Friday 14th March, 2014 Edition

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 13 No. 18 Friday, March 14, 2014

. . . putting the people first

Jimadal-Ula 13, 1435 AH

N150

FG, ASUP talks deadlocked, strike continues

>>>>> Page 4

Bloodbath blights Jonathan’s Katsina visit l Death toll in gunmen attacks hit 103 l Villagers flee as APC condemns massacre

>> Pg 2

Traffic gridlock caused by stop and search check point mounted by soldiers, yesterday along Mpape Road in Abuja. See story on page 3.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Benue kilings: ACF calls for probe

l Moro condemns attack on Suswam l Miyetti Allah boss promises to end crisis >> Pg 2 List: More agitations ahead Confab >> Pg 3

Service Wide Vote: HoS fails to account for N35bn >> Pg 5

Police arrest man with 18 human skulls in Ogun >> Pg 10

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

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News

CONTENTS News 2-10 Editorial 12 Op.Ed 13 Letters 14 Opinion 15 Metro 16-18 Business 19-22 Stockwatch 23 S/Report 24-25 Int’l 27-31

Boko Haram: Tambuwal laments poor funding of security agencies – Page 5

Vogue 32-33 Feature 34,35 Digest 36 Politics 37-38 Newsxtra

39

Sports 41 Columnist 48

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Bloodbath blights Jonathan’s Katsina visit

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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resident Goodluck Jonathan’s two-day working visit to Katsina state has been overshadowed by the massacre of citizens in various communities across some local government areas of the state, leaving behind blood and agony among citizens.

Ahead of the president’s arrival yesterday to commission various projects executed by the Ibrahim Shehu Shema led administration in the state, dare devil gunmen had between Monday and Tuesday laid siege to the southern part of Faskari local government area as well as parts of Sabuwa local government area of the state, killing at least 12 people, including a monarch.

On the eve of the president’s visit, however, the daring gunmen went back to the same communities as well as others in the vicinity and killed more people, raising the death toll to 103, according to various sources.

As at yesterday when Jonathan promised the people of Katsina that the state would be linked up with railway line to allow for easier movement of goods and passengers, the joyous mood was largely polluted by the reports of the loss of lives.

The president had also promised to complete the Zobe Water Project for there to be water supply for the state even as he vowed to complete the Lambari Rimi Windmill Electricity Project.

Some of the projects being commissioned by the president dur-

ing the two-day official visit which ends today include the multi-billion Naira Katsina Ring Road, the new Katsina Government House, the 250 bed space Katsina Orthopaedic Hospital, the Olympic Size Katsina Stadium, named Karkanda Stadium, and the Songhai Multi- Purpose Farm.

But the euphoria expected to follow Jonathan’s pronouncement yesterday was blighted by the killings which had dominated even the media space across the country and beyond yesterday.

Reports from the attacked communities indicated that after the raid of the early hours of Tuesday where 12 people were killed, including a monarch, the daring armed men returned Wednesday around 7.00pm where they continued with their killing spree.

Residents said about 100 armed men on motorcycles on Tuesday and Wednesday evening invaded Kurar Mota, Marabar Maigora, Sabon Layin Galadima, Unguwar Doka, and Maigora, all in Faskari local government area of Katsina state.

A witness who said he narrowly escaped and later returned to his village told newsmen that he attended the burial of 27 people in his hometown, Maigora. He said he later attended the burial of another 21 people at Sabon Layin Galadima, while 40 people were killed at Marabar Maigora; seven in Kurar Mota and eight in Unguwar Doka.

Many of the victims, among them women and children, are believed to have been set ablaze inside their houses.

The witness, who did not want

to be named, said they believed the attackers were cattle rustlers on a reprisal mission as many of them had been arrested and handed over to the police in recent times.

A member of the House of Representatives, representing Kankara, Faskari and Sabuwa Constituency, Barrister Abbas Abdullahi Machika, described the situation as “a total declaration of war on the Nigerian State”.

Machika said: “Look, to say 103 were killed is an understatement because up till now, people are still recovering corpses from the bushes.

Like Unguwar Gora, the town was completely razed by the assailants.

People are in a terrible situation”.

The lawmaker disclosed that people in the affected communities have started relocating to safe areas, and called on security and emergency agencies to come to the aid of the affected communities by providing them with essential items.

Unconfirmed reports had it that the villagers were fleeing their abodes because the gunmen had promised to return and launch further attacks.

When contacted through SMS, the Katsina police command spokesman, DSP Aminu Abubakar Saddiq simply said: “It’s not true. 5 people were killed”.

Meanwhile, the Interim Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Katsina state chapter, Architect Ahmad Musa Dangiwa, has condemned the recent killings of people and destruction of properties in Faskari local government area of the state.

Dangiwa, who made the con-

demnation in a statement made available to newsmen in Katsina, said the killings were both frightening and disturbing as according to him, people were being killedb indiscriminately and their means of livelihood destroyed.

The APC chairman alleged that “for two days, the people of this area were facing attack from the hoodlums yet no help came their way.

The people were left at the mercy of these merciless killers without any help”.

He similarly decried a situation where the president continued with his visit in the state despite the large number of people killed in the attacks when, according to him, no attempt was made to visit and share in the grief of victims.

“In a situation where all the policemen in the local areas were relocated to the state capital to provide security for the president’s visit, certainly these areas were left vulnerable for attack. This is a condemnable act,” Dangiwa fumed.

The chairman however commiserated with those who lost their loved ones and prayed God to continue to protect the people of the area against the hoodlums.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan had ordered the military authorities to immediately launch massive operations in Daji Kogo, the suspected hideout of the bandits and flush them out to end the incessant killings in some localities in Katsina and Kaduna states.

The president gave the directive yesterday during a State Banquet organized for him as part of his twoday working visit to Katsina state.

Benue killings: ACF calls for probe From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna, Uche Nnorom, Makurdi & Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

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he Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday condemned the upsurge in violence in Benue state and called for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to be instituted to unravel the causes of the crisis.

In a statement issued by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim in Kaduna, the forum charged the federal government to consider the call and set up the commission of inquiry.

“We described the situation in Benue as boiling because in the last two weeks or so, Benue state had experienced intense and vicious ethnic/communal clashes between the Tiv farmers and suspected Fulani herdsmen which had resulted into huge loss of lives and property, farm crops and herds of cattle.

“The incessant and reprisal attacks by the two communities, who have lived together peacefully for many years as partners, is worrisome and capable of undermining the long existing bond of peaceful relationships between the Tiv and the Fulani herdsmen.

“The recent attack on the

convoy of the Benue state governor, Rt. Hon. Gabriel Suswam, while on assessment tour of villages destroyed as a result of communal clashes between the Tiv and some suspected herdsmen in Guma local government area, was most shocking and unfortunate.

“If the convoy of a state governor, with all the paraphernalia of security details, could be so attacked by some bandits, what hope does the common man have in the government that is primarily responsible for his security and welfare?

“The ACF once more wishes to urge the federal and all the northern states governments on the need to re-double their efforts and be proactive in tackling security challenges in their domains.

“Communities must also be vigilant and monitor suspicious people within their midst, get involved in intelligence gathering and alert security agencies in good time.

“The call by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, that a Judicial Commission of Inquiry be instituted to unravel the causes of frequent clashes between the farmers and herdsmen in several states, including Benue state is most

welcome and should be seriously considered by government”, the statement said.

The ACF also called on the two communities to urgently sheath their swords, stop reprisal attacks and embrace peace. “Community leaders should also refrain from making inflammatory remarks capable of destroying the peace being brokered by various leaders”, the forum warned.

The ACF also commiserated with Governor Suswam on the unfortunate incident and extended its condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has described as ‘barbaric and callous’, the attack on Suswam’s convoy as well as the sack of over 100 communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Guma local government area.

The minister, in a press statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. George Udoh, also frowned at the cruel manner 25 persons were slaughtered by the attackers.

“It is obvious that these persons do not mean well for Nigeria and its unity and development”, the minister asserted.

He also condoled with Governor Suswam and families of

the victims who lost their lives in the dastardly attacks, promising that the federal government will do all it can in securing lives and property of all Nigerians in all parts of the country.

In the meantime, the newly elected Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria [MACBAN], Alhaji Mohammad Kirowa, the Sarikin Fulanin Zuru, has assured Nigerians that his administration would find lasting solution to the Tiv/Fulani crisis in Benue state.

He raised this hope yesterday while addressing newsmen at the correspondents’ office, Birnin Kebbi, adding that Tiv and Fulani have been living in peace with one another but for the exploitation of the selfishness and greed of some the people by the devil.

“I’ve been a leader; I hold position of NURTW in the state and also at the national level and now I promise to bring peace into the Fulani cases across the country, such as the farmers and Fulani crisis in Benue. I will work hard with my exco members to ensure that we leave a legacy behind”, he assured.

Kirowa defeated Alhaji Bello Wamakko from Sokoto state to emerge the MACBAN leader, while Baba Usman emerged National Secretary of the body.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

News

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More agitations as Confab begins Monday

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi, & Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

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head of the national conference slated for Monday by President Goodluck Jonathan, more interest groups have continued to protest over their exclusion from the delegate list released by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Some of them have called on federal government to expand the delegate list to enable them field representatives who would present their interests at the conference.

These agitations came on the heels of the decision by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, to adjust the delegate list such as to reflect the demands being made by the various interest groups.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), had earlier protested over inadequate representation in the delegate list, asking government to expand the scope to accommodate more interest groups.

Similarly, the Itsekiri tribe in the southern part of Nigeria also protested that despite their numeral strength, the federal government failed to allocate a slot to them, who would represent them in the proposed national conference.

While the Nupe tribe in the north has lamented over their exclusion from the delegate list, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North West also condemned the Confab, saying that of the 14 delegates from the zone, only one person is a Christian.

Muslims in the South west have also complained of exclusion in the conference, pointing out that only one delegate in the 14 members from the region is a Muslim, expressing doubt that their interest would not be protected in the conference.

Adjusted Confab delegates list Meanwhile, in the adjusted delegate list released by the SGF, Dr Kunle Olajide, from Ekiti State has been named to replace Chief Afe Babalola as delegate to the Conference, based on the request by elder statesmen.

Also, Alhaji Ibrahim Yaro, the Etsu of Bwari, replaces Alhaji Ismail Mohammed, Sarki of Karshi on the request of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria.

Mrs Millicent Okoronkwo replaces Mrs Love Ezema, based on the request by the National Council of Women’s Societies of Nigeria, in addition to other adjustments.

JAF warns organized

• FG adjusts delegate list labour movement against participation

Joint Action front (JAF) has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to reconsider its position to participate at the proposed national conference.

Speaking at a press conference titled ‘Jonathan Conference is an Exercise in Futility’ in Lagos yesterday, JAF Secretary, Comrade Abiodun Aremu said labour movements have no business to partake in the conference.

He said, “In as much as we recognised the right of our partners – NLC and TUC to their independence of decisions on critical national issues, such as the issue of Jonathan National Conference (JNC), which they have endorsed to participate.

Similarly, the group said there are germane issues that affect the generality of the working people which the conference doesn’t have as its agenda.

ACPN wants equal representation for parties Meanwhile, the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN)

has called for equal representation for all registered political parties at the forthcoming National Conference.

The National Secretary of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Galadima, made the call in an interview with journalists yesterday in Kaduna.

Galadima said the ACPN was in support of the conference, adding: “but we disagree with the representation; it was a wrong selection’’.

He suggested that each political party should be allocated two slots, saying that giving only five parties representation was “inadequate and unacceptable’’.

Zamfara JYIO condemns Confab Zamfara state Joint Youth Islamic Organisations (JYIO) yesterday, called on the Muslims delegates to boycott the forthcoming national conference pending when the number of delegation is balanced from the religious point of attendance.

The Chairman of the organisation, Engineer Sanusi Kwatarkwashi observed that, as religious-related issues would be discussed at the conference, it has become necessary to consider balanced delegation

President Goodluck Jonathan (2nd left), commissioning new Katsina Government House, during his two-day working visit to Katsina state yesterday. With him are Minister of State for Works, Ambassador Bashiru Yuguda (left), Katsina state Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema (middle), his Deputy, Barrister Abdullahi Faskari (2nd right), and Minister of Information Mr. Labaran Maku (right).

Reps order CBN to refund N1billion double payment to govt coffers

By Lawrence Olaoye

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he House of Representatives yesterday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to return N1.015 billion being a duplicated payment for the printing of ballot papers for the 2007 Presidential election to the coffers of the federal.

The order, made by the House committee on public accounts chaired by Rep Solomon Olamilekan was sequel to the inability of the apex bank to explain the transaction allegedly paid for

twice by the government.

PAC had invited the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega, the Permanent Secretary of State House, Emmanuel Ogbila, as well as the Acting Governor of CBN, Sarah Alade to give accounts of the transaction.

Dipo Fatokun, Director, Corporate Services, who represented the CBN, in his submission said there was no double payment for the transaction.

“There was no double payment for the transaction. When

we first appeared before the Committee, we did not check our records very well and that was why we thought there were double payment.

“But now, we have checked our records very well and discovered that there were no double payments. Our records showed that there was no payment made for the memo from the State House because it was Kept in View (KIV).

The Committee however doubted the submission of the CBN representative.

According to the

Committee,State House statement of account generated from CBN showed that cheques for the transaction and debit entries were contradictory.

Two cheques for N262m and N763m could not be found in the statement while two debit figure of N10.5m and N1.4b in respect of the transaction were suspicious.

The Committee also expressed suspicion over the legitimacy of the transaction as the money remitted to South Africa for the supply was less than what was approved.

from both Muslims and Christians of the country.

He further said President Jonathan should not pretend that Christian and Islamic clerics were given equal representation, except the conference has a hidden agenda against Muslims.

CSOs to seek power devolution, LG autonomy In the same vein, the Coalition of Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs) yesterday in Abuja said it would canvass for devolution of powers and local government autonomy at the upcoming national conference.

Mr Steve Aluko, a nominee of CSOs to the conference, said that the organisations would push for the protection of Nigerians’ rights at the conference.

Aluko expressed optimism that the group’s position would meet the aspirations of every Nigerian.

“First and foremost, we believe in the continuity of the entity called Nigeria. Nigeria should continue as one indivisible entity because we stand to gain more by remaining one. However, it should be a Nigeria where power will not be too centralised at one level of government”, he said.

Military check causes heavy traffic in Mpape

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

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stop and search embarked upon by the Nigerian Army yesterday in Mpape, a suburb in the Federal Capital Territory caused a heavy traffic, with very difficult vehicular movement.

The search, according to sources was due to a terror alert issued in the early hours of yesterday.

Motorists who passed through the military check point said they have been there since 12pm.

“The stop and search of vehicles going and coming out of the city was very serious. Some of us didn’t know the reason but some said it was due to the terror alert”, one of the source said.

Another source said the military asked the motorist to come down and open their booth for inspection. “We have never seen this kind of traffic jam in the city; it has made many of us to be stranded looking like prisoners. It was also a difficul task for those of us going for business because we were held in the traffic for hours”.

Similarly, Mr. Moses Emmanuel who said coming to office was difficult because of the hold up, added that so many vehicles turned back and could not continue.

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News

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

FG, ASUP talks deadlocked, strike continues

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam with agency report

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he meeting between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has again ended in deadlock, as the two parties could not resolve their differences on the issues that led to the strike.

The meeting which held on Wednesday at the instance of the Minister of Education, Nyesom

Wike, was meant to address the lingering strike of the union, but has failed just like other previous ones.

Premium Times, an online news platform, reported that the nationwide strike by polytechnic lecturers is set to continue as an emergency meeting with the federal government could not meet the demands of the striking lecturers.

Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, an official of

ASUP, Clement Chirman, said government has demonstrated nonchalant attitude towards the strike, saying their action in not encouraging.

Chirman, who is the National Publicity Secretary of ASUP, said the union’s leaders left its ongoing NEC meeting in Benue to attend Wednesday’s emergency meeting.

“The minister called ASUP for a meeting in his office. So we left our NEC meeting and came all the way to Abuja for the

Kidnappers free Jonathan’s uncle

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he Police in Bayelsa have rescued Chief Nengite Nitabai, 70, President Goodluck Jonathan’s uncle kidnapped on February 23.

Commisioner of Police in the state, Mr. Hilary Okara,confirmed the development in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Yenagoa yesterday.

He said Nitabai was freed in Odioma community in Brass local government area of Bayelsa.

Nitabai, a community leader in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, was freed unharmed and had re-united with his family.

“We rescued Nitabai from Odioma coastal settlement and as I speak with you, I am with him

in his house in Otuoke,” Okpara said.

Okpara stressed that six suspects, including a traditional ruler believed to be the father of the leader of the gang, were arrested in connection with the abduction.

Okpara had on Wednesday dispelled rumours that the

meeting yesterday (Wednesday),” Chirman, who was at the meeting, said.

He however said the Federal Government did not offer anything new to the union other than its former position, leaving the union with no choice than to reject the offer.

“As a union we have tried to ensure the strike ends and normal academic session restored but to no avail. Let me say that this is a strange approach by

septuagenarian had died in the hands of his abductors and assured that the police were closing in on the hoodlums.

Also, the police spokesman, Mr Alex Akhigbe, said that no ransom was paid for Nitabai’s release.

It will be recalled that members of Nitabai’s family had offered a ransom of N30 million which was rejected.

The abductors had demanded for N500 million.

…As SSS arrests 4 suspected kidnappers in Kano

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he State Security Service (SSS) in Kano State has arrested four suspects who allegedly kidnapped a seven- year-old boy on March 4 in Kano metropolis.

The State Director of SSS, Mr Bassey Eteng, told newsmen in Kano yesterday that the suspects were apprehended in Kano metropolis following intelligence reports.

He said investigations showed that the mastermind, one, Sarki,

Sierra Leone’s ex leader, TedjanKabbah, dies at 82

employed the services of one, Aliyu Mohammed who perfected and executed the plan.

He said after kidnapping the boy, they provided an account number in which the sum of N2 million was deposited by the father of the boy.

“Thinking that the boy will make noise, they injected him with some liquid which we are not sure led to the death of the boy.

“The DSS and the Nigerian Army 3rd Brigade effected the arrest of all the suspects and are with us,’’ he said.

The director also said that the operatives had arrested one Peter Heleman, who allegedly specialised in threatening people to give him money.

According to him, the suspect, who used to call his victims through the mobile phone, was

apprehended in Kano following a tip-off.

He said as soon as investigations were concluded, the suspects would be charged to court for proper prosecution.

Eteng called on the people of the state to continue to give security agencies necessary support and cooperation to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.

(NAN).

S

ierra Leone’s ex-president and war-time leader Ahmad Tejan-Kabbah has died at the age of 82 after a long illness.

Mr Kabbah’s then-deputy, Solomon Berewa, and a relative confirmed his death, Sierra Leonean journalist Umaru Fofana told the BBC. Mr Kabbah was praised for his leadership during Sierra’s Leone’s decade-long civil war.

The conflict officially ended in 2002 after foreign forces intervened to help defeat rebels.

Mr Kabbah’s death has not yet been officially announced, Mr Fofana told BBC Focus on Africa.

However, a distraught relative told him that Mr Kabbah had died, Mr Fofana says.

Mr Berewa had gone to Mr Tedjan-Kabbah’s home in the capital, Freetown, after learning of the ex-president’s death, he added

Commercial motorcyclists queue to buy petrol at a filling station, yesterday in Dutse, Jigawa state.

Photo: NAN

66 rustled cattle recovered in Plateau From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

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bout 66 cattle out of the 566 rustled between Rangil and Gero villages of Jos south local government area of Plateau state were yesterday recovered by a Berom vigilante group.

It would be recalled that the Plateau state chapter of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN) had, since reported that 604 cattle belonging to their members were stolen around

Barkin Ladi and Jos south LGA of the state .

MACBAN chairman Haruna Boro Hussaini who spoke to our correspondent in Jos said, “Berom vigilante youths from Vom were able to recover 66 of the cattle and they took them to the A Division police station at Bukuru in Jos south. About five of our members were able to get some of their cattle, some got five some got 10 from the 66 that were recovered.”

He further said , “usually when our cattle are stolen and taken to Vom, they never come out but we thank God for the little that have been recovered and we thank the Berom vigilante in Vom and hope others will emulate them.”

All efforts to confirm the recovery of the cows from the Plateau Police Public Relations Officer, Felicia Anselem proved abortive as her phone cell number could not be reached up to the press time.

the government to end a serious matter.

We have returned this morning back to Yandev to continue with our NEC meeting,” he said.

It would be recalled that the ASUP-NEC meeting commenced on Monday in Yandev, Benue State and would continue till March 15, 2014.

We will sustain bombardment until insurgency is eliminatedOlukolade

By Joy Baba

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he Authorities of the Nigerian Security Forces have said the current bombardment going on in area of operation will be sustained until a point that this occasional resurgence will be minimize towards elimination.

Major General Chris Olukolade stated this yesterday while speaking on behalf of the Joint Security Information Committee on security development in the country.

He said terrorism has its pattern, which is to look for attention when they are worn out by attacking soft targets other areas with a view to maintaining a false sense of invincibility.

In his reaction to the ongoing killings in Benue state, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mbah said the Police High Command have already deployed massive manpower and resources to Benue State saying that the federal government is working through the instrumentality of the military, the police and other security agencies, doing everything humanly and operationally possible to bring that situation under permanent control.

Mbah also said the operation is under the direct instruction of the IGP and is being coordinated by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations, Mr. Mike Zuokumor, who is leading a team of other seasoned operational officers to Benue.

He said the team comprises of the CP in charge of the police mobile force, CP Hosea Karma, the CP in charge of the counter terrorism unit, CP Nwakama and other very senior officers from the operational units with Special forces from the police mobile force, the counter terrorism unit special protection unit already on ground Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen Olajide Laleye said any individual who has fire arms of any kind and is not a member of the security services and does not have police permit is engaged in act of criminality and will be treated like a criminal if caught.

News

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

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Boko Haram: 2 killed in Argungu From Ahmed Idris, Brinin Kebbi

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suspected member of the Boko Haram has been arrested by some residents in Argungu, Local Government Area of Kebbi State as one police

officer and a man were killed yesterday in the area.

Peoples Daily gathered that two suspected members of the Boko Haram came out from bush on amotor cycle and started shooting people, killing a police man and a civilian, identified

as Issa Danatag from Argungu locval government area of Kebbi state.

The incident, according to sources, happened around 7.00 pm yesterday, near Argungu Kebbi Home Savings.

The late police man was the

securirty attached to the Bank while the other late person was just passing bye when he was shot.

People’s Daily could recall that last year, the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Mohammed Mera told some selected journalist in his Farm that Boko Haram members

used to send him text messages and called him on phone that they would soon visit his domain.

Our correspondent also gathered that arrested member of the Boko Haram is under police custody interrogation as investigation is ongoing.

Subsidy: FG pays N41bn to 27 oil marketers –Official

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Acting Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Sarah Alade, teaches students Financial

Service Wide Vote: Head of Service fails to account for N35bn

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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he House Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has expressed dismay over the inability of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, OHSF, to account for a total of sum of N35 billion from the Service Wide Vote received from the Budget Office of the Federation over a period of nine years.

Consequently, the committee has given the Permanent Secretary of the OHSF, Mr. Remi Adelakun, who appeared before it on the whopping sum of N17.6 billion

earlier recorded against the Office by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation a twoweek ultimatum within which to re-appear before it with relevant documents on the ‘missing’ N35 billion.

At yesterday’s hearing, while Mr. Adelakun confirmed that the OHSF received only N17.6 billion from the Service Wide Vote between 2004 and 2012, the Budget Office insisted that over N52 billion was released to the Office and rolled out the break down of the disbursement of the funds within the period in question and received

by the OHSF. According to the Budget Office, in 2004 the OHSF received N2.7 billion, N9.8 million in 2005, N701.7 million in 2006, N896.3m in 2007, N5.3 billion in 2008, N612.9 million plus another N70 million in 2009, N17.6 billion in 2010, while other releases were N13.6 billion in 2011 and N8.5 billion in 2012.

The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Solomon AdeolaOlamilekan pointed out that the OHSF documents only referred to the N17.6 billion it received in the

year 2010,saying that based on the figures given by the Budget Office, there was a disparity of almost N35 billion and requested for the documents for the rest of the years in question.

It will be recalled that the Director General, Pension Transitional Arrangement Department (PTAD), Mrs. Nellie Mayshak had told the committee on Teusday that a whopping sum of N24 billion received from the Service Wide Vote for the payment of the pension of retired police personnel could not be accounted for.

he federal government yesterday paid N41billion to 27 oil marketers whose claims had been verified for fuel subsidy reimbursements.

A statement by Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-iweala, in Abuja said the the marketers are A-Z Petroleum Product, ACORN Petroleum, AITEO Energy Resources, ASCON Oil and Gas Company, AVIDOR Oil and Gas Company, Dee Jones Petroleum Gas and CONOIL. Others are Dozzy Oil and Gas, Folawiyo Energy, Gulf Treasures, Hudson Petroleum, Hyde Energy, Ibafon Oil, Master Energy Oil and Gas and Matrix Energy.

Others are Mobil Oil Nigeria, MRS Oil and Gas Company, NEPAL Oil and Gas Service, and NIPCO, Northwest Petroleum and Gas, and OANDO. The others are OBAT Oil and Gas Services, Rainoil, Shorelink Oil and Gas Services, Techo Oil, Tempogate Oil and Energy Company and Total Nigeria.

The statement further said the amount was the latest payment made on verified claims from the marketers.

“The marketers identified received a total of N41, 07 billion. The information is provided in continuation of the ministry’s focus on transparency and accountability in the management of the subsidy regime,’’ it said. (NAN)

Death penalty: ECOWAS Court bars FG from implementation

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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he Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke, has disclosed that an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) court of justice has granted an injunction restraining the Nigerian government from executing death penalty against condemned persons.

Speaking when he received the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Madam Navi

•No going back on same sex marriage ban – AGF

Pillay, who was at the Federal Ministry of Justice on a courtesy visit, Adoke said the court directed the federal government to continue to abide by its commitment to the Moratorium against the death penalty.

He therefore said federal government will respect this order by the ECOWAS Court, even though he said government would continue with its national dialogue on the abolition or

retention of the death penalty.

According to him, “By the political structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Death Penalty is within the Jurisdiction of the various State Governments.

However, Section 33 (1) of the Constitution provides that every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in the execution of a sentence of a court in criminal matters”.

He explained that both the Criminal and Penal Codes of the various States provide death sentence for any person who commits murder or culpable homicide and therefore, death penalty is a valid part of Nigerian Law. While speaking on the antiSame Sex Marriage Act, the Minister of Justice said Nigerian laws do not criminalise individual sexual orientation.

He said that Nigeria would not go back on same sex marriage, pointing out that the Act prohibiting same sex marriage will discourage in Nigeria.

“The focus of the Act is therefore discouragement of same-sex marriage which is a reflection of the overwhelming beliefs and cultural values of the Nigerian people as demonstrated by a 2013 Opinion Poll which showed that 92 percent of Nigerians reject same-sex marriage” he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 6

The Kano Declaration

1. We are Nigerians from the North, who convened the KANO ASSEMBLY on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th of March, 2014 to discuss the state of the Nigerian nation, particularly the place and future of Northerners in its current disposition and in its future. We adopt this DECLARATION in the firm belief that it represents the essentials of Northern interests.

2. The ASSEMBLY was convened in pursuit of time-tested and honoured values and principles that have guided the perceptions of Northerners in Nigeria since the Amalgamation of 1914, and have determined the manner Northerners contributed to the building of our nation in the last 100 years. The ASSEMBLY was particularly: i. SENSITIVE to the fact that Nigeria has just achieved 100 years of creation as one nation; ii. AWARE that Nigeria today faces quite possibly the biggest, cumulative threats to its corporate survival, peace and security since its creation 100 years ago; iii. CONCERNED that Nigeria’s current leadership appears incapable or unwilling to lead it out of its multiple challenges; iv. CONVINCED that our current circumstances as Nigerians and Northerners demand the highest levels of responsibility and commitment to our national survival, unity and progress from all sections and generations of Nigerians; v. ENCOURAGED by overwhelming evidence that Nigerians and Northerners need courageous and committed Elders and Leaders to discuss and find solutions to our national problems. vi. ASSURED that Northerners have no negative issues with any ethnic group in Nigeria, and have, in fact, enjoyed the full support and understanding of all groups and regions on issues the North raised in the interest of the peace and unity of Nigeria; same manner that the North stood by all ethnic groups when they had issues at historic turning points in our national history; vii. CERTAIN that the problems of the North today are traceable only to inept and insensitive leadership at National and State levels, as well as the failures of other leaders who lack the courage to stand up to them in the interest of the people of the region and Nigeria.

3. Having taken stock of the totality of our circumstances, this ASSEMBLY: i. APPRECIATED the proud and unparalled role which the people and leaders of the North played in the growth and development of Nigeria; ii. NOTED that the current status of the North in the context of the economy and politics of Nigeria is undeserved and unacceptable; iii. OBSERVED that the combined effects of widespread threats to its security, deliberate efforts to deepen its economic problems and concerted efforts to weaken it further politically pose a grave danger to the North the rest of Nigeria, west Africa and the entire continent of Africa; iv. Understands that people of the North have to rediscover the intrinsic value in our cultural and religious pluralism, and discourage the manner they are exploited to weaken the region, while harnessing our diversity to create communities in which every citizen enjoys equal access to opportunities and justice, and lives in a secure environment. v. RECOGNIZED the fact that the people of the North need to assess all options available to them and adopt strategies and plans that will mitigate their most serious problems themselves.

4. Consequently, this ASSEMBLY resolves to: i. MOBILIZE the entire people of the North to resist further assaults on our security and political and economic fortunes; ii. SENSITIZE all levels of leadership on their duty to support the legitimate aspirations of Northerners to reverse the trends towards their further marginalization and irrelevance in the context of

contemporary Nigeria; iii. ENCOURAGE all Northerners to intensity the search for peaceful co-existence and sustained security in the region and Nigeria; iv. PREPARE Northerners to deal with all their challenges, including those which seek to divide them deepen their insecurity and political impotence; v. MARSHALL all resources towards improving the capacity of the North to reverse the current trend towards its destruction or permanent incapacitation; vi. RALLY all Northerners to unite, rediscover and pursue our common goals that include our historic unity, our political and economic development, the strength of our religious, social and moral values and respect for our diversity; vii. RESTORE hope and faith of Northerners in their capacity and ability to negotiate a better deal in the context of contemporary Nigeria; or in any circumstances which best suit their interests.

5. Now, therefore, this ASSEMBLY DECLARES as follows: i. The people of the North understand that the on-going challenges to security of life and property in the North represent acts of hostility against the people by leaders who have responsibility to protect them.

