Thursday, January 9, 2020 Edition

Thursday, January 9, 2020/ Jumadal Ula 13, 1441 AH

Vol. 33 No. 031 N150

2097 Days after

12 die, 26 injured in Kano auto crash >>>page 3

@pmlonline

peoplesdailyng

. . . putting the people first

The nation awaits rescue of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Mother, 3 daughters perish in Yobe fire >>>page 5

Buhari can’t decide his successor -PDP

Members of Yantaurin of Tangale performing, during the inauguration of Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) at Billiri LGA, recently in Gombe State.

SMEs: CBN directs DMBs to maintain 65% Loan Deposit Ratio pAGE 19

Power Minister faulted over REA appointments pAGE 8

S/Court upholds Ikpeazu, Ishaku, Bello, Okowa’s election pAGE 15

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

News 2-10, 14

Editorial

By Ese Awhotu

11

Op.Ed

Inspector General of Police IGP Muhammad Abubakar Adamu (right), assisted by Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd) (left) to decorate Commissioner of police Celestine Amaechi Elumelu, during the decoration of 40 promoted newly CP’s, at the Force Headquarters, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

12-13

Politics 15-17 Health

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Business

19-20

Feature

21

World News

22

Africa News

23

World News

24

Gov. Bello calls for fresh strategies in fight against banditry Yakubu

Mustapha,

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Page 6

Environment 25 Feature

26

Sports 30-31 Back Page

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News Editor, Ese Awhotu

T

he Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Kano State on Wednesday confirmed the death of 12 people involved in a ghastly car accident in

Tsaida village, near Gaya town in the state.

The Sector Commander, Corps Commander Zubairu Mato who gave the confirmation, said that, the accident involved two vehicles,

a Toyota bus and a Volkswagen saloon car with plate numbers BBR690AA and KTG467YG respectively.

He said that 26 people sustained injuries out of which 11 were males, 4 females and 3

children.

He said the officers of the safety corps took the victims to the general hospital where 12 people were confirmed dead out of which 8 were males, 1 female and 3 children. He added

18bn litres of PMS supplied in 2019- PPPRA

iger State Government has called for a fresh and holistic approach to be introduced by the security agencies in tackling the banditry attacks that have resurfaced in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, Mrs. Mary Noel Berje made this known in a press release made available to pressmen yesterday in Minna.

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has described the recent attack on

some communities in Munya Local Government Area of the state that left four soldiers dead, as sad and unfortunate.

He said the state government will continue to explore all avenues to ensure that peace return to these troublesome spots which, according to him, needed to be coordinated and be on the watch out against informants of the bandits amongst them.

The Governor hinted that normalcy had earlier been restored to these areas until the recent attack by the bandits who were said to have laid ambush on the soldiers

on routine patrol in the area.

Governor Bello stated that the government will ensure that the needed support required by the security outfits will continue to be provided and sustained by the state government.

While acknowledging that the bandits may have cross the river from Kaduna and came to launch attack in Munya, the Governor reiterated that the issue of insecurity is a collective battle which must not be left to the security agencies and government alone.

In same vein, Governor Sani

Bello has commiserated with the Nigerian Army and the families of the deceased soldiers who lost their lives in defense of their fatherland and prayed for reposed souls of the gallant officers.

The Governor appealed to all citizens, particularly those living within the border communities, to remain proactive, provide security agencies with relevant information that will lead to the thwarting of potential attacks by the bandits and report any unsuspecting individual or group that might be connected with any form of crime and criminality.

Vigilante commander, 3 kidnappers die in Adamawa attack From Umar Dankano, Yola.

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he Adamawa State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a strong vigilante leader, Haruna Ali Ngamjego and three suspected kidnappers at Kenje Village in Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

Spokesman of the Command, DSP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje made the confirmation in Yola Wednesday stressing that the incident occurred on Monday night when a gang of alleged kidnappers and local thieves attacked the slain vigilante commander at his residence with the vision to kill him.

Nguroje explained that the late commander was overpowered by the gang members even though he struggled to kill three of them while he was subsequently shot and killed at close range during the physical scuffle.

Nguroje said the police have not made any arrest yet but are trailing on the members of the syndicate.

He gave the names of the murdered suspected kidnappers as;Manu Buba Joda,Aliyu

Abdullahi,Haruna Sani Abdulkareem as well as the Vigilante Commander,Haruna Ngamjego However, an impeccable source from Jada town who spoke to our reporter on phone interview under condition of anonymity stated that the slain commander happened to be a torn in the flesh of these criminals for his great contributions in complimenting efforts of security operatives in arresting and prosecuting them in that localities.

The source maintained that they purposely launched the attack to eliminate him in their numbers using a Toyota Starlet car and seven motor cycles but he resisted gallantly by killing two before they achieved their mission.

According to him, they struck around 11pm on Monday night and that the skirmishes and sounds of shooting alerted his troop members who mobilised and chased the criminals away unceremoniously.

“They struck his house at 11am and ordered him to follow them or they kill him,he physically resisted in the event he

killed one notorious kidnapper by name,Manu Machako who was a petrol hawker in Jada in the struggle.

“As Manu shouted for help and re enforcement from his colleagues outside the house then another followed and was also stabbed to death by hilarious commander Haruna before more numbers trooped in and shot him at close range,” the source added.

The source stressed that the ring leader of the kidnappers syndicate,one Alhaji Bello Gankiri ,who they accused to be the supplier of arms to the gang has made the list among those alleged members at large and that they have been a source of security threats to the area for long.

Similarly, youths from Girei local government area of the state have barricaded the Yola-Mubi Express Way to protest alleged release of arrested kidnappers by police authorities.

Protesters in their hundreds disrupted traffic flow for hours on Tuesday as motorists became stranded while the youths insisted that the state commissioner of police must come in person

address them.

The spokesman of the youths who is also the traditional youths leader (Sarkin Matasa) in Girei District, Saidu Hamman Girei, said they had credible information that some of the suspects they helped the police to arrest with strong evidence had been released.

He lamented that kidnappers had caused the death of 10 resident and collected more than N60 million in ransom from their innocent victims in recent time..

“We mobilized and supported the security in arresting about 11 suspects with incriminating evidences but what we are hearing now is that there is order from the police headquarters that the suspects be released”, he alleged.

“We want the Commissioner of Police to come and tell us why because serious tension is brewing here. I had to intervened yesterday to stop the youth from burning down Girei police station,” Hamman-Girei said.

DSP Nguroje denied the allegation, saying currently a number of kidnap suspects were facing trial at the court.

he Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said that over 18 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol was supplied in Nigeria in the year 2019.

PPPRA disclosed this in its PMS report signed by its Executive Secretary, Alhaji Abdulkadir Saidu and released in Abuja, on Wednesday.

It said that total quantity of PMS supplied across the nation as at November 2019 was 18.6 billion litres and the PMS average sufficiency stood at 40.68 days.

It emphasised the need for enhanced private participation in the refining business and the revamping of the nation’s refineries for improved production.

The report further revealed that 1,612 vessels laden with different petroleum products docked in Nigerian waters in 2019.

A breakdown of Marketers performance shows that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was responsible for 99.61 per cent of the total 19 billion litres of petrol that was imported.

It noted that the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN) imported 0.39 per cent in 2019.

On the other hand, 166.3 million litres of PMS was produced locally in the same year.

The report revealed that other petroleum products imported into the country were 5 billion litres of AGO, 128 million litres of HHK, 952 million litres of ATK, 307 million litres of Base Oil, 126 million litres of Bitumen and 46 million litres of LFPO. Commenting, Abdulkadir Said, the PPPRA Executive Secretary, said that fiscalisation of imported products was efficiently carried out at sea ports by industry recognised cargo inspectors in conjunction with the PPPRA field staff at sea ports.

He commended the dogged efforts of some Marketers at sustaining the continuous development of the sector in spite the inherent global economic challenges.

“This is evident in the number of new facilities that emerged in the downstream subsector of the petroleum industry in 2019,” he said Saidu further reiterated that the agency would continue to ensure transparency in the Oil and Gas value chain by making available reliable data to strategic government agencies such as NEITI, CBN and NBS for adequate planning and decision making in the country.

that the dead and the injured had since been taken to Gaya General Hospital in Gaya local government area for treatment to the injured while the corpses of the dead were deposited in the hospital mortuary.

L-R: Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu and Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, when the former paid the latter a condolence visit over the death of his sister, Hajia Rabietu Bello, in Government House, yesterday in Lokoja.

T

From Minna

FG to spend N100m on erosion projects in Nasarawa

News

12 die, 26 injured in Kano auto crash

CONTENTS News

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Buhari congratulates First Bank MD, on intn'l award

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, on his award of Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by Cranfield School of

Management, United Kingdom.

According to a statement made available to newsmen yesterday by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, the President believed the award was a vote of confidence on Nigerian professionals, many of who rank among the very best in the

world.

The fact that Cranfield School of Management was giving Adeduntan the award because he “exemplifies the values of the school,” and serves as “role model to students and potential students,” Buhari believed, was an endorsement that should

make every Nigerian proud.

Adeduntan attended Cranfield School of Management in 2004 as British Chevening Scholar. He is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Banking of Nigeria (CIBN) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

U.S. ‘ll partner Nigeria to reduce extreme poverty, promote peace -USAID Director

By Ochiaka Ugwu

U

nited States as a long term friend of Nigeria, and through USAID and other agencies, is working tirelessly to partner with the government and people of Nigeria to reduce extreme poverty, Promote a healthier, more prosperous, better educated and peaceful Nigeria, USAID Mission Director in Nigeria, Mr. Stephen M. Haykin has said.

Haykin who made this known yesterday during the closing ceremony of USAID ‘LOPIN 3’ Activity in Abuja said that Through LOPIN 3 and its sister activities, USAID has provided care and support for more than half million children orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV. “For the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic, control of the HIV epidemic in Nigeria is a real possibility, and the United

States will continue to support this effort.

“In Nigeria, young people are the future. By helping this vulnerable cohort of the country’s youth get access to health care and education, we boost its economic resilience. The U.S. Government through USAID is partnering with the Government of Nigeria to fulfill its commitment to ensure the next generation is ready for the challenges ahead” he said.

He said the activity was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The United Slates' leading humanitarian and development assistance agency.

“LOPIN 3 was a particularly important activity as it focused on some of the most vulnerable Nigerians of all orphans and other children affected by the presence of HIV and AIDS in their communities.

“Over the last five years,

the activity has operated at the community level and was managed by indigenous nongovernmental organizations in Akwa Ibom, Cross River Ebonyi, Adamawa and Kano states.

“Implemented by Health Initiatives for Safety and Stability in Africa (HlFASS), LOPIN 3 has provided more than 184.000 vulnerable children and their households with protection, care and support services since 2014.

It has also provided critically needed assistance to 48.000 of these vulnerable children‘s caregivers.

“These services included education, health care services, nutrition and food security, psychosocial support, household economic strengthening and legal protection.

“The activity helped these populations obtain equitable access to quality health services and helped community health

systems become more responsive to their needs.

“LOPIN 3 referrals provided access to life-saving health care and improved access to community-based social welfare services. This approach not only increased access to health services, but also inspired thousands to seek the care they needed to strengthen family resilience in vulnerable households.

“In addition, block grants have helped vulnerable children access schools~ assisting thousands of children‘s academic progress while providing equal opportunity for girls and boys.

“LOPIN 3’s fully integrated approach not only protected young people from the stigma of being associated with the HIV virus, but also helped eliminate the perception of people living with HIV as anything less than vibrant” Haykin said.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

News

Oil prices shed gains as alarm over Iran rocket strike fades for now

O

il prices were up on Wednesday but well below peaks hit in frenzied early trading after a rocket attack by Iran on American forces in Iraq raised the spectre of a spiralling Middle East conflict and disruption to crude flows.

Prices gave up most of their early gains as analysts said market tension could ease as long as oil production facilities remain unaffected by attacks. Tweets by US President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister also appeared to signal a period of calm - for now.

Brent crude futures were up 26 cents, or 0.38 per cent, to $68.53 by around 0908 GMT, after earlier rising to their highest level since mid-September 2019 at $71.75.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 10 cents, or 0.16 per cent, to $62.80 a barrel. It earlier hit $65.85, the highest since late April last year.

Iran’s missile attack on USled forces in Iraq came early on Wednesday, hours after the funeral of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the country’s elite Quds Force killed in a US drone stroke on Jan. 3.

Tehran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian territory against at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US-led coalition personnel, the US military said on Tuesday. Stock, currency and gold markets were also roiled by the attacks.

Trump said in a tweet that an assessment of casualties and damage from the strikes was under way and that he would make a statement on Wednesday morning US time. “All is well!” Trump said in the Twitter post.

Early indications suggested no US casualties, one source told Reuters, although other officials declined to comment. Iranian

state television said 80 “American terrorists” had been killed and US helicopters and military equipment damaged.

Iraq, Germany, Denmark and Norway said none of their troops were killed or injured.

Executives and analysts said oil markets remained focused for now on the targets in the Wednesday attack being military, rather than oil industry facilities.

“I think the surge in oil markets will be a temporary phenomenon ...

US shale oil players will boost output if oil prices remain stronger,” said Toshiaki Kitamura, the chairman of Japanese oil and gas producer Inpex Corp, speaking to Reuters at an industry gathering.

Still, he said, “There is no real reason to push down oil prices, either.

So I believe oil prices will likely hover between $60-70/barrel this year.”

In a research note, Goldman Sachs maintained its three-month view for US oil at $63 a barrel.

“The recent rally in oil prices is

unsustainable without actual supply disruption,” the bank said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will respond to any possible oil shortages if necessary but it also has “limitations”, the United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Wednesday.

Suhail al-Mazrouei also said he sees no immediate risk of supplies through the important Strait of Hormuz being blocked.

In Wednesday’s attack, Iranian

news agency Mehr said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had targeted the bases in Iraq that hosted US forces. Tehran had vowed retaliation for the killing of military commander Soleimani.

“Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in selfdefense,” Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif said on Twitter) “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”

(By ET MARKETS)

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (R) and Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, during the inauguration National Depository of Treaties on Tuesday in Abuja.

2,596 youths benefit from Delta skills acquisition scheme From Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

T

he Delta State government has said that 2,596 youths were engaged in four years for Skills Aquisition Scheme in line with wealth creation through its twin projects: Skills Training Entrepreneurship Programme ( STEP) and Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme ( YAGEP) as critical tools for mitigating youth unemployment and enhancing entrepreneurship development in the state.

The state Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa who spoke to journalists

in Asaba on Wednesday during an orientation workshop for 2019/2020 STEP trainers, said that over 4,200 previously unemployed Youths in the state had so far been trained,equiped and established to run their enterprises through the STEP and YAGEP platforms from 2015 to 2019.

Governor Okowa said that government had concluded plans to to raise the tally with additional 850 beneficiaries in the 2019 / 2020 Circle of the Job Creation Programme, adding that vivid breakdown of the Programme Circle within the period under

review had shown that 1,329 Youths were engaged in the 2016/2017 Circle in both STEP and YAGEP. On selection process for the 141trainers currently engaged by the state government, the Governor said that four critical modules which included: Capacity, Functionality, Willingness/ Availability as well as Accessibility were deployed, adding that out of the 294 applications received for the Position,213 were accredited, while only 141 of them were successful and engaged having scaled through the outlined module

for selection.

In his remarks, the Chief Job Creation of the state, Professor Eric Eboh while Commending the state Governor for his sustained efforts in ensuring the success of the Programme, enjoined the trainers to raise up to their responsibilities in ensuring that the state government’s efforts were not undermined, adding” Job Creation office does not demand or take money of gifts for posting or Orientation of trainees to training Centres, Trainers should desist from giving gifts to staff in any guise whatsoever”

In their reactions, commuters, however, told NAN in separate interviews that it was the height of insensitivity on the part of the government to think of profit-making from poor masses.

They criticised the decision to increase fares, saying that it will affect so many people who because of their pockets always wait for a long time on queue to use the buses.

Bose Ogbonne, an online marketer, said: “It does not make sense at all. People use BRT because it is cheap. We wait for long, queuing up for buses to arrive also.

“So, if there is no significant difference between the BRT and commercial buses’ fare, we will not wait for them again.

“If we are in a hurry, instead of waiting for BRT and even preferring standing, that will

not happen again. They (BRT operators) should think well before doing so.”

Ms Ogbonne, who spoke to NAN at Costain in BRT bus stop, urged the state government to intervene quickly so as not to increase the hardship of the poor masses resident in Lagos.

Another commuter, who simply identified herself as Mummy Sadiq said that it was not fair to increase electricity tariff, transport fares and others just because workers’ salaries were increased.

“Government should think of alleviating suffering of the people rather than add to their burdens. This is another hardship coming up to people when electricity tariffs is increased and transport fares jump up.

“Why the increase in fares now? It is because of

the minimum wage given to workers? People should not be stressed beyond normal again.

There is hardship in the land already,” she said.

A student, Michael Ajayi, said the government should not allow such proposed increase in BRT fares to scale through in the interest of the masses.

Mr Ajayi, who also spoke at Costain BRT bus stop, said: “Why do they want to increase the fares now. This is not good.

It will affect us. It will affect our pockets.”

Janet Daniel, a teacher, added that since the government had failed to alleviate the poverty, it should not compound the hardship with the fare increase.

A cleric, Olanrewaju Dunmiju said that those in the position of authority should also think of the people and their welfare.(NAN)

PDP Chairman slumps, dies while playing tennis in Kogi Lagos commuters reject proposed hike in BRT fares

By Ese Awhotu

K

ogi West Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Mr Taiwo Kola-Ojo has died.

The Kogi State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Bode Ogunmola who confirmed the death in a statement yesterday, said the PDP chairman slumped and died on Tuesday evening while playing lawn tennis. .

Ogunmola described KolaOjo’s death as sudden and shocking.

The statement said the PDP West Chairman unflinching contributions to the growth and success of the party in the state would be greatly missed.

The PDP prayed God to grant the immediate family, members of the deceased Chairman and the members of the party the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

S

ome commuters in Lagos State on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the proposed increase of fares by the Primero Transport Services Limited, operator of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the BRT operator on Tuesday revealed its intention for an upward review of transport fares across all routes in the state to meet up with current realities.

The Managing Director of the firm, Fola Tinubu, had told NAN that the current fares were grossly inadequate if the firm was to provide better services for the people.

According to him, cost of operating the buses have increased so much that the firm is finding it difficult to survive and sustain operations.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

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he Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari has no powers to decide whom he would hand over the reins of power to in the year 2023, stressing that only Nigerians have the constitutional power to do so.

The PDP, which made the statement yesterday through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja, also faulted the Presidency’s continuous reference to a presidential successor, less than a year into President Buhari’s second term in office.

The leading opposition party therefore charged the Buhari Presidency to immediately withdraw the offensive and provocative remark to “hand Nigeria over”, in its response to Rev. Tunde Bakare’s comment on the 2023 Presidency.

The party cautioned the Buhari Presidency to note that Nigeria is a sovereign nation, governed by rules, and that nobody, no matter how highly placed, has the power to hand her over to anybody.

The PDP maintained that in insisting that President Buhari has interest in his successor, the Buhari Presidency is in direct aggression against the will of the people to freely elect a president as guaranteed by the constitution.

The 1999 constitution (as amended), the party stated, does not confer the right to install the President of Nigeria on any individual, but on the people of Nigeria through a free, fair and credible election conducted without interference from anybody.

The statement by the party reads, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the Presidency’s continuous reference to a presidential successor, less than a year into President Muhammadu Buhari’s second tenure, is a direct acceptance of failure and lack of capacity of the Buhari administration to manage the affairs of a nation as complex as Nigeria.

“The party further notes that President Buhari’s apprehensions that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), will fizzle out before 2023 is also a weighty forewarning to

News

Buhari can’t decide his successor-PDP Nigerians not to put any hope whatsoever in the APC. “The PDP also charges the Buhari Presidency to immediately apologise to the nation over its comment to “hand Nigeria over”, insisting that such is a direct affront to Nigerians and a huge insult on their sensibility and sense of sovereignty to freely choose their leader.

“The party invites Nigerians to note that such continued allusion to a successor by the Buhari Presidency shows that the President and the APC have no agenda for the nation for the next three years.

“It further underscores the hopelessness of the administration and the sorry

situation our nation is faced with under President Buhari and the APC. “The PDP laments that such underlined the pathetic drift in President Buhari’s New Year speech as well as his failure to articulate a clear-cut agenda in critical sectors.

“It also exposes the reason behind APC’s resort to blackmail, fabrication and attack on wellmeaning Nigerians instead of enunciating a direction for its incompetent administration.

“Our party, standing with millions of Nigerians, counsels the Buhari Presidency to bury its confessed interests in the 2023 Presidency and desist from making unsolicited allusions

and references to a successor, as failed leaders can only bequeath failure on a people.

“The PDP therefore charges the Buhari Presidency to immediately withdraw the offensive and provocative remark to “hand Nigeria over”, in its response to Rev. Tunde Bakare’s comment on the 2023 Presidency.

“Our party cautions the Buhari Presidency to note that Nigeria is a sovereign nation governed by rules and that nobody, no matter how highly placed, has the power to hand her over to anybody.

