Thursday 27th February, 2014 Edition

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 13 No. 8 Thursday, February 27, 2014

..

. putting the people first

$22.8bn missing in Suspension: Court NNPC audited financial rejects Sanusi's ex statements - NEITI >> Pg 5 parte motion >> Pg 6

Rabi’uth Thani 28, 1435 AH

N150

Student commits suicide over school fees >> Pg 7

Massacre of students:

We’re running out of excuses-Tambuwal

l JNI wants probe as ACF brands killings un-Islamic l Jonathan should visit Yobe, says APC l Let's unite against terrorism, PDP urges >> Pgs 2 & 3

. . . Senate asks Army chief to relocate to Borno

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

F Motorists queue for petrol at Total filling station as the scarcity of the product persists, yesterday in Area 11 Junction, Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

ollowing the killing of scores of students of Federal Government College, BuniYadi, in Yobe state on Tuesday by Boko Haram, the Senate has asked the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Kenneth Minimah to relocate the army headquarters temporarily to Borno

PPPRA warns against selling petrol above N97

Contd on page 2

>>>>> Page 6

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 2

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 Earth 26 Update 28

KNSG spends N77m to train 520 youth for fish farming – Page 4

Int’l

31-34

Strange world 35 Digest 36 Politics 37-38 News Extra

39

Sports 41 Columnist 48

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We’re running out of excuses-Tambuwal

By Lawrence Olaoye, Tobias L. Dapam, Abuja, Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna & Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

I

n what appears to be a tacit criticism of the failure to tackle the continued mayhem by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has warned that the leadership of the country was "running out of excuses" for the seeming endless massacres in the region.

"While we must all join hands to bring this insanity to an end, we must however bear in mind that we are running out of excuses in our responsibility (as leaders) to our citizens", the Speaker said yesterday.

Tambuwal, who described the killing of dozens of students at the Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi in Gujba local government area of Yobe state as "ignoble, wicked and horrendous", emphasised that the country's leaders were running out of excuses for such crimes.

In a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, the Speaker tasked security agencies to redouble their efforts and change their tactics especially now that those engaged in the killings have increased their attacks on softer targets.

He said the only way to console the families of the victims and Nigerians is by fishing out perpetrators of the dastardly act by bringing them justice.

"We in the House of Repre-

sentatives feel the grief and pain of the families of the victims. In this their hour of need, we will stand with them hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. We assure them that as brothers, we will continue to confront headlong, the threats of terror facing our nation, and we know we will come out stronger, and victorious", he said.

Tambuwal also urged citizens to be more vigilant and to help security agencies with useful information that would help to secure their areas.

JNI calls for probe

M

eanwhile, the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) yesterday called on the military authorities to explain why the soldiers at Buni-Yadi were withdrawn from the town a day before gunmen attacked the college and killed 59 students.

JNI said it would not be deterred nor overlook things as they unfold, especially over the repeated wicked terror acts being unleashed on the Muslims in the country.

The Islamic body, in a statement signed by its Secretary General, Sheikh Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, described the killers as criminals whose motives would not be achieved.

"We expect the federal government of Nigeria to wake up to its responsibility of protecting lives and property of Nigerians, especially the North-east and stop the diatribe. Human lives are sacred and must be treated so!

"Also, as with previous similar cases, the sporadic gun shots that

ensued after setting the school ablaze is very worrisome and alarming.

Therefore, JNI calls for practical probe that must bring such acts to an end.

"Despite the state of emergency currently in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states, including the visible security check points at every nook and cranny of the states, it is hardly believable that such dastardly acts could still occur.

"It is pertinent to ask the following questions: According to sources, the Army was withdrawn a day to the attack, why? What was the motive behind such heinous act? Why is it that the Northeast borders have been left porous despite knowing fully the repercussion of such? Indeed there is much more than meets the eyes!", the group led by the Sultan and leader of Nigerian Muslims said.

JNI further called on government at all levels to as a matter of urgency stop these evil acts of terror and restore law and order in the land.

"As the unprecedented havoc being unleashed against innocent citizens is becoming too much to bear, we fear the consequences that may befall the state, if the appropriate authorities do not take appropriate action", it warned.

ACF: Killings un-Islamic

T

he Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday joined in condemning the attack on the Buni-Yadi College in Yobe

state by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, saying the killings were against the tenets of Islam which the fighters claimed to be fighting for.

The forum, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Malam Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said: "This action of the insurgents in killing innocent souls were most cruel and against the tenets of Islamic religion for which they claim to be fighting.

Killing and destroying valuable property are not the best way to settle grievances or make people to accept views contrary to their belief".

ACF further called on the sect to embrace the federal government's call for dialogue.

While reacting to Jonathan's reaction to Borno state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima's position on the level of equipment and morale of the troops fighting the insurgents, ACF echoed the governor's stance, saying the federal government's measures have only yielded limited results.

"What appears more visible to the victims and the suffering publics are the plethora of security checkpoints, roadblocks, security cordons, etc being mounted by the troops.

"Sadly, these measures appear to be more effective as avenues for corruption, extortion and maltreatment of civilians than in deterring the activities of the insurgents.

"Given this grave situation, the sharp reaction of the federal government to the remarks made by Alhaji Kashim Shettima, GoverContd on Page 3

. . . Senate asks Army chief to relocate to Borno Contd from Frontpage state until terrorism has been dealt with completely.

This was part of the resolutions adopted by the Senate Committee on Defence and Army, and handed down to the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who was in the Senate to defend the 2013/2014 budget.

The attention of the Senate Committee was drawn to the Yobe massacre by a member of the committee, Babafemi Ojudu, who came through a Point of Order 42 and 102 of the Senate Standing Rules, by which he called on his colleagues to take a resolution on the unfortunate massacre.

The committee led by George Thompson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers), in a two-page resolution which was unanimously adopted by members after two hours of engaging the army chief on the way out of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, said relocating the army headquarters to the 7th Division of Nigerian Army in Maiduguri would help to urgently quell the insurgents’ repeated attacks in the area.

Considering the apparent failure of consecutive efforts to redeem the North-east from the grip of terrorism, the committee,

therefore directed the new Army chief to re-strategise on new ways of tackling the insurgency.

The lawmakers urged General Minimah to mobilise every available military resources in fighting the insurgents, to avoid repeated loss of innocent lives in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa in particular.

The resolution, which was read by chairman of the committee said, “The Senate Committee on Defence and Army condemned the atrocity being unleashed by the Boko Haram elements on innocent citizens of Nigeria and in particular, the Tuesday massacre of students of Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, in Yobe state, where scores of students were gruesomely killed.

“The committee has by this, issued a directive that the Chief of Army Staff take the following actions (a), Re-strategise on possible new ways of curbing these excesses, (b) mobilise all available military resources and face the insurgents, (c) relocate your office to Maiduguri for urgent actions to curtail the repeated attacks of the insurgents on innocent Nigerians”, the committee resolved.

In addition to the above, the committee also directed that all schools and health institutions, especially in the troubled areas of

the country, should be provided with special security network to prevent repeat of the senseless attacks and killings of innocent Nigerians.

On the 2013/2014 budget, the committee gave an unconditional assent to the Army and defence budget proposal for 2014, saying one whose house is on fire does not dance in the market place.

The committee chairman told the Army chief that the utmost priority to Nigeria now is eradicating the killing spree by Boko Haram. “No one goes to the town square to dance when there is fire in his house”, Senator Sekibo said.

While disclosing its plans to tour the three affected states when Senate resumes plenary next two weeks, the committee also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to rise up to the challenge by mobilising resources for the armed forces to fight the insurgents decisively.

Responding to the directive of the Senate committee, the General Minimah assured Nigerians that the insurrection in the Northeast is ended soon.

He, however, urged the Senate committee to appropriate the required funds to enable them battle the insurgents more decisively and effectively.

Reacting to the massacre, Senate President David Mark said it was curious that under an emergency rule when security operatives should be on red alert, the killings still persist.

According to him, “It is curious that under an emergency rule when security operatives should be on red alert this mayhem still persist.

“Honestly, this calls for soul searching and I believe the security authorities must rise to this challenge”.

He condemned in strong terms, the killing, saying it was unthinkable that such evil would be happening in Nigeria.

“This open declaration of war on everybody especially defenceless students cannot be justified.

This is inhuman, it is animalistic and barbaric. It is unthinkable that this is happening in Nigeria”, a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, said.

Meanwhile, he also sympathised with the government and people of Yobe state, especially the families of the bereaved, saying that the terror is not just national but an international threat which calls for bravery on the part of every one to confront.

PAGE 3

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, february 27, 2014

News

INEC to discuss 2015 elections timetable with parties -Jega

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T L-R: Kaduna state Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Yero Ramalan, Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, and Senate President David Mark, arriving for the funeral service of the late Senator Isaiah Balat, yesterday at Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

Killer of British soldier in London gets life sentence

M

ichael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were dragged from the dock in the Old Bailey court in London after they started screaming "Allahu akbar" ("God is greater") at the judge while delivering the judgement that sentenced them to life imprisonment.

The pair of Muslim converts were found guilty in December of ploughing into Rigby with a car before attacking him with knives

in broad daylight outside his barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, in May 2013.

Judge Nigel Sweeney ordered Adebolajo to spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole for killing Rigby, who had previously served in Afghanistan, and said Adebowale had to serve a minimum of 45 years.

"This was a murder with a terrorist connection," the judge said, describing the killing as

"sickening and pitiless".

He said a whole-life prison term was a "just penalty" for Adebolajo, who had proclaimed his admiration for the Al-Qaeda terror network, but that the younger man's "lesser role" meant he would get a shorter sentence.

Adebolajo and Adebowale, both Britons who were raised

by Nigerian Christian families before converting to Islam, said they had attacked the off-duty soldier to avenge the deaths of

Contd from Page 2 nor of Borno State, is difficult to understand .

“If the federal government does not appreciate his candour, it should not demonise him and continue to threaten him with removal or isolation.

“Although, the federal government has disowned the alleged plan to replace Governor Shettima with a military administrator for Borno state, we feel compelled to underline our resolve to stand by the governor", it said.

The ACF called on the federal government to step up the current campaign against the Boko Haram and other insurgents in different parts of the country.

It said the government should ensure that funds budgeted for equipment and welfare get to the troops engaged in the operations.

the federal government could do to help soothe the pains of those involved.

The party made this call while condemning Monday night's horrific attack on the Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, in which scores of students were brutally murdered by blood-thirsty insurgents.

The party said the president should also use the opportunity to pay a visit to Borno, which has been reeling under ceaseless and deadly attacks from the terrorists, as well as to the brave and patriotic soldiers who have been putting their all into the battle against these insurgents. ''A visit from Mr. President will be a morale booster for our troops in battle, and will also show the beleaguered people of the affected states that they have not been abandoned to their cruel fate by the federal government as well as their compatriots'', it said.

In a statement issued yesterday in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC said the attacks, which were extremely gory even by the scorched-earth tactics of the terrorists, plumbs the depth of horror. ''What a sad day for Nigeria

and indeed for all of humanity, when innocent school children were used as soft targets by a group of cowardly terrorists, who have shed their toga of humanity on the altar of a meaningless ideology. ''We condole with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of Yobe state over this abominable crime. We urge the state and federal government to work together to ensure that schools in the state are adequately protected'', it said.

APC: Jonathan should visit Yobe

A

lso yesterday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on President Jonathan to immediately visit Yobe state to offer succour to the families of victims and the state government, saying it is the least

Let's unite against terrorism, PDP tells opposition

M

eanwhile, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday called on the opposition parties in the country to join hands with President Jonathan to fight the menace of terrorism.

The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said it has been grief-stricken since it received the news of the gruesome killing of students in Buni Yadi.

It described the killing as "monstrous and extremely shock-

Muslims at the hands of British troops.

Minutes before the sentencing, Adebolajo started shouting "Allahu akbar" and Adebowale called out "that's a lie" in response to claims that they had been radicalised.

The sentencing had been delayed for several weeks because the judge wanted clarification on a European ruling that made it uncertain whether life sentences could still be imposed. ing". The PDP also urged Nigerians to unite against terrorism in the country, saying "Nigerians must jettison all political partisanship and rally round President Goodluck Jonathan in his untiring efforts in tackling the problem of insecurity in the country.

"The massacre of these harmless students cannot be justified under any guise. Indeed, the PDP is heart-broken and extremely devastated by this act of wickedness which can only be associated with the devil.

"The PDP bleeds inside as we mourn the slaughtering of these promising young ones. Our hearts go out to the parents and families of these innocent students. We share in their anguish, their pain and their despair and we earnestly pray that those behind this act must not escape judgement for spilling the blood of the innocent.

No man commits such wickedness and gets away with it," the statement said.

The party commended President Jonathan for the measures so far taken in fighting insurgency in the country and urged the people to continue to pray for the nation and give support to the security forces especially in the area of intelligence gathering.

he Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has said that the commission would organise discussion with registered political parties about the released 2015 timetable and the Ekiti and Osun elections, with a view to address the grey areas.

Speaking yesterday during a meeting with the political parties under the umbrella of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the INEC chairman, who was represented by a national commissioner, Thelma Iremirem, said the early release of the timetable was informed by the need to address the usual shortfalls and fire brigade approaches to any general election in the country.

On their part, the Interparty Advisory Council (IPAC), which is a coalition of registered political parties in the country, expressed worry over the change in the sequence of the 2015 general elections, as the INEC timetable indicated.

IPAC said the alteration of the election sequence from the previous three separate days for the election into the two days for the 2015 elections would not favour some political parties chances at the elections.

Chairman of IPAC, Yunusa Tanko made this known yesterday during an interaction with INEC on “Building Consensus on Electoral activities towards 2015” which held in Abuja.

“The political parties are worried about the sequence of the election which provide for a two face elections with the Presidential and National Assembly coming up first and the governorship state Assemblies, coming up next as against the past, which has three face elections.

“This provided opportunity for all political parties to have a chance of winning election.

In that process, but with the present situation as the timetable released, immediately the presidential election is concluded it will close doors for other elections to be free and fair for all,” he said.

News

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 4

Kano OAGF, NAICOM in N3.54bn contract scandal

By Etuka Sunday not known to have offered any matter.

Due Process. spends service.

Copies of the petition were He, however, noted that he Office of the Accountant “The firms which offered also sent to the Director General, any unlawful diversion of General of the Federation service but have now been Bureau for Public Enterprises, N77m to entitlements to any entity (OAGF) and the National deprived their legitimate BPP, Emeka Ezeh; Accountant outside the parties duly Insurance Commission earnings are now crying foul.”

General of the Federation, AGF, awarded the contract, train 520 (NAICOM) have been fingered The companies accused Jonas Otunla, and the National constituted a criminal breach in an alleged N3.54 billion NAICOM and the office of the Commissioner of that should attract legal sum.

Accountant General of the Insurance, National youth in fish contract sanctions.

PREMIUM TIMES report Federation, OAGF, of Insurance Commission, Fola Mr. Ezeh, who confirmed that the fraud was perpetrated masterminding the fraud- Daniel. receipt of a copy of the petition farming after a contract that was duly diverting the insurance The petition, obtained by by the aggrieved insurance

T

From Edwin Olofu, Kano

K

ano state government has spent N77 million in empowering 520 youth through fish farming, the state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has disclosed.

Kwankwaso made the disclosure during the combined graduation ceremony of 3rd batch of 400 female trainees of Aquaculture Fisheries Institute, Bagauda and 1st batch of 120 male trainees of Magaga Fisheries Skills Acquisition Training Centre, Gwarzo held at Government House, Kano on Tuesday.

According to the governor, N60 million was spent on the training and empowerment of the 400 women, explaining that N120,000 was spent on fishery facilities given to each beneficiary.

On the other hand, N17 million was expended in training and empowerment of 120 males at Magaga centre, said the governor, adding that they will get a post training package of nine facilities including one life jacket, 12 yards of cast-net materials and 18 packets of assorted hooks.

Governor Kwankwaso said this gesture would help government in taking unemployed youth off the streets as well as empowering women, hence creating and sustaining wealth in the state.

awarded by government to some private firms, which was executed, but the money was diverted to different set of companies.

The report has it that the N3.538billion contract sum was diverted and that the companies which received payment did not bid for the jobs; were not awarded the contract and are

premium due to them (42 insurance companies) to other entities.

Already, a legal firm representing the affected insurance firms, has petitioned the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Attorney-General/Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, seeking their intervention in the

PREMIUM TIMES, Alade Agbabiaka & Co., described the action of NAICOM and OAGF officials as “completely astonishing, unlawful and absolutely out of order.”

When contacted, the Director-General (BPP) Emeka Ezeh said the involvement of his agency in the transaction ended with its issuance of Certificate of

Why we stopped sending civil servants overseas for training - HOS

By A’isha Biola Raji

T L-R: British Minister for Africa and member of British Parliament, Mr. Mark Simmonds, and Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, during the minister’s visit to the governor, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

Why we must dialogue now-Jonathan

...Says terrorism caused by corrupt values, ignorance

By Lawrence Olaoye & Ikechukwu Okaforadi

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday explained that the National Conference has become imperative in the wake of the nation’s second century for the country to remain united, strong and prosperous.

Jonathan, in his Centenary Broadcast beamed live yesterday also traced the root cause of insurgencies and terrorism in some parts of the north-eastern part of the country to corrupt values and ignorance among the populace.

The President who admonished Nigerians not to be afraid of discussing those challenges facing the nation but confront them in order to provide long lasting solutions, also called on participants at the oncoming Confab not to convert same to arena for parochial bargaining between competing regions, ethnic,

firms, said the document was forwarded to all relevant authorities, including the HCSF, for necessary action.

Also contacted, the National Commissioner of Insurance, Fola Daniel, denied knowledge of any letter from NAICOM directing the OAGF to divert the said premium to Crusader/Custodian & Allied Insurance.

The spokesperson at the OAGF, Charles Nwodo, said he would not respond to inquiries from PREMIUM TIMES, until he sees “concrete evidence of the memo authorizing the alleged diversion.”

religious and other interest groups.

He rather challenged the participants to utilize the opportunity to dialogue on how to move the nation forward and ensure harmonious balance among the nation’s three tiers of government.

Stressing that the nation would remain united in the next hundred years, Jonathan said “Even as we remain resolute in our conviction that our union is non-negotiable, we must never be afraid to embrace dialogue and strengthen the basis of this most cherished union.

“My call for the National Conference in this first year of our second century is to provide the platform to confront our challenges. I am confident that we shall rise from this conference with renewed courage and confidence to march through the next century and beyond, to overcome all obstacles on the path to the fulfillment of our

globally acknowledged potential for greatness”, he said.

He added “The coming National Conference should not be about a few, privileged persons dictating the terms of debate but an opportunity for all Nigerians to take part in a comprehensive dialogue to further strengthen our union.

“I am hopeful that the conference will not result in parochial bargaining between competing regions, ethnic, religious and other interest groups but in an objective dialogue about the way forward for our nation and how to ensure a more harmonious balance among our three tiers of government.”

While expressing sadness at the recent attack of students in Yobe state, leading to the death of many and the maiming of others, Jonathan said his government would do everything humanly possible to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and insurgency in the country.

He said “ We will continue to do everything possible to permanently eradicate the scourge of terrorism and insurgency from our country. We recognise that the root cause of militancy, terrorism and insurgency is not the strength of extremist ideas but corrupted values and ignorance.”

According to him, “That is why our counter-terrorism strategy is not just about enforcing law and order as we have equipped our security forces to do. It also involves expanding economic opportunities, social inclusion, education and other measures that will help restore normalcy not just in the short term, but permanently.

“I want to reassure Nigerians that terrorism, strife and insecurity in any part of Nigeria are abhorrent and unacceptable to us. I urge leaders throughout Nigeria to ensure that ethnicity and religion are not allowed to become political issues,” he admonished.

he Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji has said that sending federal civil servants for overseas training was suspended in order to ensure that more officers are trained in Nigeria with the available funds.

The Head of Service said this when executive members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) visited his Office in Abuja.

According to Aji, “we are aware that the amount of money being used to train just one officer overseas could be used to train about ten officers locally. Our aim is to ensure that all civil servants have access to training. This is why we are upgrading our local training institutions so that we can achieve the same impact as those being trained abroad.”

In a statement signed by Dr. Tope Ajakaiye, Director (Communications), the Head of Service has said further that the federal government is presently attending to the welfare of its workforce.

Aji said efforts are being made to settle all entitlements owed staff members such as promotion arrears, transfer allowances and other benefits within a period of two years while according to him, other issues such as career stagnation and payment of housing loans are also being addressed through some innovative approaches.

News

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 5

Missing $20bn: Sanusi did not verify his claims, says Maku

By Patrick Andrew

T

he Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, yesterday said the alleged missing $20 billion as claimed by the suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was a product of voodoo statistics that was intended to scare away foreign investors from Nigeria.

Maku, who insisted that Sanusi’s utterances in respect of the alleged unremitted lump sum from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Federation Account were frightening and inimical to the nation’s economy, said it was not proper for a Central Bank governor to make statements relating to the financial position of the economy without verifying the facts.

“You don’t say something without verifying it. No CBN governor makes statement on his nation’s economy without verifying it. That $49.8 billion was missing as first claimed and then reduced subsequently to $12 billion and finally $10.8 billion clearly showed that the claims were not verified.

“In fact, it was based on voodoo statistics. As the CBN governor, if you wanted to say something relating to the economy, as the manager of the nation’s monetary policies, you must verify your facts because a central bank governor must weigh his utterances before making

them public”.

According to Maku, the figures presented by Sanusi were not consistent and were capable of creating tension in the economy “because the pronouncements of the central bank affect the capital market, monetary policies, indices of the country’s economy, and so the governor must be certain of the facts.

“Even if a central bank governor had to say something adversely about the economy of his nation he must weigh them, you don’t say things to frighten foreign investors, you have to be certain of facts and figures and then say in it a manner that will not scare away investors,” he said.

He said, “Sanusi is not a whistle blower but governor of the CBN. I have not heard in any nation where the central bank governor is a whistle blower,” he said stressing that as the chairman of the board of the CBN, which is investigating the submission of the Financial Report Council of Nigeria (FRCN) reports on him, he had to step aside because he can’t sit in a matter that he is being investigated for.

Peoples Daily recalls though that Sanusi had hired three legal experts to look at the statute establishing the Nigeria Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC) which the NNPC claimed it had transferred $6 billion to because it is not statutorily required to remit its yields to the federation account.

Clark to Jonathan: Declare state of emergency on corruption From Ayodele Samuel & Zainab Yusuf, Lagos

F

ormer Federal Minister of Information and Niger Delta Leader, Chief Edwin Clark yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to step up his anti corruption campaign, by declaring a state of emergency on corruption in the country.

Clark who spoke at a distinguished guest lecture series organized by School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, in Lagos also called for the trial of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

He said President Jonathan has being fighting corruption with courage, adding that, “If he was able to remove the oil subsidy and fight the cabal in the oil sector, for a man to

prosecute the son of his Party’s former Chairman while in office , it shows the man is courageous .

“Jonathan needs to do more.

He should immediately set up a special tribunal to try corrupt criminals, no matter how highly placed they are, as it’s done in other countries were Prime Ministers, Past President who have been found corrupt are been charged and jailed if found guilty.

“Also he should declare state of emergency on corruption and I believe if these are done, corruption will reduce drastically,” Clark said.

Clark while calling for the trial of the suspended CBN governor said, “Today the government has come out with documents that showed us that Sanusi is a corrupt person, he should be tried and jailed if found guilty”.

L-R: Niger state Governor, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, Chairman, North Central Consultative Assembly, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, and Chairman, Governing Board of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Colonel Theophilus Bamgboye, during their visit to the governor, yesterday at the Government House, in Minna.