These intolerable assaults must be stopped by this administration, or another responsible and committed leadership that should emerge in its place. ii. The rather diabolical, purposive and systematic underdevelopment of Northern economic and its social structures by the national leadership and some leaders in the North must be resisted; and policies which deepen inequity, underdevelopment injustice against the North must be reversed. iii. Political activities, including elections must respect the will of the people; and further attempts to deprive the North of its rights to benefit fully in the democratic process will be lawfully and firmly resisted; iv. Unfair and unjust allocation of resources of the nation which deprive the North of its legitimate rights must cease; and the North must intensify efforts to improve the exploitation and management of its own human and other resources; v. The planned National Conference has no constitutional basis, or any form of legitimacy or authority to speak for the people of the North or other Nigerians. Its proceedings, conclusions and recommendations are therefore of no consequence and will not be accepted by the people of the North. The critical issues of national development are fairly well known and can be incorporated in amendments of the constitution. vi. The North must work with other Nigerians to seek more legitimate avenues for discussing the nature and future of the Nigerian nation, including all options which may be negotiated with other Nigerians. vii. The 2015 elections must be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere throughout the North and the nation; the armed force and the police must not be abused in the process and the will of the people must prevail. Attempts to intensify insecurity or cause further divisions and violence around faith and ethnic groups in the North should be resisted by Northerners; viii. The emerging culture of assault on Northerners behind the cover of fears of insecurity as well as the exploitation of their vulnerability in many parts of the South must stop. Northerners must work harder to protect the rights and privileges of all Nigerians from all communities who choose to live and work in the North. ix. The North must work towards creating unifying political symbols and structures to ensure that the elections of 2015 produce leaders that will do justice to its interests.

Adopted in Kano, March 2014

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

News

Boko Haram: Tambuwal laments poor funding of security agencies

By Umar Muhammad Puma

T

he speaker of the House of Representatives has decried the failure of federal government in appropriating adequate funds for the Nigerian troops, saying the soldiers are being underfunded as they go into the battle fields in different parts of the country.

The speaker made this known yesterday when he received a delegation of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), led by the President-General of the association, Kabiru Nuhu Koko who

paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja.

“We are amenable and we are available, we shall continue to give every support humanly possible to be able to end these senseless killings.

“People should know that we in parliament have our limitation. We cannot commandeer troops, but we can have the legislation. We can only appropriate the fund, of course we have an oversight, but we have a limitation in following the money, in following appropriated funds”, he said, adding also that the legislators are determined to find new ways that

would guarantee the improvement of the welfare of troops through their annual appropriation.

“A situation whereby we appropriate fund for our men to be well taken cared-of, well kitted, and for them to have adequate arms, but somebody somewhere is playing politics or is not applying those funds judiciously is unacceptable.

“And we are ready to take on whoever is involved in that. Very soon, as we resume, we are going to have motions that will improve the welfare of our men, because we have received so many complaints that they are not getting what is due to

them on the field,” he said.

Earlier in his earlier speech, President-General, Kabiru Nuhu Koko, said the delegation decided to pay the courtesy call on the speaker for being the only government figure who voiced concern and grief over “terrible night killing of school children.”

He then called on the lawmakers to come up with a legislation that would improve security around unity schools across the country, especially as the schools remained the only learning environment that continue to strengthen Nigeria’s unity.

Kwara Assembly passes 2014 budget From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

T

he Kwara state House of Assembly has passed the state 2014 appropriation bill of N130, 262, 850, 907, into law.

The House passed the budget after adopting the report of its Committee on Finance and Appropriation which was presented by its Chairman, Alhaji Suleiman Idris There was an increase of over N5 billion in the budget representing 4.61% of the total budget.

The recurrent revenue of the budget is N72, 951, 810, 916 which represents 1.02% increase.

The recurrent expenditure of the budget stands at N66, 404, 511, 424 while amount estimated for transfer to capital expenditure is N6, 547, 299, 492 which represents 2.4 percent increase.

The Capital expenditure in the appropriation bill is N63, 858, 339, 483.

The Clerk of the House, Mr. Oyetunde Oyeniyi read the bill for the third time and was unanimously passed into law by the House.

The Speaker, Barrister Abdulrasak Atunwa directed the Clerk to produce a clean copy of the bill for governor’s assent.

Yobe state Governor, Malam Ibrahim Gaidam (middle), Emir of Jajere, Mai Hamza Ibn Isa Mashio (left), Emir of Fune, Mai Saleh Idrissa Ibn Usman, and other officials praying for the late Emir of Ngelzarma, Alhaji Muhammadu Mai Yeri Ibn Isa II, during the governor’s condolence visit to the emir’s family over the death, yesterday in Ngelzarma.

Condemnation trails raping of sickler to death From: Femi Oyelola, kaduna

C

ondemnation trailed the rape to death of a sickler, Deborah Bassey, a 300 level student of Benson Idhaosah University, Benin, who was said to have been gang raped to death by some hooligans along Reservation Road, Benin, Edo State.

Major reaction came from the founder of Sickle Cell Health Promotion Centre, Badarwa, Kaduna, Hajiya Badiya Magaji Inuwa, while speaking to Peoples Daily, described the incident as not only an abuse to sickler patients but to woman hood at large.

Hajiya Badiya called on Federal government and the Edo State government to immediately put all machinery in motion in order to arrest the perpetrators of this gruesome act and bring them to justice in order to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Founder of the Sickle Cell Health Promotion Centre, said this is the time for the leadership to come out and put in place programs to ensure that the youth are properly engaged .

“I am sure that those who commit this criminal act may either be people who are unemployed or facing abject poverty or are drug addicts. Like the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,

I call on government to provide means of livelihood to our teeming youth in order to discourage them from engaging in such crime.

“I call on the federal government to intensify enlightenment and sensitization campaign on youth and people who are about to get married to do their genotype test in order to know their gene. It is only by doing this that we can cut down the numbers of new born babies with sickle cell anemia.

“We sincerely sympathise with the family of Deborah Bassey and join our voice to call on security agents to intensify effort and ensure that the culprits face the law,” she said.

FG distributes 80 pump machines to Sokoto farmers From Raji Bello, Sokoto

I

n a bid to motivate peasant farmers as well as improve food production in the state, the Federal Government has distributed 80 pieces of 3HP irrigation pumps, two rice reapers and two rice threshers to paddy rice farmers in Sokoto state.

Speaking at the launch of the sales of subsidised irrigation pumps to dry season farmers in Sokoto yesterday, State Director, Agricultural Transformation

Agenda, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Jibril Enessy, said the move was part of federal government’s efforts to boost dry season rice production in the state.

He stated that the water pumps and reapers were heavily subsidised by 75%, allowing farmers to pay just 25% of the cost amounting to N20,000 and N258,000 respectively Enessy disclosed that in the last two years, the Federal Government supported dry season farmers with

545,747 bags of NPK, 460,298 bags of Urea, 12,654 bags of Crystallizer, 76,106kg of Agrolyzer at 50 percent subsidy while 4,745 metric tonnes of high quality paddy rice seeds were given free to them.

He emphasised that this was a demonstration of the commitment of the Federal Government to produce rice above the nation’s requirement by 2015, thereby generate employment for the youths and tackle poverty.

In a remark, the state Commissioner of Agriculture,

Arzika Tureta, commended the Federal Government for the initiative, saying it would go a long way in boosting dry season farming in the state.

Also speaking, State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria(AFAN), Alhaji Murtala Gagadu, said the distribution of the farm inputs was apt, especially now that farmers were in dire need of it to enhance food production.

He called on farmers in the state, to make judicious utilisation of the farm inputs to improve their agricultural activities.

PAGE 7

Lamido urges politicians to uphold virtues of aminu kano From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

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he Jigawa state Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido has charged the present day politicians to emulate the progressive political ideology of the late Malam Aminu Kano that has been noted for his selfless thrive for the emancipation of the masses (talakawa).

“The political class in the country particularly in the North must emulate and uphold the legacy of the late Malam Aminu Kano for them to be able to emancipate the region and the country at large from the current political and economic quagmire.”

Governor Lamido made this call yesterday when he received the leadership and management of the Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training (Mumbaya House) Kano, who paid him a courtesy call.

The Governor explained that, it is well known that, the late Malam Aminu Kano spent all his life in the struggle for the emancipation of the common man and had chart a good course for the whole country by building a vibrant political structure that is based on national interest.

Lamido also urged government at all levels to participate in the conservation of what late Aminu Kano has left behind and the ideology he stood for. “They should practice and learn from Aminu Kano’s political ideology”.

As a student of Malam Aminu Kano’s school of political thought, Governor Lamido promised to support the course of late Malam Aminu Kano of blessed memory to promote the current democracy.

Earlier, the Director of the Centre, Professor Muhammed Dahiru Suleiman commended Lamido for transforming Jigawa state by executing laudable projects and programs that has direct bearing to the needs citizens of the state .

He also told the governor that, they were in his office to solicit his support for the centre to achieve its targeted goals.

Page 8

Photo Splash

Kaduna state Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, addressing NYSC Batch ‘A’ members, during swearing-in ceremony, yesterday in Kaduna.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Destruction of a truck conveying illegally refined petroleum product by security men, yesterday in Benin.

Photo: NAN

Bauchi and Yobe states NYSC Batch ‘A’ members taking their oath of allegiance, yesterday in Bauchi.

L-R: Bishops of Ondo Diocese, Most Rev. Francis Alonge, Okigwe, Most Rev. Solomon Amatu, Calabar Diocese, Most Rev. Joseph Ekuwem, and Owgu Diocese, Most Rev. John Okoye, during their celebration of mass at St Paul Catholic Church, on Wednesday at Gwagwalada, Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Photo: NAN

Nigerian Association of Neurologists, Medical Doctors, Patients and Supporters during a walk to mark World Kidney Day, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 9

News

2014 budget: FERMA seeks alternative funding

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he management of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) yesterday pleaded with the House of Representatives to help in seeking alternative funding aside the national budget for it to achieve

maximum results.

FERMA’s Managing Director, Engnr. Gabriel Amuchi, who appeared before the House committee to present the 2013 budget performance and defend the 2014 budget, told the lawmakers that road maintenance agencies all over the world do

not rely solely on government for funding.

He pleaded with the lawmakers to help in following up with the implementation of the existing provision on 5% User Charge.

He also requested additional funding through International Vehicle Transit Charge (IVTC).

According to him “We are also working out modalities for putting our various trailer parks to use to decongest our Highways and provide basic safety and comfort for long distance haulage trucks.”

The FERMA boss also told the lawmakers that the agency is stressing on attitudinal

meeting in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, the group regretted the abandonment of the middle belt region in the political activities of the nation.

The group in a statement issued shortly after the meeting quoted the National Coordinator, Comrade Vincent Akowe Ogenyi as saying that fear of being shortchanged

after the 2015 election has given rise to the position taken by the group.

The group alleged that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has entered into serious agreement with those he referred to as the core north to hand over to one of their own after his four years tenure in anticipation of his success in 2015 elections.

The group further states that the information sent a feeling of betrayal to the Middle Belt group.

The MBRI resolved to pay a courtesy visit to Sam Nda Isaiah who is also interested in running for the 2015 general elections. They also assert that they have capable, brave and courageous hands to handle the position.

Middle Belt group seeks presidency

By Kekong Susan Eneh

T

he Middle Belt Reawakening Initiative (MBRI) said it has resolved to work together with other groups and community to achieve a common goal of presenting a candidate come 2015 general elections.

Rising from the executive

R-L: Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu waziri Tambuwal, receiving documents from President, Association of Unity Schools in Nigeria, Alhaji Kabir Koko, during a visit by the association’s executives to the speaker, yesterday in Abuja.

D

2015: INEC needs N102bn for “fraud free” elections –Speaker

T

he Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has said that paucity of funds might scuttle the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) efforts to conduct fraud free elections in 2015.

The INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, also said that the commission would

require whopping sum of N102 billion to conduct a credible election in 2015.

Both Speaker and Jega spoke in Ilorin at a public lecture organised by the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation (MAF) on the “Challenges of fraud-free elections under a democratic dispensation”.

The Speaker, who was the Chairman of the occasion, said there was a N19 billion budget

deficit for INEC in the 2014 appropriation bill before the National Assembly, presented by the budget office.

“Now the 2014 appropriation Bill is before the National Assembly and talking about a truly independent INEC, you need to fund the electoral body to be able to carry out its all-important assignment of conducting election.

He dismissed insinuations

that the 2015 elections will determine the unity of the country saying that Nigeria had moved past such era.

In his remarks, the INEC Boss, who presented a paper on the lecture lamented that the N45 billion presented by the budget office was a fraction of what INEC need to conduct a credible election as it was not even sufficient to pay salaries and make necessary procurement.

…Electoral body pledges enhanced security for corps members

By Albert Akota

T

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reaffirmed its commitment to providing enhanced security for corps members and others being engaged for electoral exercises.

The chairman of INEC, Prefessor Attahiru Jega, made this known when he and some Federal commissioners of the

‘NTI trains 145, 000 teachers in a week’

From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

Photo: Mahmud Isa

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

change amongst its workforce to reposition its Engineers and workforce.

On the 2014 budget, Amuchi said the agency is supposed to work within the budget of N24.5 billion out of which the sum of N3 billion has been earmarked for capital budget.

Recurrent expenditures meant for roads and bridges and emergencies across the country was put at N21.5billion.

“The era where potholes or cut failures remain on our highway without attention is virtually being overcome,” Amuchi assured.

Members of the committee took turns to commend the agency for improving the state of the nation’s roads.

They however urged FERMA to ensure that roads being opened up for maintenance are immediately filled up so that craters are not created along the roads in the process of road maintenance.

commission paid a courtesy call on the Director-General, NYSC. Professor Jega said the commission was working hard for greater security and making efforts towards averting the sufferings encountered by corps members engaged in electoral duties.

He added that the MOU between the two organisations was being reviewed for a better framework to strengthen and

move it forward.

Jega acknowledged the commendable role the NYSC Scheme has been playing in the election exercise in particular and general development of the country and called on government and the entire public to support and encourage the scheme.

He regretted the loss of lives of corps members during the 2011 post election violence and

condemned the calls in some quarters for scrapping of the scheme as a result of the ugly incidence.

Responding, the NYSC Director-General, Brig Gen Johnson Bamidele Olawumi, noted that electoral processes had continued to improve and attributed that to the commitment of the current Management of INEC under Professor Jega.

irector General of National Teachers Institute, Associate Professor Aminu Ladan Sharehu, yesterday, said the institute has successfully trained 145, 000 teachers nationwide within one week.

This has showed that NTI has the capacity to train teachers in all categories. He said.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of Cycle 2 Cohorts 2 training of Teachers in Mathematics and Science Subjects held in Kaduna, Sharehu said NTI is into partnership with various agencies of education both in Nigeria and abroad.

“NTI is capable and we have the capacity to train teachers in all categories. In 2011 Universal Basic Education (UBE) wanted to train teachers and NTI along with some Universities, Colleges of Education were invited to a meeting.

“We were asked to provide materials for the teachers’ training and all the other institutions agreed that NTI is the only institution with the capacity to do so as it has training materials”.

The Director General represented by NTI Director Academics and Services, Prince Sunday Kolawale charged the participants at the training to take the training seriously, saying all they expected from the teachers trained was to pass the knowledge to their colleagues.

He reiterated that teachers are models to their pupils, thus they should show good example to students.

A total of 130 teachers from five states participated in the training on mathematics and science subjects. The states were Bauchi, Taraba, Delta, Oyo and Zamfara states.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 10

News

Police arrest man with 18 human skulls in Ogun

T

he Ogun state Police Command said yesterday that it arrested a 38-year-old man, Adelani Ayomide, for

being in possession of a bag containing 18 human skulls.

A statement by the command’s spokesperson,

Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, issued in Abeokuta said Ayomide was arrested on Thursday along the AdoOdo-Owode road at about

6.48 a.m. during a routine police stop-and-search operation.

He said that the case would be transferred to the

command’s headquarters in Abeokuta for further investigation.

Adejobi gave assurance that every person involved

in the crime would be arrested and arraigned after investigation. (NAN)

Immigration exams not taking place Dankwambo in states of origin– Interior Minister warns citizens over

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

M

inister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has said that Saturday’s aptitude test into the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), will not take place in states of origin but

preferred centres.

Moro gave this clarification yesterday in Abuja while debunking reports in the social media that the applicants will travel to their various states for the aptitude test.

According to him, “I was surprised to read in the

social media that people will have to travel to their states of origin to sit for the aptitude test. I did not give that information and that will defeat the essence of our online registration.

“We have already asked people to fill their preferred centres in their forms and

Zamfara partners Gem3 to improve revenue generation From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

T

he Zamfara state government has signed agreement to collaborate with a DFID funded organization, Growth Employment in States, (GEMS 3) to improve its internal Revenue Generation (IRG).

The chairman

state committee on tax harmonisation, Alhaji Bello Dankande Gamji who announced the development during familiarization visit to Talata Mafara and Shinkafi local government areas, stated that, the idea was to develop a mechanism for accountability and prudent management of the internally generated

revenue.

According to him, four local government areas comprising Gusau, Shinkafi, Gummi and Talata Mafara have been selected for the commencement of the project.

Gamji, who is also ALGON Chairman of the state, canvassed for total support and cooperation

cannot come again to refer them to their states of origin.

We are all Nigerians and it doesn’t matter where you are writing you aptitude test from”, Moro said.

The minister further said security measures have been put in place to protect the lives of all the applicants. from the businessmen and women to achieve the goals.

In their speeches, council Chairmen of Shinkafi and Talata Mafara, Alhaji Usman Ajiya and Alhaji Maiyara Garbadu respectively, assured of their commitment in supporting the programme.

In his remarks, GEMS 33 tax consultant, Mr. Lateef Adegbite said under the programme, revenue collectors at all levels would be given training on modern techniques of revenue generation.

rape in Gombe From David Hassan, Gombe

G

ombe state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, has said that his administration will not relent in punishing people who involved themselves in rape cases.

The governor gave the warning yesterday in Gombe after he received a report from technical committee on review of Gombe laws at Government House chamber.

Dankwambo also lauded efforts by the committee which he said will go a long way in maintaining law and order in the state.

According to him, his administration will not fold

its hands and allow rape cases to continue, adding that the issue of rape in the society has been the major problem affecting the entire communities.

He assured that government on its part, has already taken necessary steps to ensure that anyone found wanting will be prosecuted accordingly.

Speaking at the event, the chairman of the technical committee on review of Gombe laws, Alhaji Mohammed Wabili said that the committee received memoranda from individuals, ministries and corporate bodies to enable them ascertain safety delivery.

He explained that 1,110 laws were recommended during the exercise.

Benue: Suswam’s country home deserted after attack and killing of 22 From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

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INEC ad-hoc officials attending to prospective voters, during the take-off of continuous voters’ registration, yesterday at Baptist Primary School, Igbehin in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state.

Photo: NAN

Bauchi pensioners want N6bn backlog gratuity paid From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

B

auchi state Chapter of Pensioners has appealed to federal, state and local governments to pay the arrears of backlog of Six billion Naira pensions and gratuity of pensioners

The state Chairman of Pensioners Association in Bauchi, Alhaji Habu Gar and that of Bauchi Local Government Pensioners Association, Alhaji Yahaya Umar, made the plea in a joint Press conference held at the NUJ Secretariat Bauchi.

According to Gar the

backlog of pension and gratuity owned by the pensioners is over 6bn and so, they appealed to the government at all levels to pay them their money in order to help them meet their family obligations.

Habu Gar said government has not paid the retired workers gratuity

for the past seven months and there are pensioners who were not included in the pension scheme three months after they retired, while there were those who lost their lives waiting for pension even as others took ill, “we have pensioners who are paralyzed”. He stated.

arely three days after Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State escaped death by the whiskers when his convoy was attacked by rampaging Fulani herdsmen at TseAkenyi village in Guma local government area, his home country Anyiin, Logo local government area has been deserted following an attack on it by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The recent attack, it was gathered left over 22 persons dead while many corpses are said to be missing in Ayilamo which is just 25 kms from Anyiin, country home of the governor.

Governor Suswam who, yesterday led Journalists, the Benue state Police Commissioner, Mr. Adams Audu and a team of Police officers on an on-the -spot assessment of the destruction caused in his area, decried the senseless killings which had taken place a day to his visit.

It was also discovered that all of the Governor’s kinsmen, extended family members, elders, women and children have fled from

the area and relocated to safer areas.

One of the fleeing residents Tavershima Terhemba told Peoplesdaily that the invaders came into their communities from neigbouring Nasarawa state.

“That attack left over 22 of our people dead, those are the ones we have seen, many are still missing and nobody knows about their condition because we gathered that so many corpses are still in the farms and bushes near the river, but no one can go near there for now because the Fulani people have completely taken over those areas.” he lamented.

While addressing some displaced persons at Ayilamo, Governor Gabriel Suswam advised them to be security conscious, assuring that the state government will not rest on its oars in ensuring that the crisis is brought to a permanent end.

The Governor also promised to establish camps in areas affected by the crisis to cater for the Internally Displaced Person, IDPs.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 11

Money Sense

Why everyone should aspire to early retirement

By David Ning

P

lan to retire early” is the basic advice I give to anyone who’s interested in financial well being. While there is more specific advice that could help you to better save for the future, saving early and often can set almost anyone on a better path to financial security.

The goal of early retirement can help motivate you to make smarter financial decisions. Here are a few benefits of trying to retire early, even if you are planning to work longer: You’ll get a plan together relatively early.

Most aspiring early retirees have an investment plan, because they need to know how many years they have to work until they can be financially independent. Fortunately for them, plans written when the markets are calm will also help them weather the inevitable turbulence that risky assets go through from time to time.

Some people end up short changing themselves by acting emotionally whenever volatility hits the markets. It’s a better idea to come up with an investment plan you can stick with through thick and thin.

It keeps you focused on what’s important. Many people believe there’s some magic to amassing enough wealth to retire, but the key to building a substantial nest egg is to control how much you save and spend. Because early retirees often try to quit the rat race as early as possible, they inevitably try to save more by spending less. Even if you don’t want to go to extremes, practicing frugal living will speed you along your path toward a comfortable retirement.

It limits lifestyle inflation.

Getting a raise deserves celebration, but it’s also extremely easy to inflate your lifestyle instead of banking the increase in income. Consider how much were you spending in your college days compared to your spending now.

Early retirees are focused on the prize of retiring as soon as possible, which helps them limit lifestyle creeps.

It’s a built in safety net. Aspiring early retirees will have a bigger cushion than those expecting to

Money Tip:

T

hree keys to making yourself invaluable: First, analyze how much you save or produce for the company. And don’t be afraid to let higher-ups know what a key role you’re playing in company success.

Quote I once met an economist who believed that everything was fungible for money, so I suggested he enclose himself in a large bell-jar with as much money as he wanted and see how long he lasted – Amory Lovins

retire at 65. Accidents may or may not happen to you, but those without a safety net won’t be able to weather even the smallest of hiccups. I cringe whenever I hear former high income families file for bankruptcy, because they should have saved so much when times were good that there’s no way they would fall into trouble. Yet, this happens so often it’s not news anymore. Expect some bumps along the way, and save like you won’t work until 65 even if that’s your plan all along.

You’re nudged to better manage your investments. The earlier you amass a bit of wealth, the earlier you will start spending time figuring out how to manage the sum. Early in

your career, you have more leeway to make investment mistakes because you have more human capital to make up for the losses. The later you start, the fewer margins there is for error. That’s why saving as much as possible as early as possible works so well. There’s a built in safety net when you start saving early because you can better recover from investment mistakes.

You’ll think about retirement life long before you actually retire.

Sometimes retirement happens without warning. Maybe there’s a sudden emergency that causes you to retire unwillingly. All of a sudden, you aren’t working anymore and need to figure out how your life is

going to change.

Being unprepared often creates confusion, and it’s likely to be costly to try things out without a plan. An aspiring early retiree would never have this issue, because they are likely thinking about retirement every single week of their working life.

Keeping up with the Joneses will take on a more financially responsible meaning. Instead of seeing who can purchase the flashiest car, you’ll be more focused on who can be the most frugal and accumulate the biggest sum. Because the goal is to retire and enjoy life, material possessions

aren’t as important as having the freedom that financial independence can provide.

There’s no greater luxury than not being dependent on a paycheck.

David Ning runs MoneyNing, a personal finance site that shares money moves you can make to significantly increase your chances of having a comfortable retirement. He likes to share simple changes that anyone can make, such as picking the best online savings account and figuring out whether a 0 percent balance transfer credit card makes sense.

…and 5 morning rituals to keep you productive all day long

By James Reinhart

M

ost of us work long hours: 40, 50 or even 60 hours each week. But chances are, given distractions like online entertainment, office snacking habits and ill-designed time management; we’re only churning out high-quality work a portion of each day.

Here are five practical steps to incorporate into any morning routine to optimize your time at the office and maintain productivity all day long: 7 minutes of exercise. Yes, not 10, just seven. Why? It’s short enough that it won’t impact the rest of your morning routine and long enough to shake off any residual sluggishness from the night before, including that extra glass of wine.

There are endless fitness routines to turn to, but the one I like best is called the 7 Minute Workouts (and yes, there’s an app for that). In just seven minutes, it works all major muscle groups with 12 total exercises.

Start your day out green.

Sure, we’ve all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it’s pretty easy to reach for a bagel, bowl of cereal, egg sandwich or cup

of yogurt to get your metabolism going.

While all of these options are fine choices once in a while, you’ll be shocked at the morning lift you can get from a green smoothie.

And healthy juicing requires less time in the morning than toasting a bagel and slathering it with low fat cream cheese.

I go quick and easy, blending

(for about a minute): one apple, one banana, one orange, a handful of spinach, half of a cucumber, any juice or coconut water on hand, a few cubes of ice and some flax seed. It’s cheap, easy and energizing.

Pick 3 wins for the day. While you’re waiting for that smoothie to blend, get ahead of the evening’s conversation with your

significant other. You know, the one that starts, “How was your day?”

Decide on the three things that you’d like to accomplish in the next 12 hours in order for you to feel like the day was a success.

Sure, not every day will be an epic win, but strategizing in this way will help to move the ball forward.

PAGE 12

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

EDITORIAL

United States and the Abacha loot in the United States.

The issue calls into question the operation of unaccountable security votes, which is still prevalent under constitutional rule. Given the widespread abuse of the security votes both under military dictatorship and civilian

“

O

n March 5, the United States’ Justice Department said it had seized 458 million US dollars in corruption-lubricated assets from accounts belonging to the late military ruler, General Sani Abacha and sought forfeiture of more 550 million US dollars.

The ruling of a court in the District of Columbia which was the basis of the action of the Justice Department was as a result of an investigation by the FBI which named General Abacha’s son, Mohammed and associate, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. All three were accused of embezzling public funds running into billions of dollars through three criminal rackets.

Officials from the US Justice Department have described their action as the “largest kletocracy forfeiture action brought in the department’s history”. According to the complaints leading to the forfeiture, about nine big US banks, including JP Morgan Chase and Citibank, were mentioned as helpful conduits.

According to the report, under one of the schemes, General Abacha allegedly got Nigeria’s Central Bank to disperse security votes, ostensibly for national security but which were instead moved overseas to accounts in Switzerland, Great Britain and through the banks

In as much as we share the concerns of the US authorities if the funds are returned, we insist that those monies must be returned to Nigeria. rule, we call for measures to abolish it so that all public funds in the hands of public officials would be duly accounted for through the statutory mechanism established for the purpose.

Another scheme uncovered involved General Abacha and his finance minister, Mr. Anthony Ani buying back distressed government debts at inflated prices from a company controlled by Bagudu and Mohammed Abacha. According to the US Justice Dept, the windfall was more than 282

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million US dollars proceeds from national security funds fraud pooled into bank accounts in London, then used to purchase dollar-denominated Nigerian bonds. The fraud generated hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments.

US banking behemoth, Citibank, administered the interest rate payments, which amounted to lending stolen money to generate huge profits.

On our part, we are curious as to why it took the US so long to come up with all these disclosures. However, we are concerned with what happens next after the forfeiture of the Abacha loot and the worldwide hunt for others by the US authority. As the American Justice Department well knows, the money in question belongs to the Nigerian people. In as much as we share the concerns of the US authorities if the funds are returned, we insist that those monies must be returned to Nigeria.

For more than a decade, the return of the Abacha loot has been a steady news item, but rarely have Nigerians noticed what it is used for. We advise that the Abacha loot, and others yet to be returned, be used to build roads, clinics and provide potable water and electricity in rural communities across Nigeria.

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PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Opinion

PAGE 13

Boko Haram: How can France help?

By David Zounmenou and Mouhamadou Kane

O

n 25 February, a terrorist organization, Boko Haram, struck again when it ruthlessly killed more than 50 students at a school in the Nigerian town of Buni Yadi. The students had been asleep in their dormitory. This attack, along with many others, led the governor of Nigeria’s Yobe state, Ibrahim Gaidam, to make a desperate plea imploring the government to do something. Gaidam warned that if no action were taken, the northern population would be ‘gradually wiped out’. Boko Haram has posed a threat to the people and authorities of Nigeria for years.

Despite the state of emergency decreed by the government in May last year, the northernNigeria-based terrorist group is still carrying out its indiscriminate and deadly campaign against the population and the state.

Echoing the governor’s plea, the Nigerian government has now called on France for assistance in its fight against Boko Haram. This raises the question of how France would be able to intervene, given that Nigeria is already cooperating with the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) in a counter-insurgency to defeat the terrorist group. For a long time, Nigeria viewed Boko Haram as a domestic problem and insisted that a domestic approach is needed to resolve it. Despite the difficulty it experienced in containing the

notorious Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Nigeria has always believed itself to be capable of dealing with its own security problems. It has done so in the past purely by relying on its army’s capacity to project force even beyond national borders.

Currently, more than 20 000 soldiers have been deployed in affected regions in the north.

However, the threat posed by Boko Haram ought to be thoroughly evaluated. It does not fit the logic of a conventional threat, and therefore does not warrant a conventional military response.

Additionally, the Nigerian army and security agencies are facing acute internal problems. This has undoubtedly contributed to the government’s abysmal response to Boko Haram. In some cases, the radical group’s firepower has exceeded that of the national army.

The latest attacks in Mafa, a village in Borno state, saw soldiers flee as insurgents unleashed their orgy of violence on innocent citizens.

The fight against Boko Haram has now developed to demand more than a localised response.

The group has become a regional, if not global, security threat.

Its deadly attack on the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Abuja, and the proven capacity of the group to kidnap as far afield as in Cameroon, prompted the US to classify it as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. This came despite opposition by many stakeholders in Nigeria that the move would

internationalise a domestic problem.

The call on France to help is not a coincidence. In addition to other Western countries, France has important interests in Nigeria - especially in the oil fields around the Niger Delta, which have been threatened by the radical Islamist group. It must, however, be noted that Nigeria is not a former French colony, and the countries do not have a history of military cooperation. If anything, bilateral relations have been punctuated by suspicion, acrimony and tension over France’s alleged attempts to undermine the country’s regional hegemony. A significant number of former French colonies (eight out 14 French-speaking countries in Africa) are located in this region.

Cooperation between France and Nigeria against Boko Haram represents an important opportunity for the countries to revive their relations. Essentially, France could provide the logistical support (drones) that Nigerian security services need in their fight against the radical Islamist insurgents. For France, this could be a rare chance to seize economic opportunities. France sees Nigeria as a potentially important economic and political partner in sub-Saharan Africa, which fits perfectly with its aims to expand its sphere of influence beyond francophone countries.

France’s experience in Mali, where it has helped to keep extremist groups at bay, could be seen as an important motivating

factor in President Goodluck Jonathan’s call for help. France could also make an important contribution with respect to intelligence gathering and political reform. However, the European country’s assistance could be fruitless without vigorous internal reforms and coherence in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism approach. The recent spate of killings highlights the flaws within the national army, especially in terms of their strategic approach. According to Abdullahi Begho, spokersperson of the Yobe state governor, security guards patrolling the school mysteriously withdrew shortly before the February attack. Furthermore, the rescue committeetook a long time to respond since communication channels had been cut.

