life of Nigerians in the zone.

Yobe to spend N1.23m on education From Uche Uche, Damaturu

Y

obe state executive council has approved the sum of N1.23 for payment examination and tuition fees for its students for the 2015 and 2016 session.

This was contained in a press release made available to newsmen shortly after the first executive council meeting for 2016 chaired by the state governor, Alh. Ibrahim Gaidam.

A breakdown of the expenses shows that the sum of N825.28

million would be spent for payment of tuition fees in respect of government sponsored students in Nigeria Turkish college, Abuja,Kano,Kaduna and Mamudo for the 2015 and 2016 academic session.

Another sum of N318.39

million would be spent for the payment of registration fees for WAEC, NECO among others, while another sum of N86.9 million would be spent for payment of school fees for student of the National Mathematic Center for the 2015 and 2016.

head an estimated 30 million passenger traffic expected to pass through Nigeria’s major airports in 2016, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it is leaving nothing to chance as part of plans to ensure smooth facilitation and processing of the huge traffic.

Currently, Nigeria four major airports contribute the chunk of the traffic with the Murtala Muhammed International Terminal in Lagos contributing 15 million into the pool.

Official of FAAN disclosed that the MMIA is further expected to attract additional 15 million travellers once the Chinese firm completes work on the new terminals in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport in Abuja.

Giving a projection for the year, FAAN General Manager, Corporate Communication, Mr. Yakubu Dati said the authority currently handle 15 million passengers at the MMIA but have projected an additional traffic of 15 million at same airport this year with the completion of the terminal as well increment in other airports being constructed.

He said FAAN is gearing up to handle the March 2016 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit.

Dati expressed optimism on a more safe and secure airports, stating that travel will be exciting this year especially when the new terminals under construction are completed and passengers will have that experience they always enjoy outside the shores.

“With the completion of the new terminal in Lagos, the terminal will be able to process additional 15 million passengers which mean we will able to service about 30 million passengers. All these are things put together to raise aviation to a new level this year”.

Preparatory to the ICAO audit in March, a semblance of a mock exercise towards the audit has been conducted by the Airport Council International ACI team during their visit on their invitation by the managing director of FAAN. According to Dati, ACI team during the visit to facilities at the airport, some open areas identified will be closed before the audit date adding that the country will scale through and was doing everything possible to ensure that the country will not disappoint Dr Bernard Aliu as a Nigerian and as the ICAO president.

On the certification of airports in the country, Dati said a team was working round the clock with other agencies to ensure that all gaps were closed.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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News

Zamfara: Absence of suspect stalls N185m fertilizer fraud trial in court From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

T

he Zamfara state Magistrate Court (II) has turned down the prosecution of one Safiyanu Marafa pending the physical appearance of a suspected partner, Musa Aliyu, who is the chairman of one embattled Abuja-based company (TAK Agro), allegedly involved in

N185m fertiliser scam.

A source close to the court informed Peoples Daily that, the court could not formally register the application as it contained two names marked as suspects , Safiyanu Marafa and one Musa Aliyu, but only to eventually presented one suspect against the actual number there in the submission.

In an interview with the

Plaintiff at the court premises in Gusau, the state capital, Alhaji Ahmed Tijjani Umar, who is a Kaduna-based business tycoon claimed that, the incidence occurred in 2012 when he financially issued the suspects the sum of N185m meant for the supply of 130 trailers of fertiliser.

“I was at the end of day, dubiously supplied with loads of a mixture of sands and a little

quantity of fertiliser, and this is quiet contrary to what was supposed to be collected as earlier signed in the letter of agreement”, Tijjani Umar lamented.

He further narrated that, on the delivery of the supplied commodity, the products were later confirmed to be fake after the laboratory test was virtually conducted by the Agricultural Unit (AU) of the Ahmadu Bello

University (ABU) Zaria.

Umar stated further that, the investigation on the case was started in Sokoto and completed by the Police of Zone 10 in Gusau the origin of the case, and it is now ready for prosecution, which was supposed to commence last Tuesday in Gusau, the Zamfara state capital but has to be suspended due to the absence one of the bailed co-suspect.

…As NSCDC records over 2000 cases, recovers N43m in 2015 From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

I

n effort to ensure crimefree society, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Zamfara state Command has in comparison announced the reception of 2,725 civil matters and criminal cases as well, within the year 2015.

The development was disclosed yesterday at the NSCDC headquarters Gusau, the state capital, by the state Commandant, Abdullahi Ibrahim during annual press conference, stressing that the Command was able to have recovered the sum of 43, 312,270 million naira out of over 50 million naira involved in the cases which were already returned to the owners within the year in review.

The Commandant said, the total number of 2,116 cases were successfully treated while 255 were marked as outstanding and to be attended judiciously in the first take of the Command’s core mandate within the shallow days of the year 2016.

He further informed that the Command has recorded two cases of fuel diversion with the arrest of tankers loaded with 73, 000 litres of fuel, adding that, three cases also in connection with diversion of Kerosene were received and judiciously treated all within last year.

“The Intelligence and Investigation Department (IID) of the Command has recorded 231 cases with the treatment of 139 and the prosecution of 47, one cases was transferred, 24 out of the reported number were withdrawn by the complainants while 20 of them are awaiting the Commands attention”, the Commandant said.

According to him, the Peace and Conflict Resolution Unit has achieved in treating 915 out of the reported 1129 cases within the last year as 200 were amicably under mediation efforts by the Command, this is in addition to another success in recovering and Return-to-the-Owners of flock of sheep from cattle rustlers.

Commissioner of Police in-charge of Nigerian Ports Authority’s Easter Port, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu (left), assisted by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nseabasi Akpan (right), to decorate Mr. Muhammed Adamu with his new rank of Inspector, yesterday in Port Harcourt.

Photo: NAN

Seizure of made in Nigeria goods: No truce yet with customs – Group

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

T

he Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman yesterday said the rights group was yet to receive any formal invitation from the authority of the Federal Operation Zone “A” Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) over its petition on the alleged seizure of Madein-Nigeria goods illegally seized from one Mr. Chinedu Ekeze, saying that group was surprised to read in the newspapers, not Peoples Daily that a truce meeting has been slated for Wednesday between the rights group(CHRSJ) and Customs Service, through the media interview credited to the Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme without any formal invitation.

Comrade Sulaiman while reacting to the media report of the Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme that there would be meeting with the rights group yesterday (Wednesday January 6th, 2016) by coming forward with

their evidences against the Unit officers of the Nigeria Customs Services(NCS),insisting that Mr. Chinedu Ekeze was never alleged of made any payment to the officers of the Customs Service but made payment on the goods in question to the Idiroko branches of the WEMA bank and Diamond bank accounts of the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) respectively.

CHRSJ boss added that it alleged in the Petition Letter that the Federal Operation Zone “A” Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) seized the goods in question after the payment of the stipulated Custom levies on the goods which include; 660 pieces of 10kg Bags of Rice, 100 pieces of 25kg Bags of Rice, 8 cartoons of Kings Vegetable Oil,5 Cartons of Turkey Vegetable Oil and 5 Cartons of Knorr Margi Cube as contained in the vehicle Steyr Truck with Registration Number: XT 270 BEN. His words: “It is a surprise that the Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme is still living in the past by maintaining that the money was paid to the impersonator Customs

Official and who said so. Although, CHRSJ is not referring to any official being collected exercise duty by hand from Mr. Chinedu Ekeze, so the issue of impersonator did not arise on the issue at all,it is just diversionary tactics from Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme . But we alleged that sum of N180,000 was collected from the hand of Chinedu Ekeze as bail fee before the driver of the vehicle(Austin) would be released as it is on record that the Zone “A” Unit of Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) under Comptroller S.J.NADUGU, are collecting bail fees between #150,000 to #250,000 from any of their victims which is contrary to Section 98,99,172,209&494 of the Criminal Code Cap ‘C’ 38, 2010 FRN & Law of Federation 2010 and 5th schedule, part 1, section 6&8 of 1999 Constitution as amended. .

“It seems Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme does not know the bone of contention on the matter but we will like to refer Zone “A” Customs spokesperson, Mr. Uche Ejesieme to the Appeal Letter dated 4th of

December, 2015 which was signed

by Mr. Chinedu Ekeze and received by the office of Comptroller of the Zone ‘A’ Ikeja, Federal Operation Unit at the same date, precisely,4th of December,2015,so as to give him better insight into the subject matter, instead of beating around the bush on the matter”.

While commending the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC), Col. Hammed Ali, (rtd) over the recent shake-off of the sixty-nine(69) Comptroller across the Customs Units of the Federation.

Sulaiman contended that the officer like Comptroller S.J.NADUGU, and the Officer – in-Charge of Legal-PIYANPIDAT, N.D., were not fit to head any unit of the Customs Service in the federation., said that the only solution to the present matter was for the authority of the Customs Service to order the immediate released of the goods in question to the owner and tender unreserved apology to the owner of the goods in question because of the psychology trauma they went through over the illegality of the Customs officials.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

News

Catholic Church Yola frees 26 prisoners From Umar Dankano, Yola

Y

ola Catholic Diocese yesterday secured the freedom of 26 convicted prisoners serving their various prison terms in Yola prison, Adamawa state.

Bishop of the Yola Catholic Diocese, Rev. Father Stephen Dami Mamza said the church’s compassion, represents the outlook of the global Catholic Church to commemorate 2016 as the year of mercy informed the decision of the church to facilitate the release of the twenty six inmates by payment of option of fine against them.

Bishop Mamza lamented that some of the inmates have been in incarceration for over a year due to their inability to pay the meager fine option attached to their sentences.

He said he came to know about the plight of the inmates following the shocking revelation of one of the inmates sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of N700 fine, when he visited the Yola Prisons during last Christmas celebrations.

He said in line with the Catholic Church’s outlook to commemorate 2016 as the Year of Mercy, he felt it was only proper to show mercy to some of these prisoners who couldn’t afford their fine.

“Some of them it is only N700 but he couldn’t afford to pay and he is serving 2 years.

For some others it is N1, 000 but the highest is only about N11, 000. So I got somebody to compile those affected. “ I decided to do this because this year is very special and has been declared by the Holy Farther Pope Francis, as the Year of Mercy.

We need to be merciful to one another so that God can be merciful to us”, Bishop Mamza said.

Superintendent Kawo A. Ribadu who represented the Comptroller of the Yola Prison while setting the inmates free reminded them that their freedom had been facilitated by the Catholic church. “ The Bishop here has paid your fine, you are therefore free,” Kawu said, while admonishing the 26 released inmates to be responsible citizens in the society.

L-R: Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Baba Kyari, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Lawal, and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

Buhari inaugurates HoS, Oyo – Ita

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday administered oath of office on the new Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita. She was inaugurated before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting

presided over by the President.

The inauguration has made her the substantive Head of Service.

She stepped into the new position in acting capacity in October 2015 when the former HoS, Mr. Danladi Kifasi proceeded on terminal leave.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,

Mr. Femi Adesina, read her citation after which she took her oath of office and oath of allegiance before the President and proceeded to sign the oath register.

The President then countersigned the register and shook hand with Oyo-Ita. Among those who also shook hands with her included Vice

President Yemi Osinbajo and Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the inauguration, Oyo-Ita promised that she will fight corruption in the system.

She also promised to boost capacity building for the civil servants.

Yoruba chieftaincy crisis: Otunba of Yoruba community set for reconciliation

By Usman Shuaibu

F

ollowing the chieftaincy crisis rocked Yoruba Obas in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for sometimes now, the Otunba (Chief) of Yoruba Community in the FCT, Chief Dr. Wasiu Tunwase, has said that his leadership would do everything within his limit to reconcile the aggrieved Yoruba Obas in the territory.

Tunwase, who stated this in an interview with Peoples Daily at the weekend in Abuja, said that the face-off between the Obas and Oba Olusegun Salau of Abuja began when Salau addressed the Obas as ordinary chiefs.

He pointed out that the issue of obaship should not generate tension among the Obas across the six area councils in the FCT, noting that not all Yoruba traditional title holders that can be called Obas.

He pleaded with the Yoruba Obas in the FCT to come together irrespective of their grievances to move the Yoruba Community forward, urging them to speak with one voice to actualize their goals for the Yoruba people in the territory.

He further said that his

leadership would not hesitate to unite the Obas in the FCT, saying that chieftaincy should not cause a setback to the Yoruba Community for now.

He appealed to the entire Yorubas in the FCT to patient with the leadership of Yoruba Community, stressing that he will continue to dialogue with Obas in order to resolve the crisis amicably.

This according to him, all what had happened among the Obas was due to lack understanding and proper coordination on the parts of Yoruba Community leaders.

Tunwase, however, said that there was no faction among the Yoruba leaders in FCT, pointing out that Oba Olusegun Salau remains the paramount Yoruba Community leader in Abuja.

It will be recalled that on the 16th of December, 2015 the aggrieved Yoruba Obas organized a press conference which was addressed by Oba of Sheda in Abuja, Oba Odutola Michael Odubanjo, the group accused the Oba Olusegun Salau of Abuja of reckless announcement on the radio as well as one of the national dailies that he is the only person to be addressed as Oba in

the FCT. The group explained that the institution of the Oba Yoruba was on absurdity in the Yoruba traditional setting, as according to them, Oba Olusegun Salau was not recognized by the group as the Oba of Yoruba of Abuja.

The group therefore, said that they would continue to provide purposeful leadership capable of satisfying the aspirations of Yoruba Community in the territory.

In a similar press conference organized by the Oba Yoruba community of Abuja, Oba Olusegun Salau on the 23rd of December, 2015, Salau said that he was the one who established or formed the Yoruba Community in the FCT in 1994, noted that in 1995 he was made an Oba Yoruba of Abuja.

He said; “I still remain the leader of Yorubas in the FCT. There is nothing like Chairman Council of Obas in the FCT as being proposed by some aggrieved Obas or chiefs”.

According to Salau, “Presently, we have over forty-five(45) Obas in the FCT in which I believed are too much. These have led to a situation where the Yoruba obaship no longer command

respect among other tribes in the FCT”.

Salau said that the chairman council of chiefs in the FCT, the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa issued the certificate to him as an Oba Yoruba of Abuja, not the chairman council of Obas in the FCT. Speaking in the same vein, one of the aggrieved Obas of Yoruba in the FCT, who did not want his name to be mentioned in print, said that Oba Olusegun Salau was the architect of his problem, as he had failed to provide purposeful leadership.

He maintained that Salau seemd to be lacking the experience and wisdom to administer the affairs of the Yoruba Community in the territory, noting that Salau is full of himself.

He accused the leadership of Salau of failing to take the Obas along in the scheme of things, pointing out Salau does not take advice from Obas.

On his part, the Oba of Yoruba Community at Yimi Community in Gwagwalada Area Council, Oba David Adetunji, charged the aggrieved Obas to dialogue with Salau in order to resolve their grievances for the benefit of Yorubas in Abuja.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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News

Ambode appoints Prof Fagbohun as LASU VC A view of Owo Ni Faari Market, Oshodi being demolished, yesterday in Lagos.

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

L

agos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday approved the appointment of Professor Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun as the 8th substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU).

Fagbohun, a Professor of Environmental Law, was until his appointment Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of

Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos.

The appointment was contained in a statement signed by the State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde.

According to the statement, following the expiration of the tenure of Professor John Oladapo Obafunwa as the 7th substantive Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University on 31st October, 2015, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Fidelis

Olisamedua Njokanma assumed the position of Acting ViceChancellor.

Professor Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun was born on 19th October, 1966 and hails from Akesan in the Alimosho Local Government rea of Lagos State.

He joined the Faculty of Law of the Lagos State University (LASU) as an Assistant Lecturer in January 1991. He rose through the ranks and by the year 2004, he was appointed Associate Professor.

The statement further revealed that he studied Law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and obtained his Master’s of Law Degree from the University of Lagos and he attended the Obafemi Awolowo University for his doctoral degree programme.

At different times, he served as a member of Senate of the Lagos State University; Head of Department of Business Law and later Department of Private

Photo: NAN

and Property Law; Coordinator, Law Centre; Coordinator of the Department of Environmental Law and Allied Disciplines of the Centre for Environment and Science Education of the Lagos State University, and was, for several years, the Editor-in-Chief of the LASU Law Journal.

Professor Fagbohun is a member of several academic and professional bodies, and a fellow of a number of national and international institutions.

We’ve destroyed 200 Cattle rustlers camp in North West – Army From Femi Oyelola Kaduna

T

he Nigeria Army has said its troops have destroyed over 200 cattle’s rustler’s camp in the North West part of the country.

The General Officer Commanding 1Division, of the Nigeria Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade disclosed this

while addressing a press conference in Kaduna yesterday.

General Oyebade also said 37,675 livestock were recovered from the rustler.

Accordingly to him, 101 of the bandits were killed in the operations that spread across 7 states covered by the Division.

The GOC added that the army

also recovered 103 arms from the bandits while 294 of them were arrested and has been handled to relevant security Agencies for prosecution.

“The recovered livestock have been handled over to the agencies responsible for distributing the livestock to their owners. “ The handover was documented.

Let me also informed you that most of rustlers are also in the kidnapping business. If they cannot steal your cattle they kidnapped you and demands ransom. Why we destroyed their camps is to ensure they don’t return back “We also have s casualties as we lost six soldiers while many sustained various degrees of injuries.

“ let me warm all rustler that the North West is ranger to them because the army in conjunction with other sister agencies will make them always on their heels.

“The operations known as Sharadanji are receiving blessings of the various state Governors in the North West and we will not rest until they are flushed out.”, he said.

Cleric urges Nigerians to pray for Buhari, move closer to God

By Ese Awhotu

S

enior Pastor Emmanuel Adefowora of the Trinity Living Church World Wide Ministry, Abuja has called on Nigerians to pray for President Nuhammadu Buhari in the New Year, saying that 2016 will be tough but God elects will enjoy mercy.

Pastor Adefowora who released his 2016 divine prophecies yesterday in a press statement in Abuja said

that, “Nigerians should move closer to God this year and pray for the President because if he dies there will be problem.

“I will like to encourage all Nigerians to move closer to God this year and be prayerful and to constantly ask God for mercy.”

He said 2016 is a year of hard work (both spiritually and physically), noting that lazy people will suffer in the New Year.” 2016 is a year of runner, whatever you want to

do; do it fast, 2016 is a year of divine help (Joel 2).”, he added.

Recapping on his 2015 prophesies, Pastor Emmanuel said, “First and foremost, I will like us to thank God as a nation for His great mercy that saw us through the year 2015. The word of God according to the book of Amos 3:7 says “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

“At the beginning of every year

God always speak about how the year will likely be to His servants and by the grace of God, I am privilege to be one of the chosen one. In last year prophecies I told the nation what the Lord told me about the general election and what God expects us to do, we all saw the results of our obedience as a nation. Divine prophecies are for our own good if we can truly obey and take the right steps. True prophecies are products of fervent prayers.”

The Senior Pastor, said he had prophesized that 2015 would be a year of surprise, impossible shall be possible in 2015, 2015 was a beginning of New Era and a year of prayer and faith and it came to past.

Adding, he had also urged Nigerians to ask God for mercy pray against violence, bloodshed, killings etc, and that the 2015 polls will be tough.

In the New Year, he said Nigerians should pray and fast on February 1st to avert evils and tragedies.

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News

Gov. Abubakar presents N135.3bn budget to Bauchi Assembly From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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overnor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi state has presented a budget proposal of N135. 3 billion for the 2016 fiscal year to the State House of Assembly for its deliberation The budget is made up of N65, 498, 008, 456 as recurrent expenditure, and N69, 805, 091, 554 as capital expenditure during the current 2016 fiscal year.

While presenting the budget proposal to the State House of Assembly, tagged “budget of revival” yesterday, Mr. Abubakar gave a recurrent estimate of the budget as N67, 136, 820, 593 for recurrent revenue.

The estimate is made up of Internally Generated Revenue of N9, 998, 136, 773 and statutory allocation of N57, 138, 683, 820, making a total of N67, 136, 820, 593.

The Governor also gave the budget’s recurrent expenditure of a total sum of N65, 498, 008, 456 comprising of personnel cost of N25, 182, 118, 675; Overhead cost N23, 745, 885, 004; consolidated revenue fund charges of N16, 570, 004, 777.

According to Abubakar , the consolidated revenue fund charges comprised of Pension and Gratuity N8.5 billion; Public Debt Charges/Debt Services N7.02billion; and Public Officers’ Salary of N1.04 billion.

Mr. Abubakar said it is projected that Bauchi state will realize capital receipts in the sum of N57, 714, 770, 077 comprising of opening balance N250 million and internal loans N21, 600, 000, 000; External loans N7, 774, 261, 216; Grants and Aids N9, 993, 223, 164; and Other capital receipts/local Govt. Joint Project N18. 097, 285, 697.

The Budget capital expenditure breakdown is Administrative sector N5.4 billion; Economic sector N30.5 billion; Law and Justice Sector N1.9 billion; Regional sector N3.3billion, and social sector N28.5billion, giving a total of N69, 805, 091, 554.

He explained that the present administration came into power at a difficult time when the economy was at the brink of total collapse with public treasuries at all levels of government empty, high level of corruption, and insecurity of lives and property nationwide.

Mohammed appealed to the lawmakers to expedite action, consider and pass the 2016 budget into law to enable the government implement the budgeted programmes/projects that will meet the yearnings and aspirations of the electorates.

L-R: Co-Chairman, Kaduna State Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KSMAM), Alhaji Mustapha Jumare, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna state council, Alhaji Garba Muhammed, and Secretary of the council, Alhaji Dauda Doka, during media interactive training on health by the Community Health and Research Initiative and Kaduna State Accountability Mechanism, yesterday in Kaduna.

Photo: NAN

Gombe CAN tasks public on peaceful coexistence

From David Hassan, Gombe

T

he leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Gombe state has tasked the public to be law abiding citizens, even as they called on them to love one another.

Chairman of the association, Rev. Isa Uba made the disclosure yesterday in Gombe when the Christians community

paid Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo Christmas and New Year homage at Government House.

Rev. Uba also congratulated Governor Dankwambo over his recent victory at both the tribunal and appeal courts and pray for God intervention at the supreme court.

He said people of the state would not relent in praying for the present administration,

adding that the administration of governor Dankwambo would continue to manifest in the lives of citizens.

He lauded the effort of the present administration which according to him had contributed immensely for the development of the state.

While commenting government for its initiative, the chairman urged the public to put hand on deck to ensure

that government programmes are sustain.

On his part, governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo who was represented by his deputy Mr. Charles Iliya promise to operate an open door policy to ensure that every one is carry along in his government.

He assured that his administration is committed to put smile on the faces of citizens.

Retrenched Benue teachers urge Gov Ortom to pay arrears From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

O

ver 100 non-indigenous school teachers retrenched by the Benue state government in 2005/2006 have sent a Save Our Souls, SOS message to Governor Samuel Ortom demanding the payment of their emoluments and entitlements.

The aggrieved teachers who spoke to Peoples Daily yesterday through Mrs. Chioma Okafor, Mrs. Mba Felicia, Mrs. Nwankwo Irene and Mrs. Juliana Eze decried

the adamant refusal of the state government to obey a subsisting High Court order issued in 2008 which directed the payment of their emoluments after they were disengaged from the state’s service.

The teachers who are mostly women, lamented that the long delay in paying them after being sacked from the service of the state had led to the death of some of the affected persons who they claimed died in penury.

They also frowned at the failure of their legal counsel (whose name

they did not disclose) to diligently seek available means to ensure that the 2008 judgment of the Makurdi High Court was implemented to the latter.

“When we were redeployed by the state government in 2005/2006, we approached the courts and at the end, the court directed the state government to pay us our entitlements.

“Moves were actually made to effect the decision of the court, but government complained that the sum of 350 million as presented by

our counsel was too much.

“We expected that an amicable resolution of the matter would have been reached but till date, we have been left in the cold, and we must confess that we are not happy with the way our counsel and the state government have handled this issue.

“In as much as we harbor no grudge against anyone, we demand that the 2008 judgement of the high court be respected by the state government in order to save us from further hardship and death of our colleagues.

Lamido Adamawa sympathizes with Yola traders over inferno From Umar Dankano,Yola

T

he traders of Yola central market that was engulfed by inferno on Monday morning where properties worth billions of Naira in Adamawa state were admonished to take the incident as part of God examination to mankind which should be taken in good faith.

Lamido of Adamawa, Dr.

Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha gave the advise in Yola yesterday during his visit to the scene where he symphatized with thousands of traders who lost their goods as a result of the incident, which according to him was the act of God. Dr. Barkindo Mustapha also called on people to be God fearing in all their deeds urging them rely on Him for absolute

attention in all their trying times.

In an interview, Head of Service Yola South Local Government Comrade Muhammad Chibado said, an assesment Commitee has been inaugurated to find the remote causes of the overnight inferno, pointing out that the local government cannot quantified the extent of damage but the destruction has affected over 85

per cent of the market.