“In insisting that President Buhari has interest in his successor, the Buhari Presidency is in direct aggression against the

will of the people to freely elect a president as guaranteed by the constitution.

“The 1999 constitution (as amended) does not confer the right to install the President of Nigeria on any individual, but on the people of Nigeria through a free, fair and credible election conducted without interference from anybody”, it said.

The PDP therefore counselled President Buhari to end his interest in the 2023 Presidency and use the remaining years of his tenure to get competent hands to assists him to manage the affairs of the nation, while he concentrates on his retirement plans, as Nigerians expect no solutions from him and his party.

Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu representing Mr. President (2nd left), APC Vice Chairman South East Zone Hon. Emmanuel Enukwu (left), Former Ebonyi State Governor Chief Martin Nwanchor Elechi (3rd right), Representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ecological Office Engr. Benjamin Ani (2nd right), Chief Medical Director (CMD) Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital (AEFUTHA) Dr. Emmanuel Onwe Ogah (right), During the Commissioning and Handing Over of Flood and Erosion Control Works at Alex Ekwueme Teaching Hospital , yesterday at Abakaliki Ebonyi State, by the Minister.

Mother, 3 daughters perish in Yobe fire

T

he Yobe State Fire Service has confirmed that a mother and her three daughters were killed in a fire incident on Tuesday night at Red Bricks Quarters, on Maiduguri Road, Damaturu.

Damaturu Fire Station Officer, Mr Usman Habu, who confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday, said the incident occurred about 11.00 pm.

“We were informed about the

fire incident at Red Bricks quarters, Maiduguri Road, Damaturu around 11.00 p.m.

“When we arrived at the scene, we learnt that the victims’ father, Malam Adamu Aliyu, had made efforts to rescue his family, but was only able to save his five-year-old son, Faruq Aliyu.

“The fire became too fierce and he could not save the rest of his family members, but he managed to

jump out to safety.

“We forced open the door and recovered the woman’s corpse, as well as her three daughters.”

Habu blamed the deaths to lack of a back door to serve as an emergency exit.

He advised prospective tenants and homeowners to always ensure that the property they intended to rent or build had a minimum of two entrances.

“If there was an `escape door’, the man could have saved his family,’’ Habu said.

One of the neighbours and a friend to the family, Madam Binta Mohammed, told NAN that the three girls, Aisha Aliyu, Saadatu Aliyu, and Safiya Aliyu, were aged 10, eight and two years respectively.

Dr Istifanus Dauda of Damaturu Specialist Hospital, who also confirmed the incident to NAN,

said the boy was brought in with an inflamed bone and he was receiving medical attention at the hospital.

“The report that I was given by the doctor on call last night was that there were people that lost their lives in the incident.

“According to the report, there was only one survivor in that family apart from the person that is currently on admission,’’ Dauda explained. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 6

News

FG to spend N100m on erosion projects in Nasarawa

By Ese Awhotu

T

he Federal Government is to spend N100m on erosion and road projects in Roguwa and Saka communities, in Karu Local Government area of Nasarawa State.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi disclosed this, during the inauguration and handing over of the erosion and road improvement work at GoraRoguwa, Karu Local Government area of Nasarawa State.

The Project is one of the fifteen ecological intervention projects awarded by the President for the second quarter after approval by the Federal Executive Council on 16th November 2018 with a completion period of 24 weeks.

According to a statement by Maryam Zakari, SIO For: DD

Fire outbreak: Ebonyi shuts down illegal gas stations

(Press and PR), the Minister said the project, which was initiated through a request from Nasarawa State Government would address the effects of erosion and flood menace in the community. The completion of the project, he added, underscored the Federal Government’s resolve effort and sincerity of purpose in tackling environmental problems of the community.

He therefore urged the community to take possession of the project and ensure its adequate maintenance, adding that they should avoid filling the drainage channels with debris and refuse to avoid another spate of erosion or flooding.

Barrister Abdullahi commended the Ecological Fund Office for its intervention and effective deployment of funds to

critical areas of need.

The Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Doctor Emmanuel Akabe who represented the Governor of Nasarawa State, Engineer Abdullahi Sule thanked the Federal Government for improving the social status and well-being of the people of Nasarawa State.

Earlier, the Permanent

Secretary, Ecological Fund Office, Doctor Habiba Lawal said that the timely completion of the project was made possible through the project contractor (Messrs Power hill Construction Limited) and consultant (Messrs Sunds Engineering Service Limited) who had worked tirelessly to ensure the completion of the projects in record time.

2020: FRSC to prosecute sirens, convoy offenders

T

he Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, says it is out to prosecute abusers of sirens and convoys across the federation.

Mr Oyeyemi made this disclosure on Wednesday at a news conference on the recently concluded end of the year activities in Abuja.

He said the organisation would work with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to ensure that offenders are prosecuted accordingly and the act is reduced to the barest minimum.

He said most abusers of convoys and sirens are not

government officials, but mainly private individuals, who are unauthorised to use convoys in the country.

“We have seen a lot of people abusing the use of convoys and we have taken it up to the appropriate authority; this year, we would take a more drastic action.

“Abuse of convoys and sirens are abuse of freedom of movement and an intimidation to road users and citizens across the country and this act must stop,’’ he said.

Mr Oyeyemi said the act was an act of lawlessness that is clearly against the regulation of

entitlement to escort.

He said those found guilty in 2020 would be brought to book with their vehicles impounded and the drivers prosecuted according to law.

Mr Oyeyemi lamented that during the end of the year special patrol operation; no fewer than 690 offenders were prosecuted while 629 others were convicted by the FRSC mobile court in some states with fines.

He lauded the use of Google map but cautioned against handheld driving usage of the map, saying that anyone caught by FRSC would also be arrested and prosecuted.

“The use of Google map while driving is allowed, but hand-held driving and usage are offences associated with driving and anyone caught would face the law squarely.

“If you must use Google map while driving, you must get the car-holding phone devices which is both for your safety and for better usage of the device and the application,’’ he said.

He reiterated that the law was very clear and offenders of any of the road traffic rules and regulations regardless of status would be penalised and would also be subjected to an emotional psychology evaluation.(NAN)

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he Ebonyi State Government on Wednesday directed the immediate closure of all illegal gas stations and retail outlets in the state.

The directive was contained in a statement signed by Mr Francis Nwaze, the Special Assistant on Media to Governor David Umahi, and made available in Abakiliki.

Nwaze stated that the measure was taken to forestall fire outbreaks during the dry season.

The statement said, “The move is to ensure that the state’s health safety and environmental regulations conform with national and international best oil and gas field practices.

“All gas stations must cooperate with the approval of the Abakaliki Capital Territory and Development Board and Department of Petroleum Resources on the issue.

“Defaulters of this directive will be penalised in accordance with the laws of the state and shall pay approved penalties.”(NAN)

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he Alumni Association of Kaduna Polytechnic has expressed its support for the upgrading of the institution to university.

The Chairman Caretaker Committee of the Association, Honourable Abba Anas Adamu stated this while fielding questions from Journalists in Kaduna yesterday.

My husband almost set me ablaze for flirting, woman tells court

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n Ibadan-based fashion designer, Opeyemi, on Wednesday, told a Customary Court in Mapo, Ibadan that her husband of 13 years, Olawale, pushed her into having an affair with his nagging and threats.

Testifying, Opeyemi, who resides in Olunde area in Ibadan, also told the court that Olawale beats her. ”I confess that I flirt with different men. At first, whenever men ask for my number, I give them my husband’s mobile phone number so that they will not approach me again.

“However, when Olawale’s attitude became aggressive, I had to look for another man who could take good care of me and who would not expose me to hunger and thirst.

“When he got to know that I was dating another man, Olawale poured petrol on me with the intention to burn me alive but he couldn’t lay his hands on matches at that time, maybe I would have been dead by now.

“Besides, he doesn’t respect my mother,” Opeyemi alleged.

Responding, the defendant, however, denied all the allegations.

He objected to the divorce suit.

“She also nags and insults me, using unprintable names. I also informed her parents about her waywardness.

“I make sure that I provide for her and my three children. For the sake of the children, please don’t separate us,” Olawale pleaded.

After the testimonies, Chief Ademola Odunade, the President of the court, dissolved the marriage citing threat to life as the reason.

He awarded custody of the three children to the petitioner and ordered the defendant to pay N15,000 as monthly feeding allowance for the children in addition to being responsible for their education and other welfare.

(NAN)

CRIME News

Zamfara Police commend journalists over support for peace reconciliation From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

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he Zamfara State Police Command has commended contributions by working journalists which made up to 20 percent of the success achieved in the peace restoration efforts to make the state peaceful again.

This was declared in a press briefing coupled with get-together organized yesterday by the Commissioner of Police, CP Usman Nagogo at the state Police Command in Gusau, the state capital.

CP Nagogo said, the working journalists in the state must be commended for their immense contributions which made the state what it is today in terms of the total return of law and order, legitimate businesses across the 14 local government areas of the state as well.

“The press in Zamfara are wonderful people.

The way and manner they exhibited professionalism and morale code of ethics in their reportage of Zamfara conflict was not only guided by professional training but a sense of

responsibility.

“Throughout the seven (7) months we started the peace and reconciliation, they have never report any event that has not happened. The much talk of sensational journalism was never part of their trade, and the adage that “ Pen is mightier than the sword” does not influence their report of events that actually happened in Zamfara state.

“I must sincerely express my appreciation and urge them to continue the way they operate in a complete constitutionally-guided

manner for others to imitate so much that our great country will be crimefree enough for investors”, CP Nagogo observed.

He however said, the ushering of a new year, the crime and criminality are becoming more and more sophisticated, thus, there is the need for strategy to confront the new trend of not only operational capabilities but also investigative prowess as the command and other security agencies have jointly intend to map out strategies that could improve the success achieved in 2019.

Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji (right) inspecting a dug out well used by suspected oil thieves at Atlas Cove, during the ongoing Operation KUROMBE, on Tuesday in Lagos. PHOTO BY DINFO

Teacher, 50, allegedly rapes girl, 11, in Benue From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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fifty seven years old teacher, Mr. Fanyam Akpe has allegedly raped an eleven year old primary three pupil, Miss Terkumbur Atime in Ugondzua, Logo local Government Area of Benue State The incident according to the victim, happened in her parent’s farm where she had gone to harvest

yams.

Father of Miss Terkumbur, Mr. Atime is a civil servant with Hospital Management Board, Benue State.

Narrating further, the victim, said that the culprit got information that her parents were not at home even as he spotted her going to the farm.

He quickly followed her and reached the farm where he beckoned on her to come close to

him. She obeyed him since he was an elderly person unknown to her that he had ulterior motives.

“When I got closer to him, he then ordered me to lay down and pulled off my cloth threatening to kill me if I do not oblige.

“He then, forced himself on me and had sex with me, even as I was shouting for help, one of my neighbours appeared at the scene, on sighting the person, he

quickly stood up and put on his cloths. When he questioned what he was doing, he replied reluctantly that he was assisting me to solve mathematics”, Terkumbur narrated in tears. .

Our reporter gathered that the suspect has been arrested, arraigned and remanded at the Federal Prisons, Makurdi pending the proper hearing of the matter on 18th February, 2020.

Son stabs father to death, lands in trouble in Lagos Cross River Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Asu Okang (M) with cadets from the Nigerian Maritime Academy, Uyo, during their courtesy call on the Commissioner, yesterday in Calabar. Photo: NAN

Alumni association backs calls to upgrade Kaduna Poly to varsity From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

PAGE 7

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

He said upgrading the polytechnic to a degree awarding institution would play an integral role in enhancing technical education, especially in the Northern part of the country.

Abba Anas pointed out that there must be progression in the institution with up to date teaching and learning equipment .

The alumni association chairman contended that in

view of the current challenges facing the Kaduna Polytechnic there should be fairness in the allocation of resources in the running of similar institutions in the country He stressed that Kaduna Polytechnic being the biggest in Africa should be giving special attention to continue to produce competent technicians, engineers and other professionals .

On the much talked about

plan by the National Assembly to epend thirty seven billion Naira for the rehabilitation of the Assembly complex, Abba Anas Adamu advised the leadership of the assembly to precisely tell Nigerians what they will do with such huge amount of money, to be able to convince them.

Commenting on the alumni association’s plans for the new year, the Caretaker Committee Chairman said plan is on top

gear to conduct election for substantive leaders .

He added that during the year the association would also start using its reviewed construction for effective leadership .

Honourable Abba Anas Adamu therefore expressed worry that the alumni association lacked office accommodation for effective running of its activities, hence the need for assistance in that direction

A

man identified as Nelson has been arraigned before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja for stabbing his father, Sunday Oamen, to death with a broken bottle.

Patience Oamen, a hairdresser, on Tuesday told the court how his brother stabbed their father.

The suspect is facing one count of murder contrary to Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011, before Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

The Prosecutor, M. T. Adewoye, told the court that Nelson was 33-yearold when he committed the offence on September 18, 2015, at their residence, Block 272, Flat 4, Abesan Estate, Lagos

State.

Patience while speaking in the court noted that though Nelson had a good relationship with their father the relationship went sour because their father denied Nelson money on Sunday.

The hairdresser further stated that his brother’s clothes had bloodstain on it on the day of the incident before he ran out of the house.

Patience said, “On the day of the incident, our mother, who sells foodstuffs, was downstairs with me and between noon and 1 p.m., while we were still downstairs, I saw my brother hurriedly coming downstairs with his clothes stained with blood. I called his name but he ran away.”

“The door to the house was locked and I was wondering how he opened the door. I took the keys, opened the door and saw a pool of blood and immediately ran downstairs to call our mother and we both ran upstairs to check on our father and noticed that he had been stabbed.

“He had been stabbed all over his stomach and neck with a broken bottle.”

“We reported the case to the police and three days later, Nelson came to the police station to confess that he stabbed our father to death.”

Patience further stated that Nelson smokes Indian hemp and had once stolen the prepaid meter in the house.

Patience, while being cross-examined

by the defence counsel, E. B. Ogogo, reiterated that though she was not in the room when the incident happened, she knew that her brother committed the crime because his clothes were stained with blood.

She added, “I saw him that day but I forgot to put it down in my statement.

I was not myself that day because of the shock; that was why I did not remember to write it in my statement.”

“My brother said our father’s spirit was haunting him and that was why he went to the police station to confess.”

The case was adjourned by Justice Oshodi till April 6 for the continuation of trial.(nan)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 8

News

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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he Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has approached the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) with questions over appointments made in the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) by the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman.

The Minister however dispelled any breach of due process in the said appointments. His Special Assistant on Media, Aaron Artimas said the Minister approached and got the Presidency’s approval to fill the vacant positions, adding that internal processes for such appointments were followed to the letter.

HURIWA however said it has written the ICPC to clarify the status of one of the new appointees in the Procurement Unit, Mr. Bulus Maiyaki who it claims has been under investigation over his roles in a similar capacity in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Maiyaki is from the same Taraba State with the minister.

The minister’s SA, Mr Aaron Artimas while responding to our text message seeking the minister’s comment said “The Minister cannot be accused of meddling into an agency under his purview. The organization is under his watch.”

A memo from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) stated that

Power Minister faulted over REA appointments REA is under the supervision of the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jeddy Agba.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the appointments made in REA were lopsided.

The statement said: “HURIWA does not want or intend to dabble into the internal politics that motivated the Honourable minister of Power into making those appointments.

“But we are basically writing to protest the lopsidedness observable in this action and the breach of the ethical codes as clearly stated out by the appointing authority through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as emphasized by a memorandum of modus operandi authored by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“As reported by the media and as confirmed by our team who visited the premises of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) most Staff of the agency have faulted the ministerial interference.

“According to our findings from their agitation he ( the minister) is not the one supervising REA going by the clear Presidential

guidelines issued from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which goes to show that REA is under the direct supervision of the Minister of State, who had no hand in the redeployment of staff in the agency.

“There is little doubts from our findings that the staff are alleging that the postings were lopsided with the Minister of Power allegedly redeploying four favorites (three from the NorthEast and one from the NorthWest) to the Procurement Unit.

“Specifically, going by a memo, which was signed by the Head of Human Resources and Administration, Rakiya Ahman Mustapha, the affected top directors were redeployed with effect from January 2 just as those redeployed got their letters about two to three hours before the new Managing Director, Engr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad assumed duties last Thursday. “ We have regrettably read in the media the heightened state of tension currently in the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) over redeployment of top staff by the Minister of Power, Engr.

Mamman Sale few hours before

the assumption of duties by the new Managing Director of the agency, Engr. Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad.

“Importantly, we reject this move by the Minister of power to impose his lackeys to take charge of funds and procurement in the Rural Electrification Agency and in the case of the nominee of the minister to take charge of the Procurement department.”

The association put the minister to task on the appointment of a new Procurement Director for REA, Mr. Bulus D. Maiyaki.

“We hereby ask the minister to withdraw this appointment immediately or to clearly tell Nigerians if his nominee in the person of Mr. Bulus D. Maiyaki is not the same official in the National Health insurance Scheme (NHIS) who was the Secretary of Tenders Board under the discredited erstwhile Executive Secretary Professor Usman Yusuf who was dismissed from office for alleged procurement related infraction by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration following a petition being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

“HURIWA’s conviction is that if these unethical appointments into the Rural Electrification Agency are left unchallenged and if the minister of Power is not persuaded to comply with the statutory norms that emphasize transparency and accountability, the Federal Government is as well telling Nigerians that the publicized mantra of anticorruption and the fight against economic crimes are mere hypocritical battles to confuse the people of Nigeria.

“We hope that the Honorable minister of Power will listen to the voice of reason and toe the line of good conscience by doing what is right in this circumstance as demanded by our letter of protest.

In regard to claims that the Power Minister is imposing his townsmen at REA in breach of presidential guidelines and due process, the Minister’s aide said “this is also another lie. The new MD is from Adamawa state while Mr Maiyaki is Jukun- Christian from southern Taraba and the Minister is Fulani Muslim. Where is the bias here? Should Taraba people be denied their rights of appointment because the Minister happens to be Taraban?”

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, presents a replica of the Closing Gong to U.S. Consul General to Nigeria, Claire Pierangelo, during the U.S. Consulate’s courtesy visit to The Exchange, yesterday in Lagos.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Page 9

News

From Raji Bello, Sokoto

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he Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rt. Revered Mathew Hassan Kukah, has condemned the beheading of 10 persons believed to be Christian faithful by Boko Haram terrorists.

The Bishop made the condemnation in a statement sent to journalists through the Diocese's Communications Office. He accused the Federal Government of using different methods to achieve the same goal of Islamic dominance.

The Bishop compared the Federal Government with Boko Haram, saying the only difference is the later make used of bomb to achieve their aim.

While condemning the

Bishop Kukah condemns killing of Christians by ISWAP terrorists

Christmas Day attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and that of attack by Boko Haram on Christmas Eve, the Bishop lamented that the only difference between the government and Boko Haram is Boko Haram is holding a bomb.

According to him: “The only difference between the government and Boko Haram is Boko Haram is holding a bomb.

"They are using the levers of power to secure the supremacy

of Islam, which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence.

"With the situation in Nigeria, it is hard to see the moral basis they have to defeat Boko Haram.

They have created the conditions to make it possible for Boko Haram to behave the way they are behaving.” he added.

Bishop Kukah also noted that the only thing preventing Nigeria from being engulfed in civil war was the peaceful tenets

of Christianity.

“Christians have every reason to feel insecure and also there is a general feeling of their marginalisation from the political process. If the principles of our religion were different, there would be a civil war by now.

“It is the glory of our religion that this hasn’t happened. It is difficult to preach peace in this context. Any resolution depends on how Christians decide to react.

They won’t use violence but what

will they do?” he asked.

Bishop Kukah said the Nigerian Government, by allocating key government positions with hardline Muslims, gives tacit approval to such groups adding that “If the people in power don’t do enough to integrate Christians then they give oxygen to Islamism.

"If they have countries where everybody is Muslim in power then you give vent to the idea that Islam should be supreme.”

Dabiri-Erewa calls young Nigerian investors great patriots

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

T

he Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has described the duo of Nigerian-origin inventors, Messrs.

Stephen Osawaru and Anthony Osawere, as great patriots and good ambassadors of Nigeria.

She gave the commendation in a statement by Mr. AbdurRahman Balogun, the NiDCOM’s Head of Media and Public Relations in Abuja.

The duo were among the 14 recipients, recognised, by President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi of Egypt during the 2019 World Youth Forum held in Egypt for inventing a medical mobile app, 24/7 Medic, for Nigerians, especially in rural areas.

The NIDCOM boss stated that their contributions in improving the health-care system, by developing a medical mobile app, “24/7 Medic”, showed the patriotic and humanitarian side of the Nigerian inventors.

Dabiri-Erewa affirmed that their invention will, no doubt, create an efficient prompt response from health professionals and curb mortality rates to the barest minimum.

The NiDCOM boss remarked that the award proves that Nigerians are good, committed, industrious and creative in whatever capacity they find themselves.

According to her, “Again, your fabulous feat points to the fact that Nigerians are a generally caring, hardworking, innovative and intelligent’ set of individuals.

"You have done the country proud, and we are extremely proud of you. We pray for more accolades as you relentlessly move to change the face of the Nigerian

Healthcare System to enviable heights.