$22.8bn missing in NNPC audited financial statements – NEITI

By Umar Muhammad Puma

T

he Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed yesterday alleged that $22.8 billion was not disclosed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in its audited financial statements through alternative funding arrangement with its joint venture partners, according to its audit report of 2009-2011.

Mrs. Ahmed equally faulted the claim by NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr. Andrew Yakubu that the Corporation did not connive with some Swiss oil dealers to short-change the country of $6.8 billion.

The NEITI boss further stated that from 2009 to 2011 the country lost N98.3 billion to NNPC in exchange rates compared to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN official exchange rate in the year under review.

Mrs. Ahmed, who appeared before House of Representatives joint committees on Petroleum

Resources, Upstream, Petroleum Resources Downstream and Justice probing the allegation insisted that the Bernes declaration report had substance.

The NNPC boss had yesterday rubbished the Bernes Declaration report saying that the report was false.

However, the chairman of the panel, Rep Ajibola Muraina (PDP Oyo), adjourned the investigative hearing till March 25 and ruled that, the Minister of Petroleum resources, Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Acting Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Executive Secretary of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA among others to appear before the panel on the adjourned date.

The NEITI boss in her position paper which was based on NEITI audit report of 2009-2011 also faulted allocation of 445, 000 barrels per day for local refineries through NNPC saying that, “the 445,000 barrels per day allocation

should be reviewed to the actual refining capacity of the refineries”.

Mrs. Ahmed also advised that Federal government should consider privatisation of the refineries, and as well ensure that pipeline security should be enhanced.

The Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr Haruna Momoh in his presentation to the committee debunked the claim that the nation is losing $8 billion annually through swap arrangement of crude oil between NNPC and some foreign oil companies.

Mr. Momoh also maintained that the crude oil swap arrangement was in the best interest of the country, saying that the arrangement has guaranteed supply of the petroleum products in the country.

He added that there was no shoddy arrangement in the crude oil swap arrangement, stressing that the swap arrangement is not a permanent arrangement, “it will soon be phased out once the refineries are operating in full capacity and when new refineries comes on board”.

Buni-Yadi: US expresses worry over killing of students

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

T

he United States (US), government has expressed worry on how the Nigerian soldiers are handling the continued killing of people by the Boko Haram sect in the Northeast part of the country.

The U.S Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, Bisa Williams told BBC that U.S is very worried on how the Nigerian government is handling the fight against Boko Haram.

The envoy said the US government has since expressed

. . . as students’ body calls for tighter security in schools dissatisfaction to President Jonathan over the way the country is taking the issue and expressed worry on how the Boko Haram become a serious threat in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast part of the country.

In a related development, the National Association of Yobe State Student has expressed concern on the way boarding students are being attacked in the state, and

called on the government to take majors of providing securities at all schools.

President of the students’ association, Comrade Muhammed Aji Baitu Dmaturu who made the call said the issue of security is the Federal government responsibility; therefore, the Federal Government should put more effort.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 6

News

Rise in rape cases worries North-west women Journalists From Edwin Olofu, Kano

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he National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) has expressed concern over the rise in cases of rape involving minors in the Northern part of the country.

The National Vice President of the Association in charge of North-West Zone, Hajia Zainab Rabo Ringim who raised the alarm, urged law enforcement agencies to conduct thorough investigation into the incidents in order to bring the culprits to book.

Zainab who was speaking in Kano yesterday during the Triennial Zonal meeting, expressed worry that the cases of rape affects mostly child girls between the ages of 3 and above.

She said the “The rape case is a great concern to every persons and called for urgent action to address the problem from the society”.

On the women involvement into politics, The NAWOJ National Vice President also revealed that “No political dispensation could ever reach fruition without women playing a spectacular role.

“In times of electioneering campaign every politician considered the women folk as important knowing that with our numerical strength we can do and undo. We should be fully guided by our role in determining the political future of the country. We have no reason to shirk this role”, she said.

2015 election won’t affect Constitution amendment – Reps

By Umar Muhammad Puma

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ollowing the successful completion of voting on the constitutional review report, Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Emeka Ihedioha yesterday declared that preparation for the 2015 general elections will not affect the ongoing amendment of the 1999 constitution by the National Assembly.

The deputy speaker, who doubles as the chairman House Committee on the Review of the Constitution (HCRC) said a harmonization committee to meet with the Senate would be constituted when the House resumes plenary. He said both chambers of the National Assembly were committed to delivering the constitution amendment before the elections.

“The House Committee on Constitution Amendment and indeed

...Set to appoint harmonization committee

the entire House of Representatives has carried out its assignment objectively with the interest of the Nigerian people at heart. The House carried out alterations on 71 Sections of the Constitution”, he said.

The House amended Section 315(5) of the Constitution and Section 19 of the National Youth Service Corps Act to insure every corps members.

Ihedioha said, “The House voted by 300 for, 2 against and none abstention to mandate the National Youth Service Corps to insure every corps member against loss of life or serious injury incurred or occasioned while performing official duty or while traveling, seven days preceding the date of commencement of the service period or seven days after the end of the service period, from the place of residence or mobilization to the place

of deployment and vice versa.

“It also extended the coverage of the Public Officers Protection Act to every corps member and any other person employed under any undertaking or project for the duration of this service”, he stated.

The House of Representatives has prescribed tough punitive measures against rigging and other electoral offences in future elections in the country.

The House had voted 317 for, with 2 against and 19 in abstention for an Electoral Offences Commission to carry out sanctions against electoral fraud, a major hindrance to an entrenched democracy in Nigeria.

The overwhelming vote of the House is for an amended section 153 of the constitution. It awaits harmonisation with the Senate and

L-R: Assistant Corps Marshal, Policy Research and Strategies, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Kayode Olagunji, Deputy Corps Marshal, Vehicle Administration, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr. Osita Chidoka, and Deputy Corps Marshal, Operations, Mr. Danjuma Garba, during a press briefing on the 5th annual lecture series of FRSC with the theme: “Safe Roads; A 21st Century Deployment Challenge,” yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Yobe killings: ‘Halt mayhem in schools’

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin he Chairman Governing Council, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu has called of the federal government to put an end to the senseless killings of students in schools.

Odinkalu who was speaking against recent attack on students in Federal Government Collage Buni-Yadi, Yobe state, said proper machineries should be put in place to arrest the situation.

He said many official reports, including the Marshall Dike report (2009); Galtimari report (2011); and Turaki Committee report (2013) already contain farreaching proposals for addressing the situation, adding that the Federal Government and the people of the state must work to bring an end to the atrocities.

The chairman said education was a basic right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

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at least 24 State Houses of Assembly, before it makes it to the Constitution.

The deputy speaker noted that the particular section on electoral offences was contentious, but the House summoned courage to amend it for the benefit of future elections.

“The House voted by 317 for, 2 against and 19 abstentions to establish an Electoral Offences Commission as one of the federal bodies in the Constitution. This is a bold attempt by the House to tackle the hydra headed problem of electoral integrity and ensure effective sanctions for electoral malpractices”, he said.

On the process, the deputy speaker said “Ours was a transparent process, which involved all segments of the country, including market women”, he said.

Suspension: Court rejects Sanusi’s ex parte motion

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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Federal High Court, Abuja yesterday dismissed an ex-parte motion seeking the immediate reinstatement of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in his ruling on the ex-parte motion said it would not be in the interest

of justice for him to grant such application without hearing from those that were dragged before the court by the suspended CBN governor.

Consequently, Sanusi, was ordered to go and serve the relevant court processes on President Goodluck Jonathan, the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of Police, who were all listed as defendants in

the matter, even as the substantive suit was adjourned to March 12 for hearing.

Kolawole maintained that should the court, at the conclusion of the matter, discover that the CBN governor was wrongfully suspended without recourse to the due process of the law, the court has the constitutional powers to, not only void the suspension, but also order that he should return to office

to perform his duties as the head of the apex bank.

According to the Judge, even where the tenure had lapsed, the court could order the defendants to pay the plaintiff such remunerations and allowances that ought to have accrued to him within the period of his suspension, “this is in any event that the suspension carries with it the stoppage of the plaintiff’s remuneration and allowances.”

PPPRA warns marketers against selling petrol above N97 per litre

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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he Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, (PPPRA) yesterday warned petroleum marketers against selling the product above N97 per litre, even as it assures Nigerians that the Agency has not approved any pump price increase and there are no plans to do so.

A statement by the Executive

Secretary, PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed said the clarification becomes necessary following reports that some petroleum marketers are hoarding petroleum products in the vain anticipation of fuel price increase.

“PPPRA wishes to further assure the Nigerian public, that there are sufficient PMS in the country to guarantee uninterrupted fuel supply, and

motorists are therefore advised to shun panic-buying, as loading of products has been uninterrupted in all NNPC depots across the country”, the statement said.

T h e A g e n c y d i re c t e d a l l petroleum marketers to release for sale products in their tanks and depots and at the officially approved pump price.

“To ensure compliance, the PPPRA and the Department of

Petroleum Resources (DPR), shall be working closely to monitor the situation at all retail outlets, and shall not hesitate to shut down any filling station found hoarding products or selling above the official price”, the statement added and reassured Nigerians that it remains resolute to its mandate of ensuring adequate products supply and distribution nationwide.

News

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 7

Police arrest Mali gun agent From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

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man suspected to be a gun runner for agents from Mali met his waterloo as he

was arrested by the police in Yauri local government area of Kebbi State.

The arms he was allegedly carrying were concealed in smoked fish carton imported rom

Mali through Kamba border area.

An Eyewitnesses told in Peoples Daily that the suspect Abubakar Baba , a Mali national born in Nigeria, has been operating under the cover of an international smoked fish dealer from Mali.

According to the eye witness, “Our consignment usually arrive on Tuesday night from Mali via Niger republic. He (the suspect) usually receives between eight and

10 cartoons of the consignment but will always insist that a selected two should not be opened to buyers. The two cartoons are always personally carried away by him.

We gathered that one of those special cartons fell off at Gwiwa (a Niger boarder community near Kamba). It was picked up by some good Samaritans who reported the matter and handed over the carton to the Nigerien police.

“Upon hearing that the carton is in possession of the police, the suspected gun runner, Baba who was already in Kamba, made a U-turn, hired a vehicle absconded in a vehicle he chartered at the cost of N25,000 and went into hiding in Yauri.

“The police in Yauri were alerted and Baba was immediately arrested, And brought to the police headquarters in Birnin

Kebbi.

“The police are right now searching our shops and some of us were made to write statements”, some of the fish dealers who spoke on condition of anonymity told out reporter.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mohammed Mainagge, could not be reached and did not reply text messages sent to his number.

BRIEFS

Saleswoman,30, bolts with employer’s N400,000

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30-year-old saleswoman, Yemisi Olorunsola, yesterday appeared before a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, over alleged theft of N400, 000 realised from the sale of recharge cards and mobile phones.

The accused, who resides in Ojuelegba area of Lagos, is facing a charge of theft.

She, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Jimah Iseghede, told the court that the accused committed the offence

sometime between Jan. 6 and Jan. 8.

He said the stolen money belonged to one Mrs Ogo Okeke.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 285 (7) - Hide quoted text - prescribes seven years imprisonment for clerks or servants, who steal from their employer.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs A.F. Adeeyo, granted the woman bail in the sum of N100, 000 with a surety in like sum.

She adjourned the case to March 12 for mention. (NAN)

Police recover 2-monthsold stolen baby in Kaduna

President, American University of Nigeria, Dr Margee Ensign, (middle) with cross section of the audience at the Rwandan Genocide Memorial organised by the university, recently in Yola,

10 die in Jigawa auto crash

From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

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o fewer than 10 people lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident in Sada Village of Kazaure local government area in Jigawa state.

Reports from the state indicated that the two commercial vehicles, all Toyota Model F buses

were coming from opposite directions and had head on collusion where six people died instantly.

Confirming the incident, the state Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Malam Muhammad Gidado Fari said his men led the rescue team who took the victims

to Kazaure general hospital.

According to him, the two vehicles were full of passengers, “One was coming from Daura and the other one was coming from Kano with registration no: AE 200 TTK IMO and QC 415 EKY Lagos”, adding that “10 people died with 5 males, 5 females among which was a 2 year old baby boy.”

Ghanian, Congolese arrested with cocaine at Enugu airport From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

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54-year-old Ghanian comedian, Musah Iddrisu aka Charles Udunehi who bought drugs for 19,000 US dollars and a 20-year-old citizen of Congo DRC, Inana Cedrick who claimed to be a secondary school student in Tanzania have been apprehend at Enugu airport with cocaine.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested the two foreigners with narcotic drugs as the two (2) suspected drug traffickers were caught during inward and outward screening of Ethiopian airline passengers.

The NDLEA Commander at the Enugu Airport, Nsikak-Abasi Udoh said that “The Ghanaian comedian ingested 450 grammes of cocaine on his way to Thailand

while the student from Congo DRC imported 1.500kg of heroin into the country. We have also apprehended a Nigerian by name John Obi Nwadilichukwu who was to receive the student, collect the drug and pay him for smuggling the drug” Nsikak-Abasi told reporters.

Upon interrogation, Inana revealed that he was given the drug by a - Hide quoted text Nigerian woman at Nairobi to deliver to her husband in Enugu.

In his words, “I was given the drug in Nairobi by a Nigerian woman who told me to give the drug to her husband, John Obi Nwadilichukwu who resides in Enugu. I wanted to use the money they promised to pay me in buying beads for sale in Tanzania. I am a secondary school student from a poor home.”

The Ghanaian comedian revealed he wanted to sell drugs in Thailand. “I am a Ghanaian and a comedian by profession. I got involved in drug trafficking because of my financial predicament. I bought the drugs in Ghana, ingested it and came to Enugu airport. As a new airport, I felt the security will not be like other airports but I was caught. I regret my action” he stated.

Chairman of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that adequate security efforts have been made to apprehend drug traffickers at the Enugu International Airport.

“We have already deployed our officials to the Enugu airport before it commenced international flights.

Adequate security measures have been put in place to apprehend drug traffickers at the airport” Giadestated.

K

aduna State Police Command yesterday said it had recovered a twomonths-old baby, Sulaiman Adamu, stolen from his mother by a customer.

Its Public Relation Officer, Aminu Lawan, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.

Lawan said the mother of the baby, Marwa Adamu, had earlier reported the case at the Police Divisional Headquarters in Rigachukwu on Jan.31.

He said the mother had complained that a woman, Hassana Mohammed, had run away with the child from Maraban Jos, in Igabi Local Government Area of the state.

Lawan said the child was recovered on Feb.16, when the

woman who took away the baby called her friends on phone, who immediately alerted the police.

The police spokesperson said the woman was encouraged to return and on arrival in Maraban Jos, was arrested for child theft, adding that she would soon be prosecuted.

Narrating the incident, the mother of the baby, Marwa Adamu (28), said the suspect had run away with the child on Jan.31, after she had finished plaiting her hair.

According to Adamu, Mohammed took the child on the pretext that she was going to call one of her friends to also get her hair flirted.

Adamu said she had to report at the police station when the suspect refused to return the baby few hours later. (NAN)

Student commits suicide over school fees

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he police in Taraba yesterday confirmed that a 400-level student of Taraba University, Friday Samson, committed suicide in Jalingo after a family disagreement.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Joseph Kwaji, who confirmed the

incident, said the police were still investigating the matter.

He said Samson, a student of Mathematics, allegedly died after taking a substance.

Kwaji said a suicide note was found in the pocket of the deceased in which he alleged that his sister had refused to pay his school registration fees.(NAN

PAGE 8

Photo Splash

L-R: Deputy Comptroller (Admin), Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Matizumahs Gwani, Comptroller FOU, Nuhu Mahmoud, and Deputy Comptroller (Enforcement) FOU, Chianson Anthony, briefing journalists on the activities of FOU, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

The Moon and Star at 6.a.m, yesterday in Abuja.

Butchers busy at Bauchi Abattoir, yesterday in Bauchi.

L-R: National Project Coordinator, WAAPP-Nigeria, Professor Damian Chikwendu, Programme Manager, Bauchi state Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), Alhaji Ilyasu Aliyu-Gital, and Head of Extension Services, Gombe state ADP, Malam Yahaya Bojoga, during the meeting of selected state ADPs and WAAPP-Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Photo: NAN

Photo: NAN

L-R: Anti-Corruption Programme Manager, Justice for All, Mr Emmanuel Uche; Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor and Executive Director, Agama Foundation, Mr Peter Ritchie, during a meeting on advocacy against impunity in the oil subsidy regime in Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 9

News

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 10

NHRC flays killing of students in Yobe

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

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he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has condemned the barbaric and senseless murder of students at a federal government college in Buniyadi, Gujba local government area of Yobe state by terrorist group.

A statement by the chief press officer, Fatimah Agwai Mohammed, said the Executive Secretary of NHRC, Prof.

Ben Angwe said the killing of these innocents students was dastardly and horrific.

Against this background, the statement expressed the readiness of the commission

to continue to work with the relevant authorities in the country towards bringing peace and reconciliation in the region to avoid further violations of people’s rights in the area; even as it called for those responsible to be made to face an open and transparent trial in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Angwe said, “The commission has been proactive in human rights monitoring, protection and promotion and will do everything within its mandate to ensure that Nigerians whose rights are violated can have redress through the commission”.

He called on the relevant

authorities to urgently put machinery in place to ensure that the families of those who survived the attack and those of the deceased are given the necessary social and economic support in order for them not to suffer further human rights violations.

Ramalan Yero disclosed this while speaking to some traders and traditional leaders in Tudun Wada District ward of Kaduna South Local government of the state yesterday.

Governor Yero who was represented by his Director General, Media and Publicity, Alhaji Ahmed

Maiyaki, said the N13 million was giving out to assist the traders and not as compensation.

According to him, “the N10 million was given to traders in wood market in Zaria, while N3 million to traders in Tudun Wada market in Kaduna.

“The money was only given

out to assist the traders and not as compensation. We pray that Allah replenishes the lost suffered by the victims,” the Director General stated.

In his own remarks, the District Head of Sabon Gari, in Tudun wada area, Alhaji Yau Kachalla commended the government for the

gesture describing it as one which would go a long way to assist the traders resume their business.

Meanwhile, it would be recalled that some weeks ago the state experienced series of fire incidence leading to the loss of properties worth millions of naira in the market areas.

Commissioner for health, Alhaji Kabiru Ahmad Janyau, announced the development yesterday, at the inauguration ceremony of Bakura local council committee for food and nutrition held at Bakura.

Janyau, who was represented by the Director, Primary Health Care of the ministry, Alhaji Yusuf Musa said the state government had in

2013 established a budget line for nutrition in order to ensure government’s commitment towards the support for partners in alleviating malnutrition across the state.

He applauded the effort of ‘Save the Children and UNICEF for their technical and financial commitment towards treating children affected by malnutrition in different parts

of the state, pointing out that, over 42,000 malnourished children were treated within last five years of development nutrition projects in the state run by Save the children and UNICEF. In his speech, Bakura local government council Chairman, Alhaji Bello Dankande Gamji said the 14 council Chairmen have contributed about

N1.5million on monthly basis for nutrition activities through the state basket funds.

Peoples Daily observed that, according to 2008 Demographic Health Survey, Zamfara State was among the states in northern Nigeria with an alarming rate of malnutrition, as about half of children under five were stunted and 11% were wasted.

Gov. Yero doles out N13m to fire victims K From: Femi Oyelola Kaduna

aduna State Government yesterday doled out N13 million to victims of fire incidence at Kasuwar Barchi market in Tudun wada area and Zaria market in Kaduna.

The state Governor, Mukhtar

Zamfara state establishes 38 malnutrition centres From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

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amfara state government in collaboration with developmental partners has established 38 Community Management of Acute Malnutrition, being part of measures to put the rate of high malnutrition among children of the state under control.

KEBBI STATE OF NIGERIA Ministry of Science and Technical Education Haliru Abdu Secretariat Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State (Contact No kbstb/mste/186/2013) Advertisement for Request for Quotation (RFQ) for Provision of Structures at Technical College Lailaba (Phase II) This is to request for quotation (RFQ) from civil Engineering firms, Architects, Builders and other interested parties to construct structures at Government Science and Technical College Lailaba Phase II. 2. Scope of Works The works to be carried out at Technical College Lailaba are: A. 4 No. Blocks of 3 Classrooms B. 3 No. Students Hostels C. 1 Library D. 1 Laboratory E. 1 Computer Lab F. 2 3 Bedroom SSQ G. 5 No. 2 Bedroom Duplex H. 2 No. Blocks of 6 No. Cells Pit Latrine I. 2 VIP Toilets J. Construction of Sports pitches K. Wall fence L. Hand pumps M. Fire soft age Devices 3.

Qualification of firms responding to the (RFQ) Civil Engineering firms, Architects, Builders and other interested parties ii presenting quotation must show evidence of:A. Payment of cooperate taxes PAYE, VAT, TAX etc.

B. Tenders Board Registration Certificate C. Letters of Confirmation by applicant bankers on having financial capacity to execute the contract.

D. Certificate of incorporation.

E. Memorandum and Articles of Association.

F. List of company/consulting firms personnel including qualification and years of experience in the field.

G. List of company/consulting firms, machineries, equipment and instrument.

H. List of previous works/services executed and evidence of performance I. ITF payments resit.

Deadline for Submission of Quotation All interested firms are required to submit EOI two weeks from the date of this publication.

SIGNED: Alh. Garba Kangiwa Mnim Permanent Secretary Ministry of Science & Technical Education Kebbi State

KEBBI STATE GOVERNMENT MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES ADVERTISEMENT OF REQUEST FOR QUOTATION (RFQ) FOR THE PROVISION OF 4 NO. SOLAR POWERED WATER SCHHEME AT GALARUN SANI, ZUGURU, UNGUWAR SALE AND DANYENKU VILLAGES IN KALGO L/G. Project Contract N0: KBSTB/MWRD/187/2013 1. Construction of 4 No. solar Boreholes at Galarun Sani, Zuguru, Unguwar Sale and Danyeku Villages in Kalgo Local Government respectively.

2. The Scope of works for the project shall includes the following: i. Drilling of a complete 150mm dia, Borehole with SQ type solar powered pump ii. Construction of a complete 22.5m3 welded Tank 6m tower iii. Provision of water points and commissioning apron. iv. construction of control room and fencing works. v. supply and installation of solar modules.

3. QUALIFICATION OF FIRMS RESPONDING OF THE (RFQ) Water engineering firms, representative of manufacturers of water materials etc in presenting quotation must show clear evidence of: a. Payment of Corporate Taxes, PAYE, VAT, etc b. Kebbi State Tenders Board Registration Certificate c. Letters of confirmation by applicant’s banker on having financial, capacity to execute the contract k. Certificate of Incorporation for companies/consulting firms l.

Memorandum and articles of Association m. Registration with professional/regulatory bodies as would be applicable n. List of company/consulting firms, machineries, equipments and instruments. o. List of previous works/services executed within Kebbi State and evidence of performance p. List of company/consulting firms, personnel including qualification and year of experience in the field q. Third Party insurance 4.

DEADLINE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF QUOTATION

All interested companies are to submit their quotation of the project within one week from the date of this advertisement.

The ministry of water resources and rural development Kebbi state reserves the right to reject any quotation that does not meet its requirements.

SIGNED ALHAJI LABARAN MUHAMMAD KALGO Permanent Secretary Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development For: Honourable Commissioner

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 11

Money Sense

The basics of building a budget for your business

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or many small business owners, the process of budgeting is limited to figuring out where to get the cash to meet next week’s payroll.

There are so many financial fires to put out in a given week that it’s hard to find the time to do any short-or long-range financial planning. But failing to plan financially might mean that you are unknowingly planning to fail.

Business budgeting is one of the most powerful financial tools available to any small-business owner. Put simply, maintaining a good short- and long-range financial plan enables you to control your cash flow instead of having it control you.