Some traders who spoke to our Correspondent, Malam Amadu and his brother who took over the business after the death of their father said, they lost 7 stores of different goods while Madam Hajaratu Bulus explained that, she bought her shop three week back at the sum of 500,000 and she lost goods of over one million naira.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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EDITORIAL

El-Rufai’s whirlwind changes in Kaduna men. In the past, the mafia had been known to unseat a government and stop government decisions and actions that went against their interest but favoured the ordinary man. An example of the latter is elRufai’s current struggle to take back government lands excised by the powerful individuals in Kaduna and the second largest town of Zaria,

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Kaduna state governor Nasir elRufai is taking governance in his state by storm. He was inaugurated only late May 2015 but after just 4 months he has changed the face of the state socially, economically and politically. Indeed, he hit the ground running, as the saying goes. Firstly, he announced, on taking office, that he and his commissioners as well as aides would take a pay cut. Then, he downsized the government by reducing the political bureaucracy; the number of ministries was cut from over 20 to 14.

The governor next turned his attention to tackling a social menace that has refused to go away: Kaduna city’s swarming population of street beggars that include foreigners from neighbouring Niger republic.

They not only pester residents and visitors with begging bowls, but also pick the pockets of unsuspecting persons. One by one, the government has picked them off the streets. Surprisingly, political opponents including people in the governor’s party, APC, are fighting the street cleansing decision. They claim it is wicked because it is “antipeople”. How is it so unless the government is just picking the beggars up and locking them up some place without a plan to care for them.

But el-Rufai’s biggest battle would be against Kaduna’s powerful mafia. This is a league of senior serving and retired military officers, retired senior civil servants, politicians and business

One by one, the government has picked them off the streets.

Surprisingly, political opponents including people in the governor’s party, APC, are fighting the street cleansing decision home to a very powerful traditional institution, the Zazzau emirate.

The marked areas in Zaria, which involves hundreds of homes and commercial houses, are around A lhudahuda College, Central Market, and shops in partsof the city. In Kaduna, affected areas are Sardauna Memorial College, Rimi College, LEA Primary School, Maiduguri Road and LEA Primary School on Constitution Road. The land grab has reduced these public institutions to a third of their former sizes and cancelled any expansion prospects.

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Opposition to the government’s land recovery has been prompt and vicious. To give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, the action of the government has been dubbed “indiscriminate home demolition”. This has put it on the defensive. Recently, el-Rufai’s media spokesman Samuel Aruwan had to issue a statement explaining that what the government was doing was not “demolition but recovering government lands”.

We commend the governor’s courage in taking on the state’s powerful land grabbers. This courage is informed by a sincerity of purposed and firmly anchored on experience. Recall, as minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, el-Rufai implemented a comprehensive land reform to restore Abuja’s original master plan. The reform pitted him against people in government and powerful business men and women, but it made him very popular among ordinary folks.

People have urged caution in Kaduna, saying those affected should be given time to find alternative accommodation or they should be given a compensation. But this begs the question whether the lands were taken legally. The answer is no. Government is only retrieving what was illegally taken from it. What is more, it is better and safer to do it now than later.

People will complain but time is a good healer; after the first year of the government’s action, the wound will have healed and the government then can move on to other things.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 12

Opinion

Nasarawa: Maku should let Al- Makura be

By Louis Okoroma

O

ne State that has witnessed rapid and spectacular progress and transformation in recent times, is Nasarawa State, in the North Central region of Nigeria.

This State was used to being in the backwaters of politics in the country while its development was nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, it had its fair share of corruption and mismanagement while its people and infrastructure suffered.

Nasarawa was a State where before 2011, there use to be a joke that while commissioning and testrunning an overhead water tanker during the tenure of the last PDP Governor of the State, the overhead tanker came crashing down with all the guests including the governor who awarded the contract for the borehole drenched in water.

The above however, is now history. The circumstances of Nasarawa State changed radically following the election of one of its most concerned citizens and philanthropist, the businessman and developmentalist, Umaru Tanko Al- Makura as governor.

One recalls the tough task that it was for the then business mogul, Al- Makura to pull through the 2011 Governorship polls. Al- Makura was fought against the odds of both Federal power represented by then Minister of Information, Labaran Maku and entrenched local political and ethnic interest that congregated around the then PDP governor of the State, Aliyu Akwe Doma.

The situation looked difficult but propelled and encouraged by sheer human determination, fortune and

his abiding love to see change and progress in the State, Umaru Tanko Al- Makura emerged victorious by a small margin of votes to defeat all the retrogressive forces that had colonized the state into a personal milk cow. The rest is history.

Therefore it is sad, very sad indeed that one of those who used the opportunity of being in power under the PDP Federal Government and who did not care about the backwardness of Nasarawa State even when he came from the State, Mr. Labaran Maku, to be constituting an obstacle to the development agenda of the State.

Labaran Maku’s recent offensive against the administration of Governor Al- Makura, who is into his second term, is an ill- wind. One expects opinion leaders, and elites of Nasarawa State to call this careerist to order and impress on him that were it for him and his ilk, Nasarawa State would have continued to be a by- word for underdevelopment and misery.

Today, Nasarawa State, and its people can hold their head high and stand up to be counted. Under Al- Makura’s change oriented leadership, the State has become a destination for investment while its potentials for tourism and solid minerals are being developed and exploited. Altogether, the people of the State under Al- Makura’s leadership can now boast of tenured jobs, timely salaries and pensions, while the former incidence of wasting ethnic and sectarian strife has become a thing of the past, because the people of the State have come to realise that their lives have tremendously improved under Al- Makura’s leadership. It is the

realization that Al- Makura meant well for the State that enabled him to win effortlessly and with a landslide, the 2015 Governorship elections when the likes of Labaran Maku were moving from one political party to another seeking nonexistent accommodation.

One would advise, Mr. Labaran Maku, if he has the good of the State at heart as he claims, to borrow a leaf from the likes of former Governors of the State like the respectable Aliyu Akwe Doma, who have since made up their differences with AlMakura, and joined the progressive train in the State and moved on. The present adversarial stance of Maku, in the long run will cost him dearly because after his eight year tenure which will end in 2019, Al- Makura will remain the main issue and reference point in Nasarawa politics because he lifted the economic and political stature of the State. From a fledging and uncertain first step as Governor in 2011, Al- Makura administration has gathered steam and focus to the point where in a space of two years, 2014 and 2015, he has emerged the Best Governor Award winner of two of the country’s leading newspapers, the Leadership and Pilot newspapers.

The question may be asked, what is Maku’s grouse with Governor AlMakura, the modernizer? Labaran Maku, in the traditional of the opposition a la PDP, though he is now with the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) party, is opposed to the proposed Nasarawa State airport being built by Governor Al- Makura, and whose foundation stone has been laid recently. One wonders how an otherwise urbane person like Labaran Maku should

be opposed to Nasarawa State, a landlocked State in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria with all the problems of access the state has caused by poor road network and the demands of development which necessitates a quicker means of access, should oppose an airport.

Maku complains that the airport would be a white elephant project.

The astute businessman he is, AlMakura has arranged that about 75 per cent of the cost of the airport would be borne by the Chinese Consortium partnering with the Chinese. It is strange how any educated person would say any project, in which the Chinese are involved in today’s world would be a white elephant project. It’s like our former Information Minister who was party to the mess the former ruling PDP party made of the country and our national economy needs basic lessons in today’s international economics and trade!

What can be deduced from Labaran Maku’s hostile posture towards Governor Al- Makura’s development and modernization drives in Nasarawa State, is that people like the former Information Minister are appalled at the strides and effectiveness of Al- Makura’s development efforts in the State.

Second, being now in the opposition, like his brother, Olisa Metuh, spokesperson of the former ruling party, the PDP, Maku does not know the boundary between constructive criticism which aids administration and opposition for the sake of it!

Third, like his comrades in the now moribund PDP in the State, Maku is rankled at the premium that would be placed on Al- Makura’s stewardship in the State when the

story would eventually be told of how the State moved up the ladder of development.

So much has been done in the State in the last four and half years of Al- Makura’s administration that the airport project would be a fitting finale to the infrastructural revolution undertaken by AlMakura, which is geared to laying the foundation for industrialization of the State, and linking the latter to other parts of Nigeria and the World for unfettered trade and commerce.

Al- Makura’s administration was not by accident or political permutation. If Labaran Maku recalls, the action Governor of Nasarawa State was forced out of the then PDP by the undemocratic ways and pitched tent with the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) part of now President Muhammadu Buhari. Therefore there is something divine about the Al- Makura administration in that the man saw Buhari before the majority of Nigerians realized that he (PMB) would make the difference to the misrule of the PDP. Nasarawa State has had enough of empty and negative opposition. The former Information Minister should learn to join the development train driven by Governor Al- Makura, and be counted among those who supported the modernization and development of the State, or hold his peace. Governance today in Nasarawa State is more serious than was obtained in the former ruling party, the PDP, where Maku, was a star.

government slowly took control and established its directions. Everything needed to be restarted. The population was traumatized, divided, angry and lost. The economy was in shambles.

The infrastructure was primitive and the political system had collapsed.

Within a few years, Rwanda began to emerge as a new African model of development. The government made sure that the world and its own people knew the details of the genocide that had killed some 800,000 Rwandans, mostly of the Tutsi ethnic group. USA President apologized formally for its inaction at the time of the killings.

The genocide tribunal heard horror stories of man’s inhumanity to man.

The country stared down France on allocation of blame for the war.

So confident was Rwanda about its own authority and actions that it put strict limitations on international aid conditionalities and operations of NGOs. Many international NGOs had to leave the country.

Under the RPF-led coalition government, a new country emerged.

The economy waxed strong and Rwanda’s leadership started to hold its own amongst its African peers and at global forums. It was a stable, peaceful country that garnered and commanded respect.

Rwanda’s gross domestic product or GDP grew from US$416 in 1994 to US$1,784 in 2015. Its agricultural sector continues to be a major contributor to the economy, amounting to 32.5 per cent of the GDP. A new and growing service sector overtook agriculture as the largest sector with 43.6 per cent of GDP, whilst mining and tourism form significant parts of the growth.

Rwanda is the only country in the world with female majority in its house of representatives (deputies), and a

third of its senators are women. Life expectancy is improving dramatically and corruption is very low.

The Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance 2015 report provides a comprehensive indication to appraise the east African country. According to the Index, Rwanda ranks 11 amongst 54 African countries in the overall governance scheme. It has a score of 60.7 whilst the average score is 50.1. Mauritius has the highest score of 79.9 and Somalia has the least score of 8.5. In areas of “safety and rule of law”, ‘sustainable economic opportunities” and “human development” Rwanda impressively scores 12, 7, and 9, respectively.

However, under “participation and human rights”, it has a low score of 30.

Rwanda’s positive attributes of social, economic and human development are depressed by dictatorial and autocratic tendencies, including low level of tolerance for dissent.

The critical question that Rwanda may answer is whether there can be a democratic way to retain a good government, against the possible take over of a country by a thieving, tyrannical elected cabal.

In 2014, speaking in the USA to students on when he planned to leave office, President Kagame stated: “I think at some point we need to leave countries and people to decide their own affairs… I’m here to do business on behalf of Rwandans…let’s wait and see what happens as we go.

Whatever will happen, we’ll have an explanation.”

The explanation came in 2015 as a test of President Kagame’s popularity.

The first step was a petition nationwide by 3.8 million signatories, some 60 per cent of voters. They demanded a change of the constitution that would lift the restriction on President

Kagame to seek another term of office.

The mass action sought an extension of another seven year term. Then a reduction of presidential terms of office to five years for a maximum of two terms, and for which President Kagame would still be eligible to run. The mandate extension would only apply to President Kagame who could then stay in office till 2034, if he continues to seek reelection.

Next step – both the lower and upper houses acceded to the popular request. Then the Supreme Court was asked to rule on the constitutionality of such an amendment. It did in a unanimous decision. The road was clear for President Kagame to extend his term of office, but he would not accept the obligation until a national referendum was carried out. The referendum of December 18 overwhelmingly affirmed the changes.

Many leaders in African countries and other parts of the world have modified constitutions to allow them have extension of mandates. In Africa in 2014, Burkina Faso’s former President Blaise Compaore was ousted by popular opposition when he tried it. In 2015, Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso did it relatively easily and Burundi’s President Nkurunziza imposed it and continues to face resistance on it; Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila is struggling to make sure his change is successful. Most constitutions in Africa have term limits but many do not. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni at the height of his popularity in 2005 expunged term limits from the constitution.

Nowhere has the mandate extension followed the unusual steps that Rwanda’s President Kagame’s modification went through. It cannot

be doubted that it was a popular action. The arguments in support are based on President Kagame’s record of impressive performance; fragility of the country and importance of consolidating gains made against a tradition of ethnic division, wars and instability over several decades. The opposition parties are small, weak and hardly visible in any important matters.

Opposition to the constitutional changes came from within the country and outside, particularly USA and United Kingdom. Mainly, the changes were seen as a continuation of a negative tradition of long stay in office by political leaders who perpetuate themselves in office; the undesirable tinkering with the constitution; and stifling of politically uncomfortable alternative views.

By making the extension of his mandate to conform with legal, legislative and national expressions that appear so overwhelming, President Kagame sets new parameters. At the least, future similar requests for mandate extension can be measured against such standards of popular demand.

President Kagame is aware of the quagmire of power but he would not leave the stage when the ovation is loudest. The longer one stays in power the more the struggles, and, like a quicksand, the deeper one sinks. In his acceptance speech December 31, he said: “But I do not think our aim is to have a President for life, nor is it what I would want. Sooner rather than later, this office will be transferred from one person to another…”

Louis Okoroma, a Public Affairs Analyst writes in from Abuja.

The Kagame quagmire, or is he different?

By Bunmi Makinwa

W

ith his “I can only accept” end of year address, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame opened a new chapter in the “third term” discussion. How does a sitting president seek popular support to extend his term of office beyond what is stipulated in the constitution?

There is a considerable roar of disapproval on third term agendas, but increasingly African leaders are finding ways to normalize a change of the constitution for additional mandate terms. President Kagame has initiated new ways to make the people “compel” a change.

In October 1994, as one of the first wave of international development actors in Rwanda a few months after the genocide, I observed teenaged soldiers who stood ramrod straight at the drive way to the famous Hotel des Mille Collines in Rwanda.

They stood at attention with steady eyes scouting round as they oozed assurance of absolute security in the capital city of Kigali, and throughout the country.

These fighters, men and women of the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), symbolized the new discipline and thoroughness that had swept into the country after years of war. The then 37-year-old Paul Kagame was at the head. At various times Minister of Defence, Vice-President and President, his new government applied exceptional acumen, unparalleled commitment and strict discipline to manage the country.

Against unprecedented odds, overwhelmed initially by thousands of NGOs that “captured” the country with ideas and aid, the new

Makinwa is a communication for leadership entrepreneur based in South Africa and Nigeria.

Comment Dasukigate: Our collective burden PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

By Denja Yaqub

S

ince the inauguration of the current government, it has become clear that Nigeria has been under siege for decades, vacillating from one corrupt government to the other with leaders who either lack patriotic commitment for the collective interests of the country or came into office with a deliberate intention to heartlessly destroy the country.

It is still difficult to decipher how people placed in position of authority and responsibility to secure the country and her people could consider monies allocated for the battle against terrorism as their individual shares of our collective wealth.

What has come out of the ongoing investigations of stolen funds, not just the ones involving the immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, Rtd, is a fact that the country’s collective interests, including the interest of the government under whose watch these criminalities were pervasively carried out with unbridled impunity, matters less.

Any responsible government should be interested in leaving verifiable legacies that adds value to human lives and society.

Being the first time Nigeria will transit from one political party to another, it is once again another opportunity Nigerians have to be inundated with revelations on how our resources were diverted to private vaults. Only military

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regimes, especially the one led

by Major General Mohammadu Buhari, which terminated the profligate Shehu Shagari civilian government in December 1983, has been able to expose, recover, prosecute and appropriately jail politicians and public officers who railroaded public funds to personal accounts not just in Nigerian banks, but foreign banks especially in Europe and America.

The conducts of politicians and public officials under Shagari’s watch predictably terminated the second republic. Obviously, governments that followed, with the exception of the BuhariIdiagbon military junta, grew bigger in record as having deepened corruption, system manipulation and infrastructural decay much more than the Shagari government.

But what is specifically frightening, to say the least, is the cruel manner with which public officers wickedly stole public funds during the last administration headed by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the first PhD holder to occupy the country’s apex position.

Before now, even those who proclaimed the Jonathan government as the most corrupt would never have believed that corruption was indeed as pervasive to the extent that human lives were of no concern. We were so audaciously robbed in manners worse than the common armed robbery which has taken over the place of productive employment in Nigeria. While the entire country was held captive under consistent threats of ruthlessly destabilising

blasts, not just in the North East where terrorists held sway just as the administration kept offering consistent plastic reassurances of its military’s capability to smash the gang of armed urchins promoted to terrorists of global repute by government’s ineptitude, some heartless racketeers in top positions in the administration were busy funnelling funds meant to procure superior arms to their cronies’ accounts either for campaigns, spiritual consultations or other egocentric personal concerns, while ordinary citizens were consistently murdered in their thousands in several parts of the country, including the Federal Capital.

Indeed, nearly all the Local Government Areas of Borno State were seized and proclaimed a caliphate separate from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a country whose President and Commander in Chief swore to protect its sovereignty.

It is morally nauseating that the Commander in Chief of the armed forces at that period was busy signing memos for the release of funds for arm purchases to his topmost security adviser without any knowledge that the funds found their way elsewhere. It is even an irresponsible excuse for any leader to deny knowledge of how funds as important as those meant to secure his country were dispensed.

To even think that any serving or former personnel of the World Bank would be involved in the monumental financial sleaze as it has obviously been revealed

to have occurred under the watch of a former top staff of the bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was outlandishly referred to as Coordinating Minister of the Economy under the Jonathan administration during which public funds were massively looted is a clear sludge on the bank, a bank that prides itself as an advocate of meticulous conduct.

Ngozi may have been putting shameless defence in public places, but she most certainly can’t clean herself off the mess the disappearance of public funds under her watch as Finance Minister. All the revelations so far, either by those already arrested and facing trials or reported cases in the media call her moral and professional worthiness to question. In decent climes, she disqualifies herself from further public service; but neither The World Bank nor any of its neo liberal appendages or collaborators would give up such an important agent of second slavery so easily even when they continue to proclaim the country as one of the world’s most corrupt.

The fraud committed under the watch of this Coordinating Minister is not just in financial quantum, but even in statistics as she proclaimed a dying economy as leading the African continent in progress even when the entire country know no difference between day and night as most hours of the 365 days a year were without public electricity with a population estimated at over 170 million without functioning manufacturing industries, despite

several millions of unemployed graduates.

It is indeed beyond criminality that a country wobbling under collapsed infrastructures will have its financial resources in trillions of dollars in the private vaults of public officers whose responsibility was to revivify all sectors of the country back to operation to improve the quality of lives of the citizens.

The figures of monies stolen by public officers in Nigeria is absolutely earth-shaking, disheartening and an expose of the level of insanity of those who ruled this country to ruins.

And it is more tearfully painful that the perpetrators lack remorse as they shamelessly romance the judiciary as if it was their rights to steal, when indeed they should have been shot dead after recovering their loots.

That public funds can so easily be stolen in Nigeria is not just a blushing display of the dangers of a cancerous system that is murderously annihilating our people, tearing off our country and globally smashing our collective image but a clear exposition of the deepening level of our collective docility and felonious tolerance of bad governance. We, as a people must wake, shed off ethnic and primordial considerations and deal with bad governance and all its vestiges, otherwise we will watch our country go down in total abyss.

to the further direction of enterprise one desires. Nothing could be simpler and more engaging, even dignifying than this. For many in the Diaspora, including myself, it saves us a great deal of hassles. You send goods to a few friends and relatives, and turn them into small time entrepreneurs.

Those who repay stay in the trade, defaulters who fail to remit monies into one’s account are out. And that means, they will never constitute a bother to one anymore.

This is the outline of how I am able to keep my family going. Not only am I able to handle my bills, it also helps to put a little smile on the faces of many people in Abuja, Kano, Jos, Maidugiri and Adamawa, where my customers are based. Also, once or twice a month, there are clients who are rich enough to pay their way to Dubai but do not wish to come personally. With a simple WhatsApp message they put one to assignment. They offer the equivalent in US dollar of their return air tickets to one in return for sourcing goods for them, purchasing, and ferrying this to Nigeria on their behalf. The profit is multi-faceted for me. First, its in the cost of their air tickets for my service, then the shop owners in Dubai also give me between five and 10 percent commission after purchase, and I still make a commission from sending the goods to Nigeria.

The more reliable one is, the more clients one gets back home – from one or two people, it grows into a handful.

This was my principal line of business engagement before the policy of stifling everyone of foreign exchange by the government in Nigeria. As a journalist, I don’t need a lecture to

know that Nigeria is more of a trading nation that anything else. Her citizens are all over the continents of the world engaged in limited or extensive trading.

I am not an economist, and this fact ought to be obvious to anyone.

My simplest of expectations from any government in Nigeria is to leverage on the reality of Nigeria as a trading nation to build the national economy as well as empower her teeming population. But what one gets is a most unthinkable of policies. Shut down every avenue of legitimate enterprise by your citizens and keep an ignoble straight face in shoving your citizens to the precipice of desperation.

The thought of returning to the newsroom in Nigeria and placing my future in the hands of platforms that have made records of unfulfilled obligations to personnel does not look like an option. And this is even when I decide not to factor the escalating threats to my life arising from the stories I did on activities of the Islamic State affiliate in Nigeria. The activities of insurgents were not the only stories I focused on. I reported on the environment as well. But because most of my stories revealed failings by constituted authorities, I was regularly put at cross with them.

The situation had so degenerated that my family was practically living a nightmare. Arising from this, I had to run for dear life. Essentially, this is why I find myself today in a foreign land. So, has the situation changed as to warrant a return with my family. Not in any way. In fact, as a way of remaining anonymous, I had committed time and resources into

trading to keep me out of media traffic.

To make the best of the opportunities in a society as organised as Dubai, you do not need the trail of unnecessary controversy.

Journalism, nevertheless, is not a total waste. It is the little goodwill I earned in the profession that I have deployed in business. All over the organised world, people are in need of integrity. Nigerians have earned the reputation of being in deficiency, generally, of integrity. For me that integrity is my selling point. People are reluctant to do business with one at first. But when they start and feel your uncommon integrity, they do not leave you.

For once, my children began to enjoy a settled life. And quite amazingly, as I discovered, locked in some part of their memory is the trail of the nightmares we suffered as family in Nigeria. These children today associate a life in Nigeria as a life of nightmare. I have been unable to change that. The UAE is for them a definition of Nirvana.

Nigeria is beautiful. Abuja is peaceful and somewhat decent, but where I come from, Borno, life is short, nasty and traumatic for so many families. It cannot serve as a model of a society where any parent wants to bring up his or her children, if he has an option. With children, one is surprised how much of what happens with adults they read perfectly. It is not the savagery of the Boko Haram crisis, I discovered, that scares them about Nigeria. It was to do with the harassment and arrest they witnessed against their father by Nigerian security personnel.

On one occasion, I was picked up by security operatives just after getting my kids at close of school. The very idea that I had sources among the leadership of the insurgents seemed like an instant death sentence. Sadly, even when I decided to retire from active reporting in the last months before my self-exile, the name Salkida became synonymous with the crisis. Many Nigerians, even some professional journalists, couldn’t appreciate that a journalist can build a confidence level with a source in whatever position.

This resource of having contact among the leadership of the insurgents had served and could still serve better purposes. On a couple of occasions, the government had reached out to me and I believe they are still in a position to use that opening to achieve greater good for all. I believe I owe society a duty to deploy my professional skills to save lives and engender peace.

As my family and I are beginning to settle down in a new, serene environment, this policy cessation of foreign transactions through MasterCard has put one in a new point of despair and exasperation. I have waited in vain to hear any official explanation and steps to cushion the possible unintended effects on citizens. I have asked questions, and still am asking: what does Nigeria take her citizens to be? Some vermin that must be decimated and exterminated?

I have been effectively rendered helpless and I need help and answers.

Yaqub is an Assistant Secretary at the headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abuja.

CBN Forex restriction: Any hope for growing and legitimate enterprise?

By Ahmad Salkida

F

or many in Nigeria, living abroad is synonymous with wealth and affluence. But just like the coin, there is always the other side of dwelling abroad. Hardly do people talk of the other side. That other side is indeed what paints the real picture.

The side most talked about is more of the facade.

The other side is a life of struggle to guarantee livelihoods, both abroad and back home. While many make money abroad to support families back home, others use living abroad as a two-way-street to make ends meet.