This seems to give credit to the allegation of some experts that Boko Haram has infiltrated the national army. In addition to its call on France, Nigeria has also expressed a wish for deeper cooperation with its francophone neighbours. In a recent interview, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said that Nigeria also needs cooperation from French-speaking West Africa ‘before it becomes a major problem.’ He added: ‘It will devastate French interests if we allow this terror to go on.’ As part of his reform of the security sector, Jonathan has also recently sacked all his military chiefs to give impetus to the fight against Boko Haram.

In the short term, the country’s

security forces require attention at three levels if it is to take full advantage of a contribution from France. Firstly, improving coherence, trust and confidence within thesecurity services is necessary and urgent. Secondly, regional cooperation with neighbours needs substantial and practical engagement in terms of effective border control, joint military operations and, most importantly, information gathering and sharing. Cameroon, Chad and Niger are said to form a secondary base for Boko Haram.

They are also directly affected by the violence in the north of Nigeria, with significant numbers of potential victims fleeing across the border. Finally, a working synergy must be established between national, regional and extraregional actors and initiatives.

Beyond upsetting the anticolonisation rhetoric, Nigeria’s call for help from France and other actors can be seen as an acknowledgement of the limitations of national efforts.

Responding to Boko Haram requires collective action, and failure to contain it would undeniably regionalise the chaos associated with the group and increase instability in an already volatile region.

David Zounmenou, Senior Research Fellow and Mouhamadou Kane, Junior Fellow, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Pretoria, South Africa.

rot, and challenge any authority that disputes our “truths”. We keep contaminating our minds with religious poisons until our guts cannot contain them, and then we puke the poisons on people of obverse faith. Besides, while Boko Haram is waging a Jihad against the country, churches in Nigeria are waging crusades against the pockets of their adherents. Nigerian churches employ mind-bending strategies to keep their faithful mass of penitents under a regimen of compulsory and thankless giving. Nevertheless, that is a subject for another day.

Truth be told, beyond the political and economic reasons that have been given for the rising and thriving of Boko Haram, one neglected reason that may be the kingpin of the other reasons is religion. Boko Haram is the

fallout of our ultra-religious society.

Our society being ultra-religious gives expansive room for the mushrooming of dangerous sects and groups. It also engenders religious conflicts and schisms. In the 1980s what appeared to be a harbinger of today’s Boko Haram rampaged through the north. It was Maitatsine and his boys. Then later, it was Musa Makaniki and the residue of Maitatsine boys. Many lives were lost in the riots that these ultra-religious men caused. These terrorists rose and thrived because the society in which they operated was ultra-religious.

As it is now, if the economic and political causes of terrorism in Nigeria are addressed, the same problem will persist because of the ultrareligiousness of its people.

The battle to stifle terrorism must be taken to the minds of Nigerians.

Ridding the country of its ultra-religious garb is a necessary action that must be taken to salvage what is left of it.

Physical combat may stunt the growth of terrorism for a while, but it cannot kill its seed. The seed of terrorism in Nigeria today is religion. Boko Haram’s ideology is pickled in religion. Steering the minds of Nigerians away from ultrareligiosity through seminal re-education may be the one way out of the one-end street of naked violence. We must de-emphasise religion! The truth is, we are Boko Haram because we are an ultra-religious society.

Fredrick Nwabufo is reachable on fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com.

We all are Boko Haram

By Fredrick Nwabufo

A

s the Boko Haram “intifada” continues to transmogrify in monstrosity; upping the ante in barbarism and savagery, more Nigerians, undoubtedly, will be martyred. This is not a prognosis of doom, but a cringing deduction from the exegesis of the terror group.

However, this article does not broach Boko Haram’s future killing statistics.

All around the navel and fringes of north-eastern Nigeria, Boko Haram roams cutting down feeble “usurpers” who are pawned by fate. From the rustic communities of Borno to the slumbering towns of Yobe; it is the same fate that binds them in one tragedy loop. Boko Haram has become to the inhabitants of this axis of infamy and horror a festering sore which they have to live with; a nightmare that has become a daylight reality. And so it is, today Boko Haram has become the spitting image of evil; the belch from the bowels of hell.

True as this representation of Boko Haram may be, the fact is that it has always been with us. Boko Haram has always been the subservient, quiet and docile demon in our ultra-religious space. And when that demon has soaked up enough contaminated religious water, it unleashes itself fiercely on obverse people knifing, biting, mauling and mowing. All tools in its killing kit, it unleashes to relieve itself of religious concupiscence. “Religicide”

(killing in the name of God) is the child of ultra-religiousness. It is common where religion trounces reason. And in Nigeria, an ultra-religious country, reason is a prisoner. Again, what ultrareligiousness in Nigeria connotes is incessant frictions and clashes arising from the collision of different religions or faith. And that means, even if Boko Haram is subdued today, something greater than it may rise from its ashes.

Boko Haram is a manifestation of the loss of reason, and it can be apparelled in the robe of Islam, in the hood of Christianity, or in the raiment of any religion. The anti-Balaka, a collection of Christian militias giving the Boko Haram treatment to Muslims in Central Africa Republic is a clear indication that a delicacy of terror can be prepared and served by Christians

“

too. The truth is, a mind fecundated by religion is schizophrenic, and as a result, it is dangerous behind the trigger. Come to think of it, have we wondered why terrorism is common in ultra-religious societies? The Middle East, in spite of all its resources is a hotbed of violence, rape, child marriage and gender discrimination. One would have hoped that being ultra-religious; societies in the Middle East would be front-liners in promoting democracy, fairness, gender equality and peace. But sadly, that is not the case. Ours is an ultra-religious society with little care for reason.

We hold our religious beliefs arrogantly to our chests, and cease to reason out or think through what our religious lords feed us. We gulp down large morsels of religious tommy-

Boko Haram is a manifestation of the loss of reason, and it can be apparelled in the robe of Islam, in the hood of Christianity, or in the raiment of any religion. The anti-Balaka, a collection of Christian militias giving the Boko Haram treatment to Muslims in Central Africa Republic is a clear indication that a delicacy of terror can be prepared and served by Christians too. The truth is, a mind fecundated by religion is schizophrenic, and as a result, it is dangerous behind the trigger. Come to think of it, have we wondered why terrorism is common in ultra-religious societies? The Middle East, in spite of all its resources is a hotbed of violence, rape, child marriage and gender discrimination. One would have hoped that being ultrareligious; societies in the Middle East would be front-liners in promoting democracy, fairness, gender equality and peace. But sadly, that is not the case. Ours is an ultra-religious society with little care for reason.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 14

Opinion

In Nigeria everything is upside down

By Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba

T

he alleged rift in the Nigerian security team follows the “normal Nigerian situation”: insubordination, ignorance, lack of integrity, lack of protocol, unpatriotic action, bloated egos leading to confrontation, and lack of respect. The truth will eventually emerge and the public will know why the defense minister has resigned or threatened to resign. The president has the opportunity to clarify anything that has not been understood among the security team. The command structure in a presidential arrangement runs from the president and commander in Chief through the Minister of Defense to the Chief of Staff Defense Headquarters and down the service chiefs.

The National Security

Adviser is not in a prior in the command life is of no structure consequence. directly. His If one was Peoples Daily welcomes your letters, opinion articles, responsibility is a 4-star text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All writakin to that of general and ten contributions should be concise. Word limits: a coordinating the other Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please secretary to was a mere include your name and a valid location. Letters to the the security sergeant Editor should be addressed to: apparatus. and if the He brokers sergeant is agreements, the CIC or The Editor, with the minister Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, departments; of defense, 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. informs the he/she must Email: opinion@peoplesdailyng.com president on command SMS: 08134607052 a daily basis the 4-star what the general. This security situation is how it the command structure of the country is, based on goes in a civilian government and anybody who does not information from the service as opposed to what obtains understand this ought not to chiefs and other people in in military government. In be in the team for security the national security team a civilian administration demands strict adherence to which includes the police. the civilian commands the the rules or prompt action/ He also adds information military, and takes salute from reaction during threats would from Minister of Foreign the highest military officer. be too much compromised.

Affairs with regards to foreign Any security official who does It is important to note that threats. There should be no not like this arrangement what one was in the service confusion whatsoever about should resign or be fired. If

WRITE TO US

in doubt go and read about President Truman and his generals and commanders. I think that the problem Nigeria is experiencing is due to our presidential constitution which we copied from the United States without proper training.

It might be a good idea during the proposed National Conference to consider returning the country to the parliamentary system which we grew up in. It is much easier to operate. Mr. Jonathan should look into what happened and call somebody to order now or the country could be in trouble later. If indeed some ex this and ex that are messing with Nigerian security they too need to be shown the inside of a detention center and after due process the inside of a prison.

The world would not end.

Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba wrote in from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Lamido is a good governor but he is not God

By Zakari Kafin Hausa S.

I

wish to exercise my constitutional right to respond to a man that I aforetime held in high esteem in person of Adamu Muhammad Usman, advisor to Jigawa State governor on media for apart from his respectable social status, the personality is also like a brother to me. Adamu is brave and down to earth!

However, what I use to contemplate is can Adamu be right all the times? If the answer is in the affirmative, then it is my humble opinion to say that by his attitude as expressed in the write-up that appeared in Peoples Daily of 5th March 2014 with the above tittle, he appears to be swimming against a dangerous tide and he can be seen to haveerred on the issue at hand.

Being myself a neutral arbiter in the issue at hand, I’m neither a pro-Abba Anas nor anti Governor Sule Lamido, nor anti Senator Abdul’azeez Usman who are the major actors in the matter. However, I feel I am duty bound to speak the truth, and challenge all tendencies of corruption. As the novelist, Franz Kafka says, “Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsession...” I would like to

state in truth that anybody conversant with happenings in Jigawa state would agree with me that in its 24 years as a state, Sule Lamido has proved to be the best governor Jigawa has ever had. In that regard even the most bitter in the governor’s group of critics have conceded to the fact that Indeed, Sule is making ‘some’ progress. But is testimony of making progress enough to make Sule holy?

I would say the simplest answer to this question is No! Lamido is far from being a saint, contrary to what his supporters like my brother, Adamu, would want the world to believe.

The name Sule Lamido represents so many things to so many people. To the people of Gidan Sarki ( Kafin Hausa Local Government)

“

Kukayesku (Maigatari Local Government), Zabiran (Kaugama Local Government), Madamuwa (Guri Local Government) and hundreds, if not thousands, of other rural communities, he is that selfish governor who refused to heed their several pleas for drinking water and other social amenities. However to the people of Bamaina, Fagam and few other communities in Birnin Kudu, Gwaram and, of course, Dutse local governments, Governor Sule Lamido is the ‘saviour’ they have being waiting for; and to Abba Anas Adamu, he is a despotic and possessive governor, while to people like former Governor Saminu Turaki, Lamido is simply a betrayer. Yet to other people like Atamos, Sule Lamido is a necessity and to the

Toyota and Peugeot Motors, he could be seen as a loyal customer who patronizes and purchases their products even at inflated rates. But to me he is just a dignified Saminu Turaki who failed to understand the theory of development administration.

Also, In the write-up, Adamu in a rather confusing manner that aroused the very anger of my heart tried to compare Abba Anas with Sen. Abdul’azeez Usman Turabu (Jigawa, North-East).

He said: “His (Abba Anas) accusation that Lamido denied him the ticket to contest and returned to the house in 2011 is baseless because if Lamido were to give him the opportunity to return, nothing would affect him (Sule) only that Anas didn’t perform. If it isn’t so why didn’t Sule stop

The name Sule Lamido represents so many things to so many people. To the people of Gidan Sarki ( Kafin Hausa Local Government) Kukayesku (Maigatari Local Government), Zabiran (Kaugama Local Government), Madamuwa (Guri Local Government) and hundreds, if not thousands, of other rural communities, he is that selfish governor who refused to heed their several pleas for drinking water and other social amenities. However to the people of Bamaina, Fagam and few other communities in Birnin Kudu, Gwaram and, of course, Dutse local governments, Governor Sule Lamido is the ‘saviour’ they have being waiting for; and to Abba Anas Adamu, he is a despotic and possessive governor

others, especially Abdul’azeez Usman, who has been in the House since 1999?”

By the above statementcum-question Adamu, has done the people of Jigawa North-East senatorial Zone a great disservice that can only be compared with treason!

So what performance? Of course, it is a known fact that Sen. Abdu’azeez Usman Turabu both from his days in the house of representatives (1999-2007) and the senate(2007-date) has never sponsored any motion. To the people of Jigawa North-East Senatorial zone, Abdul’azeez’s tenure as Senator is synonymous to naught! The only person that can be so proud of his representation is his Uncle, Alhaji Daguro, whose support Lamido rewarded by returning him (Abdul’azeez) to the Senate.

Though, strong headed, Abba Anas - that ever smiling Jigawa politician has always been relevant in national politics and cannot be marched with Sule or Abdul’azeez in terms of achievements and performance. His records are there for Adamu to see for himself. My advice to advisers like my dear brother, Adamu is that they should be wary of making more to enemies for themselves as it would seriously affect their principles.

Zakari Kafin Hausa S. Secretary General, Jigawa Youth Forum.

Comment

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 15

International Women’s Day and Nigerian women

By Adekunle Theophilius

M

arch 8, 2014 marked the celebration of the International Working Women’s Day. More than a hundred years ago, women poured out onto the streets in some countries demanding not just better conditions at work but also the right to vote, to hold office and to be equal partners with men .The first ever International Women’s Day was called to draw attention to the unacceptable and often dangerous working conditions that so many women faced worldwide. The day was set aside to celebrate the gains of working women organizing for change and recommitting to the ongoing struggle for justice. The campaign for and acquisition of civil and political rights by women has been categorized among the 100 most pervasive and significant dramatic changes and events of the past hundred years. It is under this context that an analysis of how Nigerian working women have fared in the past century will be conducted.

Undoubtedly, Nigerian women were late starters in the world of work. Infact Africans generally loathed the colonial mode of paid employment which was antithetical to their idea of communal service and subsistence farming, It wasn’t until the commencement of colonial rule and the need for manpower to service the machinery of the colonial administration and build infrastructures in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that the British as a result of the aversion of Nigerians to work resorted to forced labor and draconian measures i.e introduction of taxation in

cash to compel Nigerians to man administrative offices, construct roads, bridges, harbors and railway lines etc. In many of these countries, the working conditions and remuneration of the employed Africans was terrible and grossly inadequate, women rarely featured and even when they did they fared worse than men.

Nigerians gradually started to accept and participate in the concept of paid employment with women predominant in low paying and less dignifying jobs earning lower wages for the same amount of work, experiencing more discrimination in the workplace and having deplorable conditions of work. Even after independence in 1960 and the influx of Nigerians into positions hitherto occupied by and reserved for Britons, the situation of Nigerian women did not change much. The prevalence of cultural and religious beliefs stymied the progress of women.

Most communities placed emphasis on educating and pampering the boy child to the detriment of girls. The preference of married couples for male children also accentuated the deplorable situation of women as life was short, nasty and brutish for the girl child everywhere who was often perceived as a burden. Child care and other family responsibilities also constituted a formidable obstacle to women participation in and reentry into the labour market.

Nigeria, being a patriarchal society, perpetrated systemic and structural discrimination against women in the distribution of wealth, power, authority etc. Socialization which allotted domestic chores i.e washing clothes and cooking

to women whilst associating men with decision making, problem solving and engaging in intellectual discourses only served to further subordinate the female gender to the male gender.

However, with time, as the country began to develop, the economy began to expand, amenities sprung up, government structures created and educational institutions increased, we witnessed enhanced accessibility to more and qualitative employment opportunities for women that consistently translated to better wages, standards of living, freedom of choice and enhanced liberties.

This developed fuelled dramatic increase in national employment mobility, purchasing power of women, feminization of some aspects of labour force, rise of women liberation movements and enhanced workforce participation.

From this period, Nigerian Women were unstoppable, partaking in series of diverse businesses, graduating with honors in diverse courses, engaging in arrays of social activities signing up for hitherto male dominated jobs, endeavors and academic fields and striving to make their mark in the society. They have shown that with a level playing ground they have got what it takes to excel and compete favorably with their male counterparts anywhere in the world. A recent Goldman Sachs report, “The Power of the Purse,” contended that education for girls is increasing women’s decisionmaking power, shifting household spending patterns toward food, healthcare, education, childcare, apparel, consumer durables and financial services, categories more

important to women. Likewise, women-led small businesses are seen as a key driver of job creation and economic growth One of the greatest outcomes of the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria which started in 1999 is the qualitative participation and empowerment of women in all spheres of life and sectors of the Nigerian economy. We are seeing Nigerian women run for office, attain positions in the top echelon of social and professional groups, serve in the military, accomplish breakthroughs in science, achieve feats in medicine, and engineering, excel in arts achieve , distinguish themselves in politics and judiciary, and occupy strategic positions in government and business. We can indeed affirm that Nigerian women have seized and optimized the little opportunities they had to be where they are today. A glaring certainty that cannot be controverted is that everyone gains when women are doing well at work—individuals, unions, families, enterprises, communities and the nation at large.

Inarguably, Nigerian women have made significant socio-economic and political progress over the past 100years We cannot talk about enhancing the status of women in Nigeria without highlighting four significant epics. The establishment an intergovernmental body Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) by the United Nations in 1947 to promote women’s rights and act as the advocate for international action in cases of extreme and severe violations of women’s rights. The launching of the United Nations (UN) Decade for Women in 1975, a ten-year plan to focus international

efforts on promoting women issues.

Between 1975 and 1985, tremendous awareness was created through conferences organized globally on many issues of development, equality and rights of women in many nations.

In some African countries, most especially Nigeria, women made positive gains as a result of these conferences.

The adoption of CEDAWConvention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women- ”an international bill of rights for women consisting of a preamble and 30 articles which defined what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination” by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 as a result of various widespread abuse of and discrimination against women, the outcry by individuals and groups against this and in response to the ever growing and louder outcry from NGO’s, CSO’s, CBO’s, INGO’s etc. The fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China 1995. The Platform for action that emerged from the Conference focused on removing the obstacles to women’s equal participation in the society. A major achievement of the Conference was the recommendation of an affirmative action that reserves or should reserve 30% of political, managerial, leadership and elective posts for women to fast-forward their integration into the decision-making bodies in the society which is partially being observed in Nigeria Adekunle Theophilius is Chief Training and Manpower Development Officer at Micheal Imoudu National Institute For Labour Studies, Ilorin, Kwara state

Jonathan’s confab of cheerleaders

By Uche Igwe

A

s I perused the delegates’ list released by the Federal government, it evoked several feelings within me about the entity called Nigeria. First, I was torn between surprise, laughter and surprisingly, commendation. We are an unserious nation, otherwise how can we endure the torture of the pretension of these so- called 492 ‘wise’ men and women, claiming to talk on our behalf. What are they going to talk about? What have they ever talked about? Who do they represent? When shall we get angry enough? Let me start by that commendation.

I commend President Goodluck Jonathan. Yes. At least, for once.

He has proven to the Nigerians that he is a man who whenever he makes up his mind, he will go ahead to act, regardless of how we feel or respond. When he announced the intention of his government to hold a national conference, there was wild condemnation and even suspicion from many parts of the country and beyond. He went ahead and ignored us and announced an interim committee with a robust budget for the conference. Other people kicked again. Yet the Presidency persisted. With the characters that he nominated to the meeting it is now clear that our President wants to try to test the quantum of powers that he has. He seems to have

passed a message saying “ I am in charge and there is nothing anyone can do about it”One of the most nauseating consequences of our democratic pollution is the distorted manifestation and flagrant abuse of the word representation. I can see that many of the delegates in the list claim to represent one set of stakeholders or another.

Really? That is how arbitrary the country has become. Many people parade themselves as representing X or Y even without the consultation or consent of those who they claim to represent.

Professional representatives! Is it not better to say that they represent their stomachs? That is the carryover from our politics. Our governors, senators, assemblymen, indeed all politicians claim to represent us or at least somebody and often attempt to defend their actions and inactions in terms of public interest, yet the public have neither contact or access to any of them.

I am sure many Nigerians feel the same way about the Confab delegates. One highly placed source confirmed to the writer that most of the representatives of these organisations are government nominees.

That raises the important spectre that is hanging on the Abuja gathering. Is it not probable that somebody somewhere might have finalised the communiqué of the confab even before it begins?

I will try to explain this further drawing from the little I know about the issues surrounding the nomination of the representatives of the civil society organisations to that event. Let me make one point here. I respect many (of course not all) the delegates that have been nominated to represent the civil society organisations. There are noble people among them who have cut their teeth in the struggle locally and internationally and who have managed to keep their pedigree intact. However, I am concerned not about their persons but about the process of their emergence.

As soon as a call for nominations began, there were many intrigues that followed. Some NGO networks volunteered to coordinate the process.

I am aware that there were many consultative meetings in the six geopolitical zones and many hot exchanges to arrive at a consensus about who will be on the list. Of course, consensus is something very difficult with NGOs. At the last count, there were at list six different civil society lists circulating. At the end, some names that were published in the media got missing between the media and the government office in charge of the process. Now even though some of us who have been critical insist that the gathering is going to be a sham, it is also right that our do-good civil society folks manage

to make their process transparent.

By transparency, I mean that they should be able to tell their stakeholders if anyone influenced the list so as to know who clearly they represent, including representing themselves. True.

That said, I really wonder what substantive contributions people like former Governor D.S. P Alamieyeseigha, PDP Chieftain, Olabode George, Chief Edwin Clark, Senator Prof Jubril Aminu, Mrs Remi Kuku,Ms Ann Kio Briggs, Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof Kimse Koko, MallamTankoYakassai, Col. Tony Nyiam, Chief Asara A. Asaraetc could bring to the table in such a gathering except fine-tuning the strategy of how to force Jonathan on Nigerians in 2015.

Now that is why I am bothered that people like Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, Pastor TundeBakare, Olisa Agbakoba SAN, Femi Falana SAN , Eze Nwagwu etc decided to hand them an honour of answering co-delegates and earning an undeserved but priceless stamp of legitimacy. What difference will a vocal minority make before these known transactional political hawks? Some say it is an opportunity to engage and I say, with what? Finally, it is important to re-echo that the necessary condition for citizens to support a government is that such a government does not continue to trample on what citizens believe in

as their rights.

To remain in power therefore, government must be seen to be sensitive to these in order to aspire to retain the support of citizens.

Alternatively, government may decide otherwise. However, extending such sensitive boundaries of citizens aspirations from their government should attract consequences. The possibility that citizens could withdraw their support should unsettle any government. But not in Nigeria, because the support of the parasitic elite not the citizens is what government requires to remain in power. Simply because votes do not yet count and so threatening a government that has a firm grip on the machinery of patronage and manipulation sounds to them like a fairy tale.

In our helplessness as citizens, we may not have the choice of making government responsive enough to appreciate that the voices of the citizens matter, but no one should contest our inalienable right to who and what to support.

I do not support this conference.

It is national distraction. But will our support or lack of it make any significant difference? Nigerian democracy is a different ball game.

While the majority will continue to shout and cry to have a say, the minority will always try to have their way.

Uche Igwe is on LinkedIn

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 16

Council decries paucity of funds for execution of projects

By Usman Shuaibu

T

he Head of department of Works in Gwagwalada Area Council, of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mrs Modupe Mcderry-Musa, has decried the inability of the Council to execute or complete projects for the benefit of the masses in the area due to financial constraints.

She said most of the ongoing projects in the area were stopped due to paucity of funds, and this has impacted negatively on the administration’s capacity to deliver on grassroots development.

Mcderry-Musa, who disclosed this in an interview with PeoplesDaily, in her office, however assured that the current administration would not hesitate to continue to execute the people’s oriented projects for the benefit of the masses in the area.

According to her, the Council is putting all hands on deck to solicit for the financial assistance from some organizations when necessary, in order to carry out laudable projects in the area.

She therefore appealed to the FCT Administration to increase the monthly allocation of the Council, to enable its leadership focus on grassroots development.

Mass housing: Committee to submit white paper within 3 weeks

By Stanley Onyekwere

I

n a bid to meet the housing needs of the residents in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the FCT Administration has inaugurated a 14-Member white paper committee on mass housing scheme.

The committee has three weeks to submit its report, to help revolutionize the Abuja mass housing sub-sector.

Inaugurating the Committee, the FCT Permanent Secretary, John Chukwu, said the white paper would give the FCT mass housing scheme the character and direction it desires in conformity to the Abuja Master Plan.

He added that part of the terms of reference of the committee is to critically examine the conclusions

and recommendations of the ministerial committee, as it guided the provisions of mass housing development guidelines for FCT; guidelines for final engineering design of infrastructure for the Federal Capital City (FCC) and Satellite Towns; FCT development control manual as well as generate conclusions that will represent the position of the FCT Administration.

According to him, to address all identified myriad of problems facing the sector, the FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, constituted a ministerial committee in October 2011, to carefully examine the challenges confronting the Territory’s housing sub-sector.

Chukwu recalled that the FCT Administration introduced

the scheme in year 2000 to facilitate the provision of affordable houses to meet the increasing demand for shelter by the ever-rising influx of people into the Territory.

He expressed worry that the objectives behind the initiative have not been fully realized within the expected time frame because the Scheme has been beset by myriad of gaps and deficient structures.

According to him, the Scheme was confronted with implementation challenges which culminated in the emergence of illegal and unplanned settlements masquerading “as mass housing estates” across the city.

He said when the white paper is in place, there would be drastic but positive change to improve in the service delivery in that sub-sector in line with

the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Responding, the Chairman of the committee, who is also the Director of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Engineering Services department, Adamu Alfa Abu, pledged to live up the expectations of the FCT Administration.

Peoples Daily reports that other members of the Committee include the FCT Solicitor-General, MD Abuja Property Development Company, Directors of Urban & Regional Planning; Land Administration; Mass Housing; Public Building; Satellite Towns Development Agency; Resettlement & Compensation; Development Control as well as SSA (Technical) HMS office; SA (Project) HM Office and SA (Lands) PS Office.

Suya sellers beg FCT minister for plots in 6 councils

By Usman Shuaibu

T

he Chairman of the Suya Sellers Association in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Musa Suleiman, has appealed to the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed to allocate plots of land to the association in the six area Councils, to enable its members carry out their business without hitches.

Suleiman, who made the appeal in an interview with Peoples Daily, in Dei-dei, also urged the FCT administration to take the association along in the scheme of things in the territory.

He called for commitment from all members in order to move the association to higher heights, while urging the officials to work hard for the progress of the association.

The chairman therefore, advised the members of the association across the six area councils to always respect the constituted authority where they operate.

L-R: FCT Director of Tourism, Mrs. Elegbede I. Adebola, Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, and member of the NTDC Board, Mrs. Miriam Onuoha, during the NTDC visit to minister, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

15 schools to participate in 3rd Abuja inter-schools chess competition

By Stanley Onyekwere

F

ifteen schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Suleja, in Niger state took part in the just concluded interschools chess competition, for the development of the minds and mental capabilities of students.

At the end of the event organised by the Olumawu Basic Education School, in Wuse district of the Territory, Federal Government Academy, Suleja,

emerged overall winner of the competition, and was presented with a gift in honour of the late founder of the school, Mrs. M. Audu.

Speaking at the event, a member of the governing council of the school, Mr. Ola Garuba, said the competition was aimed at building a well-rounded education as well as creating a chess community among schools in the FCT and the country at large.

He added that children have

varying talents and various areas of harnessing such talents must be looked into; “so, we identified chess to train or develop the minds of the children and their mental capabilities.

“There have been good correlations between the students participating in the competition and their academic performances. The competition is one of the techniques designed to deviate students’ attentions from the social network platforms, which now occupy

their minds.’’

Garuba, however identified resources and creating awareness among the schools as some of the challenges facing the competition but expressed happiness that the competition has produced students that represented the country in international chess competition.

Peoples Daily reports that for the primary school category, Tender Year School emerged winner while the host school came second.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 17

Metro

Staff of Abuja Environmental Protection Board demolishing some make-shift shops at Nyanya market, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Chinenye Akwaja

Two middle-aged women buying roasted yam, yesterday in Wuse, Zone 5, Abuja.

A tea and bread seller known as (mai-shayi) attending to customers yesterday in Area 1, Garki, Abuja.

A cobbler doing what he knows best, yesterday in Garki village, Abuja.

A young man collecting waste, yesterday in Nyanya.

Photos: Justin Imo-owo

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 18

Metro

Mechanic docked for cheatin

A

Traders salvaging remains of their make-shift shops after demolition by the staff of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board at Nyanya market, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Chinenye Akwaja

INSIDE FCT COURTS

Applicant bags 2 months’ imprisonment for removing man’s teeth

A

Senior Magistrates’ court in Wuse zone 2, Abuja, has sentenced a 30-year old applicant, Aminu Abdullahi, to two months in prison for knocking out a man’s two teeth.

Abdullahi, who resides in Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Lugbe, was arraigned for

causing grievous hurt.

The Magistrate, Mrs. Simisola Adeniyi, sentenced the convict, after he pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for leniency.

“The court will give the convict an option to pay N15,000 as compensation to the

complainant.’’

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp.

Jeremiah Elijah, told the court that Mr. Ibrahim Hassan of Angwan Dutse, Sauka Kahuta, Lugbe, Abuja, reported the case at the Lugbe police station.

Elijah said that the accused intentionally hit the

complainant’s mouth and in the process, he lost two teeth.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 247 of Penal code.

The convict pleaded to court for forgiveness and mercy on him. (NAN)

mechanic, Sunday Ikomu, 38, is standing trial before a Grade 1 Area court, in Aso Pada, Mararaba for alleged criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The prosecutor, PC Friday Adaji, told the court that on February 12, one Mr. Isah Yakubu of Kabayi Village, Mararaba, lodged a complaint against the accused at the ‘A’ Division Police Station.

Adaji said Yakubu entrusted a Nissan 18-seater bus to Ikomu in November, 2013, to repair but the accused, who resides at Kabayi Village in Nasarawa State, advised him to sell it.

He said Yakubu gave the accused the go ahead to sell the bus and he sold it for N100, 000 but gave him N30, 000 only.

He said that the accused promised to pay the balance of N70, 000 on February 28, but failed to do so.

Adaji said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 314 and 322 of the Penal code respectively.

If convicted on the charges, the accused could spend up to 13 years in prison or with an option to pay a fine or with both.

The accused pleaded guilty not to the charges.

The presiding judge, Mr. Albert Maga, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N100, 000 and a surety in like sum.

Maga ordered that the surety must be a responsible citizen with landed property and must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case until March 20 for proper hearing.

(NAN)

Rape: Court remands guard in prison, to get interpreter

A

Karu Senior Magistrates’ court, Abuja, has ordered that a security guard, Elisha Haruna, standing trial for alleged rape, be remanded in prison until March 24, to enable the court to get an interpreter.

Haruna, 43, is arraigned for raping an 18-year old girl in his house at Prince and Princess

Estate, Abuja.

Senior Magistrate Omolola Akindele remanded the accused to enable the court to find an interpreter for him to take his plea.

The prosecutor, Patrick Ogele, had arraigned Haruna on a one-count charge of gross indecency under Section 285 of the Penal code.

But when the magistrate asked him whether he understood the charge, the accused nodded and shook his head at the same time in a manner that suggested he didn’t.

Akindele repeated the question thrice, and each time the accused nodded and shook his head in confusion.

“The accused does not speak English or Hausa. In the interest of fair hearing, I have no option than to adjourn this case to enable the court to hire the services of an interpreter for the accused to take his plea,” she said.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Patrick Ogele, alleged that the accused lured the victim to

his house where he raped her.