The most effective financial budget includes both a shortrange month-to-month plan for at least a calendar year and a long-range quarter-

Money Tip:

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mployees are usually the first to know when funding prospects dry up, strategies fail and products don’t sell, so it’s better to be upfront about the risks of joining a young company.

But enable new recruits to share in the rewards of business success immediately rather than waiting for their equity to appreciate. For example, one clever way to share risk with your new recruits is to outline a path to increase their base salaries as the business grows.

For example, offer to increase a base salary from $75,000 to $100,000 when the company hits certain milestones, then again to $150,000 when profitability is attained. Put this in writing in the offer letter. This compensation plan will cost less than promising to pay out bonuses, which get spent then forgotten, or subsequent equity grants, which get expensive for the company if they are granted many times.

Quote The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleightof-hand that was ever invented.

Banking was conceived in inequity and born in sin... But if you want to continue to be slaves of the bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the bankers continue to create money and control credit – Josiah Charles Stamp

to-quarter plan you use for financial statement reporting.

It should be prepared during the two months preceding the fiscal year-end to allow ample time for sufficient informationgathering.

The long-range plan should cover a period of at least three years (some go up to five years) on a quarterly basis, or even an annual basis. The longterm budget should be updated when the short-range plan is prepared.

While some owners prefer to leave the one-year budget unchanged for the year in which it provides projections, others adjust the budget during the year based on certain financial occurrences, such as an unplanned equipment purchase

or a larger-than-expected upward sales trend.

Using the budget as an ongoing planning tool during a given year certainly is recommended. However, here is a word to the wise: budgeting is vital, but it is important to avoid getting so caught up in the budget process that you forget to keep doing business.

It is important to budget both the income statement and balance sheet. This enables you to consider potential cash-flow needs for our entire operation, not just as they pertain to income and expenses. For instance, if you had already been in business for a couple of years and were adding a new product line, you would need to consider the impact of inventory

purchases on cash flow.

Budgeting only the income statement also doesn’t allow a full analysis of the effect of potential capital expenditures on your financial picture. For instance, if you are planning to purchase real estate for your operation, you need to budget the effect the debt service will have on cash flow.

In the future, a budget can also help you determine the potential effects of expanding your facilities and the resulting higher rent payments of debt service.

In the startup phase, you will have to make reasonable assumptions about your business in establishing your budget. You will need to ask questions such as:

How much can be sold in the first year?

How much will sales grow in the following year?

How will the products and/ or services you are selling be priced?

How much will it cost to produce your product? How much inventory will you need?

What will your operating expenses be?

How many employees will you need? How much will you pay them? How much will you pay yourself? What benefits will you offer? What will your payroll or unemployment taxes be?

What will the income tax rate be? Will your business be an S corporation or a C corporation?

What will your facilities needs be? How much will it cost you in rent or debt service for these facilities?

What equipment will be needed to start the business?

How much will it cost? Will there be additional equipment needs in subsequent years?

What payment terms will you offer customers if you sell on credit? What payment terms will your suppliers give you?

How much will you need to borrow? What will the collateral be? What will the interest rate be?

As for the actual preparation of the budget, you can create it manually or with the budgeting function that comes with most bookkeeping software packages. www. harvardbusinessschool. com

Want to make more money? Understand the multiplying effect

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ow much money do you want to make every year?

If you haven’t seriously asked yourself that, you should.

Why wouldn’t you? It’s a very easy question to answer. And until you’ve really thought about it, it’s impossible to determine how you’re going to get there.

When I was in my early twenties, my father sat me down and asked me that same question, point blank. The advice he gave me after fundamentally changed the way I thought about work and led me to my current career.

I told him I wanted to make $100,000 a year. At the time, I thought that was a lot of money.

You’ll work for about another 30 years, he told me. So how much money would I make in my lifetime?

I did the math: $3 million.

He asked, was I happy with that amount? If I wasn’t, what was I going to do about it?

My father was a smart man.

Three million didn’t seem like a lot of money over 30 years, given taxes and living expenses. The math didn’t add up: Life is short, and it didn’t seem like enough for a lifetime of work. When I looked at the last paycheck I had received, I wasn’t happy.

My father told me the only way to create wealth was to find a business opportunity that had a multiplying effect and that didn’t require my presence. It took me some time to figure out what that meant. The latter part was easy enough. He explained, “A doctor can only help so many people in a day and in a year. A lawyer can only try so many cases.” To create great wealth, I

needed to find something that didn’t require my hands or my presence.

Fair enough.

The second was trickier: What did having a multiplying effect mean? He told me that I needed to piggyback on or create something that would be used over and over again, that people never stopped needing. In other words, he explained to me the idea of collecting a royalty. That made sense to me.

And it’s what spurred me to start licensing my ideas.

Today, there are many examples of businesses that share these qualities. Application developers for one, Franchises are another and of course, there are countless examples of more traditional methods, like the stock market, bonds and real estate.

For me, the concept of the

multiplying effect was tremendously attractive. Some people derive pleasure and contentment from being masters of their craft, from working day in and day out with their hands. That’s not me. I wanted to make money and I wanted to be able to do new things, to constantly challenge myself in new ways.

How much money do you want to make? How are you going to make it? Finding my multiplying effect, writing a book, offering a course and licensing my ideas, has allowed me to live where I want, have people working for me elsewhere and be my own boss. It is incredibly freeing. It works for me.

I’m not saying it’s for everyone but I want you to critically ask yourself how much you want to make and do the math. www. inventright.com

PAGE 12

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

EDITORIAL

Return of annoying fuel queues I it advised motorists to avoid panic buying. We wonder how that can be avoided as long as the scarcity persists.

While we agree that there is a pocket of hoarders of the products who may have created an artificial scarcity in order to

“

t has been four days of a harrowing experience for motorists and commuters as a result of an ever worsening fuel scarcity nationwide. In the nation’s commercial hub, Lagos, the scarcity was first noticed on Monday with the appearance of queues at filling stations and the closure of many others. In Abuja, the administrative capital, the queues were longer on Tuesday and yesterday, in some cases spilling into adjourning streets, and making them impassable.

The result has been many man hours spent at the filling stations and a drastic drop in productivity. As often happens, the scarcity has spawned a swarm of black marketers who are selling the premium motor spirit (petrol) at N200 a litre instead of the official price of N97 pegged since 2012 when the federal government partially lifted fuel subsidy.

In its reaction to the scarcity, returning after a year of supply stability, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday alleged that “saboteurs” had “orchestrated” the nationwide scarcity in order to “frustrate the government’s efforts”.

An all too familiar line of defence. It accused marketers of “hoarding in anticipation of a price increase”. It dismissed the likelihood of a hike in petrol price, warning that hoarders would be “sanctioned”. At the sametime,

We condemn the NNPC’s deliberate falsehood, hundreds aimed at misleading of millions of petrol.

Nigerians who use

force a price rise, we believe the problem is much more deepseated. If the products were available in large quantity, the market forces of demand and supply would make hoarding almost impossible. The truth, which the NNPC is not telling, is that there is under supply of fuel.

The truth is that the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMA) did warn last week of an imminent nationwide fuel scarcity because their product stock had run out and they were yet to receive their first quarter import allocations from the government to replenish stock. The daily national fuel consumption rate is 40 million

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litres. The NNPC conveniently ignored to acknowledge this blunder. Also, it was the same week that the government chose to announce a change of leadership at the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which is responsible for approving and issuing import allocations.

As it turned out, it was only on Sunday that PPPRA released the import allocations, almost two clear months into the first quarter of the year.

And everyone should know that the releases would not translate to instant stock replenishment. We agree with MOMAN Executive Secretary, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, who said the importers needed time to place orders. “Even with the allocations, it takes some time before marketers can bring in petroleum products. We got allocation on Sunday night and it will take some time before the cargoes start coming in.”

We condemn the NNPC’s deliberate falsehood, aimed at misleading hundreds of millions of Nigerians who use petrol.

But then we are not surprised; the NNPC hardly admits it does anything wrong. It recently denied a charge made by now suspended CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the NNPC had failed to remit $20 billion into the federation account as required by law. But till date, it has not said where the “missing” money is.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Opinion

PAGE 13

How to rescue Borno from Boko Haram

By Dele Agekameh

T

hat Borno State is the founding home of the Boko Haram insurgency is no longer news. Muhammed Yusuf, the founder of the sect, was eliminated by unscrupulous security agents in very controversial circumstances after he was captured during a riot in Maiduguri, the state capital, in 2009. In that mayhem, many people, including scores of security agents, were either killed or maimed. The security agents responded by mowing down whomever they suspected to be a Boko Haram member.

Since the beginning of this month, the sect appeared to be having a field day in their operations despite the presence of military Task Force in the state. Their ceaseless attacks have led to the untimely death of more than 300 people in this month alone. Last week, a terrified Kashim Shettima, the Governor of the state, shuttled back and forth to the State House, Abuja ostensibly to brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the killings. While addressing reporters shortly after, Shettima made it clear that Nigeria is “in a state of war”. He also said

the fight against Boko Haram was far from being won, as the insurgents seem to be more motivated than the Nigerian military. He warned that the faster Nigerian leaders braced up to the challenge, the better for the country. But a few hours after Shettima’s outburst, Doyin Okupe, an aide of the President on public affairs, in his usual boisterous manner, countered that the military was better equipped and motivated to fight Boko Haram militants. My take is that Shettima is the man who wears the shoe and so should know better where it pinches.

At any rate, uncertainty now pervades most of the North-east each day, over fear of possible attack by the sect. The question being asked by many today is: for what use have the huge budgetary provisions made for the armed forces in the fight against the insurgents been put into? This is germane following the seemingly failure of the security agents to tackle the insurgency headlong since all these months that emergency had been in place. Rightly or wrongly, some people have attributed this lacklustre performance by the security forces to high level of corruption

in the management of funds budgeted to fight the menace.

Aside from the issue of upto-date military hardware, it is believed that the absence of an operational air wing of the Army may have constituted a clog in the wheels of progress in the execution of operations in the affected areas. The fact remains that the Army pilots trained for such operations have largely been idle since they were not being utilised because of the absence of Army Aviation in the country. This has made the Nigerian Army to rely solely on the Air Force for air support in their operations. This, no doubt, may have greatly hampered the operational efficiency of the army in its ongoing combat operations against the insurgents as the Air Force was said to be more or less reluctant to take orders from the Army because of the inter-service rivalry.

An air wing would make it possible for the army to plan its operations and execute them speedily without relying solely on the Air Force for such support.

There have been instances in the past where soldiers had been endangered when an expected air support was called off at the last minute after troops had

OBJ: Joseph the dreamer

By Imikan Attah

I

t came as the surprise of the year for me to hear the statement credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo that “politics is not for the ungodly”.

As a student of logic, you are taught a system of reasoning called deductive reasoning.

Logical conclusions are drawn based on certain premises.

Premise 1: Politics is not for the ungodly; premise 2: OBJ is a politician; therefore, OBJ is godly.

The substance of this conclusion, will also be subjected to some examination; not at all rigorous but dispassionate, to determine the mystery of godliness! Indeed, OBJs words and actions are measurable, and worthy of close examination.

Earlier this month, OBJ, on a trip to the UK, told the gathering there that Dr. Jonathan had previously, repeatedly told him that he (Jonathan) would only spend 1term in office, and that in view of current denials, that the “most important thing in life” was for one to be a man of one’s words. He then waited long enough for Jonathan’s reaction; and when the silence became deafening he shot back with “politics is not for ungodly”.

OBJ had one term as president after which securing his second term ticket as allowed by the Constitution became uncertain. OBJ, the apostle of do-or-die politics, then staged

and arranged the marking of ballot papers, such that the OPEN SECRET aspect of the primaries became a mockery; a Rape on Democracy. He marked out those who voted against him!

During campaigning then, the EFCC repeatedly sent him incriminating evidence of criminal activities of one of his Governors. These, OBJ waved aside because this Governor promised and delivered 100% delegate votes in the above-mentioned presidential primaries. He even gave the Governor the allclear to contest for a 2nd term (mercifully, at the end of his tenure, the said Governor was later tried in a British court and is now serving 14 years for the same offence OBJ had previously covered up! Did this, in Caesar, seem honorable?!

“

Next, OBJ embarked on the path of tinkering with the constitution, for the critical national issue of getting himself a third term in office!!

When asked if he was indeed making overtures for a third term, he replied that even his chickens were expecting him back at his farm after his second term.

But it was not until the legislature quashed all his surreptitious third term moves that he reluctantly left office.

Was that godly? It is amazing that the same person is now holding a gun to Dr. Jonathan’s head to spend just one term in office.

I happened to have been privileged to have served as one of the masters of ceremony during the Presidential visit (by OBJ) to Bayelsa with

advanced into the battlefield, at the Sambisa Forest. This abrupt tinkering with operational plans has often given the insurgents the upper hand as security forces have been easily routed for lack of the desired support.

The casualty figures from these operational misdemeanors have been tremendous.

Besides, the thinking is that there is a sort of political undertone in the insurgency attacks, which have recently escalated in line with the body language of Mr. President, which suggests that he will soon declare for a second term in office. The attack may be aimed at portraying the President as anemic and incapable of protecting the people in the far North. And the sponsors of the insurgency are believed to be some political gladiators in that part of the country. The government needs to unmask them in order to cut-off the oxygen supply to the insurgents.

With the way things stand now, the onus is on the Nigerian military to gird its loins and effectively confront the menace of Boko Haram, particularly in Borno State, which appears to be its only remaining theatre of war, and its environs. Chris

Olukolade, a Major-General and Director, Defence Information, has assured the nation that the military is capable of winning the war against the insurgents.

Turenchi apart, the military really needs to demonstrate that it is an effective fighting force that can be relied upon by rooting the rag-tag Boko Haram terrorists from our soil without further prevarication.

The insurgents may have taken sanctuary in the hills of Cameroun, from where they attack isolated villages every now and then. But, mind you, Cameroun could be quite reluctant to cooperate with Nigeria in the prosecution of this anti-terrorists’ campaign.

That has been the nature of the francophone countries in Africa, especially in the West-African sub-region. If that is the case, we should not hesitate to close all our borders with Cameroun as was done in the past. It is only through this, that we can bring its government to see reason and co-opt it into this must-win war. This is a war that must be won at all costs even if it means declaring a full-blown emergency on Borno state.

Dele Agekameh’s professional profile is on linkedIn

Jonathan, then governor, as host. At several of the events, OBJ had described Jonathan as a godly, God fearing man.

Suddenly, curiously just before Jonathan’s anticipated declaration to contest a second term, he has become a man whose words are not to be trusted - an ungodly man. Again, in OBJ’s curious open letter to Dr Jonathan, OBJ had harped extensively on the security situation in the North East, and had alluded to how the Federal Government was not acting.

But the same condemnable, murderous actions of the Boko Haram in the North are what OBJ himself unleashed on the people of the Niger Delta when he was President!! OBJ sent a detachment of troops against whole communities of

the Niger Delta, over problems of internal conflict. Whole communities were razed (Odi), and the few surviving women and children were repeatedly raped and abused in broad daylight by the soldiers OBJ had sent.

All of this is documented and was even presented before the Oputa panel. That time, OBJ raised no alarm about the horrors, mayhem and insecurity that he had created.

No open letters were sent out.

But what is a fact is that there is no part of Nigeria that was spared OBJ’s onslaught when he was President. OBJ put Lagos people under siege and starved the people, just to play his so-called godly politics.

While the naira plummeted and the cost of staple foods skyrocketed, and while the Boko Haram and militant groups were being formed and birthed under his watch, OBJ spent a great deal of the nation`s resources and of his time ordering presidential jets for junkets around the world, chasing invisible foreign investors at astronomical cost.

Every human index fell, every sector of socio-economic life collapsed under OBJ, in his Joseph-like dreamland; and now he says politics is not for the ungodly. Indeed he is right.

Chief Imikan Attah is a broadcaster and former columnist with the Daily Sun.

But what is a fact is that there is no part of Nigeria that was spared OBJ’s onslaught when he was President. OBJ put Lagos people under siege and starved the people, just to play his socalled godly politics. While the naira plummeted and the cost of staple foods skyrocketed, and while the Boko Haram and militant groups were being formed and birthed under his watch, OBJ spent a great deal of the nation`s resources and of his time ordering presidential jets for junkets around the world, chasing invisible foreign investors at astronomical cost. Every human index fell, every sector of socio-economic life collapsed under OBJ, in his Joseph-like dreamland; and now he says politics is not for the ungodly. Indeed he is right.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 14

Opinion

What are we teaching our children?

By Bola Oyelere

M

allam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was in trouble with the Presidency. This much, everyone knew. The President had allegedly asked him to resign a few weeks ago when the furore over diversion of funds by the NNPC apparently reached very embarrassing heights for the government. Sanusi reportedly declined, stressing that only the National Assembly could remove him. Seeing as his tenure was even going to end in June, many reasoned the Presidency would tolerate him till then. But since then, there were tell-tales s that more trouble was looming in the horizon for Sanusi but no one could really have guessed he would be removed in the way he was.

Until the Presidency decided to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it, many hailed him as the great reformer. The messiah Nigeria’s banking industry had been waiting for. They think he has done a great service to this nation at grave personal risk and should be applauded.

They think he has stood up for the people, the widows and orphans who take their money to the banks and sometimes have to watch the collapse of those same banks through the recklessness of bank administrators.

Indeed, any close watcher could see something was essentially not right with our banks. In the middle of a global economic recession, Nigerian banks stood out as supposedly viable entities, immune and far from the global shock. We kept being reassured about the healthy state of our banks.

Bank executives jetted all over the

world in private jets, middle level bank executives flew first class and went on holidays at the best hotels in Dubai. Sanusi knew where exactly the dead bodies were buried and when he became governor, he dug them out.

His tsunami showed up so many big names in society as bank debtors who owed great sums of money; and not a few of these loans were granted in circumstances far out of compliance

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with the basic principles of credit.

Today, banks are a lot more careful about how they spend depositors’ money. His tenure as CBN governor saw many highly controversial statements coming from him. He was always in the news; sometimes for the wrong reasons and sometimes for the right ones, depending on what side you were looking from. One thing stood out though: this was one man who was not afraid to stir the hornet’s nest.

It therefore came as no major surprise when Sanusi wrote a letter to the President in September, 2013, alleging gross impropriety in the financial management of the NNPC. There has been a lot of back and forth since then. Accusations, denials and counter-accusations have been flying all over the place.

Through it all, Sanusi has stuck to his guns, maintaining that the NNPC was creaming off money belonging to the Nigerian state. To quickly get to the meat of this article, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was suspended (or to dispense with euphemisms, sacked) last Thursday by the President; right in the thick of the controversy his allegations have generated.

Sanusi is not a saint and would definitely have his own peccadilloes but the fact that he has been removed as CBN governor at a time when there’s so much noise about the revelations of massive corruption in government shows a government that is ready to rubbish those who rise up to fight corruption. We have a government that would label right as wrong and wrong as right, black as white and white as black. It disgraces

the role models and lifts up the thieves and scoundrels.

And this repeats itself all too often in the Jonathan administration.

There is one example I shouldn’t forget. It’s about a certain two-faced lachrymose quisling of a presidential aide who before joining government was well known

for his cutting and deeply incisive editorials, speaking out against government high-handedness and injustice. He is today busy defending government policies and actions with arguments that wouldn’t make sense to anyone else but he and his new paymasters. The reader may ask where this is going. It is quite simple.

The children, teenagers and adolescents are watching events as they unfold. They see and hear about all these contradictions. There is no way that the value system of these young, impressionable minds would not be affected by the corruption in society. When young ones are still grappling with differentiating right from wrong, what our society pushes at them is that honesty doesn’t pay; that if you’re corrupt and in government or a crony of the

government, you won’t be punished; that if you speak out against injustice, you’ll be disgraced and ridiculed; that if you accuse the government of wrongdoing, you’ll be punished and no one will come to your aid; that if you protest against unfavourable policies, your democratically elected government will roll out military tanks to fight you. Is this how we want to define our times? Many kids born in the ‘80s grew up believing that if one wanted to rule this country, all one had to do was join the armed forces. The military was running the country and officers seemed to be able to get whatever they wanted and do anything they wanted to do. Impunity seemed attractive. The military was attractive.

However, kids of that generation were also privileged to see patriotic men and women rise up to wrest our country away from the hands of the military. The notion that power could only come from and rest in the hands of the military was forever destroyed.

We have a lot to thank those fine ladies and gentlemen for and I think we owe it to them, ourselves and those coming behind us to set and get our values right again in this country. We must let the children know that hard work, honesty, uprightness, consistency and obeying the law are not outdated. A lot of damage has been done already but we’re not at the bottom of the league of the doomed and a lot can still be done to salvage the image of our country and save the coming generation from developing warped values.

Bola Oyelere via laudamus9@ gmail.com

Jonathan’s pricey serial blunders

By Folabi Ogunleye

B

eyond President Goodluck E. Jonathan’s current deficiency in clout -- beyond the recently shallow level of his reserve in goodwill, both with the Nigerian political class and the people in general -- is an abject lack of the type of leadership acumen, nay sophistication of thought, required to successfully govern any people, more so govern a complex society of almost 200 million Africans of various ethnic stock in the forced matrimony of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

To say that President Goodluck Jonathan is unqualified is actually an understatement; the situation is worse than that. He is sorely beneath the rank of one to preside over the affairs of any group beyond village chieftaincy, where he would attend to small-time disputes between market women and local farmers, with his trademark trite commentary.

His approach to issues is at best simplistic. Where quick thinking needed to be deployed, backed by the resources available to his offices as president and commander-in-chief, he adopts a wait-and-see attitude. In the meantime the bleeding remains.

And when he eventually rises to act, he institutes some weak idea that only serves as a temporary solution.

Of course his coterie of impressionable fans will rise to hail such move as deft. For them, this man is simply a calm, assured guy who is not easily ruffled as he studies situations before moving to tackle them in a manner that surprises those who have previously underestimated him. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

There is rarely any show of brilliance

in these decisions anyways. At best, again, his decisions and actions are mere shots in the dark. Little research is done to ascertain the viability or effectiveness of these actions, beyond some misguided supplication to whatever deity he and his supporters serve, that it works.

It is why most of the decisions made

by Mr. Jonathan’s government often result in little successes, if any. For his supporters, known these days as the ‘Jonathanians,’ the absence of impressive successes in administration for comparison misleads them to read Jonathan’s puny successes as ‘achievements,’ or ‘great strides.’ “He is at least trying,” say these tortured fans who only have abject failure of leadership around them to compare for a credible measure of President Jonathan’s socalled successes.

The Jonathan administration has repeatedly proven that it is a challenged one, helping to make the tag of “clueless” stick on the president since he took full charge of Nigeria’s affairs in May of 2011.

Again, and again, it has taken steps that backfired. One of the first acts of President Jonathan was to suggest a study on terms of office of elected officials in the country.

The justification was that terms of political office in Nigeria needed to be amended in order to end what Jonathan and company saw as the perpetual obsession with campaigns and elections within the short frame of time available for elected public officials. This, the president prioritized, in the middle of far more dire challenges begging for urgent action, top among which was the troubling security situation the country’s flash-points.

Later on, as the security situation worsened in the northern part of the country, Jonathan sat ensconced in the comforts of the federal capital city of Abuja, and it wasn’t until a group of opposition politicians paid a solidarity visit to the troubled region under extremists’ attack that the president finally paid the same area a visit.

Although there were suspicions that these opposition politicians merely jumped the gun upon learning of a planned visit by Mr. Jonathan, the damage had already been done to the president’s image as ineffective and lacking concern enough to actively tackle the bare-naked violence rocking the region.