By and large, there are millions of Nigerians who survive on the growing population of Diaspora citizens.

Many Nigerians I know, living abroad, including myself, rely on commodity trade to keep body and soul together. If it does not feature as a main source of income, it comes in handy to defray the high cost of living or a way to keep friends and family members back home engaged in one business or the other, instead of them expecting and depending on handouts from one.

In my case, instead of facing the constant pressure of monetary demands from relatives – for money I don’t have – I rather send some goods to a relative to sell, and while I make less than 20 percent out of the sale, the relative earns double or triple of that amount in profit after sales. They deposit the amount, making up my capital and the marginal profit in my Naira Account in Nigeria.

With one’s MasterCard, one is able to access the sum and commit it

Ahmad Salkida is a Public Affairs Analyst.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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News Fire tragedy: Gov. Bello wants fire fighting unit in markets.

From Yakubu Mustapha,Minna

T

he Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has called for functional fire service unit in markets so as to combat the negative impact of fire incidence in major markets across the country.

Bello who stressed the need for the fire fighting facility in our markets after an on-the-spot assessment of the inferno that raised 48 lock-up shops at Abdulkadir Kure Ultra Modern Market in Minna early hours of Sunday.

He lamented the incessant fire outbreak in market places across the country, maintained that further inferno can be forestalled or curtailed when all major markets in the country have functional fire fighting units.

When briefed that the Minna market fire disaster was aggravated by some small generators locked up in the affected shops, the governor said state government will install an industrial power generator in the market, to address the frequent fire outbreak in the market caused by the generators.

Governor Bello then directed the Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Kabiru Abbas Musa to find out the capacity of the generator that would be suitably sufficient for the market.

He said as soon the generator is installed it would be prohibited for anyone to use generator in the market.

The governor further discloses that government is making efforts to improve and upgrade facilities in the market.

He then commiserated with victims of the Minna Market inferno and enjoined them to see the incident as an act of God. He said the state government would assess. The extent of damage and loss of the victims with a view to assisting them within available resources.

Subsidies, tax holidays on imports hurting local industries – Rep

By Umar Muhammad Puma

A

lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Rep Abdullahi Faruk (APC-Kebbi) has expressed displeasure over the negative impact of the indiscriminate grant of subsidies, waivers and tax holidays on the survival of companies operating across the country.

Faruk who) sponsored the ‘Anti-dumping legislation and countervailing bill’ which passed through second reading late last year was overwhelming supported by the members and referred to House Committee on Industry for further legislative action.

The bill seeks to provide antidumping and countervailing remedies in Nigeria which shall

be used to offset the impact of injurious subsidies and provide safe landing to domestic industries, producers of like products or those producers whose collective output of the products constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of those producers except that where producers are related to the exporters or importers or are themselves importers of the allegedly dumped products.

Recall that the House of Representatives had passed several resolutions against indiscriminate use and abuse of waivers on importation of rice, palm oil, steel, vegetable, cement and other goods produced in the country.

He emphasized the need for imposition of anti-dumping duties, explained that proposed duties would help in “combating

dumping which means an exporter is setting prices at such a low point, that they are intentionally losing money in order to harm the domestic producers of the importing country.”

He argued that “they e root cause of the artificially low price is what differentiates anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Antidumping duties are for combating ‘dumping’, which means that an exporter is setting prices at such a low point, that they are intentionally losing money in order to harm the domestic producers of the importing country.

“It is predatory pricing model where the exporter prices its goods below production costs or below what they sell in their home market. Countervailing duties seek to counteract low prices that are a result of subsidies.

Governments often offer all sorts of subsidies on exports in the form of tax breaks and credits. Because these subsidies, exporters are able to offer lower prices than domestic producers in the importing country. Countervailing duties level the playing field and negate the advantage that exporters get from subsidies,” he noted.

“It is a predatory pricing model where the exporter prices its goods below production costs or below what they sell in their home market.”

According to him, the bill which provides for the establishment of the anti-dumping and countervailing measures advisory committee, when passed into law will regulate and control products manufactured outside the country, imported and sold at ridiculously low prices.

ZURU GSS old boys donate 500 chairs, tables to school

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

A

s part of efforts to compliment the government in promoting the education sector, the Government Secondary School, Zuru Old Boys Association has procured five hundred chairs and tables for onward distribution to the classes for students used.

Briefing newsmen shortly after the Annual General Meeting held at the school premises in Zuru yesterday, the National President of the Association, Musa Danbena, said that, it is necessary to provide chairs and tables to the school in order to make the students comfortable in learning.

“In the all school out of 100 percent is only 20 percent classes that have chairs and table while students sit on the bear floor” he lamented.

The national president who expressed dismay and described the situation as unfortunate, said that in their days, they all enjoined the privilege of using chairs, blankets, mosquitoes net and even playing grounds for different games.

He then appealed to its members to donate generously as the administrative of the school was burnt down and up till this time nothing has been done.

Musa Danbena also commended the 82 set of the school who donated some teaching materials to the school authority and hereby appealing to others to emulate them.

Officials of the Borno Command of THE National Security and Civil Defence Corps displaying 60 cans containing petroleum products recovered from a fuel station allegedly diverting the commodity to black market operators during a late night raid, on Tuesday in Maiduguri.

Photo: NAN

Southern Kaduna attacks: Traditional leader wants El-Rufai to resettle displaced victims From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

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fter series of attacks that bedeviled the Attakar community in Kaura LG between 2012 and 2013 in Southern Kaduna State, Agwam Takad Mr Tobias Nkom Wada has appealed to the state government to assist in resettling displaced victims with building material as most houses were destroyed beyond repair.

The traditional leader expressed gratitude to the state government for timely intervention by bringing an end to all the attacks in Southern

part of the state.

It could be recalled that since the year 2011 the people of the area knew no peace as unknown gunmen always attacked the communities there at night.

It was gathered that such attacked left many people dead with houses destroyed in the area.

Speaking at a thanksgiving organized by the community held at the Primary School Fadan Atakar yesterday, the royal father appreciated God for the restoration of normalcy in all the affected villages.

According to him, the community organised

thanksgiving service to celebrate the return of peace in the area., “ The special event replaced the annual Akat Cultural festival in view of its significance.

Although the attacks led to massive loss of lives and property but the community still considered it necessary to organize a thanksgiving service to acknowledge God’s unfailing love,” he said.

Earlier, President of Takad Community Development Association, Mr Ishaya Kundient Samaila said the Takad community had since forgiven perpetrators of the attacks,

saying they extend a hand of friendship to them.

Mr Samaila urged the government at all levels to consider embarking on developmental projects in the area with the prevailing peaceful atmosphere.

He particular appealed for the extension of water supply from Manchok to Attakar villages to save the villagers from sharing water with animals from streams and ponds.

The President also appealed for the elevation of the Takad traditional Institution from a third class to second class status.

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Gov Dickson behind electoral violence-ex – Gov Sylva From Isaac Money, Yengoa

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Bayelsa State guber election, Chief Timipre Sylva, has accused the state Governor, Chief Seriake Dickson, of being behind most of the violence perpetrated during the guber election in the state.

Former governor Sylva was responding to the several accusations levelled against him by Governor Seriake Dickson during a World Press Conference, describing Dickson as a frustrated man that needed medical examination.

“All violence at the last election was perpetrated

by Governor Dickson. The frustrated Governor has accused me of violence. Bayelsans knew me as a peaceful governor throughout my tenure”, noted Sylva who said “the press conference was in response to Dickson’s vituperations against him, the APC as a party and the Federal Government”.

Chief Sylva who displayed several of his supporters wounded by members of PDP, including spent cartridges, said Governor Dickson through his agents perpetrated violence against his supporters in Sagbama, Ekeremor, Nembe and other areas of the state during the last election.

“Governor Dickson supervised the vandalization of APC demise in Sagabama, Nembe, Yenagoa etc. In areas where APC won were cancelled”, added Sylva who also accused Dickson’s government of extra judicial killings.

He further alleged that the victory of the PDP in most of the LGAs was procured by violence adding that, “We never planned

for violence but free and fair election. Dickson procured the so called victory by violence. The so called lead in the election was procured by unfair means. The APC is poised to dampen all the unfair leads. I assure you, the PDP government is on its way out”.

Chief Sylva, who alluded to the news of support from Mrs. Patience Jonathan, however rejected it, saying “I heard that the First Lady is supporting me.

I don’t want her support now. I

reject the First Lady’s support”.

In answer to a question, Sylva denied ever using Federal might during the election, saying “no federal might as alleged by Dickson. The army in Bayelsa is only engaged in their constitutional duty. Governor Dickson is crying so loud and yet he is the aggressor. All the problems Dickson is shouting about are from his head, and he should be examined”.

The APC guber hopeful further boosted that in a free and

fair elections “I will win Dickson hands down”, further accusing Dickson of using militants throughout the election while calling on security agencies to beam their searchlight on the governor.

He further raised alarm on the Saturday rescheduled election, saying “PDP is planning to disrupt election in Southern Ijaw. He is planning to unleash violence again in Southern Ijaw, to scuttle the election. Any violence in Southern Ijaw should be blamed

Lai Mohammed behind Olisa Metuh’s ordeal - Lagos PDP From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

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R-L: Bayelsa state Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, and Ondo state Governor/Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, during the latter’s solidarity visit to Governor Dickson recently at the Government House, in Yenagoa.

Senator Wakili, 39 others in T/Balewa LG protest over commissioner nominee From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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ot less than 40 stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State protest over the Commissioner nominee from the area, Barrister Mohd Nasiru submitted to the state assembly

by Governor Abubakar.

A protest letter dated 5th January, 2016 jointly signed by Senator Wakili, state APC Legal Adviser, Barrister Lawal Ibrahim and 39 others made available to newsmen in Bauchi yesterday, addressed to Governor

on Governor Dickson”, decried Sylva who expressed confidence in the ability of INEC to conduct a free and fair rescheduled election in the state.

He however called for the review of the INEC as constituted by former President Goodluck Jonathan in the state.

“I have absolute confidence in INEC, but the political apparatus to deliver the former President Jonathan as constituted in Bayelsa state should be dismantled.”

Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar and copied to the Speaker, State House of Assembly, the state APC chairman, Commissioner of Police and the State Director of Service, State House Annex.

The letter reads: “We write on behalf of the APC Executives and Stakeholders to wish His Excellency a prosperous New Year and to lodge our complaint against your nominee to the Bauchi State House of Assembly for commissioner representing our Local Government in person of Barr. Mohd Nasiru on the following grounds: That the nomination of Bar. Mohd Nasiru did not comply with Section 197

(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

“We are aware that it is the prerogative of His Excellence to appoint a Commissioner.

However, the power is subject to compliance with Section 14 (4) of the Constitution which requires the observance of giving the people a sense of belonging.

“By the above, your Excellency may wish to recall a moment at your chambers in Abuja where you promised to us that you would never go on your own without taking us into confidence on all appointments emanating from our Local Government.”

The signatories stressed that they were not consulted before

the nomination as such they were not given a sense of belonging by the governor.

They noted that the nominee is not a party man and is not in close contact with the grass root as such he cannot sustain the implementation of the APC manifesto which will ensure cohesion for the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

“In view of the above, we urge your Excellency to consider the need to yield to the demand of our people and consider replacing the nominee with any more qualified individual in touch with the grass root and party membership.

he Lagos state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday accused the Minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed of instigating the persecution of the of its National Publicity Secretary, chief Olisa Metuh.

The party in a statement by its publicity Secretary, Gani Taofik said that Metuh’s arrest is only being made convenient by the issue of money allegedly involved.

Taofik said that the Minister of Information who still sits as the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling party had vowed to clamp down on the PDP publicity office superintended by the now arrested Olisa Metuh.

“This trend is dangerous and is the last resort to APC attempts to compromise some of us. We have also been receiving funny calls from unknown numbers of threats to our persons if we continue to expose the APC governors.

“Unless Olisa Metuh is approached within the rule of law and immediately granted administrative bail pending any charge, we shall begin to seek asylum in safe countries.

This is no doubt a totalitarian government and the world should be informed,” Taofik said.

According to the PDP, “Lai Mohammed also got monumental sums from Lagos state to promote the APC campaigns,” accusing the APC of ‘pot calling kettle black’ as the APC “diverted billions of dollars meant for the completion of the now moribund light rail project; ferry jetties; Eko Atlantic project; 20 million Dollars UNESCO grant; and also plunged the state into huge foreign debt of over 3.6 billion dollars in order to capture the presidency.”

The PDP however urged Alhaji Lai Mohammed to allow intellectual engagements rather than military-like engagements.

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Page 17

Politics Election: Rights commission hits Bayelsa state to avoid violation

By Albert Akota

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Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde (4th left), Senate President Bukola Saraki (5th left), in a group photograph with senators, during the IMF Managing Director’s visit to the National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Niger SIEC expresses readiness for LG polls From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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he Niger state Independent Electoral Commission, NSIEC, has said that the commission was prepared for the conduct of the January 16, 2016 local government elections in the 25 local government areas of the state.

The Public Relations Officer of the commission, Mohammed Ali made the disclosure yesterday in Minna, stressing that logistics for the conduct of the election had been put in place insisting with the state

electoral body “ready to go”.

The poll was earlier scheduled for November 7 last year which was shifted for what the NSIEC described as logistic reasons.

The image maker of NSIEC said not less than 3185 ad-hoc staff had been trained while the Independent National Electoral Commission is assisting them with the voters register, ballot boxes and some technical staff.

According to him the commission is to employ the use of the Card Readers used by the Independent

National Electoral Commission in the last general election saying that “we have already started the training of the 14,000staff that will operate the card readers”.

He disclosed that apart from depending on the server of the INEC the state commission had already installed its own server to ensure adequate storage of information.

“I can inform you that we are the first state electoral commission to install a server for the purpose of election” Mohammed Ali submitted.

Ali assured all political parties

and their candidates that the commission will be fair and transparent in the conduct of the election but urged them to ensure all forms of lawlessness including thuggery did not take place before during and after the election.

Consequently, the non sensitive materials for the election have already been sent to the headquarters of the commission in the 25 local government areas while the sensitive materials will be distributed on the 14 of this month two days to the election.

Bayelsa supplementary poll: TMG deploys 99 Quick Count Observers

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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he Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said it will deploy a total of 99 Quick Count observers for the supplementary governorship election in Bayelsa slated for on January 9, 2016.

The supplementary vote will hold in Southern Ijaw Local Government as well as in other polling units where elections were cancelled on December 5, 2015.

TMG will thereafter address a Press Conference in Abuja to share its findings with the public.

Part of the statement issued

by TMG reads: “Quick Count is an advanced and scientific election observation methodology, utilizing well-established statistical principles and sophisticated information technologies to provide timely and accurate information on

the conduct of voting and counting process throughout Election Day. It is the only election observation methodology that independently verifies official results as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Throughout the supplementary Election Day on January 9, 2016, TMG Quick Count observers will keep an eye on the process in Southern Ijaw and other affected polling units. The Quick Count observers will be at their preassigned polling units all day to report on various processes, including set up by INEC officials, accreditation, voting, counting and announcement of results.

“Immediately after INEC announces, TMG Quick Count will verify the final result as announced by the electoral umpire. The Quick Count verification of the result will be based on impeccable data from

a representative random sample of polling units.

“The Quick Count data would give the electorate, political parties, voters and other stakeholders important insights on whether the outcome of the election reflects the vote cast by the people of Bayelsa or not. It will be recalled that the Bayelsa governorship election of December 5, 2015 was declared inconclusive as a result of violence that undermined the process.

“Political actors mobilized militants to do their bidding resulting in the harassment and intimidation of voters, election observers and INEC officials. All these happened in spite of early warning signs from TMG PreElection Observation reports, which indicated a likelihood of violence in a number of Local Government Areas.

“TMG calls on the political parties and the contestants to ensure the sad

incidents of December 5, 2015 are not repeated come January 9, 2016.

TMG calls on the security agencies to ensure the space is secured for the peaceful conduct of the poll on January 9, 2016.

“Above all, TMG urges eligible voters coming out to exercise their franchise in Southern Ijaw and other affected polling units, to conduct themselves with utmost decorum.

The Quick Count will closely watch the process to ensure the votes count.

“In line with its mandate to provide timely and accurate information on the election, the Quick Count National Information Centre (NIC) for the Bayelsa supplementary election will be located at the TMG National Secretariat located at No 78, First Avenue, Gwarimpa FCT Abuja.

The NIC will be opened to the media, civil society organizations and the international community all through supplementary Election Day”.

he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said that it had put huge logistics in place to storm Bayelsa state this weekend to ensure human rights are respected in the supplementary election at Southern Ijaw local government area of the state.

Making this known yesterday in Abuja during a courtesy visit led by the executive director of the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie, the Executive Secretary of the NHRC Prof. Bem Angwe said no institutions would be allowed to jeopardize the rights of Nigerians in an election.

Prof. Bem Angwe who could not hide his feelings warned Bayalsans and environs who don’t have any business in the forthcoming supplementary election to stay clear from polling units because such illegal activities wouldn’t be tolerated.

According to him, the commission had received reports of all violators during 2015 elections as well as hate speeches which would soon face the commission and promised to work with all security agencies to ensure Nigerians rights are protected before, during and after the election.

“Let’s me tell you, our mandate is to promote the rights of Nigerians in all ramifications. In this regard, the commission will hit Bayalsa state to monitor the supplementary election to ensure rights are respected, we know our security agencies would leave up to expectation because the law of the land must be respected, “ he said.

Speaking earlier, the executive director of the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), Frank Tietie commended the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe for his proactive measure to protect the rights of Nigerians.

He then called on the commission to make a statement to ensure the military are not withdrawn from their duty ahead of the election.

“There have been deafening voices lately calling for the withdrawal of the military from directly providing security during elections in Nigeria and particularly in the coming elections in Bayalsa state.

We firmly believe that the contemplation of withdrawing the military from providing security during the Bayalsa elections scheduled to hold on the 9th of this month, betrays a devious and selfish disregard for the security of human life, “he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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Politics Gov Ortom APC seeks cooperation reassures on with China’s ruling party improved citizen’s wellbeing

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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overnor Samuel of Benue State has reassured the people that his administration will improve on their wellbeing, maintaining that economic hardship will be eradicated this year.

The governor who gave this assurance yesterday at the Benue Peoples’ House during a courtesy visit on him by leaders of Ikyurav in Katsina-Ala local government area of the State, promised to be transparent in governance of the State.

He intimated that several reforms particularly local government reform committee have been set up to make that arm of government efficient.

While averring that the country is experiencing economic down turn especially with the falling standard of the naira, he urged the people to return to their farms to ensure food sufficiency.

Governor Ortom promised to address the myriad of infrastructural deficiency facing the people including lack of access roads, electricity, non employment of their sons in the College of Education, KatsinaAla that is sited in Ikyurav, poor primary school structures as well as qualified teachers and lack of a council hall for traditional chief who hold in meeting under mango trees.

Leader of the delegation Chief Abu Shuluwa lamented that they have suffered marginalization for so long because they are a minute group.

He however, expressed confidence that the governor would address the problems facing the people.

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday signaled its intention to enter into partnership and cooperation with the Communist Party of China (CPC), the founding and ruling political party of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

This was a fallout of meeting held between the APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni and a Chinese government delegation led by the Chargé d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Qin Jian. The meeting was held at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.

At the meeting, the Chinese Chargé d’affaires, Qin Jian, disclosed to the APC leadership that the Chinese President Xi Jinping has

invited President Muhammadu Buhari to China on a state visit on a yet-to-be-announced date.

Mai Mala Buni who was represented at the meeting by APC’s Director of Organisation, Alhaji Kyari Abubakar, said: “China is a very important technical and trading partner to Nigeria. Both countries have enjoyed excellent social, economic and cultural relations.

As China is aware, Nigeria recently witnessed a change of government which ushered in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The time for better cooperation between both countries is now as the APC and the President Buhari administration works to deliver on its Change mandate.”

He said healthy relations between Nigeria and China will ultimately be

of benefit to Africa. At party level, the APC National Secretary identified capacity building and collaboration as areas Nigeria’s APC and the Chinese CPC can partner.

Meanwhile, Qin Jian reported that following the successful December 2015 Forum on ChinaAfrica Co-operation (FOCAC) summit which brought together Chinese senior government officials and most African heads of government to Johannesburg, South Africa, the Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced a $60 billion aid package for Africa.

The aid package would finance a broad range of assistance programmes to help Africa industrialize, modernize its agricultural production, boost the skills of its workers, build

infrastructure and improve its health care.

Qin Jian said 2016 marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and China.

“We (China) have enjoyed positive and beneficial partnership with Nigeria in healthcare, economy, infrastructure development, social/ cultural exchange and other areas.

Nigeria has the biggest economy in Africa and is a very important partner with China.

“The Chinese CPC and Nigeria’s ruling APC will pursue better cooperation which will be of benefit to both nations. Both parties can share experiences on how to develop the economy and protect the environment as well as technical support and capacity building where necessary.” Qin Jian said.

L-R: Bayelsa state Deputy Governorship Candidate of APC, Elder Willson Igiri, Bayelsa state Governorship Candidate of APC, Timiprie Sylva, state Chairman of the party, Tiwei Orumigha, during a news conference on Southern Ijaw re-run governorship election, yesterday in Yenagoa.

Photo: NAN

$2.1Bn arms deal, figment of APC’s imagination, Dokpesi

By Ahmed Abubakar

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he Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi has said that the present claim by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the $2.1 billion arms deal is only but a figment of imagination.

Chief Dokpesi said this yesterday at AIT conference hall while receiving a certificate as a patron by the National Youth Vanguard after a solidarity rally calling for the release of the party’s national publicity secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh.

According to Chief Dokpesi, “I

must hasten to assure you that there is nothing like the much flaunted 2.1 Billion USD arms deal. The competent courts of our land would sooner or later prove this coinage aimed at decimating the leadership and membership of our great party to be nothing but a hoax”.

He said “I wish to emphasize that the current ruling party is making efforts to impede our journey to political maturity through the manipulation of the federal system to serve purely partisan interest.

“Our party is indeed experiencing a massive persecution, political reprisal and vendetta, of the kind never before seen on

our shores and targeted at the leadership, membership and indeed sympathizers of the PDP by the APC Government of the day”, he alleged.

“I speak with regards to several matters before the law courts of our country concerning PDP members and especially my humble self on charges filed against us by the Federal Government and would crave your indulgence not to make any comments as doing so would be subjudice.

“However let me call on all members of the PDP nationwide especially you members of the Youth Vanguard to remain firmly resolute and stand behind the

leadership of the party at all levels in our bid to ensure the party gets fair hearing and judgments in all the cases at the various election tribunals. The provisions of Section 287 of our Constitution are very clear on the obedience of court orders by all arms of government”.

Also a leader in the party, Alhaji Gabon said they owe no one any apology in their last 16 years as a governing party. There is no state of the federation that has not witnessed the political transformation courtesy of the PDP”, he stated.

“Even though we may have made our mistakes, nobody has the monopoly of rascality, nobody has

the monopoly of totalitarianism”, he said.

He said it was the PDP members that stood against the dictatorial government of late Sani Abacha to entrench the democratic setting everyone is now enjoying including the present APC administration.

The leader of the National Youth Vanguard, Ambassador Ibrahim Bala Aboki said they are honoring Dokpesi for his doggedness and steadfast in his resolve to support the youth in spite of the persecution he is suffering.

He also charged the EFCC to stop the “selective” persecution of only PDP members whilst portraying the APC members as saints.

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New Electricity Tariff takes off Feb.1-NERC

By Etuka Sunday

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he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday announced that the take off date of the new electricity tariff (MYTO 2015) still remains February 1, 2016.

It said: “We wish to state that at no time did the Commission change the date of the take off of the new tariff.”

Consequently, the Commission has ordered the distribution companies to abide by its directive not to connect new customers without first providing them with meters.

The Acting Head of the

…Orders Discos not to connect new customers without meters Commission, Dr. Anthony Akah, said that the removal of fixed charge under the new tariff regime “was in response to electricity consumers’ complaints and a measure to ensure electricity distribution companies improve on service delivery as their income is dependent on the quantity of electricity used by their customers.”

Akah said that the Commission would continue to engage stakeholders including members of the National Assembly (NASS) to address

their concerns on the new tariff regime. “NERC holds National Assembly in high esteem and we are sure that both institutions are working to ensure that the National and consumer interests are protected.”

He explained that there are inbuilt consumer protection mechanisms and incentives for improved service delivery by the DISCOs and fair return on investment in the new Tariff Order.

In a statement by the Head, Public Affairs, NERC, Dr. Usman Abba-Arabi, the Commission said, in

implementing this cost reflective tariff would effectively monitor and enforce all service delivery agreements in the new tariff order.

The new Tariff Order aside from eliminating fixed charge has a robust mechanism to ensure that electricity distribution companies fully meter their consumers and eliminate “crazy” billing within one year.