He said that the victim was currently on admission in hospital, receiving treatment for injuries she sustained in the incident.

The case, according to him, was reported at the Durumi Police Station on February 4 by one Simon Jadi, elder brother to the victim. (NAN)

Adaji, told the court that the matter was lodged at the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Mararaba, on March 5 by Mr. Christian Agha of Mammy Market, Mararaba Adaji said that on same date at about 5 a.m., the accused broke into Agha’s shop located in Mammy market and stole N201, 000 and half cartoon of

cigarette valued at N41,000.

He said that the accused was arrested by the security men in the market who were on duty.

Adaji said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 347 and 288 of the Penal code respectively.

If convicted, he faces eight years in prison or with an option to pay a fine or with both.

The accused, who was not represented by any counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The presiding judge, Mr. Albert Maga, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N100, 000 and a surety in like sum.

Maga said that the surety must be a responsible citizen

with landed property and must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.

He ordered that the surety should write an undertaking that the accused will not commit any offence again pending the determination of the case.

Maga adjourned the case until March 20 for hearing proper. (NAN)

… as Police arraign another for theft

A

security guard, Femi Thomas, 25, has appeared in a Grade 1 Area court, in Mararaba, for allegedly stealing N201, 000 and half a cartoon of cigarette.

Thomas, who resides in Gwagalape in Nyanya, Abuja, is charged with breaking into a shop and theft.

The prosecutor, PC Friday

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

INSIDE

Kaduna Revenue etuka2012@gmail.com/meetetus@rocketmail.com 08066605655,08182721672 FG, states, LGs share N641.299bn for February Court pegs tenancy rate at 5% -Pg 20

Stories by Etuka sunday

T

he Federal Government, states and local governments yesterday shared N641.229 billion as monthly allocation for February from the Federation Account.

This was disclosed by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Jonah Otunla shortly after the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

Otunla said, “The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N531.332 billion, which is N27.647 billion more than the N503.685 billion that was shared for the month of January.

“Also distributed is the sum of N7.617 billion refunded by the NNPC to be shared to states and local governments. In addition, the sum of N35.549 billion is proposed for distribution under the SURE-P Programme.

“So the total revenue distributable for the current month, including Value Added Tax (VAT) of N66.801 billion is N641.299 billion,’’ he said.

Giving the breakdown he said that the Federal Government received N247.533billion, representing 52.68 per cent; states, N125.552 billion, representing 26.72 per cent, while local governments received N96.795 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent.

He added that N56.384 billion, representing 13 per cent derivation revenue was shared among the oil producing states.

On VAT, the AGF said that the gross revenue collected in February

was N66.801 billion as against N82.277 billion distributed in January representing a decrease of N15.476 billion.

He said that the mineral revenue collected for February was N569.136 billion, more than the N439.562 billion realised in January making a different of N129.574 billion.

He stated that non-mineral revenue collected during the period under review was N97.609 billion.

The figure he added showed reduction of N3.699 billion from the N101.308 billion that was

collected in January.

Otunla said that N135.413 billion was transferred to the nation’s Excess Crude Account (ECA), thereby bringing the total in the account of ECA to 3.456 billion U.S dollars.

He said that oil revenue for February was impressive in spite the problems such as shutdown of some terminals either because of pipelines leakage or fire outbreak being encountered in the oil sector.

He said that the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company made an exceptional deposit of

N82 billion which he noted helped to boost the revenue for the month under review.

Otunla said that the other matters discussed at the meeting was the issue of oil subsidy which resulted in a 12-man committee to look into the issue.

He said that the committee consisted of six AccountantsGeneral of states and six state commissioners for finance and was expected to conduct the investigation and submit its report at the next meeting of the committee.

Skye Bank launches school children financial literacy programme to tackle poverty -Pg 22

L-R: Principal, Government Science and Technical College, Area 3, Abuja, Malam Idris Mohammed, Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Alhaji Suleiman Barau, and Coordinator of Junior Achievement of Nigeria under Government Science and Technology College, Malam Abbas Ali Danlami, during the Financial Literacy 101 School Outreach Programme to mark the Global Money Week, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Electricity: 30 million Nigerians still in blackout–FG

T

he Federal Government yesterday disclosed that about 30 million Nigerians especially at the rural areas are yet to be connected to electricity national grid therefore there was need for private sector financing to improve electricity supply in the country.

The Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo gave the statistics in Abuja while declaring open, the Nigerian Renewable Energy Private Equity Seminar organised to sensitise investors, fund managers, policy makers and other stakeholders on the need to support the development of renewable energy.

The minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali said according to United Nations Report on access to power, there is still a wide gap in power. Sadly for us here in Nigeria, we still have about 30 million people that do not have access to power at all.”

“This is the reason the federal government is focusing on Renewable Energy (RE) particularly off-grid solar and small hydros that

...Seeks private sector financing to improve supply would not need to depend on the national grid,” he said.

Nebo said the training was meant to sensitise and mobilize stakeholders to initiate an equity fund through private sector participation to promote sustainable energy.

Describing the federal government’s efforts in developing hydroelectricity, Nebo disclosed that government is now rounding up on financing process for the 3050mw Mambilla hydro dam and would soon be flagged off by President Goodluck Jonathan.

“There are 264 hydro dams which have not been fully utilised, so in this first quarter, government did a study and is fixing the turbines and other components in 12 of them to increase their generation capacity,” Nebo added.

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who was represented by Hajia Lare Shuaibu said there is a need to supplement mainstream power generation through the harnessing of renewable energy.

She disclosed that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc (NBET) has received proposals and enquiries on developing the vast renewable energy in Nigeria.

“Giving the national resources of sunlight, wind, biomass among others, we need to start thinking of how they can be harnessed for the power sector,” she added.

In his goodwill message, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Sen. Philip Aduda said despite the vast renewable energy sources, Nigeria still experience acute inadequate power supply.

He maintained that the Renewable Energy section is a new frontier that needs to be developed to boost supply.

“This is a new frontier in the sector, so it needs political will and financiers for this. We must set up codes and standards to create solar power, solar PV among others and this is up to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to hasten it.”

Meanwhile the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale said, “I am happy

that aside the conventional energy generation, we are now joining other country to talk of renewable energy. As legislators, we have to look at its legal impediments of developing renewable energy which we will continuously give our assurance.”

Fighting tax evasion in Nigeria -Pg 21 Exchange Rates

CBN as at 10th March, 2014 Buying

Selling

$

154.7

155.7

€

257.51

259.18

£

214.80

216.19

Riyal

41.26

41.52

YEN

1.49

1.50

CFA

0.30

0.32

Management Tip of the Day It’s not too late to re-invent yourself

P

rofessional reinvention is different later in your career.

Over-50 professionals who hope to make a transition should consider these tips: • Overqualified? Own it. Instead of ducking the issue, lead with it. Having been a manager, you understand the pressures and frustrations your potential employer faces, so you can be an even better employee.

• Social media is no longer optional.

If you don’t have a presence on basic sites like LinkedIn or Twitter, you’re likely to be dismissed as a Luddite.

Your social presence is increasingly viewed as a proxy for staying current professionally.

• Connect with your past. Some of the most valuable professional opportunities come from people we’ve lost touch with. In the years since you last communicated, your “dormant ties” have connected with new people and gathered new knowledge. Your history and shared experience makes it more comfortable to reconnect; reach out and reintroduce yourself.

Source: Harvard Business Review

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 20

Business Kaduna Revenue Court pegs tenancy rate at 5% From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna,

T

he Kaduna State Revenue Court sitting at Daura road Kaduna has ruled that the Kaduna South Local Government Council has the right to increase the tenant rate entitle to it from 1% to 5%.

The court gave this ruling while delivering a preliminary objection brought before it by the defendant/applicants.

The defendant/Applicants C-Way Company and 13 others were dragged before the revenue court by the Kaduna South Local

Government in a suit number Kds/rc/739/2013 stating that the Applicants are supposed to pay 5% of their rent.

However, the Defendant/ Applicants in a preliminary objection stated that the 5% tenant charge demanded by the plaintiff outrageous, saying the charge rate of rent collected by any landlord is 1% and the defendant/ Applicants as commercial entity are excluded.

In the ruling, the Judge stated that the Kaduna State House of Assembly passed a law known as ‘A’ law to provide for the Local Government Councils published

as law No. 16 Annual volume of the law of Kaduna State of Nigeria 2003. The law empowered all local governments in the State to collect tenant rate from landlord or property owners within their jurisdiction.

“Under this law of 2003, part VIII specifically section 89 appoints the local government to serve as rating authorities while section 97 empowered the local government to make bye laws.

“I am satisfied based on the reasons aforementioned that tenants rate is chargeable on commercial properties/ industries and tenant rate is not restricted to

residential properties. Therefore commercial buildings are liable to pay any rate given by the local government.

“Secondly, it is mine candid opinion and I so hold that local government within Kaduna have the power and competence to make bye laws with respect to tenants’ rate including power to review the rate when necessary because Kaduna State House of Assembly law No. 16 of 2013.

“Thirdly, the Kaduna South Local Government, the plaintiff in this action has been empowered by the Kaduna State House of Assembly through its delegated

authority has power to review and if necessary create the percentage of the rate to be charged on tenant rate.

Accordingly, the plaintiff respondent has the right in increasing the tenant rate from 1% to 5%.

“I hereby hold that the proper rate to be paid for commercial building/industry in Kaduna South Local Government area is 5% of the current value of the property situated within the local government area. I equally hold that for the reason aforementioned the plaintiff/ respondent has the competent or lucus standy to initiate this action against the defendant/ applicant. This action as filed before this court is indeed proper.

The preliminary objection did not succeed and is accordingly strucked out.”

Dunoma takes over as FAAN helmsman From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

E

L-R: Special Adviser to the Kaduna state Governor on Trade and Investment, Alhaji Muhammed Lere, exchanging signed memorandum of understanding on promotion of trade and investment with Deputy Director-General, Confederation of India Industry, Ms Supriya Banerji, yesterday in New Delhi, India.

Photo: NAN

By Chris Alu

A

irtel, telecommunications has collaborated with the ministry of secondary education in Chad in order to train 8,000 youth in the country.

The training will focus nurturing young talent to improve their information and communications technology (ICT) capabilities.

Airtel Chad, the leading telecommunications company in the country, plans to carry out training sessions for the youth, equipping them with better skills to handle new challenges as the build their businesses.

The training, organized by the Airtel Centum Training Centre, will comprise several sessions, each consisting of theoretical and practical training on ICT. Speaking at the ceremony,

Airtel to train 8000 Chadian students in various entrepreneurship skills Mr. Salia Gbane, Airtel Chad managing director, said: “Our aim as Airtel Africa in this project is to provide sustainable solutions that will develop the skills of the youth in Chad. We intend to promote socio-economic empowerment by enabling entrepreneurship opportunities through training 500 to 800 young entrepreneurs for a period of two years. We also aspire to certify up to 5,760 youth with the mastery in modern management skills which are critical to growth of Chad’s economy.”

The beneficiaries, empowered with fresh entrepreneurial potential, will have additional

time to develop their skills in the field enabling them nurture small projects that will be supported by Airtel.

On his part, Mr. Ahmat Khazali Acyl, minister of Secondary Education, said: “We are extremely delighted by Airtel’s hearty gesture to partner with us. This project is likely to create significant socioeconomic opportunities in employment by honing the skills of young entrepreneurs. It is our responsibility as the government of Chad, joining hands with private sector partners like Airtel, to create concrete solutions that aim at eradicating poverty and

improve the lives of the youth.

This initiative is the start of new and great business models that will empower the youth and enable them play effective roles within the system.”

“We as Airtel Chad believe that building institutional capacities has a significant impact to the people and is the most effective and sustainable tool to contribute to the growth of the economy.

We trust that this collaboration with the government will be the beginning of new abilities that create strategic opportunities.” added Mr. Abdelhamid Mahamat Senoussi, general secretary, Airtel Chad.

ight days after the Federal government ordered the sack of four head of agencies in the aviation ministry including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN), the new helmsman Engr. Saleh Dunoma formally assumed duties as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the agency yesterday.

At a brief hand-over ceremony, the out-going Managing Director, Mr. George Uriesi applauded the appointment of Engr. Saleh as one of the best decisions taken by government in recent past, adding that it was a boost for the authority.

He extolled Saleh as a straightforward leader, whose humility and dignity never failed to marvel him.

He also expressed appreciation for the great privilege he had working with Engr. Saleh and the entire staff over the past four years, first as a Director and later as Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.

The former Chief Executive explained that even though it would be challenging running the Authority, his desire was to see FAAN blossom.

In his own remarks, the new Managing Director said he had a close working relationship with Mr. Uriesi that he was allowed to take critical decisions on behalf of the former MD. Engr.

Saleh expressed appreciation for the trust and the support he enjoyed from Ureisi adding that his exit from the agency was a fulfillment of destiny, as it was time for him to move somewhere else.

The new Managing Director assures the staff he would continue to build on the good works that the out-going MD had begun.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 21

Tax Alert

Fighting tax evasion in Nigeria

By Ogbole A. Frank

O

ne. Introduction For the development and growth of any society, the provision of basic infrastructure is necessary. This explains why government shows great concern on how funds can be made available to achieve their set goals for the society. Government needs funds to be able to execute its social obligations to the public. These social obligations include but are not limited to the provision of infrastructure and social services. Meeting the needs of the society calls for huge funds which an individual or community could not contribute alone. One of the main methods through which funds are acquired for the government is through taxation. Citizens are expected to discharge their civic responsibility by paying their taxes to contribute to the development and administration of the society at large.

Tax evasion and avoidance remains the greatest problems plaguing tax administration in Nigeria. Apart from salaried employees, most citizens in Nigeria pay inadequate taxes or no taxes at all and this has led to a substantial loss of government revenue. The reasons for such behaviour could be attributed to several factors; the insufficiencies and complexities of tax legislation coupled with taxpayers taking advantage of loopholes in the tax law, high rates of taxation and a lack of sense of civic responsibility amongst the taxpayers.

Tax evasion and avoidance have been a menace which seem to have defied solution had bedevilled the Nigerian tax system right from colonial times.

While some have blamed the situation on the tax authorities for not living up to expectation with regards to tax administration, others attribute it to the unpatriotic attitude of the taxpayers.

This disturbing aversion to taxation has some historical antecedents.

Traditionally, there has always been a hostile response to the payment of tax by the people who viewed tax collectors as a nuisance to the society.

And the few that paid tax, did so with the greatest reluctance. Even in the Bible, instances abound where the Jews treated the tax collectors with disdain and contempt.

This negative attitude continues in modern times and with taxpayers perfecting various methods of frustrating the tax authorities. To say the least, this negative attitude to taxation is unpatriotic in view of the well recognised role which taxation plays in the economy. In fact, it is undeniable today that every government depends to a large extent on taxation not only for its socioeconomic development but also as a means of ameliorating the existing inequalities of wealth in the society.

Definition of Tax Evasion and Avoidance Tax Evasion as defined by the Canadian Department of National Revenue is “the omission or commission of an act knowingly with intent to deceive so that the tax reported by the taxpayer is less than the tax payable under the law, or a conspiracy to commit such an offence. This may be accomplished by the deliberate omission of revenue, fraudulent claiming of expenses or allowances, and the deliberate misrepresentation, concealment or

withholding of material facts.”

Tax practitioners have described tax avoidance as a situation where the taxpayer arranges his financial affairs in a way that would make him pay the least possible amount of tax without infringing the legal rules. It is a term used to denote those various devices which have been adopted with the aim of saving tax and thus sheltering the taxpayers’ income from greater liability which would have been otherwise incurred.

Tax evasion is the wilful and deliberate violation of the law in order to escape payment of tax which is imposed by law of the tax jurisdiction, while tax avoidance is the active means by which the taxpayer seeks to reduce or remove altogether his liability to tax without actually breaking the law.

While the law regards tax avoidance as a legitimate game, tax evasion is seen as immoral and illegal.

These ‘twin devils’ have created a great gulf between actual and potential revenue. The government has perennially complained of the widespread incidence of tax avoidance and evasion in the country as companies and other taxable persons employ various tax avoidance devices to escape or minimize their taxes or deliberately employ fraudulent ways and means of evading tax altogether, sometimes with the active connivance of tax officials.

Tax Evasion Schemes The problem of evasion is much more glaring under the direct assessment method under which the self-employed are taxed than with the indirect assessment method under which employees are taxed. It is generally believed that the self-employed pay less than 10 percent of their personal income tax to the government yearly, while employees pay the remaining 90 percent.

Even civil servants and the other salaried workers are equally guilty of this nefarious practice in the manner in which they abuse the personal allowances and relief statutorily provided by the law. Thus, almost every potential Nigerian civil servant, in their claim for personal allowances and reliefs, would claim falsely that he is married with four children.

Tax evasion has continued to remain an endemic problem in this country. Tax evasion” ... has become so widespread that there now exists a cash economy of widespread proportion which the tax man has no control”.

Tax evasion may be perpetrated in several ways, some of which comprise the following: i.

False claims in respect of children, wife, capital allowances, dependent relatives, life assurance premiums etc; ii.

Understating or false declaration of income receipt from trade, business, professional, vocation or employment; iii.

Omission to state gross amount of dividends, rents etc. received in Nigeria from outside sources. iv.

False claims of contribution to a pension scheme. v.

Reduction of tax liabilities through fraudulent tax returns. vi. Giving incorrect information in relation to any matter or thing suffering the liability to tax of any taxable person.

Types Of Tax Evasion

FIRS Ag Chairman Alhaji Kabiru Mashi Customs Duties: A typical area of tax evasion in Nigeria is the attempt to evade customs duties.

Typically importers try to evade customs duties by either under– invoicing or changing the product description to attract lower rates of duty. A lot of goods are brought into the country through unauthorised routes. This is intended to evade the payment of customs duties.

Personal Income Tax: Unscrupulous employers may try to evade paying employment taxes. Most often this is done by intentionally failing to remit to the tax authorities the employment taxes it collected from its employees. After a certain amount of time, the employer will then dissolve the company or claim bankruptcy, leaving the employment taxes unpaid. Other methods are paying the employees in cash; filing false payroll tax returns, or failing to file payroll tax returns.

VAT Evasion: One of the simplest ways to evade VAT in Nigeria is to inflate the claims to deduct VAT paid at earlier stages or outright fabrication of fake invoices for purchases never made.

Curbing Tax Evasion The federal and various states governments have commendably deployed several measures aimed at curtailing or minimising tax evasion in Nigeria. Most of these measures are contained in various legislation empowering the government department, ministries, agencies or any commercial bank with whom any company has any dealing with respect to any kind of transaction or business to demand from such a person a tax clearance certificate of three years immediately preceding the current year of assessment. In a similar manner, the government introduction of provisional tax within 30 days by corporate entities or the declaration of interim dividends constitute a commendable anti-evasion endeavour. In some states, similar antievasion measures have been adopted.

In other instances, tax evasion measures take the form of legislation which compels performing musicians to pay tax to the government before being allowed to play. Stiff penalties were imposed for failure to comply with such directives.

Our tax laws are replete with punitive momentary measures as well as criminal sanctions aimed at solving this problem. One of such many provisions is section 66 of the Companies Income Tax Act which conferred on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) the power to seize and sell defaulting taxpayers’ goods, chattels as well as their premises in extreme cases in order to recover the amount of tax owned by

such taxpayers. Others are found in the FIRS ACT of 2007 which stipulates the following offences and penalties as follows: i.

Section 40 – FAILURE TO DEDUCT OR REMIT TAX The penalty on conviction is pay tax withheld or not remitted. In addition to a penalty of 10% of the tax withheld or not remitted per annum plus interest at the prevailing CBN rate and imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years. ii.

SECTION 41 – OBSTRUCTION, HINDERING, MOLESTING OR ASSAULTING AUTHORISED PERSON Penalty - N200,000 or three years imprisonment or both. iii.

FALSE DECLARATION Penalty as in section 41. iv.

SECTION 43 – COUNTERFEITING DOCUMENTS, FALSIFICATION, ALTERATION. Penalty as in section 41.

The FIRS, the foremost government agency empowered to collect taxes on behalf of the government, has risen up to the challenge by introducing several measures to help minimise tax evasion.

Prominent among these are:The Introduction of TIN The Tax Identification Number (TIN) is a unique sequential fourteen digit number generated electronically as part of the registration process and assigned to a taxpayer, company, enterprise or individual for identification. This number eases tracking of taxpayers and access to their tax history and records.

This is done in collaboration with the State Boards of Internal Revenue to enhance exchange of information.

This has led to the discovery of fake tax clearance certificates and other ploys to evade tax by taxpayers.

The Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) Amended 2011 The thrust of the amendment is aimed at reducing the tax burden of taxpayers in order to increase their disposable income, especially low income earners. It is also aimed at shifting the tax focus from direct to indirect tax and ensuring equitable income redistribution. This amendment simplifies tax computation in order to encourage voluntary compliance thereby widening the tax base of revenue authorities. Consequently this will result in more revenue for government to provide critical infrastructure and basic amenities to its citizens.

The Integrated Tax Administration System This is geared towards simplification of processes and systems for ease of use by the taxpayers. It will engender the adoption of best practices in FIRS in the areas of business process, taxpayer identification and the automation of core tax processes with a comprehensive taxpayer database as an enabler. It will enhance and simplify the administration of taxation, provide requisite support to critical tax administration functions such as returns and payment processing, revenue and taxpayer accounting, audit and investigation, tax policy and research forecasting etc, in a manner that would otherwise be difficult or tedious in a manual system.

Presumptive Tax Presumptive taxation is a form of tax regime fashioned out to bring taxpayers operating in the informal sector into the tax net. It is predicated

on a taxpayer’s presumed, not actual income, which may not be easy to determine because records are not.

This method of taxation is thought to be effective in reducing tax avoidance as well as equalizing the distribution of the tax burden.

FIRS believes that the implementation of a workable presumptive tax regime will engender easy access to the large pool of taxpayers in the informal sector and bring them into the tax system.

This will enable the government not only to grow the tax base across the three tiers of government, but more importantly, improve tax collection from non-oil tax revenue. If this is done successfully, it will be contribute to the overall development of the Nigerian tax system and the Nigerian economy.

The government has also tightened the laws on tax evasion and severe punishment for tax officials that collude with individuals and organizations to fleece the treasury. Greater efforts should be made by the various governments to spread the tax burden beyond the few captured by the PayAs-You-Earn system and ensure that all taxable adults are captured in the Personal Income Tax regime. The waivers on Company Income Tax should be streamlined to plug the leakages and their rampant abuse.

Furthermore, it is recommended that tax officials should be constantly trained and re-trained on the job, a deliberate and a more aggressive public enlightenment campaign embarked upon by government, t FIRS and other state revenue boards.

• Government should ensure that taxation is a fiscal policy instrument and not just as an instrument of revenue generation. Besides, tax rates reflect economic realities.

• Government should strive to boost the economy and reduce the level of poverty among its citizens because where the majority of the people are poor, tax evasion becomes inevitable.

Government should systematically develop the social and infrastructural sectors to enable the people, especially the self-employed, increase their capacity in the area of production.

Also, a welfare programme should be instituted particularly for the vulnerable (such as young school leavers and the aged) so as to mitigate the burden of those working.

• Members of religious bodies should encourage their members to pay tax to enable the government to bring about developments to the people.

It has become self-evident that the problem of tax avoidance and evasion is hydra-headed. And that though the problem is not peculiar to the Nigerian tax system, its impact here appears more drastic. Thus, there is an urgent need to improve our tax administration and maximise tax revenue necessary for developments.

This is where a crop of honest and capable tax administration officials is of utmost relevance. Though it is quite appreciated that there are penalties and sanctioning provisions, they are far from being adequate and effective.

Furthermore, tax is indispensable in the running of any government, military or civilian, democracy or autocracy. Admittedly, government is the biggest employer of labour in developing economies. Unarguably, it is the highest spender, therefore it needs money to provide essential services for its citizens.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Business

FG to link Katsina with railway lines, says Jonathan From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

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resident Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has disclosed that the Federal Government will link-up Katsina State capital and other state capitals with railway lines as a measure of ensuring the success of mass transit programme.

The president, who made the disclosure, yesterday while on a courtesy visit on the emir of Katsina, said that ‘the mass transit programme cannot succeed with

the use of buses and taxis. We have to link placeswith railway.

Jonathan stressed that he would look into the budget to ensure the issue of linking state capitals with the railway lines was included, adding that water supply schemes would be executed in the state toboost through the completion of Zobe water projects.

He added that when agriculture was given the desired attention it would create employment opportunities, increase economic activities

and create wealth, promising to look into the possibilities of completing the Lambar Rimi Wind Mill Electricity project.

The president however noted that his administration place greater priority to the development of education which he said culminated in the government programme of almajiri schools where he stated that the products of such schools could acquire education up to university level.

Jonathan similarly praised the performance of Katsina

State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema in providing infrastructure in the state, adding ‘Governor Shema is making PDP proud in Katsina State. He is also supporting our efforts in moving the country forward’.

Earlier, welcoming the president to his palace, the emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir Usman urged the president to assist the state capital by linking it with railway line, provision of water and the completion of Lambar Rimi Wind Mill Electricity Projects.

Also speaking Governor Shema thanked the president for the visit and promised that his administration in Katsina state would continue to do more in moving the state forward and ensure the sustainability of peace enjoyed in the state.

L-R: Minister of State for Power, Hon. Mohammed Wakil, in a handshake with Chief Operating Officer, Springcot Group, Mr. Peter Sharper, during the latter’s visit to the minister, on Monday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin ImoOwo

Corruption threatens African tax system

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

T

he Afrobarometers of 29 African countries has shown that tax generation revenue a major source of development resources in African countries has being corrupted by the system.

The surveys conducted in sixteen countries represent 43,500 views of half of the African population revealed that it is difficult to know how

government spend taxes, there is no willingness to pay taxes on the account of corruption and distrust.

Two-thirds of the people interviewed that’s (66%) of the citizens said must pay taxes for their countries to develop.

Majority (52%) favors paying higher taxes in exchange for better services; just one in three (35%) who would give up services in favor of

keeping taxes low. Seventy percent said authorities have the right to make people pay taxes.

Perceived corruption also plays a role in people’s willingness to pay their taxes. More than one in three said most or all tax officials are corrupt; four in ten say at least some tax officials are in tax official’s increases tolerance for tax avoidance in principle and reported non-compliance with tax obligations in practice.

The study tracked revealed since 2002, has an increased figure from 64% to 71%. Half (49%) said its wrong and punishable for people to avoid paying the taxes they owe government. Large majorities report that tax systems remain opaque: 62% said it is difficult to find out what governments uses tax revenue for.Afrobarometer is produced collaboratively by social scientists from more than 30 African countries.

NEITI makes clarifications on alleged NNPC missing oil money

By Etuka Sunday

N

igerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has made clarifications on the alleged crude oil Swap between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with Swiss oil dealers.

NEITI in a statement by its Director of Communications, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji said the presentation to the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Upstream on February 26, 2014 was based on the findings and recommendations

of its 2009-2011 Independent Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report, since NEITI’s appearance at that public hearing, we are concerned that the contents of our presentation to the esteemed committee have been largely misconceived, misinterpreted and misrepresented by some sections of the media.”

“The media report from that presentation attributed to NEITI that “the nation loses $8 billion yearly through crude oil swap.

This is not only wrong but misleading. What NEITI presented and explained at that hearing was

that there is no cost efficiency in the transactions with the offshore processing organisations.

“By this, we mean that the total cost of offshore processing when compared with the reported price of PMS, DPK, AGO and other retained products proceeds paid to NNPC is not economically beneficial to the country. This is as a result of the under-deliveries of petroleum products to the tune of $866 million by the companies involved in the swap.

“From the same presentation, another report attributed to

NEITI stated that the agency has uncovered $22.8 billion unremitted funds to the Federation. This report carried by several newspapers is equally inaccurate.It added that the presentation does not mean that NEITI has discovered some funds hidden somewhere or monies that were unaccounted for by the NNPC. “That was why NEITI recommended that all alternative funding arrangements should be disclosed in the audited financial statements of NNPC for clarity and openness in line with the NEITI principles.”

Skye Bank launches school children financial literacy programme to tackle poverty

S

kye Bank on yesterday inaugurated a financial literacy programme for secondary school students in the FCT to equip them with financial knowledge and planning skills.

Inaugurating the programme at the Government Day Secondary School, (GDSS) Wuse 2, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the bank, Mr Kehinde Durosimi-Etti, said the exercise would also help the youth in preparing for the future.

“It helps you plan; it helps you know more about yourself; brings a show of self-assurance to how you manage your money; and it prepares you for life.

“Education in the country is limited, and education and financial literacy go together.

“The level of education is still fairly low compared to the population, especially the adult population.

“Therefore, you would expect that financial literacy would be limited; what also limit financial literacy the more are those that are included in the financial system where you don’t have branches “There are still a lot of people that do not have bank accounts; so there is a large number of people that either don’t have accounts, and there are also large areas that are under-banked.`` Durosimi-Etti said that financial literacy could help grow a population that would be financially capable and more productive. The Skye Bank boss said the focus was purely on children in both public and private primary and secondary schools nationwide.

According to him, the programme will educate the children on how to address issues relating to poverty.

He said, ``we have raised a team that will ensure the sustainability of this initiative which will run over the next nine months. ``We believe that moneymanagement skills are pertinent for children and they must be taught with applied curriculum to develop decision-making skills.’’

Mr Akor Joseph, the Principal, GDSS, Wuse 2, said that Skye bank was the official bank of the school for four years and the school had never experienced any disappointment.

He expressed the hope that at the end of the day, the students would benefit immensely from the programme. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 23

Stock Watch

Report as at Thursday, March 13, 2014

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Peoples Daily, Friday, March 14, 2014

PAGE 24

Special Report

Jonathan’s spiritual tourism and race for 2015

T

he President, who is usually accompanied by top government functionaries, often times cease the opportunity of worship to address the congregation on issues that relate to politics and governance of the nation.

However, many observers say that while the president is at liberty to decide his religious fai th in any Christian denomination of his choice, what many Nigerians do not find palatable is a situation where the nation’s number one citizen makes political announcements in the house of God. President of the Catholic Bishops conference, Ignatius Kaigama is among those who have criticised President Jonathan over his frequent visit to churches. He accused the President of using religious platforms to play politics and also further his political ambition. Kaigama’s views are not different from those of his Catholic Church clerics.

According to Catholic priest, George Ehusani, “I think that the current President is mixing politics with religion. He is the President of the whole Nigeria; he is not only the president of Christians. He is a Christian

in seeking anotherterm in office. And now that the presidential election has beenscheduled to take place on February 14, 2015, Jonathan has intensifiedhis visits to churches. Since the year began, Jonathan has worshippedin not less than three churches in various parts of the country.

On January 26, 2014, Jonathan was at the Living Faith Church, Keffi,Nasarawa state, to worship with the over 20, 000 members of thechurch.

He was accompanied by his son Ariwera, Olajumoke Akinjide,minister of State for the FCT, Abuja, and Dameshi Luka, deputy governor of Nasarawa state. Speaking at theservice, Jonathan assured Nigerians that the nation would overcome itsdaunting challenges with the prayers of the ‘faithful’ and commitmentof the leaders.