As it was with the case of the oil subsidy removal decision that preceded the failed attempt to rename UNILAG, the government withdrew to lick its wound, duly chastised for its thoughtless and shabbily executed decisions. Likewise was the case with the decision to tinker with terms of office of elected officials by extending it beyond the average period of 4 years, on the deplorably juvenile excuse that it will afford these elected officials time to focus on their priority of governing effectively. [Shouldn’t it be obvious that any politician who is too distracted to deliver on the job within a space of 4 years has NO business being in that office in the first place?

Perhaps that was the earliest sign yet that Jonathan was a bad bet!]

It is evident at this point that the only thing the government has been consistent with in its fourth year in power is blunders, serial blunders.

In a space of one month, close to one hundred people have died from the endless cycle of violence rocking parts of northern Nigeria,

in a country that is not in a state of war - in a country with a government administration in place, equipped with a standing army, navy, air force, a paramilitary organization and a behemoth, corruption-ridden national police apparatus - among other security agencies, including the clandestine Directorate of State Security. There is also considerable wealth in the country and there is political power by virtue of the sound mandate issued Mr. Jonathan in the last presidential election – although he has squandered it at this point.

What, then, is President Jonathan’s excuse? Of course there is none.

Approximately a week ago, about 20 young women were abducted and taken away by savage militants who profess to the Islamic faith, and no one has any idea of the fate of these young women in the hands of those hypocritical, blood-thirsty, sex-starved dogs. And just last night, a raid of one of the federal unity schools, the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, by these same bigot savages left about 40 people dead. 40 people in one boarding school facility! This came a day after Mr. Jonathan, in a gut turning media availability on national television, argued that his government has made an impact in stemming the tide of violence rocking the northern part of the country. His best effort at making this argument was to say to his audience that if he pulled out the big guns of the Nigerian Army from these restive regions, it would showcase the proof of the efficiency of his efforts.

The president was responding to complaints of inefficiency from one of the governors from the area under the siege of the Islamic extremists.

It is one of the careless plain speak for which Mr. Jonathan has become infamous - à la, “I am not a lion [therefore, don’t blame me for not being ferocious enough with your violent extremist tormentors?].” It is one thing for the average Musa on the street to speak that way, but it is embarrassing to see a president do the same. Yet it is a known pattern of this president. It is the result of a lack of the kind of exposure a leader needs for high office as the one he occupies.

It makes sense to imagine that Jonathan means no malice, per se.

And, who knows, maybe he probably means well - he is probably a good man with a good heart. But that is only a probability. Yet a good heart or good intention alone is no guarantee of success in administration at any level. In fact, a clueless, visionless administration can be just as dangerous as any autocratic, violent regime. It is as dangerous as installing ‘a very decent and unassuming person’ to pilot a jetliner full of people across the Atlantic.

Nigerians made a mistake to be so taken in by Jonathan’s shoeless narrative in 2011. That error needs to be redressed, once and for all.

But will the same people [about 90 percent of whom pumped their fists in the air in a proud show of support for Jonathan’s accursed anti-homosexual law that basically robbed not just homosexuals but every Nigerians of his fundamental human rights] know any better than to find a good alternative to mediocre leadership as personified

by Jonathan? As a good friend of mine is wont to say, only time would tell.

Folabi Ogunleye is on twitter@ folabi24

Comment PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 15

Legal implications of Sanusi’s suspension

By Yunus Abdulsalam

O

n February 20, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan suspended Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria. The Presidency premised the suspension on an allegation of “financial recklessness”.

Expectedly, the Nigerian polity went frenzy as the suspension raised eyebrows culminating into labyrinth of accusations and counteraccusations between those in support and against the suspension. Meanwhile, the suspended Governor has dragged President Goodluck Jonathan before an Abuja Federal High Court in a suit he filed to challenge his suspension from office.

In the application filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Kola Awodein, SAN, Sanusi is asking the court to restrain the President, the Attorney General of the federation and the Inspector General of Police from giving effect to his purported suspension from office as the CBN governor, pending the determination of the suit. It should be noted that the Presidency having failed to find an apt legal justification to back-up its action either from the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) or the Central Bank Act (2007), had to travel outside these 2 principal (and the most relevant)

statutes, and embarked on a voyage of discovery for legal authority to support its action.

The Presidency eventually found a “legal basis” in the Interpretation Act to hinge it action on.

However, upon a cursory look at Section 1 of the Interpretation Act, the position of the Presidency appears to have been dislocated by the same section of the Act. For the avoidance of doubt, section 1 of the Interpretation Act provides thus:”This Act shall apply to the provisions of any enactment except in so far as the contrary intention appears in this Act or the enactment in question”.

What can be critically deciphered from this provision is that recourse need not be made to the

“

Interpretation Act when the CBN Act as laid down the procedure for appointment and removal (in whatever form) of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.

In other words, since the CBN Act as enshrined the modus-operandi as per the removal (in whatever form) of the Governor of CBN, the provisions of the Interpretation Act is superfluous and as such not applicable as a legal basis for the Presidency to fortify its position.

While by virtue of Section 11 (2) of the CBN Act, it is undisputable position of the law that the President needs two-third support of the Senate to secure removal of the Governor of CBN, it is desirable to make some salient posers in deciding whether

the President can outrightly suspend the Governor of CBN: Can the President remove a Minister of his Cabinet without the ratification of the Senate?

In the same vein, can the President remove the Governor of CBN without the support of the Senate? Can the President suspend outright the Governor of CBN without approval of the Senate the same way he is statutorily allowed to do same to a minister of his cabinet?

If yes, isn’t it possible for the President to circumvent Section 11 (2) of the CBN Act and thereby suspend the CBN Governor to suit his whimsical desire and capricious motive?

If the President can outrightly suspend the Governor of CBN, wouldn’t the status of the Governor of CBN reduced to a “yes man” at the expense of the autonomy of

From whatever angle one may wish to look at it, the truth is that the cardinal intent of the CBN Act seeks to entrench the independence of the institution of CBN whereby the removal of the Governor (under whatever guise) will be so rigid so as to insulate the CBN leadership from the shorttime political pressures and fear of falling-out of grace politically. Of course, CBN neither can nor should be fully independent of government, since it is government and not the CBN that holds the final responsibility for the economic and financial policy of Nigeria. Nevertheless, a substantial degree of independence of the CBN is fundamentally important in the interest of economic development and political stability of this country.

the institution of Central Bankwhich is integral to economic development and political stability of the country? Unlike many other enactments which explicitly permits the President to suspend the arrow-heads of the respective MDAs, does the zero provision for suspension of the governor in the CBN Act a lacuna or rather a genuine reflection of the spirit and intendment of the CBN Act so as to safeguard the autonomy of the CBN? From whatever angle one may wish to look at it, the truth is that the cardinal intent of the CBN Act seeks to entrench the independence of the institution of CBN whereby the removal of the Governor (under whatever guise) will be so rigid so as to insulate the CBN leadership from the short-time political pressures and fear of fallingout of grace politically.

Of course, CBN neither can nor should be fully independent of government, since it is government and not the CBN that holds the final responsibility for the economic and financial policy of Nigeria. Nevertheless, a substantial degree of independence of the CBN is fundamentally important in the interest of economic development and political stability of this country.

Yunus Abdulsalam, a legal practitioner, is reachable on Yunusabdulsalam7@ gmail.com

Zango and concept of development communication

By Abbas Yushau Yusuf

E

very ardent listener of Freedom Radio Know the name Nasiru Salisu Zango, the presenter of the popular Magazine programme called Inda Ranka together with his co-presenter Hajiya Jamila Gezawa. The concept Development communication was propounded in the early 1960s by the press foundation of Asia, by then most Philippine papers were reporting Government issues, what did the Government do, what the president says, what projects a Governor executed.

The exponents of this School of thought ‘development communications’ realized that Journalists should not only be the Friends of powers that be, but what happens to the people at the grassroots - the hawker, the leper, the downtrodden, the less privileged in the society

- , those that cannot afford three square meals per day and what have you. Mass Communications is about messages communicated to a large number of people through the mass medium, example, television, radio, newspapers, now the internet, social media and others. The impact of radio on people in Northern Nigeria cannot be overemphasized as I know many individuals who are always glued to their Radios even on

“

bed.

Journalists can make or mar the society in which they live as they are regarded as the Fourth estate of the realm after the Executive, legislature and the Judiciary. The mass media has an obligation as enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution. The point I am trying to make here is that Journalists as Gezawa, this two Individuals are vigorously pursuing the right of the common man in the

programme. propounded by the scholars of development communications asserts that they are the engine of change if they so desired and committed to their duties.

Inda Ranka programme of Freedom Radio is presented

by Nasiru Salisu Zango and Hajiya Jamila One clear example was how some sharia court judges siphoned the hereditary rights of some orphans to the tune of 10 million Naira. Nasiru Zango

One clear example was how some sharia court judges siphoned the hereditary rights of some orphans to the tune of 10 million Naira. Nasiru Zango did not allow sleeping dogs to lie as he made effort to expose the case of cornering the orphans’ money up to its logical conclusion.

This has irked many people including those at the helm of affairs; a lot of people wept when they heard the case of those orphans on radio and the uncovering of the heartless nature of those Khadis that tried to consume the right of those orphans.

did not allow sleeping dogs to lie as he made effort to expose the case of cornering the orphans’ money up to its logical conclusion. This has irked many people including those at the helm of affairs; a lot of people wept when they heard the case of those orphans on radio and the uncovering of the heartless nature of those Khadis that tried to consume the right of those orphans.

Apart from the reportage of the atrocities of those that are saddled with the responsibility of taking judicial decisions, Malam Nasiru Zango tends to air the demands of those in need, especially those who in ill health and cannot afford medical care. The moment their needs are heard good people immediately come to their help.

Abbas Yushau Yusuf can be reached at abyushau2@ gmail.com

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 16

‘100 FCT health care workers infected with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B from healthcare waste’

By Stanley Onyekwere

S

ecretary, Health and Human Services, of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Dr. DemolaOnakomaiya, says over 100 health care workers in the

Territory are infected with HIV/ AIDS, Hepatitis B, due to poor healthcare waste disposal.

He said over time, poor health care waste management at hospitals in the nation’s capital had been a public concern, and as a result most of the health

personnel are prone to HIV/ AIDS, Hepatitis B and so many other infections.

The Secretary disclosed this, while briefing newsmen on the approval of the FCTA to within the next few weeks formulate and come out with FCT Waste

Management Policy to holistically manage both solid and liquid wastes within the 8,000 square kilometers of the Territory.

According to Onakomaiya, only about 60 to 70 per cent of hospitals in the FCT had incinerators, which is one of the

components of health care waste management.

“Other hospitals resort to the ``burn and bury’’ method, saying that in the next two quarters of the year every hospital in the Territory would have at least one incinerator,” he added.

Women leader appeals to Council to rescind relocation of central market

T

L-R: Chairman of the Tertiary Education Fund (TEF), Dr. Musa Babayo, exchanging pleasantries with the Senior Special Assistanton on Islamic Affairs to the president, Barrister Tahir Umar Tahir, during the latter’s visit to the TETFUND boss, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Stanley Onyekwere

Kwali community bemoans dearth of social amenities

By Usman Shuaibu

I

nhabitants of Nytse Mwamwa community in Kwali Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried lack of social amenities in the area, calling on the Council’s Chairman, Ibrahim Daniel, to come to their aid, so to alleviate the suffering of the people.

The residents said that despite persistent appeals to the past Chairmen of the council, on the urgent need to provide basic amenities in the community, nothing had been done to

alleviate their plight in the area.

Spokesman of the community, Mr. Iliya Musa, urged the present the current leadership of the Council to deem it necessary to focus on the rapid infrastructural development of the community.

He however lament that the present leadership of the council had not carried out any development project in the area since the coming of the administration in May, 2013.

He said the road leading to the community from Kwaita is still in deplorable state, pointing

out that people of the community are yet to feel the positive impact of the council.

According to him, the residents of the community have been neglected in area of provision of health care centre as well as primary school, a situation which the Council must do everything possible to address squarely without further delay.

He accused the Chairman of failing to drill boreholes in the community since he took over the mantle leadership of the Council, saying that the residents’ only source of drinking is a river,

which they share with cows and other animals in the community.

Musa also disclosed that absence of electricity had made the situation worsen in the area, calling on the FCT administration to assist the Council to provide transformers to existing facilities, so as to boost electricity supply in the community.

The spokesman, further appealed to the Kwali Chairman to endeavour to visit the community and see things for himself regarding the bad condition of living in the area.

… As organisation unveils project to boost youths participation in governance

By Stanley Onyekwere

I

n order to increase the political awareness and capacity of the youth, to participate in governance process of their immediate society, for sustainable dividends of democracy, a politically conscious youth organization, Patriotic Citizens Initiatives for Community Development and Better Nigeria, has unveiled a community based platform tagged project ‘Believe Mr. President.’

The project is designed

to strengthen democracy by encouraging young people in various communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and across the country, to actively and massively stand by the present political leadership, for creating stability and trust in the polity.

Speaking at the official flag off/ launching of the initiative and the inauguration of state coordinators of the project, in Abuja, Chairman of the Organisation, Lucky Igbuwe, said project is an all network of Nigerian youth democrats and advocates for suitable

development, unity and peaceful co-existence in the society.

According to him, the awareness and knowledge of the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation agenda, is the tonic required to fast track rapid development and guarantee crisis-free society. Igbuwe added that the organisation aims to collaborate with other grassroots organisations in implementing projects that will contribute to good governance in the country, so as to create greater awareness

for youth mainstreaming in developmental policies and strategies. “It is apparent that no single group has more stakes in the fundamental issue of development of various sectors of the economy of the society than young people. Therefore the mobilization of Nigerian people around developmental efforts is critical necessity for the country at this auspicious moment, and it is perhaps the most effective means to bring back our country into developmental fast lane,” he stressed.

he president of Bwari Central Market Women Association, Mrs Helen Isaac, has appealed to the Chairman of the Bwari Area Council, Mr. Peter Yohanna, to rescind the decision to relocate the town’s central market Isaac told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari that commercial activities would continue to thrive in Bwari Area Council provided that the relocation of the existing market was backed by the right policies.

According to her, “the relocation of the central market is not necessary and the council should shelve the move.

“In this Bwari market; there are no clear cut positions and linking roads to encourage people residing in the area to carry out adequate buying and selling of products.

“There is need for the area council to rearrange the market to meet the yearnings of Bwari residents.

“Proper arrangement of the market to reflect gender balance will help to encourage our obligation of paying market taxes when due and also increase the revenue base of the council.

“Doing that will be a lot better than relocating us to places we don’t even know about.The authority should leave us here and arrange the market for us. ”We appeal to the authority to leave us at this permanent place; it is not proper to reposition one market, separate it into different parts and different locations, within a particular community.

“If the authority really wants to reposition the market by relocating it to another place, it must do that to ensure that the new place can accommodate everybody.”

She, however, said promotion of commerce through relocation of markets required proper planning. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 18

Metro

INSIDE FCT COURTS

Court remands labourer for stabbing neighbour

A

Mararaba Grade 1 Area court at Aso Pada, near Abuja, has ordered that a 19-year old labourer, Nura Muwada, be remanded in prison.

The Presiding Officer, Mr. Albert Maga, gave the order after the accused, standing trial

for alleged conspiracy, causing grievous hurt, theft and mischief, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, Friday Adaji, had earlier told the court that one Alhaji Musa of Orange Market in Mararaba had reported the matter to the `A’ Division Police

Station at Mararaba.

Adaji said the accused, of the same address with Musa, had on February 18 with two others now at large stabbed the complainant with a knife.

He said the complainant had in the process lost N15, 000, a

Tecno phone valued at N3, 000 and a pair of sandals.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened sections 96, 247 and 327 of the Penal code respectively.

If convicted, the accused could spend up to two years in

prison or pay a fine, or both.

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

Maga ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody and adjourned the case to March 6 for judgment. (NAN)

… as police arraign applicant for stealing N2m from customer’s account

T

Vehicles on queue for petrol at a filling station at Wuse 2, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

Dealer docked for cheating

A

businessman who sells hides, Jibril Ali, 28, accused of cheating has appeared in a Grade 1 Area court, Aso Pada, Mararaba.

The prosecutor, PC Friday Adaji, told the court that the matter was reported on February 18 by one Malam Hussaini Garba, of Abbatoir Road, at the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

Adaji said sometime in July, 2013 Garba gave the accused N40, 000 to supply him with goat hides.

He said the accused converted the said money to his personal use without supplying the hide.

All attempts, he said, to get back the N40, 000 by Garba failed.

He said the offence contravened the provisions of

Section 322 of the Penal code.

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

The accused who is not represented by counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

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 also ordered that the surety should write an undertaking that the accused would not commit similar offence again pending the determination of the case.

Maga adjourned the case till today for proper hearing. (NAN)

3 guards in court for mischief, negligence

T

hree security men have appeared before a Senior Magistrates’ court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja charged with joint act, mischief and negligence of duty.

Those arraigned are Yusuf Usman, Shagari Musa and Amogu Christian who worked at Lead Security Company at No. 24 Blantire Street, Wuse 2, Abuja.

The prosecutor, Cpl David Udeh, told the court that on February 18 at about 12.30 a.m., Mr Anthony Emmanuel of

Lead Security Company, Wuse 2, Abuja lodged a report at the Wuse Police Station.

Udeh told the court that the three accused persons were security men attached to guard the premises of Unity Kapital Insurance Company, Central Business District (CBD), Abuja.

The prosecutor informed the court that they neglected their responsibilities as security men by not handing over properly to those taking over from them.

He told the court that because of the negligence, there

was theft in the premises.

He said two brain boxes of Toyota Hiace buses, a Toyota Corolla car, tapping glass bottom were stolen, and the side wind screen of the cars also got broken.

Udeh said the offences contravened the provisions of sections 79, 327 and 196 of the Penal code respectively.

If convicted, they face two and half years in prison each or with an option to pay a fine or both.

The accused persons pleaded

not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor prayed the court to grant him a date to open the case against the accused persons.

The Senior Magistrate, Mr. Anthony Ogboyi, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N100, 000 each with one surety each in like sum.

Ogboyi ordered the sureties to deposit their passport photographs with the court; he then adjourned the matter to March 10 for hearing proper.

(NAN)

he police have arraigned an applicant, Chukwu Anayo in a Senior Magistrates’ court in Wuse 2 for withdrawing N2 million from a Diamond bank account.

Anayo, is charged with criminal conspiracy and theft.

The prosecutor, DSP Yusuf Auta, told the court that on February 4, Mr. Clement Ebere the Chief security officer of Diamond bank plot 792 Area 10 Garki, Abuja lodged a report at Zone Seven Police Headquarters, Abuja.

Auta told the court that on January 30, Anayo of Jubilee road Suleja and nine others, now at large, conspired and withdrew N2m, using online banking code from the account of a customer, Malam Aliyu Yusuf.

The offence, he said contravened the provisions of sections 96 and 288 of the Penal code respectively.

If convicted, he faces seven years in prison or a fine or both.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

After the arraignment, Auta prayed the court not to grant the accused bail, as investigations were on to arrest the nine other suspects.

However, the accused counsel, Mr. Lawrence Ukpai prayed the court to exercise its discretion and grant bail to the accused for he has been in police detention since January.

Ukpai assured the court that if the accused is granted bail, he will not abscond.

The senior magistrate, Mr. Anthony Ogboyi, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N2 million and two reliable sureties in like sum.

The court ordered that the surety must deposit his passport photographs with the court; The case was then adjourned the matter to March 21 for continuation hearing. (NAN)

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

INSIDE

etuka2012@gmail.com/meetetus@rocketmail.com 08066605655,08182721672

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, Anglican Bishop of Sapele Diocese Communion, Bishop Blessing Erifeta, Chairman, Eurafric Power Limited, Mr. Tony Onoh, and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Eurafric Power Limited, Mrs. Heather Onoh, during the handover of Sapele Power Plant to Eurafric Power Limited, recently in Sapele, Delta state.

‘Missing’ $20bn: Okonjo-Iweala wants speedy action on forensic audit

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has demanded for a speedy action on the recommended independent forensic audit to settle the issue ofunremitted funds to the Federation Account.

This was not unconnected with the face-off between the Management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

and suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamdio Sanusi over unremitted claims.

Recalls, the Minister during her last appearance before the Senate Committee on Finance had opted for an independent forensic audit to really determine the figure if truly there has been unremitted oil money into the Federation Account.

However, the Minister in a statement on Tuesday said, “My position on this has been clear

from the start. The Ministry of Finance’s reconciliation showed a shortfall of $10.8b in NNPC remittances to the Federation account.

“After this, the conflicting claims continued with new figures such as $20b being mentioned. So, since 13th February I have called for an independent forensic audit “President Goodluck Jonathan indeed announced last night that there will be an investigation into whether there are any funds missing from NNPC.

“He also indicated that the correct process needs to be followed in this investigation and I understand that the entity that has the proper authority to initiate such an investigation is the Auditor-General of the federation.

“I therefore want to see the truth from an investigation under the auspices of the AuditorGeneral, which in my view should be undertaken as a matter of extreme urgency by independent external auditors”.

Stakeholders want ECOWAS to tackle trade barriers in West Africa From Ayodele Samuel and Akilani Abdullah, Lagos

S

takeholders across the West Africa region have appealed to Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS to remove trade barriers and enhancing trade flows across the borders in Africa.

Stakeholders who spoke in Lagos yesterday at the third edition of the annual Borderless Alliance conference with the theme ‘Enabling Growth’ lamented that intra-regional trade has recorded a very low percentage for Africa and as a result of this, it poses a great hindrance in developing Africa.

They said study had shown that unlike the other the other developed regions of the world, Africa has continued to underperform its growth and development potentials, partly due to its low trade volumes,amongst other factors.

The Managing Director, Nigeria Export Import Bank, Mr Roberts Orya said, “Our intra-regional trade is low and has stagnated at about 10% and 12% respectively for Africa and ECOWAS, in sharp contrast to

the European Union’s 50%, 40% in the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and 25% among the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“This low trade performance bears some correlation with the African development challenges and therefore deserves concerted efforts of the public and private sectors to remove some of the impediments to free trade and regional integration, towards creating a freer, bigger market and attracting investment capital.”

While stressing on the need to fastrack work on the challenges faced by the ECOWAS region, Orya made it known that there can be no time better than now to tackle the menace in the trading sector as this is he right time the professionals and policy makers can make use to exchange quality views and ideas in attaining the growth height we have so hope for.

“Let me observe that this conference is holding at a time when Nigeria is developing a new trade policy with strong emphasis to fostering domestic and regional

trade development in line with the implementation strategies under the current economic transformation programme.

The ongoing economic reforms and deregulation of key sectors have also engendered a more liberalized and conducive investment climate, with friendly incentives, under a onestop investment processing approval regime, for increased domestic and foreign direct investments. It is therefore my hope that many of you will avail yourselves of the networking and the business to business opportunity that this forum also offers.

Also speaking , President, Borderless Alliance, Mr Ziad Hamoui said that the company is well positioned to become the leading advocacy platform in west Africa, by promoting economic integration and removing the barriers to trade and transport.

Hamoui said, “Borderless alliance is a private sector led company, evidence based and action-driven by providing a common platform for dialogue between the various stakeholders, it aims to provide

sustainable solutions that leave a positive impact on the business environment in West Africa”.

In his own remarks, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (LCCI), Christain Uwane called for synergy among ECOWAS states.