"Once more, Congratulations and Well done!” she said.

Dabiri-Erewa, however,

appealed to investors and other stakeholders to encourage the young men by partnering with them to do App in a commercial quantity.

Minister of State for Environment Sharon Ikeazor (R), handing over the project document to the Deputy Governor of Anambra, Dr Nkem Okeke, during the inauguration of Umunze erosion/flood control and road improvement works at Orumba South Local Government Area on Tuesday in Anambra. Photo: NAN

Hold FEC responsible for uncompleted constituency projects, lawmaker tells Nigerians

Empowerment scheme: Tambuwal warns officials against corruption From Raji Bello, Sokoto

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he officials handling the disbursement of funds under the Sokoto State government youths and women empowerment programme have been warned against short changing its

beneficiaries.

Governor Aminu waziri Tambuwal issued the warning while flagging off the disbursement of N20,000 each to one thousand men and women in Isa Local Government Area of the state.

Tambuwal explained that

the monies being disbursed is not loan but grant to assist the beneficiaries to start small businesses.

He therefore emphasized that no beneficiary of the empowerment programme should be given less than Twenty Thousand Naira.

The Governor urged the beneficiaries of the scheme to utilize the monies provided to them judiciously as a start off capital for their small businesses.

Tambuwal thanked people of Isa Local Government Area for their support to his

administration and urged them to maintain the tempo.

Governor Tambuwal also implored people of the area to always ensure that their children are immunised against diseases in addition to ensuring their enrollment into both Islamic western schools.

From Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

T

he member representing Ika North East Constituency at the Delta State House of Assembly, Anthony Emeka Elekeokwuri has called on Nigerians to hold the Federal Executive Council responsible for uncompleted constituency projects at all levels of government.

Elekeokwuri who spoke to journalists on Wednesday in Asaba while reacting to the recent report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission ( ICPC) on the

huge number of uncompleted projects across the federation, said it was not the duty of lawmakers to execute projects, "Lawmakers don't execute constituency projects but rather nominate and once nomination is done, it's the duty of the ministry responsible for that projects to make sure that the Jobs are awarded and executed."

Emphasizing that issues of executed constituency projects were strange in Delta state, Elekeokwuri said" it's often strange to me when people say constituency projects are not completed

and monies collected, in this Governor Ifeanyi Okowa"s administration, it's not even possible because how is one going to be given certificate or even get paid without executing the project?”

According to him, if at the national level, there are claims that awarded constituency projects were not executed, questions should be directed to the arm of government that paid the contractors.

“If they are saying that constituency projects are not to be found anywhere, the question then is who paid? I don't know why they are trying to implicate the House

members because ordinarily, members of the legislature nominate these projects, the executive awards and whether or not the job is done, it's for the executive to find out, the pertinent question therefore is why do you give certificate of completion for jobs that are not done? And I will say these things unequivocally and without mincing words, the executive is responsible for payments and are also responsible for certification, if the contractors of those projects get paid, it's the executive that is responsible and as such should be held responsible," he explained further.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 10

News

Kaduna fire service records 523 fire outbreaks, 65 deaths in 2019

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he Kaduna State Fire Service said on Wednesday that it recorded 523 fire outbreaks and 65 deaths in the state between January and December, 2019.

Paul Aboi, the state Director of Fire Service, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.

He and said the incidences were recorded in Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan zones.

He said the fire outbreaks were caused mainly by carelessness in the use of electrical appliances and ignorance about the handling of naked fires.

Mr Aboi said that December period recorded the highest incidences of fire with 69 outbreaks followed by the months of January, 74; February, 65; March, 67; and April, 61.

“The high rate of fire outbreak is usually from December till April because the period is the core dry season,” he said.

He stated that in the course of responding to fire distress calls, the office rescued 63 persons alive, 141 injured while 65 persons died.

Mr Aboi said the service was doing its best to reduce and bring fire disasters in the state to the barest minimum.

“The efforts of the Kaduna State Fire Service saved the state over N199 billion worth of goods while properties destroyed are estimated at N58 billion from over 523 fire outbreaks in the state between January and December 2019.

“Carelessness of residents is a major cause. i hope that the advocacy programme being embarked upon by the state government will help correct the anomaly and ultimately reduce fire incidents to the barest minimum,” he said.

The director advised residents to take preventive measures against fire outbreaks seriously, saying the only language fire understands is prevention.. (NAN)

Kachia community celebrates peaceful coexistence with farmers, herders From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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he Kachia Grazing Reserve, Ladduga Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State is set to celebrate the long years of peaceful relationship between farmers and herders in the community.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Sarkin Shanu Ikulu, Ardo Hussaini Suleiman Mairiga and the Secretary Organizing Committee, Lamido Hussaini Salisu Kachia Dallatu of Laduga and made available to the media

in Kaduna yesterday.

The statement added that the Fulani community will also honour the Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, for receiving baby of the year 2020, who’s an indigene of the community.

The statement stated that the baby of the year 2020 arrived at 12:00 am 1st January, to the family Sani Ardo Hussaini Laduga, Gorko Laduga.

“Laduga community Kachia grazing reserve will honour First Lady of Nigeria, Her Excellency, Aisha Buhari, for receiving first baby of the year 2020, an

indigene of Kachia Laduga.

“The Sarkin Shanu Ikulu, Ardo Hussaini Suleiman Mairiga and Lamido Hussaini Salisu Kachia, Dallatu of Laduga, expressed excitement that the baby arrived at 12: 00 am 1st January to the family Sani Ardo Hussaini Laduga, Gorko Laduga.

“The Laduga community note that the incidents signal God blessing, therefore, an avenue to celebrate peaceful agenda for both Fulani herders and natives of Southern Kaduna State.

“Ladduga community in Kachia Local Government

Area has a record of peaceful coexistence with other communities for years”, it stated, adding that “the event will also present honorarium award to the executive Governor of Kaduna State and special recognition to speaker, House of Representatives wife who received the baby on behalf of the First Lady.

“The prestigious ceremony will be blessed by the attendance of various tribal community of Southern Kaduna and neighbouring States with Chief of Ikulu as royal father of the event.”

L-R: Speaker Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Debo Ogundoyin; Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Engr Rauf Olaniyan; Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde; Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Bisi Ilaka and Head of Service, Alhaja Ololade Agboola during the 2020 Inter-Religious service to usher in the new year held at Governor’s Office Secretariat, yesterday in Ibadan.

CEPEJ commends journalists commitment to peace building From Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

C

entre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) under the leadership of a renowned Niger-Delta Environmental and

Human Rights Activist, Comrade Sheriff Mulade has commended Nigerian media for giving his organization, CEPEJ the needed support towards his years of sustainable development on peace building.

CEPEJ boss made this assertion while thanking Nigerian journalists, media practitioners in a press conference organized on Tuesday, 7th January, 2020 at the organization's office headquarters at Ugolo- OKPE,

Near Osubi Airport, Warri, Delta State commended the roles of the Nigerian and international media in CEPEJ's successes on global peace building approaches aimed towards sustainable development of the society.

Stakeholders want Niger Devt Plan to address infrastructural shortfalls From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

S

takeholders have charged the Niger State government to ensure that the formulation of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Minna and Suleja Cities should be able to address the problem of current inadequate infrastructure in the two cities.

They made the declaration during a two-day Technical Interactive Session on UN-Habibat Integrated Development Plan Formulation Mission for Minna and Suleja cities in Minna on Tuesday.

The Director, Center for Human Settlement and Urban Development, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Mohammed Bashra, said

that government initiative to integrate cities would enhance good network for integrating people's ideas and vision of how their cities should be.

According to him, "On development concept, IDP will ensure orderliness from people as the project will be owned, manage and maintain by the people. It will bring about people's participation as the people will own the projects for sustainability, " he said.

Also, Hajiya Jummai Agwai, a participant, called on government to ensure that the IDP formulation would help in addressing issues of unemployment among women and youth.

In same vein, Dr Bashir Ahmed, a stakeholder from the Federal University

Technology, said that his aspirations for the IDP for Minna and Suleja was to see a city of inclusive, peaceful and well organised for the less privilege to see opportunities for economic development.

In his remarks, Mr Micheal Kinyanjui, Regional Metropolitan Officer, UNHabibat, called on stakeholders to participate adequately and support the IDP formulation process by coming up with ideas on how they expect their cities to be.

He added that the formulation of IDP would enable residents of the state to take charge of the development, governance and available potentials in their cities.

Also, Mrs Rossana Poblet, UN-Habibat Consultant for IDP Formulation in Niger, said the interactive session was to identify

key actors and problems bordering cities, identify the potentials and come up with possible solution.

She added that the IDP formulation would serve as guideline for cities to identify available resources and potentials and how to manage them to benefit the people.

In his address, Prof. Mustapha Zubairu, Coordinator, Niger State Urban Support Programme, explained that the IDP would enhance the state planning system and development to avoid environmental issues.

Niger government is partnering with the United Nations Habitat to develop an integrated development plans for Minna and Suleja cities.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 11

EDITORIAL

Softly, softly on Amotekun

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security platform, codenamed have not been going to the press with the “Operation Amotekun” (Yoruba for activities of these groups. But because of the leopard), will be launched today in exigencies, we now say let us legitimise the the South-west states. Their governors had activities of the OPC, vigilantes, hunters and before now held a security summit, under other groups so that we now manage them.” the auspices of Development Agenda for An assurance has come from the Western Nigeria. They said they would governors that Amoketun would be involved set up Amotekun following killings and in intelligence gathering only and would kidnappings in the zone allegedly by Fulani be restricted to local communities. Ondo herdsmen.

State government, however, in particular, Gunmen in June killed Funke Olakunri, said all stakeholders were ready for the a daughter of Afenifere leader, Reuben inauguration of the security outfit in Ibadan Fasoranti, on Ondo-Ore road. In on Thursday. Speaking May, a lecturer at the Obafemi on behalf of the governor, Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Rotimi Akeredolu, his Prof Olayinka Adegbehingbe, Special Adviser on Security was abducted at the Ikoyi/ Matters, Alhaji Jimoh Apomu junction of the IbadanDojumo, was definite that Ife Expressway in Ikire, a border there was no problem in the town between Osun and Oyo These outstanding planned operation between states. the security agencies, local projects are well vigilantes and the Oodua In a New Year day message, the governor of Ekiti State, advanced in terms Peoples Congress.

Kayode Fayemi, said the security He said, “There is outfit would begin operation of their preparation, nothing like security today. His Special Adviser on agencies don’t want to work consistent with Security, Brigadier General with the vigilantes and the Ebenezer Ogundana, said the OPC. Every group has been the 2016 Debt equipment to be deployed in assigned its roles. There is Sustainability Operation Amotekun would be no clash whatsoever. It is upgraded from time to time. Analysis undertaken not that they don’t want He said the equipment would to work with the vigilantes by the Debt include drones. “We cannot get and the OPC. But there all the equipment one day, but Management Office should be defined roles let us launch this operation, for everybody. We have by the time we launch it, all and were approved worked it out. That is other things will be built into why we’re inaugurating by the Federal the capacity of Amotekun, it on January 9. We need depending on what the capacity Executive Council in to be careful between of the state(s) can carry.” the professional groups Ogundana said in Ekiti State August 2016 under and the locals and also Amotekun would work with the the constitution must be the 2016 – 2018 state anti-kidnapping team on respected”. the use of the team’s drones. External Borrowing Yes, the constitution “But Amotekun will acquire must be respected. It says Plan. its own as we go further. We internal security is the sole cannot get all the equipment one responsibility of national day; when we take off, we begin security forces, the police to look at what next. We will explore the in particular. States are not allowed their electronics medium of the operation, using own police. They only can help the national drones to get information, using drones to do police do their job. And this they have been some geo-mapping of the entire state.” doing. However, setting up Amoketun is Expatiating on Amotekun, Ogundana like smuggling a zonal police force through said vigilantes, OPC members and local the back door. And everything about this is hunters billed for the operation in terms wrong. of gathering information, would be drawn One, there are certainly concerns in from local communities. Asked whether security quarters over Amoketun. These Amotekun would not conflict with the fears are legitimate though the police are regular Nigeria Police Force, he said no. “It being diplomatic, not wanting to confront is just a few mischievous groups that are the governors openly. But real are these spreading rumours. As we speak now, the concerns. Firstly, OPC has a history of OPC, vigilantes and hunters work with the violence in the South-west and there is police. They work with the army. There is no sign that the leopard has changed its no operation that we go that we don’t have spots or will. Secondly, the zone, before them. So it is still the same setting. nicknamed the “wild wide West”, also has “For Amotekun, when we get there, we the notoriety of political persecution. Is it are going to organise training on how they too hard to imagine Amoketun, the leopard, can relate more with the police, the army may be turned on political foes? Thirdly, and with one another as well as how the the justification for Amoketun is too weak police and army too can accept the fact that to sell. It is that Fulani herders are killing the groups have access to information and innocent people. Many people, including the use the information well. The vigilantes, influential national leader of the governing OPC members and hunters know the terrain All Progressives Congress (APC), believe very well. The army and the police are from the killings are not communal but political. different places and may not know the Given these concerns, we suggest that we go terrain as much as the local groups. We softly on Amoketun.

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Letter to the Editor

Regulating Religious Excesses Through Moral, Social Obligation (II)

By Abubakar Bello

E

xcesses of spiritual leaders are numerous, as one was pointed out earlier, it may well be described as tip of the iceberg. Particularly when it comes to accordance of deserved acknowledgment and respect to the rights of others.

Regardless of whether one is an adherent of such faith or not. Spirituality or religiosity is supposed to guide adherents on recognizing the right of others as against denying it.

Even in mono-religious enclaves such as Makkah, Madinah or the Vatican, co-faith members have the right not to be disturbed on the course of performing religious sacrament by other members despite the fact that they all practice and believe in the same faith.

Religious rites or practices that constitute public nuisance such as dishingout sermons and noisy incantations over public address systems in residential neighborhoods especially during early hours of the morning or late at night is not religiousness but deviation from religion and what it teaches. Some prayer centres or congregations stay up until midnight and even beyond preventing neighboring residents from having good rest with disgusting noise. If we are truly religious as we claim to be, then religious morals should poke our conscience that God will not be pleased with any prayer, incantation or rite that was offered to the displeasure or discomfort of others. Disturbing the peace of others and denying them serenity at retirement hours of the day with unbearable noise from loudspeakers regardless of whether those being bothered believe in God or not is insensitivity of the highest order. No justification can stand for any religious act that is offered to the detriment of others.

Many share this opinion of regulating religious excesses especially the ones that involve public inconvenience but because of the sensitivity of issues with religious tendencies in this part of the world, fear of possible ostracism or misinterpretation or deliberate misplacement of facts by those whose interest may be threatened would result in excommunication or libeling. It’s easy for one to be crucified or accused of hypocrisy or termed apostate for speakingout particularly when your argument is deliberately misunderstood and given pseudo interpretation.

Public disturbance even if not in the name of religion must be controlled and discouraged by self-regulation and state authority. Ego and impunity are mostly the causes of such insensitivity that is gaining momentum because those who ought to speak up and stand against such outrageousness on public rights are mute.

No prayer house or congregation needed to be told that blaring sound in a residential neighborhood is an infringement on the rights of residents especially during the wrong hours of the day. Spiritual leaders are supposed to know that better, and ensure their subjects are educated on what constitute public nuisance and by extension disregard to the right of others –if they did not sanction it in the first place.

As mentioned elsewhere, infallibility is a reserved quality for prophets and angels which underscores the fact that any ordinary mortal being is susceptible to error and bias no matter their level of religiousness.

Spiritual leaders are not exempted just like their followers, but committing an error out of mistake and forgetfulness is forgivable. However, when such deviation sprang out of shallowness of knowledge or sheer ignorance or ego and selfishness, then control mechanism must be enforced by the society as a collective entity or the state.

This again calls for checks and balances between leadership and followership and

between society and citizens in order to tame unwanted excesses.

If immoderations are allowed unchecked or neglected, a recipe for societal decadence and disaster is bound to engulf us all. Courage must be summoned by all and sundry including the state through its law enforcement agencies to clear our conscience and see the reality in every of our conduct particularly the socio-existence aspect. Our affiliation to certain faith or creed should not becloud our sense of good judgement and right-thinking towards rebuking excesses committed by members of our faith or other faiths, groups or sects.

It has become a free for all platform where religious gladiators of different sect stage their proxy fight by playing cassette of provocative tirades. This unacceptable use of public address system by prayer houses indiscriminately may have been the springboard for local herbalist merchants who storm public places with all sort of indecent marketing utterances and music blaring over loud speakers. Thanks to some regulation on that by Kano state government which is quite commendable.

The act of unruliness in our various ways under pretexts of worship is not different from what Shi’ite are known for which is the attitude of obstructing traffic during processions. Their impunity during processions such that cost them dearly in Zaria last year and more recently in Kano may be informed by the stance that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. If some religious congregations will obstruct traffic on Fridays or Sundays and public address systems are used indiscriminately without recourse to public inconvenience, and law enforcement agents find it tolerable, then other sects or groups will have justification not to be prevented from what may constitute some manifestation of their religion too. Because sensibly, no basis of harassing and prevent one religion/sect and seeming indifferent to the other under the same law.

For clarity however, where it becomes necessary and generally acceptable and understood, such religious act as call to prayer (Azan) which in its essence and purpose is done aloud, no objection applies to that and it will not constitute public nuisance because of its brevity and precise nature. Either ways, no divine religion would sanction violation and intrusion into the basic right of others. To abuse the right of others, no matter insignificant or negligible it may seem, should not be treated lightly because it infringes upon the right of God Himself.

Let religious morals guide us in standing for the truth even where the buck of the pain falls on us. That way alone, many of our social problems would be solved. It will make us more positively sensitive and prudent in relating with others and ourselves. It will promote respect for the right of others be they adherents of the same faith or not.

Again, what moral ground do we have in piety and holiness if we cannot rebuke our excesses that trample upon the basic right of others? What level of piousness must we attain to feel the empathy of what denying the right of others is? Who will summon that courage to challenge our religious excesses and seek for redress? Who will feel morally pricked by such challenge from both the religious leadership and its followership and amend for the better? Who will call for checks and balances in our society for our common good? I think we do not need any form of compulsion from authorities before the right thing will be seen as really being right.

Abubakar Bello wrote from Jos and can be reached at abubakarsadiq525@ gmail.com

PAGE 12

Opinion

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Confronting injustice through mediation practice

By Stephen Isayinka

T

he scourge of injustice pervading round Nigeria's democratic system inevitably affects the subaltern of the country. Many encounter afflictions degenerating from injustices and corruption. Unfortunately, the judiciary is no longer becoming the last hope of the common man due to its corrupt nature.

The Former Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Walter Onnoghen attested to this reality by stating that ‘corruption in the judiciary is not only limited to bribe taking but includes giving of judgment or orders based on any consideration other than legal merit.’

The high cost of litigation, exasperating delay in legal proceedings, heavy workload on the court have all handicapped many victimized Nigerians. Besides, the few who endured the rigor of litigation are often battered financially or psychologically as one can safely assume that close to 100% of the ‘losers’ in litigation were unhappy at the end.

As a result, a renaissance in the administration of justice is seemingly taking place in Nigeria as Mediation practice is increasingly becoming a trend in civilized communities basically as people are seeing clearer visions that litigation is not always the best way to settle scores

between parties.

What then is justice? It is a complex phenomenon that symbolizes fairness.

The term ‘Justice’ is like ‘beauty in the eyes of the beholder.’ This highlights the fact that justice means different things to different people. It is expedient to note that Mediation, an ancient strategy for the administration of justice and a modern form of alternative dispute resolution(ADR) have been a viable mechanism in resolving commercial, civil and family disputes within the shortest possible period when compared with litigation and arbitration.

Solving today’s tough problems depends upon finding better ways of handling conflict. The party-driven nature of arriving at a resolution is what endorses mediation as a ‘just legal process’. No wonder at the end people feel as though it has been a just process even though the outcome might not be what they wanted.

The promotion of justice amongst conflicting entities is evident in the two major aspects of mediation which includes; the private mediation sector and Public/court-annexed mediation. Private mediation involves the parties seeking the service of an independent third party expert who offers his or her services on a commercial/voluntary basis. Famous examples of Private Mediators in Nigeria

is the Brekete Family, a reality radio and television program focused on human rights advocacy for the rights of the oppressed and marginalized citizens in Nigeria. It was founded by Ordinary Ahmed Isa. The Brekete Family has advocated justice by resolving many complicated societal matters, including broken marriages, broken families, warring societal groups and conflict between individual Nigerian citizens/organizations and federal, state, and local governments and their agencies Another powerful mediator that agitates for justice in Nigeria is Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin popularly referred to as “the woman that speaks with Boko Haram.” She is a mother of eight children and the winner of the 2016 Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice’s (IPJ) Women Peacemakers.

Other private experts in the field includes Mr Segun Ogunyanwo FICMC, Prof.

Demola Akinyoade and many others.

Public/courtannexed mediation comprehends the utilization of Mediation Centers set up by the government, where disputing parties can request for experts (mediators) for the conduct of mediation proceedings. Such centers also support the training of mediators. In Lagos, for instance, the Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC) provides a forum for the mediation and settlement of disputes between parties

who voluntary agree to mediation. This Public mediation is in line with Section 24 of the High Court Laws of Lagos State which provides that, ‘in any action in the High Court, the courts may promote reconciliation among the parties thereto and encourage and facilitate the amicable settlement thereof.