The Commission has the capacity to continue to carry out its mandate until the reconstitution of the Commissioners. Consequently, in the interim an acting

head of NERC, in the person of Dr. Anthony Akah, mni, a Certified Regulation Specialist, has been appointed to coordinate the activities of the Commission.

Prior to his appointment, he was the General Manager, Consumers Affairs and most senior staff of the Commission.

The Commission as currently staffed, is well positioned to carry out its responsibilities effectively and efficiently especially as it commences the implementation of the new tariff pending the appointment of a new set of commissioners.

Adamawa state Governor, Senator Jibrila Bindo (middle), Special Advisor to the President of Dangote Group, Engineer Joseph Makujo (3rd right), Senior Advisor to the Governor, Alhaji Muhammad Gidado (2nd right), North West Coordinator, Projects of the Dangote Group, Engineer Hamid Al Shariff, Dangote Group Senior General Manager, IbrahimGarga (3rd left), Savannah Sugar Agric Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Odaudu (2nd left), and Managing Director, Savannah Sugar, Engineer AkilaTodi, during a visit to the governor, recently in Yola.

I don’t support rice importation - Reps member

By Etuka Sunday

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he House of Representatives member representing Akko Federal Constituency of Gombe state, Hon. Barambu Umaru, has expressed his opposition to the recent lifting of the ban on importation of rice through the country’s land borders saying it would adversely

affect the activities of rice farmers.

According to Hon. Barambu: “I don’t support the lifting of the ban, because once you start importing rice, you are killing your farmers. Since we have institutes and colleges of agriculture dedicated to rice research, we should improve them so that our farmers can

benefit from their research and then we can channel the money used to import rice to develop the country.”

The federal lawmaker added that importation of rice, many of which are of inferior quality, will lead to the dumping of rice thereby reducing the overall price and that will discourage our farmers and drive them out of the

market.

“The same thing happened with wheat importation, when the government banned the import of wheat; then the government changed course and lifted the ban thus leading to the bankruptcy of wheat farmers. We cannot continue like this,” he said.

Hon. Barambu also called for an end to corrupt practices in

the agricultural institutions all over the country, saying: ‘It is not enough to call for government assistance, we must all be ready to serve the country and put the nation first, because no matter whatever the government does, if we are not ready to serve, it will amount to a waste of resources because you will not see the result’.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Business

Starboard urges Yahoo to change management, board

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L-R: Head, Retail Banking, Skye Bank Plc, Nkolika Okoli, winner of N1, 000,000, Kazeem Saheed Owolabi, Relationship Manager, Skye Bank Plc, Ajose Adegun branch, Ololade Awoyomi, and Relationship Manager, Skye Bank Plc, Ajose Adegun branch, Usman Olalekan, during the sixth cheque presentation to winners in Skye Bank’s ongoing “Reach for the Skye Millionaire Reward Scheme, recently in Lagos.

Electricity: Bridging metering gap will generate more employment-Fashola

By Etuka Sunday

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he Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has said, more employment would be generated from bridging electricity metering gap in the industry.

Fashola made the disclosure while meeting with local Manufacturers of Electricity Meters, in furtherance of the federal government’s renewed effort to reenergize local manufacturing of meters in the country. The meeting was to also re-focus attention on the need to rapidly roll-out meters in order to ensure Distribution Companies, charge electricity

consumers only for energy they consume.

From the report submitted to the meeting that there are estimated over 3 million unmetered customers nationwide, hence Government’s policy is to bridge this metering gap as quickly as possible with maximum impact on local manufacturing and employment potentials fully harnessed.

The Minister joined by the Minister of State, Hon, Mustapha Baba shehuri challenged the local meter manufacturers to think outside of the box through innovations so as to reap bountifully in the fledging

electricity industry.

A statement by the Director, Press of the Ministry, Timothy Oyedeji said, the forum deliberated on issues of concern to Government and the local manufacturers, to include the need for Distribution Companies to more aggressively patronize locally manufactured meters.

On their concerns, the representative of the Group, Engr.

Kola Balogun said that access to and cost of credit is a major impediment to the growth of their production capacity in meeting present and future demand for meters.

On their part, the local

manufacturers assured the Minister of their readiness to support the rapid roll-out of meters but are disposing to Government’s readiness to put in place clearer incentives for local production as opposed to importation of meters. While concluding the meeting, the parties agreed to continuous engagement among actors - Government, local meter manufacturers Distribution Companies, the industry regulator’s and other stakeholders in line with the Government policy of rapid rollout of meters, whilst promoting local manufacturing, employment generation and technological development in the country.

ATBU revamps moribund Investment Company From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

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he Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi has revamped moribund ATBU Trust Investment Company through establishment of a Community Micro-finance Bank, 3 star Hotel, bottle water factory and Printing Press to generate more funds for the institution.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Abdulrahman Ibrahim disclosed this to newsmen yesterday in Bauchi, saying ‘’to argument overhead allocations, we are trying to revamped our moribund

ATBU Trust and Investment Company through established of the four revenue sources in the Institution.’’

Also speaking, the General Manager, ATBU Trust and Investment Limited (ATIL), Auwal Bala Aminu said, the establishment of a Community Micro-finance Bank, 3 star Hotel, bottle water factory and Printing Press to generate more funds for the institutions would boost the financial strength of the University He said that the bank was established by ATIL as part of development and expansion

plan being undertaken by the university’s management in order to reposition the institution in line with the changing times and challenges.

He said that the Bank has already started operations about a week ago with attractive products and services for prospective customers.

He further informed that the Bank would operate like any other Micro-Finance Bank as it has obtained a ‘Category A’ certificate from the Central Bank for its operations.

Aminu also informed that the ATBU Micro-Finance Bank

started with a share capital of N32 million.

According to him, the 3 Star Hotel would be completed in two months, adding that the University invested over 155 million on the Construction, disclosing the printing press and the bottle water factory are already working and generating revenue for the institution.

The GM called on the University and the surrounding communities as well as the General Public to patronise the Micro-Finance Bank and benefit from its products and services.

ctivist investor Starboard Value LP said on Wednesday Yahoo Inc should change its management, board and its business strategy, putting more pressure on Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and raising the possibility of a proxy battle.

Shares of Yahoo, which owns a 15 percent stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, were down 1.5 percent at $31.71 in premarket trading.

In a letter to Yahoo’s board, Starboard said the Internet company should separate its Asia assets - its stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan Corp - through either a sale or spin-off of the core search and advertising businesses.

“We are confident that both of these objectives are achievable, but will require a change in leadership and strategy,” Starboard Managing Member Jeffrey Smith wrote in a letter to Yahoo’s board.

Yahoo could not be immediately reached for comment. Mason Capital, Yahoo’s seventh-largest shareholder, is also pushing for an immediate sale of its Internet business, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Despite being at the helm for more than three years, Mayer has been unsuccessful to revive growth in Yahoo’s revenue and faces stiff competition from the likes of Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google unit. Some shareholders have expressed doubts for much of the past year about whether Mayer has a robust plan to revive the struggling Internet media business.

These investors criticize Mayer for what they say were a series of ineffective acquisitions and her inability to stem the continued decline in the value of the Internet business as reasons to replace her.

“It appears that investors have lost all confidence in (Yahoo’s) management and the Board,” Starboard said. The Alibaba stake, worth more than $30 billion, accounts for the bulk of Yahoo’s current market value, while its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan is worth $8.5 billion.

Yahoo’s plans to spin off its stake in Alibaba hit a hurdle in September when the Internal Revenue Service denied the company’s request for a ruling on whether the transaction would be tax-free, potentially costing shareholders billions in taxes.

Starboard, which owns less than 1 percent of Yahoo, urged the company in November to drop its Alibaba stake sale plans and sell its core businesses instead.

In December, Yahoo shelved plans to spin off its Alibaba stake and said it would create a separate company that would house Yahoo’s Internet business and its stake in Yahoo Japan.(Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 21

Business Stringent measures await defaulting Petroleum Marketers in Niger-DPR

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

T

he Niger State Controller of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Engineer Abdullahi Isah Jankara has insisted that failure of Marketer to adhere to Petroleum regulations would result into taking more stringent action in line with the law.

Jankara made this known

yesterday in Mi nna at a meeting with the officials of IPMAN and marketers on product supply to the state where he assured to intensify its surveillance in the state during the 2016 so as to cover all nooks and crannies in Niger state.

He further reassured that the Petroleum products get to every place in the state at government regulated price, noting that the DPR in the state was equipped

both in logistics and security wise to bring sanity into the petroleum distribution business in Nigeria and state. He urged marketers to officially write their complaints to his office so as to find a lasting solutions to them, while applauding those marketers that had a bid by the regulations urged others to follow suit or face of consequences.

Jankara explained that DPR

in the state has ascertained noncompliance offences amongst; pump under delivery, profiteering, violation of DPR seals and diversion of Petroleum products while others were general safety at retail outlets and operating station without DPR valid licenses.

The marketers commended the Controller of DPR for the meeting to brain storm on way forward in getting available the

product at official price and how to protect their business and themselves in the state.

Apparently, marketers complaint of inadequate supply of the commodity, difficulty in getting it at official price and difficulty in the renewal of their licenses while assuring that if they are able to get the product at regulated price of N77.66 will sell it at the official price of N86.50 per litre.

Fire Tragedy: Gov. Bello calls for functional fire fighting unit in Markets

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

T

he Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has called for functional fire service unit in markets so as to combat the negative impact of fire incidence in major markets across the country.

Bello stressed the need for the fire fighting facility in the markets after an on-the-spot assessment of the inferno that raised 48 lock-up shops at Abdulkadir Kure Ultra Modern Market in Minna early hours of Sunday.

He lamented the incessant fire outbreak in market places across the country, maintained that further inferno can be forestalled or curtailed when all major markets in the country have functional fire fighting units.

When briefed that the Minna market fire disaster was aggravated by some small generators locked up in the affected shops, the governor said state government will install an industrial power generator in the market, to address the frequent fire outbreak in the market caused by the generators.

Governor Bello then directed the Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Kabiru Abbas Musa to find out the capacity of the generator that would be suitably sufficient for the market.

He said as soon the generator is installed it would be prohibited for anyone to use generator in the market.

The governor further disclosed that government is making efforts to improve and upgrade facilities in the market.

He then commiserated with victims of the Minna markket inferno and enjoined them to see the incident as an act of God. He said the state government would assess the extent of damage and loss of the victims with a view to assisting them within available resources.

Adamawa state PDP Governorship Candidate, Malam Nuhu Ribadu (left), sympathizing with one of the victims of the recent Central Market fire, Malam Yunusa Hamidu (right), during Ribadu’s visit to the market, yesterday in Yola.

Photo: NAN

Bank MD calls for awareness on financial inclusion

T

he Managing Director of Heritage Bank Ltd., Mr Ifie Sekibo, on Tuesday called on banks to increase awareness on financial inclusion to capture more Nigerians into the financial system.

Sekibo told newsmen in Lagos that it was necessary that all Nigerians understood what financial literacy was all about.

He said: “The ball is shifting; the days when only the formal sector should understand finance are over. Everybody should begin to understand finance.

‘’They should understand how they spend their money; why we need to save and we need to teach our children why they need to save from now.’’

Sekibo said that the media needed to be able to educate people on how and why they should save money and spend in line with their budgets as individuals.

He said that there was need for media to drive the conversation for Nigerians to change their lifestyles and embrace more of Nigerian made products.

“More important for us is the conversation for us on how we need to change our lifestyle. ‘’We can’t grow an economy where all we want to spend on are dollar-denominated and foreign goods. ‘’Left for Nigerians, they want to be doing all their spending on dollars, forgetting that dollar is not our local currency,’’ Sekibo added.

The Heritage Bank boss said that amount spent on dollar gave employment opportunities to some people in other countries.

Sekibo said, ‘’Everything they do with dollar gives employment to somebody in another country and not in Nigeria. So, we must continue to have that conversation and it must be robust.

“So, it is important as a people to begin to educate our fellow Nigerians on these things. ‘’It is the financial correspondents that must drive this because this is a very serious issue. ‘’If we don’t, we would all regret it.’’ (NAN)

Page 22

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Business

Saudi-Iran split dashes chance of OPEC deal to curb oil glut

OPEC Building

T

he collapse in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Saudi execution of a Shi’ite cleric puts an end to speculation that OPEC could somehow agree production curbs to lift the price of oil anytime soon.

A Reuters survey of OPEC production showed on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia ended 2015 with its output at full tilt, with no sign of cutting supply to make room for Iran, which plans to ramp up its own output when international financial sanctions are lifted this year. According to the survey, compiled from shipping data, oil company figures and industry experts, Saudi production for December averaged 10.15 million barrels per day.

That means it was above 10 million barrels per day for nine straight months, the longest period of sustained production above that threshold for decades.

The determination by the world’s biggest exporter Saudi Arabia to defend its market share despite a global glut has helped drive oil prices to their lowest in 11 years.

Meanwhile, the lifting of sanctions on Iran in line with a nuclear agreement is expected to provide the biggest increase in supply of 2016. The world is now producing 1.5 million barrels a day more than it is consuming, and Iran is promising to add another million bpd to supply over the next 12 months.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to agree any caps on production at its annual meeting in Vienna last month, amid acrimony between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Gulf region’s main Sunni and Shi’ite powers.

If there was still any suggestion that the two rivals might somehow overcome their animosity to agree to manage supply this year, it was buried on Monday when Riyadh called off diplomatic ties with Tehran over Iran’s response to the execution of Saudi Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Several OPEC delegates told Reuters they now saw no chance of any improvement in relations between OPEC members, which have been already very low over

the past months.

“This new situation will just make it worse and I see no agreement to be reached within OPEC,” one representative to OPEC from a member country outside the Gulf region said, on condition of anonymity.

Fellow Gulf OPEC members the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have backed Saudi Arabia in the diplomatic crisis that could deepen sectarian tension in the Arab world. Iraq, OPEC’s secondbiggest producer, has joined Iran in criticizing Riyadh.

“The renewed surge in SaudiIran tensions could further exacerbate the ongoing fight for market share and create additional downside risks to commodity prices,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts, led Francisco Blanch, said in a note on Tuesday.

LONGEST SUSTAINED HIGH PRODUCTION IN DECADES Oil prices have lost two thirds of their value in the past 18 months and hit an 11-year low last month.

Oil prices initially rose after the cleric’s assassination – the usual response to events heralding

turmoil in the Gulf -- but quickly settled back.

“There is certainly no chance of Saudi Arabia scaling back its oil supply to make space for Iranian oil,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. “The existing oversupply may actually grow further in the short term.”

Iran has called on OPEC producers, especially both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, to curb supply to accommodate its new volumes, arguing that its production was artificially curtailed by years of sanctions over its controversial atomic program.

Both Saudi Arabia and Iran, like other OPEC members, need higher oil prices to salvage their state budgets. The export cartel has acted jointly in the past to curb supply even when its members were at war, notably when Iran and Iraq fought in the 1980s. But this time around, there is no sign of a deal.

Saudi Arabia has been increasingly willing to confront Iran and its allies militarily since King Salman took power a year ago.

Last year, Riyadh began a war

in Yemen to stop an Iran-allied militia seizing power there and boosted support to Syrian rebels against Tehran’s ally President Bashar al-Assad.

While the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran may make it harder to agree measures to restrict oil supply, Bjarne Schieldrop at SEB Markets said the uncertainty it created could still lead to prices going up.

More sectarian conflict in the Middle East could herald supply disruptions, and possibly even interfere with the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

“The Sunni – Shiite divide has now become much deeper with possibly more intense proxy wars in Yemen and Syria. The risk picture in the Middle East has clearly inched higher,” he said.

“While we still expect the sanctions to b e lifted, the latest events have definitely created some last minute risk that things may not move in the direction widely expected. If the sanctions are not lifted as planned it would clearly reduce the pr ojected crude oil surplus for 2016,” he said.(Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 23

Stock Watch: Wednesday, January 6, 2015 Company

7UP

Previous Closing Price

185.06

184.5

Opening Price High

184.5

Low

184.5

Close

184.5

Change Trades

-0.56 25

Volume

Value

Company

Previous Closing Price

Opening Price High

Low

Close

Change Trades

Volume

Value

233,796

43,137,315.02 MAYBAKER 1.26 - - - 1.26 5 26,078 32,955.18

ABBEYBDS 1.25 - - - 1.25 0 - -

MBENEFIT 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

ABCTRANS 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 4 505,000 252,500.00

MCNICHOLS 1.2 - - - 1.2 5 154,383 176,896.62

ACADEMY 0.59 - - - 0.59 0 - ACCESS

4.46

4.46

4.64

4.46

4.5

0.04 321

28,060,764

126,589,999.78

ADSWITCH 1.63 - - - 1.63 0 - AFRIK 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - AFRINSURE 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

MOBIL 138.99 - - - 138.99 20 6,378 854,115.18 MORISON 1.73 - - - 1.73 0 - MRS 49.66 - - - 49.66 1 500 23,590.00 MTECH 0.91 - - - 0.91 0 - MTI 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - MULTITREX 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

AFRIPRUD 2.65 2.7 2.7 2.61 2.61 -0.04 35 553,581 1,479,349.55 MULTIVERSE 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 10,000 5,000.00 AFROMEDIA 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 1 550,000 275,000.00

NAHCO 4.38 4.17 4.17 4.17 4.17 -0.21 19 203,175 850,145.97

AFRPAINTS 2.59 - - - 2.59 0 - -

NASCON 7.18 7.5 7.3 7.16 7.3 0.12 26 1,031,170 7,479,398.60

AGLEVENT 1.02 0.97 -

-

1.02

8 48,971 46,330.44

AIICO 0.9 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.01 18 983,972 898,207.23 AIRSERVICE 1.91 - - - 1.91 3 1,505 2,918.35 ALEX 9.84 - - - 9.84 0 - ALUMACO 7.75 - - - 7.75 1 200 1,474.00 ANINO 0.25 - - - 0.25 0 - ARBICO 5.04 - - - 5.04 0 - -

NB 135 135.2 135.2 129.51 129.51 -5.49 105 1,220,085 161,842,702.19 NCR 11.02 - - - 11.02 0 - NEIMETH 1.03 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 -0.05 6

126,800 124,264.00

NEM 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.01 16 1,774,600 1,241,859.00 NESF 552.2 - - - 552.2 0 - NESTLE 814

822.99 822.99 822.99 822.99 8.99 73

115,282 94,401,035.72

NIG-GERMAN 4.91 - - - 4.91 0 - NIGERINS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

ASHAKACEM 22.5 - - - 22.5 16 55,698 1,233,876.58 NIGROPES 7.46 - - - 7.46 0 - ASOSAVINGS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

NNFM 8.99 - - - 8.99 0 - -

AUSTINLAZ 2.09 - - - 2.09 0 - -

NPFMCRFBK

AVONCROWN 1.52 - - - 1.52 0 - BECOPETRO 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - BERGER 9.6 9.61 9.61 9.61 9.61 0.01 9 379,696 3,674,398.56 BETAGLAS 48.51 - - - 48.51 0 - BOCGAS 4.18 - - - 4.18 0 - -

0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 0

6

174,000 170,510.00

NSLTECH 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - OANDO 8.5 8.92 8.92 8.48 8.48 -0.02 364 7,671,197 65,761,034.51 OKOMUOIL 28.82 - - - 28.82 21 108,772 3,056,214.60 OMATEK 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - OMOSAVBNK 0.92 - - - 0.92 0 - -

PAINTCOM 1.14 - - - 1.14 0 - CADBURY 20.1 - - - 20.1 15 82,240 1,655,764.64 PHARMDEKO 2.14 - - - 2.14 1 5,000 10,850.00 CAP 38 39 39 39 39 1 16 166,666 6,492,031.87 PORTPAINT 3.53 - - - 3.53 0 - CAPHOTEL 4.07 - - - 4.07 0 - -

PREMBREW 2.95 - - - 2.95 0 - -

CAPOIL 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

PREMPAINTS 10.93 - - - 10.93 0 - -

CAVERTON 2.63 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 -0.13 7 145,913 366,122.50 CCNN 8.73 9.16 -

-

8.73

7 51,560 458,087.60

CHAMPION 4.17 4.17 -

-

4.17

11 146,282 587,170.36

CHAMS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - CHELLARAM 3.76 - - - 3.76 0 - -

PRESCO 30.5 - - - 30.5 6 32,910 1,045,950.40 PRESTIGE 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - PZ 25.5 25 25 25 25 -0.5 33 567,539 14,195,538.05 RAKUNITY 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - REDSTAREX 4.2 - - - 4.2 2 19,785 83,097.00 REGALINS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

CILEASING 0.5 - - - 0.5 2 4,000 2,000.00

RESORTSAL 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 1 100,000 50,000.00

CONOIL 27.41 26.04 -

ROADS 6.6 - - - 6.6 0 - -

-

27.41

8

13,350 330,799.00

0.6 - - - 0.6 0 - 1.06 1.01 1.06 1.01 1.06 0 11 3,520,635 3,661,166.09 ROKANA ROYALEX 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - CORNERST 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - RTBRISCOE 0.5 - - - 0.5 3 78,164 39,082.00 COSTAIN 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 5,000 2,500.00 CONTINSURE

COURTVILLE 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - CUSTODYINS 4.1 - - - 4.1 6 16,101 64,845.03 CUTIX 1.45 - - - 1.45 1 26,666 38,665.70 CWG 2.67 - - - 2.67 0 - DAARCOMM 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 4,000 2,000.00

SCOA 4.16 - - - 4.16 0 - -

SEPLAT 230.04 225 225 225 225 -5.04 20 77,862 17,490,790.00 SIMCAPVAL 103.24 - - - 103.24 0 - SKYEBANK 1.9 1.9 1.99 1.9 1.99 0.09 75 2,020,105 3,920,083.45 SKYESHELT 100 - - - 100 0 - SMURFIT 0.98 - - - 0.98 0 - -MAY-

DANGCEM 162 163 163 163 163 1 33 156,759 25,532,904.96

BAKER 1.26 - - - 1.26 5 26,078 32,955.18

DANGFLOUR 2.31 - - - 2.31 16 31,484 75,328.68

MBENEFIT 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

- - - 1.2 6.52 6.32 6.51 6.32 6.51 -0.01 26 343,221 2,210,542.55 MCNICHOLS 1.2 MOBIL 138.99 - - - 138.99 DEAPCAP 0.58 - - - 0.58 0 - MORISON 1.73 - - - 1.73 DIAMONDBNK 2.87 2.8 2.8 2.74 2.74 -0.13 43 1,315,800 3,645,250.00 MRS 49.66 - - - 49.66 IPWA 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - MTECH 0.91 - - - 0.91 JAPAULOIL 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 10,000 5,000.00 MTI 0.5 - - - 0.5 JBERGER 39.5 - - - 39.5 4 1,180 44,879.00 MULTITREX 0.5 - - - 0.5 DANGSUGAR

JOHNHOLT 0.96 - - - 0.96 0 - -

5 154,383 176,896.62 20 6,378 854,115.18 0 - 1 500 23,590.00 0 - 0 - 0 - -

MULTIVERSE 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 10,000 5,000.00

JOSBREW 1.51 - - - 1.51 0 - -

NAHCO 4.38 4.17 4.17 4.17 4.17 -0.21 19 203,175 850,145.97

JULI 1.75 - - - 1.75 0 - -

NASCON 7.18 7.5 7.3 7.16 7.3 0.12 26 1,031,170 7,479,398.60

LASACO 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 1 300,000 150,000.00

NB 135 135.2 135.2 129.51 129.51 -5.49 105 1,220,085 161,842,702.19

LAWUNION 0.54 0.53 0.53 0.52 0.52 -0.02 14 910,610 481,548.30

NCR 11.02 - - - 11.02 0 - -

LEARNAFRCA

0.68 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.65 -0.03 10 1,074,871 699,416.15

LENNARDS 3.15 - - - 3.15 0 - LINKASSURE 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - LIVESTOCK 1.4 1.41 1.41 1.41 1.41 0.01 9 134,400 192,410.51 MANDRID 5.35 - - - 5.35 0 - MANSARD 2.62 2.55 -

-

2.62

8 37,850 99,859.50

Top Gainers Company

Previous Closing Price

Opening Price High

NEIMETH 1.03 0.98 0.98 0.98 0.98 -0.05 6

126,800 124,264.00

NEM 0.69 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.01 16 1,774,600 1,241,859.00 NESF 552.2 - - - 552.2 0 - NESTLE 814

822.99 822.99 822.99 822.99 8.99 73

115,282 94,401,035.72

NIG-GERMAN 4.91 - - - 4.91 0 - NIGERINS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - NIGROPES 7.46 - - - 7.46 0 - -

Top Losers Low

Close

Change Trades

Volume

Value

ALUMACO 7.75 - - - 7.75 1 200 1,474.00

Company

Previous Closing Price

Opening Price High

Low

Close

Change Trades

Volume

Value

MULTITREX 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

FORTISMFB 5.42 - - - 5.42 0 - -

NNFM 8.99 - - - 8.99 0 - -

UNHOMES 5.23 - - - 5.23 1 3,750 18,637.50

MCNICHOLS 1.2 - - - 1.2 5 154,383 176,896.62

INFINITY 1.42 - - - 1.42 0 - -

UTC 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

OMOSAVBNK 0.92 - - - 0.92 0 - -

UNIONDICON 11.84 - - - 11.84 0 - -

MULTIVERSE 0.5 - - - 0.5 1 10,000 5,000.00

MANDRID 5.35 - - - 5.35 0 - -

ASOSAVINGS 0.5 - - - 0.5 0 - -

CADBURY 20.1 - - - 20.1 15 82,240 1,655,764.64

ABBEYBDS 1.25 - - - 1.25 0 - -

JULI 1.75 - - - 1.75 0 - -

Peoples Daily, Thursday, January 7, 2016

PAGE 24

PAGE 25

Special Report

Illegal migrant makes good as plumber in Nigeria A

s the first son of his widowed mother a farmer - custom demanded that the responsibility for his six siblings would shift to him the minute he graduated from university.