Criticisms have been trailing President Goodluck Jonathan over his frequent visits to different churches in the nation’s capital, Abuja, Aminu Imam reports who is President but while a Christian is President in a country that is 50% Christian and 50% Muslim, you have to be careful”.

The catholic priest wants the religious leaders in Nigeria to be mindful of the manner in which they relate with the political class, noting that there should be a clear distinction between religion and politics.

Ehusani also insists that: “Christianity has made more progress during periods of persecution than during periods where we can say the President is a member of our church or the governor is a member of our church; because what often happens is that the churches lose their neutrality”.

A Christian faithful, Mike Omololu is of the view that “there needs to be a dividing line between going to church to worship and going to church to make political statements especially because we need to

Christian Ecumenical church, Abuja

be sensitive to other peoples beliefs in this country”.

Many see the President’s regular visits to churches as a solemn move to seek divine intervention to Nigeria’s many challenges. However, this line of thought raises fresh argument in the neverending debate on national development.”If you are praying for a corrupt-free Nigeria, after that prayer, there has to be a commitment not to be involved in corruption at all” Ehusani added.

President Jonathan’s tour of churches is coming a few months after his visit to the Holy land in Jerusalem for spiritual rebirth.

As part of his on-going ‘Presidential Church Tour’, PresidentJonathan, in February, stormed the Garki headquarters of the DunamisInternational Gospel Centre, Abuja.

Jonathan, who worshiped at the church with few of his

Less than three weeks after his visit to the Living Faith Church,Jonathan was in Lagos, on February 16, 2014, for a Sunday service at theRedeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Tree Parish, Ikoyi.

In continuation of what some sections of the media now refer to as”The Presidential Church Tour”, Jonathan also visited the DunamisGospel Centre, one of the most popular churches in Abuja, on February23, 2014. Like he did in other churches, Jonathan told thecongregation that their prayers were what had kept the country from disintegration. “If you watch the television, both local and foreign,we always have negative news as breaking news. The whole world isalmost in trouble and as a nation, we are bound to have our own fairshare of the

“

President Goodluck Jonathan kneeling before Pastor Adeboye

aides speciallythanked the Senior pastor of the church and his wife, Dr. and Dr. Mrs. Paul Eneche for what he said God is using them to do in the lives ofNigerians.

Meanwhile, political opponents of President Jonathan accuse him of usingthe pulpit of the churches he visits to launch his 2015 presidentialcampaign.

When on December 14, 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan stormed theLagosIbadan expressway camp ground of the Redeemed Christian Churchof God, RCCG, to take part in the annual convention of the, hispolitical opponents never attached any ulterior motive to hispresence. In fact, many people considered it a normal occurrence. But eyebrows were raised the moment they saw the president kneelingbefore Enoch Adeboye, the general overseer of the church for aspecial prayer.

Said Jonathan to Adeboye, on that occasion: “Safety in Nigeria is thepriority of our government; just pray for us that God should give uswisdom.

We will work hard against

robbery; we are committed totackling corruption and mismanagement of public funds and we are alsocommitted to educational development. But I must tell you that none of these will work if God is not there for us.

Pray that God should guideus.

It is only God that can help me to change things. Pray for me nowthat I am the sitting president of your country.

Pray for me not todeviate from the fear of God.” But before the ‘man of God’ could grant his request, the picture ofJonathan kneeling before Adeboye had gone viral on the internet.Expectedly, it generated mixed reactions from members of the public.

While his admirers commended him for recognising the place of the menof God in the affairs of the country, his critics accused him ofplaying religious politics. Commentators on Facebook, Twitter andother social media websites concluded by that kneeling before a prominent religious leader of Adeboye’s calibre, Jonathan was seekingsubtle endorsement for second term even though general elections werestill three years away.

For instance, Tunde Bakare, controversial Lagos pastor of Latter RainAssembly, was very blunt in his disapproval of Jonathan’s action. Saidthe Pastor: “Kneeling before Adeboye was a clear campaign tactic,which also diminishes the president and his office.

Jonathan hassignalled the commencement of his presidential campaign by goingto kneel down before Pastor Adeboye. See, I am not saying that pastorsshould not pray for the president, but Jonathan is a symbol of aninstitution known as the presidency. He cheapened the institution byprostrating before a man of God because of perceived politicaladvantage he thinks he can get.

“By going to kneel down in the open before the pastor, the man(Jonathan) did not even recognise the dignity of his office. If itwere a private thing, it is okay for you to crawl or kneel but it is awhole nation. That office has been diminished by a man who does not know the worth of it and does not deserve to stay there for one moreday”.

More than two years after his outburst, it now appears

as if Bakare’sclaim that Jonathan was seeking subtle endorsement for a second termin office by visiting churches is true.

Although Jonathan is yet toformally throw his hat into the ring for the 2015 election, it is widely believed that the president is interested

It appears harmless but Jonathan’s ‘church tour’ is a serious concernfor his political opponents. While his admirers opine that he has aright to worship anywhere he chooses, many in the antiJonathan groupsee as it a subtle way of campaigning for votes ahead of the 2015general elections. Matthew Dauda, an Abuja- based public affairsanalyst, said even though Jonathan has a right to worship anywhere,the timing of his visits to churches might send the wrong signals tothe public

In continuation of what some sections of the media now refer to as”The Presidential Church Tour”, President Jonathan also visited the DunamisGospel Centre, one of the most popular churches in Abuja, on February23.

negative news. With your prayers, surely we will overcome our challenges.”

As if visiting these three churches were not sufficient reason for hisopponents to accuse him of playing religious politics, Jonathanannounced recently that he would henceforth worship outside the AsoRock Villa every last Sunday of the month. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports, the president made the announcementthe day he worshipped at the Dunamis Gospel Centre in Abuja. He hingedhis decision to shuttle from one church to another on the need to showappreciation to Christians for their prayers.

It appears harmless but Jonathan’s ‘church tour’ is a serious concernfor his political opponents. While his admirers opine that he has aright to worship anywhere he chooses, many in the anti-Jonathan groupsee as it a subtle way of campaigning for votes ahead of the 2015general elections.

Matthew Dauda, an Abujabased public affairsanalyst, said even though Jonathan has a right to worship anywhere,the timing of his visits to churches might send the wrong signals tothe public.

“As a Nigerian, no one can deny him his right to worship anywhere. Buthe is the president and that makes a lot of difference. The last timehe did something like this was when we were preparing for the 2011elections. He disappeared after he won the election and now he hasresurfaced because another election is barely a

year away. I honestly think it is a campaign strategy.”

Like many of Jonathan’s political foes, Bishop Ignatius Kaigama, theCatholic Archbishop of Jos, recently advised Jonathan to stop playingpolitics in the church.

Featuring on a political programme on cabletelevision network, Kaigama said Nigerian politicians do not care about the people but are only interested in the pursuit of personalinterests.

“All we want are politicians who are ready to serve Nigerians.Nigerians have suffered enough. The politicians that get into powerconcentrate their whole energy in helping themselves.

If I have tomeet the governors or the president, I wouldn’t have to hide my disappointment. Our leaders are not giving their best to the nation.”

But Julius Adesoji, a staunch supporter of Jonathan, sees nothingwrong in Jonathan’s visit to churches.

“It is natural to use what youhave to get what you want. So if the president’s political opponentsfeel it is a campaign strategy, they should do the same too.

After all, in the northern parts of this country, emirs tell people who tovote for.

So, there is nothing wrong if pastors support Jonathan andhelp him to win in 2015.”

As the 2015 election draws nearer, itremains to be seen what Jonathan’s visits to churches can achieve forhim.

Jonathan with Pastor Paul Eneche of Dunamis Gospel Centre

PAGE 26

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Press Release On Comments About White Paper On ALAKYO KILLINGS

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NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL COUNCIL MEETING OF KATSINA ISLAMIC FOUNDATION Members of the General Council of Katsina Islamic Foundation (Proprietor of Katsina University Katsina) are hereby invited to attend the Annual General Council Meeting of the Foundation.

The General council Meeting is being convened in accordance with Foundation’s constitution Part V Section 9 Sub-section 4 (a).

The Meeting is scheduled to take place as follows: Date: Saturday 29th March, 2014 Time: 11:00am Venue: Katsina University Multipurpose Hall, Katsina.

Note: New members wishing to join the Foundation and interested in participating at the above meeting may wish to contact the Executive Secretary of the Foundation at the Foundation’s Secretariat, Katsina University Katsina along Katsina – Dutsinma High Way, Katsina or the following: e-mail address:- islamicfoundationkatsina@rocketmail.com, kislamic foundation@yahoo.com or +2348033109234, +2348029650808 Signed: Qadi Ibrahim Mai-Unguwa Umar Chairman, Board of Trustees

he attention of Nasarawa state Government has been drawn to comments by individuals and organizations who have been indicted by the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Alakyo killings which White Paper was released Monday,10 March,2014 to the effect that Government had a premeditated agenda, too quick in studying and releasing its views or was targeting the Eggon ethnic group for Demonization or criminalization.

Government would have ignored their rantings but for the danger of allowing their comments to mislead gullible public and adding salt to the injury inflicted on the deceased and their relatives who are daily agonizing over the unexplained murder of their loved ones by a rampaging murderous ethnic militia.

It is a fact that the Judicial Commission submitted its Report on Friday,7 March,2014 after the proscribed Ombatse Militia had sought to prevent the submission of the Report by challenging the Commissions legitimacy in the State High Court.

Following the dismissal of their legal suit and Subsequent submission of the Report,Government promptly considered the Report and released it along with its views in consonance with usual administrative practice.

It is instructive to inform those who might be fooled by comments of indicted individuals that the Report consists of Main Report and its appendices in 5 volumes(Record of proceedings,exhibits,video recording of proceedings,written memoranda to the Commission and pictures).

Government has the obligation of expeditiously considering the Main Report in view of the urgent need to let the public know the truth of the unfortunate killings and set the stage for the trial of those indicted by the Commission.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the world is anxiously waiting to know what happened to these heroes who were brutally murdered in their pursuit for justice and peace. Government is desirous of keeping its mandate of promoting peaceful coexistence and good governance hence its prompt response. This is a departure from the usual practice of consigning such reports to the dustbins. We will not shirk in this constitutional responsibility nor can we allow ourself to be distracted by promoters of burying reports or taking ages to consider them. Or are they expecting Government to sacrifice the Report the sake of time? What time is required to read a 200 page Report?

We enjoin these people to show remorse and sympathy to the families of the deceased rather raising issues outside the substance of the findings,recommendations and consequent views of Government on the Report of a JUDICIAL Commission.

Another comment relates to the allegation of demonizing the Eggin tribe and criminalizing its ‘political’ leaders. This hackneyed refrain had been the stock in trade of these indicted people when ever they attack and murder people and destroy communities since the advent of the rampaging murderous Ombatse militia. They are always quick to raise these refrains after every of Ombatse attacks. The Judicial Commission report rightly found this tendency and predilection and even found that all Ombatse are Eggon but not all Eggon are Ombatse. This clearly shows that Government has no intention of profiling the Eggon tribe but desirous of nipping the Ombatse menace in the bud.

It is pertinent to reiterate Governments position thus because of the danger of reducing the all important sacrifice of these eminent Nigerians who toiled day and night for months to prepare this Report.

We also note the undue attention focused in Federal,state and other agencies as negligent in this matter. The task of reigning these militia group is a joint responsibility of all peace loving Nigerians but principally our hardworking security agencies.

We hope that with measures suggested by the Commission never again will Nasarawa State witness such brazen show of unhindered pogrom. The public is also enjoined to read the White Paper so as nit to fall prey to the well oiled media strategy of Ombatse,their financiers or those indicted in the Report.

Hon. AbdulhamidYakubuKwarra, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Governors Office,Lafia

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 27

International

12 Years a Slave: The story behind the story is history too It took 160 years for Solomon Northup’s story to reach movie theatres across the world

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ANALYSIS

f high school students begin studying the book, and Steve McQueen’s film, 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup’s story will be etched into the canon of US history. But how is it that a historically significant memoir was ignored? In delving for answers, I found that the journey of Northup’s book from obscurity to an Oscar-winning film offers as much as the story itself on issues of history, bias and perspective.

I wondered why I had never heard of Northup.

At a private high school in the US in the early 1990’s, my teachers injected their personal convictions into the curriculum.

One in particular would read passages from Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, and weep in class. On slavery, we studied Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

Surprisingly, Northup was a contemporary of these activists in a time when public interest in his case was high.

The story behind the story So, what happened from the moment Northup told his

story in 1853 until the film adaptation in 2013?

Twelve Years a Slave sold about 27,000 copies in two years. Northup’s two kidnappers were arrested after the book’s publication; however, jurisdictional issues dogged the process and after three years the case was discharged. Around this time Northup disappeared and no record of his death has been found.

After his release from slavery, there are strong indications that he was involved in the Underground Railroad, and records pointing to possible financial problems, but no clear answers on whether he was able to stitch his life back together.

The book goes out of print, to remain so, for some 100 y e ar s , u nt il a y ou ng g irl is given Twelve Years a Slave to

read on a Louisiana plantation.

In 1936, Dr Sue Eakin, as she would become, discovers another copy of the book and buys it for 25 cents after the bookseller deems it “pure fiction”.

She goes on to spend decades painstakingly researching the details of the narrative, resurrecting the book by publishing an annotated version in 1968, and updating it in 2007, when she was 88 years old, two years before her death.

In 1999, Rachel Seligman, then director of the Union College gallery in Schenectady, New York, curates an exhibit on Northup, largely based on Eakin’s 1968 edition.

That same year, a resident of Saratoga Springs, New York, Renee Moore, initiates “Solomon Northup Day - A Celebration of Freedom”.

“

In January 2013, Seligman teams up with authors Clifford Brown and David Fiske to publish Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave.

McQueen’s film was not the first to be made on Northup’s life. In 1984, Gordon Parks, the photographer, composer, writer and director of Shaft (1971), made a television film based on the book Twelve Years a Slave entitled Solomon Northup’s Odyssey.

I struggled with a paradox: It took the 2013 movie to make Northup’s experience known; yet, without those keeping the book alive, McQueen would not have found it. So, what does the journey of Northup’s story tell us?

For me, it shows that remembering, albeit painful, is a shared responsibility.

The journey of Northup’s story inspires us to look at the present differently. It tells us to observe, and to try to understand. Most of all, I believe it has

This is not just theoretical, but tangible. We may be custodians of journals, books, papers, and photos, which we don’t know the value of.

In footnote 190 of the 2007 edition of Twelve Years a Slave, Eakin tells us that information on the Canadian man who assisted Solomon Northup in obtaining freedom came to her through a former student: The great granddaughter of this man’s lawyer.

Like my intrepid history teachers counseled: Look around and underneath what you have in front of you.

Though Northup slipped t h r o u g h t h e ir fingers, they taught us the ability to research, and the knowledge of first-hand accounts that might illuminate an otherwise one-sentence remark in a history book.

The journey of Northup’s story inspires us to look at the present differently. It tells us to observe, and to try to understand. Most of all, I believe it has the capacity to teach students to think for themselves. This is the example set first and foremost

by Solomon Northup, then by those who cradled his story until it could be projected to a larger audience, and finally by the director and makers of the singular film 12 Years a Slave.

Courtesy: Aljazeera

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 28

International

13 suspected touts arrested by police at embassies in Lagos

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he police in Lagos on Wednesday arrested0 13 suspected touts in front of some embassies at Walter Carrington Street on Victoria Island in Lagos.

The Commissioner of police in Lagos State, Mr Umar Manko, who confirmed the arrest, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspects were arrested during a raid.

Manko said that the touts people were constituting some nuisance in front of embassies in the area, saying that the raid would continue to check illegal activities in the area.

An embassy staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NAN that 27 people were arrested by policemen attached to the Bar Beach Police Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer, Mr Fayoade Adegoke.

The embassy worker said that after the screening of the suspects, 13 people who could not identify themselves with genuine identity cards were arrested.

“A number of touts, agents and vendors continue to harass visa applicants daily in front of our embassy building.

“The property along the road we use for parking lot had been blocked by touts loitering around.

Masked gunmen attack army bus in Cairo

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n officer was killed and three others injured when gunmen opened fire on an army bus in Cairo.

The Egyptian army said the Muslim Brotherhood was behind the attack, according to Reuters news agency on Thursday.

“Masked armed men belonging to the terrorist Brotherhood targeted a bus of the armed forces... which led to the martyrdom of the Warrant Officer Yusri Mahmoud Mohamed Hassan,” the army spokesman said in a statement on Facebook.

Gunmen riding a motorcycle attacked the bus in the Amiriya neighbourhood of Cairo.

Egypt’s state news agency and state television confirmed the death of one officer and the injury of three others.

Personnel from the security directorate deployed at the scene of the attack, under the command of General Mohamed Qasim, head of the investigations directorate for the capital, local media reported.

A security cordon was established in the area and traffic redirected while the investigation was under way.

Life term sought for Rwanda genocide suspect F rench prosecutors in the trial for genocide of a former Rwandan army captain have requested life imprisonment for the defendant, in the first such case being heard by a French court.

Pascal Simbikangwa denies the charges but prosecutor Bruno Sturlese asked the jury on Wednesday to declare him guilty of “genocide”, and not only of complicity, the charge

The trial is the first in France dealing with the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed 800,000 lives

brought against him during the trial.

A verdict is expected on Friday, within weeks of the start of commemorations of the 1994 massacres that claimed an estimated 800,000 lives, most of them from the minority Tutsi ethnic group.

On Wednesday the prosecutor branded Simbikangwa an ethnic “cleanser” who was “radically committed” to his work, and a “man capable of the worst”.

The trial was historic in that it is the first in France dealing with the Rwandan genocide, he said.

Rwanda repeatedly accused France of having backed the regime responsible for the massacres and of protecting those responsible.

Rwanda last month condemned a decision by France’s top appeals court to block the extradition of three genocide suspects and

expressed hope they would be tried on French soil.

The French Court of Cassation on February 26 overturned a November lower court ruling approving the extradition of Claude Muhayimana and Innocent Musabyimana.

It also upheld a September decision by another court rejecting the extradition of Laurent Serubuga, a former colonel, also wanted by Kigali over the 1994 massacres.

run again. He did little to ease questions about the president’s health when he said he would not need to campaign himself because there were plenty who could do that for him.

Also on Wednesday, Algerian police prevented opposition leaders from marching to demand a boycott of next month’s election in protest against what they see as Bouteflika’s unfair advantage in the race.

Why are they so afraid? It is a peaceful march, all we want is to convey a message that Bouteflika is too old, too ill to rule Algeria.

Opposition members, including figures from the secularist party Rally for Culture

and Democracy (RCD) and the Islamist Movement for Peace and Society (MSP), believe Bouteflika’s decision ends fair competition in the election.

Police stopped about 60 protesters from the RCD and MSP who were showing red signs with the word ‘Boycott’ and told them their demonstration was illegal.

“Why are they so afraid?

It is a peaceful march, all we want is to convey a message that Bouteflika is too old, too ill to rule Algeria,” said Abdelkader Ait Ali, one of those who tried to take part.

A week ago, the police prevented a movement called Barakat, a small group of protesters including journalists,

from marching in the capital Algiers to call for a boycott.

On the same day, Algerian private television channel Al Atlas TV, which has strongly criticised the government, said that it had been ordered to stop broadcasting after police raided its headquarters.

Al Atlas information director Ghoul Hafnaoui told AFP news agency that the satellite channel went off the air in midmorning, “under orders from the authorities,” a day after police searched its premises and seized equipment.

The public prosecutor ordered the search as part of an investigation whose purpose has not been made known, Hafnaoui said.

Algeria PM to run Bouteflika campaign

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lgerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal will resign to run the reelection campaign of the country’s ageing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a source close to the presidency said.

Sellal will be replaced as by Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi, the source told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

Backed by the National Liberation Front (FLN) party and the army, Bouteflika is almost assured of five more years in power. But his rare appearances have generated doubts about his health and about what happens if he is too sick to rule.

Sellal himself was the first to announce Bouteflika would

Cairo extends detention of Al Jazeera journalist

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Al-Shami has been on a hunger strike since January

Cairo criminal court has extended the detention of a journalist working for Al Jazeera Arabic, while postponing the trial of three others from its English-language sister channel.

This week, the court extended Abdullah al-Shami’s detention for a further 45 days.

Al-Shami has already been held for more than six months and has been on a hunger strike since January 23.

Meanwhile, the trial of three Al Jazeera English journalists

in Egypt has been adjourned until March 24. The defendants remain in jail on charges of spreading false news and belonging to a “terrorist group”.

Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who have been held for more than two months, appeared in court for the second time last week when witnesses for the prosecution were heard.

Al Jazeera rejects the charges against its staff and continues to call for their release.

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Page 29

International

Dead Indian guru ‘meditating’ in freezer A

n Indian guru declared dead has been in a deep freezer in his ashram for nearly six weeks with followers confident he will return to life to lead them, his spokesman said.

Devotees placed Ashutosh Maharaj, whom authorities declared clinically dead on January 29, in the freezer and have been watching over his body in the sprawling ashram in a small town in northern Punjab state.

Maharaj, reportedly in his 70s, headed the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (Divine Light Awakening Mission). He claimed to have millions of followers around the world.

Mission spokesman Swami Vishalanand insisted their leader was not dead, but was in fact in a state of samadhi, the highest level of meditation, and was therefore still conscious.

Vishalanand told AFP that followers were now waiting for him

to end his meditation. Until then, the ashram in Nurmahal town would stay open with followers performing their own mediations and spiritual sessions.

“Mahara-ji (a Hindi term of respect) is still sending messages through followers in their meditative stage to protect his body till he returns,” he said earlier this week.

The decision to place him in the freezer was challenged in court by a man claiming to be his

Protests erupted against Ashutosh Maharaj in 2009 over some of his statements

former driver, who alleged several followers were not releasing the body as they were seeking a share of the guru’s properties, local media reports said.

But the court rejected the man’s petition after receiving information from authorities confirming his death, reportedly from a heart attack, said Reeta Kohli, additional advocate general of Punjab state.

“The court rejected his pleas after the Punjab government said that the man is clinically dead and that it is up to his followers to decide what they want to do with the body,” Kohli told AFP. Senior district police officer Gurinder Singh Dhillon said police “cannot interfere” now that the court has made its ruling.

Maharaj’s website, which says the mission was founded in 1983 and has spiritual centres around the world, has thanked its followers for standing by the mission while the guru undertakes his meditation.

Vishalanand said scores of spiritual leaders throughout history have travelled to the Himalayas for months of samadhi in freezing temperatures, before returning to life.

The case is reminiscent of something similar that happend in eastern West Bengal state in the 1990s, when followers of another godman, Balak Brahmachari, refused to cremate him after he died, saying he would come back to life.

China revises death toll off tunnel blast

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hinese state media said the death toll from a little-reported road explosion has risen to 31, nearly two weeks after the blast shook a highway tunnel in northwestern China.

The official Xinhua News Agency did not explain the jump in death toll from an early report of 13 but said an ad-hoc investigation team convened on Thursday when it revealed the latest death toll.

The news report came after China concluded its annual meeting of its ceremonial congress in Beijing, raising questions if the information was kept under wraps to avoid disruption to the convention.

Xinhua said a coal truck and a vehicle carrying liquid methanol collided inside the tunnel in Shaanxi province on March 1, causing a blast and setting fire to more coal trucks.

Death sentence for Delhi rapists upheld

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n Indian court has upheld the death sentence for four men convicted of raping and killing a medical student in New Delhi in December 2012.

The Delhi Hig h C o u r t o n Thursday upheld the order to hang the four men handed down in their trial last September.

Mukhesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan and Akshay Thakur were found guilty of the rape and murder of the student in a moving bus that shook the nation and triggered unprecedented street protests.

The girl was brutally assaulted and

then thrown off the bus.

Her friend, with whom she had gone to watch a movie and was with her in the bus, was also beaten up by the men.

Another accused, bus driver Ram Singh, died in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in an apparent suicide.

A sixth member of the group, who was a minor at the time of the crime, was tried under laws for juveniles and sentenced to three years in a reformatory.

The gangrape and murder sent shockwaves across the nation. It prompted the federal government to enact stricter laws against sex crimes.

The horrific crime triggered nationwide protests and forced the government to bring stricter laws

Asia & Middle East China ‘will not give up’ on Malaysia MH370

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hina will not give up the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight, MH370, “as long as there is a glimmer of hope”, its premier has said.

Of the 239 passengers on the aircraft, which vanished without trace on Saturday, 153 were Chinese citizens Premier Li Keqiang told a news conference on Thursday: “Those people’s families and friends are burning with anxiety. The Chinese government and the Chinese people are all deeply concerned about their safety. We are all eagerly awaiting news about the plane, even the slightest piece of good news.”

China had eight ships taking part in the search efforts, with a ninth on its way, and had deployed 10 satellites, he said.

“We will not give up on any suspected clue that has been found,” Li said, after the end of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.

His remarks came as the Wall Street Journal reported that the aircraft remained airborne for hours after its disappearance from radars.

The US paper said that aviation investigators and national security officials believed the plane flew for a total of five hours based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the Boeing 777’s engines, as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring programme.

The plane was heading east over the South China Sea when it disappeared, but authorities believe it may have turned back and headed into the upper reaches of the Malacca Strait or beyond.

The hunt for MH370 has been punctuated by false leads since it vanished hours after leaving the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for Beijing early on Saturday.

Malaysia’s civil aviation chief said no signs of the missing Malaysian aircraft MH370 had been found at a location where Chinese satellite images showed what was thought to be plane debris floating in the South China Sea. Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said planes searched the location on Thursday. “There is nothing. We went there, there is nothing,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Vietnamese officials previously said the area had already been “searched thoroughly” in recent days.

On Thursday Malaysia Airlines said it had retired the missing aircraft’s flight code as a sign of respect to the passengers and crew on board.

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PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

International

New York buildings explode and collapse

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13:30 GMT on a largely residential Upper Manhattan block at East 116th Street and Park Avenue.

Clouds of thick smoke billowed from the rubble of the apartment houses that had sat above a groundlevel church and a piano store in a largely Latino working-class neighborhood, according to the Reuters news agency.

Con Edison, which is one of the gas companies here, said that they were responding to a gas-like odour just before the explosion occurred.

Al Jazeera’s Morgan Radford, reporting from the scene.

Pockets of fire and heat smoldered inside the mounds of debris for many hours after the blasts, complicating search-and rescue operations that continued under flood lights through

the night, city Fire Department spokesman Michael Parrella said.

He said city officials estimated that the number of people unaccounted for is about four.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who rushed to the scene in East Harlem, where a cascade of twisted and burnt metal blocked the sidewalk and covered parked cars, said preliminary information showed the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

“Con Edison, which is one of the gas companies here, said that they were responding to a gas-like odour just before the explosion occurred,” said Al Jazeera’s Morgan Radford, reporting from the scene.

Two women were confirmed early in the day as having been killed, and the body of a third woman was

found in the rubble later in the day, police said. Late on Wednesday night, search teams pulled the body of a fourth victim from the site, fire department spokesman Khalid Baylor said.

Police said that a body of an adult female and a male were found among the debris early on Thursday.

A few weeks ago, Borrero said, city fire officials were called about the odor, which he said was so bad that a tenant on the top floor broke open the door to the roof for ventilation.

“It was unbearable,’’ said Borrero, who lived in a second-floor apartment with his mother and sister, who were away at the time of the explosion.

“You walk in the front door and you want to turn around and walk directly out.’’

erman Chancellor Angela Merkel has issued a stark warning to Russia, saying it would suffer “massive” economic and political damage if it did not change its course over Ukraine.

In an address to the German Bundestag on Thursday, Merkel told politicians that the European Union was ready to impose sanctions if Russia refused to enter into diplomatic talks to end the crisis in Ukraine.

She said: “If Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine. We would not only see it, also as neighbours of Russia, as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union’s relationship with Russia.

“No, this would also cause massive damage to Russia, economically and politically.”

Merkel also said Ukraine’s territorial integrity was “not up

for discussion” - a reference to this Sunday’s vote on whether the Crimea peninsula should retain connections with Kiev or join the

Russian Federation. The region has a significant ethnic Russian population.

Pro-Russian troops moved

into Crimea after Ukraine’s proKremlin leader Viktor Yanukovich was ousted by parliament on February 22.

Devyani Khobragade

US judge has thrown out charges against an Indian diplomat whose New York arrest and strip-search sparked a bitter diplomatic row with Delhi.

Devyani Khobragade was arrested on December 12 outside her children’s New York school, accused of defrauding her Indian housekeeper’s visa application.

An outraged India claimed full diplomatic immunity on her behalf after Khobragade said she was subjected to a cavity search while in custody.

Employed at the Indian consulate in New York, she acquired in January the full diplomatic immunity granted to diplomats at

the Indian mission to the UN. It was on grounds of immunity that she petitioned a US court on January 9 to drop the case.

US District Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed the indictment on Wednesday on grounds that Khobragade was granted full diplomatic immunity on January 8.

“Even if Khobragade had no immunity at the time of her arrest and has none now, her acquisition of immunity during the pendency of proceedings mandates dismissal,” Scheindlin wrote.

“Khobragade’s conditions of bail are terminated, and her bond is exonerated... It is ordered that any

open arrest warrants based on this indictment must be vacated.”

Khobragade returned to India in January, leaving behind her two daughters and husband, a US citizen.

Khobragade told an Indian newspaper of her anguish at being separated from her seven- and four-year-old girls and their father, an academic.

US prosecutors, disputing her immunity, accused Khobragade of sometimes forcing her Indian maid to work 100-hour weeks, even when sick and often without a day off, for pay as little as $1.22 an hour. Khobragade has denied the charges.

gas leak triggered an earthshaking explosion that flattened two New York City apartment buildings, killing at least seven people, injuring more than 60 and leaving four others unaccounted for, officials said.

Fire Department spokesman Danny Glover said on Thursday morning that a seventh body had been found in the rubble. Three bodies were found on Wednesday and three more overnight.

A tenant told the Associated Press that residents had complained repeatedly in recent weeks about “unbearable’’ gas smells.

The blast, which scattered debris across nearby rooftops, brought down the adjoining five-story buildings, with a total of 15 apartments, at about

Russia risks ‘massive damage’ over Ukraine

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US dismisses charges against Indian diplomat

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Europe and America Venezuela students clash with riot police

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hree more people were killed in Venezuela in clashes between police and anti-government protesters, raising the death toll from weeks of demonstrations to 24.

Police on Wednesday fired tear gas and water cannon at scores of rockhurling students in the capital, Caracas, where about 3,000 students marched to mark a month since the first deaths in weeks of demonstrations.

There were similar opposition protests in the cities of San Cristobal, Merida and Valencia.

The demonstrations have been fuelled by public fury over deteriorating living conditions in the oil-rich South American country. Violent crime, shortages of essential goods like toilet paper, and inflation have combined to create the most serious challenge yet for leftist President Nicolas Maduro.

A student and a civilian were killed during protests in Venezuela’s third city Valencia, while a member of the Bolivarian National Guard died in clashes in the nearby city of Naguanagua.

The governor of Carabobo state, home to both cities, blamed antigovernment “snipers” for the student’s death in a friendly fire incident. But local media said Jesus Acosta, 20, died from a shot to the head near his home, adding that he was not participating in protests at the time.

Guillermo Sanchez, 42, died of a bullet wound and was shot outside his home, Valencia’s opposition Mayor Miguel Cocchiola said on Twitter.

Ameliach said Captain Ramso Ernesto Bracho Bravo died from a gunshot.