Mr Segun Ogunyanwo, the Vice President of the Institute for Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) identified that only seven states have mediation centers in Nigeria and this is unimpressive.

Thus, for justice to fully thrive, we need more of such infrastructures to promote peace and justice. When people have conflicts and know there’s a place they can go to, that somebody will listen to them and assist them to be reconciled, it has a tendency to douse tension and avert jungle justice.

In conclusion, the establishment of more Mediation centers, the training of local stake holders in Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) techniques will go a long way in sustaining justice by preventing people from resorting to self- help or taking the law into their hands.

Stephen Isayinka, is a Chartered Mediator from the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), Nig.

closest ally, whose security under Trump’s administration, become more or less the sole concern of US foreign policy in the region, started to feel the heat of the Iranian presence in Syria and that of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, which emerged emboldened having fought alongside the Iranians on behalf of Damascus.

As a result, the Trump administration grew less and less patient with Iran’s foreign operations led by the Quds Force. This group has appeared increasingly out of control, even to the official Iranian foreign policymakers. The “brief” resignation of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif back in February 2019, came as a direct result of having been sidelined from a meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and President Hassan Rouhani that took place in Tehran and was attended by Soleimani.

In June 2019, two oil tankers (Norwegian and Japanese-owned) were attacked in broad daylight in the Strait of Hormuz, just one month after four tankers anchored off the UAE coast were targeted. The fact that the attacks on a vessel linked to Japan coincided with the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to Tehran was seen by some observers as an attempt by the IRGC to undermine Iran’s foreign ministry.

As Iran was escalating against the US and its allies in the Middle East, trying to push the Trump administration to relax some of the crippling sanctions it imposed after its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US took the unusual step in April 2019 of declaring the IRGC a terrorist organisation which left Soleimani and his Quds Force open to the many counterterrorism options available to Washington and its allies in the region.

Meanwhile, protests erupted in Iraq which changed the regional calculus. Protesters blamed the “muhasasa” or sectarian quota system for triggering sectarian violence across Iraq and allowing certain individuals and groups to enrich themselves while much of the Iraqi population endured economic

hardship.

Both Tehran and Washington were surprised in equal measures by the Iraqi people demonstrating against corruption, sectarianism and foreign interference. For both, controlling Iraq suddenly became something that could not be taken for granted.

For Iran, this was particularly problematic given that Iraq has been its main lifeline in the face of the US sanctions and a key link for its manoeuvres in Syria and Lebanon. As a result, it sent Soleimani multiple times to Baghdad to coordinate ways to control the situation with its political and paramilitary allies in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), including escalating violence against the protesters and hitting back at the US. The meddling in Iraq that Soleimani was accused of over the past couple of weeks would have most likely passed unpunished if it were not for the opportunity a military response offered to a US president impeached by the House of Representatives and an Israeli prime minister facing trialon corruption charges. Ahead of the November US presidential election, Donald Trump gets to demonstrate his strength in the face of successive failures of his foreign policy initiatives, while Benjamin Netanyahu gets a useful distraction from his legal troubles ahead of the upcoming Israeli parliamentary vote in March.

In the Middle East, however, Trump and Netanyahu’s political opportunism will have dire consequences. While both the US and Iran are likely to avoid direct confrontation – which was evident from Washington’s choice to stage its attack on Iraqi soil – the latter has already vowed to retaliate.

As Iran concludes its three days of national mourning, its revenge strikes will likely be carried out by proxy forces. It has a wide choice of tactical responses, including bombing, kidnapping and even cyber security attacks. This could involve operations in Iran’s immediate neighbourhood similar to those carried out in September on Saudi oil installations or disruption of oil shipping

routes in the Gulf. Attacks on US positions in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and potentially Afghanistan are also likely.

While the assassination of Soleimani demonstrated that neither the US nor Iran is willing to respect Iraqi sovereignty, its real political fallout is likely to result in the weakening of the Iraqi protest movement which has, for the first time, unified Iraqis around a nationalist, non-sectarian platform and has threatened Iranian influence in the country and called for the expulsion of US troops.

Now, the unfolding events can be exploited by politicians toadvocate for the continued role of Iran in Iraqi politics.In the current atmosphere of shock and emotion, there is little appetite for diplomacy.

This is unfortunate because even this week speculation abounded over the secret willingness of both parties to re-enter negotiations over the nuclear deal. Given the statements made by some European countries, including Germany, justifying the US attack, it is now possible that Iran leaves the JCPOA entirely or at least announces a significant increase in enrichment of uranium.

In coming days, it is vital that the voices of calm and diplomacy win out over those calling for escalation and confrontation, to avert a regional war. Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s visit to Tehran on January 4 and his call for “finding a peaceful solution to reduce the tension” is promising.

Qatar enjoys the respect and trust of both Iran and the United States and has a direct interest in defusing the tension, given it hosts the largest US airbase in the region and shares gas fields with Iran.

For de-escalation efforts to be successful, however, the US must refrain from other targeted killings in Iraq. In addition, the US and Iran must not heed the calls for violence and revenge from regional warmongers who stand to gain from their direct confrontation.

Why Trump’s opportunism could plunge the Middle East into turmoil

By Sultan Barakat

T

he US strike in the early hours of January 3 that killed Iranian MajorGeneral Qassem Soleimani has surprised many in the Middle East and beyond. A brazen attack, carried out without permission on the soil of a sovereign nation, it was more reminiscent of the covert operations of Israel’s Mossad against its proIranian rivals than an act a global leader with a great stake in the region should engage in.

The assassination of Soleimani is likely to further destabilise a region already rocked by nearly a decade of upheaval.

Soleimani was a figure who loomed large in the Middle East over the last few decades.

As a young man, he played a key role in the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, and many in Iran will remember him as a war hero, who protected the very identity of the revolution.

Yet outside Iran, he is also understandably widely loathed and considered the chief architect of chaos in the region. After his appointment in 1998 as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, a division responsible for clandestine military activities abroad, he led many operations in the Middle East and elsewhere.

These interventions almost always came at the expense of Arab nations’ sovereignty and the wellbeing of their civilian population, whether it was the US-Iranian pact that enabled the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and which allowed sectarianism to take root, or the deployment of Iranian forces to save the embattled Assad regime in Syria, which led to ethnic cleansing.

As the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) concluded in 2017, the US became more attentive to concerns voiced by Saudi Arabia about Iranian meddling in the affairs of its neighbours, as they found themselves confronting a real and/or imaginary Soleimani in Yemen, as well as Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, Israel, the US’s

Sultan Barakat is an Int’l Affairs Analyst.

PAGE 13

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Comment

Western education: A system designed to fail or cause failure?

By Israel Dara Sobaloju

A

s you read through this piece, I will like you to get an insight into my mind and also see with a clear mind.

We all have questions raging like storm in our hearts and most often the answer we get, do little in calming it. Western Education, a System on which the bricks of our education system in Nigeria are laid, has been a subject of discussion over time, whether it has lost its essence or it should be subdued in the waters of time.

Some months ago as a student intern in Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching and Research Farm (OAU T&R Farm), as most of my colleagues – we were required to grow Cucumber according to the pattern the Internship Coordinator gave to us. At harvest, I, as also some of my colleagues, my 12 meters size Cucumber field of over 70 cucumber stands had no fruit but flowers.

Soon, the flowers which are expected to be pollinated and hereafter turn to fruits begin to fall away. Fewer days later, a disease called Downy Mildew ravaged all the farm and destroyed the crops including mine – labour of over 6 weeks destroyed, and for weeks, the Internship Coordinator could not provide an answer as to why such incident happened and could not be curtailed.

Despite the incident that happened, which in no way can be said to have been caused by the negligence of us, students but the incapacity of the system. We were accorded scores according to the number of fruit on our individual plots. Funny, aren’t it?

My narrative above is exact as how the western education operates, a system which has failed to deliver its essence now fail students based on the yardstick of its own failure. Sorry, my story did not end there. Is it not surprising that I made a little cucumber farm afterwards, for myself in my

hostel’s backyard and I had a bumper harvest despite not following the crop management scheme judiciously. I could have been made to believe that I am a failure, and that I lack basic understanding of farming precepts.

With the result on the Internship plot, I could have been stereotyped to see myself as a duns who cannot succeed at farming. But, a trial on my own proved the system wrong.

I scored a zero for no fruit, but in practice of my own, I harvested fruits that only I could not eat but had to dole out to others.

The western education has rendered many people failure, it has done worse by tagging some fellas worthless, but the fact remains that, the system was never meant to tell us who we are but to help us choose who we want to be. The system now tell people who she think they are, and not only stop there, but also proof to them she’s right by tendering letters from A to F, just to save herself from the voodoo of her own self-destruction – loss of essence. Western education at its inception was meant to do one thing, to ‘educe’ – to open up whoever undergo it to himself, to open him to realm of knowledge and stimulate him to think.

I saw a primary school student’s report card recently, and in the comment section, the teacher-in-charge boldly wrote ‘She’s failed all subjects she took this term, she’s been a failure since, I think you may consider getting her a private tutor.’ As good as the Teacher’s remark may be, she has no right to tell the child’s parent who she is. Such remark may continuously create a perception that lingers in the child’s heart and eventually make her end up a failure. The system is meant to help the child discover herself, to be able to create terms for her life to bear the consciousness of the requisite value of herself.

The system now helps her students to think instead of stimulating them to think.

Life is not universal, it’s unique to how individuals, society, clan or family live it.

This is the reason why the western education at its onset was created to stimulate her students to think out how to live in any social system per time. The professors, teachers and high ranking officers of the system now find solace in the student’s ability to repeat a particular sequence, order and set of information given to them. Little wonder why the students of the system forget anything they were thought after successful delivery of the ingested information, just to get the grades.

The inventor of the grading system – Williams Farish, which is now mostly in use by education systems in the world, invented it not to tell the students their assumed future, but to know how much of a topic his students understand, to know maybe he should proceed to another or teach them the more. But, it is saddening that the purpose of education in Nigeria has now been reduced to just grades not acquisition of knowledge.

It’s bewildering to hear, a professor boldly acclaim that your level of cramming is the primary decider of your grade in his course.

The education system today only set people into competition with others when they have themselves to defeat. The essence of the western education has never been grades but knowledge acquisition. Grades system should only be a precursor to enable the teachers or lecturers know the level of their skill utilization not the student’s ability.

The short-sightedness of the key player in Nigeria’s education system has made it loose its essence. In 1792, when Farish came up with the grading system, some lecturers then, in Cambridge university saw it as a means to evade their responsibility, as it would later allow them to blame the students for their failure instead of their own laziness to impact knowledge rightly. The

disconnection of history cords is one of the reasons we are here, most of the teachers who exist today do not even know the essence of the grade system; either to help the student or condemn him. Many of the graduates this system churn out yearly are unable to think outside the four walls of their school, because a particular sect had helped them to think during the prime of their years – this is the main cause of incompetence in our society. The purpose of education is never to get a means to living or survival, many persons who were never privileged to go through the western education system are in wealth and affluence. The essence is to stimulate people to think and create a means to life himself, device his ideology and adapt any established one for his living.

My ink is already fainting, but, a friend of mine once opined, ‘never think about dropping out of a Nigerian university because you may never make it like any of the American drop-out did.’ Now, I find it to be true. Their system still preserve the essence of stimulation to think, but our system has totally lost it, and it now runs a system of oppression which demean, condemn and relegate people to levels they are never meant to reside. The western education in Nigeria has lost its essence and it’s high the key players in the system came together to devise a means to return the sweetening effect of the salt, or else a morning after, the next generation may see no reason to be educated under this system, because they would have learnt all the vocabularies and acquire the wealth you once used as a bait to get us into this failed system which now infect our students with its venom – failure.

Israel Dara Sobaloju is a Student of Obafemi Awolowo University and can be reached on Israelsobaloju@gmail. com

The Unfinished battle against rape

By Osikominu Oreoluwa Olaniyi

A

teenage girl was raped by her church pastor. She said that one day her mother and her sisters travelled, so the pastor noticed their absence from church that day so he came to her house to “check up on the family.”

Osikominu Oreoluwa Olaniyi Realizing that she was the only one at home, he took advantage of the moment and raped her.

When he was done with her, she was crying and he said to her that she should be happy that a man of God slept with her, and then left the house. That was all. He also raped her when he noticed that she was on her way home alone in the night at a secluded area and he drove off after that. From the story above we can start by saying, that rape is a type of assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person’s consent.

People who have been raped can be traumatized and develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Serious injuries can result along with the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. According to available statistics, Africa has one of the highest frequency rates of child sexual abuse around hovering around 34.4 percent. As at 2004, 60 percent of children involved in child trafficking from Africa to Europe were Nigerians. Between 2012 and 2013, about 30 percent of women in Nigeria experienced one form of domestic violence or another, including rape. It was

found that 24.8% of females’ ages 18 to 24 years experiences sexual abuse prior to age 18 of which 5.0% sought help, with only 3.5% receiving any services.

In Nigeria, when someone hears that a girl or woman has been raped, the first question people ask is, “what was she wearing?” But it’s not all about that. Little children are also being raped and what can a small child wear that could attract a man to rape her? People also ask questions like “What time did she go out or was she out in the night? As if people of particular sex cannot be free to go out and do their legitimate businesses anytime they want like the male counterparts? Some other time, they say the way girls relate with the opposite sex is the reason for the assaults.

Put together, these excuses or reasons given by some members of the society for the heinous crimes of rape and other sexual abuses do not add up.

No reason is justifiable for someone to forcefully and without the consent of another, have carnal knowledge as well as abuse the other. Apart from little babies, young girls and women, there have been reports also of young boys and even adult males raped by matured women and men, at some other times by a gang. One can say the reasons why people rape is because they lack self-control, which means they cannot control their sexual urge when they see a woman or person of opposite sex.

Another reason is the sexual orientation which is the type of people they are attracted to or fancy much. For example, a

man can be attracted to another man and that is his sexual orientation while some young men are attracted to woo older women and some women are attracted to like younger boys. Another reason could be revenge or vendetta especially in the universities and other tertiary institutions.

When a woman offends a young man in a humiliating way, he may turn to rape as a way of getting back at her. One more reason involves psychological problems.

This problem affects their way of thinking and relating to people which might explain why a matured man or woman would rape their daughter or son or a child, all in the name of satisfying their sexual urge.

One way you can help prevent rape is by listening to your sixth sense when alone. Although you can never fully protect yourself from potential sexual assault, it’s important that you avoid dangerous situations, avoid isolated public areas, trust your guts, keep your phone charged and with you, avoid going somewhere alone with someone you don’t know well and don’t use music headphones when walking alone. In addition, in order to reduce risk situations, when going to parties or social events, go with a group of friends and stay with the group, do not leave your drink unattended and if you do leave it, just get a new drink, do not accept drinks from strangers or someone you just met.

Despite your best efforts to prevent rape you still need to know what to do when being raped. You could make up an

excuse that you are having your period or even that you have a sexually transmitted disease. You could call attention to yourself by screaming. If someone actually attacks you, scratch him with your fingernails and pull his hair, bite and kick just do anything to make him let go even for a second and then run.

If your attacker is armed with a gun or knife the above strategies may not work effectively so if you choose to physically attack an armed aggressor, your actions must be unexpected, sudden and extremely painful. Target his most vulnerable spots such as his testicles, eye sockets, instep or windpipe with a harmful intention. And in the case of little children being raped, parents should be extra careful who they leave their child with as no one can be trusted. They should always inspect their child’s body for any strange marks or bruises whatsoever.

No one wishes for anyone to be raped even those involved in the terrible act don’t wish for it to happen to someone they are close to like their sisters, friends, daughters and even mothers. It is a very sad and painful process even after the person has been raped it is very hard for someone to come out of such traumatising situation. Therefore, if anybody sees someone in a situation that seems to be leading to rape, they should help or help the person cry for help.

Osikominu Oreoluwa Olaniyi is a Public Affairs Analyst.

PAGE 14

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

News

Bauchi Govt introduces fingerprint device to curb ghost workers

From Ahmad Bauchi

Mohammed,

B

auchi State Government has introduced handheld fingerprint device to check and clock workers in and out of their duty posts which subsequently would qualify them for being paid monthly.

The State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Aliyu Usman Tilde told reporters yesterday in Bauchi that the device was introduced by the ministry to put the menace of ghost workers, absenteeism and indolence under check.

Tilde said that before his appointment as the commissioner,

about 53.5 per cent of workers were deep in attitude of shunning their duty post which has thwarted the state’s education sector backward.

He said: “We now have the device in all the 219 secondary schools under the ministry. We have had a case of a teacher who only attended his school seven times in eleven years and when I came in I requested for attendance register of various schools and the statistics there was not encouraging at all, 53.5 per cent of them (teachers) do not go their work place at all.

“People are now less honest than before and given their large number, many of them can hide, a

lot of them are in the rural areas where it is difficult to reach them for monitoring and evaluation.

You find out that by the time you take up their attendance book everyone is present and resumed work before 8:am even if he or she wasn’t there.

“It is very difficult to monitor these large number of workers, the best thing is to introduce technology. With this you will be able to capture all the teachers within your purview; if anyone goes in, delivers a lesson or checks out it will be clocked by the terminal. With this, I have been able to monitor in my office when my teachers resume, deliver lesson

and goes out of school.”

Tilde said there would be cut off mark for attendance and any worker below the mark would not receive alert for the month. “We are going to put a benchmark that will show that you were there. You go to work 23 days in a month, we may put minimum of 17,18 or 19 days in a month and anything short of that, the person won’t be paid.”

He added that, for genuine case of absent from work which must be reported in accordance with the rules, a teacher may be sick for a year and be paid all through.

The Commissioner further explained that, with the

introduction of the device every teacher have been resuming work before 8:am “and I think as far as secondary school in Nigeria is concern we are the first to deploy such device.”

Tilde said the development was applauded by the workers union, saying the body had welcomed the idea in their disagreement to indolence. He added that he could monitor the number of lessons that every teacher teaches in a week, month and in a year through the data gathered by the device.

He said that their performance is being recorded by the device ad that would be qualify them for promotion and appointment.

“This will be first index, though there might challenge in this but this will be first measure because if you don’t go to work how can you perform? The first thing is, was the teacher there in his duty post, how many lessons was he able to cover.”

Amana Kakanda honours Blueprint boss, Nupe president, others

By Usman Shuaibu

T

he Chairman/Chief Executive Director of Blueprint Newspapers, Mohammed

Idris alongside the President of Nupe Social Development Association (NUSDA) in the FCT, Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Makun among other twenty-four

personalities have been conferred with the Chieftaincy titles by Amana Kakanda Muye in Lapai Local Governement Area of Niger State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Muhammed

Maigari II. The conferment of Chieftaincy titles to the twenty-six personalities was carried out at the palace of the Amana Kakanda Muye on the 5th

L-R: Prof Umar Garba Danbatta Executive vice chairman Nigerian Communications commission NCC, Prof.

Millionaire Freeborn Aboiwe, Board member NCC, Honourable minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Hon. Ali Isa Ibrahim Pantami, during the wedding fatiya of the EVC’S Children, recently in Kano.

January, 2020, after the Amana was turbaned by the Emir of Lapai, Alhaji Umar Bago III on the 4th January, 2020.

In an interview with newsmen during the occasion, the chairman central working committee, retired Real admiral Ndatsu Ibrahim Dirisu who was the chairman of the ceremony, urged the people of Muye community to co-operate with Amana for the overall development of the area.

He said: “Anybody who does not respect the leadership, God will disgrace that person. So, we believe that the way to go now is to cooperate and work together so that Muye people will succeed”.

He, therefore, pleaded with the people of Muye Community to continue to live in peace with one another.

Dirisu, who is the Marafa of Muye Community, said the coronation of Amana Kakanda would improve the economic status of Muye community.

On his part, the Amana Kakanda thanked the entire people who turned up during the occasion.

The colorful ceremony was attended by the royal fathers and some government functionaries within and outside the state.

FCT: Kuje residents decry poor waste management

By Usman Shuaibu

R

esidents of Kuje Area Council in the FCT have decried the inability of the council administration to properly evacuate waste in the area.

The residents were reacting to the rising heaps of refuse left uncleared along major roads and open areas across the council area.

The residents, who spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent in Kuje, said that the situation had become worrisome and called on the authorities to “do something urgent”.

Mr Abraham Garba, a resident

of Quarters Area, said that leaving the waste in the area was not in the interest of the people and human health.

Garba decried the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in various parts of the council, especially along the Kuje township stadium as worrisome, saying that the situation was an eyesore.

“The heaps of waste keep getting even worse; some major roads and drainage have even been blocked.

“Clearly, there is no plan by the Area Council to improve the situation. Government must come up with a plan where each house will be taxed a particular amount.

We cannot continue like that,” he said.

Mrs. Sarah Madaki, another resident, said that Kuje Area Council was gradually becoming an eyesore with heaps of refuse at every corner of the town.

“Considering the harmful effects of refuse on human health, the Area Council Administration should do everything possible to rid the town of the indiscriminate dumps.