Long before he got his degree in statistics, he decided that he did not want to join the mass of unemployed university graduates in his country.

But the embassies of Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, France, Belgium, UK and the US all refused to give him a visa.

However, things began to look up when someone introduced him to someone who knew someone who could facilitate a visa to Greece - for the sum of about 400,000 naira which, at the time, was equivalent to about $3,500 (£2,350).

“My uncle in America had already told me to let him know whenever I got a visa,” Mr Okoukoni said.

He soon sent a total of $5,000 to cover the visa, air ticket and some travel allowance - a gift, not a loan - his contribution to his nephew’s future.

Aged 24, Mr Okoukoni left Nigeria in December 2002, arriving in a country where he knew absolutely no-one and so he quickly headed to Italy where he had friends.

When his visa expired several weeks later, he did what most of his friends had

Nearly 15 years ago, successful Nigerian businessman Anselm Okoukoni was one of the desperate African migrants prepared to do anything to get to Europe. done and claimed asylum.

“I don’t remember what story I told,” he said, explaining that the thing to do was to choose a topical story.

Over the next two years, he struggled with learning to communicate in Italian and found it impossible to get a decent job.

He ended up street hawking, which is illegal in Italy, and a number of times he was arrested and his goods seized.

“It wasn’t the kind of life I wanted to live,” he said, adding that his income was hardly enough to pay for his siblings’ school fees.

Job satisfaction Once again, luck shone on Mr Okoukoni when someone introduced him to a man who had a genuine passport from a European country and who shared a strong facial resemblance to him.

He agreed to allow him use his passport to cross over

Most of Mr Okoukoni’s plumbing tools were shipped from the UK

plumber • 2012: Returns to Nigeria and sets up plumbing business

Mr Okoukoni is now a top plumber in Nigeria

to the UK in the summer of 2004.

Safe in London at last, Mr Okoukoni was both shocked and thrilled by his first impressions of the city.

“I saw Africans driving buses and cabs, and working in McDonald’s and in hospitals,” he said.

Mr Okoukoni currently employs 12 plumbers and two apprentices

“In Italy, you could hardly see a black person doing those kinds of jobs. Most of the black people I saw were factory workers or farm workers or cleaners or prostitutes.”

His Nigerian friends in London helped him with accommodation; found him a job as a parking attendant

and organised the relevant documentation.

He would work with someone else’s identity.

“Within one year, I had job satisfaction,” he said.

“I felt I was doing something professional. I was paying taxes. I was sending money home to Nigeria.”

Okon doing what he knows best

Mr Okoukoni remembers being elated with his salary of £8.50 an hour, but after seeing an advert for a community college open day, he decided it was time to further his education.

Of all the vocational courses on offer, he chose to study plumbing.

“I remembered that I’d never entered a house in Nigeria where the plumbing was done properly,” he said.

The one-day-a-week course was free for British citizens but not for foreigners - and he was required to show his passport showing his leave to remain in the UK when he handed over his fee of £1,400.

Luckily, the woman who registered him believed his story that he had forgotten his passport at home.

After a year of studying, he quit his job and, using his student ID card, found a new job as an apprentice plumber with a construction company.

“The pay was even more than what I earned as a parking attendant - at £9.70 an hour,” he said.

Anselm’s journey: • 2002: Goes to Greece • 2003: Goes to Italy, works as street hawker • 2004: Goes to the UK, works as parking attendant • 2006: Trains as plumber • 2008: Starts work as

Over the next few years, Mr Okoukoni acquired another qualification in plumbing, one in heating and gas and a certificate in building services engineering.

“I paid for all these courses myself. Everything cost me roughly £10,000.”

Long before he had finished his studies in 2012, he had decided to return to Nigeria as he knew his skills would be invaluable in his home country.

In 2013, he bought a van and loaded it with all manner of tools of his trade, then shipped if off to Nigeria.

Shortly afterwards, he quit his £12-an-hour job in London, for a property development company in Lagos.

He proved so efficient his boss was loath to let him go at the end of it.

“But I wanted to go and build my own business,” Mr Okoukoni said.

His plans to immediately build a website and advertise aggressively did not materialise, as he was soon inundated with contracts that came simply by referral from pleased clients.

As he had envisaged, the dearth of quality workmen in Nigeria had made his plumbing, fire protection, air conditioning and ventilation services highly sought after.

“Right now, I shuttle between Port Harcourt and Lagos doing jobs,” he said.

In Nigeria, it is common to enter a magnificent building only to find that the toilets do not flush properly, or that the wall sockets are askew, or that the door handles come off in your hand, or that the

“

windows cannot shut, or that the interlocking tiles have spaces in between that can be injurious to the Gucci or Jimmy Choo heels of the owners.

Many developers who aim for high quality have taken to importing artisans from nearby countries like Togo and Benin, who are reputed to be more skilled than their Nigerian counterparts.

Mr Okoukoni blames the poor quality of work by Nigerian artisans on their primary focus on money.

The time it takes to learn a skill is time not earning an income.

“So, once they can hang one door, they go away and tell everyone that they are a carpenter. They stop coming to work. They don’t wait to learn everything they should.”

His company, Ansko Building Services Ltd, currently employs 12 plumbers

In Nigeria, it is common to enter a magnificent building only to find that the toilets do not flush properly, or that the wall sockets are askew, or that the door handles come off in your hand, or that the windows cannot shut, or that the interlocking tiles have spaces in between that can be injurious to the Gucci or Jimmy Choo heels of the owners.

Many developers who aim for high quality have taken to importing artisans from nearby countries like Togo and Benin, who are reputed to be more skilled than their Nigerian counterparts. Mr Okoukoni blames the poor quality of work by Nigerian artisans on their primary focus on money. The time it takes to learn a skill is time not earning an income.

and two apprentices.

His plumbers initially presented themselves as experienced, but he had to train them afresh.

However, he paid them while they were learning, and also pays his two apprentices a salary that is above the country’s minimum wage.

That way, they were motivated to stay on.

“Since the beginning of this year I’ve not touched any tool. They now do all the work while I supervise.”

Mr Okoukoni’s future plans include opening a training centre for people in the building services industry, to show them in particular the range of tools they could use.

“Nobody has ever taken the time to teach them,” he said.

He is ashamed of all the illegal steps he took in the course of his life’s journey to and through Europe, but he is glad with the way things have turned out.

He is now able to provide employment for other young Nigerians, take care of the wife he married after returning to Nigeria, look after his mother and pay for his brother’s studies in the US. And his advice for those migrants in Europe or making their way there?

“When they get to Europe, they should obey the law and do the right thing.

“They should look for unique skills that they can develop and use to improve the society over there and also back home.

“If you go to Europe to simply look for money, you are wasting your time.”

Source: BBC

Mother Earth

ICAN condemns North Korean nuclear test

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

T

he International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), has strongly condemned the nuclear test announced by North Korea recently.

A statement by ICAN said if

confirmed, it is a reckless and unacceptable act runs counter to the growing tide of international support for a universal treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.

The statement also said that any use of nuclear weapons has catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

The tests in Semipalatinsk, the Marshall Islands, and everywhere nuclear weapons were used or produced, affected thousands of people and impacted entire generations. The statement further quoted that all nations are legally obliged to pursue negotiations in good faith for the total elimination

of nuclear weapons.

The statement added ICAN strongly opposes all forms of nuclear testing, and urges nations that have not yet done so to join the Comprehensive Nuclear-TestBan Treaty.

The statement noted that we call on North Korea to cease

immediately the build-up of its nuclear arsenal, and to engage in dialogue to achieve nuclear disarmament.

It is beyond time for the international community to prohibit nuclear weapons just as chemical and biological weapons have been prohibited.

Women going to their farming

Equipping women key to combating climate change- Experts

D

r Nawal Al Hosani, Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP), Director of Sustainability at Masdar,said that equipping women is the best way to combat global warming.

“Not only do women better understand the harmful effects of climate change especially on the lives of those in rural and impoverished areas, but empowered women are one of the most effective responses to this phenomenon”.

In developing countries and much of the Third World, women feel the effects of climate change more significantly than their male counterparts, Al Hosani said.

There women must also gather food and water but because

agriculture has been gravely affected by climate change, these resources are becoming scarce and difficult to attain, she said.

The health consequences of power shortage and subsequent reliance on other sources of energy can be damaging, especially for women. This is because cooking fuels like kerosene produces fumes that cause chronic respiratory illnesses, she said.

This was one of the conclusions reached by the United Nations Environment Programme report in 2011, Al Hosani said.

Experts also feel that there is a need for more women in the sustainability sector.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report 2015, 41 per cent of tertiary-level students and

graduates in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies are women and so are 60 per cent of PhD graduates.

“In the UAE, the enrolment of women in fields pertaining to renewable energy is relatively high. However, in many other cases, women often step away from engineering into more administrative roles or leave the field altogether to stay at home and take care of their families,” Dr. Al Hosani had said earlier.

The ZFEP is aiming to bring about this change. The Zayed prize will be held alongside the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week from January 16-23.

Two finalists of the eighth Zayed Future Energy Prize awards, which will be held on January 18, are Nigerian Green

Energy and Biofuels company and Kopernik of Indonesia.

Green Energy and Biofuels produce ethanol-based cooking fuel from biomass waste products and have provided sources of income for women in Africa thereby creating positive health and environmental benefits for users.

Green Energy and Biofuels currently include 25,000 women entrepreneurs across 1,700 communities.

Meanwhile, Kopernik a nonfor-profit organisation which provides green technology solutions to people in remote areas by relying on innovative product distribution, development and finance.

Since its launch in 2010, Kopernik has reached 24

countries, helping 700 women to receive training on business development and maintenance of its technologies.

Ewa Wojkowska, Co-founder and COO, Kopernik, said: “In Indonesia, we are scaling up our award-winning Wonder Women initiative that helps to empower women to become micro-social entrepreneurs by selling clean energy products in their communities.

Winning the Zayed Future Energy Prize would create a positive impact by affording us prestige and credibility to promote our work further, access to a new network of like-minded individuals and organisations for collaboration and additional financial resources to scale up our impact.”

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 27

Mother Earth Ambrose Inusa Sule environment watch globenviron@yahoo.com 0703-441-4410 (sms only)

Global warming

Global Dimming – A Case of ‘Every Coin Has Two Sides’

M

any of us are already familiar with the issue of global warming that has continued to generate intense debate and speculations round the world.

It could be said that most people are today conversant with the science and intricacies of Ozone Layer and its depletion, but for the sake of those that are still not, Ozone Layer depletion occurs within the range of 2025 km above the earth in the stratosphere.

Scientists have also outlined dramatic evidence that global warming has continue to threaten the planet in unexpected ways, in ways that trigger more disasters like earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, storms, tsunami, among others.

You may then ask what again this issue of global dimming is all about. It could be a case of every coin has two sides; but each is identified with uncomplimentary news.

According to scientists, fossil fuel use, as well as producing greenhouse gases, creates other by-products that are hazardous to man and his environment. These by-products are also pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, soot and ash. These pollutants however, also change the properties of clouds.

Clouds are formed when water droplets are seeded by airborne particles, such as pollen.

Polluted air results in clouds with larger number of droplets than unpolluted clouds. This then makes those clouds more reflective. More of the sun’s heat and energy is therefore reflected back into space.

This reduction of heat reaching the earth is known as Global Dimming.

But global warming results from the greenhouse effect caused by, amongst other things

excessive amounts of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. It would seem then, that the other by-products which cause global

dimming may be an ironic savior. A deeper investigation by scientists, however, shows that unfortunately this is not the case.

The pollutants that lead

to global dimming also lead to various human and environmental problems, such as smog, respiratory problems, and acid rain.

The impacts of global dimming itself, however, can be devastating. Millions from famines in the Sahel in the 70s and 80s were said to have been due to global dimming. The death toll that global dimming may have already caused is thought to be massive.

Climatologists studying this phenomenon believe that the reflection of heat have made waters in the northern hemisphere cooler. As a result, less rain has formed in key areas and crucial rainfall has failed to arrive over the Sahel in Northern African.

Scientists are saying that the impact of global dimming might not be in the millions, but billions.

The Asian monsoons bring rainfall

Global dimming

“

According to scientists, fossil fuel use, as well as producing greenhouse gases, creates other by-products that are hazardous to man and his environment. These by-products are also pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, soot and ash. These pollutants however, also change the properties of clouds.

to half the world population; if air pollution and global dimming have a detrimental impact on the Asian monsoons some 3 billion people could be affected.

Fossil fuel burning contrails are another source. Contrails (the vapor from planes flying high in the sky) were seen as another significant cause of heat reflection.

During the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, all commercial flights were said to have been grounded for the next three days. This allowed climate scientists to look at the effect on the climate when there were no contrails and no heat reflection.

What scientists found was that the temperature rose by one degree centigrade in just 3 days at that period.

The above impacts of global dimming have led to fears that global dimming has been concealing the true power of global warming.

Currently, most climate change models predict a 5 degrees increase in temperature over the next century, which is already considered extremely grave; however, global dimming has led to an underestimation of the power of global warming.

Global dimming can be dealt with by cleaning up emissions though Scientists are saying that addressing global dimming only will lead to massive global warming. They maintained that, if global dimming problems are only addressed, then the effects of global warming will increase even more, adding that Irreversible damage would be only about 30 years away; this, climatologists said, may be what happened to Europe in 2003.

Climatologists noted that this would cause a more rapid warming than any other time in history, and as such, vegetation will die off even more quickly, soil erosion will increase and food production will fail. Cum igniting a Sahara type of climate which could be take over places such as England, while other parts of the world would fare even worse.

According climatologists, “it is a warning of what will happen if we clean up the pollution while doing nothing about greenhouse gases.”

They also stressed that the roots of both global dimming causing pollutants and global warming causing greenhouse gases has to be dealt with combined and very quickly.

Global warming and global dimming seems to be six and a half dozen. None is desired to usher in a healthy and sustainable environment.

Emergency Update Niger Delta infernal pipelines: Need for new consciousness

W

ith the delay in proposed cleanup of the Ogoni environment, no seriousness to halt gas flaring and with the continued piling of more pollution, there should be a new ecological consciousness on the part of citizens in the New Year, says activist Nnimmo Bassey, who is Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Perhaps the most horrendous crude oil pipeline incident of 2015 was an explosion that occurred on 9 July while repairs of a damaged pipeline were ongoing at Azuzuama, along Nigerian Agip Oil Company’s Tebidabe-Clough Creek route. The explosion and raging inferno occurred during a Joint Inspection Visit (JIV) embarked on to determine the cause of an ongoing oil spill there. The explosion and ensuing inferno claimed at least 14 lives, including those of two government officials.

The tragedy was followed by contentious processes of identifying the victims and according them decent burial – a near impossible due to reported reticence of Agip and the fact that some of the victims were burnt to ashes.

In reaction to the Azuzuana tragedy, Iniruo Wills, the Commissioner for Environment in Bayelsa State said, “It is time to declare a State of Emergency on the Environment in the Bayelsa State in particular and the Niger Delta in general, in order to save the lives of our people and the future of our communities. For the people of Bayelsa State and especially the families of the victims and staff of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment, July 2015 will go down as the July of death, on account of the needless deaths inflicted upon our beloved ones and colleagues by the Nigeria’s environmentally irresponsible oil and gas industry…

We are grieving, but we must now also insist yet again that it is time to take decisive action to stop this perilous hazard that has become a routine threat to life and ecology in Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta.”

We recall that in 2000, a fire resulting from a faulty machine claimed the lives of 18 youths that were assisting in repair works along the Agip’s Brass-Ogoda pipeline. On 29 July 2012 another fire erupted along the same company’s pipeline at Ayambele/ Kalaba community. At this 2012 incident 16 persons, including military personnel and community youths, narrowly escaped death.

Haphazard treatment of oil spills has remained a worrisome trend in the oil fields of the Niger Delta. Forests and wetlands have been set on fire as oil companies and their contractors try to hide oil spills. In other instances, attempts have been made to cover up crude oil spills with imported

Forests and wetlands have been set on fire as oil companies and their contractors try to hide oil spills soils or simply by turning the soil at the point of incident. These futile efforts have left horrific environmental scars across the oil field communities of the region.

Several oil spills have been reported by community field monitors. We will pick examples from the last six months.

A major spill occurred on Christmas Day at Agip’s Tebidaba Well 9 at Ikebiri. As the crude spewed into the fragile ecosystem the community was faced with the dilemma of either permitting the oil company to shut down the polluting well or to wait for a JIV before any shut down was permitted.

However, shut down was affected to save the environment. The visit comprising officials from NOSDRA, Agip, security personnel, State Ministry of Environment and community representatives, was conducted on 27 December 2015 only to be declared as inconclusive, to the chagrin of the community.

An earlier JIV following a spill that occurred at the same oil well in November 2014 was equally declared to be inconclusive and nothing has been heard of it ever since.

Erosion of confidence in regulatory agencies is extremely

“

dangerous in a highly polluted environment such as the Niger Delta. It should be noted that the equipment used for tests during the JIVs are often provided by the oil companies involved.

Community monitors are rapidly losing confidence in regulatory agencies over their handling of oil spill incidents.

“How do they expect us to have confidence in them if they cannot say the simple truth of what they saw? They are all bad and criminal-minded folks who ought to be neutral but fail to be so. I will never trust the regulators again; whether from NOSDRA, DPR or Ministry of Environment,” fumed a community leader at Ikebiri.

Erosion of confidence in regulatory agencies is extremely dangerous in a highly polluted environment such as the Niger Delta. It should be noted that the equipment used for tests during the JIVs are often provided by the oil companies involved.

Shell notched some spills within the period, notably the ones at Odau community on 2 June 2015 and at Adibawa Well 8 on 12 July 2015. The spill at Odau, in Rivers State, spread to Oruma/Yibama community in

Bayelsa State. The spilt crude went up in flames some month’s later, causing severe environmental damage in the Oruma/Yibama community.

These incidents highlight the cross-border nature of environmental pollution and the consequences of environmental impunity.

A significant dimension was also highlighted by the multiple spills close to the Okordia Manifold at Ikarama community on 12 August 2015. Terror was unleashed on Ikarama community following that spill and some community members including the paramount ruler were arrested and detained. The arrests were peacefully protested by Ikarama women.

Disagreement over surveillance contact arrangement between Shell and community youths was fingered in the incidents and resultant conflict.

Crude oil from ExxonMobil’s offshore facilities washed up on the shores of Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State in November 2015 with tales of woes for shoreline communities.

Another Agip spill was noticed by community monitors when they saw spreading crude in the creeks of Emago-Kugbo on 12 July 2015.

The spill site was reportedly set

“How do they expect us to have confidence in them if they cannot say the simple truth of what they saw? They are all bad and criminalminded folks who ought to be neutral but fail to be so. I will never trust the regulators again; whether from NOSDRA, DPR or Ministry of Environment,”

ablaze on 25 July. A community a farmer, Dumani Lucky, was burned and choked to death as he attempted to boat through the polluted area to his farm.

A monitor captured the situation this way, “The fire also burnt the barge, tug boat and other equipment mobilised for the clamping by Agip or company contractor. In fact, the tug boat sank and is now only serving as an anchor to the barge. After they set the spill site ablaze the whole community environment was as dark as if there was no sun. People had to stay indoors to avoid the smoke. Visibility only improved from midday. Later that day we had a heavy rainfall and the entire community was flooded with dark water. We don’t know what to do because Agip has been treating us badly for so long a time.”

Death, ecological destruction and inconclusive JIVs portend more harm to the Niger Delta environment. With the delay in proposed clean-up of the Ogoni environment, no seriousness to halt gas flaring and with the continued piling of more pollution, we have to construct a new ecological consciousness on the part of citizens. This consciousness must necessarily include tough resistance to socalled inconclusive JIVs – a not so clever way of blaming the victims and claiming that oil spills are caused by third party interferences rather than putrid pipelines and ill-maintained equipment. The new consciousness should include constant monitoring and reporting and insistence on urgent clean-ups and strict liability on the part of polluters.

S o u r c environewsnigeria.

e

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Feature PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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Raped, beaten and sold: Yazidi women tell of IS abuse T he three girls are fragile, beautiful and very scared. They won’t show their faces to the camera because, they say, they still have friends and family being held by the fanatics and they fear the repercussions that they might suffer if they reveal their identities. It is hard to imagine what could be worse than what they have already routinely suffered.

“We were raped up to five times a day,” says 20-year-old Bushra. “One girl went to the bathroom and slit her wrist.

When she did not die she cut her throat. The guards came to me and said you come and identify her - she’s your friend. I could not recognise her. There was so much blood on her face. The guards wrapped her in a blanket and threw her out with the rubbish.”

Selection process As they advance through huge swathes of Syria and Iraq, IS commanders are ridding their territories of all religious minorities that would compromise their vision of a new Caliphate, ruled by Sharia law and unsullied by the infidel. The Yazidis are neither Muslim Christian but worship a peacock god which, in the eyes of the Islamic State group, make them devil worshippers and a valid target for extermination.

Bushra shivers at the memory of the attack on her village, almost exactly a year ago.

“One night they attacked two nearby villages. There was fighting up to 6am. Our relatives in a nearby village told us to leave as there were no Peshmerga fighters, only Yazidi men.

But the Peshmerga in our village told us to stay and not to worry as they would protect us.” But Kurdish Peshmerga forces failed to hold back the IS fighters and they entered the village.

Twenty-one-year-old Noor takes up the story. “They separated the men from the women and children. They took the men away to be shot. I have seven brothers one managed to escape. The other six are still missing. My mother was taken with 70 of the older village women. We saw a digger arrive and heard shots.” Only young women were spared and many of

Three young Yazidi women have escaped from sex slavery in the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group and travelled to London, where they told their horrific stories.

“

“We were raped up to five times a day,” says 20-yearold Bushra. “One girl went to the bathroom and slit her wrist. When she did not die she cut her throat. The guards came to me and said you come and identify her - she’s your friend. I could not recognise her. There was so much blood on her face. The guards wrapped her in a blanket and threw her out with the rubbish

those wish they hadn’t been.

Sixteen-year-old Munira says they were then herded in to a classroom in the village school and the selection process began. “The IS commanders are between 50 and 70 years old. I was 15 when I was selected by a commander. He said younger girls are better than older ones. They usually select the most beautiful and youngest girls for themselves.”

After a few weeks, he got bored of her. “Abu Mohammed said, ‘I had this girl when she was a virgin. I am bored of her now. I want another one.’ I was sold to Abu Abdullah who also raped me. He got bored with me after a few days. He sold me to Emad. If I had not escaped he would have sold me on as well.”

Brutality

They were all beaten and raped daily throughout their captivity. Traumatised and exhausted, they nonetheless seized every opportunity to try to escape. Noor was found trying to climb out of a window by her abuser, Salman, who pulled her back and told her she would be punished.

“Salman and his guards attacked me. They hit me and burnt me with cigarettes.

Salman told me to undress.

He said, ‘I warned you not to escape now you will know your punishment.’ He let the six guards in, locked the door.

They raped me brutally. I do not know how many times.”

All three girls eventually escaped and were living in IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps in Iraq when the UK-based charity, AMAR Foundation, arranged for

them to come to the UK to tell their stories and to help deter young British Muslims from going to Iraq to join IS. Noor, Bushra and Munira sit opposite three teenagers from the Bristol City Academy.

Soon after the attack on the Yazidis, 15-year-old Yusra Hussein, who was studying for her GCSEs at the academy, left to join IS. Eighteen-year-old Nasra Ahmed says she’s in contact with Yusra and others who have joined IS through social media. She says “they say they have a nice house, a husband, money, everything a 15-year-old would want.”

“It is all lies,” Noora says angrily, “They promise them a nice house, servants and a car but they lie again.”