MTN staff gets bail over N1.3bn fraud - Pg 20

We would eradicate cheating in Trade Transactions - Yabagi Sani -Pg 21

Abuja Disco pledges new transformers to consumers -Pg 22 Exchange Rates

CBN as at 24th February, 2014 Buying

Selling

$

154.7

155.7

€

258.35

260.02

£

212.64

215.01

Riyal

41.26

41.52

YEN

1.51

1.52

CFA

0.30

0.32

Management Tip of the Day

Three ways introverts can build their personal brands hile many ways to around the strength of your ideas. establish your brand One-on-one connections. If you’re are weighted toward more comfortable socializing oneextroverts — taking leadership on-one than in bigger groups, roles in professional associations, become a connector one person starting a conference, or embracing at a time. Ask a new person from public speaking, for example a different office or department to — introverts, too, can build lunch once a week, and you’ll build connections and develop their a robust network on your own personal brands while respecting terms.

Subtle cues. Small things can their natural tendencies.

Social media. This is an area where establish your personal brand introverts, who thrive on quiet without a word: simply placing contemplation, have an advantage. diplomas or awards on your office By writing a blog, for example, walls can reinforce your expertise you can take time to formulate to others. your thoughts and engage in Source: Harvard Business real dialogue on social networks Review

W

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 20

Business

MTN staff gets bail over N1.3bn fraud From Matthew Irinoye, Lagos

J

ustice Kudirat Jose of a Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja yesterday granted bail to two staff of MTN standing trial over an alleged N1.3 billion fraud instituted against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The defendants, Victor Akintunde and Gani Mustapha who are officials of MTN staff Corparative Society were slammed 17 count charge, bordering on conspiracy, stealing, forgery and issuance of dud cheque.

They are facing trial alongside one Mutairu Babatunde and two companies Prima Vera Engineering and Construction ltd and Mabo Dredging ltd.

While ruling on their bail application, Justice Jose granted them bail in the sum of N50 million each with two sureties.

The judge ordered that the sureties must be civil servant of

grade level 15 or above with three years tax clearance.

She subsequently adjourned the case till March 18, 2014 for trial.

Counsel to the EFCC, Emmanuel Jackson, during proceeding informed the court that the defendants committed the alleged offence in April 8, 2008.

Jackson further said that, with intent to defraud, Akintunde, Mustapha, Babatunde alongside their companies Prima Vera Engineering and Construction ltd, Mabo Deredging ltd, conspired to steal the sum of N127million, property of MTN employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MEMCOS).

The anti-graft agency, also said that the defendants on the same day with intent to defraud stole the sum of N50million belonging to MTN employees MultiPurpose Cooperative Society.

He alleged that the sum was fraudulently collected as deposit for payment for land they bought for the society from one Mutairu

Baba Egbe Family on behalf of the society.

The prosecutor, further alleged that the suspects conspired to steal the sum of N77, million, property of MTN employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MEMCOS), being outstanding refund for five hecters out of 13 hecters of land with defective title from Mutairu Baba Egbe Family.

Jackson, stated that Mutairu Babatunde and Primavera Engineering and Construction ltd, stole the sum of N516.697million, property of MTN (MEMCOS) being the sum he fraudulently used to compensate early settlers in 26 hecters of land amounting to 321 plots of land.

The Anti- graft agency, also alleged that the defendants on August 3, 2009, stole the sum of N515,697, property of (MEMCOS) which they fraudulently converted through Mabo Dredging ltd.

According to the counsel, the defendants stole N592.820million, from (MEMCOS), under false pretence that the money represents payment to Lagos State Government for documentation and governor’s consent.

The defendants were also said to have on April 25, 2008, obtained the sum of N990million under the pretence that the money represents payment for 13 hecters of land at Okun Ajah Community.

The third, fourth and fifth, defendants, were particularly accused of issuing a First Bank cheque No. PC 68290484 in the sum of N427million, in favour of the MTN employees MultiPurpose Cooperative ltd, which was dishonured when it was presented at the bank for lack of insufficient fund in the account.

The offences committed according to EFCC, is contrary to section 516, 390(9) of the criminal code Cap C17, Vol 2 laws

L-R: Vice President, Publicity, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Lady Claire Asogwa, representative of ECCIMA President, Dr Emma Nwakpa, Director, Small and Medium Enterprises, Delta state Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Lawrence Kekema and Delta state Commissioner for Commerce, Dr Kingsley Emu, during a visit by ECCIMA members to the commissioner, yesterday in Asaba.

Photo: NAN

Nigerian entrepreneurs to access 3.5m GBP UK aid funds From Zainab Yusuf, Lagos

S

mall and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria will on today be availed the opportunity of accessing 3.5million pounds sterling UK Aid SME Challenge funds to enhance productivity and competitiveness.

The SME forum for retail and

distribution trade will among others provide business solutions to business men and women from various categories of retail markets as well as address challenges.

According to the event organizers, the Chief Executive of The Republic Media Limited, (publishers of Quick News Africa and Sports Republic) Mr Monday

Michaels Ashibogwu, the event is being held in collaboration with National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) to deliver value chain solutions for SMEs. Speakers at the event include Dr Abimbola Agboluaje, an Oxford trained business strategist, Ms Evelyn Oputu, Managing

Director, Bank of Industry, Alhaji Bature Masari, DG, SMEDAN, Mr Ifie Sekibo, Managing Director, Heritage Bank, Mr Christopher Shyers and Kikelomo Koya of GEMS Nigeria Corporate organizations that will be at the event include MTN, Fidelity Bank, GT Bank, Connect Nigeria and Leap Africa.

NDIC to pay depositors of liquidated microfinance banks

T

he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said it had started processing documents for payment of deposits of customers in the 83 microfinance banks whose licence were recently revoked.

The NDIC Director of Communications, Alhaji Hadi Birchi, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja

on Wednesday.

Birchi said that the corporation had also started the verification of assets and liabilities of the revoked banks.

He said that payment of deposits to customers of the banks would commence after the classification of their assets and liabilities and that the members of the public would be adequately informed.

Birchi said that the corporation was working to ensure that the procedure was not delayed, saying that the exercise would not take much time.

He assured that NDIC would continue to play its role of ensuring safety of deposits of customers in finance houses.

NAN recalls that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Feb.

20, announced the revocation of licence of 83 microfinance banks.

The apex bank did not give reason for the closure of the banks, but said that the revocation of the licence took effect from Dec. 20, 2013.

It said that NDIC had been appointed the provisional liquidator for the affected banks.

(NAN)

of Lagos state of Nigeria 2003, it also contravens sections 6, 8 (a) (b) and 1 (3) of the advanced fee fraud and other fraud related offences Act 2006. The offence, also contravened section 1 (a) (a) (I) of the dishonoured cheques Act 2004 and forgery contrary to section 467 of the criminal Code Cap C17, Vol. 2 laws of Lagos state of Nigeria 2003

NEITI wants Nigeria’s refineries privatised

T

he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in Abuja on Wednesday recommended the privatisation of the country’s refineries.

The NEITI Executive Secretary, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made the recommendation at the investigative hearing on the alleged connivance of NNPC and Swiss oil companies to defraud Nigeria of billions of dollars.

The hearing was at the instance of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

According to her, the refineries are operating far below their capacities, adding that their operations and overhead costs remained same irrespective of the volume of production.

She said that the 445,000 barrels per day allocation to the refineries should be reviewed to their actual refining capacity.

“As the refineries get older, their performance deteriorates due to the poor maintenance culture in place,’’ she said.

The executive secretary said that because of the inability of the NNPC to utilise its domestic crude allocations, it usually exported them.

Ahmed said that NNPC had agreements with Societe Ivoirenne De Raffinage (SIR) and Nigermed for processing some quantities of the crude oil offshore.

The Executive Secretary said that there was no cost efficiency in the transactions with the offshore processing organisations of SIR and Nigermed.

“When compared with the reported price of PMS (petrol), DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) and the retained products proceeds paid to NNPC it is not economically beneficial,’’ Ahmed said.

She observed that NNPC alternative transactions which amounted to 22 billion dollars, was not disclosed in the corporation’s audited financial statements.

The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Muraina Ajibola (PDP-Oyo), said that CBN would be further invited to shed more light on the issues raised by NEITI. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 21

Industry Interview

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hat is NNL doing with FMITI? Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment apart from being responsible for policy, decisionsand the practices of trade transactions within and outside Nigeria, it is also responsible for ensuring that measurement in trade transactions is accurate, fair and legal.

This responsibility is the exclusive of the constitution of federal republic of Nigeria from were emanates the weight and measures acts which empowers the Ministry through the weights and measures acts to render legal methodology services in Nigeria. And our job as consultant is to reposition the department, train the staff and make available to the department the tools that they need to work with that we render the services of Legal methodology across all sectors of the economy and our job also covers both the technical and management aspect of the operations of the department and by extension is one of the fundamental services offered by the government to improve the life of the citizens and to ensure that trade transaction in Nigeria is accurate, that equity is to be observed in trade transactions in Nigeria. in the global economy today, Nigeria plays an active role and standard is the language of commerce and you cannot talk about standard if you cannot accurately measure, you cannot talk about standard if you cannot guarantee that the results obtained from instruments that are used to transact business are accurate. So therefore the Ministry which is in charge of the policies and practices of trade in Nigeria plays a key role in the transformation of our economy and like I said the fundamental basis of that is being able to measure accurately, fair and legal.

What would you say are your achievement since you commence this project?

Well before our engagement, the weights and measures department was not well known in the key sectors of the economy of this country and it was a big draw back in terms of being able to really account for the economic indices that were shone out because if we cannot measure I wonder how we can really be able to talk about the nations GDP of the economy, the growth of the economy or even talk about what we import or export in accurate terms. So before the advent of our operations Weights and Measures was not known in fact you can even say weights and measure was not functioning in some of the sectors of the economy. For instance, if you look at the upstream of the oil and gas sector that really matters in terms of what happens in our economy because it takes more than 50% of the revenue we earn, the foreign exchange we earn comes from that sector.So you can imagine such a sector and no activities of weights and measures which is a major draw back to the economy of this country.

And when you look at other sectors like electricity, telecoms, water etc where issue of equity, transparency is fundamental or very important and the core Ministry/department is absent then you can imagine or get what the result will be in an economy that is run almost haphazardly. So we believe that our present in this ministry is a milestone, a paradigm shift from doing things haphazardly

We would eradicate cheating in Trade Transactions- Yabagi Sani

Alhaji Yusuf Yabagi Saniis the Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Nigerco Nigeria Limited(NNL) and a consultant on weights and measuresto the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, in this interview with Ayodele Samuel, Sani said his plan to eradicate cheating in trade transaction. and doing thing in appropriate way to doing things precisely.

So we have brought precision to the economy of this country, we have brought credibility to trade transaction to the economy of this country. We have also brought reliability, control and protection, guarantee of individuals rights i.e trading parties that, if you are cheated in anyway you can pick up a phone and place a call if its one minute you want to be sure it is one minute etc we have also brought all this issues to fore and its being address squarely by the government. The operators in this country are today now aware that it is not business as usual anymore and that accountability is being introduced, transparency is being introduce, record keeping is being introduced, credibility is being introduced, traceability is being introduced respect and acceptance of our goods outside this country is being introduced. Bringing the issue into fore and Nigeria talking about them weights and Measures in the sector that we earn, the foreign exchange we earn comes from that sector.

What structures have you put in place to protect consumer’s rights and interests?

One of the innovations that were brought to the whole thing was the use of I.T, what we call a web portal. The web portal is like a caption system of the continuous accuracy of measurement obtained by using a particular instrument when we record or when a particular instrument was registered with us, that instrument, when it was registered, when it is due for checking, what we call reverification exercise, when it is due for re-verification and in some cases actually, we can have what we call 24/7 online monitoring system, there are sectors of the economy that we have identified which recommend themselves to 24/7 online monitoring why because, the volume of transaction and the nature of the instrument used in such sectors aresusceptible to drift and if you take for example in the telecom sector, in one second, the amount of transaction that goes on in a particular metering system in the telecom sector is several millions of naira. In one second, so, if the meter is out of calibration, say for one day you are talking, about say for one day you are about several billions of naira, either the operator itself is being cheated because is over delivering or in most cases the user are being cheated. So, such sectors recommend themselves for 24/7 online monitoring leveraging on the development of the economy globally. In the oil and gas, we believe that the meters we have at the terminal, the export terminals should be monitor 24/7 because of the volume of transactions that goes on there. And because of the

Ayodele Samuel, Sani susceptibility of those meters to drift that is, when you use them, you don’t expect them to remain the same. Weights and Measures job is supposed to be that from the start to finish of transactions, it is required that the instrument remains accurate so that we have put in place which was not there before, to protect the consumers and also the seller and again like I said, we now have firm grip on all manners of instruments used for trade in this country by asking every instrument that is used for trade to be registered with the department.

So to protect the consumers, today we are putting in place effective enforcement exercise, meaning that we carry out periodic checks un-announced to the owners. In this country before then, you must register this equipment so there are guarantee and again unlike before, consumers now, can pick up a phone and report cases of fraud or suspected fraud, they can contact us via our email or visit our offices throughout the federation callor make a phone and very soon every petrol station will carry a code that all you need to do is take your phone, send a text if you suspect that the petrol station in question has not being checked by government, by the time you send the code of that petrol station or that particular pump to our web site, it will come back to you with a result that yes the pump is ok and if it is not ok it will come back to you that yes this pump has not being registered/checked by weights and measures so it will come back to you if yes this pump has not being certified by weights and measures and all this and more are coming to protect consumers.

Many Nigerians are not aware of this right?

We are ensuring that Nigerians get to know more about this and more of this is being done and we are also very soon going to churches, mosques, schools, because this is one service is being mentioned in the holy book, the preachers both Muslims and Christian should be talking on this, you know the need for you to weigh accurately and we

will very soon be collaborating with the imams and reverends, schools so that we can have even the public themselves participating in this exercise. So the awareness campaign is really going to cut across all the sectors and we believe that we can use this campaign to have legal metrology imbibe the services in the life of people which will make them begin to be conscious and make it a point of duty to make sure that whatever business transactions they engage in be it buying or selling should be accurate.

What step to take when cheated?

The consumers can take many steps but the one that I think the consumer should immediately do is if you know the address of the vendor/producer/seller of that particular product or service you just report to weights and measures, you know send complain to any of our complain sections where people will attend to such issues and there is also Consumer Protection Council which is also an arm of FMITI and the whole department is also responsible for that but at the end of the day they also have to refer to weights and measures on issues that has to do with measurement not the quality if it is quality you know of the product, you probably have to talk to Standard Organization of Nigeria.

It is a case of sharp practices may be you are not given the correct thing and say you paid for this and you are given something else. You probably have to visit consumer protection but if its about being short changed or short delivered then directly come to weights and measures because its only weights and measures can really testify that yes the measures you were given is correct or not so FMITI has so many organizations that were established to protect the consumers like SON, CPC and now Weights and measures department.

How to access the success of this policy Legal metrology is about your everyday activities, from the moment you wake up. Most people usually have to check and weigh themselves and if that scale is not accurately working you may be misled to think that may be your weight is over 100kg whereas you probably only 70, or you go to kichen to cook and our terminals for crude oil export to even our packaged goods that we send out daily have to be properly measured, all these I believe the moment the program takes full effect, it will reflect in the everyday of lives of Nigerians, it will reflect in the wealth of this country, it will reflect in our environment because it will also protect our environment. If we have measuring correctly, the issue of spillage explosions will not be there just as we have them today. In Nigeria if we are measuring correctly we would not have issues of doing things that are not well positioned because of the measuring scales in the pharmaceutical industries is not

correct or you go to hospital, the pressure gauge and other instruments used are not working correctly, it is a problem so it is about Nigerians and their everyday activities. Its about government itself. The government collect taxes and if they do not measure correctly, how do they collect accurate taxes of course they cannot, even in agriculture, if you do not weigh accurately insecticides/ fertilizers used, it may end up killing your crops. Weights and measures is about accurate timing of measurement.

When we talk about oil theft, oil theft is rampant because we have not be able to measure correctly and if you are not measuring correctly, you cannot value and what you cannot value is of no importance.

Which of the company has be sanction?

Sometimes well, I can’t say that there are no companies because you see some of them may still be in the country because it’s a criminal offence. If you observe the weights and measures acts, if you are caught is a criminal offence and when sent to the court the person can be jailed, sometime, may be by payment of fine or something like that or your product or premises could be sealed. So most of the cases that we have because of the criminal nature of the case we live it to the court to handle and yes, there are cases and since we came on board and the truth is that Nigerians are not really difficult people it’s the system, the environment itself that is difficult and makes people behave in a manner that you think that they are not organized. People are willing to comply and the level of compliance is increasing by the day. So that tells you that Nigerians are not people that are lawless it’s the duty of the government to put a system in place and then then enforce it. When government enforce them like we are doing now people will comply.

What are the major challenges you are facing in implementing this policy ? in all cases in fact anything new will always have to go through certain teething problems of having to educate people, get them to understand what you are saying especially in a case where you are asking them to part with two crucial things their freedom and money in such cases, why I say freedom is this, freedom to do as they like is no longer there because they now see that this instrument in their possession cannot be used any how cause it has to be calibrated every year, verified and registered etc which will have to cost them money and they also have to pay certain fees to the government to ensure that those instruments are operating accurately. Challenges are of course expected but there are no challenges that are beyond the capacity of the department and I belief that with time people will get use to it and it will become a way of life.

PAGE 22

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Business

Abuja Disco pledges new transformers to consumers

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he management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has pledged to boost power supply in Abuja and its environs by supplying new transformers to densely populated areas of the metropolis. he Head, Public Affairs of the company, Mrs Patience Toyo, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday. ``I can tell you that plans are underway to upgrade our infrastructure and supply additional transformers to strategic areas where they are needed, especially the densely populated areas.

``This is all in a bid to boost power supply to our teeming consumers,’’ she said.

Toyo said that since the management of AEDC commenced operations in November, 2013 after the conclusion of the privatisation process, it had been working round the clock to reposition the company.

NAN recalls that AEDC, which covers Abuja, Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger, is among the 10 distribution companies unbundled from the defunct PHCN in November 2013.

The company is now controlled by a private investor, KANN Consortium Ltd. Toyo said the company was making efforts

to ensure adequate metering and provision of prepaid meters for its customers to ensure that they are not short-changed. ``Management is working tirelessly to make sure that our customers enjoy full dividends of privatisation in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, ``We have ongoing projects scattered across Abuja, such as the those behind the Apo transmission station, Nyanya-Gwandara and Giwa axis, all in a bid to improve our services,’’ she said.

She said though the company was willingly and ready to increase power supply to its consumers, it

could only supply the allocation it gets from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The company’s spokesperson said that the problem of gas supply to the various National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) poses serious challenge to uninterrupted power supply.

She called on stakeholders to assist the Federal Government to address the problem.

Toyo also decried the activities of vandals on its facilities and installations, and called on Nigerians to provide information to the security agencies that would lead to the arrest of the vandals. (NAN)

L-R: Managing Director, Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts Orya; President, Borderless Alliance, Ziad Hamoui, Commissioner in Charge of Territorial, Communication and Transport, Burkina Faso, Augustin Tompiew-Zouo; Area Head, Commercial Engagement, West Africa, British America Tobacco, Mrs. Chinwe Uzu, and Director, Commercial Shipping Service, Dabney ShallHolma, during the 2014 borderless conference, yesterday in Lagos.

Photo: NAN

Easy Taxi collaborate Samsung on free ride

By Chris Alu

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asy Taxi, Nigeria’s leading taxi mobile app service has entered into partnership with Samsung mobile phone users in order to present the famous NigerianRnB

musical artist Banky W and other special guests that will perform live concert on stage.

The exclusive event which comes up on the 28th of February will be held in Lagos, where qualified candidates will win a free ride ticket move on Easy Taxi cabs for six weeks.

To stand a chance of winning the ticket at the exclusive event, download the Easy Taxi app on your Samsung phones from the Samsung app store and register.

Guests at the event would be giving the opportunity to socialize and snap pictures with the star artist which will be used

as promo for Easy Taxi Cabs .Easy Taxi is a taxi service that operates with the use of a mobile app to connect independent drivers registered to the Easy Taxi network with passengers in a smooth, easy and safe way.

Easy Taxi began operations in Nigeria in July 2013.

Globacom to back FG centenary cerebration with TV movies

By Chris Alu

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he Chief Operating Officer of Globacom Nigeria, Mr. Mohamed Jameel has said that the telecom company was committed to promoting unity, growth and development of the country, by sponsoring a mini

television movie that would give a sneak preview of the great future awaiting the country.

The mini movie will feature children, articulating the achievements of the country in the last 100 years and where the country hopes to be in future.

According to him, Globacom

would continue to support the country in order to engender sustainable development and improve the lives of Nigerians. ‘we share the vision of the country to become one of the top 20 economies of the world by the year 2020, and we believe that this is achievable only through unity, which

is reinforced by celebrating the ties that hold the country together’ Jameel said According to him, the centenary anniversary of the creation of the entity called Nigeria presents a unique opportunity for the country to celebrate the common values uniting the nation in spite of its rich cultural diversity.

RAMP to serve as Airtel advertising agents in 17 African countries

By Chris Alu

A

irtel has approved the appointment of Real African Media Partners (RAMP) as its mobile advertising partner to serve mobile adverts to its customers in 17 countries across Africa.

André Beyers, Airtel Africa’s chief marketing officer, said Airtel currently has more than 68 million subscribers, generating over 80 billion ad impressions a year.

“The new mobile advertising proposition will open up mobile advertising to local, Pan-African and global brands and advertisers, giving them the opportunity to reach and engage consumers in several of the continent’s best performing economies,” he said.

Raymond Buckle, RAMP joint CEO, says RAMP is a newly formed joint venture of established African companies, which includes SilverstoneCIS, Integrat and Airvantage. RAMP, together with local partners in the 17 markets, offers Airtel the sales, operations and technology capability for a turnkey mobile media business.

“The agreement which begins with Nigeria and Kenya,will be followed by Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda during the first half of 2014. The mobile advertising proposition is ground breaking in its ability to deliver on the promise of integrated mobile advertising campaigns across the continent.”

Michael Laws, RAMP joint CEO, said RAMP’s solution will offer mobile advertising inventory from text tags on please call me messages and service notifications, to voice and mobile internet advertising opportunities, along with a permissionbased marketing platform to interest based communities.

“We’ve consolidated a team of mobile media and advertising specialists who have successfully launched and operated mobile media propositions across various African markets and several major brands will be launching with RAMP in 2014,” he said Buckle explained that RAMP’s offering is unique in that it offers access to a Pan-African audience providing an endto-end solution that includes access to Airtel customers as well as the technology solutions for customers to effectively communicate with brands.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Stock Watch

Report as at Wednesday, February 26, 2014

PAGE 23

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Peoples Daily, Thursday, February 27, 2014

Special Report

Muslims, Christians team to heal a divided Kaduna state

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eligious crisis seem to have eaten deep down into the soul of Kaduna state over the past few years, as it hascaused a serious setback in its development in all spheres of life.

The past crisis witnessed in the state, especially Kaduna metropolis, which is the state capital, set Muslim brothers againsttheir Christians brothers, making the metropolis adivided city.

Presently, there was mistrust and lack of brotherhood among citizensof the state that once lived in peaceful co-existence with each other.

When one goes down memory lane, some religious crisis that comes to mindin the state include the 1987 Kafanchan crisis, followed by 1992 Zangon-Kataf crisis; theShari’ah crisis of 2000 Part one and two; and then theThisDay attacks that followed the ‘Beauty Contest of Year’,in 2002.

Others are the 2011 postelection violence and the reprisal attackthat followed Boko Haram attack on two churches in Zaria in June,2012.

These crisis have created serious havoc on the people of the state,because it resulted to loss of lives and property worth

As Nigeria continues to deal with prolonged violence from terror sect, Boko Haram, Christian and Muslim communities are beginning to work together to ease any misdirected tensions between the two religious groups and curb its mounting influence and destruction in the country, reports Muhammad Ibrahim from Kaduna.

billions ofnaira within these years. Apart from loss of lives it also led todivision among the people of the state, particularly Christians andMuslims.