“Evacuation of refuse is very necessary to ensure environmental cleanliness and the well-being of the people, but the authorities do not seem to realise this,” she said.

Another resident, Mr Emeka

Okafor, said that the Area Council authorities had stationed refuse bins along the road for residents, but lamented that none had ever been evacuated.

Okafor said that Kuje Area Council as the “Food Basket of FCT” ought to be kept clean at all times.

“The Environmental Department of the Council saddled with ensuring proper dumping and evacuation of waste is not really committed to the job.

“When the rainy season comes, flooding is likely because heap of wastes have blocked the waterways.

“Refuse could also be a breeding ground for mosquitoes which can

lead to the spread of diseases,” he pointed out.

Mr Joseph Dogara, a resident of Anguwan Gade, blamed the situation on the failure of the Area Council Administration to “do the right thing”.

Dogara called on the area council to wake up to its responsibility by ensuring that the environment was kept clean at all times.

Malam Aminu Sani, a resident of Kayarda Area, who also reacted to the heaps of refuse dotting most parts of the council, called for the re-introduction of monthly sanitation exercise to help tackle the situation.

PAGE 15

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Supreme Court upholds Ikpeazu, Ishaku, Bello, Okowa’s election

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja and Nosa Akenzua Asaba

T

he Supreme Court, yesterday, upheld the elections of Okezies Ikpeazu (PDP), Darius Ishaku (PDP), Abubakar Bello (APC) and Ifeanyi Okowa (PDP) as the elected governors of their states.

Arguing his application, counsel to Alex Otti, candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2019 governorship election and its party, Lateef Fagbemi adopted his processes.

He urged the Apex court to set aside the Appellate Court claim that the documents tendered at the tribunal were dumped on the court.

He argued that findings by the Appellate Court that the documents tendered were not true certified document were also an error because the issue of proper certification did not arise.

He then prayed the court to allow the appeal and set aside the position of the Appellate Court and order a fresh election.

In his own argument, counsel to INEC, Zakawanu Garba asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal.

Similarly, counsel to Governor Ikpeazu, Wole Olanipekun also asked the court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the appellant came third and merely wants to usurp Ikpeazu.

Delivering a lead judgment, Justice Amiru Sanusi, one of the panel members held that Otti’s appeal lacked merit and was liable for dismissal.

In the same vein, while affirming the elections of governor Ishaku Darius of Taraba, one of the seven-man panel, Justice Ejembi Eko affirmed that the counsel to the APC admitted that the party had no candidate in the election and therefore has no locus standi to contest the election of the governor.

The Judge added that the appellant conceded the fact and went ahead to suggest that the Supreme Court allow one professor to step into the shoes of the disqualified candidate.

Justice Eko held that the law is clear on the issue of disqualification of a candidate.

The Judge noted: “This

petition is a mere academic exercise and cannot be given any value; and being an abuse of court process, complete distraction and wasteful exercise. it shall be and is hereby dismissed,” In the case of Okowa of the PDP, Justice Centus Nweze held that the appellant, Great Ogboru failed to prove allegations of overvoting.

He said that the appeal is a waste of the precious time of the Apex Court.

Meanwhile, Anioma born politician, Hon. Prince Ned Nwoko has rejoiced with the Governor of Delta State, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa on his

Supreme Court victory .

Nwoko said in statement on the heels of the supreme Court affirmation of Okowa as winner of the March 9 , 2019 Delta Governorship election,said the victory was expected.

He congratulated the Governor and expressed relief that the apex Court judgment has finally rested the issue of the gubernatorial race.

He said Deltans freely gave their mandate to Okowa with glaring victorious outcome across the three senatorial districts.

Nwoko added that the beauty of democracy not only recognized the announcement of results and

swearing in of winners, but also allowed for litigation by those not satisfied with the outcome of the electoral process According to Nwoko, “The coast is clear for my dear brother Okowa. Now that the Supreme Court has finally given its verdict on the Governorship matter which had gone through the tribunal and the appeal court, it is time to settle down to deliver on the mandate of the people of Delta State “I want to advise my friend, Chief Great Ogboru to let the governorship issue rest and extend a hand of fellowship to Okowa in the interest of the State.

“I congratulate my brother the

Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa on this worthwhile victory. This is another opportunity to exemplify your sterling leadership qualities of humility and integrity like you have always done. The whole Delta State is your constituency, including those that have challenged you in court. So,work with everybody and move on to leave an enduring legacy for generations of Deltans to proudly remember.”

The former member House of Representatives Aniocha/ Oshimili federal constituency (1999-2003) thanked Deltans for their pro Okowa goodwill since 2015.

Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade signing the 2020 appropriation bill into law, while the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Jones Eteng (1st right) watches in Government House, yesterday in Calabar.

Several PDP members defect to APC in Zamfara

O

ver 30,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defectors were loyalists of Ibrahim-Shehu Bakauye, former PDP governorship aspirant, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after his meeting with the former governor of the state, Abdul’aziz Yari.

Mr Bakauye, a former legislator representing Gusau/Tsafe federal constituency from 2011 to 2015, was a PDP governorship aspirant in the 2019 general elections but lost to Governor Bello Matawalle in the primary.

The defectors led by former PDP

factional Chairman in the state, Nasiru Milo and members from 14 local government areas of the state announced their decision at the APC state party secretariat, Gusau on Wednesday.

Mr Milo said, “we resolved to join our leader to APC considering various developments the party brought at both state and national level.

“We are satisfied with Bakauye’s decision to join the party with a large number of supporters in the state.

“We are happy today, we are leaving the party with minority supporters to the strongest political party in Zamfara and Nigeria in general.

“Over the years, we suffered

from injustice and disunity in PDP, today we have joined a party with good leadership style that respects the rule of law”, Mr Milo said.

“On behalf of the over 30,000 Bakauye supporters in the state, we are announcing our defection to APC today.

“We will be loyal to APC leadership in the state and cooperate with all stakeholders for the development of the party”, he added.

Responding, the state APC Chairman, Lawal Liman, described Mr Bakauye’s defection and his supporters to APC as a great achievement for the party in the state.

Mr Liman said “we are happy with this development in spite of the

fact that our party is not in control of the leadership of the state.

“This is a strong indication that the APC is the strongest political party in the state”, he said.

Mr Liman urged party members to be united and avoid differences and discrimination for the development of the party.

He cautioned the party supporters against anti-party activities, saying the party has zero tolerance for such acts.

“The APC National Executive Council meeting, which was held in Abuja resolved that all its members must participate in party activities from ward up to national level.

“Therefore, I am calling on our members to abide by this directive”, Mr Liman said.(NAN)

Lagos APC elects new secretary, spokesperson

T

he Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Wednesday, filled the three vacant positions in its executive council.

Lanre Ogunyemi, Oluseye Oladejo and Adewunmi Ladigbolu emerged Secretary, Publicity Secretary and Assistant Legal Adviser respectively at the end of the state’s elective congress in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seats became vacant when its former occupants were appointed by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as Commissioner and Special Advisers in his cabinet.

More than 200 delegates from all the Local Government Areas in the State gathered to elect the new state executive members.

Speaking at the event, the State Chairman of APC, Babatunde Balogun, expressed gratitude to the leadership and members of the party for making the elective congress hitch free.

He congratulated members for the victory attained by the party in the last general elections.

Mr Balogun thanked the governor for choosing some of the best in the

party’s executive committee to form part of his cabinet.

Mr Ogunyemi, who spoke on behalf of the new executive members, expressed gratitude to the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu and other party leaders for counting them worthy to serve.

On his part, Mr Oladejo told journalists on the sidelines of the event that his election was a call to

greater service of humanity through the party.

He pledged to build on the gains of the past and work closely with people at the grassroots.

The congress was attended by a former senator, Ganiyu Solomon; a former Deputy Governor, Idiat Adebule; representatives of the national executive committee and many other party leaders.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 16

POLITICS

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent comments on the nation’s electoral process under the current Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have raised fresh issues on the credibility of the February 2019 Presidential election.

The PDP made the declaration in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.

The party noted that in demanding that INEC and the Police should ensure that the will of the people prevailed in free, fair and credible elections “immediately ahead and going forward”, Mr. President has admitted that preceding elections under the current dispensation have been less than credible.

According to the statement, “This is including the recent elections in Bayelsa and Kogi where the All Progressives Congress (APC) turned the

Buhari’s demand for credible polls questions his own election -PDP respective states to theaters of war, yet Mr. President congratulated the ‘winners’ of those charades.

“In his own words, in a meeting with INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, at the Presidential Villa, Mr. President said, “our elections must be done in violent-free atmosphere. The process must be free, fair, decent and devoid of intimidations and malpractices. It is the duty of the police to accomplish that and this is what I expect in the elections immediately ahead and going forward”.

Mr. President added, “those that you declare as winners must be candidates that the people have chosen. Democracy is about free will, and the will of the people must be allowed to

prevail”.

The PDP maintained that “This is a weighty verdict by Mr. President on the huge electoral fraud perpetrated in the 2019 elections by his party, APC. “Though the verdict of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Election stands, in total obedience to our laws, the fact remains that the violent manipulations of the 2019 elections in favour of the APC and its candidates will continue to stare our nation in the face.

“Mr. President’s remark shows that, in their innermost conscience, beneficiaries of manipulated polls are always confronted with the truth” it said.

Furthermore, the tasked the management of INEC and the Police to come clean of the details of their recent meeting with President Buhari which is coming

ahead of about 28 impending runoffs and by-elections scheduled for this month.

It said, “our party holds that INEC is an independent electoral commission whose activities and processes are clearly governed by the law and extant rules and not by the dictates or prescriptions of the President.

“Mr. President should therefore steer clear of INEC while the commission must assert its independence and desist from going to the Presidential villa for instructions on elections.

Nigerians have their doubts if the hugely compromised INEC under Professor Yakubu can be anything independent.

“However, if, indeed, Mr President is committed to ensuring free, fair and credible electoral process, he should

reintroduce the 8th Assembly’s Electoral Act Amendment bill, which he refused to sign, and make a fresh commitment to sign it into law immediately it is retooled to meet current exigencies and passed by the current National Assembly.

“He should order the prosecution of security agents involved in the invasion of polling centers and shooting at voters in recent elections.

“He should also reciprocate the benevolence of Nigerians by recreating an electoral atmosphere like the one that brought him into office in 2015.

“After that, Mr. President should focus on seeking for solutions to the worsening economic and security challenges that have befallen our nation under his incompetent administration”, it said.

Party supporters and well-wishers, during the supreme court verdict on governorship elections of Taraba, Abia, Delta and Niger States, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

PDP hails Supreme Court ruling on Abia, Delta, Taraba elections

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

T

he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lauded the ruling of the Supreme Court, upholding the elections of Governors Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state and Darius Ishaku of Taraba state.

The PDP gave the commendation in a

statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja.

The party noted that the ruling was an inevitable validation of the wishes and aspiration of the people as expressed in the March 2019 governorship elections in the respective states.

The PDP observed that the ruling of the apex court is a victory for democracy and the

triumph of the people over forces that sought to forcefully take over control of their states.

The party therefore urged the governors to continue in their qualitative governance for which the people overwhelmingly reelected them.

It also charged the governors to continue in their commitment to programmes that are geared towards empowering the people and

reducing the level of poverty in the country.

The PDP reminded the governors as well as all other officials elected and appointed on the platform of the party that Nigerians across board are looking up to them for solution and direction in their overall effort to rescue our nation from the misrule of the now fizzling All Progressives Congress (APC).

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

PAGE 17

ART& Culture PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Hiding in plain sight: the faces of modern-day slavery

S

ixty metres underground, Lisa Kristine is enveloped in darkness. It’s hard to breathe.

The air is heavy with dust and fumes, and she feels the heat of bodies shuffling around in the shadows. She can hear the sound of tools hitting stone, of men coughing.

They are in an illegal mine in Ghana.

The men are here to break stone and carry the pieces to the surface in the hope that some of the fragments might contain gold. But, Kristine is here for something else – their photographs. pAbove ground she takes pictures of the young men and boys who pound the stones and pan for gold. Their arms are coated in fine powder.

Their faces are drenched in sweat. Kristine is documenting more than the miners’ back-breaking labour; she is capturing the faces of modern-day slavery.

A self-described “native San Franciscan”, Kristine has established her career photographing indigenous people around the world. She recalls being fascinated by images of tribes in her mother’s National Geographic magazines and anthropology books.

“I believed they were unshakeable,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘What is it that they have?’ Because I needed that in my own life.”

At 18 years old, she left home and travelled to numerous places, including Kenya, Peru and Bhutan, to emulate the inspiring images she had seen in her childhood. Then in 2009, a conversation changed her life.

While exhibiting her photographs at the Vancouver Peace Summit, she met someone from Free the Slaves, a non-profit organisation fighting modernday slavery. “I had known that trafficking existed, but I just had no idea of the sheer numbers. It really struck me,” she says.

The numbers are indeed staggering. More than 40 million people are enslaved around the world, according to the Global Slavery Index. That is more than the transatlantic slave trade, which held 13 million people in bondage from the 15th to 19th centuries.

Today’s figures include those in forced labour, which accounts for more than half of victims at 24.9 million, and forced marriages. Women and girls are disproportionately affected, accounting for 71 per cent of the victims.

Though they are no longer in shackles, modern-day slaves are still bound by fear and the threat of violence. The problem cuts across various industries, including domestic work, textiles and garments, agriculture, fishing, mining and construction. It is highly profitable, generating as much as $150 billion (Dh550.87bn) every year.

After that meeting, Kristine struggled to sleep for weeks. She flew to Los Angeles to talk to the

This photograph titled ‘Blue Hand’ shows a man enslaved in illegal gold mining in Ghana. “They are forced to spend 48 to 72 hours deep in the mines shafts,” says Lisa Kristine, an American photographer who spent years documenting modern day slavery around the world. Photos: Lisa Kristine.

‘Stacking’. In the brick kilns of India and Nepal, men, women and children are all involved in the process of making bricks. “They suck dust into their lungs all day, every day,” says Kristine.

‘Threads’ by Lisa Kristine. Speaking about the subject of the photograph, she says: “He is more than 50 years old and is enslaved weaving carpets to pay off a modest loan he took 12 years ago. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be free to work for someone else.”

founders of Free the Slaves about ways in which she could help. By connecting her to their network of abolitionists in various countries, she was able to visit villages and cities where slavery persisted – mines, textile factories, fishing towns. “It was strange because you can pass by these things every day and just assume that the people there are working, but you don’t have any notion that they have no rights or that they’re not getting compensation. In that regard, slavery hides in plain sight,” she says.

Her first trip was in 2010, to the brick kilns of India. The secondlargest brick producer worldwide, the country has 200,000 kilns with an output of 250 billion bricks a year. Kristine visited a kiln in Uttar

‘Currency’. Trafficking is rampant around Ghana’s Lake Volta, where children work on fishing boats. “Every kid on the lake knows of another child who died in the nets. Most of the children suffer from skin diseases and parasitic worms. Malaria is common. Medical care is not,” says Kristine.

‘Price by Gold’. Kristine says: “Most of these boys and men come from northern Ghana hoping to strike it rich working at legal mines. When they can’t get a job, they borrow money at usurious interest rates or join teams of slaves known as gangs. The gangs work in areas abandoned by big companies. They can only sell their gold to the moneylender at a price he sets. They are trapped by illegal, fictitious debt, and are often hunted by local police and private security guards for trespassing. Many of them talk about wanting to escape. Some of them believe they will become rich if they work just a little longer and harder.”

Pradesh, where men, women and children were all involved in the process, from moulding the clay to stacking and loading bricks for transport.

Kristine’s images are haunting, revealing the scale and intensity of the brick kiln operations. Her subjects are blanketed in rustcoloured dust, their faces lined with exhaustion. Workers carry up to 18 bricks on their heads, each weighing more than a kilogram.

In the kilns, temperatures can rise to 54°C. Kristine recounts how

In ‘Family Portrait’, Kristine depicts how slavery can last through generations. The dyed black hands are of the father’s, and the blue red and hands are his sons’s. Using their bare hands, these silk dyers in an Indian village dip the cloth in barrels filled with toxic dye.

‘Stratum’. Kristine says: “Entire families are in bonded labour slavery. Often, families get a loan for an emergency or to pay a broker a fee for getting hired on a new job. Slaveholders, the only people near with any money to lend, trick the borrowers into slavery through illegal, exorbitant interest rates that are impossible to repay. Children inherit the bogus debt from their parents. Generations of families have been enslaved for a loan of just $18.”

even the abolitionists were affected, some vomiting and nearly fainting from the extreme conditions.

Overwhelmed, she started to cry, but an abolitionist quickly stopped her. “He shook me and said: ‘Lisa, you can’t do that here. It’s not safe for you and it’s not safe for them,’” she recalls. “In that instance, I realised that I’m here to witness. I’m here to do what I can do to help.”

During these trips, Kristine had to follow specific directions – to keep to herself, not to offer the slaves money or promises that they would be rescued. “The connection I would have would be shining a

light on the issue,” she says. Often, she would only have about 10 to 20 minutes to take her photographs.

Staying longer increased the risk of being spotted by slaveholders.

In one instance, Kristine found herself unable to leave a gold mine in Ghana as security guards with AK-47s turned up after hearing that a photographer was there. “It was nerve-racking at times,” she says about her experiences, adding that she and the abolitionists had to be ready to flee at any moment.

Like the slaves in Ghana’s mines, the workers in the kilns of India and Nepal are trapped in a form of debt bondage. Victims are enticed by false job prospects and cash loans with exorbitant interest rates. They sign pledges to pay back the debt, which keeps growing even as they work for years without pay.

That’s how entire villages can be enslaved for generations. And the danger, of course, is if you’re born into it, you will never know that you are enslaved because that’s just how you’re living.

In Kristine’s photograph Threads, for example, the subject has been enslaved for 12 years over an initial debt of about $20. Worse still, when a slave dies, their family and children often inherit the debt, ensnaring more victims in a cycle of bondage. “That’s how entire villages can be enslaved for generations.

And the danger, of course, is if you’re born into it, you will never know that you are enslaved because that’s just how you’re living. There’s nothing to compare it to,” she says, explaining that the work of abolitionists is to educate victims on their rights and eventually help them gain their freedom.

Another industry rife with forced labour is the textile business. In a photo titled Family Portrait, Kristine poignantly depicts generational slavery with the stained hands of a father and his two sons, silk dyers who are trapped in servitude.

When choosing their victims, traffickers target the most vulnerable – those mired in poverty, the poorly educated, migrants and children. The Global Slavery Index estimates that 10 million children are trapped in bondage worldwide.

Along the shores of Ghana’s Lake Volta are fishing villages only accessible by water. Here, as many as 10,000 children, typically boys and some as young as 6, are enslaved.

Most have been sold to traffickers by their own families who are destitute or have been told that their children can have better lives working in fishing. They toil for hours a day, with little to no food, and face abuse at the hands of their masters. Given the job of untangling fishing nets caught in the lake’s submerged trees, these young boys dive into the water, which goes down to 75 metres at its deepest.

Culled from https:// www.thenational.ae

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

SMEs: CBN directs DMBs to maintain 65% Loan Deposit Ratio

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to maintain the minimum 65% Loan Deposit Ratio (LDR) to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

CBN said, the directive was part of its regulatory measures to improve

lending to the real sector of Nigerian economy.

In a circular signed by the Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Ahmad Abdullahi, the apex bank said, it noticed a “remarkable increase in the size of gross credit by the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to customers.

“Accordingly, the CBN has decided to retain the minimum 65% Loan Deposit Ratio (LDR) in the interim.

“All DMBs are required to maintain this level and are further advised that average daily figures shall be applied to assess compliance going forward.

“The incentive which assigns a weight of 150% in respect of lending to SMEs, Retail, Mortgage and Consumer Lending shall continue to apply while failure to achieve the target shall continue to attract a levy of additional Cash Reserve Requirement of 50% of

the lending shortfall of the target LDR on or before March 31, 2020.

“DMBs are further encouraged to maintain strong risk manegement practices regarding their lending operations.

“The CBN shall continue to monitor compliance, review market devetopments and make further alterations in the LDR as it deems appropriate,” the circular said.

R-L: Acting Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hajiya Saratu Shafil, Chairman, commerce and industry correspondent association of Nigeria,(CICAN)Abuja, Mr Frederick Idehai, during a visit by Executive and members of CICAN to CAC headquarters, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Pantami petitions Buhari over plans to cede stamp duty collection to FIRS

T

he Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has said it is unfair to deny Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) the right to collect stamp duty.

Dr Pantami has therefore petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over plans to cede collection of stamp duty to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

Dr Pantami said in Abuja that he has also written to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, opposing the plan to remove the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST)

from the collection of stamp duty.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2016 had asked Money Deposit Banks through a circular to deduct N50 stamp duty on every electronic transfer with a value of N1, 000 and above.

Since, then the FIRS had been contending that it had the responsibility to collect all duties and finally got the House of Representatives to insert this responsibility in a proposed amendment to the Stamp Duty Act. But according to Dr Pantami, it will be unjust to transfer stamp duty collection from NIPOST to FIRS. He said: “To me, stamp duty should be collected by NIPOST, the same way

the Nigerian Customs Service collect customs duties.The FIRS has been working on being the agency that collects stamp duty. It started before my appointment and I only got to know when the situation had deteriorated. I intervened by informing Mr President that NIPOST should be the one to collect stamp duty.”