Another Bristol girl, 14-year-

old Ikram Hassan, asks “what advice would she give to the other girls who want to join IS?” “My message is, don’t go!” says Munira. “You will be raped and beaten and sold to other men. They are criminals.”

At another academy, in Birmingham, teachers and community leaders are trying to get this message across with a campaign called Open Your Eyes in which they show videos of IS atrocities.

The mainly Muslim pupils at the school watch politely but they begin to look really interested when the three young Yazidis walk in to the room to address them. Nadia tells them about the rapes and killings and says to the assembled pupils, “I feel that I am dying inside when I hear about them going there. I would not wish what I have seen and been through on anybody.”

The pupils are visibly shocked.

One apologises on behalf of the majority of peace-loving Muslims for the attacks on the Yazidis. This direct contact with young women of their age has clearly had an effect. Sadly, the three young Yazidis have to return to Iraq the next day.

Feature

Bluetooth to bribery: Five ingenious ways Indians cheat Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Many students smuggle in textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security - and parents and friends have been photographed scaling the walls of test centres to pass on answers during secondary school examinations.

Cheating during exams is becoming prominent in India

A

massive medical school admissions examination scandal in Madhya Pradesh and a Supreme Court ruling that ordered 600,000 students to re-appear for a pre-medical exam have brought large-scale cheating into the public spotlight.

Cheating during exams is not new in India and despite being illegal has flourished in most parts of the country for so long that it has almost become endemic.

The increasingly inventive methods of cheating have evolved over the years to take advantage of modern technology and even social media.

This has prompted the examinations board to issue a strict set of guidelines, including a dress code for the students reappearing for the pre-medical exam.

Here are five ingenious ways in which Indians cheat during examinations: James Bond style with gadgets It was discovered that many who were caught cheating during the recently-cancelled examination had come wearing

micro-Bluetooth devices and mobile SIM cards that had been stitched to their shirts.

Over the past few years, a number of candidates have also been caught using micro earphones, stitched button-hole cameras and micro earplugs.

The devices are used to transmit questions outside the examination hall to professionals who then relay back the answers.

Pens that can scan question papers and transmit the images outside using micro-Bluetooth devices are also becoming musthave gadgets for ambitious examtakers.

And they are easily available online. One website, in fact, advertises the products as “Spy exam cheating devices particularly made for clearing tough exams”.

The increasing pace of technological development and easy availability of such devices has meant that authorities are struggling to keep up with and crack down - on the latest methods of cheating.

Strength of numbers Mass copying is probably the most rampant form of cheating in India.

Only recently, shocking images of mass copying emerged from the northern state of Bihar.

Hundreds of students are caught cheating in groups across the country every year, but a proper law to deal with this phenomenon is yet to be enacted.

The problem is believed to be the worst in the states of Uttar

Going pro with official ‘solvers’ It is not uncommon in India to find newspaper headlines saying “3 solvers for bank exam arrested”.

In a country where limited government jobs cannot accommodate the hundreds and thousands of students who graduate every year, clearing competitive examinations becomes extremely crucial.

This has driven a lot of aspiring students into the arms of professionals who have either coached students, or cleared the examination themselves.

These services are, however, both expensive and elaborate.

The process begins at the point of submitting the application.

The solver generally applies along with the candidate and ensures that they are not seated very far apart.

The answer sheets are secretly

evaluation panels has gained more traction in recent years thanks to the increasing number of candidates and the rise of greater purchasing power.

In a scam involving the Madhya Pradesh professional examination, at least eight senior officials were arrested last year on charges of accepting bribes.

Investigation in Uttar Pradesh state noted that bribery in universities was such an accepted practice that “there’s even a whole subset of the youth population who are brokers between desperate students and avaricious administrators”.

Social networking Mobile phone cameras and social networks are among the latest tools used by examination takers to cheat.

How it works is pretty simple - someone breaks into the examination centre lockers, takes pictures of the question paper and circulates it on social media.

In fact, an examination in Uttar Pradesh involving more than 450,000 examinees was cancelled after a leaked question paper went viral on the WhatsApp messenger service.

Similar leaks have been reported from the prestigious

Most students cheat with their cell phone exchanged before the end of the exam.

Another method used by professional solvers is to forge identity cards and appear in place of their clients.

Old-fashioned bribery The practice of bribing examiners and members of

“ Mass copying is probably the most rampant form of cheating in India.

Delhi University as well as in some south Indian colleges.

Instances of email hacking to get university entrance question papers have also prompted authorities to invest more on data protection.

Source: BBC

Cheating during exams is not new in India and despite being illegal has flourished in most parts of the country for so long that it has almost become endemic. The increasingly inventive methods of cheating have evolved over the years to take advantage of modern technology and even social media.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

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Hawkers on Lokoja-Abuja Highway, on Tuesday at Abaji.

Photo: NAN

2016: FCT-NSCDC to intensify clampdown on vandals in Abuja

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

he FCT Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has reiterated its readiness to vigorously continue with the arrest of offenders, and to ensure their timely prosecution this year, to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Command reiterated its commitment to the protections of lives and properties of FCT residents, to continue the synergy with other security agencies in

the Joint Task Force and other assignments to ensure that those behind any devilish act are brought to book in 2016.

Also, the Command intends to embark on more enlightenment campaigns for the FCT residents on the need to protect government critical national assets and infrastructure and to report vandals sighted at any point to its operatives.

According to the FCTNSCDC Commandant, Patrick E. Ukpan, who made this disclosure

yesterday while speaking with newsmen in his office, said that more personnel will also be deployed to various flash points within the FCT. He added that the vehicles and foot patrol by Command’s regular and under-cover operatives will be intensified; assuring that the identity of all its informants will be treated with strict confidentiality.

Ukpan revealed that the Command under his leadership in 2015, made giant strides in maintenance of Law and Order,

protection of Government critical National assets and infrastructure, and protection of civil populace during emergencies within the FCT and its environs.

Furthermore, he said last year, the FCT Command in synergy and collaboration with other security agencies successfully managed disasters and emergencies such as the bomb blast that rocked FCT at Nyanya and Kuje areas respectively.

On tackling the challenges facing the command, he said

the Corps will perform better with more operational vehicles, permanent office accommodation and cooperation from members of the public in terms of prompt supply of information.

“More so, installation of CCTV cameras in various strategic locations will enhance our operational capabilities.

“We therefore urge the citizens to continue to go about their lawful normal businesses as security agencies are always there for their safety,” he stressed.

Man docked for cheating A

40-year-old man, Hassan Abubakar has appeared at the Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, on a four-count charge of criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal intimidation and theft.

Abubakar, a resident of Funtu village, Abuja, is standing trial for allegedly absconding with 15 cows and 16 sheep.

The prosecutor, Insp.

Umoh Inah, told the court that one Mrs Bola Disu of Zuma Barracks, Abuja, reported the case at the FCT Police Command, Abuja, on March 26, 2015.

He said that the complainant gave the accused 15 cows and 16 sheep in June 2010 to rear for her and also paid him a monthly salary of N30, 000.

He further said that the accused eventually absconded with the animals and that police investigations had revealed that the suspect sold them.

He said that the younger brother of the accused, Gambo Abubakar, was arrested and he eventually led the police to Bunty village, in Bwari Area Council, where eight of the cows were recovered.

The prosecutor said that the accused person’s brother was now at large and the remaining seven cows and 16 sheep had yet to be recovered.

Inah also alleged that the accused, who showed no remorse for the crime, resorted to intimidating the complainant and threatened to kill her.

He added that the value of the remaining missing cattle was

over two million naira and that the offence contravened sections 312, 322, 319 and 287 of the Penal code respectively.

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

The judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, granted the accused bail in the sum of N2.1 million with one surety that must reside within the jurisdiction of the court. (NAN)

Photo Splash

Sympathisers at the scene of an accident involving two cars, recently at Mabushi, in Abuja.

Young girls carrying load at Masaka Friday Market, yesterday along Keffi-Abuja Road.

Orange hawker sets out for business, recently at Area 1, in Abuja

A woman carrying firewood, yesterday at the Central Area, in Abuja.

An overloaded articulated vehicle, yesterday along Zuba-Abuja Road.

Photos: Mahmud Isa

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 33

Metro

FCTA to fence schools through direct labour for optimal security

By Stanley Onyekwere

T

he Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello, has directed that all the boundaries of public schools in the Territory be identified and appropriately fenced through direct labour.

Malam Bello gave the directive Tuesday, after receiving briefing from the management team of the FCT Education Secretariat led by its Acting

Secretary, Mrs. Naomi Biki, according to a statement signed by the his Special Assistant (Media), Abubakar Sani.

He instructed that site plans should be drawn and documented for proper identification of the boundaries of each school and to check incidences of encroachment.

Bello frowned at the manner some of the schools were left porous without perimeter fencing with large population of students and pupils in spite of the security

challenge the nation faces.

The Minister also warned that the security of lives and property in public schools must be adequately safeguarded to ensure that capital investments put in give maximal benefit to the residents.

According to him, direct labour would be used to cut cost and to enable the FCT Administration fence as many schools as this fiscal year.

The Minister during the briefing lamented the poor

performance of students in the WAEC and NECO examinations in the Territory, and insisted that the situation must be reversed.

He charged the Management to reorder their priorities by paying more attention to the improvement of the quality of teaching and educational materials in order to raise the performance level of students at the two national examinations.

Malam Bello assured that henceforth, the FCT

Administration would give priority attention to the proper and regular feeding of students; ensure adequate water supply, cleanliness of the environment and security of all schools in the Territory.

In his brief remark, the FCT Permanent Secretary Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, reiterated the need for the Management of the education Secretariat to go back to the drawing board to ensure that the education system in the FCT takes its proper position.

A young woman taking nap at Lugbe, in Abuja.

Police arraign man for alleged reckless driving

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he police have arraigned one Habib Lawal, 29, of kubwa, Abuja in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ court for alleged reckless driving.

The Police Prosecutor, Cpl. Monday Akor, told the court

that one Ibrahim Abdullahi of AsoVila, reported the case at the Maitama Police Station.

The prosecutor said that the accused drove a Toyota Camry with registration number BWR 96 AJ recklessly and

hit a Mercedes Benz car with registration number TR 01 from behind.

He said that the Mercedes Benz car was damaged and N1.27 million was spent to effect repairs.

He said that the offence contravened Sections 28(1) cap 548 of Road Transport Act (RTA).

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge leveled against him.

The Senior Magistrate,

Chukwuemeka Ubani, granted the accused bail in the sum of N500, 000 and a surety in like sum.

He ordered that the surety must reside within the jurisdiction of the court. (NAN)

Sanitation: Residents tasked on proper handling of wastes

By Saratu Ibrahim

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esidents and business operators in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been admonished to ensure the appropriate disposal of waste, in order to sustain a cleaner and healthier environment.

They were advised to procure and use waste bins with fitted covers to protect stored garbage from the rains, to reduce the speed of putrefaction and emission of offensive odour.

The Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), which gave this advice, also cautioned residents against emptying the

content of their waste bins into drains during rainstorms, as it could lead to flooding and other preventable environmental disaster in the Territory.

Head of Information and Outreach Programme of the Board, Joe Ukairo, who gave the charge, also reminded residents that the rainy reason

can be challenging period to city management and public health, due to speedy putrefaction and possibilities of urban flooding.

“Now that the rains are here, the residents need to cooperate with the agency, in keeping the city clean.

“The major issue here is some residents don’t have waste bins

that have cover to shield their outstanding garbage from the weather element of rain.

“When it rains, there is the tendency to absorb the waste and makes it heavier; and it deposits faster and smells more, that’s why residents should cover their waste bins properly,” Ukairo said.

Money Sense

How to buy a new phone: The CNET smartphone buying guide (II)

By Jessica Dolcourt and Brian Bennett

those from HTC and Microsoft (formerly Nokia); ship with fancy image processors, that promise high image quality, plus the horsepower to drive the camera and auto focusing systems faster. The end result is nimble shot-to-shot times with minimal shutter lag.

Optical image stabilization is becoming increasingly important for phones, too.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6 Plus are two that include the physical component for steadier, clearer photos.

With the rise of social network sharing, front-facing cameras are more important than ever before. In addition to seeing higher-resolution topside cameras, vendors are also concentrating on more software dedicated to the art of selfies. The HTC Desire Eye and Sony Xperia C3 even come with a flash.

Key consideration points Screen size Large screens (5 inches or greater) martphone are getting bigger, that part is undeniable.

A 5-inch screen (measured diagonally) used to be considered massive, but on today’s sliding scale, that’s at about the bottom of the Big Phones bucket. Even Apple has gotten into the “phablet” game with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. A 6.4-inch device is the largest we’ve seen, but most people consider the 6-inch Google Nexus 6 and Nokia Lumia 1520 to be about as large as they’d really want to palm.

S

Medium screens (4.5-4.9 inches) Phones in this middle category are more portable, but also tend to be more midrange, like the 4.5-inch HTC One Mini 2. One benefit: phone owners can grip with one hand while their thumbs comfortably reach all portions of the display.

Small screens (under 4.5 inches) Thanks to the increasing number of gargantuan Smartphone hitting store shelves, compact cell phones are a shrinking segment of the mobile handset market. That said some people still place portability highest on their list of phone features. Unfortunately, options are slim. Most phones in this size category are entry-level

Apple’s iSight camera improves year after year, though its megapixels remain at 8. The iPhone 6 Plus has optical image stabilization besides. CNET

Smartphone or feature phones with low screen resolutions, like the straightforward 3.2-inch Pantech Vybe.

Processor The beating heart of any phone is its processor, or CPU. It provides the computing power to churn through various tasks, like opening and running applications. A fast processor also has a big impact on overall

performance, such as how smoothly a phone handles flipping through menus and running home screens.

Traditionally, clock speed, listed in gigahertz, has been the quick way to judge CPU power. These days a chip’s architecture, specifically how many computing cores it has, is becoming a more reliable predictor. Another factor is that older processors tend to use less efficient designs, making them worse performers while being harder on batteries than their newer counterparts. We talk more about processors below.

Camera A phone’s camera quality depends on a whole host of variables. More megapixels will always sound better on a fact sheet, but we know some good 8-megapixel cameras that take better photos than a bad 13-megapixel shooter.

Also important are the lens quality, which could aid the sensor by exposing it to more light. The sensor itself might also offer a lower pixel count, but be more sensitive to illumination, resulting in better performance in lowlight conditions.

Many phones; such as

Battery If your cell phone battery conks out, all the snazzy features in the world won’t be able to help you. Manufacturers have begun to recognize the critical importance of battery life and are squeezing greatercapacity batteries into their phones. Typical phone batteries start in the neighborhood of 1,700mAh and go all the way up to 3,500mAh. Manufacturers list battery performance in terms of talk time, standby time, or how many hours you can expect a device to perform tasks such as playing video and music.

Wireless carriers Choosing a wireless carrier is a less difficult prospect than it used to be, with more phones sold across carriers and the higher prevalence of contract and contract-free options. Still, it requires a lot of time and math to puzzle out exactly which operator offers you the best deal. It’s worth the time.

That said, when selecting a carrier, first on your list of criteria should be coverage.

You’ll want a carrier with decent coverage in your home and at work, and all the places in between.

Figure out if you’ll be sticking to urban centers or trekking through rural areas often. Perhaps you won’t even leave your home neighborhood much or, conversely, you plan on doing plenty of international trips. With your wireless usage in mind, settle on a carrier that offers broad coverage.

Alternatively, you may be satisfied with a regional carrier

that covers a limited area.

Feature deeper dives Want to know more about some of the features mentioned above? Read on for a deeper analysis.

Mobile networks and 4G data The wireless network technology at the backbone of your Smartphone is a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms and industry buzzwords, and you could spend an eternity studying how cellular infrastructure is built and works. Here’s a basic overview of what you need to know.

CDMA CDMA stands for code division multiple accesses, but more importantly it’s a method by which cellular radios transmit and receive voice and data.

This standard is found mostly in America and to some extent Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. For example, major US carriers that use wireless networks based on CDMA are Verizon and Sprint.

GSM GSM, aka the Global System for Mobile Communications, first referred to in French as Groupe Special Mobile, is a standard created for use in Europe. GSM then spread to other corners of the world, with carriers operating GSM networks across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It’s the most widespread. The two technologies are incompatible, so phones locked to CDMA networks won’t work in GSM areas, and vice versa.

world news Saudi Arabia and Iran PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 35

international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com

ANALYSIS

By Michael Stephens

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he decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to recall its diplomats from Tehran and expel all Iranian diplomats is a deeply worrying development in a troubled relationship between the Middle East’s pre-eminent regional powers.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has developed a habit of disregarding the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations when it sees fit.

This is not the first time that angry mobs have stormed embassies, a recent example being the United Kingdom’s embassy in Tehran in November 2011.

In response to the attack, the UK closed its embassy and ordered the Iranian embassy in London closed.

As such, there is nothing altogether unusual in the Saudi response, which is certainly not unprecedented and outside the usual norms of interstate relations.

Make no mistake though, the diplomatic furore surrounding Saudi Arabia’s decision to execute Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr - a Shia Saudi religious leader who had long opposed the Saudi regime - is about tensions that have been simmering between the two sides for years.

Saudi and Iran in a greater game Nimr has become a pawn in a much greater game - a game which he himself would have resisted being part of were he still alive. His now infamous speech of October 7, 2011 in which he rejected all external interference in his community was directed as much at Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei as it was the Al Saud.

That the region’s two most powerful countries have ended their diplomatic ties because of his death is ironic to say the least.

Nimr’s friendship circles were certainly not comprised of peace-loving pacifists. His clerical inspiration came from the hard-line, politically active Iraqi Ayatollah Muhammad al Hussaini al-Shirazi, who held deep longstanding ties to unpalatable elements in Iran.

Moreover, Nimr’s notable supporters included Abd al-Raouf al-Shayeb, a Bahraini recently convicted in Britain for possession of materials and information that could aid terrorist activities.

By executing him alongside a number of infamous al-Qaeda terrorists, Saudi Arabia sought to draw equivalence between Nimr and al-Qaeda, arguing that terrorism is terrorism, regardless of creed.

But in today’s Middle East that was never going to be enough to calm the waves of anger that erupted across the Shia world in response.

The tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have reached the point where nuances are quickly abandoned and all actions are interpreted as political.

Understanding why Nimr’s death has so quickly escalated into a diplomatic rift requires understanding why Saudi-Iranian relations have become so tense in

and how we got here

It is US retrenchment from the region that has been the cause of regional competition in the first place.

Iranian demonstrators hold anti-Saudi placards in a rally to protest the execution by Saudi Arabia of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr [AP] recent years.

It is fashionable for people to hark back to the martyrdom of the Prophet’s Grandson Hussain at Karbala on the 10th Muharram as a sign that this split between Sunni and Shia has always existed.

But that is not quite true sectarianism is a phenomenon that waxes and wanes over time. This current period of tensions stretches back to about 1978, when the first uprisings in the Shia-dominated Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia began against the Al Saud, which were then capitalised upon by the Iranian Ayatollahs after they swept to power in 1979.

Saudi Arabia, Iran and sectarianism The drivers of sectarianism are rarely only religious, and usually come packaged with cultural disputes, and reams of political analysis about the other side’s brutality and oppressive behaviour.

The most recent phenomenon, of course, has been for media personalities on both sides to accuse the other of being the patron of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A cheap political tactic wrapped in conspiracy and with little basis in fact, but which nevertheless resonates deeply across the region, and serves only to deepen

the sectarian divide.

The spat, therefore, has wider regional implications. As bilateral ties between the two sides are now broken, the only avenue for them to sit and discuss their points of view are via multilateral initiatives.

The Vienna Process and resulting peace talks over Syria and discussions concerning the ongoing conflict in Yemen are now the only places where the two nations can sit together.

However, it is unlikely that any serious rapprochement can be made through these channels. Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply at odds with each other over both conflicts and the future does not bode well for the already stunted and stumbling diplomatic processes.

Those wishing to bring an end to years of war across the region will have their work cut out for them.

While insecurity across the region is likely to continue and even increase, security in the Gulf itself can be managed. US, British and French military power ensures that direct war will not break out, and these countries will not quickly abandon their Gulf allies.

Notwithstanding this, quite how they will manage a larger rapprochement with Iran following the Iranian nuclear deal is going to

be difficult in the coming months.

The five smaller Gulf states will have to watch the situation very closely.

Saudi Arabia and its allies For three decades, they have managed to balance their identity as Gulf Cooperation Council members with their vital economic interests and historical trade relationships to Iran. But the Iran-Saudi break is a real test.

While Bahrain associates itself closely with Saudi foreign policy initiatives and very quickly severed its ties with Tehran, Qatar, UAE and Kuwait did not follow suit.

The UAE has downgraded its relationship with Iran but will not sever it, and it is likely that Qatar will consider something similar.

While on Tuesday Kuwait recalled its ambassador, permanently severing relations with Tehran is too damaging for the Gulf states to consider at the current time.

Oman on the other hand faces an even greater conundrum. Often seen as Iran’s only true ally on the Arabian Peninsula, Muscat cannot afford to upset its ties with either Riyadh or Tehran, and it is likely that the Omanis will remain silent for the time being, remaining in full diplomatic contact with Iran while saying nothing against any other Gulf state’s decision to cut ties.

Moving forward, the United States and Britain in particular will show a far more visible presence in the Gulf in support of the GCC. Military exercises are the modus operandi at times of regional tension, and if the Americans want tensions to cool they will need to remind both sides of the Gulf who the real boss is. The problem is that it is US retrenchment from the region that has been the cause of regional competition in the first place, and the Obama administration appears unwilling to do what is necessary to keep the peace.

This is deeply troubling for the region, because without a true security actor to keep Tehran and Riyadh from quarrelling further, the only result will be more insecurity, more competition, and yes, more sectarianism. 2016 looks to set to be another bumpy ride.

Michael Stephens is a research fellow for Middle East studies and head of the Royal United Services Institute in Qatar.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

Source: Al Jazeera

News From Africa

Fresh abuse allegations against UN peacekeepers in CAR

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nvestigation is launched into claims that UN peacekeepers sexually abused four underage girls in capital Bangui.

The United Nations has launched a fact finding mission into new allegations that its peacekeepers sexually abused four underage girls in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR).

The UN mission in CAR, known as MINUSCA, said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “investigating fresh allegations concerning both sexual exploitation and abuse and other misconduct by UN Peacekeepers and international forces in Bangui”.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the four victims had been provided with medical and psychosocial care, but did not specify when the alleged abuse took place or how many peacekeepers were involved in the case.

In line with UN policy not to name the countries whose peacekeepers were accused of sexual misconduct, Dujarric did not say where the peacekeepers were from.

Facebook appeal saves South Africa lion

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South African lion has been saved after tourists on safari posted images of the animal bleeding from the neck on Facebook, BuzzFeed news reports.

The big cat was spotted by tourists in the popular Kruger National Park (KNP) after apparently being caught in a trap set by a poacher.

They alerted game rangers and posted the images of the injured lion on Facebook.

Rangers say they have managed to locate the lion and its wound has been treated.

“It appeared not to be as bad as anticipated and displayed by images,” KNP said in a Facebook post.

“Our lion is finding his feet again” and is “doing well”, it added.

Ivory Coast government resigns

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vory Coast’s President Alassane Quattara has accepted the resignation of his prime minister and the government, Reuters news agency reports “The establishment of a new government will have better coherence as a goal so the government can be more efficient,” It quotes Mr Ouattara as saying during a meeting attended by the media.

Mr Ouattara was elected for a second five-year term in October’s election with nearly 84% of the vote.

The resignation of the government after an election is a normal practise to pave the way for the president to make new appointments.

He added, however, that the UN had asked the countries to immediately launch their own investigations - nations are responsible for holding their own troops accountable in such cases.

The new allegations follow a series of sexual abuse claims lodged against UN peacekeepers in CAR in 2015.

In December, an independent panel sharply criticised the UN response to claims of child abuse that allegedly took place in a centre for displaced people near Bangui airport between December 2013 and June 2014.

The panel’s report said the UN had failed to properly vet peacekeepers for past abuses and needed to do more to protect children.

The latest allegations in CAR have prompted discussions over the establishment of a special policeforce to help patrol camps and other high-risk areas, the UN said.

Earlier in 2015, the UN released a report documenting allegations of sex abuse in a number of countries in which peacekeepers had operated,

There were long queues in the PK5 neighbourhood which has seen lots of violence including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Haiti and South Sudan.

The report said 480 allegations

of sexual exploitation and abuse had been made between 2008 and 2013, of which one-third involved minors.

The UN mission to CAR is made

up of 11,000 peacekeepers. There are also some 5,600 African Union (AU) peacekeepers and an additional 2,000 French troops in the country.

Liberia president supports reducing presidential term

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iberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said she supports the call by Liberians to reduce the presidential term of office from two six-year terms to two four-year terms.