Since the protests began, opposition leaders and students, as well as government authorities, have accused each other of backing radical groups that attack demonstrations with firearms.

Maduro met with cabinet members late on Wednesday and agreed to deploy security forces in hot spots and arrest people financing and supplying “these violent groups” of the opposition, Communications Minister Delcy Rodriquez said on Twitter.

The Caracas march had not been approved by authorities, with Maduro saying the demonstrators were simply looking for trouble.

The president announced this week he was banning any protests in the centre of the capital as long as the opposition refuses to hold talks with the government.

But the students turned out anyway, chanting slogans and demanding the release of protesters detained in earlier demonstrations.

Hilda Ruiz, a student leader from Central University, told AFP news agency the marchers also wanted authorities to respond to allegations of police torture and to punish those responsible for the deaths of demonstrators.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 31

Strange World

Brazilian popeye pumps his biceps full of oil and alcohol

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always thought Popeye was adorable, but I find this Brazilian real-life version to be kind of grotesque. Arlindo de Souza, a.k.a. Arlindo Anomalia, has bulked up his arms by following a dangerous trend among body builders in Brazil – injecting themselves with a potentially lethal combination of oil and alcohol.

He has 29-inch biceps, which are currently the biggest in the country.

The most odd thing about his muscles is that they are bulged even when he isn’t flexing them, like great, big lumps of flesh hanging off his arms and shoulders.

Arlindo says that he’s stopped using the injections, now that a friend’s death made him realize how dangerous they are. “My friend Paulinho, he passed away from doing these things,” he said. “I felt his death a lot. He took it, I took it, but he went beyond the limit. I advise no-one to take this oil. I’ve stopped taking it, and other things as well, but there is always that will to start again. But I’m managing to control myself, to this day.”

Older pictures reveal that 43-yearold Arlindo was once a handsome man with his ‘natural’ muscles. But the Arnold Schwarzenegger fan became so obsessed with body building that he took steroids, hormones and horse vitamins to bulk up. And then, two years ago, a gym buddy offered him a ‘site enhancement oil’ to help things along. “The guy gave it to me,” said Arlindo. “He said, ‘Take this, it will make you grow in days.’ I loaded the syringe, put it in my arm, injected

it and it swelled me up right there and then.”

Arlindo said that he didn’t feel a thing, although his muscles had grown considerably. There were times when he was dizzy, but nothing else happened. His strength remained the same because he was working out. But he was lucky because injecting site enhancement oils could result in infection and abscesses in the muscle that grow

I

piece. The Grace Baptist Church in Troy, a few hours north of Manhattan, will be gifting an AR15 semi-automatic rifle later this month during an event honoring

Arlindo

and spread within the tissue. When some users were operated, their arms were found full of pus and oil.

“Most people who take it do not know how to apply it,” said Arlindo.

“They will use just any old blood vessel. Some will end up losing an arm, another needs an operation, some may even lose their lives.”

Afraid of what the injections might have done to him, Arlindo did try to visit a clinic, but the doctors refused

to operate on him because he did this to himself. “If I get ill, if my arms burst, that’s when I can go and see the doctor,” he said. “But for me that’s normal and something I’ve accepted.”

The stuff that he injected in his arms was mostly mineral oil, similar to unscented baby oil. It also contained small amounts of alcohol and anesthetic. According to Arlindo, the concoction can easily

be purchased online or under-thecounter at certain drug stores. And although he has stopped using it, he said that the trend is very much present all over Brazil and other parts of South America. “To get a body like mine, it’s very difficult if you are not taking anything. Some people take it but won’t admit it,” he said.

“Have you ever seen a guy as big as me claiming it is natural? He is lying, I tell you. At least I tell the truth.”

New York church plans to give away Semi-Automatic Rifle as Raffle Prize t’s the perfect irony: an upstate New York church is giving new meaning to the biblical passage ‘My peace I give unto you’, by giving away a

hunters and gun owners. ‘Win a Free AR-15’ is the actual slogan being displayed on the church website, followed by the line from the New Testament.

A raffle will be conducted on the church premises on March 23, and the winning ticket will receive the AR-15 modified for sale in New York State. The special service on that day will be dedicated to ‘hunters and gun owners who have been so viciously attacked by the antichristian socialist media and antichristian socialist politicians the last few years’. New York Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin is scheduled to speak at the service. He confirmed to the media that the event did comply with the state’s gun laws.

He even said that many New York pastors upstate carry guns, but they are law-abiding, churchgoing citizens.

The church pastor, John Koletas, defended the event in a letter to his congregation: “Our country was built with the King James Bible and the gun,” he wrote. “Does the Bible need to defend my right to keep and bear arms?” Pastor Michael Collins of Brunswick Baptist Church in Troy also defended the event. “It

is not something that we would do, but we have plenty of gun owners in the church, and it is our constitutional right to do so,” he said. “It is not uncommon for churches to host outdoorsman events and give away guns.”

In order to win the rifle, the raffle participants need to be over 18 years of age, have a driver’s license and pass a background check. Oakwood Trading Post, the store that sold the gun to the church, will conduct the check on the winner before releasing the rifle from its custody. The church reserves the right to disqualify participants if they are found to be of ‘questionable character’.

The $700 AR-15 has a 10-round magazine capacity. The trigger needs to be activated for every shot. This is the same rifle model that gunman Adam Lanza used to kill first-graders and six school staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. The pastor and other church members were not available to comment on this.

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Weekend Revue

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ong Kong director,John Woo will head the international jury at the Beijing International Film Festival in April, Hollywood Reporter has said.

Woo’s jury will decide the winners of this year’s Tiantan Awards, handed out annually at the event in 10 categories -for best feature, director, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, screenplay, cinematography, music and visual effects.

In Asia, Woo is best known for his Hong Kong features ‘The Killer’and ‘A better tomorrow’; while in Hollywood he made ‘Broken Arrow and Face/Off. His next movie, ‘The Crossing’, widely touted as China’s answer to Titanic, is due to open toward at the end of the year.

This is the fourth Beijing festival. Past editions have been attended by James Cameron, Luc Besson and Keanu Reeves.

Among new events planned for the fourth Beijing International Film Festival will be a documentary segment, a Chinese film focus and a future international film exhibition.

The market at the festival is also a highlight, with $1.42 billion worth of deals signed last year. Organizers said they are expecting even better results in both trade volume and film project quality for this year’s event.

This year’s festival will open with a screening rather than a major gala performance, part of a broader austerity drive aimed at stamping out official corruption in China.

The festival screens hundreds of films from other countries, most of which have never been imported to or screened in China but which get a pass for the special occasion.

Organizers said 1,323 films from 79 countries have been selected for screening, 1,149 of which are foreign films. Most of the films were produced during the past two years.

Ace actor, Hanks Anuku relocates to Ghana

Hanks Anuku

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igeriafilms.com has confirmed that popular Nigerian actor,Hanks Anuku has finally found solace in Ghana, where he now lives.

Hanks was on ground in Ghana to welcome Nollywood stars who were in the ‘Gold Coast’ country for a football match with their Ghanaian counterpart, which they (Nollywood stars) lost 3-1.

Hanks was reportedly delivered by Prophet TB Joshua from drugs and alcohol few years ago and thereafter went into oblivion.

Nigeriafilm.com learnt that he is now into talent discovery in Ghana.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

With Tobias Lengnan Dapam lovelengz@yahoo.com 07036990957

John Woo to head Beijing Film Festival-Jury

John Woo, directing his production crew

Selena’s parents oppose reunion with Justin Bieber S elena Gomez’ parents are “vehemently opposed” to her reuniting with ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber.

The 21-year-old singer and the ‘Baby’ hitmaker were spotted enjoying a romantic meal in Texas last week, but her mother Mandy and her step-father Brian aren’t happy about the reconciliation.

A source told RadarOnline: “It’s definitely against her parents’ wishes.”

The source added: “They’re doing their best to supervise them. They’re tolerating it as long as they know that there is someone who has eyes on them all the time.”

Mandy and Brian are reportedly “convinced” Justin, who has had a number of run-ins with the law recently, is responsible for driving Selena to rehab earlier this year.

However, Selena’s parents know they can’t ban the ‘Come and Get It’ hitmaker from seeing the troubled star.

The source explained: “They [Brian and Mandy] don’t have any control over her.

She’s pulling the, ‘Who makes the money around here?’ card! It’s a sh*t show behindthe-scenes.”

Selena - who has had an on/off relationship with Justin since 2010 was admitted to Dawn at The Meadows recovery centre in Arizona on January 5, and spent two weeks at the facility, which treats people aged 18 to 26 years old who are “struggling with emotional trauma, addiction or dual diagnosis concerns.”

Selena Gomez

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Sean Tizzle’s official video to hit airwaves in April

Page 33

Weekend Revue

Finally, ‘The Bachelor’ star presents rose to Ferrell

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Sean Tizzle’s

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igerian award winning singer,Sean Tizzlehas dropped an official video titled; ‘Kilogbe’, Hollywood Reporter, has said.

The music is directed by SesanOgunro.

Also, Sean Tizzle‘s fourth single, ‘The Journey’ album is expected to be released in April 2014.

According to reports, the video of the song, which is already becoming disc jockeys favorite, was shot in city of Johannesburg.

He is popularly called Sean Tizzle but his real name is MorinhafenOluwaseun. He rose from oblivion into commercial success with his hit track, Shole.

Amy Poehler to join Comedy Central speaking panel

Juan Pablo Galavis

Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx in talks to star in ‘Black phantom’

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evin Hart and Jamie Foxx are in talks to star in Screen Gems’ Black Phantom, THR has confirmed.

The project, about a double-crossed mob hit man

who enlisted the help of the socalled Black Phantom, the same hit man who had been sent to kill him, would reteam Hart with his ‘Ride Along’ director Tim Story, who is in talks to helm.

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my Poehler will join Broad City stars,Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer on the Cote d’Azur, as the team gathers for a panel entitled ‘The Power of comedy’ on the opening day of the television industry’s annual conference, Hollywood Reporter has said.

Poehler is executive producer of the series, and will be joined

by Comedy Central’s content development president Kent Alterman and parent company Viacom’s international program sales Caroline Beaton to discuss how Web series are impacting the development pipeline for comedy programs.

The panel will delve into Viacom’s research into international comedy production, “Comedy across borders,” and address how to adapt comedy from online to traditional television.

Amy Poehler

he Bachelor star Juan Pablo Galavishas finally proposed topediatric nurse NikkiFerrell, with a rose flower, Hollywood Reporter has said.

The choice was betweenFerrell and hairstylist ClareCrawley, and in the end, Galavis chose Ferrell.

He did go through the process of picking out a Neil Lane engagement ring. However, in a twist not seen since BradWomack’s first season in 2007, Galavis didn’t propose to Ferrell, instead telling her he wasn’t sure he was ready to propose but that he still wanted to date her. He also asked her to accept his final rose, and she said yes.

Womack, who actually chose not to continue dating either of the final two women in his first season, went on to propose to EmilyMaynard in his second season three years later, but that engagement didn’t last.

Other Bachelor stars who didn’t propose include AlexMichel in season one, BobGuiney in season four, JessePalmer in season five, CharlieO’Connell in season seven, TravisStork in season eight and LorenzoBorghese in season nine. None of those relationships lasted, either.

Galavis’ predecessor, SeanLowe, not only proposed to his pick, CatherineGuidici, but the couple weremarried on live TV in January. That marked the fourth televised wedding in franchise history, following the nuptials of TristaRehn and Ryan Sutter, Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney and AshleyHebert and J.P. Rosenbaum.

Kevin Hart and Jamie Foxx

Nollywood actress, Bukky Wright, to launch beauty Spa in March

Dave Lease and Megan Hinds wrote the script.

‘Ride Along’ producer,Will Packer is poised to produce alongside Will Gluck.

Screen Gems President,Clint Culpepper will oversee Black Phantom for the genre label.

H a r t h a s strong ties with Screen Gems, having starred in the company’s romantic comedy remake ‘About Last Night’.

Foxx has two projects in the can for Screen Gems’ parent studio Sony: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the musical Annie.

Bukky

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nformation making the rounds has it that prolific Nigerian actress; Bukky Wright is planning to open a beauty Spa in March.

It was gathered that the said spa would be launched on March 31, 2014, which coincidentally is her birthday.

Going by further information gathered, the beauty Spa would be called ‘Bwright Charisma’ and according to what we learnt, it would be situated in Ikota, Lekki, Lagos.

Jason Sudeikis in talks to star as Fletch in ‘Fletch won’

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ason Sudeikishas nabbed the iconic role of Fletch in Warner Bros.’ Fletch won’, the first of a planned comedy franchise centered on the journalist character first played

by Chevy Chase, Hollywood Reporter has said.

The Fletch movies are based o n the G r e g o ry M cDo na l d mystery novels featuring an investigative reporter named I. M. Fletcher. The first book was written in 1974, and it spawned 11 more. Chase made an indelible impact when he portrayed the character in the 1985 classic feature, which was followed by a sequel.

The project has long been in development as a remake or re-imagining. Warners picked up the rights in February 2011 and even then had a tough time cracking the code. After several writers didn’t work out, David List, who reps the McDonald estate and is producing the project with Anonymous Content’s Steve Golinand Michael Sugar, stepped in to take crack at it.

The draft passed muster with the studio and the producers, attracting Sudeikis, who is now in talks.

‘Fletch Won’ is an origin story, described as a gritty action comedy with heart and more tonally in line

with McDonald’s novels than the Chase movies.

The producers and the studio

Jason Sudeikis

will now seek a director to take on the project, which is hoping to exude a Beverly Hills Cop or Midnight Run vibe.

Sudeikis spent 10 years on Saturday Night Live while also appearing in such comedies as Horrible Bosses and Hall Pass.

His stock rose considerably last year (the same year he ended his run on SNL) after he starred in We’re the Millers, the drug road comedy from Warners’ arm New Line that grossed $270 million.

The comedian has so far stuck to playing supporting roles in his movies, and Fletch will provide him the chance to carry a movie based on his charm and smarm.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 34

Feature

Lenten period: A time to pray for Nigeria

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n March 5, Christians all over the world marked the Ash Wednesday, which ushered in Lent - a period of 40 days’ fasting that culminates in Easter.

Lent is a period of sober reflections when Christians engage in fasting, prayers and repentance from sins, to reflect the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, not all Christian churches observe Lent, as it is mostly marked by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and the Eastern Orthodox churches.

However, many observers insist that this year’s Lent aptly presents an ample opportunity for Christians to pray for Nigeria and solicit God’s intervention in efforts to surmount the current challenges facing the country.

In his Lenten message, the Parish Priest of Christ the King Catholic Church, Kubwa, Rev. Fr. Festus Nwadike, said that the Lenten period offered a veritable opportunity for Christians to pray Nigeria out its present tribulations.

He noted that many people underrated the importance and potential of prayers which, in turn, made them vulnerable to all kinds of evil.

Nwadike, however, conceded that insecurity was not peculiar to Nigeria, adding that all the peoples of the world ought to enter into a period of penitence and seek the face of God. ``Nigeria and the rest of the globe are currently in distress. Every day, our ears are filled with news of the needless bloodbath in the north-eastern part of our country. ``Europe is enmeshed in political crisis, Africa is locked in violence and America and its allies are in perpetual economic crisis.

These, among others, are the indices which signify that the world is in dire need of our prayers during this season,’’ he said.

Pastor Ibe Michael, of Reigning King Church, Dutse, said that the Lenten period was a time for Nigerians to repent and revive their faith in GodHe said that the current crisis bedevilling the country, especially the Boko Haram insurgence, represented a gauge of Nigerians’ faith in

Some youths inspecting damage to a car after insurgency attack God. Michael stressed that it was wrong for Nigerians to despair because of the insurgency in the North-East, assuring them that God would fight the battle Himself. ``This is a period to raise our hands up to God, ask for forgiveness and beg for His intervention in stopping the bloodletting. ``A nation that trusts in its guns, tanks and armoury cannot achieve total peace; let us use this period to ask God to take over the fight against Boko Haram because a lot of innocent lives have been wasted,’’ he said.

On his part, the Senate President, Sen. David Mark, called for true dialogue, forgiveness and reconciliation in efforts to tackle the current security challenges facing the

“

country. ``I will not relent in my call that violence must be stamped out of our society.

I strongly condemn the senseless killings of our people, especially innocent children and women, by violent groups. ``I find it extremely difficult to understand why these violent groups would invade schools and open fire on innocent and defenseless students. This is unpardonable and clearly unacceptable,’’ Mark said.

The senate president urged Nigerians to eschew the politics of bitterness in the lead-up to the 2015 polls, adding that they should use the period to fast and pray for peace to return to the country.

On its part, the Nigeria Supreme Council for

Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the supreme body of all Islamic organisations in Nigeria, said that fasting was a crucial tool in efforts to seek the face of God.In a letter to the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the NSCIA urged all Nigerian Christians to use the Lent to pray for the country.

In the letter, signed by NSCIA’s Secretary General, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the council described fasting as a basic religious duty in Christianity and Islam. ``A period like this offers us another ample opportunity to make supplications to God and seek His divine blessings afresh for ourselves and our country. ``We pray that Almighty Allah accept the religious

On its part, the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), the supreme body of all Islamic organisations in Nigeria, said that fasting was a crucial tool in efforts to seek the face of God. In a letter to the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the NSCIA urged all Nigerian Christians to use the Lent to pray for the country.

duty that will be observed during the period and make its impact manifest positively in the lives of Nigerians in general,” it said.

The NSCIA implored Nigerian Christians to use the Lenten period to strengthen the tenets of peaceful coexistence, as both religions promoted harmonious society.

Mr. Sixtus Ede, a civil servant, said that self-denial and discipline were needed to observe the fasting and prayers associated with the Lenten period. ``Naturally, we Christians tend to relax in our prayers except when we are faced with dire situations but that didn’t start today. ``In the Biblical times, the Israelites always ignored God until a calamity befell them or if an enemy nation was confronting them. However, God always forgave their sins and answered their prayers when they approached Him through fasting and prayers. ``The Nigeria of today seems to have abandoned God through many sinful acts.

The continued bloodletting in the North-East is like a thorn in our flesh, which can only be removed by divine intervention.

(Source: NAN)

Feature

PAGE 35

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

The 10 best things trending in the world right now!

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n 2011, Ducati unveiled the 1199 and it took two years for motorbike fans to stop drooling. Well, bibs at the ready... here is the 899 Panigale.

Offering the full Ducati superbike experience with more power, reduced weight, ABS and traction control as standard, and all for less cash, this may be the most complete sports bike the Italian marque has ever produced.

The clincher: Although this is more of a road bike than a track bike, it still comes with three different ride settings: race, sport and rain. From £12,495 (N3.12 m). See more @ ducatiuk.com

Ducati 899 PanigaleNigerian; 899 problems, but a Ducati ain’t one

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hen a housing crisis meets an ever-growing population, something’s got to give. But while the knock-on is exactly as you’d expect – shoe boxes, essentially – in some ways they’re not. Because what shoe boxes! From the new 250-370 sq. ft. My Micro NY apartments about to be built in New York (each of which converts from a day to a night space like a Rubik’s cube) to San Francisco’s 160 sq. ft.

SmartSpace apartments – with a bed that converts to a table – it’s only a matter of time before the micro-trend comes to hyper-priced London.

The clincher: The current trend in New York is to renovate present apartments with high ceilings to create multi-level spaces.

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navoidable upgrades after a cracked screen/dead battery/broken camera renders your phone infuriatingly inoperable may soon be a thing of the past. Phonebloks is a concept for a customisable smartphone made up of blocks, which can be instantly swapped and replaced. In theory, you’ll never need a new phone again.

The clincher: Not only did the video that creator David Hakkens upload to YouTube go viral, attracting more than 17 million views, but he’s got more than 900,000 supporters on “crowdspeaking” site Thunderclap.(Source: phonebloks.com)

Phonebloks The first upgradeable smartphone. Hopefully

Micro flats Ultra downsizing

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he idea is simple – we walk down streets where each business has perfectly good running water, but we’re forced to buy a bottle of Evian if we’re thirsty. The solution is ingeniously simple – buy new app GiveMeTap and they’ll send you a special bottle, which, when presented to one of the numerous chains they’ve partnered with (searchable on the app) will be filled with tap water. Never go thirsty again.

The clincher: Not only is it good for the environment – fewer plastic bottles disposed of – but for every purchase, a percentage will go towards charity projects in Africa. (givemetap.co.uk)

LG curved TV The future is curved

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his is a sea-change moment for TV design. But we know what you’re thinking: that thing is going to look really weird on my living r

to

c rt Tra o Sp ire er esh v Ro Ch e ta g n li Ra cal e t Th on’ D

T GiveMeTap Taps, everywhere, and now a drop to drink

room wall next to the Rothkos. Well, don’t redecorate just yet.

Once you’ve experienced the augmented sensory jolt – richer colours, deeper blacks – all those doubts you had about the bendy shape will seem petty.

The key word here is “immersive”.

The clincher: Supercharged with 4K technology, there are more pixels, more detail and more gawping.

Price: £7,999. (N2m).

See more @lg.com/uk

he old Range Rover Sport was a curious car. Despite being beloved by Premier League footballers and yum-mums, it was too heavy, slow and thirsty to be anything other than the “wrong Range Rover”. But the new incarnation is lighter, faster, sleeker, sexier and sportier, and might just be this year’s “Best car in the world”.

The clincher: For the first time, the model comes with the option of a third row, making it a seven-seater. Price: £81,550. (N20.4 m). See more @landrover.com

Bose SoundTouch Sonos, with the Bose touch

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ose has been left slightly lagging behind by the AirPlay and Sonos wireless-music revolution, but the high-end speaker kings are back with SoundTouch, their new integrated systems that not only use Wi-Fi throughout the house to play multiple devices from your smartphone (à la Sonos), but also feature six short-cut buttons on each device to play your favourite at the (literal) touch of a button.

The clincher: Your presets can be your favourite album, your playlists, a radio station, or simply a genre of music from your collection.

From £349.95. (N87, 500). See more @bose.co.uk

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Burma’s new luxury Asia’s secret sandy paradise smartens up

nce a pariah state, now open for business, Burma is heading down the luxury path, with tourist digs in restored colonial mansions, rustic-chic bungalows and sexy new builds. The latest to open is Bagan Lodge (pictured) bringing pools, hot tubs and private balconies to the area’s 3,000 temples.

The clincher: Burma’s beaches are as sugary sanded as their Thai neighbours, only minus the tourists; with more than 1,000 miles from the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman.

RHA headphones Forget about Dre

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ypically, you either put up with your tiny iPhone ear buds, or stump up serious cash for a bass-banging pair of over-ear cans that make you look like an overdressed skateboarder. Behold the new

middle ground. Little-known Glasgow brand, RHA, make high-class in-ear headphones that scream quality in both sound (clear, rich and deep) and construction (full aluminium and thick, tangle-free cable), and all for only £59.95 or N15,000) for their flagship MA600i set. Easily the best-value headphones on the market.

The clincher: For a further upgrade, go for their premium MA750i headphones (£89.95 or N22,500), which loop over and around the ear and rival bulky high-end cans.

See more @rha-audio.com)

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 36

Digest

Crushing your pills to make them easier to swallow could give you an overdose

By Helen Foster

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edicine is supposed to make you better - but pop your pills incorrectly, and it can have an entirely

different effect.

New research from Lloyds Pharmacy found 46 per cent of people taking medication don’t use it properly.

‘An estimated 10 per cent of hospital admissions are due, in some way, to people not taking their medicines properly,’ says Sultan Dajani, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. ‘If we just got things right we’d save ourselves - and the NHS - a lot of problems.’

So, what are some of the most common things to watch out for?

Breaking up tablets so they’re easy to take THIS can cause problems if the drug you’re on is a delayed-release or long-acting formulation. These have a coating that slowly dissolves to release the drug gradually.

‘If you break the coating, you get a large dose of the drug at once,’ says Sunil Kochhar, a pharmacist from the website dearpharmacist.info.

One of the most common drugs misused in this way are the oncea-day blood pressure medications containing drugs such as diltiazem HCL or isosorbide mononitrate, which work over 24 hours. Many older people find the large pill hard to swallow.

‘But splitting this will cause a sudden fall in blood pressure, which can cause fainting. Often, people take this drug upstairs in the morning and the fall occurs as they go downstairs,’ says Mr Kochhar. Epilepsy drugs are another long-acting family of drugs and these become toxic at the high doses that can be delivered in a split or crushed pill. If you can’t swallow a tablet, ask your doctor if it comes in another form.

Putting on a patch, then having a bath Patches are used to deliver a range of drugs, such as painkillers, hormones and motion sickness treatments. The point of delivering medicines via a patch is that they’re absorbed slowly and steadily.

‘However, if the area around the patch gets too hot, blood vessels dilate and more of the drug can enter the system,’ says Mr Kochhar. In most cases, this leads to itching around the patch as the glue irritates the warm skin, or side-effects from a slightly increased level of medicine in the system - using an oestrogen patch while sunbathing, for example, has been linked to hot flushes.

But in the case of the painkilller fentanyl, delivering too much at once can be fatal. In 2011, a 67-year-old woman in Leicester died after a hot bath while wearing a fentanyl patch.

Check about the safety of baths, hotwater bottles, electric blankets - even sunbathing - if you’re using a patch.

Taking ibuprofen before exercise Any painkiller taken before exercise will mask pain and so increase your risk of injury. Furthermore, research from Maastricht University in the Netherlands has found ibuprofen taken before hard exercise, such as fast running or cycling, causes damage to the stomach lining.

This kind of damage is a known risk of using non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, of which ibuprofen is one.

These drugs act on prostaglandins, compounds, which cause pain but which also help produce the protective mucus lining in the gut.

However, researchers believe exercising straight after taking these pills makes this side-effect more severe.

It repairs within a few hours but, during this time, there’s an increased risk of infections, such as food poisoning, as bacteria in the stomach may slip through the lining

If you can’t swallow a tablet, ask your doctor if it comes in another form

Lloyds Pharmacy found 46 per cent of people taking medication don’t use it properly

and into the bloodstream.

This isn’t the only example of medicine and workouts not mixing.

‘There’s quite a long list,’ says Dr Sundeept Bhalara, consultant rheumatologist at Spire Bushey Hospital, Herts.

‘For example, beta blockers inhibit the normal rise in blood pressure that occurs with exercise. You need this rise to provide the tissues - and brain - with the extra blood they need during exertion. When this doesn’t happen, you can end up fainting.

‘The antibiotic ciprofloxacin -given for urinary tract infections or foodpoisoning bugs, such as salmonella or campylobacter -may weaken tendons, which could be damaged if you’re doing high-impact work or lifting heavy weights,’ Dr Bhalara adds, although exactly why isn’t known.

‘And suddenly starting vigorous exercise when on statins may increase the risk of getting muscle pain as a side-effect.’

It’s possible they disrupt the mitochondria - the powerhouses that provide energy to the cells - in the muscles.

In many cases, exercise may improve the condition the drug is tackling, so don’t stop going to the gym.

But do ask your GP if you need to adapt your workout.

Using too much medicated cream Creams and lotions cause fewer side-effects, but if they have an active ingredient they can still cause an overdose.

Deaths have been linked to the over-application of creams containing topical painkillers such as methyl salicylate (a drug similar to aspirin found in some muscle rubs), especially when mixed with other types of painkillers such as pills or patches.

On top of this, Mr Kochhar warns: ‘By regularly applying too much of steroid creams given for problems like eczema, you can actually cause

thinning - then cracking - of the skin.’

Oestrogen and progesterone creams in excess can also create high hormone levels when over-applied, leading to symptoms such as breast pain.

Treat creams like other medicines - apply only the amount directed, as often as directed.

‘When people are in pain or suffering irritation, they apply more as they just want the symptoms to stop. They think it won’t hurt, but the effects can build up,’ says Mr Kochhar.

Taking painkillers for a cold or flu This could actually make your symptoms last longer, recent research has shown.

‘Ibuprofen suppresses inflammation and, while doing this, it’s possible it also affects an important part of the body’s response to infection,’ says Paul Little, professor of primary care research from the University of Southampton.

In the case of colds, for example, it’s the inflammatory response that triggers a running nose and streaming eyes which clears the infection. So suppressing this could be counterproductive.

He recommends instead using paracetamol as this reduces aches, pains andfeverwithoutaffectinginflammation.

However,U.S.researchershavereported that even this might be a bad idea if you have flu. Viruses don’t replicate as effectively in high temperatures - it’s one of the reasons your body creates a fever to kill them off.

Because analgesics lower fever, people taking them theoretically pass on more virus than normal. In fact, the team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, suggested up to 5 per cent fewer cases of flu might occur if we stopped taking tablets when we have an infection.

Using steroid cream on broken skin Your doctor might have prescribed it to reduce inflammation from

something like a rash or an insect bite.

But if you scratch that rash and break the skin, you should stop using the cream in that area, says Sultan Dajani. ‘Steroids lower immunity, as they reduce levels of inflammatory chemicals.

‘The problem is that we need these chemicals to help us fight bacteria or viruses. So, if the skin is broken, applying a steroid cream to it can make the wound vulnerable to infection.’

Having an extra paracetamol The most paracetamol you should take in 24 hours is 4g - most commonly delivered as eight 500mg tablets taken no more than two at a time.

Any more than that can lead to liver damage.

‘People think that the odd extra tablet won’t hurt them - but when it comes to paracetamol, it could kill you,’ says Nitin Makadia, of Lloyds Pharmacy.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

If you break the coating, you get a large dose of the drug at once

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 37

Amosun presents bills on regional planning, public procurement to Ogun Assembly From James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

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gun state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has forwarded two executive bills on Urban and Regional Planning and the State Council on Public Procurement and the Bureau of Public Procurement to the State House of Assembly for its consideration

and passage.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Suraj Ishola Adekunbi, made this public at a recent plenary while reading two letters from the governor.

According to Adekunbi, the first letter was seeking for “a bill for a law to make provision for Urban and Regional Planning in Ogun State and for other matters incidental thereto or connected

therewith”.

The second, he said, was seeking for “a bill for a law to establish the State Council on Public Procurement and the Bureau of Public Procurement as the regulatory authority responsible for the monitoring and oversight of Public Procurement, Harmonizing the existing Government Policies and Practices by Regulating,

Setting Standards and Developing the Legal framework and Professional Capacity for Related Matters”.

In the meantime, the Assembly has committed the bill titled “HB NO 37/OG/2013, the Ogun State College of Nursing Establishment Law, 2013” into two House Committees on Health as well as Education, Science and Technology for

L-R: National Organising Secretary, All Progressives Change (APC), Mr. Osita Izunaso, Deputy National Secretary, Labour Party, Mr. Salisu Mohammed, and Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Iheanacho Oguejiofor, during the Nigeria political parties discussion series organised by the Centre for Democracy Development, yesterday in Abuja.

Kebbi 2015:Zuru Emirate laments guber zoning From Ahmed Idris, Birinin Kebbi

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s the 2015 governorship election inches closer, Zuru Democratic Youth Movement yesterday expressed worry over the prevailing zoning arrangement in the state.

Addressing newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, the leader of the movement, Alhaji Dantani Namadina, said that is only Zuru Emirate that is yet to produce the state governor or the Deputy Governor of the state insisting that the time is ripe for the people of the area to test the governorship. ‘’We don’t have any gubernatorial candidate now than Alhaji Adamu Hussaini and he is the one that would represent their Emirate despite even though they remain in the party [PDP],” he said.