He said FIRS had summoned a meeting of some stakeholders, without involving the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and NIPOST, to deliberate on which agency should collect the revenue. He said the stakeholders were working for FIRS’s interests only and that the NIPOST should be the organisation that collects stamp

duty.

He added: “As far as I am concerned, this is one of the injustices that should be challenged and I will continue to challenge it.” He however dismissed reports that the Federal Government had concluded that FIRS should henceforth collect stamp duty. He said, “It is not true that the Federal Government has decided that the FIRS should collect stamp duty.

I have been at the Federal Executive Council and I know that it has not been agreed that FIRS should collect stamp duty. The government will decide but we can advise.”

This is what I got from.Oga Zakz thier own story on NIPOST. Might just see how I can work with this.

PAGE 20

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Energy

Opec ready to meet any shortage if needed, says UAE energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy & Industry told Gulf Intelligence’s UAE Energy Forum on Wednesday that OPEC “will work to keep the balance” in oil markets. Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent in early trading on Wednesday following Iranian missile attacks on US bases in Iraq. Victor Besa / The National.

O

pec will meet any shortage, if needed, should tension between the US and Iran disrupt the security of supply from the region, said UAE energy minister on Wednesday.

“The market is well supplied. We’re not forecasting shortage of supply unless there is a catastrophic event which we don’t see, so Opec always will meet and discuss whatever necessary actions we need to do,” Suhail Al Mazrouei said at the Gulf Intelligence Forum in Abu Dhabi .

US-Iran tensions live updates: IRGC retaliates with rocket strikes on American military bases in Iraq Opec members will not take unilateral action, he added, noting that the alliance, which also includes non-members led by Russia, will “assess the situation” when they convene in March.

Opec+, as the alliance is known, began implementing production cuts of 2.1 million barrels a day since the beginning of January. The group agreed to deepen cuts at their annual meeting in December.

Tension between Washington and Tehran escalated on Friday after the US assassinated Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force that is within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Suleimani was Iran’s top military commander and was among the top policymakers in Tehran, overseeing proxy military conflicts in the region, notably in Iraq and Syria. His death prompted Iran to declare the US armed forces a “terrorist” entities, with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing “tough revenge”.

On Wednesday morning, Iran launched missiles targeting American bases in Iraq, with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif saying on Twitter that the country had taken “proportionate measures in self-defense”.

Mr Al Mazrouei called for de-escalation on both sides.

“What we need is the security of the oil markets. What we can do is supply and demand, the geopolitics is outside our hand. We’re hoping that both sides will deescalate,” he said.

He said geopolitics had always played a role in oil price forecasts, but this aspect had lessened in recent years as prices were instead determined by the fundamentals of supply and demand.

“We need to go back and look at the bigger picture. Demand in oil has been healthy, the fundamentals the Opec+ [agreement] has worked to achieve are intact ... it’s the longest period that we’re hovering around the five-year average,” Mr Al Mazrouei added.

“We will always work to keep the balance. We don’t have a control on wars but definitely we have control on how much we produce so we can ensure [the market] is well supplied and we have healthy economic growth.”

He said “every country in the world” would be affected if supply through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-third of global seaborne oil supplies transits, is cut.

“The world economy cannot sustain $100 oil prices.”

Speaking at the same event, Opec secretary general Mohammed Barkindo urged “all leaders in the world to support the leaders in the region to restore normalcy”.

The spike in oil prices that has taken place since the last Friday was “very premature, he added.

“A big relief is that the [oil] facilities continue to be secure in Iraq and the production is continuing and not affected.”

US oil workers leave Iraq following the assassination of Iran’s top commander I nternational oil companies based in Iraq, Opec’s second-largest producer are pulling out US staff following the assassination of Iran’s top military commander in Baghdad on Friday.

Washington, which engineered the drone strikes that killed Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force - part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - urged its citizens to depart Iraq “immediately”.

A number of American workers are deployed across oil sites in Iraq, which has US majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron operating large fields in the country.

A spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil, the lead contractor in West Qurna 1, one of Iraq’s largest oil fields, west of the southern province of Basra told The National in a statement that production continued “normally”.

“We are closely monitoring the situation.

ExxonMobil has programmes and measures in place to provide security to protect its people,

Field workers at the Rumaila oil field in Iraq. AP operations and facilities,” she said.

The company declined to specify whether its American staff had been evacuated.

In May, Exxon withdrew around 60 workers, mostly US nationals, after Washington order non-emergency

personnel to leave Iraq citing unspecified threats.

Iraq’s oil ministry said that some US personnel had left Iraq following the death of Suleimani, but production remained unaffected.

A spokesman for German firm

Siemens, which operates in Iraq, said that its operations “haven’t been disrupted and no staff have been evacuated”.

“We are monitoring the situation and will always take appropriate measures to ensure our workers and facilities are safe and secure,” he added.

Shell, which is a joint operator of the Basrah Gas Company and BP declined to comment.

Iran and Iraq produced 2.13 million barrels per day and 4.65 million pbd of crude in November 2019, respectively, and combined accounted for nearly 8 per cent of global oil liquids supply in November 2019, according to a research note by UBS. “Market participants are concerned that the tensions between Iran and the US could impact the political stability of Iraq and oil production in the second-largest OPEC producer after Saudi Arabia,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at the Zurich-based lender.

METRO

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Page 21

National Council of Arts and Culture troupe Performing, during National Programme against Open Defecation , recently in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

By Stanley Onyekwere

I

n what seems as a subtle rekindling of the long standing feud between FCT Administration and Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) over collection of taxes in the Territory, following Tuesday’s bloody clash of revenue officers at the Games Village junction area of the nation’s capital.

PeoplesDaily gathered that suspected thugs working as “revenue officers” for AMAC purportedly went on rampage, attacking three officials of the Department of Outdoor Advertising and Signages (DOAS) and a camera man attached to the FCT Minister office, Godwin Ameh.

It was learnt that some persons posing as “revenue collectors” engaged by consulting firms working with AMAC as technical partners had in the past clashed with DOAS in the discharge of its mandate.

But, recently both warring parties reached an agreement to work amicable with each other.

However, trouble started Tuesday evening when DOAS officials attempted to recover some impounded branded vehicles by the agents of the Council, thereby igniting the feud with them.

It was gathered that DOAS officials moved in to secure the release of the impounded vehicles, following complaints from the affected residents and organisations who had already paid their Mobiles Advertisement Rates to DOAS and obtained advertisement permits, And the situation degenerated when a certain Terry Okan, now at large, led over 30 suspected thugs armed with hockey batons and sticks to assault the officials

AMAC, FCTA rekindles feud over tax collection of DOAS and journalists who were at the scene.

While journalists and others scampered to safety, the thugs abducted three officials of DOAS, with the two sides later ending up at the Wuye Police station.

A hitted argument had ensued among the suspected thugs as to what to do with their abductees. While some said they should be pushed out of the vehicle, others suggested they be dumped at the Wuye Police station, where 11 of the thugs incidentally ended up behind bars.

Narrating his ordeal, Director of DOAS, Dr. Babagana Adam, who also escapes being hurt, said he was called by two affected owners of the impounded vehicles in particular and several others have sent text messages to him.

Adam, who spoke to journalists outside the Wuye Police, said: “One is Brooklyn hotel, Lokogoma who called me yesterday that his vehicle has been confiscated.

“I pleaded with him not to pay anything that extortionists that I will speak with the Director of Security to come me rescue them. The second one was Access Bank that called saying their vehicle had been attacked.

“The third one, I cannot immediately remember the name now because of the

circumstances. I felt since we have three policemen and the team, we could go and liberate them and release the vehicles.”

The DOAS boss adds: “We did not go to fight. We just went to talk as we did at Utako junction where they listened to us and released the vehicles. “ When we took those extortionists to the police station, we were talking of that other vehicles had been detained, only fr us to come back and then we were mobbed by the thugs that have been brought, as we learned, from outside the FCT. “And they are thugs as you can see they look like bouncers, and they were imported into Abuja just to settle that scores that DOAS should not collect the Mobile Advertisement Rates from FCT residents. It is to the Glory of God that some of us are standing here.

“If FCT wants high internally generated revenue and standards, we need to protect those who do the work.

“We need more security, not to molest but to do the work. Some of us have the zeal to work, we do not want to be arm chair executives, which is why we are in the field.”

One of the DOAS staff who was assaulted, Ebere Nwokocha called on relevant authorities to assist the

department in the discharge of its mandate.

He said; “Our assignment is to make sure that every vehicle that is branded collects a permit to operate. There is a law that backs that and all the six Area Councils in FCT had gazetted that law and handed over their rights on mobile adverts to the DOAS in 2012.

“However, since that time, a cabal in AMAC has been defrauding the government to the tune of over N1.8 billion.

“Just last month, the director of DOAS published an advertorial that the collection of mobile advert has been handed over to his department and residents were to pay into a TSA account not the way the so-called task team is collecting cash,” he said.

Meanwhile, the suspects were interviewed by journalists, all admitted not being AMAC staff, but they were recruited by one “Peter”.

Similarly, reacting to the development, relevant AMAC authorities maintained that, the Council had prior to the gentleman agreement allow DOAS to collect most of the taxes for AMAC , it had authorised signatory some consultants to collect the taxes.

NGO honours principals, teachers for promoting gender equality

By Stanley Onyekwere

A

n Abuja-based nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Sure Smiles Women and Children Advocacy Initiatives, has bestowed award of excellence on 45 principals, school heads, head teachers, headmasters and headmistresses in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for promoting gender equality in their various schools.

Founder/president of the NGO, Dr (Mrs)

Chioma Uzo-Udegbunam, who presented the award to the beneficiaries, explained that the beneficiaries were selected because of their outstanding contributions towards promoting gender equality, gender tolerance and for setting up functional gender clubs in their schools.

Uzo-Udegbunam said the award, tagged: Sheroes Award, was meant to appreciate and encourage the beneficiaries to do more and to motivate other principals, head teachers

and school heads in the FCT to set up gender clubs in their schools, to encourage gender tolerance and equality.

She added that the essence of the award was also meant to raise awareness among students and pupils in the FCT against the incidences of rape so as to reduce it to zero level.

“The bottom line is that there has been a state of rape in FCT. We are fighting to reduce the incidence of rape and to bring it to a zero

level.

“So, we are raising the awareness through this award and then to encourage other head teachers and principals to increase the awareness among their pupils,” she stressed.

The founder/president of the NGO disclosed that the beneficiaries were drawn from public schools in the six area councils of the FCT, adding that the ceremony, which is the first of its kind in the FCT, would henceforth be held every year.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Page 22

world news

‘Child stowaway’ found dead in plane’s undercarriage in Paris

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he body of child aged around 10 has been found in the undercarriage of plane that had arrived in Paris from Abidjan, sources close to the investigation have told French media.

Air France confirmed that “the lifeless body of a stowaway” was discovered at Charles de Gaulle Airport early in the morning.

The body was found in the well of the landing gear of the aircraft that flew in from Ivory Coast, it said.

An investigation is under way.

“The airline expresses their condolences and deplores this human tragedy,” Air France said in a tweet, without specifying the age of person found.

The Air France Boeing 777 had taken off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s main city, on Tuesday evening.

An Ivorian security source told the AFP news agency:

N international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com

Reaction to Iran’s attack on US forces

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ilitia chief: ‘It’s time for Iraqi response’ Qais al-Khazali took part in the funeral procession for Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on SaturdayImage caption: Qais al-Khazali took part in the funeral procession for Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on Saturday The leader of a powerful Iranbacked Shia militia in Iraq, Qais alKhazali, has said it is time for Iraqis to avenge fellow militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who died in the US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani.

“The initial Iranian response to the assassination of the martyred commander Soleimani has happened,” he said in a tweet. “Now it is time for the initial response to the assassination of the martyred commander Muhandis.”

Muhandis effectively led the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) - an umbrella of militias in Iraq dominated by groups aligned with Iran.

France condemns attacks and ‘cycle of violence’ The French foreign minister condemns the attacks carried out by Iran and says the most important thing now is to de-escalate tensions.

“France reiterates its solidarity with its allies and partners in the Coalition [against the Islamic State group], as well as its commitment to the sovereignty and security of Iraq,” Jean-Yves Le Drian says in a statement.

He adds: “The cycle of violence

must end. France, for its part, remains determined to work towards easing tensions.

“We are in contact with all the parties concerned to encourage restraint and responsibility.”

Iranian missiles ‘hit 35 points’ A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brig-Gen Ramezan Sharif, says the missiles it fired hit “35 points” at the Al Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“The Americans hastily held an emergency meeting,” he told a rally that was broadcast by state TV. “First, they said [President Donald] Trump would speak. A moment later, they announced the speech was cancelled. He received our message without a doubt,” he said.

Not long after the attack, Mr Trump tweeted that “all is well”.

“Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so

good!” he said.

Iran president: ‘Kick US forces out’ Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says Iran’s “final answer” to Soleimani’s assassination would be to “kick all US forces out of the region”.

EU will ‘spare no effort’ to save Iran nuclear deal - Von der Leyen Ursula von der Leyen European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU will “spare no effort” to save the Iran nuclear deal and calls for the end of the use of weapons in the region.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London, she adds that the UK and the EU should “strengthen and defend” their economic and security interests.

Her comments about the nuclear deal echo those of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who says it is now more important than ever.

Two days after the US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani Iran announced that it had abandoned the last limit on its enrichment of uranium imposed by the nuclear deal.

Iraq PM: Crisis threatens ‘all-out war’ More from Iraq’s Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi. He says his country “rejects any violation of its sovereignty and attacks on its soil”.

He adds that he is following the situation closely and making the necessary calls to contain it.

Trump and Bloomberg to air duelling Super Bowl ads

U

S President Donald Trump and his would-be Democratic challenger Michael Bloomberg will air duelling Super Bowl ads, each costing about $10m (£7.6m).

The deep-pocketed Bloomberg campaign has secured a 60-second slot next month targeting the president.

The Trump campaign’s Super Bowl purchase is also for a minute.

The game on 2 February is America’s biggest annual sporting event and is expected to be watched by more than 100 million people in the US alone.

It boasts some of the most expensive television commercial slots of the year.

The National Football League final will be staged on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the first in a series of state-by-state votes to pick the Democratic candidate who will eventually challenge Mr Trump, a Republican, for the White House in November’s election.

Mr Bloomberg is one of 14 candidates vying to be the Democratic standard-bearer. He has unleashed an onslaught of campaign spending since jumping into the presidential race relatively late, back in November.

He has spent more on digital and TV advertising than any other

candidate so far, almost $170m, according to ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics.

It predicts Mr Bloomberg may spend up to $400m on ads over the next crucial couple of months.

In March, voters from 13 US states will pick their preferred Democratic White House candidate in an electoral bonanza known as Super Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Bloomberg campaign told the New York Times the “biggest point” of the Super Bowl ad “is getting under Trump’s skin”.

By “taking the fight to Trump”, Michael Frazier said, “the ad is part of Mike’s strategy of running a national campaign that focuses on states where the general election will be decided, parts of the country that are often overlooked”.

The Trump campaign’s Super Bowl purchase, first reported

by Politico, is expected to entail either a single minute-long advert, or two separate 30-second commercials.

“Super Bowl ad is an indicator that the @realDonaldTrump campaign is ramping up as 2020 begins,” tweeted the Trump campaign’s communication director Tim Murtaugh.

“Also big plans to spend

The Super Bowl boasts some of the most expensive advertising slots all year on outreach to women, blacks, Latinos & religious voters.”

The splurge represents just a fraction of Mr Trump and Mr Bloomberg’s bulging campaign war chests.

Last week, the Trump campaign announced it had raised a combined $463m with the Republican National Committee last year.

For Mr Bloomberg, his selffinanced campaign’s spending will barely make a dent in his personal fortune.

The former New York City mayor’s net worth is $52bn, according to Forbes - 17 times more than Mr Trump.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

Last month, Mr Bloomberg denied trying to buy the White House, telling CBS News of his Democratic rivals: “I’m doing exactly the same thing they’re doing, except that I am using my own money.

“Nobody gives you money if they don’t expect something. And I don’t want to be bought.”

Announcing his candidacy, the businessman said he was standing to “defeat Donald Trump”.

Mr Trump taunted “little Michael”, saying his fellow New York tycoon “doesn’t have the magic” to make it to the White House.

Source: BBC

Australia fires: Misleading maps and pictures go viral

M

aps and pictures of Australia’s unprecedented bushfires have spread widely on social media.

Users are posting them to raise awareness of the devastating fires, but some of the viral maps are misleading, spreading disinformation about the crisis.

The months-long fires have killed at least 25 people and millions of animals, and destroyed more than 2,000 houses.

After milder weather brought brief respite last weekend, fire crews are preparing again for worsening conditions as temperatures are predicted to soar on Friday.

One image shared widely by Twitter users, including by singer Rihanna, was interpreted as a map showing the live extent of fire spread, with large sections of the Australian coastline molten-red and fiery.

But it is actually artist Anthony Hearsey’s visualisation of one month of data of locations where fire was detected, collected by Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System.

“The scale is a little exaggerated due to the render’s glow, but it is generally true to the info from the Nasa website. Also note that not all the areas are still burning, and this is a compilation,” Mr Hearsey wrote on Instagram in response to criticism by viewers that the image was misleading.

It is taken from the Australian government website MyFireWatch, which uses satellite data to map heat sources.

However the data incorporates “any heat source that is hotter than its surroundings... This may include gas flares, refinery furnaces or highly reflective large industrial roofs”, according to its website.

That means that the symbols are not guaranteed to indicate actual fires.

Another issue is that the hotspot symbols do not represent the actual size of fires or the danger posed by them.

Screenshots of maps shared on social media like this often omit important details from the originals, such as the level of risk posed by fire and whether it is under control.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service publishes live mapped fire information, using symbols to indicate the alert level from “advice” (no immediate danger) to “emergency warning”.

On 7 January, the red and orange fire symbols in the MyFireWatch map of New South Wales (NSW) are all ranked as “advice” alerts by the NSW rural fire service.

e w s

Uganda frees Rwandans amid strained diplomatic ties

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T

he relationship between Rwandan President Paul Kagame (above) and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni is strainedImage caption: The relationship between Rwandan President Paul Kagame (above) and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni is strained Nine Rwandan nationals who were on trial in a military court in Uganda after being accused of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms have had all charges against them dropped.

They are to be deported.

The move comes amid more than a year of strained relations between the two countries.

In September Rwanda said the Ugandan authorities had illegally detained more than 200 of its citizens.

Officials in Kigali have also accused Uganda of trying to destabilise its government by supporting rebels.

Uganda has accused Rwanda of infiltrating its security services.

The dropping of the charges appears aimed at easing some of the tension between the two former allies.

2 Zimbabwe Park Rangers Drowned by Poachers in Lake Kariba

Z

imbabwean authorities say they have retrieved the bodies of two park rangers who had arrested four poachers but were then thrown into Lake Kariba by the suspects.

The bodies of the two rangers were taken to the capital, Harare, for examinations, said Tinashe Farawo, spokesman for the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on Tuesday.

The two rangers had arrested four Zambian men for poaching and on Dec. 31 were transporting them by boat to Kariba town to be charged and jailed. But the four suspects overpowered the rangers and threw them into Lake Kariba, said Farawo.

The rangers’ bodies were discovered after a week-long search.

Authorities are searching for the suspected poachers, he said.

The rangers had caught the poachers in Matusadona National Park, home to lions, leopards, elephants and hyena on the shores of Lake Kariba, one of the world’s largest man-made lakes. The park is popular with tourists who go on walking safaris and boating on the lake.

The rangers had detained the poachers overnight before attempting to take them by boat to Kariba town.

Although the parks agency has recorded “a significant decrease” in poaching in the wildlife rich southern African country, cases of armed contact between poachers and rangers have been on the rise in the Kariba area, where Zimbabwe borders Zambia to the north, said Farawo.

Page 23

A f r i c a Man confesses to being militant Islamist in church r o m

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olice in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa Kenya have arrested a man who walked into a church and confessed to being a member of militant Islamist group al-Shabab.

Local media reports say the pastor decided to call the police after the unidentified man admitted to having recently been in Somalia, the headquarters of the al-Qaeda-linked militants.

On Tuesday, a court in the coastal city ordered the suspect to be detained for 10 more days to enable police complete their investigations.

Kenya’s local daily newspaper, The Standard, quoted prosecutors as saying that the suspect was willing to provide investigators with information that could lead to the arrest of suspected militants.

Prosecutors have declined to name the individual, pastor or the church at the centre of the story.

Under canonical laws, Catholic priests are

It is unclear in which church the man confessed forbidden from divulging the details of any confession which is considered one of the seven sacraments of the Church.

But the same laws do not apply to protestant or evangelical movements which do not embrace penance as a rite.

Car Bomb Kills 3, Wounds 6 at Checkpoint in Somali Capital

A

t least three people have died after a car bomb exploded at a busy junction in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, according to city spokesman Salah Hassan Omar.