A constitution review commission set up by Sirleaf recommended last year to reduce the number of years the president can serve. The commission also recommended the term of office for senators be reduced from the current nine years to six, and representatives from six to four years. Information Minister Lewis Brown said Sirleaf’s support to change the presidential term to two four-year terms is part of her effort to build a democratic governance model that is transparent and that every Liberian can feel a part of.

“She has, in fact, written the legislature and she has asked to actually consider amending the presidential term to two four-year terms rather than what it is today which is two six-year terms. In effect, limiting the president to a maximum of eight years in office,” he said.

Under the current 1986 constitution, the president and vice president serve six-year terms, senators serve for nine years and members of the House of Representatives six years.

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives can run for re-election for as many times as they wish as long they are elected by their constituents.

Brown would not say if Sirleaf is trying to set an example for other African leaders who are trying to change their countries’ constitutions to extend their stay in power.

“Well, if her example is anything to go by, then certainly it speaks to the fact that she will favor presidential term limit. Now, whether she is sending a message to the rest of Africa, I’m not in the position to say. But I know that her entire leadership has been around making sure that Liberia is best positioned, whether it be through economic transformation, whether it be political transformation, so that every citizen feels a duty to their country in the first instance and

Cameroon ‘to boost oil refinery production’

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ameroon’s state oil refinery says it will complete this year the first phase of a project to extend and upgrade its facilities, Reuters news agency reports.

“The project constitutes a priority, the outcome of which will allow the company to increase its production [and] be more competitive,” Sonara said in a statement.

The central African nation has sought to revamp its Sonara refinery for years.

However, falling oil prices have cut spending, prompting the government to seek other forms of financing.

The finance ministry announced last February that it would seek to raise $1.5bn (£1bn) from banks to refinance the refinery and fund other development projects.

Annual refining capacity will rise to 3.5 million tonnes from 2.1 million when phase one and two are completed, Reuters says.

Separate figures for each phase were not available.

that we can deepen the institutional capacity of our society to build the kind of democratic governance model that is a bit more transparent, and a bit more accountable to the people,” Brown said.

Many long-serving African leaders have been using what has been dubbed by some as a “softer, gentler coup d’état” to stay in power by reforming their countries’ constitutions.

The tactic has been used by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang, Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who is in a tight re-election fight in polling scheduled for next month.

Most recently, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza won a controversial third term in an election that his critics said violated the constitution. In Rwanda, the parliament removed the two sevenyear presidential term limit and paved the way for President Paul Kagame to continue in office.

Liberia’s Constitutional Review

Conference approved several recommendations, including a provision making Liberia a ‘Christian’ nation, the election of superintendents of the country’s 15 political subdivisions by the citizens rather than by presidential appointment, equal representation for women, and rejection of dual citizenship.

Brown said Sirleaf supports dual citizenship because she feels the country would benefit economically.

“It is not in the best interest of our country to alienate people who were born to Liberian parentage, people who are truly Liberians. And she used other economic indicators that dual citizenship has had a positive impact on the economy, especially at a time when we need to invest in our country,” Brown said.

The Liberian legislature, which returns to work next week from its summer break, will have to approve the term limits recommendations before they are put to a national referendum.

Liberia holds presidential election in 2017.

Top marks for South African school for deaf pupils

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South African school for deaf pupils has achieved a 100% pass rate in finalyear examinations - for the fifth consecutive year.

All the final-year pupils had also obtained at least one distinction, the Kwathintwa Deaf School in KwaZulu-Natal province said in a statement.

The school’s star pupil, Sthembiso Thabethe, got three As. Principal Mavis Naidoo

described the 2015 results as “phenomenal”.

“For deaf learners to achieve such commendable results is no easy task. I firmly believe that this proves that all students have the potential to succeed if they have access quality education in a ‘learning enriched school’,” she added.

The school was set up by anti-apartheid cleric Archbishop Desmond Denis Hurley, South Africa’s News24 site reports.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 37

Asia & Middle East Saudi-Iran row: Kerry calls leaders to urge calm North Korea nuclear: State claims first hydrogen bomb test

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S Secretary of State John Kerry has repeatedly called leaders in Saudi Arabia and Iran to try to defuse their diplomatic row, US officials say.

State department spokesman John Kirby said the phone conversations involved foreign ministers of both countries and the Saudi deputy crown prince.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday after protesters ransacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Protests erupted after Saudi Arabia executed a senior Shia Muslim cleric.

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran are major rivals in the Middle East and back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

“One of the key things on his mind is de-escalate the tensions, restore some sense of calm, encourage dialogue and engagement between these countries, but also to make the point there are other pressing issues in the region,” Mr Kirby said.

“Not letting the Vienna process [on Syrian peace talks] stall or fall backward is clearly top on his list,” he said.

On Tuesday, Kuwait said it was recalling its ambassador from Tehran, describing the attack on the Saudi embassy there as a “flagrant breach of international norms”.

Saudi allies Bahrain and Sudan

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Shia Muslims in Bahrain have staged protests against Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on Monday and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also downgraded its diplomatic team in Tehran.

On Monday, the UN Security Council issued a strongly worded statementcondemning the attack

on the Saudi embassy - making no mention of the execution of Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others on terrorism charges.

Turkey has also called for calm, warning that the feud could worsen regional tensions.

Iran has responded angrily to the

diplomatic moves, insisting it had no hand in the violent protests that followed the execution.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia could not “hide its crime of beheading a religious leader by severing political relations with Iran”.

Bangladesh Islamist Nizami’s Chinese shares rally after recent big falls ainland Chinese shares the mainland stock market Tuesday to inject cash into death sentence upheld headed higher on sell-off over the summer and the falling market also helped

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angladesh’s highest court has upheld the death sentence for Motiur Rahman Nizami, head of the country’s largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.

Nizami was appealing against last year’s conviction for war crimes committed during the independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

The 72-year-old is accused of helping the Pakistani army identify and kill pro-independence activists.

He was convicted on charges including genocide, murder, torture and rape.

Many of those killed during the nine-month Bangladeshi war of secession were teachers, engineers and journalists.

A war crimes tribunal - looking into abuses during the war - was set up in 2010, but critics have accused the government of using it to target political opponents.

Nizami, who served as a minister in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government from 2001-2006, is one of the most important figures to have been found guilty.

He is expected to be executed in the coming months unless he requests a review of the Supreme Court verdict, or is granted clemency by the president - which analysts say is unlikely.

Motiur Rahman Nizami is a former minister in Bangladesh

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Wednesday, recovering some of the steep losses made earlier this week on concerns about the economy.

The Shanghai Composite index closed 2.3% higher at 3,361.84 points as measures from regulators to support the stock market started to have an impact.

Local reports said the securities regulator would keep in effect its ban on share sales by major shareholders until new rules were released.

The ban was set to expire on Friday.

It was put in place six months ago at the height of

locked up an estimated 1.24tn yuan ($190bn; £129bn) worth of shares.

Monday’s 7% plunge in the Shanghai market, which led to the suspension of trading for the first time, triggered a global equities rout.

But a sense of calm has now moved over financial markets, said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at trading firm IG in a note.

“While we haven’t seen a snap-back rally, the flat moves in US and European markets means we can stop to catch our breath,” he said.

Beijing’s decision on

soothe fears.

Economic data that suggested activity in the country’s services sector expanded at its slowest pace in 17 months in December had little impact on investors’ confidence.

The Caixin/Markit purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 50.2 from 51.2 in November. A reading above 50 suggests growth in the sector, while one below that suggests contraction.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index failed to match the positive run from the mainland market and ended the session 1% lower at 20,980.81.

Syria conflict: Thousands of refugees stranded at Jordan border

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ordan has acknowledged that thousands of Syrian refugees are stranded in a remote desert area on its northern border with Syria awaiting entry.

Government spokesman Mohammed Momani told the Associated Press “the number is 12,000, but it is increasing”.

Last month, he said a similar estimate by the UN was “greatly exaggerated”.

Mr Momani said about 50 to 100 refugees were being allowed into Jordan each day, with priority given to women, children, and elderly and sick people.

Mass entry was unlikely because of security concerns, he added.

On 8 December, the UN

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the number of Syrians stranded in deteriorating humanitarian conditions, beside an earthen berm on the Syria-Jordan border, had tripled.

About 11,000 people were massed at Rukban, about 8km (5 miles) to the west of the point at which the Iraq, Syria, and Jordan borders meet, and 1,000 at Hadalat, some 90km further west, spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters.

They included children, women and others who were “vulnerable and really need help”, she added.

Many of them are believed to have fled air strikes by Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on areas controlled by

the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in eastern Homs province and neighbouring Raqqa.

Ms Fleming warned that if the refugees were not admitted and substantial assistance was not provided, their lives would “be at risk in the coming months”.

She said that Jordan had legitimate security concerns, but that they could be addressed by properly assessing each case.

Jordan is hosting 633,000 of the 4.39 million Syrians registered as refugees with the UN. The government says more than one million other Syrians are living there, including those who arrived before the uprising against Mr Assad erupted in 2011.

orth Korea says it has successfully carried out an underground hydrogen bomb test which, if confirmed, would be its fourth nuclear test since 2006.

The claim came after a 5.1 magnitude tremor was detected close to its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, which monitors said was likely not natural.

This is North Korea’s first claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb, which is more powerful than an atomic bomb.

But international experts say there is no confirmation as yet.

Despite North Korea’s claims, experts are sceptical that North Korea can make a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on a missile.

Observers agree a nuclear explosion of some kind took place and it seems to have been a bit bigger than the last test in 2013, but not nearly big enough to be a full thermonuclear explosion - an “H-bomb” - as Pyongyang claims.

North Korea has a determination to defy both world opinion and heavy sanctions to reach their nuclear goal. Crucially, its main ally, China, has proved either unwilling or unable to help.

Suspicion an underground test had been carried out was first raised after the US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake - detected at 10:00 Pyongyang time (01:30 GMT) - was in the north-east of the country, about 50km (30 miles) from Kilju city, near Punggye-ri.

Then in a surprise announcement, a newsreader on North Korean state TV said: “The republic’s first hydrogen bomb test has been successfully performed at 10:00 am on January 6, 2016.”

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang had developed a hydrogen bomb, although many experts were sceptical.

It could be days or weeks before independent tests are able to verify or dismiss the claim.

Hours before the seismic activity, South Korean media reported that Pyongyang had testfired a ballistic missile from a submarine in late December. It is unclear whether the test was successful or not.

North Korea said in May it had conducted a similar successful test.

A picture from North Korean state TV showing leader Kim Jong-un signing the document for the hydrogen bomb test

Europe & Americas Cologne sex attacks: Protest against gang assaults on women G

Germany registers 1.1 Million migrants in 2015

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undreds of people have protested in the German city of Cologne over sexual assaults and thefts carried out by groups of men on New Year’s Eve. Some held up signs demanding action from Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mrs Merkel has expressed outrage over the “disgusting attacks” and said everything must be done to find those responsible.

Witnesses and police said that the men involved were of Arab or North African appearance.

Political leaders have warned Germans not to link the violence to the influx of more than one million refugees and migrants in the past year.

“It’s completely improper... to link a group that appeared to come from North Africa with the refugees,” Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said, following talks with police.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere agreed there should not be any general suspicion towards refugees at least “at this stage of the investigation”.

“But if North Africans were the perpetrators, for which there is some indication, there should not a taboo and people should gloss over it.”

The scale of the attacks, involving groups of drunk and aggressive young men, has shocked the country.

There is an intense debate in Germany about refugees and migrants who arrived in record numbers last year, many of them

Protesters held placards saying “Mrs Merkel: Where are you? What do you say? This fleeing the conflict in Syria.

Women have made at least 90 criminal complaints to police about harassment by gangs at Cologne’s main railway station on Thursday night.

At least one woman in Cologne was reportedly raped and many were groped, including a volunteer policewoman.

Women were also targeted in Hamburg and Stuttgart in similar attacks, but on a smaller scale.

Up to 300 people, mostly women, demonstrated against the violence near the scene of the attacks on Tuesday evening.

Some held placards reading: “Mrs Merkel! Where are you? What do you say? This alarms us!”

Police were pictured stopping and questioning men near Cologne’s central station on Tuesday.

However, the city’s police chief, Wolfgang Albers, said no arrests had yet been made over the New Year’s

Eve attacks.

“We don’t currently have any suspects, so we don’t know who the perpetrators were,” he said.

“All we know is that the police at the scene perceived that it was mostly young men aged 18 to 35 from the Arab or North African region.”

He called it “a completely new dimension of crime” and rejected criticism of his force’s handling on the night

US Republicans attack Obama gun control moves

L

eading US Republicans have denounced President Barack Obama’s move to tighten gun controls.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said the executive orders, which bypass Congress, “undermined liberty” and would be challenged in court.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said that, if elected, he would reverse the measures.

In an emotional address on Tuesday, Mr Obama accused the gun lobby of holding the country hostage.

Wiping away tears, he recalled the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting in which 20 children and six adults were killed.

However, the largest gun lobby group, the National Rifle Association (NRA), said Mr Obama’s steps would not have prevented any recent mass killings in the US. “Rather than focus on criminals and terrorists, he goes after the most law-abiding of citizens,” said Mr Ryan, a Republican.

“His words and actions amount to a form of intimidation that undermines liberty.”

Correspondents say the announcement is already shaping up to be an issue in the 2016 presidential election.

Donald Trump said that he would “un-sign” the measures if elected to the White House - a sentiment echoed by other Republican presidential candidates.

Senator Ted Cruz tweeted that the executive actions were unconstitutional, with a link to sign up for his campaign correspondence on a web page that says “Obama wants your guns”.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also a Republican candidate,

tweeted that he would repeal the actions and protect the Second Amendment.

Leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted: “@POTUS is right: We can protect the second Amendment while protecting our families and communities from gun violence. And we have to.”

President Obama announced the law change at the White House, surrounded by survivors and relatives of victims of shootings.

“The gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now, but they can’t hold America hostage,” he said.

EastEnder Sian Blake: Post-mortem tests due on bodies as Met investigated

P

ost-mortem examinations will take place later on three bodies found in the south-east London garden of a missing ex-EastEnders actress.

Sian Blake, 43, and her two sons aged four and eight, have not been seen at their Erith home since 13 December.

Her partner Arthur Simpson-Kent raised the alarm, but disappeared three days later and is being sought “urgently”.

The Met is being investigated over why it took three weeks for the, as yet unidentified, bodies to be found.

Its Directorate of Professional Standards is working with the team to “fully understand the timeline of police interaction with the family”.

Ms Blake, who had motor neurone disease, played Frankie Pierre in the soap between 1996 and 1997.

The actress, whose character broke up the marriage of Alan and Carol Jackson, was last seen with sons Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, in Walthamstow.

Her car was found on 3 January in Calvert Avenue, Bethnal Green but it is not yet known how it got there.

Det Supt Paul Monk said: “It’s too early to speculate. Our efforts are continuing to find Arthur Simpson-Kent... we do need to speak to him as a matter of urgency.”

Mr Simpson-Kent, 48, is the father of the two children.

A 30-year-old neighbour, who did not give her name,

said: “She was a lovely, caring lady. I was hoping she was just hiding away to have her last Christmas. I wish I had been a better neighbour. I’m devastated.”

A family member had reported the three missing on 16 December, and two days later a missing persons inquiry was launched, but not classed as high risk.

The same day officers returned to the house, and forced their way in when there was no answer. On 4 January the homicide team took over.

As well as EastEnders, Ms Blake also appeared in the 1998 film Siberia and TV movie May 33rd in 2004 under her stage name Syan Blake, according to Sian Blake played Frankie Pierre in the BBC One soap opera her IMDB profile.

ermany says nearly 1.1 million people registered as migrants within its borders last year.

In numbers released Wednesday, Germany said 428,468 migrants were part of the flood of people exiting Syria. Syrians, fleeing a violent war at home, were by far the largest single group of nationals among the migrants coming into Germany.

The next two largest nations of origin were also places suffering violence -- Afghanistan, with 154,046 migrants registering in Germany, and Iraq, with 121,662.

Germany said the number of annual arrivals was about five times more than in 2014.

Authorities Tuesday recovered the bodies of at least 36 migrants, including several children, who drowned off Turkey after their boats overturned in rough waters as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, officials and news reports said.

Twelve other migrants were rescued.

It was not immediately clear how many boats sank in the high seasonal winds, but the Dogan news agency said at least two separate incidents were involved.

The tragedies, the deadliest so far reported in the Aegean in 2016, come as the EU seeks to push Turkey to halt the flow of migrants across its borders in exchange for financial help.

Around 850,000 migrants and refugees crossed into Greece last year, paying smuggling gangs to ferry them over from Turkey in frail boats.

English GP surgeries reach new patient ‘breaking point’

L

arge numbers of GP surgeries in England have stopped taking on new patients or have applied to do so, a BBC investigation has found.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says many are at “breaking point” as they struggle to fill staff vacancies.

At least 100 surgeries applied to NHS England to stop accepting new patients in 2014/15, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

NHS England said it was investing £15m to boost the workforce.

At the beginning of November, 299 surgeries were indicating on the NHS Choices website - which provides patients with information about surgeries in their local area - that they were not taking on new patients.

Dr Chaand Nagpul, chairman of the BMA’s GP committee, said practices were struggling to recruit new doctors.

“GP services are reaching breaking point as they struggle to cope with rising patient demand, falling resources and a shortage of GPs,” he said.

“Closing their list is the only option to maintain safe care to their local community.”

The BBC has learned that some practices are offering a “golden hello” of up to £10,000 to attract new doctors.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Page 39

Strange

world

Indonesian tattoo artists revive ancient tribal tradition of painstakingly tapping ink by hand into subject’s skin using needles mounted on sticks

M

en in tribal dress stand amid dense jungle on the Indonesian island of Java, their bodies covered in elaborate, traditional tattoos inspired by cultures in distant corners of the vast, tropical archipelago.

Many images on display at the recent tattoo festival that brought the men together were not applied with fast, modern machines, but using a centuries-old, tribal method that involves artists gently tapping a stick mounted with a needle on a subject’s skin.

The practice known as ‘handtapping’ had almost faded out completely, as modernity overwhelmed Indonesia’s tribes and younger generations eschewed their ancestors’ ways.

But tattoo artists have in recent years been driving a revival as more and more people seek to reconnect with the past.

‘There is a growing trend now, there are more people who want to learn about traditional tattooing – I am very happy about it,’ said Herpianto Hendra, a tattoo artist who uses the ancient method and is a member of Borneo’s Dayak tribespeople.

‘I am proud that my culture is being recognised.’

The body art ranges from flowers inspired by Dayak tattoos that mark the coming of age to narrow, black lines running across the body, like those of indigenous peoples from a remote scattering of islands in western Indonesia.

The festival earlier this month in Maguwoharjo village in Java’s cultural heartland gathered people from across Indonesia and the world at the studio of celebrated Indonesian tattoo artist Durga, a leading figure in the revival.

Durga has championed tattoos from the western Mentawai islands, home to a semi-nomadic tribespeople famed for their body art and the practice of sharpening their teeth, which they believe makes them more beautiful.

Mentawai tattoos, generally long lines looping over the shoulders and chest and more elaborate patterns on feet and hands, were long part of local culture and signified the tribespeople’s close links to nature.

The other well known body art from Indonesia is found among the Dayaks, an array of semi-nomadic tribes who traditionally lived in the jungles and mountains of vast, biodiverse Borneo island shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Their tattoos featured thick, black lines forming images inspired by nature, such as flowers, leaves and animals, that mark a person’s journey through life.

Before head-hunting was banned, Dayaks also received tattoos on their hands if they decapitated an enemy.

While not as well known, other indigenous groups also have tattooing traditions, such as those in

the eastern Maluku Islands and the central island of Sumba.

But the tradition has been waning for decades, after Christian missionaries and the Indonesian government sought to discourage what they saw as outdated, tribal practices, and as younger tribespeople moved away from villages to rapidly growing cities in search of better jobs and education.

The revival has been driven by a small group of contemporary tattoo artists, some who have learnt ‘hand-tapping’ methods from local tribes and have put a modern twist on ancient designs – increasingly popular among the young and hip living in Indonesian cities and abroad.

Lars Krutak, an American tattoo anthropologist, said people are drawn to ancient Indonesian designs as they are ‘unique, beautiful and deeply spiritual’.

‘People living in big cities want to be rooted to something meaningful, especially if they plan to wear these tattoos on their bodies for the rest of their lives,’ said Krutak, who has written an entry on Durga for the ‘World Atlas of Tattoo’, which features 100 tattoo artists.

In the capital Jakarta, a small museum dedicated to indigenous body art has opened, housed in a ramshackle building filled with tribal paraphernalia and photos of tattooed indigenous people.

‘Hand-tapping’ regularly takes place at the museum, whose name ‘Bau Tanah’ refers to the musty smell that emanates from the earth after heavy rains.

At a recent ‘hand-tapping’ session, tattoo artist Ranu Khodir knelt down and applied the image of a dragon in Dayak style on the stomach of Saman, a motorbike taxi driver, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

An assistant stretched out Saman’s skin, as he stayed stoically silent as the tattoo was applied.

Khodir, who is not from an indigenous group but looks every bit like the tribesmen whose work he reveres, with a wild mane of jetblack hair and motifs of stars and flowers covering his back, used to do machine tattooing but switched to ‘hand-tapping’ a few years ago.

‘I want to defend traditional Indonesian culture,’ he said.

There are downsides to the traditional methods - it takes many more hours for a tattoo to be applied by ‘hand-tapping’ than with a machine.

Still, the old methods have been adapted for the modern world, with tattoo artists nowadays using sterilised needles and a light anaesthetic to dull the pain. In the past in tribal areas, tattoos were applied with fish bones or long thorns.

Despite signs of a revival in some areas, experts warn that tattooing styles of tribes in more remote places could be forgotten.

‘I fear this ancient traditional and artistic knowledge will soon be lost forever unless a concerted effort is made to record it immediately,’ said Krutak.

Celebrated Indonesian tattoo artist Durga speaks to a woman of the Dayak tribe during the traditional tattoo festival

Brent McCown, an Australian tattoo artist, uses the ‘hand tapping’ method at a traditional tattoo festival recently held on the island of Java

Ranu Khodir, a celebrated Jakarta A tattoo artist uses the traditional ‘hand tapping’ method tattoo artist who uses the traditional which requires repeatedly tapping a needle on a stick into ‘hand-tapping’ method, displays his the subject’s skin Dayak tribe motif tattoo

Digest

The easiest way to lose weight?

Eat with a fork - not a spoon

Scientists revealed that eating unhealthy food - including chocolate cake - in front of a mirror causes the foods to be ‘less tasty’. A study found that looking in a mirror forces a person to think about their behaviors within the social standards of correctness. As a result, people feel discomfort because they’re indulging rather than eating healthy foods

By James Dunn

E

ating with a fork instead of a spoon can help you lose weight, new research suggests.

A study by the

“

University of Florida found that using a fork and eating from smaller, less fancy, and even paper plates will help prevent overeating.

It also claims that putting mirrors in your

The mirrors were found to push the subjects to compare and match their own behaviours with accepted social standards

dining room will help weight loss because they actually make junk food taste worse.

The researchers asked 185 undergraduates to choose chocolate cake or a fruit salad and evaluate the taste.

Those who ate them in a room with a mirror scored the taste of the junk food lower than those in a room without one, but it had no effect on the fruit salad.

Lead scientist, Dr Ata Jami of the University of Central Florida, said: ‘A glance in the mirror tells people more than just about their physical

appearance.

‘It enables them to view themselves objectively and helps them to judge themselves and their behaviors in a same way that they judge others.’

The mirrors were found to push the subjects to compare and match their own behaviours with accepted social standards.

The study’s authors believe it proves that people don’t want to look in the mirror when they feel that they are now adhering to those social standards.

When they do look in the mirror, feelings of

discomfort and failure are enhanced.

Therefore, the presence of the mirror induces a discomfort and lowers the perceived taste of unhealthy food.

But, this is only the case if the person selects the food they are eating because they are responsible for that choice.

The study suggests that mirrors be placed in dining rooms and other eating spaces so people will start eating more healthily Source: co.uk

Dailymail.

PEOPLES DAILY

Sports

THURSday, JANUARY 7, 2016

Page

41

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

Minister later signed the condolence register

Minister visits Glass House, condoles NFF over Abubakar’s death

By Albert Akota

T

he Minister of Youth and Sports, Barr Solomon Dalung, yesterday afternoon paid a condolence visit to the secretariat of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), following the sudden demise of its Head of Protocol, Ibrahim Abubakar.

Dalung, who was in company of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. Christian Ohaa and other top officers of his entourage, was received by the Deputy General Secretary of the NFF, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme at the Glass house.

Till his death, Ibrahim Abubakar, head of protocol, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and was yesterday shot dead by some suspected armed robbers at his Abuja residence.