He then urged the people of the emirate to come out enmass to persuade Hussain to contest for the gubernatorial election as the only person respected and cherished throughout the four emirates having been a bridge builder between the emirate through his contacts and philanthrophy. ‘’Alhaji Adamu Hussainin remains the most outstanding personality from the emirate that is known across the state as a philanthropist and a successful administrator who could deliver comprehensive development package to the state going by his record of service’’ he added.

Husaain who is the chairman of Zuru Building Construction Company [ZBCC] has been a good friend of the present Governor of Kebbi State and also a staunch member of the PDP.

further consideration.

Speaking before the bill was committed to the committees, the Majority Leader, Israel Jolaoso, said that the bill was essential to provide legal framework for the academic activities of the colleges of nursing in the state, adding that the proposed law would make provision for the setting up of a Governing Council for them.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Stiffer penalties, antidote to corruption, says Straw

By Patrick Andrew

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ormer British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, has said that the antidotes to corruption in the country remain the specification of stiffer penalties for convicted victims.

Straw, who held a closed door meeting with Senators on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who recently defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the opposition, said Nigeria can only attain a corruption- free society if the opposition parties are resolute in their demand for transparency in governance at all levels.

He said certain factors are critical for a corrupt-free society to be attained, stressing that the judiciary, in particular, must be alive to its responsibilities by giving appropriate punishment to government officials found wanting in the fight against corruption.

“Allowing for transparency in governance and having clean courts to handle corruption-related cases in the country will go a long way in reducing corruption in the country.

“There’s the need to raise the penalty for corruption in Nigeria.

You have anti-corruption laws, you have great laws and you jail people on corruption, and you ensure proper transparency; then,

it’s safe to say that people would stop being corrupt. You’ve got to change the quality of your public administration.

“One of the encouraging signs about Nigeria is the fact that you have effective and viable opposition because democracy requires that there is change in the system. In democracy, there are alternatives,” he said. Straw stressed that the opposition parties must constantly be at alert to force every arm of government to play its role.

He challenged the APC to get quality manifestos adding that it must avoid the mistake of adopting quantity of policies in place of quality of policies.

Besides, Straw criticized former elections in Nigeria, describing the 2011 elections as better than others even though it did not meet international standards.

Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, who spoke on behalf of the APC Senators, said the opposition was worried about the lack of transparency in governance and corruption in high places in Nigeria.

Others Senators present at the meeting were Bukola Saraki, Danjuma Goje, Ali Ndume, Abdullahi Adamu and Umaru Dahiru, all PDP Senators whose defection is currently subjected to adjudication in court.

2015 Bauchi PDP women will contest elective posts, says Woman Leader From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

T

he Woman Leader of PDP, Bauchi State Chapter, Hajiya Asabe Isa Tirwun, has assured that many women will be allowed to contest all the elective positions in the forth coming 2015 general

election According to her, in the interest of fairness and justice to all, women would be allowed to contest for all election position from Bauchi State in the forth coming 2015 general election.

Asabe said Bauchi women would

contest the position of President, Governor, Senators, House of representatives and State Assembly like their male counterpart.

She said this will happen as part of effort of the PDP led administration of Malam Isa Yuguda which mobilized, encouraged

and sensitized more women to participate in politics in 2015.

The women Leader said Yuguda had appointed over 800 women in various places as aides in an effort to encourage more women to participate in politics and eradicate poverty.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 38

Politics

2015: We’ll deliver Yobe for PDP, Youth Leader boasts INTERVIEW

H

ow do you assess the rate of defections from your party, PDP, to the ruling APC in Yobe state?

It is also a very good development; it is good in democracy to do whatever you want to do. In fact, some of our members are not straight forward. If you are not capable person or somebody who has a good behaviour, we cannot manage you in our party. Because we want people who can move our country forward not those who can move Nigerian backward.

Whoever leaves PDP for APC is not an original member of the PDP. We have received many members of the APC to PDP. What we are struggling for is to be in power in Yobe state by 2015 and God has just done it without going to the poll by making the PDP the ruling party at the centre.

We are happy. I always try to avoid commenting on the APC crisis but it appears that this question will not go away. I see myself as a state youth leader of the People Democratic Party (PDP) because APC has been in power for the past 15 years, they have dominated the lives of Yobeans and if I don’t have an advice to offer, I might be failing the state. Mind you, I started as ANPP member. I left the party for PDP because of injustice in the party. APC is not a progressive party.

PDP will have a governorship candidate in 2015; PDP will run for every available seat in the House of Assembly; House of Representatives and other positions. Right now, some serving senators, members of

Dr. Ado Adamu, Youth Leader, Yobe state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in this interview with Ahmed Kaigama in Bauchi speaks on the party’s strategy to win Yobe state gubernatorial elections in 2015 even as he debunks the speculations that politicians are leaving the PDP for the APC in droves in the state. Excerpts: the state Assembly, former commissioners are already working with PDP in the state.

So there are so many people in APC who are working with us and that gives us the optimism that we can win election in 2015.

I call on political leaders in the country to place public interests above personal ones for socio-economic and political development of the nation. Yobe state is our state; we don’t have any home like Yobe. We must put our heads together in order to move our state forward despite the political differences. I urge people of Yobe state to re-evaluate the inputs they made in nation building. Such personal assessment would guide them in the process of governance. Today PDP is greater than other political party, we are satisfied, we are well. We pass the message to all our followers, as far as I am concerned, we are working together as one family.

Looking at the political situation in Yobe state where opposition party has only one member of the National Assembly out of six, how do you think you can defeat the APC in 2015?

It is very possible that they (APC) will never win again;

APC will lose Yobe state this time. The gap between APC and PDP is too wide and the APC in terms of democratic ideology and national outlook is very wide. I think there is nothing to worry about. To the best of my knowledge, defeating APC is very easy judging from their blunders at the top to bottom. No reasonable person will vote for APC in the state. They don’t play the game by the rules. If there is going to be free and fair election, the APC will never win election in Yobe state.

Some PDP members in your state are said to be planning to join APC, are you aware of this development?

It is a very good

Dr. Ado Adamu development and it is good for our democracy. Politics is a game of numbers; you can move from one place to another. You can move from APC to PDP. But to be very objective, I am not aware that some members of the PDP in my own state (Yobe) are planning to join APC. It is not true; people can say whatever they want.

This is a time that people of Yobe state want to change, what is happening in my

“

To the best of my knowledge, defeating APC is very easy judging from their blunders at the top to bottom. No reasonable person will vote for APC in the state. They don’t play the game by the rules. If there is going to be free and fair election, the APC will never win election in Yobe state

state? I know some time last year, we announced the expulsion of some so-called PDP members from Yobe state due to their anti-party and unpatriotic activities considered to be injurious, counterproductive and negative to the development of the party in Yobe state. The expelled members have been peddling lies that they left the party on their own. But, to put record straight, we feel duty bound to reaffirm that they were expelled due to their negative activities against the interest of the party in Yobe state. There was a report from their wards on their various anti-party activities and dubious character, which we are investigating. We resolved that whoever engages in antiparty activities and dubious character must be expelled from the party. As far as I know, there is no member of the PDP defecting to APC; we are united we and we are working together; we don’t have any big problem in PDP here in Yobe state.

Youths, unions hold “support rally” for Amosun’s second term From James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

T

he second term bid of the Ogun state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has received another boost when youths under the aegis of the National Progressive Youth, Ogun state chapter and two transport organizations expressed their support and

readiness to work for the governor’s success in the 2015 general elections.

The unions, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association(RTEAN) and the youths yesterday staged a solidarity rally in support of the second term bid of Senator Amosun as the state governor in

2015.

The rally was flagged off at Oke Sokori area of Abeokuta with the solidarity train passing through Oke Ilewo down to the M.K.O International Stadium where the youth leader, Comrade Gbenga Ige, addressed the supporters.

According to him, the youths decided to support the governor because of his unprecedented

achievements in the state since he emerged in 2011.

“We are going to do the job for him. We have observed, seen and conquered.

We shall do everything democratically possible to return him come next year’s general election,” Ige said.

Ige explained that the governor had transformed the state beyond human

imagination, citing the road construction going on across the state as one of the achievements of Amosun.

The youths also trekked to the Oke Mosan Givernor’s office where they were received by the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Shuaib Salisu, who appealed to them to participate in the forthcoming voters’ revalidation exercise in the state.

PAGE 39

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

News Extra

Police arraign NGO boss for criminal force, assault, mischief

T

he police yesterday in Abuja arraigned one Adebayo Sanni, 52, in a Wuse Zone 2 Magistrates’ Court charged with criminal force, assault, trespass and mischief.

The police prosecutor, Insp.

Jeremiah Elijah, told the court that the accused was a DirectorGeneral of an Ilorin-based NGO, Harmony Holding Ltd. Elijah said that Messrs Michael Bucknor of Prince and Princess

Estate and Mr Oludota Emmanuel of Bassa Village, Airport road, Abuja, reported the case at Lugbe Police Station.

He said that the complainants reported that the accused trespassed on their site with some unidentified naval officers and destroyed their property.

The prosecutor said that the complainants listed their destroyed property to include Iron rod mounted on the foundation

level valued at N10,000.

He said that the accused also instructed one of the officers to beat the security on the site, adding that during the interrogation, he could not defend his actions.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened sections 265, 348 and 327 of Penal Code.

After the charges were read to the accused, he pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.

The Magistrate, Mr Celestine

Odoh, admitted the accused to bail for N200,000 with a surety.

He ordered that the surety must be a civil servant not below Grade Level 5 in the federal civil service.

The magistrate ordered that the surety must produce a photocopy of a letter of appointment and be resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

Odoh adjourned the case to April 7 for further hearing. (NAN)

Kwara targets 600,000 health insurance subscribers by 2018 From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

T

he Kwara state government has disclosed that beneficiaries of the state’s Community Health Insurance Scheme will hit 600,000 mark from the present 80,000 by the year 2018 when the scheme would have been in operation for about 11 years.

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed disclosed this on Wednesday at the flag-off of the scheme in Share, headquarters of Ifelodun local government area, during which the remodeled General Hospital in the town was also opened.

He said the scheme is a partnership of the state government, the Dutch Health Insurance Fund, Hygeia Community HealthCare, and Pharm Access Foundation in the provision of qualitative healthcare to the people at the grassroots.

Governor Ahmed said his administration rehabilitated and equipped the general hospitals in Share, Ilorin, Offa, Kaiama and Omu Aran at a cost of N4 billion due to its strong desire to enhance the wellbeing of the people.

He added that all the five rehabilitated hospitals have been well equipped “with modern equipment that will ensure that our people access quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare”.

According to him, the State Government has commenced the payment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for all cadre of health workers in the state while consultants, medical officers, nurses and other categories of health workers were employed to complement the workforce in the sector.

The Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, represented by a consultant at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Dr Kayode Osayomi, said new World Bank data showed that “Kwara has climbed to the second performing state in Nigeria with respect to maternal and child care”.

L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Philip Aduda, during the Nigeria Renewable Energy Private Equity seminar, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

Security expert proposes strategy for containing insecurity From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

T

he Chief Consultant of Halogen Security, Col. Ojo Kadiri (rtd), has advocated a two-pronged approach to tackling insecurity in the country.

He also gave an insight into why the activities of Boko Haram persists in the country despite attempts by the federal government to stop it.

Ojo spoke at an interactive session on the forthcoming Securex Security Exhibition organised by Montgomery West Africa, which commences next week in Lagos.

The security expert also identified lack of effective intelligence gathering and execution on the part of the government as one of the banes of the system, adding that there is no machinery to manage intelligence in the country.

“We need to harmonise the two; industrial and state security if

we are really serious about tackling insecurity in the country. The insurgents are most vulnerable when they go out for information for their next target. We need to identify this, we need to get the information and interpret it intelligently. Personally, I don’t think we are managing information the way we should manage it in this country”, he stressed.

Managing Director, Montgomery, West Africa, Tori Abiola, said that the security exhibition was in partnership with various security companies and agencies both in the country and abroad.

Amosun presents bills on regional planning, public procurement to lawmakers From James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta Ogun state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has forwarded two executive bills on urban and regional planning and the state Council on Public Procurement

and the Bureau of Public Procurement to the state House of Assembly for its consideration and passage.

The Speaker, Rt. Hon. Suraj Ishola Adekunbi, made this public at Tuesday’s plenary while reading two letters from the governor.

In the meantime, the Assembly has committed the bill titled “HB NO 37/OG/2013, The Ogun State College of Nursing Establishment Law, 2013” to two House committees on health as well as education, science and technology for further legislative action.

Speaking before the bill was committed to the committees, the Majority Leader, Israel Jolaoso said it was essential to provide legal framework for the academic activities of the colleges of nursing in the state, adding that the proposed law would make provision for the setting up of a governing council for them.

Jigawa command decorates 387 promoted police officers, men From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

N

o fewer than 387 police officers and men in the Jigawa state police command were on Wednesday promoted from their former ranks to the next rank in a colourful occasion at police state headquarters, Dutse.

While decorating the officers, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Kayode Theophilus said the promotion was a reward of hard work and dedication to service, “which means conferring on you higher responsibilities and more leadership roles”.

According to him, “by virtue of the large number of officers promoted one can confidently infer that the Jigawa state police command is fully equipped with responsible and dedicated police officers who are equal to the task of policing the state”.

He said the those promoted include one Superintendent of Police (SP) to Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), six DSPs to SPs, four ASPs to DSPs, 42 Inspectors to ASPs, 12 Inspectors to Senior Inspectors, 18 Sergeants to Inspectors, 20 Corporals to Sergeants and 284 police constables to Corporals.

The Police boss in the state urged the newly promoted officers to reciprocate the good gesture of the IGP through effective service delivery to the people of the state.

...Zone 12 decorates1,296 promoted officers, men From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

A

t least 1,296 newly promoted officers and men of the Nigeria Police have been decorated by AIG Zone 12, Bauchi, who supervises Bauchi, Yobe and Borno states, Mohammed Jiya Gana.

According to the AIG, the promotion was an incentive aimed at encouraging them to do better towards promoting national security and development.

Also speaking to the newly promoted police officers, the Commissioner of Police, Bauchi state Command, Mohammed Ladan, charged them to be disciplined in complying with directives and warned them to shun corruption and illegal duties as the command will not rest on its oars to flush out those found wanting.

A breakdown of the newly promoted police officers and men shows that Borno had 547, Yobe had 515, while Bauchi state had 207.

PAGE 40

Photo Splash

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

L-R: Ekiti state Head of Service, Mr. Bunmi Famosaya, Ekiti state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti state Deputy Governor, Professor Modupe Adelabu, Keynote Speaker, Professor Dipo Adamolekun, Ogun state Heads of Service, Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, and her Ondo state counterpart, Mr. Toyin Akinkuotu, during the 5th Summit of Heads of Service from the South West geo-political zone, on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti.

Shops at Iponri market razed by fire, early Wednesday morning in Lagos.

L-R: Director, Skill Acquisition & Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Mrs. Mary Dan Abia, Director General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, and representative of Lagos state Governor, Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Hakeem Bello, during a one-day stakeholders’ meeting on the NYSC skills acquisition & entrepreneurship development programme, on Wednesday in Lagos.

Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Alhaji Suleiman Barau (middle), in group photograph with students of Government Science and Technology College, Area 3, Abuja, during the Financial Literacy 101 School Outreach Programme to mark the Global Money Week, yesterday in Abuja.

Some pregnant Batch ‘A’ corps members during their swearing-in, yesterday in Wamakko, Sokoto state.

Photo: Mahmud Isa, Olawale Rotimi, NAN

SporT 41 Page

PEOPLES DAILY, friday, march 14, 2014

SMS- 08036258222, albertakota@yahoo.com

Nigeria remains 47th on FIFA ranking

By Albert Akota

T

he 11th All-Africa Games (AAG), originally scheduled for July 2015 at Brazzaville in Congo, has been moved to September 2015.

Leon Opimbat, the Congolese Minister of Sports and Physical Education, who announced this on Wednesday said this was due to ``international constraints’’.

“It is now official that the 11th AAG in Brazzaville will take place in the course of the first half of September 2015.

“This is for us to free the African Games from international constraints related to the various competitions taking place in the world.

“It is to make sure that the maximum number of high-level African athletes will come to Congo for the event,’’ Opimbat said at a technical meeting of the organisers.

The minister however said the experts who attended the meeting of the Technical Committee were satisfied with the progress made in the construction of facilities.

N

igeria stayed in 47th spot in the latest FIFA rankings released yesterday, a result of their goalless draw with Mexico in last week’s international friendly.

The Super Eagles continue to be the seventh ranked team in Africa behind Cote D’Ivoire, Algeria, Egypt, Cape Verde Islands, Ghana and Tunisia. Cameroon is the only World Cup-bound African team that is ranked below the Eagles in eighth place.

Nigeria’s other World Cup Group F opponents are ranked higher, with Argentina being the third best ranked in the world while Bosnia-Herzegovina is in 21st spot and Iran is 42nd.

Spain continues to be the top ranked team in the world followed closely by Germany, while Portugal and Colombia retain the fourth and fifth spots.

Ranking has seen somewhat less movement than last month, with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Colombia remaining unchanged in the top five spots.

Close behind them are Uruguay (6th, up 1) and Switzerland (7th, down 1), while Belgium (10th, up 1) have jumped up into the top ten at the expense of the Netherlands (11th, down 1). Meanwhile England (12th, up 3) and Russia (19th, up 3) have made good progress in the top 20.

Further down the table, Egypt is on the up. Their friendly victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina (21st, down 4) and the devaluation of last year’s defeat by Qatar have helped them climb 12 positions to 26th.

Enyimba hold Sunshine FC to goalless draw

E

Ike Uche

Abia Warriors excited over management’s welfare package

T

he Players of Abia Warriors FC of Umuahia yesterday lauded the club’s management for fulfilling its financial obligations to them.

Captain Chima Uluocha, who expressed his colleagues’ appreciation, said the management had also ensured prompt settlement of their match bonuses.

The commendation was contained in a statement made available to newsmen.

All-Africa Games get another new date

Uluocha was the scorer of Warriors’ first goal in the ongoing Glo Premier League in their 2-0 victory against visiting Kaduna United.

He particularly praised the club’s chairman, Emeka Inyama, a former journalist and commissioner in Abia, for fulfilling his promises to the team and motivating them for the task ahead.

“In our last game with Kaduna United, the chairman promised us a big amount of money if we

won the game and he has since redeemed his pledge.”

The player also acknowledged Gov.Theodore Orji’s assistance and support for the club and promised that they would continue to live up to their billing.

The club’s secretary, Oliver Ndife, noted that the management would always take seriously the welfare of the players and urged them to continue to be good ambassadors of the state.

Emeka Inyama

nyimba forced Sunshine Stars to a 0-0 draw, while there were home wins for Bayelsa and Warri Wolves in rescheduled league matches yesterday Sunshine goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa was at his best to keep Enyimba strikers at bay.

Emeka Nwanna missed a glaring chance to score for Enyimba as the keeper Ezenwa covered well to confuse the experienced striker.

Returning striker Dele Olorundare failed to give Sunshine the lead in the 51st minute and six minutes later, Abdulrahman Bashir missed a scoring chance to put Enyimba ahead.

Musa Najare’s 71st minute penalty was all Warri Wolves needed to beat El Kanemi Warriors 1-0 in Warri.

El Kanemi were resolute before Najare stepped forward to score from the spot kick after Joshua Obaje was brought down in the vital area.

The former Black Leopards of South Africa forward said that the game was tough but they did enough to earn the three points.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Page 42

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THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAME HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.ALH. IBRAHIM GWIO KURA 2.DR. (MRS) MAIRO AHMAD AMSHI 3.DR (MRS) MAIMUNA WAZIRI THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1.TO SUPPORT MEMBERS IN SOCIAL AND ALL ROUND AFFAIRS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED:BARR. AMINA IBE HAMDALLA CHAMBERS-ABUJA 08033137990

BETHESDA MIRACLE & DELIVERANCE CHURCH The general public is hereby notified that the above named MINISTRY has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the Companies and Allied Matters Act part C of No. 1 of 1990 THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. EVANG. MRS. PATIENCE ESISO - FOUNDER 2. ESISO OFOUWE AMBROSE - CHAIRMAN 3. JOHNBULL CHARLES AJOBORU - SECRETARY 4. EGUVWEWHARE SYLVESTER - CHOIR MASTER 5. SUNNY IKPASA - MEN LEADER AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PREACH AND BRING DELIVANCE TO THOSE WHOSE JOY HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY BY THE ENEMIES AND RESTORE HOPE TO THE HOPELESS, JOY TO THE SORROWED AND LIGHT TO THOSE IN THE DARK. 2. TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL NATIONS OF THE WORLD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 3. RAISING A GENERATION OF CHRISTIANS THAT WILL BUILD A BETTER CHURCH FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED J. K. NANA CROWN KINGS CONSULTANCY CO. 08037769526

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES: (1)BARR AYI JOSEPH BISONG (2) MALLAM ADAMU MOHAMMED (3)HAJIA BILKISU MAGORO (4)MRS AYI ELIZABETH AGBO (5)MR JACOB AMOS SHEKARAU (6) GROUP CAPT. ELOMA EKPO IKONA (7) ALHAJI ABUBAKAR ADA THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1 TO PROVIDE EDUCATION FOR ALMAJIRI. 2 TO EMPOWER AND PROMTE THE ALMAJIRI LIVING STANDARD. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED: SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES: 1. MR MICHAEL AZUBUIKE ODIKA 2. MR UDOJEKWE UZOCHUKWU IGNATIUS 3. MR IGWEILO CHUKWUDI JUDE THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. PROMOTING AND PROTECTING THE INTEREST OF HER MEMBERS AKPANANDEM MARKET AND IN THE STATE. 2. UNITING HER MEMBERS FOR THE TRADE IN AKWA IBOM STATE. 3 PROMOTING PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE BETWEEN HER MEMBERS AND OTHER TRADERS IN THE STATE. 4 FOSTERING THE SPIRIT OF PEACE, LOVE AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AMONG HER MEMBERS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED: SECRETARY.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

WINGING UP

CHRIST AMBASSADORS AND BATTLE AXE LINK MINISTRY

Strongtower Gospel Centre International

C & L GLOBAL INVESTMENT LTD:RC.1121973.

22, NELSON MANDELA STREET, ASOKORO, ABUJA F.C.T

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MINISTRY HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES: 1.AYODELE PAUL AGUNLOYE-CHAIRMAN 2.MOTUNRAYO AYANJIMI AGUNLOYE 3.ADEBAYO ADEBISI 4.OYEDEMI DAVID TAIWO 5.OLUKEMI OLADOKUN 6.ADESOLA ADESUYI 7.OPALOLA AYANYINKA ADEDAPO THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE: 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED:TOYE OWOEYE SUITE 40 AREA 2 SHOPPING COMPLEX,ABUJA 08033684861

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAME HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES 1)Elizabeth joseph [General Overseer] 2)Joseph Alegbemi [sec] 3)Paul Adams 4) Caro Audu THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 2.TO WIN SOULS FOR OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. SIGNED:BARR ODHEGBA O. FRANK 07068135634

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF C & L GLOBAL INVESTMENT LTD. NOTICE OF FINAL MEETING AND DISSOLUTION DATE:19-02-2014 IN THE MATTER OF C & L GLOBAL INVESTMENT LTD,IN VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION,MEMBERS WINDING UP, AND IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT,2004.TAKE NOTICE THAT IN PURSUANCE OF SECTION 468 OF THE ABOVE ACT, THE FINAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ABOVE NAMED COMPANY WHICH WILL BE HELD AT THE COMPANY’S REGISTERED OFFICE ON THE 24th DAY MARCH 2014.AT9’0 CLOCK BEFORE NOON FOR THE PURPOSE OF LAYING BEFORE SUCH MEETING THE ACCOUNT OF THE WINDING UP/DISSOLUTION OF THE ABOVE NAMED COMPANY AND OF GIVING ANY EXPLANATION THEREOF. OLUMIDE EMMANUEL SOWEMIMO ESQ. (LIQUIDATOR)

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PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PUBLIC NOTICE MENTORS PROGRESSIVE CLUB

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. SUBERU ISAH BELLO 2. DR. YAHAYA OGIRIMA 3. IBORI OMUYA GABRIEL 4. ENGR. SUBERU KOKORI OMUYA 5. PHARM. AMINU ADEIZA YUSUF 6. DR. MICHAEL OGIRIMA THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE GOOD MORALS AMONGST YOUTHS. 2. TO FOSTER LOVE, PEACE AND UNITY AMONGST MEMBERS. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL. CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUYI IRONSI STREET. PMB 198, MATIAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28TH DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

THRONE OF GRACE GOSPEL MISSION

SUCCESS ORIENTED ASSOCIATION REDEMPTION CAMP , MOWE, OGUN STATE.

SIGNED: SAMSON ENESI ESQ. 07037386506

The general public is hereby notified that the above named MINISTRY has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under the Companies and Allied Matters Act part C of No. 1 of 1990 THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. PASTOR OBASI LAWRENCE - GEN. OVERSEER 2. EVANG. OBASI AGATHA (MRS) RESIDENT EVANG. 3. BRO. IKWUEGBU COLLENEOUS - SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPT 4. DEACONESS EDJOR GRACE WOMEN LEADER 5. SIS. OTEMIEWO OKEMUTE- WOMAN EXECUTIVE 6. DEACON SUNDAY UCHEGBU LEADER AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PREACH AND BRING DELIVANCE TO THOSE WHOSE JOY HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY BY THE ENEMIES AND RESTORE HOPE TO THE HOPELESS, JOY TO THE SORROWED AND LIGHT TO THOSE IN THE DARK. 2. TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL NATIONS OF THE WORLD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 3. RAISING A GENERATION OF CHRISTIANS THAT WILL BUILD A BETTER CHURCH FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED C K C 08037769526

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

VOLUNTARY ADVOCATE FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH​INITIATIVE

The public is hereby notified that the above named organization has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission to be registered as an Incorporated Trustee under Part C of the Companies And Allied Matters Acts 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.​DR. BOLANLE ADEYEMI OLA 2. ​DR. IBIGBAMI OLANREWAJU OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. To provide family-centered well-being support to Nigerian kids and adults via training, education and dissemination of relevant evidence based researches through social and news media 2. To conduct systematic researches (independently and in collaboration with partners abroad) that carry along Nigerian kids and adults including the vulnerable persons and families with the purposes of assessing the determinants, including social and cultural, of mental and social health and advocating for the human rights of these people 3. Develop, monitor and evaluate culturally sensitive, need based, and family-centered child and adolescent public mental health programmes in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in Nigeria 4. To organize workshops, symposia, and seminars to build positive social and mental health among Nigerian populace, to build and sustain capacity among health workers especially in the community, to support and advocate for social change among policy makers Any objection to the Registration of the above named organisation should be forwarded to the Registrar Corporate Affairs Commission Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama Abuja within 28 days of this Publication.

Signed ​ BAYO FAKUNLE ESQ. Legal Adviser ​

PUBLIC NOTICE DIVINE GLORY OF CHRIST AMBASSADORS LIFE MINISTRY

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990 TRUSTEES: 1. PROPHET PASTOR AMOS OLUWAFEMI AJIBOSE 2. PASTOR (MRS) RUTH OLUWASEUN ABOSEDE AJIBOSE 3. MISS MARY OLUWAPELUMI AJIBOSE 4. MRS. PRECIOUS OLABISI AJAYI 5. DAVID OLUSEGUN OLADIPUPO 6. MRS. RACHEAL OPEYEMI OMIDIJI AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: A. TO PREACH THE TRUTH BIBLICAL DOCTRINE B. TO SET THE CAPTIVE FREE C. TO TEACH THE WORD OF GOD

The public is hereby notify that the above named ASSOCIATION has applied to the Corporate Affair Commision to be Registered as an Incorporate Trustee Under part ‘ C’ the Companyies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

Trustees Are: 1. ABRAHAM AYOADE ADELOWO - PRESIDENT 2. FOWOWE ADEBUKOLA - VICE PRESIDENT 3. ASONGO JULIANA - GENERAL SECRETARY 4. ORAEGBUNEM EBUKA -P.R.O 5. OMOYENI COMFORT -WELFARE 6. OLADIRAN AYODELE - TREASURER 7. OLAWALE LEBUKA - FINANCIAL SECRETARY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. TO FOSTER UNITY AMONG MEMBERS Any Objection to the registration of the above name ASSOCIATION should be forwarded to the registrar general of the Corporate Affair Commission , PLOT 420,Tigris Crescent,Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED BY:General Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE AJEGUNLE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION

UMUHUABA DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

The public is hereby notified that the above named association has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission to be registered as an Incorporated Trustee under Part C of the Companies And Allied Matters Acts 1990.

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990

The Trustee Are..

(1) Irikefe Okiripo kelvin (2) Frank Eborka (3) Michael Ubogu (4) Olorogun John Asiemo (5) Akingbade Akinshola (6) Amuni Riliwan (7) Tunde Alapeni (8) yomi Ilori (9) Abideen Majoyegbe.

AIM & OBJ (1)To accept membership gift and donations.

2) To exchange business ideas among members.

(3) To part take in any ceremony concerning our members.

THE TRUSTEES ARE..

(1)Mr Ajuzie Chizoba Osondu-Chairman (2)Mr Jeremiah Nnah-Member (3)Mr Frank Nwosu-Member (4)Mr Uwandu Isiakpu-Member (5)Mr Christian Mbah-Member (6)Mr Chimaobi Elijah-Secretary.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES (1) Community development of Umuhuaba village (2) welfare of members of the Association.

(3) Promotion of unity between Umuhuaba village and her neighbours.(4) Recognition & award of excellence for deserving sons and daughters.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

Signed: Secretary

SIGNED: Ajuzie Chizoba Osondu Chairman.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

JESUS PRIEST EVANGELICAL CHURCH

BLOOD OF JESUS AND MIGHTY MIRACLE MINISTRY

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990 trustee are: 1. PASTOR SALAKO ADESOLA ASEPE 2. PASTOR (MRS) SALAKO MARIA ASEPE 3. PASTOR OLALEYE OLUWASINA ALBERT 4. SISTER SALAKO SARAH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: A. TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST B. TO PREACH AND HOLD FAST THE BELIEF IN THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT C. TO PREACH AND SPREAD THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS SECOND COMING D. TO GIVE SUCCOR TO THE LESS PRIVILEGE ONES E. TO WIN SOUL FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD F. TO ORGANIZE REVIVALS, CRUSADE TO TEACH THE WORLD OF GOD AND DESTROY THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990 TRUSTEES: 1. AKINTIMEHIN ILEOLA MARY 2. OMOLADUN ALICE OLABODE 3. IGE OLALEKAN KAZEEM 4. MAYEGUN TEMITOPE KUDIRAT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. HELPING THE HOPELESS 2. TO SAVE THE PERISHING

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

SIGNED: OMONIYI OLANREWAJU 08023317670

SIGNED: OMONIYI LANRE

SIGNED: SECRETARY

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

JEHOVAH UPPER ROOM FELLOWSHIP

TRUTH LIGHT AND LIFE MINISTRY

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990

THIS IS TO INFROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED FOR REGISTRATION TO CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO 1 OF 1990

TRUSTEES: 1. MR. OBINNA ONYEUKWU ONYENSO 2. BARR. MRS NKECHI ONYEUKWU ONYENSO

TRUSTEES: 1. PASTOR CHIJIOKWU ELVIS. - G.O 2. EVANG. EGO BLESSING ELVIS - SECRETARY 3. BRO. SETH ELVIS 4. BRO. INIOMOR MICHAEL 5. DEACON IBRAHIM. - TREASURER 6. BRO. IFEANYI OKORIE

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO DO HUMANITARIAN WORKS FOR THE SOCIETY 2. TO HELP RELIGIOUS CENTRE IN SPREADING WORD OF GOD 3. TO ASSIST THE LESS PRIVILEGE 4. TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

SIGNED: BARR. EZE G. ALALA (ESQ) SOLICITORS 08034007405

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

SIGNED: SECRETARY

FAITHGANE FOUNDATION This is to inform the general public that the above named “ FOUNDATION ” has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under the part C of companies and allied matters Acts, 1990.