The explosion at a checkpoint near Somalia’s parliament left several vehicles on fire.

The Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, said it had carried out the attack.

It has stepped up its campaign of violence in East Africa.

Ten days ago, the group killed about 90 people in another bomb blast in Mogadishu.

Over the weekend its fighters attacked a military base on the Kenyan coast, killing

three American personnel and destroying several aircraft.

In response Somali officials say alShabab positions have been hit in air strikes.

A Somali official says a car bomb has killed three people and wounded six others at a checkpoint in the capital.

Salah Omar, a spokesman for the Mogadishu mayor, says the blast occurred Wednesday as soldiers were conducting searches at a checkpoint.

He said the bomb attached to the vehicle was remotely detonated.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group often targets Somalia’s capital.

People remove a dead body after a vehicle bomb attack on a security checkpoint located near the presidential palace, in Mogadishu, Somalia

‘Tragic and absurd’: Sudanese refugees detained in Niger

A

uthorities in Niger have arrested at least 335 Sudanese refugees, accusing them of burning down a refugee camp just outside the city of Agadez in the north of the country.

Officials said the camp was burned down after nearly 1,000 refugees protesting in front of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Agadez were forcibly dispersed.

For the last 20 days, these refugees and migrants, including women and children, said they had camped in front of the office, demanding better conditions, including healthcare and education. According to the UNHCR, these people were demanding relocation to Europe.

The sit-in was part of ongoing protests in Niger since early 2019.

On January 2, Niger’s High Court ruled the sit-in was unlawful and ordered the refugees to move “before it was too late”.

According to witnesses, the security guards tried to disperse protesters on Saturday by shooting in the air. However, more force was applied and injuries were reported in the ensuing violence after the refugees and migrants refused.

Video footage sent to Al Jazeera showed a man thrown off the roof of a building. The video was filmed by a Sudanese refugee who was loaded on a truck.

Following their arrival back at the camp, about 15km (nine miles) outside Agadez, security forces fired tear gas to disperse crowds. A camp official said violence escalated again as people protested. UNHCR officials said the asylum

Sudanese refugees protest neglect in Niger [Al Jazeera]

against

seekers then set fire to the facility and a photographer on site said 290 out of the 331 shelters were gutted.

“It was very violent, they were beating people up. We have many injured here with us”, Daoud, a refugee from Darfur, told Al Jazeera by phone.

In a news conference held at the High Court of Agadez on Monday, where only state-run newspapers were invited, procureur general Seyni Saidou confirmed that security agents had to force people to disperse, citing municipal bylaw violations.

“During the removal operation, 162 mobile phones were confiscated, 31 knives and 12 iron bars were also taken from the demonstrators and 335 people are now in custody,” Saidou said.

80% of the reception centre destroyed by a minority of refugees from Darfur in Agadez who only want to hear about resettlement to Europe. Destroying the

asylum space in #Niger or elsewhere is easier than building & protecting it. It is a sad day for refugee protection in Niger.

What’s striking is that you called them “#refugees” yourself, so they’re not asylum seekers under process. Which not only gives them the right to ask for resettlement in #Europe, but to also hold accountable anyone denying them this.

One of the refugees at the camp told Al Jazeera that many asylum seekers had been waiting at the camp, located in a desert where temperatures often reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer, for more than two years without any clear update on their status.

The group protesting outside the UNHCR office travelled to the city on foot to submit a letter detailing deteriorating conditions at the camp.

Alessadra Morelli, UNHCR representative in Niger, said she is meeting the local governor to express solidarity and find a solution for the victims of this “tragic and absurd situation”.

“We are discussing with all humanitarian actors to find a permanent solution,” Agadez mayor Maman Boukari said on Tuesday.

Following the crackdown on protesters, Daoud said he realised “abandonment and lack of hope prevailed with the camp almost completely burned” after he was brought back.

“For two days now, we are left in the middle of the desert without any assistance, only water. The camp has been burned,” another refugee told Al Jazeera by phone.

PAGE 24

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

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e w s F r o m A SI A Iran plane crash: Ukraine International Airline jet crashes killing 176

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Ukrainian Boeing-737 carrying 176 people has crashed in Iran and officials say there is no chance of finding survivors.

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 to Kyiv went down after taking off from Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran at 06:12 local time (02:42 GMT).

The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada.

Ukraine’s Tehran embassy initially blamed engine failure but later removed the statement.

It said any comment regarding the cause of the accident prior to a commission’s inquiry was not official.

Iranian media blamed technical problems and quoted an aviation official who said no emergency had been declared.

Debris and engine parts from the Boeing 737-800 NG plane were found some 10km (6 miles) from the airport and rescue workers with face masks searched the wreckage for victims.

Throughout the morning, Red Crescent workers laid out a long line of body bags.

Hours before the plane came down Iran carried out a ballistic missile attack on two air bases housing US forces in Iraq. There is no evidence that the two incidents were linked.

A series of airlines announced on Wednesday that they were avoiding both Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

Air France and KLM said they would use alternative routes while Lufthansa said it was also cancelling

Iran attack: US troops targeted with ballistic missiles

I

ran has carried out a ballistic missile attack on air bases housing US forces in Iraq, in retaliation for the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani.

More than a dozen missiles launched from Iran struck two air bases in Irbil and Al Asad, west of Baghdad.

It is unclear if there have been any casualties.

The initial response from Washington has been muted.

President Trump tweeted that all was well and said casualties and damage were being assessed.

Two Iraqi bases housing US and coalition troops were targeted, one at Al Asad and one in Irbil, at about 02:00 local time on Wednesday (22:30 GMT on Tuesday). It came just hours after the burial of Soleimani, who controlled Iran’s proxy forces across the Middle East.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the attack was “a slap in the face” for the US and called for an end to the US presence in the Middle East.

Echoing him, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran’s “final answer” to Soleimani’s assassination would be to “kick all US forces out of the region”.

its daily flight to Tehran. Qantas, Air India, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines were among other airlines taking action.

Who was on board?

Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including all nine crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Britons and three Germans, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.

Ukrainian officials said that 169 people had bought tickets for the flight but two had not boarded the plane.

It was unclear why such a large number of Canadians were on board, however the airline provides relatively inexpensive flights via Kyiv to Toronto.

Sweden’s foreign ministry said its embassy in Tehran was seeking further information about the crash.

Foreign Minister Ann Linde said she had spoken to Mr Prystaiko.

Our deepest condolences, which I have also conveyed personally to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister @ VPrystaiko, on the tragic plane accident in Teheran. Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.

No-one on board the plane survived the disaster Iran’s head of emergency operations said 147 of the victims were Iranian. That would suggest that 65 of the foreign nationals had dual nationalities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was cutting short a trip to Oman and flying back to Kyiv. He warned against “speculation or unchecked theories regarding the

catastrophe” until official reports were ready.

“My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew,” he said in a statement.

Ukraine International Airlines has suspended flights to Tehran indefinitely. The airline said that the Boeing 737-800 was built in 2016 and had its last scheduled maintenance

on Monday.

There was no sign of any problems with the plane before takeoff and the airline’s president said it had an “excellent, reliable crew”. UIA has never had a fatal crash before.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine’s entire civil aviation fleet would be checked for airworthiness and criminal proceedings would be opened into the disaster.

Rescue teams have been sent to the crash site but the head of Iran’s Red Crescent told state media that it was “impossible” for anyone to have survived the crash.

Rescue workers had found one of the airliner’s black boxes, Iranian media reported.

Ukraine has organised special planes to fly to Iran to take back the bodies of those killed, pending Iran’s agreement, Mr Zelensky said.

This type of Boeing is one of the most widely-used commercial airliners in the world. Aviation safety analyst Todd Curtis told the BBC: “The airplane was heavily fragmented which means either there was an intense impact on the ground or something happened in the sky,” he said.

Japan mass stabbing: Accused admits murders but denies guilt

A

Japanese man has admitted killing 19 disabled people at a care home near Tokyo in 2016 but pleaded not guilty because he claims he is mentally ill.

Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee at the care centre, is charged with numerous crimes, including murder.

In interviews, the 29-year-old has said severely disabled people are harmful to society and should be killed.

The case is one of Japan’s worst mass killings and has shocked people in a country where violent crime is rare.

The case has raised also questions about Japan’s treatment of disabled people. All but one of the victims will not be named at the trial - apparently because their relatives fear the stigma associated with having a disabled family member.

What happened in court?

At the opening of the trial, the former employee of the Sagamihara care home did not dispute he had stabbed his victims.

After the prosecution read out the details of charges, Mr Uematsu was asked whether “anything in the charges differs from the facts” and he replied “No, there isn’t”.

Despite his admission, the defence team pleaded not guilty, citing their client’s mental state.

They said he had been under the influence of drugs at the time.

“He abused marijuana and suffered from mental illness,” his lawyer said. “He was in a condition in which either he had no capacity to take responsibility or such a capacity was significantly weakened.”

There were traces of marijuana found in the defendant’s blood after the attack.

Prosecutors insist he was mentally competent.

Satoshi Uematsu when he was detained in 2016 Wednesday’s proceedings were interrupted shortly after they began when the accused appeared to try to put something in his mouth and had to be restrained by security.

Mr Uematsu faces the death penalty if convicted. The court’s

verdict is expected in March.

How did the attack unfold?

In the early hours of 26 July 2016, Mr Uematsu drove to the Tsukui Yamayuri-en care facility, located about 50km (31 miles) from Tokyo, armed with several knives, the court heard.

Deepika Padukone: Has Bollywood found a political voice?

O

n Tuesday night, a Bollywood superstar made a surprise appearance at a leading Indian university which was roiled by violence at the weekend.

On a damp winter evening, Deepika Padukone stood in solidarity with a throng of students at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), protesting against a shocking campus attack allegedly by a mob of rival students linked to Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She made no speeches, and left as quietly as she arrived.

Within minutes, social media erupted with a frenzy that only a Bollywood star can whip up in movie-mad India.

Padukone’s fans and peers and student leaders lauded her for her “brave support” for the embattled students of the university, which

has long been in the crosshairs of right-wing groups supporting Mr Modi’s government. Even those who usually scoff at Bollywood declared that they would watch her new film - a feature on an acid attack victim which Padukone has produced and acted in - several times.

Familiar supporters of Mr Modi’s government rebuked the actress, saying she was cynically mining publicity for her new film.

On Twitter, rival hashtags asking people to both support and boycott her new film began trending.

The kerfuffle over Padukone’s visit to the troubled campus is understandable.

The 34-year-old actress of nearly three dozen films is truly a megastar in the world’s most thriving film industry. She has an imposing social media presence 26 million followers on Twitter and

Padukone has produced and acted in a film on acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal 42 million on Instagram.

In 2016, Forbes ranked her the 10th highest-paid actress in the world. The next year, she and her star husband Ranveer Singh made an estimated $21m (£16m) in combined earnings, according to the magazine. After working with her on a Hollywood film, Vin Diesel waxed eloquent: “Anyone could

talk about how beautiful she is, and anyone could tell you about her unmatched comedic timing. But she isn’t just a star. She’s an actor’s actor, dedicated to the craft.”

Over the years, Padukone has gained a reputation as a sensitive, thinking actor. She has spoken openly about her battles with depression, and will travel to Davos later in January to speak about her work in trying to raise awareness about mental health. She also faced right-wing ire over her 2017 film Padmaavat, where she and Singh played the lead roles. Protesters vandalised cinemas and threatened to chop off Ms Padukone’s nose, referring to a story in an Indian epic where a character has her nose chopped off as punishment.

Padukone’s campus visit was a compelling image. Bollywood filmmakers and actors have often been pilloried for not speaking up.

Environment PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

25

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

N

igeria is soon going to issue its third Sovereign Green Bond. What is it going to be deployed to in terms of tackling climate change?

The third one will be deployed to agriculture, water resources, erosion control, basic sanitation, basically green projects because the whole concept is to move away from the business-asusual of raising funds from all kinds of industries that will create emission.

This is called green financing and by so doing, we invest the money back again into the green project.

The beauty about this is there are opportunities for private sector to come in, be it production of electricity from solar energy, from waste to wealth, all these are ways that private entities can come in and partner with the government to improve the transition from business as usual to climate financing.

How much are we looking at in this sovereign green bond issuance?

I can’t say right on the point right now but we are able to raise over N10 billion in the first one and the second one we raised over N13 billion and we plan to raise a lot more, if we want to extrapolate we will say N20 billion but we want to raise even more than that because the more we raise, the more we invest.

What are the key issues that Nigeria is addressing at this summit and what will she take away?

Nigeria has continuously been in the fight against climate change, has been involved in so many projects and programmes, what we are taking away is that we’re right up there with the rest of the world, in fact surpassing many other developing countries in meeting our NDCs, that is our Nationally Determined Contributions in reducing emissions which is one of the main factors of climate warming.

At the same we’re part of the circular economy which is the best way to reduce the issues of climate change by moving away from the linear economy which is production, usage and disposal.

Today we’re talking about reduce, recycle, reuse, repair and recover. It is an innovation in which resource from production to usage instead of direct disposal, it becomes a resource that you can recycle and reuse.

And in recycling when you go deeper you find that resource has become a raw material for another product to be produced. For example, we just commissioned one of the several waste management centres in Nigeria, in Karu, Abuja where we recycle wastes and things like plastic to pellets for making little blocks that can be used for interlocks and other products too.

This innovation can do a lot of things like producing more jobs and it takes away the pressure of the resources

How Nigeria’s third Green Bond will be deployed -Abubakar Minister of Environment, Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar, on the sidelines of the 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Madrid, Spain last December, spoke with EnviroNews on a range of climate change and sustainable development related issues. Excerpts:

Minister of Environment, Dr. Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar

we need to manufacture this product, it reduces the amount of energy that will go into production from a whole new resource, it reduces the amount of emission that goes into the production from industries. So, it is a system that comes together to reduce the dependence on regular, linear resource use and improves the NDCS. These are some of the things we are leading with. In fact, Nigeria was rated as one of the leading countries in the circular economy concept in the recent meeting I attended in South Africa and it is also playing out here in Spain.

Nigeria and other regions that boarder the Lake Chad are currently facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in history, what is the government doing to revive the lake and restore the livelihood of the surrounding communities?

Currently, the president is spearheading the Lake Chad Basin Commission, it is called the Lake Chad Inter-basin Water Transfer Project, which is a cooperation among the countries surrounding the Lake Chad.

Of course, the disappearance of water in the Lake Chad is a very serious problem, not just ecologically but security wise because we realise that a lot of breakdown of security in that area including, but not limited to, Boko Haram is as a result of people that have been displaced whether they are fishermen, agriculturists or canoe operators. These people have lost their livelihood and in the process they became an easy target for recruitment by not just Boko Haram but other criminal organisations.

So, it is very critical that the basin is restored so we can now reduce this

possibility of crime in the area.

Most importantly, having the Lake Chad also helps with climate restoration because you will have more rainfall and therefore more trees in that particular area when they are planted.

The restoration is estimated to cost over $50 billion.

It is not a project that can be hurried because it took time to happen and it will take time for it to be restored.

It is something that African countries cannot do alone. The international community is aware and we have some indication that countries are willing to come in and help in that respect.

So, it is a very big project for Nigeria and those countries and the rest of the world because the stability of that area and the climate restoration is something that will impact the entire world.

Various people have recommendations on how the Lake Chad can be restored, what method is Nigeria disposed to?

We are still looking at different possibilities. We have the inter-basin water transfer. Perhaps water from not just one source but different areas to recharge the lake.

It may be difficult to expect that the volume of that lake can come from one particular source.

So, this is to be a collaborative effort among the countries. It may not be on the Lake Chad Basin area but as an African country whether you are away from the Chad you will still bear the brunt of ecological displacement of the region. So, the situation is being studied to know how best and with the minimal destruction if any that the Lake Chad will be restored.

There is another security issue linked to the climate challenge of deforestation. How is the Federal Government’s tree planting project trying to tackle this?

There is an update on the tree planting project, we have an agency that is called the Great Green Wall (GGW) project, being handled by an agency under the ministry. The project involves about 11 countries at the upper top of Nigeria, the very northern part, to put a barrier between the desert and other areas.

Of course, tree planting helps reduce desertification, so we have that agency, it is in collaboration with other agencies and of course you know that it’s Nigeria with other 11 countries.

We met in South Africa recently to reinvigorate the project.

Desertification can also cause insecurity, climate disruption and climate change, it’s something you have to do because the trees are the biggest carbon sink on our planet and removing them aggravates climate change.

The FG has committed at the UN general assembly in New York that Nigeria will be planting 25 million trees and the Ministry of Environment is at the forefront of this project, we have something in place we are working on which will be the springboard to achieving that and in a very short time we will unveil the programme for the planting of those trees.

Recently, government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been working with young people. What is the extent of involving the youth in the drive to combat climate change as well as other sustainable development issues?

This tree planting exercise is going to be a collaboration between the ministries of environment, women affairs, youth and sports, education and others.

In terms of youth involvement, we have 6 geopolitical youth hubs that are climate centered. We planned to have a national youth hub but we had to postpone it because we want everybody to be present for that meeting.

UNDP is actually sponsoring the youth hub, so they are part and parcel of that. Mr President has also promised to involve the youth in governance. So, the youths are on center stage today because the time has come for the youth to lead.

Source: environewsnigeria

26

Feature

PEOPLES DAILY, Thursday, January 9, 2020

Plane stowaways: Do any survive?

A

suspected stowaway is believed to have fallen to his death from a Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi to Heathrow, landing in a garden in south London.

But how often does something like this happen and what would conditions have been like during the journey?

How often do stowaways hide on planes?

Although unusual, this is not the first time that someone has hidden on board an aircraft bound for the UK. A body was found in a garden in Offerton Road in Clapham Between January 2004 and March 2015, six stowaways were found on aircraft at UK airports, according to the most recent figures from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Another stowaway was found on board a UK airline at an overseas airport.

Figures from the US Federal Aviation Administration suggested that 96 people hid under planes during flights around the world between 1947 and 2012, with incidents occurring on 85 flights.

Aviation expert Irene King told the BBC that many stowaways don’t make it to their destinations, making it difficult to gauge the number of incidences.

How many stowaways are killed?

There have been several cases of stowaways being found dead in the UK. In 2001, the body of Mohammed Ayaz, 21, from Pakistan, was found in the car park of a branch of Homebase in Richmond, near Heathrow Airport. Four years earlier, another stowaway fell from a plane on to a gasworks near the store In 2007 the body of a young man was found in the landing gear of a British Airways plane in Los Angeles.

In August 2012, a man’s body was found in the undercarriage bay of a plane at Heathrow after a flight from Cape Town. The next month, Jose Matada, 26, from Mozambique, was found in a street in Mortlake, West London.

He died of multiple injuries after falling from a plane travelling from Angola.

In June 2015, one man was found dead on an office rooftop in Richmond. Another was found in a critical condition at Heathrow.

It is thought that they had clung to a British Airways flight from

Johannesburg.

Survivors tend to have travelled fairly short distances and to have been fairly young.

In June 2010, a 20-year-old Romanian who survived was found inside a wheel bay after a flight from Vienna landed at Heathrow Airport. In that case, the jet had kept below 25,000ft because of bad weather.

Of the cases identified by the US Federal Aviation Administration, 23 people - about one in four - had survived the journey.

Other extreme wheel well survival stories 1969 - Armando Socarras Ramirez, 22, managed to withstand the effects of a flight from Havana, Cuba, to Madrid, suffering frostbite

“

but no major damage 1996 - Pardeep Saini, 23, stayed alive during a 10-hour flight from Delhi to London, but his brother Vijay died falling out of the aircraft as it approached Heathrow 2000 - Fidel Maruhi survived the 4,000-mile journey on a Boeing 747 from Tahiti to Los Angeles 2002 - Victor Alvarez Molina, 22, got through the four-hour flight on a DC-10 from Cuba to Montreal, Canada 2014 - Yahya Abdi, 15, stowed away in a Boeing 767 from San Jose, California, to Maui, Hawaii What happens during the flight?

There are serious risks associated with the extreme conditions people face if they try to travel in the undercarriage of a plane.

There are serious risks associated with the extreme conditions people face if they try to travel in the undercarriage of a plane.

These include being crushed when landing gear retracts, frostbite, hearing loss, tinnitus and acidosis - the build-up of acid in body fluids which can cause coma or death.

PAGE 27

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

These include being crushed when landing gear retracts, frostbite, hearing loss, tinnitus and acidosis - the build-up of acid in body fluids which can cause coma or death.

During the flight, temperatures can drop to as low as -63C (-81F), bringing on hypothermia.

At 18,000ft (5,490m), hypoxia sets in, where the whole or part of the body is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply. It causes weakness, tremors, light-headedness and eyesight problems.

Above a typical long-haul cruising altitude of 33,000ft (10,065m) - or higher - lungs require artificial pressure to function normally.

When a plane reaches 22,000ft (6,710m), a stowaway will be struggling to keep conscious as blood oxygen level drops.

Then compartment doors reopen a few thousand feet above ground for landing, which can cause stowaways to fall to their deaths.

How do they get on board?

Airside control areas in some parts of the world do not have the same level of security as they do in the UK. Stowaways can get on board if the proper checks are not carried out.