Today, Kaduna metropolis has been turned to a divided city between Muslimdominatednorth of the metropolis and Christiandominated south of the city.

Nowadays,residents from the northern part of town, who are mostlyMuslims don’t feel safecrossing the Kaduna bridge that divides the two areas or communities into the south which isChristians dominated,who also feel the same towards their erstwhile neighbours. In most cases residentsof these areas change their dressing when visiting each other or whengoing to each other’s community.

The northern communities dominated by Muslims include Tudun-Wada, Kawo,Unguwar

Sarki, Rigasa, Unguwar-Shanu, Unguwar-Kanawa, TudunNufawa,Kinkinau, UnguwarSanusi, Badikko, Unguwar Mu’azu and others.

While the Christians areas are Gwanin-Gora, UnguwarRomi, Sabon-Tasha, UnguwarMai Gero, Narayi, Kudendan, Karatudu, Juji, Kamazo, Unguwar Mission,Television Village, Kakau, KasuwarMagani, Unguwar-Boro, among others.

However, there are also communities where both Christians and Muslims still livetogether; those areas are Kurmin-Mashi, Barnawa, Malali, Unguwar-Rimi,and Kakuri among others.

Even with the prevailing suspicion among the followers of these two major religions inthe state, there are interfaith groups that rise up to the challengein order to bridge the gap or lack of trust and unity

among theseresidents of the state.

Among such groups is the “Peace Revival and Reconciliation Foundation ofNigeria”, which is a group that aimed at heeling the broken communities inthe state. The group comprises of both Christians and Muslims asmembers.

The chairman of the group, Pastor Yohanna Buru, alongside his Deputy,Sheikh Imam Sani Isa, various scholars are busy trying to bring back trustamong the residents.

Part of the group’s initiative was to join Muslims counterpart tocelebrate Maulud and Eid-elFitr celebrations in the state.

In fact, onso many occasions the group joined Muslims to break the traditional Ramadan fast by the Muslims, all inan effort to build confidence and trust among the followers of the twomajor religions as teaches by the two Holy Scriptures.

According to the pastor, there is no reason why Muslims and Christiansshould fight each other when the two religions preach peace andcoexistence.

Speaking at one of the events, Pastor Yohanna Buru said his movementhad dedicated this year to pass on

the message of peace among Muslimsand Christians.”I will not want to deceive Muslims; because God said I should live inpeace with Muslims. The Bible teaches me on the need to live in peace withothers. It teaches me to love for others what I love for myself; noteven to Muslims alone but to pagans also,” he stated.

According to the pastor, research made him to understand that ProphetMuhammad (peace be upon him) is a messenger of God that Muslims worldwide should emulate, which, according to him, was why his group decided to join Muslims to celebrate thebirthday of the noble prophet.

The village Head of Tudun Nupawa,Dr. Yusuf Nadabo, who attended the Mauludcelebrations organised by the Peace Revival, Reconciliation Foundation,called on Muslims and Christians to come together and livein peace and harmony.

He said the best way to attain peace was for people to avoid rumoursand hatred against one another.

“We have to find a way to stop spreading rumours against each other.This hatred and

“

Muslims pray while Christians form a protective human chain around them during a protest in 2012

The governor at different fora always advocated for peace in the state,particularly between Christians and Muslims.Governor Yero noted that residents of the state need to stop living adeceptive life, whereby they mingle together at places of work andmarkets but cannot visit each other’s houses or communities

Christians and Muslims unite against Boko Haram crisis between Muslims and Christians must stop so asto have peace in our society”, he further stated.

The traditional ruler also called on the organiser of the event toensure that they passed the message of peace to the grassroots, sayingthe people there need to understand the gospel of peace.This particular group has also succeeded in building mosque that wasdestroyed at Sabon-Tasha during the last crisis in the state as wellas releasing some Muslim inmates during the month of Ramadan, coupledwith seminars and workshops that had been organised in the state, onways to bring back tolerance within the citizens living in the metropolis.

Such an initiative, he said, will no doubt heal the wound in the mind of whoevermight have felt aggrieved as a result of past crisis in the state.

The effort by these interfaith

groups to promote peaceful co-existenceamong residents of the state received the state governor, Dr.MukhtarRamalan Yero’s blessings, who since assuming office vowed to workwith other groups to unite the people of the state.

The governor at different fora always advocated for peace in the state,particularly between Christians and Muslims.Governor Yero noted that residents of the state need to stop living adeceptive life, whereby they mingle together at places of work andmarkets but cannot visit each other’s houses or communities.

“Kaduna town is divided into two; it wasn’t like this before.

For someyears now, the town has been divided. The town is divided along religious lines by theRiver Kaduna bridge. The Muslims are staying on one side while theChristians are staying at the other side; this is not good fordevelopment. This

thing is not going to help us.

“Right now, any Christian who is coming from the other side to wherethe Muslims are will dress in Muslim attire. Likewise, any Muslim,

whois going to the Christians dominated side, will have to wear clothesthat will portray him/her like one of them. This is not going to helpus. It is high time we go back to the way we

Kaduna state governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero

were in those days. We lived togetherpeacefully before now,” he recalled.

Governor Yero also received leaders of another Interfaith andMediation group who paid

Pastor Yohanna Buru

him a courtesy call at the state GovernmentHouse recently, all on the need to revive peace among residents of thestate.

The governor, while receiving them, said it was very unfortunate thatthe city is divided along religious line, adding that such attitudewill not bring about unity and harmony among the people to worktogether for the development of the state.

He assured that his administration would strive to reverse the uglytrend in order to return the state to the era when Muslims andChristians live in the same community peacefully.

“For us to move forward, people must be allowed to practicetheir religion anywhere they find themselves. We must all livetogether.

“All of us are serving the same God and we have to try as much aspossible to serve God in a peaceful manner, in a way that we wouldrespect each other, understand each other and tolerate each other;because God has created mankind in different race and tribes, not forthem to fight each other but to understand each other and serve Himproperly,” the governor was quoted to have said.

Whether the governor and these groups would succeed on their crusade,only time will tell; but it is the wish of all the people in the stateto return back to 80s, when the state enjoyed peace and stability.

PAGE 26

Mother Earth

Government’s ineptitude over illegal mining

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or 40-year-old Surajo Baba, who lives in the midst of Darata gold mining fields in Zamfara state, poverty remains a daily reality.

But Nigeria as one of the world’s richest solid minerals deposits, besides the oil wealth, the country’s majority has no reason living in abject poverty.

“Here in Darata village, the gold wealth has not helped in any way to change our lives for the better, but rather for the worse as we have strayed further into poverty,” said Surajo.

That tells a story of how Nigeria is rich in mineral resources, yet its majority may have to wait a long time before they benefit from it, due largely to the mismanagement of the sector by the state vested with the responsibility to manage it on behalf of the people.

Today, across the length and breadth of this country, illegal mining is widespread, with the Chinese and Indian operators, in collaboration with local communities sabotaging the economy, while the authorities who supposedly in charge to are regulate and supervise the sector look the other way.

This has been blamed, partly on the weak federal regulation and in violation of the 1999 Constitution, which has made illegal mining thrives since some state and local governments illegally issue permits to artisans that do not have the expertise in mining.

This was the cause of the estimated 400 children that were reported to have died, and 30,000 others poisoned in Zamfara state, in the world’s worst recorded outbreak of lead poisoning in March 2009.

It could be recalled that the source of the outbreak began after the price of gold shot up and villagers realized they could make more money from exploiting local gold deposits than from farming.

Pronto, young and old began to dig metal ore from nearby mines and process it

Several years after, government is yet to arrest the conspiracy that sustains illegal gold mining and consequent lead poisoning killing the kids of Zamfara in droves.

This was the cause of the estimated 400 children that were reported to have died, and 30,000 others poisoned in the state.

in their homes in the search for gold.

But they were unknowingly mining lead, and the dust from the processing contaminated their houses, as children play in the dust around water wells, ignorant of the danger.

They were actually

“

poisoned by dust released by gold miners breaking open rocks near their homes, as contaminated soil dumped in water sources as rain further spread pollutants.

Do we have to blame the local miners who did not know the health implications of their mining activity?

The

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Ambrose Inusa Sule,

mnes

environment watch globenviron@yahoo.com 0703-441-4410 (sms only)

authorities charged with the responsibility to regulate and supervise the mineral resources sector should carry the burden of guilt.

Considering the enormous potential for economic growth if the mining sector is formalized, experts believe that soon Nigeria would be dominating the list of one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and would have slowly shed its image as a development burden.

But without a clear policy, and with government folding its arms watching helplessly, while foreign operators with their local collaborators go on plundering the sector, it will be a long night.

Sadly is the claim by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals Development (MMSD), Linus Awute, at a forum in Abuja sometime ago, that the amount of unprocessed gold that has left the country through neighboring countries, Ghana in particular, is being processed in Ashanti (Ghana) is enormous.

And again, his admission that the activities of illegal gold miners had gone “beyond control,” bordered on crass incompetence, to say the obvious.

The claim also that Nigeria lost $50 billion to her neighbors through

Today, across the length and breadth of this country, illegal mining is widespread, with the Chinese and Indian operators, in collaboration with local communities sabotaging the economy, while the authorities who are supposedly in charge to regulate and supervise the sector look the other way.

illegal gold mining, coupled with the negative economic, environmental and health impact on the country, shows that our solid minerals sector remained unregulated or at best haphazardly.

That underhand dealing in the mining of gold and other rich minerals in the country has fuelled poverty with its attendant environmental problems, is an understatement, as Nigeria will first have to rein in its corrupt officials before its resources can enrich its own people.

Without dealing with the cancer of corruption blighting the country, and robbing it of revenue from mineral resources through corrupt officials receiving bribes from these illegal mining operators, the country shall continue to have the worst poverty indices globally.

It is unimaginable that a country that depends on oil and gas exports for 92 per cent of her external revenues, failed to seize the opportunity to diversify her earnings by exploiting available abundant minerals.

It’s unfathomable that till date, we are yet to see the reforms of the solid minerals sector which begun since Obasanjo administration that were poised to attract investors from around the world to exploit the more than 34 mineral types available in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, both federal and state governments who are the gate-keepers in this sector have been irresponsibly reluctant to confront the menace of unregulated mining and smuggling.

While Economic analysts say that Nigeria’s best economic years are yet to come, it remains to be seen if the billions of dollars Nigeria has in natural resources will trickle down to people like Surajo.

END

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 27

Mother Earth How to attract native bees to your organic garden

Learn how to attract native bees to your organic garden with insect hotels, bee-friendly plants and more.

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Only allow clumping grasses to grow on the mound, and provide a diversity of bee-beckoning plants nearby to complete your bee sanctuary.

he planet’s best pollinators are in big trouble. Wildflower meadows where native bees once gathered nectar and pollen have turned into shopping malls, and dead trees where these ancient insects nest are getting harder to find. The native bees that do manage to survive are imperiled by pesticides — unless they can find safe haven in diversified organic gardens.

Make your own bee nesting sites

The Fruits of Their Labor Gardeners can reap huge benefits from hosting helpful pollinators, which tend to stay put when given food and a place to live. Native bees — including bumblebees, sweat bees, mining bees and others — pollinate many crops more efficiently and completely than honeybees do, with strawberries, blueberries and the entire squash family reliant on local pollinators to produce their best crops.

Tomatoes visited by bumblebees bear bigger fruits, because the big bees’ buzzing action shakes loose more pollen than wind alone. Strawberries pollinated by multiple types of bees yield fewer misshapen berries, and pumpkins pollinated by native squash bees produce larger pumpkins.

Pollinators play a significant role in producing 150 food crops in the United States and, according to the Xerces Society (a nonprofit wildlife conservation group), one in three mouthfuls of our food and drink requires their work.

A garden with flowering plants clustered in masses to provide greater enticement for visiting bees Bumblebees are the largest native bees, and they also tend to fly the farthest in search of food. Active from spring to fall, they pollinate a wide range of plants and are especially important to legumes. Bumblebees usually nest in the ground or in cavities in trees and are the only native bees that are truly social.

Mason bees are also called “orchard bees” because they often appear in fruit orchards in spring. These stout, bristly little bees may be black or metallic blue or green. Mason bees use mud to pack their well-provisioned eggs into the hollows of twigs and branches. They

spots.

Squash bees are the small black and yellow bees found in cucurbit blossoms, including those of cucumbers, summer squash and pumpkins. Male squash bees sometimes sleep inside the blossoms in hopes of encountering a female. These solitary ground nesters do not emerge until early summer.

The Bee Sanctuary Most ground-nesting bees are quite small and rely on secrecy to ensure their survival. Their entry holes in bare ground are difficult to spot and closely

to continuous use of the nesting area,” says T’ai Roulston, curator of the State Arboretum of Virginia, in the US, where researchers have identified 143 native bee species. “My best suggestion for maintaining ground-nesting bees is to provide areas with substantial bare soil or gaps in vegetation that will not get tilled.” Sunny, south-facing slopes are preferable, though some ground nesters look for vertical banks.

Bumblebees’ shelters are usually well-hidden and equipped with long entry tunnels. If habitat is in short supply, though, some bumblebees may take up residence too close for

Bee Activity For about 70 percent of the 4,000 bee species worldwide, home is a secure spot tunneled into the ground (ground nesters). The other 30 percent nest in dead trees and stems (wood nesters).

Almost all native bees live alone, not in colonies. Passive by nature, bees won’t usually sting unless squashed or pinched.

Young adult bees emerge from their nests at various times during the year, usually in sync with the blooming period of their favorite crops. Females quickly mate and select good nesting sites, which are often within 1,000 feet of desirable flowering plants. After making a few short flights to learn their new addresses, ground-nesting bees immediately start working to excavate a nest and stock it with eggs.

Gathering the necessary pollen, nectar and sometimes mud requires thousands of trips between flowers and the nest. The closer the flowers are to the bees’ nest, the less energy the bees must expend in flight.

Types of native bees Native bees are closely tied to their environments. The following five types provide pollination for gardens and orchards.

Some of the best bees for pollinating early-blooming fruits are wood-nesting mason bees. They nest in the soft centers of semi-hollow twigs (such as those of elderberries and bramble fruits) or in holes made in dead trees by beetles or other small insects. Other wood-nesting bees prefer rotting stumps or logs.

If your garden is near open woods that include standing dead trees and rotting logs, you may already have a good population of mason bees and other wood-nesting species. If there are no dead trees around, you can use fence posts or logs as substitutes.

Use a drill to make a number of deep holes in the south side of a fence post or stump. Because different species prefer different sizes of holes, drill them ranging from 3/32 of an inch (2 millimeters) to 5/16 of an inch (8 millimeters) wide. Drilling at a slight upward angle will keep water from entering the holes.

In Europe, many urban parks include insect hotels, which are freestanding structures stocked with habitat for wood-nesting bees and other insects. Envision a deep box artfully filled with hollow stems, and logs with holes drilled in them. A simple way to make an insect hotel is to stack several wooden pallets together, and then slip stems and logs with holes drilled in them into the openings.

Which native plants attract pollinators?

From left: Squash bees collect only cucurbit pollen grains; bumblebees pollinate legumes; sweat bees prefer strawberries and blueberries; mason bees can help assure a good harvest of many fruit trees. frequently accept man-made nesting blocks.

Mining bees look like slender, miniature honeybees but have long, wasp-like wings.

Active early in the year, they are important pollinators of fruit trees.

Although mining bees are solitary ground nesters, numerous closely spaced nests may appear in hospitable

resemble those made by ants and solitary wasps.

Close observation is the only way to determine whether areas on your property have been inhabited by ground-nesting bees. “When they emerge from their nests as adults, they tend to start new nests near where they were reared, so preserving the area bees use one year is likely to lead

comfort (right next to the front door, for instance). Two to three days of intermittent soaking with a hose will usually persuade the bees to move elsewhere.

You can invite bees to your backyard by setting a low wooden frame around a pile of dirt mixed with sand, then topping it off with a couple of rotting logs or old pieces of firewood.

Many types of bees emerge at just the right time to gather pollen and nectar from specific crops (from blueberries in spring or from squash in summer, for example). They may only forage for a few weeks, so having different flowers coming into bloom all summer long is important. Recent studies have found that many native bees are more attracted to a diversity of plants than they are to large plantings of a single flower crop.

Native bees coevolved with native plants, so growing native plant species will naturally attract local pollinators.

Many vegetables and herbs attract native bees, as do easy-to-grow annual and perennial flowers, flowering shrubs, and. Look closely and you’ll likely discover that many plants in your garden are natural magnets for these winged wonders.

When you find good bee plants — lo and bee-hold — grow more of them!

That’s the best way to give native bees the help they so desperately need.

(Source: AllAfrica.com)

Page 28

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Emergency Update Boko Haram: Between politician, security and the media

Most of the structures in the communities affected by the insurgent attacks are often times burned to the ground

By Adedoyin Adewunmi

M

any things happen in the recent weeks on the war on terror. There is nevertheless a symbiotic relationship between the media and terrorism as they both gain from each other. Terrorism is an act which drums fear into people, and this is what terrorists capitalize on to pass across their messages and even though such attacks may be in small-scale, the media easily magnify the unwarranted violence.

When Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state claimed that Boko Haram insurgents were better equipped than the Nigerian Armed Forces and that the nation is at war, one could understand his frustration and that of others. But can such claim be magnified by the press?

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, told journalists afterward that the country is not at war. Rather, he said Nigeria is confronted by guerrilla warfare from insurgents who are motivated by ideological fanaticism.

Meanwhile, the Director Defence Information had corroborated the government position that the Nigerian military is one of the best equipped in Africa and remained highly motivated in the war against the Boko Haram insurgents by their patriotic sense of duty, national pride and strict adherence to professional ethics.

Governor Shettima is surely one of the finest governors attending to the needs of his people, condoling and providing succors to victims just as Federal Government agencies like National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) presents relief materials in the aftermath of disasters.

Some statements by politicians easily promote insurgents’ propaganda of being more powerful than a constituted authority.

It therefore demeans and weakens the morale of our security forces that are sacrificing their lives for our safety. In fact, in the

recent week, 9 soldiers were reported to have been killed but no serious editorial commentaries were made to praise their heroism in their war against terrorists.

All over the world, acts of terror are difficult to contain, and as expected, the Nigerian military has come under heavy fire ever since the state of emergency was declared.

The military shut down telecommunications services to curtail communications between insurgents, and there was outcry. And more recently, the Northern Elders threatened to take the Former Chief of Army Staff Azubuike Ihejirika to the International Court of Justice. It seems the military is been buffeted on all sides, and still, it is tasked to fight a war against those who are not using any rules. One thing the governor fails to realize is that the country is not in a conventional warfare, but fighting a guerilla war, with its unpredictability and despite this, there are evidences on ground to show that the military and security agencies are on top of the situation.

The Armed Forces also are severely constrained because of the fact that civilian casualty is to be avoided whenever they tackle the insurgents and even after the dislocation of the insurgents from their hideouts, the new trend is for them to retreat to neighboring countries after carrying out sporadic attacks and the military cannot pursue them into foreign territories as they are constrained by law and international conventions and this gives respite to the insurgents.

Occasionally, some sections of the media are unfair in the coverage of military’s intervention where they consciously or unconsciously give prominence to insurgents’ propaganda rather than the positions of the military.

In fact the day Governor Shettima made that statement, the Director Defence Information made a statement on the efforts of the military in containing the terrorist. Nevertheless, most of the front page headline

heralded the argument that “Terrorist are better armed and well-motivated!”

Can that be true in all senses emotion and sentiment aside?

While the media may not be completely faulted going by their craving for newsworthiness, the spokespersons of security agencies should be more proactive, sincere and timely in providing information to the media.

It is therefore a welcome development the recent inauguration of Forum of Spokespersons in Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) by the National Security Adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki retired.

The forum should improve their inter-agency relationship and also with media houses by providing accurate information without the prompting of the press. They should be more pro-active rather than reactionary and defensive on issues.

The military spokesperson should realize that what Nigerians and international community wants is positive development from their efforts. They either speak out regularly or the terrorists may have the upper hand by amplifying their cheap propaganda.

While the military should continue to abide by the rules of engagement, even in the face of a situation that is not normal, politicians and the media need to be circumspect with their actions and remarks on sensitive and national issues.

If the media gave as much attention to the activities of the armed forces as it did to every act of the terrorists, we are sure to have a more balanced outlook of the matter. Meanwhile in the face of the challenges, we need to encourage our security personnel by boosting their efforts and morale with the necessary training, equipment, welfare and other logistic supports.

Adedoyin Adewunmi is of the group: “Youths Against Disaster Initiative”, Abuja.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 29

Emergency Update

NEMA decries poor participation of private sector in emergency relief response

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has expressed concern over the poor participation of the private sector in emergency relief response for Internally Displaced Persons in the North-East.

North-East Zonal Coordinator of the agency, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, expressed the concern in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Tuesday.

Kanar said that the attitude of leaving everything to government

was over, as it could not afford to carter for the needs of all the people.

He said that private organisations and well-meaning individuals from the region should assist their people who were in serious need for survival.

According to the coordinator, their assistance would improve the living standard of the affected victims especially in the areas of health, shelter, food and other humanitarian needs. ``The agency provides necessary and emergency relief

materials to the victims of disaster. ``There’s need for the voluntary organisations such as health organisations, education, counselling and rehabilitation unions and others to continue from where the agency stopped to reduce the suffering of IDPs.’’ He expressed concern that thousands of children of internally displaced persons in the region were out of school, adding that they needed urgent attention. Kanar said that the major problem facing

the operation of the agency in its effort to reach out to the victims of insurgency attacks in time was the insecurity. ``The agency has a quick response team but due to insecurity challenges, the team finds it difficult to reach the affected areas in time,’’ he said.

He thanked the affected state governments for their cooperation in assisting the agency to carry out its assignment effectively.

(NAN)

NEMA officials distributing relief materials to communities surrounding Isghe had left their communities to Madagali LGA of Adamawa state.

.... donates rescue equipment to FRSC, NSCDC

From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) North-Central zone has donated some searchand-rescue and other equipment to Babale Unit Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), to assist them in their operations during road traffic crashes.

Presenting the equipment on behalf of the Zonal Coordinator,

M.B. Abdulsalam, the head of Search and Rescue, Mr. Kabiru Salihu said the agency has departed from the era of mere relief distribution to disaster risk reduction.

Abdulsalam commended the effort of the Federal Road Safety Commission in reducing road crashes accident on our high ways.

Receiving the items, the head of operations of the Command, Commander F.O Opabi express appreciation to NEMA noting

that the equipment will go a long way in assisting them in their operations.

Earlier in the month, the North-Central Zonal Commander of the FRSC, Yakubu Attah paid a courtesy visit to NEMA North-Central zonal office and showed his appreciation on the support in term of manpower and equipment he received from the gency during the last ‘Ember’ month’s operation. He later requested the agency’s assistance of the items for its

unit Commands to assist them in their operations.

Similarly, the Disaster Management Department of the Plateau state’s Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were given some body bags to assist in their operation in evacuation of death bodies to mortuaries.

The items donated included: body bags, rubber gloves and medic gloves. Others were leather gloves, protective aprons and fire extinguishers.

This according to NEMA would help address emergency situations in communities where agencies would be situated.

The Director General of the Agency, Alhaji Sani Sidi made the appeal during a public presentation at the on-going Kaduna International Trade Fair.

The DG, represented by the Director Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Charles Otegbade, explained that establishing the agencies would help in addressing disaster at states and community levels because it importance cannot be over-emphasized. “ We appeal to Nigerians to

alerts the agency on time when the need arises towards addressing disaster in Nigeria,” he said.