Trustees are:1. DAVID OSIRI. N. – President.

2. ASSUMPTA CHIKA OSIRI - Vice President 1.

3. OSIRI WISDOM - Vice President 2.

4. GABRIEL ADOYI - Treasurer 1.

5. AKINOLA OGUNNIYI - Treasurer 2.

6. OJO – KAYODE BABATOPE - P.R.O. 7. OWEN IYIEWUARE - Secretary.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To provide empowerment, internship and coaching programmes for individuals and organizations.

2. To bridge the gap between the privileged and less privileged in the society 3. To empower youths and the less privileged in the society through coaching programmes 4.

To empower families and corporate organizations on issues of life’s organization 5. To act as a guide to couples on family affairs and also sensitize the society on wellness and longevity 6. To encourage and promote gifted youths (Sports, Science and Arts) 7. To organize productive orientation programmes that will curtail the problem of youth restiveness in the society Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

Signed by: Secretary

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 44

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

UMUAHIA YOUNG MEN ASSOCIATION

MUSHIN COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IDI-ARABA

This is to inform the general public that the above named “Association” has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja for registration under the part C of companies and allied matters Acts, 1990.

Trustees are: 1. KALU N. OKORO. 2. OKEMKPU ONYEKACHI MONDAY 3. UDONSI GEORGE IBISI 4. OKPARA KINGSLEY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To promote the interest of members at all time.

2. To foster peace and unity.

3. To pursue all such course and initiatives that will enhance the living standard of young people in Umuahia.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to Registrar - General, Corporate Affairs Commission, P.M.B 198, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within {28} days of this publication.

Signed by: TRUSTEES

PUBLIC NOTICE CIVIC EDUCATION FOR GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE (CEFTI).

This is to inform the general public that the above named Association has applied for registration to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja under part “C” of the Companies And Allied Matters Act of 1990 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Trustees are: 1. Agosu Samuel Olusegun - Chairman 2. Ugbotu Janet Ejiro - General Secretary 3. Amao Folorunsho John - Treasurer 4. Ekpo Nsikak Joseph - Member

PUBLIC NOTICE ANOINTING FAITH BIBLE CHURCH

This is to inform the general public that the above named Church has applied for registration to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja under art “C” of the Companies And Allied Matters Act of 1990 Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Trustees are: 1. Pastor Emmanuel Alatise 2. Mrs. (Evang.) Elizabeth Ayobami Alatise 3. Pastor Babatunde Gbenga 4. Deacon Babatunde Irewole Sunday

Aims & Objectives: 1. To assist members financially.

Aims & Objectives: 1. To preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the RegistrarGeneral, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Any objection to the registration of the above Church should be forwarded to the Registrar- General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: General Secretary

Signed: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME

GIFTED HANDS HELP FOUNDATION

I formerly known as Rex O. Ida now wishes to be known as Rex O. James. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

SIGNED SECRETARY.

This is to inform the general public that the above named Foundation has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. DR. ZOAKA YUSUFU ALI 2. MRS. HEDIMA SARAH STEPHEN 3. DR. BAKA ISA SHAEOUW 4. MR. EDWIN ANYA 5. MRS. SARAYA SAMUEL TANKO YASHIM AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To help drug addicts.

2. To help orphans.

3. To help widows.

4. To help the sexually abused.

5. To help destitute.

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420 Tigris Crescent, Off Aguyi Ironsi Street Maitama Abuja, within 28 days of this publication.

Signed: AKERARA GILBERT OLUMIDE CHAIRMAN

I formerly known as James Ochewkwe now wishes to be known as James Ida. all former documents remain valid general public take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME

CENTRE FOR STRESS CONTROL

I formerly known as Miss Ijeoma Assumpta Ibe, now wishes to be known as Mrs Ijeoma Onyebuchi Ekwerike.all former documents remain valid,NYSC and general public take note.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF THE COMPANY AND ALLIED MATTER ACT. THE TRUSTEES ARE: (1) CHIEF RAPHAEL NDULAKA NATIONAL COORDINATOR. (2) BARR. MICHAEL AZUBIKE ISIMOYA - DEPUTY NATIONAL COORDINATOR/ LEGAL ADVISER. (3) MR. CHRISTOPHER UKOHA UCHE - NATIONAL SECRETARY. (4) MR. KEVIN OJI - DIRECTOR INFORMATION & PUBLICATIONS (5) DR. MERCY JUMMAI SOKOMBA - DIRECTOR FINANCE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES; 1. TO PROVIDE CIVIC EDUCATION

TO NIGERIANS.

ANY OBJECTION TO THE REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT, MAITAMA DISTRICT, ABUJA. WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

TRINITY ESTATE LANDLORDS ASSOCIATION NKWELLE-EZUNAKA

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as Miss Stella Ajuma Aurmu now wishes to be known as Mrs Stella James Ida. all former documents remain valid general public take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

SIGNED: BARR. IKE ODIONU ONITSHA

The general public is hereby informed that the above named centre has applied to the corporate affairs commission for registration under part “C” of the companies and allied matters act 1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. LAZARUS INYANG ETUK 2. JULIET INYANG-ETUK 3. VIVIAN ARIWAODO AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO ENLIGHTEN NIGERIANS ON STRESS CONTROL BY TEACHING THEM THE EFFECTIVE MEANS OF RELIEVING LIFE’S TENSION, UNLEASHING CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES AND BOOSTING INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATION PRODUCTIVITY. 2. TO ASSIST IN ALLEVIATING AND/OR FIGHTING STRESS IN NIGERIA BY PROVIDING INDIVIDUALS WITH THE ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES THAT WILL ENHANCE THEIR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING AND THUS ENHANCE THEIR PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY. 3. TO ASSIST IN FIGHTING POVERTY RELATED STRESS IN NIGERIA THROUGH THE MOBILIZATION OF NIGERIANS TOWARDS SELF EMPOLYMENT AND TOTAL SELFDEVELOPMENT. 4. TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE HARD WORK, TRANSPARENCY, EDUCATION, CAPACITY BUILDING AND RESEARCH AMONG NIGERIANS IN GENERAL. Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the registrar-general, corporate affairs commission, plot 420 Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Garki, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: TONY MAKWE ESQLEGAL PRACTITIONER & CONSULTANT

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHANGE OF NAME

THE WOMI FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL

ADAZURUEZU IGBO WOMEN ASSOCIATION NIGERIA

I FORMERLY KNOWN AS IGWE RACHEL NJIDEKA. NOW WISHES TO BE KNOWN AND ADRESS AS EZEKWE RACHEL NJIDEKA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENT REMAIN VALID, GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

The general public is hereby informed that the above named association has applied to the corporate affairs commission for registration under part “C” of the companies and allied matters act 1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. KENECHUKWU AMAUCHEAZI 2. ONYIA MICHAEL 3. OZOUDE EMMANUEL EMEKA

- CHAIRMAN - SECRETARY

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. TO PROMOTE THE WELFARE OF MEMBERS. 2. TO PTOTECT INTEREST OF MEMBERS. Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the registrar-general, corporate affairs commission, plot 420 Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Garki, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

The general public is hereby informed that the above named foundation has applied to the corporate affairs commission for registration under part “C” of the companies and allied matters act 1 of 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. GODWIN ANTIA 2. EKPO QUEEN BENJAMIN 3. ANASTACIA BEN EKPO AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. DISSEMINATION OF NEW PHILOSOPHIES HANDED DOWN FROM AN OMNISCIENT TEACHER TO PROMOTE EMPOWERMENT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF A DIALOGUE AMONG EQUALS, THUS LEADING THE WAY FOR A NEW EMPHASIS ON CAPACITY BUILDING. Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the registrar-general, corporate affairs commission, plot 420 Tigris crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Garki, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: BARR. BLESSYN EMEGHA 08036579844

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. LOLO PRUDENTIA EKEH PRESIDENT 2. JESSICA NWANERI SECRETARY 3. BARR MRS CHINYERE GBUGU LEGAL ADVICER 4.. CHIEF MRS SUSAN OKOLO 5. LADY NGOZI NWAIZU 6. BARR UJU ANUKWUEM COUNSEL 7. COMRADE CHIOMA AKUCHIE 8. LOLO JOY UBUNAMA AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. TO FOSTER UNITY, DEVELOP A BOND BETWEEN MEMBER AND THEIR LEADERS ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: SECRETARY

CHANGE OF NAME I,formerly known as Sule Musa, now wish to be known and addressed as Sule Musa Agbazi. All former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADDRESS AS MISS OLABISI ESTHER OKIKIOLA, NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS MRS OLABISI ESTHER SAVAGE. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. NYSC AND GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME I FORMERLY KNOWN AS OMOWUNMI DORCAS AGBOOLA. NOW WISHES TO BE KNOWN AND ADRESS AS OMOWUNMI DORCAS GBAMI. ALL FORMER DOCUMENT REMAIN VALID, GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

CHANGE OF NAME I FORMERLY KNOWN AND ADRESS AS MR IDOWU DANIEL OLUWAFUNSHO, NOW WISHES TO BE KNOWN AND ADRESS AS MR OLUWAFUNSHO DANIEL. ALL FORMER DOCUMENT REMAIN VALID, GENERAL PUBLIC TAKE NOTE.

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 45

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

HUMAN CITY MEDIA ADVOCACY INITIATITVE

spouses of ogun state government functionaries association

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1) PROFESSOR EBIEGBERI JOE ALAGOA 2) MR. ADEWALE AJADI AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. to use media to build a capacity for communities to advocate their right to develop ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: BARR ABDUL MOHAMMED.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMEDassociation HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. Mrs oluwafunso amosun 2. Opebiyi basirat funmilola kehinde 3. Adekunbi oluwaseun atinuke AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To provide a forum for the spouses of the state government functionaries to interact and build family ties 2. To support their spouses who are working tirelessly to make the state a better place 3. To advance , promote and encourage poverty alleviation and create awareness programme through voluntary community service.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: SECRETARY

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

CHRIST ADORNMENT CHAPEL

NORTHGATE EMPOWERMENT AND VOCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT CENTRE

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED CHURCH HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Ajibade Adekunle Philip 2.

Ajibade Adeyemi Abosede 3.

Morakinyo Samson Olayiwola AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. To carryout evangelical programs all over the country and the world at large 3. To convert people from darkness to light for Christ, make them ministers of grace and prepare them for the kingdom of God. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Secretary

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED CENTRE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Olugbenga Davies Adebayo 2.

Damian Udeh 3.

Dr. Tudor Chinnah 4.

Gbolahan Awonuga 5.

Temilolu Alfred Adebayo AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To provide facilities for training and expertise in diverse discipline and trade 2. To conduct research in diverse discipline that creates and adds value to the trainees ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. E.C. Orji; 08035985671

PUBLIC NOTICE INTERNATIONAL FIRE PRAISE MINISTRY

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MINISTRY HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Pastor John Rodrick 2.

Pastor John Charity 3.

Mr. Nicholas Onuaguluchi 4.

Mrs. Ifeoma Chichebem Emeh 5.

Veronica Oghiwenkoko Ogiagbonye AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To propagate and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ 2. To establish local branches for the propagation of the gospel worldwide 3. To organize outreaches, crusades, seminars, workshops and revival services for the works of the gospel 4. To offer charity and care to the less privileged in the society ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Arinze Uzochukwu; 08038466838

PUBLIC NOTICE BINUYO FOUNDATION

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Chief Benjamin Adebimpe Lala 2.

Deaconess Patience Mogbadunola Lala 3.

Adegbola Lala 4.

Dr. Mrs. Tinuade Afolabi 5.

Adefolahan Lala 6.

Aderonke Lala 7.

Prof. Jide Kufoniyi 8.

Dr. Akinteye Johnson Akintunde 9.

Rev. Dr. Emiola Nihinlola 10.

Mrs. Adeola Ayoade AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To give financial assistance and support and assistance to quality students 2. To give free cancer guidance, counseling and instruction to the students 3. To donate diagnostic and medical equipments to government and private medical establishment 4. To render free medical services to the sick and the less privileged in the society 5. To help families with financial difficulties paying their medical bills ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Wale Adesokan

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

COMMAND SECONDARY SCHOOL IBADAN 97 SET ALUMNI

DIGITAL MEDIA DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

HIGHER HEIGHT REDEMPTION MINISTRY

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MINISTRY HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Dayo Benjamins-Laniyi Chairman 2.

Mrs. Amaechi Ozurumba Vice Chairman 3.

Nnodim Roseblossom Ogechi Board Secretary 4.

Esther Kelechi Agbarakwe Member 5.

Bankole Oloruntoba Member

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Ebosetale Patrick Ugbodu 2.

Mrs. Victoria Jones 3.

Mrs. Glory Oliseh 4.

Mrs. Dupe Irabor 5.

Blessing Bakare 6.

Omole Emmanuel Femi

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION OF ITS TRUSTEES AND AMMENDMENT OF ITS CONSTITUTION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Roseline Iddio 2.

Bolaji Sanni 3.

Amelia Dere Kome-Mugbeh 4.

Adetula Ajibola Kolawole 5.

Faith Nkoyo Oben Etchi 6.

Adegboyega Ojo 7.

Opeyemi Ojo 8.

Kayoed Toyosi Bamigbola 9.

Helen Ayodo THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. Bring together and promote the spirit of solidarity among all members 2. Establish and maintain an effective link between past students and our alma-matter 3. To promote the intellectual, social and cultural advancement of both past and current students of command secondary school, Bode-Igbo, Ibadan.

4. Seek and promote the welfare of its members, current students and our alma matter ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

Chairman

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

To create a forum for formal interaction of members 2.

To provide a platform for an interface between members and the society at large ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. Christopher E. Okonkwo; 07068853942

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. Solomon Oyakhilome Uduebor; 08036411184

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. Solomon Oyakhilome Uduebor; 08036411184

PUBLIC NOTICE

13A MACDONALD ROAD LANDLORDS’ ASSOCIATION IKOYI

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Gabriel Olusegun Anjorin 2.

Egbebalo Umuigbe Erese Secretary 3.

Emmanuel Onyemachi Okonkwo 4.

Dalyop Chollom Fom 5.

Nnamdi Udo Iwueala 6.

Chris Ikechukwu Iloka 7.

Godwin Kesiena Ikperite 8.

Victoria Eniola Oluwatoyin Abu

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

Effective, constructive and innovate use of digital media communication systems for development, job creation and nation building.

PUBLIC NOTICE

CATHOLIC WOMEN ORGANISATION

DISCIPLES ON MISSION: CAC/IT/NO.7742

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ORGANISATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR CHANGE OF ITS TRUSTEE UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MISSION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR CHANGE OF ITS TRUSTEES UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

REV. SIS. MARY PATRICK DIMLONG: REMOVED THE EXISTING TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

John Cardinal Onaiyekan 2.

Ms. Agatha Jummai Kwanashie 3.

Chief Mrs. Theresa Nzekwu 4.

Chief Mrs. Udeaku Josephine Nwachukwu 5.

Rev. Fr. Patrick Xavier Ekutt 6.

Mrs. Angela Makinde 7.

Mrs. Felicia Onyeabor 8.

Mrs. Victoria Violet Okoye 9.

Chief Mrs. Francisca Okuribido 10.

Hon. Mrs. Laurentia Laraba Mallam

THE OLD TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Bro Innocent Praise Ifediba Retained 2.

Dr. Benjamin Oke Removed 3.

Mr. Adewunmi T. Okupe Removed 4.

Mr. Obi Chianakwalam Removed

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES REMAIN THE SAME ANY OBJECTION TO THIS CHANGE SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Crescent, Law & Legal

THE NEW TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Rev. John Mashingil 2.

Blessing Inno-Praise 3.

Pastor Emmanuel Praise REASONS FOR CHANGE: The removed trustees have left the country while others were elected to strengthen the board of trustees.

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES REMAIN THE SAME ANY OBJECTION TO THIS CHANGE/AMMENDMENT SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Chairman

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

PAGE 46

PUBLIC NOTICE THE GENESIS LIFE INITIATIVE

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED INITIATIVE HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION OF ITS TRUSTEES UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Adotekom John Okodi-Iyah 2.

Mrs. Grace U. Okodi-Iyah 3.

Engr. John Okodi-Iyah 4.

Edina Yugu Okodi-Iyah 5.

Ndatse Ndomo Okodi-Iyah 6.

Etoro Abasi Okodi-Iyah 7.

Mrs. Winifred Uduak Nkanor 8.

Mrs. Etima Gertrude Umeh THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1.

To build, encourage and teach the youth on selfimprovement and empowerment ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Igberaese Obehi Elizabeth; 08133539063

PUBLIC NOTICE DRAGNET FISHERMEN GLOBAL MISSION

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED MISSION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Bro. Ibenwa Joseph Madu Chairman 2.

Mrs. Ibenwa Dorathy Chioma 3.

Madubosa Somtochukwu May 4.

Rev. Nwanne Isaac Kenechukwu Chukwudebem 5.

Obi Chimezie Esq. Secretary AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations of the world ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. Obi Chimezie Esq.

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

LEKKI MASS CHOIR ASSOCIATION

CONSUMERS AWARENESS AND SUPPORT ORGANIZATION OF NIGERIA

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Asaolu Ayodele Akintayo Chairman 2.

Nwaka Francis Ogor Secretary 3.

Rotibi Olabode AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To provide inspirational music to the community through free concerts

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ORGANISATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Asaolu Ayodele Akintayo Chairman 2.

Asaolu Egwono Lovelyn Secretary 3.

Okiki Martin

PUBLIC NOTICE THE TRUTH AWARENESS FOUNDATION

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED FOUNDATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Imam Nma Shuib 2.

Aliyu Muhammad 3.

Abdullsalam Muftau 4.

Ishag Musa Hassan 5.

Yakubu Ismaila 6.

Muhammad Ibn Saheed 7.

Umar Abdulrahman 8.

Ibrahim Ahmad 9.

Sanni Shakir AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

Capacity building programmes monotheism in proper presentation as well as removing misconception among.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE NKA-UFORO ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Dr. Mike Eshiett 2.

Celestine Essien Etoedia 3.

Elder Sylvanus Essien Eteh 4.

Bassey Otong 5.

Hon. Patty Etete 6.

Rev. Gregory Umo Edo 7.

Ernest Ekanem 8.

Edet Okori AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1.

To promote the welfare of members 2.

To provide an avenue through which our sons and daughters can contribute to the development of the Ukana Ikot Ede Community ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: John Iyafokhai Esq. 08032716076

SIGNED: Secretary

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

To help consumers understand how to make informed decisions in choosing the right products for their need ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS

EROHWA YOUTH ASSOCIATION

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF THE LOSS OF ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (C OF O) WITH FILE NO. 503 SITUATED AT KUCIYAKO DISTRICT LAYOUT KUJE AREA COUNCIL, CADASTRAL ZONE AA2, ABUJA. BELONGING TO MR. JOSEPH M. OF GAURAKA DUMEZ KADUNA ROAD- SULEJA. ALL EFFORT MADE TO TRACE THE SAID MISSING DOCUMENT PROVED ABORTIVE. IF FOUND PLEASE CONTACT THE NEAREST POLICE STATION OR AGIS.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC OF THE LOSS OF DOCUMENT) I ALH

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known as AISHA ABDULLAHI ADAMU now wish to be known and addressed as AISHA ALIYU ABBA. all former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note.

I formerly known as KULU AINO OBADAKI now wish to be known and addressed as KULU OBADAKI IBRAHIM. all former documents remain valid and the general public should please take note.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION.

THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED ASSOCIATION HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Aseruoma Dickson 2.

Anighemeno Godwin 3.

Etobro Lucky 4.

Okwa Simon 5.

Opopo Augustine AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To promote unity and solidarity among the youth of Erohwa 2. To assist the less privileged youth of Erohwa community ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: Barr. Festus Akpoghalino

PUBLIC NOTICE registration of chigari foundation THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE ABOVE NAMED foundation HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART C OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT NO. 1 OF 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.dr. muhammad ali pate 2. dr. nisser ali umar 3. dr. muhammad uthman el-mainari 4. karimatu muhammad pate AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1.to promote and exchange the economic and social well being of the orphans and less privilege members of the society.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, CORPERATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420 TIGRIS CRESCENT, OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET, MAITAMA, ABUJA WITHIN 28 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED: a.t nasiru esq (mr) an-nur chambers, no, o/e3, abba zariawa complex, ahmadu bello way, bauchi.

08034452849

SALISU of UNGUWAR GEZA QTR KANO Do sincerely and solemnly declare as follows,that I’m the rightful owner of plot of land NO 140B situated at MADILE QTR KANO in KUMBOTSO LG of KANO STATE, that the said plot of land was allocated sold to me by UMAR BALA YUSIF, that I therefore want the authority concerned to take note.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as MARYAM ISA, now wish to be known and addressed as MARYAM LADAN ISA. all former documents remain valid, Bauchi LGA Bauchi and the general should please public take note.

THIS SPACE IS FOR SALE

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as MUSTAPHA ABDULAZEEZ NOT MUSTAPHA ABDULAZIZ now wish to be known and addressed as MUSTAPHA ABDULAZEEZ. all former documents remain valid WAEC and the general public should please take note.

THIS SPACE IS FOR SALE

THIS SPACE IS FOR SALE

PAGE 47

PEOPLES DAILY, friDAY, march 14, 2014

Some Interesting Facts

C

offins used for cremation are usually made with plastic handles.

“Almost” is the longest letter in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

Cockroaches can live several weeks with their heads cut off.

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. We dare you, give it a try!

A Ten Gallon Hat will only hold 3/4 of a Gallon.

Of all the words in the English language, the word “SET” has the most definitions.

It is against the law to burp, or sneeze inside a church in Nebraska.

In 1386 a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.

Earth is the only planet not named after a god.

The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9,000 years old!

Scientists have tracked butterflies travelling over 3,000 miles.

The silkworm consumes 86,000 times its own weight in 56 days.

If removed from the stress of the modern world, the average human would sleep about 10 hours a day.

To produce a single pound of honey, a single bee would have to visit 2 million flowers.

A colony of 500 bats can eat approximately 250,000 insects in an hour.

One in Five adults believe that aliens are hiding in our planet disguised as humans.

Travelling masseuses in ancient Japan were required by law to

be blind.

The bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissible in court.

James Fixx, the man who popularized jogging in America died of a heart attack while running.

The average American spends

Leisure

about a year and a half of his or her life watching commercials on television. What are you doing?! Get out and spend that year and a half doing something productive!

Ancient Greeks practiced a form (ineffective) of birth control that consisted of having a woman hold her breath, making her squat, and sneezing.

The FDA permits up to 5 whole insects per 100 grams of apple butter.

There are no naturally occurring blue foods, even blueberries are purple!

Say what?

SUDODKU

SUDODKU EASY 52

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Dedication: Rachael Murton, who runs The Lilayi elephant nursery close to Lusaka in Zambia, with one of the young orphans she cares for. The baby elephant guzzles down a couple of litres of milk.

Their mothers usually suckle them until they are two or three.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

friday, march 14, 2014

SPORTS latest

Bayern Munich president jailed for 3 years

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erman court yesterday sentenced football legend Uli Hoeness, president of powerhouse club Bayern Munich, to three and a half years in jail for evading millions in taxes.

“In the name of the people, Mr Ulrich Hoeness is sentenced for seven serious counts of tax evasion to a prison term of three years and six months,” said judge Rupert Heindl in the Munich court.

The verdict with one count for each year of tax cheating spelled the likely end of the career of the stocky former player, whose trial has captivated football-obsessed Germany.

Hoeness, 62, had admitted to dodging 27.2 million euros ($37.6 million) in taxes by hiding his wealth in Swiss bank accounts while obsessively “gambling” on stocks and currencies for years.

He was allowed to walk out of the court for now because he has one week to decide whether to appeal the verdict.

His defence lawyers had argue d he should escape punishment or at least receive a suspended term because he turned himself in to authorities in January last year.

Interest has been huge in the case, with newspapers giving it front-page treatment and people lining up outside the courtroom from early morning Thursday to get a seat in the visitors gallery.

He was expected to quickly step down as club president and chairman of its supervisory board, which had so far expressed its loyalty.

When he entered the dock Monday, the Bavarian ruefully confessed to large-scale tax fraud worth 18.5 million euros, almost five times more than prosecutors had assumed.

His vow of full disclosure was however contradicted the next day by a tax officer who testified that Hoeness had cheated the state out of far more money: 27.2 million euros.

Hoeness had first turned himself in and paid 10 million euros in back taxes on January 17 last year, at a time when tax investigators and journalists were already pursuing his case.

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. . . putting the people first

QUOTABLE QUOTE If you put oil in a container, then pour kerosene in that container, then pour sulfuric acid in that container, you bring petrol and pour in that container and then hydrochloric acid, what do you think will happen to that container? Disaster!

–President Goodluck Jonathan on opposition APC party

Niger-Delta oil could well belong to Jigawa

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any of us have been inspired by the speech given by a former Minister, and co-founder of Transparency International, Ms Obiageli (Oby) Ezekwesili a.k.a. “Madam due process,” at the APC summit which held in Abuja, March 6th, 2014. I will put my full support behind her or any candidate like her for the Presidency of Nigeria in 2015. A particular line reverberates in my mind. In “The Uncomfortable Truth…,” she quoted George Orwell who said, “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act”.

Indeed, the truth sets you free. I hope we can all be revolutionists in this sense. I hope we can all be brave enough to speak the truth whether we fear that we stand to be negatively impacted by so doing.

I assert that as long as Nigeria is a single nation and as long as life, the most valuable resource, of one part belongs to all, all other resources belong to all. This is part of what ‘nation’ means. Bayelsa oil belongs to Jigawa (too) because Jigawa blood is spilled in Bayelsa.

Saying “It is my oil” is treasonable until and unless Nigeria splits up.

If Nigerian youth from Jigawa can be a part of the nation’s army and be drafted to fight and die in the creeks of the Niger Delta; If Nigerians from Bayelsa can be a part of the nation’s army and be drafted to go and die in the deserts of Borno, then all that is in and from the soil of each of these parts belongs equally to all these youth. The gold of Zamfara belongs to all; so also the oil of Rivers belongs to all.

The most valuable resource of any nation is its human capital. As long as Nigeria remains a nation, and its government and security services are constituted of peoples of all parts called to make the ultimate sacrifice of fighting for and dying for the nation and regions within the nation, all other less valuable resources should belong to all the people. It is treacherous and evil to propose that the national army can die to protect your region, but that its members do not have rights to the life supporting resources in same regions; treasonably wrong and evil.

A truth encountered is that many of those who profess

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GUEST COLUMNIST Peregrino Brimah

Governor Sule Lamido

extreme ethnic feeling or tribalism and fight the loudest for “regionalism” and resource ownership are the first to throw away their “tribe” when they travel abroad. These are the ones you see in America who tell their kids not to speak “language,” because they want them Americanized and not to have “accent.” The same with some who go to Arabia and suddenly become more “Arab” than Arabians themselves.

We know much of this is due to poverty, desperation and is sheer hypocrisy, however unless an opening for true conciliation is made, things will only keep getting worse. There is a fundamental problem that must be addressed.

More Nigerian troops and security officers have died in the north and the creeks in the last five years under the current administration than any similar period since the civil war. We read of troops ambushed and slaughtered in the creeks and these are young men from all over Nigeria. Likewise we have read of police men ambushed and killed by Ombatse and soldiers and police slaughtered by Boko Haram. Do we in our individual regions deny these men of our resource while we employ them to die for us in our or ‘foreign’ regions?

Those who read my thoughts know full well that I

as an individual am interested and a staunch proponent of regionalism with the possibility of more elaborate disintegration if the people so desire. Whatever will rid the nation of its monstrous corruption, lack of opportunity, the cabal grip on all sustenance and the worsening insecurity and terrorism, is a go for me. The missing billions today finances global terrorism.

We urgently must get out of this state of anarchy where no region is safe, not even the President’s own village. Some of us don’t have millions of dollars to offer kidnappers.

Today the north of Nigeria is one of the poorest places in the entire world. Poverty indices are as high as 87% in some regions living below the poverty line. The candid truth is that the average northerner benefits naught from the oil resource abundant in the South. Compared to its northern neighbors, the north of Nigeria is so much poorer. Nearby Mali and Chad have poverty levels in the fifties compared to north Nigeria where poverty is in the eighties.

In contrast, Southern states have poverty levels as low as 20%. It has been only the cabal, north and south who have benefited from the oil wealth of the nation.

Regionalism will give local leaders a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their people or risk quick and swift rebellion and expulsion.

Today, they hide under and blame others and the ‘nation’ for their greed and failure to lift-up their communities.

If Nigeria is to remain as one nation, it should in my view have regions—erroneously dissolved

by Aguiyi Ironsi with Decree No. 34 of 1966—reinstituted. I also believe the Parliamentary system of governance, also erroneously replaced with the Presidential, during the Obasanjo first regime, should be brought back. The parliamentary system works better for multi-ethnic nations, as can be seen in similar India; and with this system, the entire 168 million citizens do not war

over who is to become President, and only focus on people they know and elect as their local representatives who then select the President from among them in the Parliament. This will not only save cost, but reduce ethnic tension and political financed violence.

But as long as we are one single nation, our lives are risked and sacrificed for each other and so also must our resources be the property of one and all. Boko Haram terror is sponsored by oil money. Why should the people of Bama suffer at the mercy of terrorists being fed fat by the nation’s oil money, but not be re-built from same oil money?

Already the average northerner on the streets benefits practically nothing from the oil wealth of the nation, other than what they pay to buy of it at the pump at a price above the global mean. If regionalism is restored, the people of each region will constitute their own armies who will die for them and the people of each region will be forced to support their own economies, with the center not taking more than a few percent from each region, and then to each will belong his resource.

You cannot be a southerner honestly seeking a solution to the intractable problems the nation faces and support this President.

The President today is a new branch of the old, dead tree. He loves Nigeria as is, which is a cracked pot and leaking basket, leaking all the resource, both human and ecological into the bowls of the same old cabal.

Nigeria as is, pays the looters and the looters alone. Riding safe in their bulletproof cars and flying high in their comfortable jets, this government and their friends laugh at us ‘mekunu,’ poor who suffer in hunger and die from regional conflicts. It is hard for them to seriously attend to the problems of Nigeria when they are blinded by billions of dollars they are able to loot with the nation remaining embroiled in confusion and ethnic tensions as it is. This is why they are never seen attempting to seriously address the killings in the creeks, in the Middle Belt or in the North-east. They love the distraction.

Dr. Peregrino Brimah via drbrimah@ends.ng

Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako, Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 802 443 2099; 803 7007 759. e-mail: contact@peoplesdailyng.com; pmlnewsdesk@gmail.com ISSN: 2141– 6141