In the case of the man who died in August 2012, after stowing away on a flight from Cape Town to London, the warning came too late.

The crew onboard were told during their journey that a security fence had been breached in Cape Town and that someone had been seen climbing into the undercarriage.

Who are the stowaways?

Most tend to be men who are attempting to make their way to Europe or North America, from developing countries.

It has been suggested that some stowaways are trying to escape persecution in their home country, or are fleeing conflict situations.

Others may be hoping to find work and the chance of a brighter economic future.

Dr Lisa Doyle of the Refugee Council, said: “We urge the government to provide more safe and regular travel routes for refugees as a vital way of preventing these tragic events from happening.”

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.ERONMONSELE CELESTINE OSAYANDE 2.SHITTU OLAWALE LUKE 3.ADEGBOYEGAKEHINDE OLUKAYODE 4.JAIYESIMI ADEKUNLE ADEOLU 5.OFFOR ANTHONY EMEKA 6.SOLOKI MOSES OLUGBENGA THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1.To protect, promote and enhance the interest of members 2.To help the poor, the needy, the motherless and assist widows and widowers, youths, vulnerable children and the less privilege.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Aliko Alhassan: *Chairman* 2. Faruk Yahaya Tama 3. Musa Adamu 4. Muhammad Nazeef Abdulrahman 5. Ahmad Ilyasu Salihu 6. Yakubu Musa Soda 7. Ibrahim Alhassan: *Secretary* THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. To promote orphan girls child education.

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I trekked long distance to borrow money for my football career -Africa FOTY, Mane L iverpool forward Sadio Mane gave a typically humble and gracious speech after he was crowned the CAF African Player of the Year.

The 27-year-old received a total of 477 votes at the ceremony in Hurghada, beating teammate Mohamed Salah and Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, who received 325 and 267 votes respectively, to the trophy.

It was a deserved victory for Mane and despite revealing pride at his latest triumph, he made an “honest” admission at the start of this short, but humble speech.

Sadio Mane’s African footballer of the year acceptance speech “To be honest I would prefer to be playing football than speaking in front of so many people,” said Mané.

“I’m really happy and really proud at the same time. I would like to thank my family, especially my uncle who is here today.

“It is a big day for me and I would love to thank all the Senegalese people who have been voting for me. I’m from a very small village called Bambali and I’m sure they are all watching me tonight.”

Mane scored an impressive 32 goals in 53 appearances for Liverpool last year.

He enjoyed an incredible season under Jurgen Klopp, helping his team win the Champions League, Club World Cup and Super Cup. The forward was also instrumental in the club’s Premier League success last season, and was deservedly named in the PFA Team of the Year; not to mention his sharing of the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

It has been a remarkable journey for the Sedhiou-born forward, who was so desperate to become a professional footballer at the age of 16, that he packed his stuff and ran away.

“I prepared everything down to the minute, knowing that I did not have any money at all,” Mane told France Football in an in-depth interview.

“At sunset, I hid in the tall grass, in front of my house, and early the following morning, I brushed my teeth and didn’t even take a shower. I left without telling anyone, apart from my best friend.

“I walked for a long time to meet up with a friend who loaned me some money so that I could take the bus to Dakar.”

Africa Footballer of the Year, Sadio Mane

Africa Women’s Footballer of the Year: There is still more work to do -Oshoala

By Amaechi Agbo

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uper Falcons captain, Asisat Oshoala has disclosed that there is still more works to be done after she was Tuesday crowned Africa Women’s Footballer of the Year for a record four times.

The Barcelona striker who expressed delight over the award in Egypt at the 2019 CAF Awards thanked God, family, Friends, fans and her club for their support.

“4 times baby!!! Sometimes you forget to smell the roses along the way in life. I’m always the type thinking about my next move and never really stop and celebrate the things in between. This is such an amazing accomplishment and I’m happy. But there’s still work to do “Grateful to be African Women’s Player of the year Asisat Oshoala, Africa Women’s Football of for the 4th time. Thank God, my Family, Friends and the Year 2019

Fans for the support. Big shout out to my club , my management , team mates at both national team and club level and of course thanks to @CAF_Online for the opportunity.

Meanwhile, the minister of youth and sports development, Sunday dare has congratulated Oshoala on her feat adding that she represents the best in Nigeria’s female football.

“Congratulations to Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, Barcelona star for winning the CAF Women footballer of the year award. She represents the best in Nigeria’s female soccer,” he said.

Similarly, former Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo has congratulated the four-time Africa Women’s Footballer of the Year and urged her to remain focused as more are yet to come.

“You are the best my super striker no doubt about that, more to come .congrats,” he said on twitter.

NPFL: Lobi coach Ogunbote speaks on Christmas break

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NVF Confident of Olympic Sports Ministry denies approval Beach Volleyball Ticket for Bash Ali Guinness Record Fight

Health

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday January 9, 2020

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

By Amaechi Agbo

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By Amaechi Agbo

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he Nigeria Volleyball Federation, NVF, has expressed optimism that the national male beach team will secure Olympic ticket.

The federation stated this ahead of the African Beach Volleyball 2020 Tokyo PreOlympic qualification in Lome, Togo, where the male beach t eam is battle ready to qualify for the final round of the qualifiers.

The President of the Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod stated this while inspecting the team’s final preparations in Kaduna State Tuesday.

“As you are aware that team is battle ready to give Nigeria representation in the qualifiers in Togo, I am confident that the team would qualified for the next round”.

Engineer Nimrod however, expressed delight with the qualification of the female team to

the final round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic after victories in Ghana.

“I am happy to let you know that the female is a few matches to Tokyo Olympic after they emerged top in Ghana few days ago”.

He said despite the team’s third best ranking in Africa, it has live to expectation among African contemporaries.

The President has assured of the federation’s readiness to continue to provide all that the team’s players needed for more successes.

“As far as the federation is concern it has done it best, you have to understand that you cannot bounce on government for funds after we received notice from African Volleyball Continental body just about a month to the qualifiers”.

He commended the players and their officials for their sacrifices as the teams prepare as well as the show of understanding to the federation.

CAF, NFF, Celebrate John Utaka @38

John Utaka

By Amaechi Agbo

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frica football governing body, CAF and NigeriaFootball Federation, NFF, Wednesday celebrated former Super Egales striker, John Ukaka on his 38th birthday.

Both football administrators used their respective Twitter handle to celebrate the Enugu born attacker and former Portsmouth of England player happy birthday.

CAF tweeted “Happy birthday, John Chukwudi Utaka,” and then went on to ask question on the year Ukata was the highest goal scorer in

Egyptian league. “Which year did the forward finish on top of the scoring charts of the Egyptian league?” it asked.

On their part, the NFF wished Utaka well on his great day saying “Happy Birthday to @NGSuperEagles striker John Utaka!”.

John Utaka played for Nigeria until 2014 and appeared in two World Cusp in 2002 and 2010. He started four of Nigeria’s six games in the 2006 African Cup of Nations, in which Nigeria finished in third place.

He was the Egyptian League top scorer in 1999–2000 season.

he ministry of youth and sports development has denied that approval was granted to former Nigeria boxer, Bash Ali for his Guinness World Record Fight.

The ministry made the disclaimer Wednesday and called on the 63-year old pugilist to stop manipulating information to mislead the public The Ministry through its legal department, directed Bash Ali to desist from peddling false claims about a non-existent approval from the office of the Minister to embark on a world fight, reiterating that no such approval was given by the President, contrary to claims by the boxer that the approval was conveyed to him by office of the Minister.

It asked the boxer to keep to the facts only.

The letter dated Monday January 7, 2020 and signed by the Director Legal Service of the ministry reads: “It is to be recalled that on the 4th of November, 2019 a meeting was held between the Ministry and yourself in the company of Director Legal and other senior

Bash Ali staff of the Ministry, wherein the Ministry was categorical about not entering into any meaningful discussion with you in relation to the Guinness Record Fight until the litigation between you and the Ministry is amicably sorted out.

“It is in this regard that this Ministry is surprised to note your manipulation of information to the effect that approval has been granted you to carry out the World Guinness Record Fight.

I am accordingly therefore, by this letter, directed to convey

that no approval whatsoever was granted you by Mr. President or the Ministry, and it will be in your overall interest to issue another letter stating the factual situation that took place between the office of the Honourable Minister and your good self on the said date in order for us to make further progress on the said matter.”

The 63-year-old World Cruiser-weight Champions, Bash Ali is expected to fight a 23-year old American in a bout which will be the first of its kind in the world.

Africa Taekwondo Champion, Nwosu, Optimistic of Olympic qualification 2 0 1 9 African Games Taekwondo Champion, Chinazum Nwosu said she must attend Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The NSCDC officer told that paucity of funds disrupted her plans of attending international tournaments.

She said, Chinazum Nwosu with IOC President Thomas Bach “My target in 2020 is to more in the international stay focus on qualifying for the tournaments more than I did Olympics in February and also before the 2019 African Games wining the Olympics. It is a must and also attended various tours for me to be in Japan because the to get more experience and country was missing at Rio 2016 exposure.

Olympics (in Taekwondo) and I “I want to say Kudos to have worked my way to the top of my Coach John Victor for his my weight class in Africa. supports so far and thank the “The major challenges we Nigeria Taekwondo federation usually face is lack of funding. for the support in securing the If the Nigeria Taekwondo IOC scholarship for me. This time Federation had funds and support I am going to make it right. from sponsors, I would have She attributed her current probably qualified automatically. world ranking to hard work and “If there had been enough constant training. funds, I would have competed Nwosu said, “Ranked 16th in

the world means that all my hard work and efforts in training in the past few years is not in vain, I put in so much effort to get to this point.

“This does not end here because I will stay determined, keep pushing, strive harder, and stay positive. I also will not forget to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of coach John Victor for believing in me and to Chika Chukwumerije, (The Technical Director of Nigeria Taekwondo) for his consistent support to make sure I get things right”.

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ome private clinics are charging UK patients thousands of pounds for unproven and unregulated treatments using the “healing powers” of stem cells, the BBC has found.

And experts are warning some of these “therapies” can cause significant harm.

Stem cells can become many types of cells in the body, from muscle to brain, and can repair damaged tissue.

But they are approved only for treating some blood conditions, for skin grafts and the repair of damaged corneas.

There is growing evidence stem cells may help other conditions, including multiple sclerosis - but only after full clinical trials can these procedures be declared safe, effective and better than existing treatments.

Until then, they are experimental.

‘Horrified’ The Autism Regenerative Centre, in London, however, is currently offering stem-cell treatments for autism for children over the age of two.

Bone marrow cells are taken from the child under general anaesthetic and re-injected into a vein or their spinal canal, according to its website.

Up to three treatments, each costing £9,500, may be prescribed.

And, an ARC manager told a

The risks behind the hype of stem-cell treatments UK mother, the procedure could be carried out at a hospital near Harley Street very soon.

But Prof Declan Murphy, a leading figure in autism research, at King’s College London, said he was horrified such treatment was being offered, because there was “no evidence it was reliable or safe”.

The ARC did not respond to requests for an interview.

Tough action If someone’s own cells are removed and re-injected into their body without being substantially changed, the process falls outside usual EU legal regulation.

But the Department of Health said the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency would take tough action against any clinic not following strict safety rules.

There is also growing concern among experts about the rapidly expanding private sector offering stem-cell and regenerative therapies to treat arthritis and joint problems.

And a number of clinicians and

researchers told BBC Radio 4’s Stem Cell Hard Sell programme the treatments could not be justified by the quality of evidence.

‘Vested interest’ More than 70 private providers in the UK offer stem-cell treatments for painful joints.

Cell material is removed from the patient’s bone marrow or body fat and re-injected into the joint.

But hip and knee surgeon Prof Fares Haddad, from University College Hospitals, London, editor-inchief of the Bone and Joint Journal, told the BBC there was “no evidence base” for the treatments, just “a sham scientific legitimacy” created by those who have “a vested interest in selling these services”.

And he had personally treated three patients harmed by these private stem-cell injections.

One had had a severe infection and the other two had developed potentially lethal blood clots.

In the US, meanwhile, there have been dozens of documented cases

where patients have been seriously harmed by stem cell therapies.

Botched injection Prof Megan Munsie, from the University of Melbourne, who chairs the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s ethics committee, said it was unclear whether these unproven treatments, which “quite frankly are flooding the marketplace”, were harming patients or had “any benefit whatsoever’”.

Several sources told the BBC about a woman blinded in one eye by a botched injection of fat cells into her jaw joint, at the Regenerative Clinic, in London.

Chief executive Simon Checkley told the BBC the Care Quality Commission report showed “emergency action had been taken immediately and the incident had been managed effectively”.

But the report, which rates the clinic as “good”, also shows it had not been reported to the regulator at the time because of “an oversight” on the part of the clinic.

. . . putting the people first

thursday January 9, 2020

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SPORTS 2019: Diary of a Columnist (II) latest

Barcelona regret picking Boateng over Haaland

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a Liga giants Barcelona are reportedly regretting their decision to sign Kevin-Prince Boateng over Erling Haaland during their quest to find a replacement for Luis Suarez in January 2018.

According to Ghanasoccernet, during that time Barcelona were looking for a replacement in the January transfer window who could come as an injury backup as well as lend a hand in the Copa del Rey and some league games.

At that point, Haaland was catching the eye and scoring goals at Molde in Norway, but the Blaugrana decided he would be too unpolished, opting instead for Boateng from Italian side US Sassuolo, after his return of five goals in 15 games.

Africa FOTY: Mahrez Congratulates Mane Vows to challenge him next year

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lgerian forward, Riyad Mahrez has congratulated Senegalese attacker, Sadio Mane on his emergence as the Africa Footballer of the Year 2019.

Mahrez in a tweet on Wednesday apologise for not honouring the the 2019 CAF Award in Egyp due to club engagement.

Mahrez who led Algeria to win the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt last year said he had to stay back in order to start the year on positives with goal.

Mahrez scored on Tuesday, same day the CAF Awards held, in Machester City’s 3-1 win over rivals, Manchester United in the first leg semi-final of the Carabao Cup.

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HE ‘REVOLUTIONARY SIMPLETON’ And that is just the way that the democratic ‘cookie’ crumbles. It is not in vain that the other name for democracy is ‘majority rule’; nor is it for nothing that they say ‘the majority’ is always right’. It has never meant being ‘right’ in the sense of being truthful -it is merely in the sense of being numerically correct. The ‘minority’ being a ‘tail’ in the democratic enterprise, should not ‘wag’ the ‘dog’.

Rather it should be wagged by the ‘dog’. And maybe it is the reason that Lord Acton, the British historian said “The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority”. Call it dictatorship of the majority. Or the despotism of the ‘many’ over the incapacity of the ‘few’. It is not necessarily in the merit of its choice or in the morality of its position that the majority is entitled to ride roughshod over the minority. It is merely in the greatness of its number… Fact is, no matter how the democratic minority dislikes the way the democratic majority governs, it only has recourse to the courts to challenge obvious breaches of the Constitution, or to wait till the next election -or just to wail. It is only in Nigeria that any Tom, Dick or Harry can wake up on the wrong side of their political slumber to proclaim ‘Nigerians are tired of this Government’; and then to arrogate also a most ludicrous entitlement to demand the resignation of the President. Sowore who had 33,000 votes and whose party did not even win a council seat- said 85% of Nigerians (about 160million people) supported his call for a revolution! And he wanted a President to vacate office who won 16million votes... And you wonder, who the American writer, Wyndham Lewis could be referring to when he said “The revolutionary simpleton is everywhere”. –‘Random Musings On ‘Revolution’ (II), –08/14/19 A STITCH OUT OF TIME When Ibrahim Babangida’s ‘Fulani’ Education Minister, Jibril Aminu, in 1989 proposed compulsory ‘nomadic education’ for the children mostly of nomadic herdsmen, a large section of the Media vehemently kicked. Not because we did not think that it was a good idea –i.e. to ingest, in good time, the anti-venom necessary to counteract the potential danger of pastoralism in a future when the herdsman’s anachronistic way of life predictably could come in the way of agrarian and communal living.

Nor was the Media’s opposition to Jubril Aminu’s ‘nomadic education’

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dankande2@gmail.com informed by the fact that the nation could ill-afford such novelty. In truth nomadic education was not what many people thought it was, namely a ‘sop’ to the Saberus of geo-political or ethno-religious patronage intended to benefit a particular people. No, the particular people were targeted because they were inseparably involved in the running of a vital sector with the potential to impact positively or negatively not only on the nation’s food security, but now as we are seeing, also on the whole gamut of national security. Nomadic education was the proverbial ‘stitch in the womb of time’ that we needed and which, by now, would’ve helped us ‘save nine’. Alas, here we are today all raggedy and patched-up because we are clad in a jaded, manifoldlytorn garment of inter-ethnic crisis occasioned by our refusal to ‘stitch in time’. Had the potential nuisance of nomadic herding been timeously preempted with educating the nomadic child, by now at least a first generation army of nomadic-shy, easily ranch-embracing, sedentary successor-herders would’ve come of age to rest the drudgery of pastoral herding by accepting a sedentary life of herding through modern ranching; and especially with its trebled potentials for improving quality and quantity of meat and milk production. But no! We allowed to get the better of us, our usual trade-mark penchant for shooting down virtually every noble intention of Government on the altar of self-harming ethnoreligious and geo-political grudge.

-‘Ranch, Ruga Or Ramble’, 01/05/19) WHAT ‘IS’ AND WHAT ‘OUGHT TO’ BE There is no virtue they say like ‘necessity’. Necessity leaves us with no choice but to do that which we have to do. Reason it is said that ‘necessity does the work of courage’. It leaves us with a ‘have-to’ imperative; or a Hobson’s choice if you will. But only if what we truly want is result. Necessity although a lonesome window, is risk-free. Its return on investment is always guaranteed. We are vain by nature but honest by ‘necessity’.

Doing the ‘necessary’ proves our ‘honesty’. And it is the reason they

say that ‘necessity’ relieves us of decision making. We do not have to decide ourselves, because a decision is already waiting in the wings, to be taken. Necessity is Shakespeare’s ‘To be or not to be’; it is Nicolo Machiavelli’s prescription for The Prince –to ‘do or to die’!... Necessity is not your legalistic ‘what’ll be will be’ (ce cera, cera) that waits lamely on chance. Necessity invents remedies to existential problems. Reason they say it is the mother of invention’. The law may sometimes be wrong prefixing presumptive rules of conduct; but ‘necessity’ is always right dealing only with the ‘here-and-now’. It is –as the Hausas would say- ‘sha yanzu magani yanzu’. The mojo of ‘necessity’ is the instantaneity of its result. Socrates neglected it to die in reverence of an unjust Athenian law.

Necessity is the ‘ought to’ dimension of law. It is what the law should’ve been but regrettably ‘is’ not. Whereas ‘necessity’ knows always what the law should be, from what it actually ‘is’, it is not always that the ‘law’ knows what is ‘necessary’ from what is not. And although ‘equity’ may be right to always ‘follow the law’, it is meet that those who govern the affairs of men should be guided only by laws that respect ‘necessity’.

The law in statute may provide that a chasm be crossed in only two jumps, but ‘necessity’ waits to get to the bridge to figure whether to cross in one or three jumps. In truth therefore the relationship between ‘necessity’ and the ‘law’ is as that between the Supreme Court and infallibility: the apex Court is said to be ‘final not because it is infallible’, but that ‘it is infallible only because it is final’. Necessity knows what ought to be done not because it knows the ‘law’, but that it knows the ‘law’ only because it knows what ought to be done. Meaning that it is what is ‘necessary’ that should be law, and not that whatever is law should be ‘necessary’… Barry Goldwater, author of ‘The Conscience Of A Conservative’ was the one who said “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice (even as) moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”. A president should be out in spite of everything, including the law, and in spite of

everyone, including the people, to secure the nation and to preserve its endowments. - ‘Zakky: Of ‘Necessity’ And ‘Law’, 07/25/19 EKWE AS MENU-IN-CHIEF Ekweremadu’s experience presented to us those two poignant options, either to lament the tragedy of a former Deputy Senate President suddenly reduced to a common ‘criminal’ by a murderous kindred rabble, the like of Mussolini’s mob of Italy, or to laugh at the cowardly angst of a supposedly Israeliblooded potentate who rather than be steadfast like Caesar in the face of danger, desperately scampered instead for dear life at a yam festival where, ironically, he should’ve been the living motif proverbially to bring ‘life’ to the occasion. It was such brutal irony of a spiritual kind that the one who was to dip the first ancestral yam into the salted red palm oil was now at Nuremberg the one whose red blood was sought after as the soluble solvent to go with alligator pepper for the yam festival.

Nothing can be more tragic, and nothing more comically-relieving all at once than the Hausa adage ‘dan akuya ya je barbara, ya dawo da chiki’ –as in the randy he-goat returning from a wild orgy, itself pregnant.

Ekweremadu went for an invite to eat a tuber crop only to realize that his barbequed tubular body was the menu on the dining table. It is both tragic and comic. In literature a tragedy with a comic relief is called ‘tragicomedy’. In Ekwe’s case the mere irony of the situation was comic enough. His dramatic, undignified escape provided the ultimate relief”.

-‘Ekwerem’s Pax Germanica’, 08/22/19 concluded

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