Alhaji Sani Sidi said the agency can only respond to disaster if alerted on time, as he urged Nigerians to always call NEMA With zero-eight-zero-zero(0800) in case of emergency.

.... urges states, LGs to establish emergency agencies

From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

T

he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has appealed to states and local government councils to establish emergency agencies in their respective areas.

...emergency officers deployed to troubled areas in North-east

T

he leadership of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has increased its staff in areas attacked by insurgents in Borno and Adamawa.

The Director-General of the agency, Alhaji Muhammad SaniSidi revealed this in a statement issued by NEMA’s North East Zonal Information Officer, Mr. Abdulkadir Ibrahim, in Yola.

It said that the measure was in response to the spate of attacks on communities within the borders of Borno and Adamawa states.

“In response to the rising tide of attacks around border communities in the North East, the DirectorGeneral, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi, has dispatched the Director, Search and Rescue of the Agency, Air Cdr. Charles Otegbade, with additional staff from the Abuja head office,” it said.

According to the statement, the development is to complement the efforts of the officials of the North-East zonal office, who have been trying to assist internally displaced persons affected by the incidents.

“Within the last two weeks, camps have been created in schools and other secured locations in Alau, Kawuri, Konduga and Bama communities, to cater for the affected persons.

“As the situation improves, more camps are expected to be created to cater for more people,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the NorthEast Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Kanar, with staff from the zone and other stakeholders in emergency management, had been collaborating to provide succour to those affected by the attacks.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Feature

Tackling water supply challenges in Plateau rural communities

N

o water, no life, ’’ so says a popular slogan.

The maxim aptly underscores the importance of water to human existence, as human beings, and even animals, cannot survive without water.

Observers note that the importance of water notwithstanding, several communities in Plateau State have yet to have good, reliable sources of water for drinking and other uses.

They say that the situation appears dismal, as many residents of these communities often trek long distances, particularly during dry seasons, in search of water which, in most cases, is not good enough for human consumption.

This is because many people have contracted different water borne-diseases, while some people even died as a result of these diseases, they add.

Some of the waterborne diseases that are prevalent in the communities include typhoid fever, cholera, diarrhea, hookworm infection and Hepatitis A. The Chairman of Badni Community Development Association in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau, Mr. Markus Bako said that many residents of Badni community had been afflicted with different waterborne diseases due to the lack of potable water. ``Many people died as a result of waterborne infections,’’ he said.

Bako said that the community’s main sources of water were streams and hand-dug wells, adding that even though the water from these sources was not always clean, the people had no other option than to drink it.

Mrs. Victoria Tali, a nurse in a primary health centre at Wuseli, Pankshin local government area, appealed to the government to initiate water supply programmes for rural communities so as to curb the rising incidence of water-related diseases. ``More than half of the patients that come to the clinic suffer mostly from waterborne ailments,’’ she said.

Tali noted that some residents of Wuseli often travelled to far places like Pankshin town, several kilometres away, in search of clean water.

Mr. Samson Iliya, a nurse working with Bukata Clinic, a private hospital in Konnet community in Bokkos local government area, said that the clinic had recorded many cases of waterborne diseases.

Iliya also urged the state government to provide the community with clean, potable water so as to check the incidence of waterborne diseases in the area.

One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations (UN) gives priority attention to the provision of potable water to the people.

To be specific, Target 7C of MDG 7 aims to halve the proportion of

Most of the communities living in the rural areas of the state use water from wells in order to survive. the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

As part of efforts to achieve this goal, Mr. Peter Gai, the Coordinator, Project Support Unit (PSU) of the MDGs Office in Plateau, said that the PSU had sunk 566 boreholes in rural communities across the state.

Gai said that the boreholes, which were either hand-pumped or motorised, were provided under the track projects of the federal, state and local governments, which were executed by the PSU. He said that the boreholes were sited in communities that were in dire need of potable water supply. ``These boreholes are in various rural communities, cutting across the 17 local governments of the state. ``Our choice of benefitting communities is purely based on the outcome of a needs’ assessment survey conducted by our office. ``For instance, some residents of certain communities do trek several kilometres in search of water, and in other communities, the sources of water are usually not healthy for human consumption,’’ he says.

Gai said that in spite of the water projects of the PSU, some rural communities still required more boreholes so as to curtail the high rate of water-borne diseases.

He, however, reiterated the determination of the MDGs office to tackle the water supply challenges facing rural communities in Plateau, as part of efforts to deal with the rising menace of waterborne diseases in the areas. ``As part of efforts to meet up with the targets of the MDGs in relation to environmental sanitation and water supply to the people, we want to make sure that the incidence of cholera is drastically reduced in the state.

``We have situations where people go to streams and rivers to fetch water to drink; and the water could be very hazardous to their health. ``We have intervened by siting water projects in areas which we considered to be in dire need of such facilities,’’ he says.

However, Gai noted that the major challenge facing the drilling of boreholes in most of the areas was the rocky nature of the terrain.

He said that while it was difficult to access water in some areas, the water yield in other areas was somewhat low.

The coordinator conceded that the PSU faced some serious challenges in Kabong, Jos-North local government area, in efforts to provide potable water for the residents.

He assured the people that the MDGs Office would do everything possible within its mandate to improve the water yield and drill more boreholes in the area if necessary.

Gai stressed that the MDGs Office would look into the requests made by some communities for more boreholes.

He said that decisions on the request would be strictly based on available resources and approvals from the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs. He, nonetheless, commended the Plateau State Government for its genuine commitment to efforts aimed at alleviating the people’s sufferings. ``The success we have so far attained wouldn’t have been possible without the consistent and prompt release of counterpart funds by the state government,’’ he adds.

Gai said that the MDGs Office

would sign an agreement with the benefiting communities and local governments to ensure the protection of the facilities.

Meanwhile, some benefitting communities have been lauding the MDGs Office for the water projects.

For instance, the people of Gagdi community in Kanam Local Government Area have commended the MDGs Office for providing them a solar-powered borehole.

The people, who danced round the town to demonstrate their appreciation for the project, expressed the hope that the facility would aid efforts to check the incidence of waterborne diseases in their neighbourhood. ``This borehole has reduced the cases of typhoid in our community; we are, indeed, happy over it,’’ the President of Gagdi Youth Movement, Mr. Nuhu Sanusi, told visiting MDGs officials. ``Before the borehole was sunk, we used to have several cases of typhoid because the stream, which was our only source of water, is not clean. We used to share the stream with animals, especially goats, sheep and cows.

But since we got the borehole, the situation is different. ``We are eternally grateful for the borehole and we appeal to the government to sink more boreholes in Gagdi because the community is quite large; one borehole cannot serve all the residents,’’ he said.

Sanusi said that youths of the community were currently taking turns to guard the borehole on a 24-hour basis. ``We also tax ourselves to raise money to replace any faulty component of the borehole,’’ he

added.

In Karamin Dengi, another benefitting community in Kanam Local Government Area, Mr. Ibrahim Sale, a community leader, thanked the government for coming to their aid. ``We used to travel long distances to fetch water, which is usually not clean, but with the borehole, we now have a good and reliable source of drinking water. ``This development has reduced the cases of water-borne diseases in our community. We thank the government for this project but we are also asking for more projects to further reduce our suffering,’’ Sale said.

The Information and Communication Officer of the PSU of the MDGs office, Mr. Chuwang Pwajok, however, advised the benefiting communities to take good care of the boreholes. ``Providing water facilities is one thing, ensuring their sustenance is another thing. So, I urge all of you to jealously guard the boreholes if you want to use them for a very long time,’’ he added.

Pwajok said that the water projects were owned by the communities, adding that the PSU would not be responsible for their maintenance.

He bemoaned a situation where a motorised borehole would break down because of a nut or bolt that cost only N200, urging benefiting communities to always assume responsibility and repair the faulty parts of their boreholes.

All the same, Pwajok appealed to the people to always strive to contact their local government authorities for assistance if any situation was obviously beyond them. (Source: NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

ANALYSIS

D

etour is not an option!” reads the Afghan Women’s Charter, which was presented to the media last week in Kabul in the presence of some of Afghanistan’s leading women of the post-Taliban decade. The Charter enumerates Afghan women’s demands of the 11 presidential candidates competing in the April vote, the third presidential election since the US-led military intervention that ousted the Taliban in 2001.

This charter, unlike most documents of this nature, was initiated by a small group of Afghan women, with no assistance from outsiders. The fact that the authors refused to seek international assistance or funding makes the effort a symbol of breaking the vicious cycle of aid dependency.

It is a message that women have consciously decided to convey at a time when international engagement is about to wind down.

Women activism The women of Afghanistan have come a long way in the past 12 years. The post-Talban Afghan Constitution assures them equal rights and freedoms, access to education, healthcare, employment opportunities, political and social activities. Affirmative action has allowed them to occupy about 27 percent of the seats in the country’s Parliament and there are three women cabinet ministers. The governor of Bamyan province, head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commision and president of the country’s Red Crescent Society have all been prominent women.

At grassroot levels, from the nearly 8 million Afghan children that attend schools, 2.4 million are girls. And according to government figures, the number of women pursuing higher education rose by 30.4 percent in 2011-2012.

In this year’s presidential tickets, however, women figures are not as conspicuous as in the past two elections. This seems to be compensated by the increased activities of women activists such as the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN), an umbrella organisation that boasts membership of over 100 women’s institutions and 5,000 individuals, Equality for Peace and Democracy and dozens of other organisations that are conducting awareness and registration drives, human rights training sessions, and town hall meetings with candidates, etc.

The Afghan Women’s Charter has now begun its journey in the media and through Afghanistan’s provinces, with volunteer provincial organisations and individual activists promoting it and gathering consensus on the demands of the document.

Three women have emerged in the presidential tickets this year.

Dr ZalmaiRassoul, mostly regarded as President Hamid Karzai’s pick as his successor, has chosen HabibaSarabi, former governor of Bamyan province, as his second vice presidential candidate. A hematologist by profession, she has a dignified personality and comes from an ethnic Hazara family whose prominence goes back to pre-war Afghanistan.

Page 31

International Afghan women to test activism after April election

In this year’s election, women are not featured in leading roles as strongly as in the past two elections, writes Malikyar [EPA] Being the first woman governor in the administrative history of Afghanistan, Sarabi is one of the very few high officials of the Karzai government whose name was not attached to corruption accusations all through her eight-year tenure.

In some circles of women activists, though, Sarabi is criticised for acquiescing to the status quo rather than risking activism for change.

Weak political will, perhaps lack of true belief in women’s rights among leaders of state institutions and politicians has prevented the cause to reach farther destinations.

SafiyaSiddiqi is running as second vice president on Hedayat Amin Arsala’s ticket. Though this team is not seen as likely to win, Siddiqi has emerged as an outspoken member of the Arsala presidency campaign. The dynamic Siddiqi won a seat in the Parliament in 2005 with the third highest vote count during that parliamentary election.

Having returned from her Canadian exile, she is well-rooted in Eastern

Afghanistan, partly due to her family’s influence among Pashtun tribes of that region and recently, due to her tireless grassroots work.

DaoudSultanzoy, another presidential candidate in this year’s vote, has picked KazimiaMohaqiq as his vice presidential candidate.

Mohaqiq has a Masters degree from Iran and has been teaching political science and law at one of Kabul’s private universities.

Lack of political will All this is not to say that Afghan women have reached an ideal stage.

Nor are there any guarantees that the course of progress will steadily continue. So far, Afghan women have bravely journeyed along a bumpy and winding road, evading obstacles and potholes. Most of the progress in ameliorating the lot of Afghan women has come, for the most part, thanks to the international community’s pressure and as part of the overall aid package. On the other hand, this donor-driven process has reduced

“

women’s causes to small, shortterm pet projects, rather than a comprehensive and sustainable national movement.

In women’s rights, as in other issues in the greater conservatism versus modernism discourse, Afghan women - and especially the young generation - have demonstrated a remarkable eagerness and willingness for change. Afghan politicians and statesmen, however, seem to lag well behind. Instead of understanding society’s need and readiness for progress, instead of acknowledging the necessity of women’s participation for economic, social and political progress of the country as a whole, political leaders have continued to pay lip service to the conservative and traditional elements of society.

Weak political will, perhaps lack of true belief in women’s rights among leaders of state institutions and politicians, has prevented the cause to reach farther destinations.

Lack of political will is justified

DaoudSultanzoy, another presidential candidate in this year’s vote, has picked KazimiaMohaqiq as his vice presidential candidate.

by “prioritisation of the country’s issues”, as one politician claiming to be a proponent of women’s rights apologetically told me a few years ago, further elaborating that for the sake of stability, we should put women’s issues on the backburner or deal with it in small increments.

Washington’s overtures to terrorists for a negotiated peace since 2009 has prompted the Afghan government and opposition leaders to rush into a race to be the first party to strike a deal with the Taliban. Consequently, women’s causes were sacrificed as part of their appeasement strategy.

With that history, it is surprising to see that support for women’s rights figures so prominently in the speeches and programmes of all presidential hopefuls for the April election. Three of the tickets have women as vice presidential candidates and all are going through lengths to assure women that they will protect their rights.

But precisely because of that history, Afghan women and the international community must be vigilant and distinguish between true belief in women’s rights and demagoguery.

Candidates, their running mates, their political attachments and support bases must be scrutinised.

Through the Charter, engaging candidates in debates, awareness campaigns, calls for the formation of a united front and female voter registration drives in all corners of Afghanistan, women activists have waged an indigenous fight for the preservation of their gains and to further their achievements.

Source; Al Jazeera

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 32

International

Petrol bomb attack on home of top Zimbabwe opposition official

‘Cashgate’ audit prompts calls for Malawi president to resign

M

alawi President Joyce Banda faced calls to resign on Tuesday, after an audit revealed at least $30 million dollars of state funds had been stolen by corrupt officials.

Barely three months before she asks voters to elect her for a second term, Banda faced calls from non-governmental groups to take responsibility for almost industrial-scale corruption on her watch.

A much-awaited report by British auditors, commissioned by Banda, showed that $30 million was stolen in six months from April to September in 2013, her second year in office.

That equates to more than one percent of GDP, in a one of the world’s poorest countries, where state services are poor and life expectancy is just 54 years.

“It is immoral and unethical for the president to remain in office,” said John Kapito, the outspoken head of the Consumer Association of Malawi, decrying the lack of oversight.

The so-called “Cashgate” scandal has already rocked Malawi for months, causing a chain of events that enveloped politics, business and the economy.

The scandal implicated senior ministers, resulting in Banda sacking her entire cabinet.

Some 68 civil servants, including many in Banda’s People’s Party, and businesspeople are already on trial charged with graft.

Ex-justice minister Ralph Kasambara and four others face trial for the attempted murder of a treasury official who was on the verge of exposing the corruption ring.

Foreign donors, who provide 40 percent of Malawi’s budget, froze vital aid worth around $150 million in response.

In the end, auditors from Baker Tilly painted a damning picture of fraud and mismanagement that spanned a dozen ministries.

Their report alleged culprits used a central computerised payments system to pay supplies for goods and services that were never delivered. The transactions, made to accounts abroad and in Malawi, were then deleted from the system.

A

petrol bomb hit the home of top Zimbabwe opposition official and former finance minister TendaiBiti on Tuesday, a party spokesperson said, the second such attack in three years.

“Our secretary general, TendaiBiti told us that his house was attacked early this morning,” Douglas Mwonzora, of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told AFP, adding the explosion did not injure anyone.

Mwonzora said the petrol bomb hit the security wall of the Harare house and was likely the work of long ruling President Robert Mugabe and his party.

“The attack bears the fingerprints of ZANU-PF,” he said. Police could not comment.

Biti, a lawyer and firebrand critic of Mugabe’s economic policies is a powerful official in the MDC. But he has frequently clashed with the party’s leadership.

Mwonzora dismissed suggestions

the attack could have been prompted by an internal party dispute over Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership.

“It is clear that this is the work

of the enemies of the MDC who want to portray it as a violent party,” said.

Last month MDC deputy treasurer, Elton Mangoma was

beaten by party youths outside the party’s Harvest House headquarters days after he wrote a letter to Tsvangirai advising him to step down.

Tendai Biti

Former Zambia president, Kaunda, hospitalised

Z

ambia’s founding father and former president Kenneth Kaunda was taken to hospital on Sunday, but is said to be in good spirits, the government said.

President Michael Sata visited his predecessor in a Lusaka hospital, where 89-year-old Kaunda is reportedly being treated for fatigue.

Images released by the Zambian

Kenneth Kaunda

government showed Kaunda standing and smiling while receiving guests including Sata.

“The first lady and I have just returned from Lusaka Trust Hospital where we went to visit our founding president Dr Kenneth David Kaunda,” Sata said in a statement after the visit.

“We were happy to find KK in high spirits. Get well soon.”

Kaunda ruled Zambia for 27 years from independence in 1964.

While in power he hosted many of the movements fighting for independence or black equality in other countries around the region, including South Africa’s African National Congress.

Initially a popular leader, he became increasingly autocratic,

but eventually ceded power in the first multi-party elections in 1991.

Later in life he regained stature as one of Africa’s political giants, helping mediate crises in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Kaunda also b e c a m e a n AIDS campaigner, announcing publicly one of his sons had died from the illness.

Last December he charmed mourners at Nelson Mandela’s burial.

When organisers attempted to usher him away from the podium after he ran over his allotted time, he drew laughs by saying they were “trying to control an old man who fought the boers”, or Afrikaners, the white descendants of South Africa’s first Dutch settlers.

contributed to the drowning of the migrants.

The spike in the arrival of migrants to Melilla in recent weeks has caused the population of an internment centre in the Spanish

outpost to swell.

The centre, which has room for 480 people, currently houses more than 1000 migrants. Military tents have been set up at the centre to accommodate the overflow.

100 African migrants force way into Spain’s Melila

S

ome 500 African migrants stormed a triple barbed-wire border fence on Monday that divides the Spanish territory of Melilla from Morocco, with about 100 making it over, an official said.

The migrants targeted two different sections of the border and were “very violent” as they used “sticks and threw rocks at Spanish and Moroccan police”, said a spokesperson for the Spanish government’s representative in Melilla.

About 100 of the roughly 500 migrants involved in the border assault managed to enter Melilla, she added.

It was the latest in a series of coordinated assaults by African migrants on the border of Melilla,

which along with fellow Spanish territory Ceuta has the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

The two cities sit across the Mediterranean from mainland Spain, surrounded by Moroccan territory.

On 17 February about 150 African migrants made it into Melilla in another mass assault by migrants bearing sticks and stones.

At least 14 migrants drowned in Moroccan waters on 6 February while trying to enter Ceuta by sea after several hundred tried to storm the land border.

Spain’s interior ministry on Friday posted videos online showing police firing rubber bullets as the migrants swam into Spanish territory from Morocco, but denied this action

Image by AP Photo/Oded Balilty

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 33

International Asia & Middle East

Former editor of Hong Kong newspaper stabbed amid media tensions

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ong Konga former chief editor of a major Hong Kong newspaper known for its critical reporting was stabbed and seriously wounded on Wednesday in an attack that has fuelled concerns about what many see as an erosion of media freedoms.

A man in a helmet attacked Kevin Lau, former chief editor of the Ming Pao daily, in broad daylight on a leafy harbor front street, slashing him in the back several times. The assailant rode off on a motorcycle with an accomplice.

China to enhance smog monitoring, research

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The attack took place days after 6,000 journalists marched to Hong Kong’s government headquarters to demand the city’s leaders uphold press freedom against what they see as intrusions from mainland China in a politically sensitive year.

Doctors said Lau’s injuries were severe and included a 16-cm (6.5-inch) gash. He remains in a critical condition.

Police said they had so far no clues as to who might have carried out the attack. No one had been detained.

An incident of such brutality

is unusual in the former British colony, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

Such an attack, however, aimed at wounding rather than killing, was widely interpreted as a warning to Hong Kong’s vibrant media that has remained a bastion of critical reporting on China, a far cry from mainland China, where media are subject to heavy censorship and state control.

The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association called on authorities to “pursue his attackers and those malignant forces behind

them without fear or favor. The attackers must be brought to justice as quickly as possible to allay public fears.”

Media outlets have been subject to attacks. The offices of a small independent media outlet were recently ransacked and a car rammed the front gate of the home of Jimmy Lai, publisher of Hong Kong’s anti-Beijing newspaper, the Apple Daily.

In the late 1990s, two prominent media figures, Albert Cheng and Leung Tin-wai, were slashed by men with knives in cases that remain unsolved.

water after sailing just over a kilometer from the shore, according to a report by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

T he m ig r a n t s s e nt o ut a distress signal to the Turkish Coast Guard and were rescued.

They were later turned over to a repatriation center.

Turkey is a major transit country for migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia who are attempting to reach Europe from the country’s western coast. Migrants often face a perilous journey when crossing the sea or borders in their pursuit for a better life.

Last December, at least

three migrants of Syrian, Burmese, and Afghan origin died after their boat sank in the Aegean Sea, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported.

In January, a boat carrying 19 migrants capsized near the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea, killing one while seven others were reported missing

condemns the rise in violence, and all parties must act in accordance with international law,” Serry said after a visit to Gaza, where one-year ceasefire brokered by Egypt ending eight days of fierce fighting between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas in 2012 has started to falter, with renewed rocket attacks against Israel and Israeli reprisals.

The violence has stalled the construction of more than 20 vital UN projects for schools and housing in Gaza, and forced the closure of crossings with Israel, the envoy said.

Imports of construction materials has decreased dramatically consequently, leading to worsening social and economic condition, Serry said, lamenting the fact that the closure by Egypt of illegal tunnels beneath its border with Gaza has not been turned into an opportunity to increase the entry of such materials through legal crossings.

According to the UN, Israel in December agreed to resume the transfer of construction materials for UN projects in Gaza, where the world body is working on a “critical” 500-million-U.S.-

dollar package to build schools, social housing, and water and sanitation facilities. But clashes with Israel have since increased and the work has been stalled since November.

Serry noted that imports of construction material for the private sector through legal crossings remain essential for Gaza’s economy.

Hamas, which ousted Fatah from Gaza in fighting in 2007, does not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Israel has severely restricted the entry of goods and materials into the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized control.

28 Afghan migrants rescued in Aegean Sea

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urkish coast guards rescued 28 Afghan migrants whose boat was sinking in the Aegean Sea on Sunday.

The migrants, who sailed from Turkey’s Ayvacik District, were headed for the Greek island Lesbos when their boat began to fill with

UN Middle East envoy voices concern over deteriorating situation in Gaza

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op UN envoy for the Middle East voiced deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said that, “During the past two months, we have seen more rockets being fired at Israel, border incidents, and Israeli retaliatory operations causing death or injury to civilians,” UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters here at a daily news briefing.

“The United Nations

hina’s health watchdog has vowed to expand the scope of air quality monitoring and invest more in researching the health impact of smog, as Beijing retains a pollution alert.

“The commission will strive for more financial support from the central government to expand air monitoring coverage while continuing to research the impact of smog on human health,” said a statement released on Tuesday by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Heavy air pollution shrouded 58 of 161 cities monitored on Tuesday morning. Of the 58, 23 were “severely polluted,” according to official figures.

At 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Beijing’s average PM 2.5 index, which measures airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, hit 475 micrograms per cubic meter. That is within the most severe level, and high readings are expected to last until Thursday, when a cold front should disperse the pollutants.

Tuesday’s statement cited key upcoming research projects coverings fields including precautionary technology for smog, smog-related diseases, and health risks for vulnerable populations.

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang are required to publicize their analysis results on air pollution sources by the end of June, followed by more regions.

Experts hope these results will guide more precise efforts for air pollution prevention and control.