The NFF said the Kaduna-born football administrator is being conveyed to his hometown

League hotshot returns to Nasarawa United >>Pg 42

of Kaduna, where he has been buried yesterday in Kaduna according to Islamic rites.

“It is really a sad loss, not just for the NFF, but for the entire Sports Family. This sad occurrence has again brought to the fore the need for adequate security in the country; a situation where we all live in fear of the unknown is worrisome, “Dalung stated.

The minister later signed the condolence register in honor of late Ibrahim Abubukar.

In his response, NFF Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme thanked the Minister for his gesture and quick response “on behalf of the NFF President, the board, Management and Staff of the Football Federation, we want to appreciate your kind gesture, especially because you turned up at the secretariat yourself to commiserate with us on the loss of our dear colleague, “said Ikpeme.

Writing on his tweeter handle, Super Eagles star, Ogenyi Onazi who plays in Italy said: “Very sad to hear about the unfortunate loss of Ibrahim Abubakar. Rest in Peace! Our prayers are with the family you left behind.”

Eagles’ Media Offficer, Oluwatoyin Ibitoye, who is with the home-based senior team in their camp in Pretoria, South Africa for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) could not hide his shock when reacting to the death of Abubakar, saying “shocking, devastating and tragic news about the killing of NFF’s head of protocol Ibrahim Abubakar by armed robbers this morning in Abuja.”

Journalist and African football advocate, Tunde Adelakun, said on tweeter: “Very sad news from the NFF with the news of the passing of Protocol Officer Ibrahim. I only knew him as Ibro. Shocking news. Rest In Peace.

Very sad morning for me.”

Why Nigeria hosts the 24th CAF Awards >>Pg 46

The late Ibrahim Abubakar

Sport League hotshot returns to Nasarawa United

O

ne-time Nigeria league hotshot Victor Namo has returned to Nasarawa United after he ended his contract at Libyan club Al Ittihad.

Namo was top scorer in the league three seasons ago when he scored 17 goals.

He will subsequently sign a lucrative deal in oil-rich

Libya.

His experience of playing international football with both Al ittihad and Kano Pillars will come in handy when Nasarawa begin their CAF

Victor Namo in action for Nasarawa three seasons ago

Eagles rivals Guinea get $15,000 each for CHAN ticket

T

he 23 players who made this year’s CHAN final squad for Guinea as well as eight backroom staff have each been paid $15,000 for making it to the biennial tournament in Rwanda for the first time.

Guinea is drawn in the same first round group with Nigeria, who are making their second appearance, and 2011 champions Tunisia.

Niger is also in Group C and this will be their second appearance after they featured at the 2011 edition in Sudan.

Nigeria received a win bonus of$5,000 rather than half that amount when they held Burkina Faso to a goalless draw in Ouagadougou to qualify for the CHAN on a 2-0 aggregate.

The 2016 CHAN will kick off in Kigali on January 16.

Confederation Cup campaign in February.

The Lafia club face Generation Foot from Senegal in the preliminary round of the competition.

I slept at airport for four days, Gambo reveals

K

ano Pillars and Super Eagles striker, Gambo Mohammed, is fuming with rage over what he termed untold hardship he suffered in Instanbul, Turkey, on his way to Vietnam for the now botched deal with Song Lam Nghe An FC, a Premier V-League side.

“I boarded Turkish Airline and when we landed at Instanbul, I was not allowed to proceed to Vietnam”, Gambo narrated.

“I slept at the airport for four days, without food, it was difficult.

Worst of it all was that even when I came back late Monday night or Tuesday morning, I lost my bag containing five pairs of boots, clothes

and other items.

“When I contacted officials of the airline, they gave me a form to fill which I did but I’m yet to hear from them.”

Gambo blamed his ordeal on the agent who transacted the deal. You know Vietnam doesn’t have embassy here in Nigeria.

“So I was told the visa would be issued at point of entry on payment of 30 or 50 dollars.

“But when I got there at Istanbul airport, I was denied passage to Vietnam. The agent is based in England, his name is Edwin Nwafor.

“He handled this transaction directly with my club, Kano Pillars, and this is the outcome”, Gambo lamented.

Gambo

Injuries hit CHAN Eagles strikers

N

igeria are likely to rest strikers Tunde Adeneji and Chisom Chikatara for today’s friendly against fellow CHAN-bound Angola after they suffered knocks in a test game on Tuesday against PSL side University of Pretoria.

Former international and liason officer Tijjani Babangida said Adeniji, who scored twice in a 3-0 win over University of Pretoria, pulled out of the game with a muscle strain complaint after he scored his second goal, while Chikatara got a slight hamstring.

Adeniji scored 16 goals for Sunshine Stars this past season, while Chikatara was one of the leading lights at Abia Warriors.

“The boys are coming up from what we saw in this game, but two strikers Adeniji and Chisom suffered knocks during the game,” disclosed Babangida.

The Eagles are scheduled to also play another warm-up match against Cote d’Ivoire on January 11 before they depart for Rwanda on January 15.

CHAN Eagles star Chisom Chikatara - Injured

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Sport Chelsea to fight Manchester United for Mane

B

arclays Premier League champions Chelsea are set to battle Manchester United for Southampton’s African flyer Sadio Mane.

The Daily Mirror reports that the Blues are keen on signing the Senegal ace, who has been an instant hit at St.Mary’s since his move from Austria.

Mane, 23, has had several run with manager Ronald Koeman over the past year and is reportedly eager to force a move to a bigger club in the foreseeable future.

The Red Devils have long been keen on Mane and made the Saints wide man a top transfer target after missing out on Pedro, who snubbed a move to Old Trafford in favour of Stamford Bridge last year.

United will be eager to avoid another slip up in the transfer market, but it is unclear if they are willing to pay the £ 30 million Southampton will demand.

Mane has directly contributed to 15 goals in 25 games across all competitions this season.

Southampton’s Sadio Mane and Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic (right) battle for the ball

Kano Pillars release 10 players

PUBLIC NOTICE

Risala Foundation

The general public is hereby notified that the abovenamed foundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for registration under part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Acts, 1990.

THE TRUSTEE: Dr. Aliyu Abubakar Tanko OBJECTIVE: It is educating and empowering the orphans & less privileged in the society.

Any objection to this application should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420 Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: SECRETARY

Rabiu Ali of Pillars

K

ano Pillars have released 10 negotiations with some players who players on medical grounds will replace those put on transfer,” and declining productivity. he announced.

According to Pillars spokesman Malikawa further said that a Idris Malikawa, the Kano club, who good number of the players from registered 33 players last season, last season have resumed training took the decision to place the players in Kano, while the new signings are on transfer after a management expected to join up shortly. m e e t i n g deliberated on shallangwa last season’s I Formerly Known As, shallangwa technical johnson. Wish To Be Known As, report. “ T h e shallangwa haruna johnson. All club have Former Document Remain Valid, now begun General Public Should Take Note.

aina’u I Formerly Known As, aina’u nuhu. Wish To Be Known As, aina’u shamsuddeen wali abdullahi. All Former Document Remain Valid. zenith bank and General Public Should Take Note.

Page 43

Gambo dumps Turkey club for Kano Pillars

By Albert Akota

K

ano Pillars striker Gambo Mohammed has returned to Kano after he dramatically turned back from Istanbul, Turkey, on his way to Vietnam in respect of signing for a club there.

Gambo’s UK-based agent Eddie Nwafor disclosed that the player refused to continue his trip to Vietnam despite a further clarification about his entry visa to Vietnam in Turkey.

Pillars have equally expressed disappointment with the latest development concerning the striker.

“This is most unfortunate and baffling because we did everything to make sure Gambo traveled out of the country to try his luck overseas. We will most certainly probe into why he did not do so after he got to Turkey,” said Pillars spokesman Idris Malikawa.

Nwafor said this will be the second time he has been involved in a botched foreign transfer involving Gambo.

“In 2011, I took the same player to the same club in Vietnam and after a day’s training they liked what they saw, but in the end the transfer fell through. I lost money as a result,” he recounted.

“This time I had to involve his club and Ahmed Garba aka ‘Yaro Yaro’, who was a player I handled when he played in Denmark. They both gave me assurances that everything will go well because the player himself was keen on moving overseas.

“But when he got to Istanbul, he was stopped over his visa to Vietnam, but we were able to confirm to the officials via email that he has a valid visa to enter Vietnam, but rather than continue on his trip to Vietnam, he insisted on heading back home to Nigeria despite pleadings from many well-meaning people including his wife.

“He preferred to sleep at the airport in Istanbul for three days and then return to Kano.

“Another player who I worked with to move to Vietnam has since signed even after he had to go through Nairobi, Kenya, and Thailand before he got to Hanoi.”

Nwafor added: “Everyone who has been involved in this move, including the Pillars chairman, is confused and shocked.

“It’s not just normal.”

Gambo, who has been capped by Nigeria at full international level, has been at Pillars since 2006, but over the years he has scuttled transfers to Egypt and Turkey even when he only had to sign a contract.

INYAMPE

I formerly known and called Mercy Edward INYAMPE henceforth wish to be known and called INYAMPE MARYAM MERCY. all former document remain valid and general public should please take note.

saheed

I formerly known and called ugwuezumba tochi florence henceforth wish to be known and called saheed tochi florence. all former document remain valid and general public should please take note.

Pillars star Gambo Muhammed

Sport Cavendish targets triple success in 2016 j

ersey in the Tour de France, an Olympic medal and victory in the World Road Championships in 2016.

The British cyclist, 30, has been training on both road and track this winter before a busy year.

Cavendish, who will ride for Team Dimension Data-Qhubeka, was speaking in Manchester, where he has been training at the Velodrome.

Cavendish, who is hoping to earn a place in the omnium for Great Britain at the Rio Olympics, will compete at the next round of the Track World Cup in Hong Kong on 16-17 January.

The Manxman has not won an Olympic medal and faces competition from Ed Clancy and Jon Dibben for the omnium place.

British track coach Heiko Salzwedel told the Times: “Cavendish has to deliver in Hong Kong, full stop. I can’t think of sentiment.

The Tour de France starts on 2 July with a flat stage that will suit the sprinters, and Cavendish is hoping to win that stage to claim the yellow jersey.

The Olympics start in Rio on 5 August, and the World Road Championships take place in Doha, Qatar in October.

Cavendish

Broady beats Jelena Ostapenko at Auckland

N

aomi Broady is into the ASB Classic third round after a controversial match against Jelena Ostapenko, who escaped disqualification for appearing to throw a racquet towards a ball boy.

The Briton saved two match points to win 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 before an angry exchange with the Latvian at the net.

Ostapenko claimed her racquet slipped from her hand in the second-set tiebreak and was let off with a warning.

Broady disagreed saying her opponent should be “straight disqualified”.

WTA rules state that “players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person... for the purposes of this rule, physical abuse is the unauthorised touching of an official, opponent and spectator or other person”.

Players can be

disqualified for incidents by the umpire and fined up to $10,000 (£6,830) for each violation.

Former British number one Tim Henman was disqualified from Wimbledon in 1995 after accidentally hitting a ball girl with a ball struck in frustration, while David Nalbandian was thrown out of the Queens final in 2012 after kicking out at an advertising hoarding, cutting the shin of a line judge.

World number 88 Ostapenko, ranked 38 places higher than Broady, was allowed to continue after a tour supervisor was called to court, with Broady appearing to be near tears over the incident.

The Briton knuckled down in the third set, reeling off six successive games to snatch victory before becoming involved in an argument following the post-match handshakes.

Murray loses to Kyrgios as Watson wins

A

ndy Murray lost to Nick Kyrgios for the first time as he suffered a straight-set defeat in the Hopman Cup. Australia’s Kyrgios won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the team event, where Britain’s Murray is partnering Heather Watson.

Watson then beat Daria Gavrilova 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 7-5 in a thrilling match to set up a deciding mixed doubles rubber.

Both teams won their opening ties in the round-robin event in Perth, which is a warmup for the Australian Open in Melbourne, starting on 18 January.

World number two Murray, 28, won his first four encounters against the 20-yearold, including victories at the

Australian, French and US Opens last year.

Kyrgios, ranked 30th, broke Murray in the third game of the match and although the Scot saved two set points at 4-5, a backhand winner secured the set for the Australian at the third opportunity.

Murray was broken from 40-0 up in the first game of the second set but immediately broke back.

The two-time Grand Slam winner had a set point at 5-4 but Kyrgios saved it with a fierce forehand and went on to close out the match in a tie-break.

Kyrgios and Gavrilova make up Australia Green - one of two squads representing the host country in the eight-team event.

Christy O’Connor Jnr: Historic 1989 Ryder Cup shot

Ryder Cup hero dies aged 67

E Christy O’Connor Jnr: Historic 1989 Ryder Cup shot

uropean Ryder Cup hero Christy O’Connor Jnr has died suddenly in Spain at the age of 67.

The Irishman helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup at the Belfry in 1989 when his two-iron approach at the last sealed a singles win over Fred Couples.

O’Connor won four European Tour titles including his Irish Open triumph at Woodbrook in 1975.

That victory helped secure a Ryder Cup spot that year and he played in the competition again 14 years later.

The Galway man won two Senior British Open titles and also earned victories on the Champions Tour in the US.

Andy Murray beat Nick Kyrgios in three of the four Grand Slams last year

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Sport

Page 45

P-i-c-t-o-r-i-a-l

Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna has sprung to the defence of his teammate and vicecaptain Yaya Toure following their win over Watford FC

Nigeria U23 star Oghenekaro Etebo has been listed for CAF Most Promising Talent award for 2015 alongside his compatriot Azubuike Okechukwu

Britain’s Amir Khan has missed out on a fight against Manny Pacquiao, with the Philippine great choosing a third match with American Timothy Bradley instead.

British women’s number two Watson, 23, demonstrated her fighting qualities to come back from a set down to defeat 21-year-old Gavrilova and keep the tie alive

Premier League surprise package Leicester City want to land Porto striker Vincent Aboubakar in the January transfer window

Sport Why Nigeria hosts the 24th CAF Awards

T

he annual CAF Awards enters its 24th edition this year and the Awards Gala will take place for the first time in many years in the Nigerian capital, Abuja today.

The King of African football will be crowned at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, amongst the trio of Yaya Toure, winner of the last four editions; Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ghana’s Andre Ayew.

From 1992 to 2014, from Ghana’s Abedi Pele to Ivorian Toure, 14 players have laid claim to the most prestigious individual honour in African football.

Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o was the first to be crowned on four occasions 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010; a record since equalled by Toure, who made it four on the trot (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). Former Senegal forward, El Hadji Diouf won the award twice in a row; 2001 and 2002.

However, the first player to have been named CAF African Player of the Year on two occasions was ex-Nigeria captain, Nwankwo Kanu, in 1996 and 1999 before Ivorian Didier Drogba duplicated the feat in 2006 and 2009.

Winners of the prestigious honour have come from either the midfield or attack; and that tradition will be respected yet again this time.

In addition, the 14 players to have been decorated since 1992, have and continue to remain amongst the foremost African ambassadors of the world’s most popular sport.

There are also several others who were so near and yet so far, including Ivorian goalkeeper Alain Gouamene in 1992; Moroccan defender Noureddine Naybet (sixth in 1993); Nigerian Daniel Amokachi, who regularly featured among the top ten (10) whilst Chadian Japhet N’Doram was virtually handicapped by the non-presence of his national team at the final phase of a major continental championship.

South African defender, Mark Fish also settled for sixth position in 1996. Ghanaian defender Samuel Kuffour narrowly missed out on two occasions, 1999 and 2001.

Others are Michael Essien of Ghana, who made the final three an unprecedented five times in a row - 2005 (third), 2006

Ivory Coast captain and Manchester star Yaya Toure is presented with the Africa Cup of Nations (third), 2007 (second), 2008 (third) and 2009 (third); Asamoah Gyan, also from Ghana, 2010 (second); Andre Ayew (Ghana), 2011 (third) and Malian Seydou Keita, 2011 (second). So are Nigerian duo, John Obi Mikel and Vincent Enyeama, who finished second and third in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

When the roll call for the laureates is launched, there is one noticeable observation. Cote d’Ivoire is the country which has the biggest number of triumphs, six in total, Toure (four) and Drogba (two);

followed by Nigeria on five titles, two for Kanu, one each for Emmanuel Amunike, Rashidi Yekini and Victor Ikpeba.

Patrick Mboma won it once coupled with Eto’o’s four-time feat also gives Cameroon five titles. Diouf is responsible for the only two titles in the name of Senegal. One-time winners include Ghana Abedi Pele, Liberia George Weah (the only African player to have been crowned FIFA World Footballer of the Year), Morocco Mustapha Hadji, Mali Frederic Kanoute and Togo Emmanuel Adebayor.

Another common feature is that all winners plied their trade in Europe at the time of their coronation.

For the last nine years, the Awards Gala has been sponsored by Cellular Telecommunications outfit, Globacom, who have raised the bar of excellence with splendid ceremonies in cities such as Abuja, Accra, Lome, Lagos and Cairo.

This year, the Gala will take place for the second time in Abuja and the first time since the 2004 edition.

Awards winners 1992 Abedi AYEW PELE (Ghana) 1993 Rashidi YEKINI (Nigeria) 1994 Emmanuel AMUNIKE (Nigeria) 1995 George WEAH (Liberia) 1996 Nwankwo KANU (Nigeria) 1997 Victor IKPEBA (Nigeria) 1998 Mustapha HADJI (Morocco) 1999 Nwankwo KANU (Nigeria) 2000 Patrick MBOMA (Cameroon) 2001 El-Hadji DIOUF (Senegal) 2002 El Hadji DIOUF (Senegal) 2003 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon) 2004 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon) 2005 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon) 2006 Didier DROGBA (Côte d’Ivoire) 2007 Frederic KANOUTE (Mali) 2008 Emmanuel ADEBAYOR (Togo) 2009 Didier DROGBA (Côte d’Ivoire) 2010 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon) 2011 Yaya TOURE (Côte d’Ivoire) 2012 Yaya TOURE (Côte d’Ivoire) 2013 Yaya TOURE (Côte d’Ivoire) 2014 Yaya TOURE (Côte d’Ivoire) 2015 ?????

Nwankwo Kanu

Samuel Eto’o

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, january 7, 2016

Some Interesting Facts 1. Bees have 5 eyes. There are 3 small eyes on the top of a bee’s head and 2 larger ones in front.

2. Count the number of cricket chirps in a 15-second period, add 37 to the total, and your result will be very close to the actual outdoor Fahrenheit temperature.

3. One-fourth of the world’s population lives on less than $200 a year. Ninety million people survive on less than $75 a year.

4. Butterflies taste with their hind feet.

5. Only female mosquito’s’ bite and most are attracted to the color blue twice as much as to any other color.

6. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

7. It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of

Page 47

Leisure

Arizona.

1.) His original name is Rolihlahla Mandela. His teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the English name “Nelson”.

2.) Rolihlahla means “to pull a branch of a tree”, or more colloquially, “troublemaker”.

3.) Nelson Mandela was born under the Zodiac sign Cancer on July 18, 1918.

4.) Nelson Mandela was born in Mveso, Umtata (capital of Transkei) in Cape Province.

5.) Nelson’s paternal great-grandfather Ngubengcuka ruled as king of the Thembu people.

6.) His surname Mandela was taken from his grandfather.

7.) The father of Nelson had four wives, with whom he fathered 13 children – 4 boys and 9 girls.

8.) His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, is the third wife of his father Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa.

9.) Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school.

10.) Nelson Mandela’s father died of TB or tuberculosis when he was 9 years of age.

11.) When his father died Jongintaba (regent) became his guardian.

quick crosswords

CROSSWORD SOLUTION 119

CROSSWORD SOLUTION 118

Say what?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Just say I’m the best - and I’ll let the kitty go. This pooch clearly thought holding the cat hostage could win over his owner’s affection..

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

THURsday, january 7, 2015

SPORTS latest

Commissioner of Police vows to nab Abubakar’s killers

T

he Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Wilson Inalegwu on Wednesday vowed that the Police would fish out the killers of the Head of Protocol of Nigeria Football Federation, Alh. Ibrahim Abubakar.

Abubakar was killed by unknown gunmen in his house on Oluwunmi Crescent, Kado Estate, Abuja in the early hours of yesterday.

CP Inalegwu arrived at the house at 8.20am, and after inspecting the scene of the incident and the environment, said the Police would do everything to nab those who took Abubakar’s life.

It was a day of mourning and tears at the NFF, as the 43 –year old Abubakar’s death was broken in the early hours.

Officials led by the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, accompanied the corpse from the National Hospital, Abuja to the late Abubakar’s hometown, Kaduna, where the remains were interred at some minutes after noon.

NFF President Amaju Pinnick was devastated as he got the news on phone, and it took him several minutes to recover his voice.

The late Ibrahim Abubakar, a hardworking and energetic officer, is survived by his wife and three sons, and aged parents.

Angola holds Eagles in Pretoria

A

ngola’s Palancas Negras held the Super Eagles B to a 1-1 draw in a pre-African Nations Championship friendly in Pretoria yesterday.

Midfield Trojan Paul Onobi was an early substitute as he sustained a knock in the 35th minute and was replaced by U-23 ace Usman Mohammed.

The Negras, silver medallists at the 2nd African Nations Championship in Sudan five years ago, tried to pile pressure on the Eagles in the second half, but five substitutions made by Coach Sunday Oliseh kept the 2014 bronze medallists in the ascendancy.

Nigeria took the lead in the 84th minute when Ibrahim Attah Salau was upended in the Angolan box, with midfielder Bartholomew Ibenegbu making no mistake from the spot.

The Nigeria delegation is expected to arrive in Kigali on January 15 three days to the Eagles’ first match of the 4th African Nations Championship, against Niger Republic.

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. . . putting the people first

QUOTABLE QUOTE We are working very hard and with the budget as our way forward, we will do our best to ensure that our country survives the current economic downturn — President Muhammadu Buhari

Bauchi State: Seven Months Without Cabinet

F

ew months ago some Nigerians c h a l l e n g e d P r e s i d e n t Muhammadu Buhari over the delayed constitution of his cabinet, that led to describing him as ‘Baba go slow’. Admiringly the president responded in Washington while interacting with Nigerians in diaspora, in his characteristic dry humour, saying ‘I am going to go slow and steady’.

Nigerians let him be and they now admire the quality of the president’s cabinet.

Therefore taking time to do the right thing should not be an offense. And even during the heated debate about the delay in cabinet formation many Nigerians didn’t say a word because they are confident that Buhari would not disappoint them.

Is this mild drama replicating itself in Bauchi state where after taking oath of office for good seven months, Gov. Muhammed Abdullahi Abubakar still has no cabinet?

In whichever way one looks at the scenario, unending questions keep emerging. One, if Gov. M.A Abubakar wants to adopt the President Buhari style in forming his cabinet, I will wholeheartedly say the problem President Buhari had is totally unlike the Bauchi state situation M.A Abubakar is faced with. Surely, the duration and time devoted at serious examination, checks and selection in order to come up with the right caliber of people who can prudently manage a Federal Cabinet should not be less than that required to assemble Bauchi state cabinet, but should be more.

Two, nobody doubts the contribution of a cabinet in any administration. So why is our dear Governor working with few or no helping hands

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Thursday Column

By Hamza Ibrahim Chinade

Gov. Muhammed Abdullahi Abubakar

this long? Commissioners, SSAs, SAs are like the machinery by which the governor executes policies. If four months are enough for Buhari, seven months should be sufficient for the Bauchi State Governor to constitute a cabinet. This raises question

of unpreparedness or is it pressure from associates, well wishers, funders (if any), party, family and friends etc surrounding the governor?

Three, other states have already forgotten about cabinet formation, policy driven transformation of lives

So why is our dear Governor working with few or no helping hands this long?

Commissioners, SSAs, SAs are like the machinery by which the governor executes policies. If four months are enough for Buhari, seven months should be sufficient for the Bauchi State Governor to constitute a cabinet.

of the citizens has started yielding results through the efforts of these cabinet members: projects have been awarded, various government programmes and initiatives are making impact, as such Bauchi state needs to join the bandwagon for the better. A four year action plan should be planned and targets set. Time management is important to achieving this.

Four, this delay could give either of two results. The first is that a sound and first class cabinet would emerge to begin chasing development in order to catch up and possibly overtake fellows (states) already “in the air”. And the second is where merit is kept aside and arbitrariness reigned supreme to bring a half-baked cabinet that will further drive the state to a stagnation, God forbid, that is an outcome we don’t pray for. But, we wait and see whether the seven months delay in cabinet formation in Bauchi state would be worth the long wait.

Hamza Ibrahim Chinade is of Good Governance Advocacy Program in the Centre for Information Technology for Development (CITAD) Kano.

DAN GAYE

Ex-PDP chair, Haliru in court on wheel chair, EFCC arrest Metuh – News

Haba Halliru, why now?

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