Meanwhile, the commission also promised to strengthen cooperation with environmental protection, weather and other departments in tackling smog.

More efforts will be made to promote education and consultation on the issue to guide the public to step up health protection, said the statement.

Also on Tuesday, the MEP noted various pollution problems in an official inspection of the city of Taiyuan in north China’s Shanxi Province and Baotou, in the neighboring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

It cited unscientific industrial distributions, obvious dust pollution in areas of urban-rural conjuncture, inadequate anti-pollution measures for construction sites and various local companies, but didn’t say how to address these issues.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Page 34

International Europe and Americas EU, Russia move to ease tensions over Ukraine

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orld powers sought to ease tensions over Ukraine Tuesday as the country’s makeshift government grappled with the threat of economic collapse and separatism after the dramatic ouster of pro-Moscow leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia softened its angry tone over the sudden, weekend regime change in Ukraine, while EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton paid a visit to the ex-Soviet country that Yanukovych had tried to steer towards Moscow but whose new, interim leaders have tilted firmly towards the West.

Furious talks took place between US, European and Russian diplomats as the country appealed for $35 billion (25 billion euros) in aid to avoid bankruptcy and interim leader OleksandrTurchynov warned of a secessionist threat.

“In several regions of Ukraine there are very dangerous signs of separatism,” Turchynov told parliament on Tuesday, voicing fears that the pro-Russia east could agitate for partition after a proWestern administration took charge of the country following months of anti-Yanukovych protests.

Russia had initially reacted with fury to the weekend’s rapidfire political changes -- brought about by last week’s clashes that left nearly 100 dead -- accusing the new leadership of waging an “armed mutiny”.

But on Tuesday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought to soften the tone, saying Ukraine should not be forced to choose between Russia and the West.

“We confirmed our principled position of non-intervention in Ukraine’s internal affairs,” Lavrov said in Moscow.

“We are interested in Ukraine being part of the European family, in all senses of the word,” he said. “It is dangerous and counterproductive to force Ukraine into a choice.”

Ashton also sought to ease tensions on her trip to Kiev.

“We offer support, not interference for the future,” Ashton told reporters in a bid to discredit claims that the West wants to bring Ukraine into its sphere of influence.

She a l s o s t r e s s e d “ t h e importance of the strong links between Ukraine and Russia and the importance of having them maintained”.

The tumultuous events of the past week have capped more than three months of relentless protests against Yanukovych’s rule sparked by his November decision to spurn an historic pact with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia.

UN chief condemns attack on Yobe students

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N Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has strongly condemned the brutal killing of students at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in Yobe.

The condemnation is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday in New York and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

It expressed sincere condolences to the bereaved families and hoped that the perpetrators would be “swiftly brought to justice.

“The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks against educational institutions in the north of the country.

“He reiterates that no objective can justify such

Ban Ki-Moon

violence,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the killings, calling them

“heinous, brutal and mindless”.

Yobe is one of three north eastern states along with Borno and Adamawa put under

emergency rule last May by President Jonathan as the military continues to combat the insurgency in the area.

through devotion to music is up for an Oscar.

London-based Herz-Sommer died in a hospital after being admitted Friday with health problems, daughter-in-law Genevieve Sommer said.

“We all came to believe that

she would just never die,” said Frederic Bohbot, Montreal-based producer of the documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life. “There was no question in my mind: ‘would she ever see the Oscars.”’

The film, directed by Oscar-

winning filmmaker Malcolm Clarke (also based in Montreal), has been nominated for best short documentary at the Academy Awards next Sunday.

Herz-Sommer, her husband and her son were sent from Prague in 1943 to a concentration camp in the Czech city of Terezin — Theresienstadt in German — where inmates were allowed to stage concerts in which she frequently starred.

An estimated 140,000 Jews were sent to Terezin and 33,430 died there. About 88,000 were moved on to Auschwitz and other death camps, where most of them were killed. Herz-Sommer and her son, Stephan, were among fewer than 20,000 who were freed when the notorious camp was liberated by the Soviet army in May 1945.

Oldest-known Holocaust survivor dies

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lice Herz-Sommer, believed to be the oldest Holocaust survivor, died at age 110 on Sunday, a family member said. The accomplished pianist’s death came just a week before her extraordinary story of surviving two years in a Nazi prison camp

Alice Herz-Sommer, a Holocaust survivor who is the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, has died at the age of 110. (Kieran Crilly/Canadian Press) (The Canadian Press)

Amanda Knox’s ex finds her behavior odd, as appeals case looms

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e are innocent.” For six years, that has been the cry that has united Amanda Knox and her Italian exboyfriend, as they have faced trials in the murder of Knox’s former roommate Meredith Kercher.

But that unity may be crumbling, as she and RaffaeleSollecito prepare to appeal their convictions before Italy’s Supreme Court next year.

Knox, who is living in the United States, appears to be sticking by the maxim.

Just over two weeks ago, she posted it in a photo to her Facebook page in Italian: “Siamoinnocente.”

But Sollecito, who is still in Italy, no longer seems so adamant about it, as the prospect of a long prison term stares him in the face. He was sentenced to 25, Knox to 28 years

in prison.

Though he still says that the evidence exonerates them both, he is using more selective language.

“There is nothing against me and nothing very strong against Amanda,” Sollecito recently told CNN. “And in my case, I really did nothing wrong, and I don’t want to pay for someone else’s peculiar behavior.”

Knox’s behavior on the morning Kercher was found stabbed to death in the apartment she and Knox shared seems to be a new hitch for Sollecito.

That was early November 2007, and he and Knox had only been dating for a week.

Sollecito expanded on his doubts in a new interview with Italian television this week that

aired in part on NBC. Knox had spent the night with him but went back to her place to shower, he said. When she returned, she was “very agitated.”

She told him that it looked like someone had broken in and that there was blood in the bathroom, Sollecito said. But rather than

The Knox-Sollecito retrial

call the police, she showered and returned to his place. He finds it odd, he now says.

“Certainly I asked her questions,” he said. “Why did you take a shower? Why did she spend so much time there?” He didn’t get any real answers from her, he said in the interview.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

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Strange World

Thai Inmates could reduce sentences by beating foreigners in prison fights

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Wichai Gahmoi the prisoner

n a world where prisoners’ sentences are reduced for good behavior, the rules at KlongPrem Central Prison, in Thailand, come across as bizarre. They basically have it the other way around – inmates battle foreign fighters in a tournament called ‘Prison Fight’, a charity event organized by Thailand’s Department of Corrections. The organized boxing matches, held regularly across various Thai prisons, give them a shot at reducing their sentences or even gaining their freedom.

Winning inmates receive prize

money as well as the chance to meet with the warden to have their sentence reduced. Needless to say, the Thai prisoners win at least 9 out of 10 fights, both because they are eager to get out of confinement and because most of them have years of experience. But they also need to have a track record of good behavior to be let off the hook.

“Prison fights are done to help the prisoners. It lets the prisoners fight so they can earn money,” said Mr. Pek, Prison Fights coordinator.

“They also fight to reduce the time of their sentences. To reduce their sentence and to bring honor

and fame to Thailand, if they can defeat foreign fighters and fight a lot. Some of the fighters are in for drugs, robbery or murder. There are boxers doing life or 50 years.

There are boxers who can never get out.

Prisoners take their training pretty seriously, practicing the ancient art of Muay Thai almost every day. According to SaichonSomnet, the head coach at KlongPrem Central Prison in Bangkok, “Life in prison is very difficult for the people inside. I’ve taught students the art of boxing and the art of Muay Thai and

A

I have made her promise that she will do as her parents want if we don’t get things sorted in the next six months.”

27-year-old Yan was paralyzed waist-down after a horrible motorcycle accident in 2009. At the time of the

martial arts so I really want to share this with foreigners.” The exhibition matches also serve as warm-ups for the Olympic tryouts.

Thai prisons have specially designated Muay Thai arenas, where the Prison Fight matches take place. The actual boxing happens in a ring, with spectators (fellow prisoners) watching and cheering on from the surrounding stands. You might spot a female cheerleader or two as well. A correction officer speaks before the fights begin, and the opponents are paired up on the spot based on height and weight. They’ve never met before and have no idea of each other’s fighting style. The inmates do the WaiKhru Ram Muay, an elaborate dance that is performed by fighters before combat. And then, the fighting begins.

Wichai Gahmoi, a prisoner, says: “I’m very happy about today’s boxing event. I’m very confident and will be happy if we can win.

Boxing is one of the activities that makes me happy. During my practice I feel very confident, and I feel confident about the fight.”

“It’s very hard for prisoners to get this kind of opportunity,” said Saichon. “I’m very happy it’s happening today.”

The foreign fighters are quite excited about the event as well.

“Prison fight can make me popular because when people listen fight

inside prison then think, ‘wow, it’s crazy,’” said Alexis Barateau from France.

“For me this is like a really exciting opportunity to get a glimpse inside KlongPrem prison,” said James Goyder, a challenger and journalist from the UK. “There aren’t really any other circumstances under which an outsider could just walk in here and talk to the inmates. So I’m really excited just to see an element of life that you would never, never normally get a chance to see.”

Prison Fight was first conducted in January 2013. It is inspired by a local legend that dates back to 1774. NaiKhanomtom, a Thai fighter, was confined in a Burmese prison. He was forced to fight nine Burmese champions in a row, for the viewing pleasure of King Mangra. Khanomtom defeated each and every one of his opponents with ease. The Burmese king was so pleased that he granted Khanomtom his freedom, and two wives to boot.

Ling, a prisoner who used to work in an ice manufacturing unit, is now doing 50 years at KlongPrem prison. Thanks to all the matches he’s won, his sentence is now down to 40 years. If two inmates have an argument, he said, the officers will let them fight it out in the ring.

“Boxing and Muay Thai is in our blood. We love Muay Thai.”

Chinese girl agrees to leave disabled boyfriend if he doesn’t walk in 3 years

23-year-old Chinese girl is being forced to leave her boyfriend for a weird reason – he can’t use his legs. Yang Nan’s parents permitted her to live with Yan Hongbo for three years, in which time he had to start walking again. But the time is up now and the boy is still wheelchair-bound.

Yang has begged her parents for more time, and they’ve allowed her another 6 months.

But she has almost no hope that things might improve. “I don’t know what to do, I know that he can be cured but we don’t have any money now for medical treatment. We don’t even have enough money to properly get by day-to-day. We need a miracle,” she said. Yan on the other hand is being the sacrificial lover – he wants Yang to listen to her parents and leave him. “I don’t see any future for her with me, she has a bright future ahead of her,” he said.

“If we can’t get my legs fixed

Yang Nan’s and his girlfriend

accident, the couple were good friends but not in a relationship.

Yan, a car mechanic, was riding his motorcycle on a mountain

road in the rain and slipped off a cliff. He fell more than 100 feet on to the rocks below. But Yan’s woes didn’t really end there.

After the accident, his parents had a bitter argument about the situation. His father allegedly struck his mother, resulting in her death. Yan’s father went to prison, leaving Yan to care for himself.

When Yang read about Yan’s story in the papers, she went to visit him. His plight moved her so much that she decided to quit her job and take care of him fulltime. She called her parents to inform them about it, and that’s when they came up with the three-year condition.

Sadly, nothing seems to be working in the young couple’s favor. Yan wants Yang to stay, but he wants her to have a good life as well. Now he’s hoping for his father to be freed from prison to take care of him. Well, let’s hope that the couple get the miracle that they so desperately seem to need.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 36

Digest

It’s official – stress does cause headaches

Trigger: Scientists say they have proved that stress does trigger headaches, suffered by Desperate Housewives’ Star Marcia Cross. She says that reducing stress helped get her migraines under control

By Jenny Hope Medical

F

eel a headache coming on? You could be under stress, say researchers.

A new study proves what most headache had suspected - that having more stress in your life leads to more headaches.

There was a ‘clear link’ between the amount of stress people’s lives and how often they experienced a headache.

Those most seriously affected had a six per cent rise in ‘headache days’, says the study released ahead of the American Academy of

Neurology’s 66th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

Research by Mintel in the UK found as many as 30.4 million Britons - three out of four adults - claim to have suffered from headaches or migraines in the past six months.

For the study, 5,159 people age 21 to 71 in the general population were surveyed about their stress levels and headaches four times a year for two years.

Participants stated how many headaches they had per month and rated their stress level on a scale of zero to 100.

A total of 31 per cent of the participants had tension-type headache, 14 per cent had migraine, 11 per cent had migraine combined with tension-type headache and for 17 per cent the headache type was not classified.

Those with tension-type headache rated their stress at an average of 52 out of 100.

For migraine, it was 62 out of 100 and 59 for those with migraine and tension-type headache.

For each type of headache, an increase in stress was associated with an increase in the number of headaches per month.

For those with tension headache, an increase of 10 points on the stress scale was associated with a 6.3-percent increase in the number of headache days per month.

For migraine, the number of headache days per month went up by 4.3 per cent, and 4 per cent for those with migraine and tension headache.

The results were adjusted to account for factors that could affect the number of headaches, such as drinking, smoking and frequent use of headache drugs.

Study author Dr Sara Schramm, of University Hospital of University Duisburg-Essen in Germany, said it was a vicious circle for many sufferers, with stress triggering a headache, and then the headache making the stress worse.

She said: ‘These results show that this is a problem for everyone who suffers from headaches and emphasise the importance of stress management approaches for people

with migraine and those who treat them.

‘The results add weight to the concept that stress can be a factor contributing to the onset of headache disorders, that it accelerates the progression to chronic headache, exacerbates headache episodes, and that the headache experience itself can serve as a stressor.‘ The results add weight to the concept that stress can be a factor contributing to the onset of headache disorders, that it accelerates the progression to chronic headache, exacerbates headache episodes, and that the headache experience itself can serve as a stressor.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

There is a ‘clear link’ between between the amount of stress people’s lives and how often they experienced a headache. The most stressed people had six per cent more headache days each month, researchers found

Early humans evolved black skin ‘to protect them against skin cancer’, study claims

By Pippa Stephens

C

ancer may have driven the evolution of black skin early in human history, a study suggests.

Scientists believe dark skins appeared more than a million years ago to prevent our African ancestors dying from skin cancer.

Only those individuals with darker skin would have escaped dying young from skin cancer and been free to pass their genes onto future generations, the researchers believe.

Image shows a skin cancer cell

The change occurred after ancient humans shed most of their body hair and ventured out into the sundrenched African savannah.

Previously, they would have had pale skin under their hair.

New evidence indicates that the lethal effects of the sun’s rays may have exerted powerful selection pressure on early humans between

1.2 and 1.8 million years ago.

Only those individuals with darker, more protected, skin would have escaped dying young from skin cancer and been free to pass their genes onto future generations.

The theory has been rejected up to now because it was thought skin cancer rarely killed people at a young enough age to affect reproduction.

But new evidence points to the fact that albino black people from parts of Africa with the highest exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun almost all develop skin cancer and die young.

Lead scientist Professor Mel Greaves, director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: ‘Charles Darwin thought variation in skin colour was of no adaptive value and other investigators have dismissed cancer as a selective force in evolution.

‘But the clinical data on people with albinism, particularly in Africa, provide a strong argument that lethal cancers may well have played a major role in early human evolution as an important factor in the development of skin rich in dark pigmentation.’

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows that at least 80 per cent of people with albinism from African equatorial countries such as

Skin cancer may have driven the evolution of black skin in early humans, new research suggests. Image shows Charles Darwin who is known for his theory of evolution

Tanzania and Nigeria die from skin cancer before their 30th birthday.

Albinism is an inherited condition marked by a lack of the pigment melanin which colours the skin, hair and eyes.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 37

New ministerial slot: Anambra PDP alleges marginalization

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

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s President Goodluck Goodluck Jonathan searches for a replacement for the Anambra State ministerial slot, stakeholders of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has said the party is being marginalized over the choice of a new nominee.

Rather than allow the party leadership to screen and nominate a suitable replacement, the state PDP accused the state governor, Peter Obi, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) of doing everything possible to influence the choice of the next ministerial nominee from the state.

President Jonathan recently

dropped four ministers from his cabinet. One of them was the Honourable Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah from Anambra State. Others included, Caleb Olubolade, Police Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, Niger Delta Affairs and Alhaji Ngama, Minister of State, Finance.

In a statement issued by the Anambra PDP Elders Council (an association of founding members of the party in the state), the council alleged that in the past eight years, APGA cornered to itself all federal appointments due to Anambra state since Peter Obi became governor.

A member of the Council, Chief Ejiofor Maduako gave two instances of Mrs. Bianca OnohOjukwu, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain and Dr Mrs Joy Emodi

immediate past Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters and elder sister to Gov. Obi both of whom are APGA members.

He also alleged that Obi is presently lobbying President Jonathan to be made a Minister once he steps down from his present office on March 17, 2014 or be allowed to nominate a proxy to occupy the position.

He also said that nominations for the past three Ministers from the state were made outside the state PDP stressing that that accounted for why the ministers did not show much interest in the affairs of state PDP chapter.

“We have it on good note that Gov. Peter Obi has nominated himself as the next minister from Anambra state. Remember that the National Assembly is

presently on vacation and would not reconvene until March 21 when the President would forward names of ministerial nominees to Senate for confirmation.

Coincidently, by that time Obi would have stepped down as governor and would be available for any other political assignment, having succeeded in handing over to his crony.

“But why should everything in Anambra be taken over by Peter Obi? All nominations from the state in the last 8 years have been made by him from APGA members with no input from the state PDP. That is not what obtained in other states.

This time around, we the PDP members in Anambra state want to have a say in who becomes the next minister from Anambra”.

L-R: Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives / Chairman, Ad-hoc Committee on Constitutional Amendment, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Chief Whip, Hon. Ishaka Mohammed Bawa, members, Ad-Hoc Committee of the Constitutional Amendment, Hon. Aminu Shagari, and Hon. Ibrahim Tukur El-sudi, during a press conference on the Constitutional Amendment, yesterday at the National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

We’ll institutionalize democracy in Nigeria-IPAC From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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ice-Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria IPAC, Niger state chapter and Public Relations Officer of Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Alhaji Mohammed Saba, has said that the major mission of IPAC in the country was to institutionalize democracy in the Nigeria.

He made this known yesterday while fielding questions from newsmen after the State Executive meeting at the secretariat of IPAC, David Mark Road Minna, Niger State capital.

Saba said, “the establishment of IPAC will help to conduct credible free and fair election in 2015 and at the end of it all democracy will be institutionalized”.

“In Democracy, elections are being held, there must be a winner and a loser and that is why IPAC was established to checkmate the excesses of political parties in order to avoid election crises in the country and that philosophy must be realized” Earlier, the Public Relations Officer of IPAC, Abdullazeez Salaudeen said that the essence of IPAC was to bring harmony, discipline, peace and tranquility to the people so that the will enjoy the dividend of democracy in a good atmosphere.

He charged IPAC members to talk to their party members on the need to achieve peace in the forthcoming elections so that people would feel free to cast their vote to the candidate of their choice with no fear of contradictions.

Saleudeen however, admitted the good relationship between the ruling government of Niger State with other political parties, assuring that 2015 will be characterized with free and fair.

Mu`azu calls for cooperation, sincerity for PDP to succeed

By Lawrence Olaoye

T

he National Chairman Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Mu`azu, has called for the cooperation and sincerity from party members to enable him and the party leadership to succeed.

He made the call yesterday Abuja, when Gov. Sa’idu Dakingari of Kebbi led a delegation of the party stakeholders in the state on a courtesy call on him.

Mu`azu said that although the task ahead was daunting, it could

be surmounted with prayers and cooperation of party members. ``Beyond paying homage to me, I will like to beg you to come on board very sincerely and work assiduously with me and the Governors and other leaders in Kebbi. Cooperate and collaborate with us so that we will be able to achieve even greater success than we have done before. ``I appeal to all of you, I believe in God and so do you. I believe in the powers of prayers, put me in your prayers. The job is not easy; you need to balance it. I

therefore appeal to you all to put me in your prayers, so that this job will be easy for me and my colleagues,” Mu`azu said.

He maintained that if the members of the party in Kebbi were sincere to themselves, the PDP would win the state in the 2015 general election in a landslide.

Mu’azu, however, counseled aspirants to political offices against rancour, adding that power is freely given to man by God. ``I want to appeal to all of you to know that Allah is the person

that gives power; I want you to please know that it is only God that gives power and only God gives Governor. `` Only God gives Senators and members of the House of Representatives and only Allah gives all power to whom He wishes at the time He wishes,’’ he stressed.

According to him, whoever wins an election should be supported by others to ensure his or her success for the benefit of all.

Earlier, Kebbi Governor Saidu Dakingari said that the visit was to pledge the commitment, loyalty

and dedication of members of PDP in Kebbi to the party national chairman and his executive.

He assured the leadership of the party that the chapter would deliver Kebbi in 2015 general election, adding that the crisis within the Kebbi PDP was being addressed. ``There is no community, no society and no member of a single party who does not have problems; all we need to do is to sort out our problems which are not beyond solving,’’ he said.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 38

Politics

Boosting women’s participation in politics

By Femi Ogunshola

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recent national forum on mainstreaming gender in governance, organised in Abuja by National Orientation Agency (NOA) and National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), provided another platform for women to canvass adequate participation in politics.

Nigerian women have, on many occasions, been agitating for the rectification of what they describe as lopsidedness in the public office appointments which, they say, are not in their favour.

The women observe that since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, they have been struggling for inclusion in the affairs of the country in spite of their numerical strength and waxing influence.

Citing the country’s general election in 2011 as an instance, they claim that female candidates fared poorly, with only 32 women elected into the National Assembly.

The women point at current records, which indicate that only nine women are among the 109 senators in the Senate, while 27 women are in the 360-member House of Representatives.

However, the women’s advocacy has received the attention of the United Nations Development Programme (NDP) which, via its Democratic Governance for Development project, developed a pilot scheme recently to boost women’s participation in politics.

The scheme particularly aims at supporting the involvement of more female candidates in elections, especially at the local level; as it represents the springboard to the other levels of government.

The programme has trained more than 1,300 female politicians and voters in two pilot states -- Plateau and Ekiti -- while at the national level; more than 2,000 female politicians have received training in various electoral processes.

Stressing the need for increased women’s participation in politics at the forum, Ms Onyeka Onwenu, the Director-General of NCWD, said that Nigerian women did not have to beg for positions.

She emphasised that the Nigerian women should go beyond the 35 per-cent affirmative action, set in the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and demand for 45 per-cent representation as their right.

She said that no nation could develop without the

Sarah Jubril

Dr. Kema Chikwe

Hajia Zainab Maina, Minister of Women Affairs

Director-General of NCWD, Ms Onyeka Onwenu

input of women, adding that tangible efforts should be made to jettison attitudes which denigrated women.

However, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, gave the assurance that women would always be recognised in the country’s scheme of things.

According to her, this is because no country can achieve any meaningful development without the active participation of women.

In a message to the forum, Jonathan pledged that that she would advocate a level beyond the 35 per-cent affirmative action, as part of efforts to boost women’s participation in governance to a level that was akin to that of men. ``We are no longer comfortable with the 35 percent affirmative action; what we now want is 50-50 with our male counterparts. ``Women are responsible for nurturing the future

generation of the country; they should be considered for greater roles in governance,’’ she added.

Jonathan, however, called on the National Assembly to include the 35 per-cent affirmative action for women in the constitution, stressing that women would not relent in efforts to pursue their legitimate demands. ``We must continue the campaign on gender mainstreaming in governance, which I have been promoting with other women. ``The campaign has led to the establishment of the Women for Change Initiative as a platform for promoting women participation in politics,’’ she said.

Mrs Funmi Adeyemi, a civil servant, who spoke on women’s participation in politics, said that women should have more roles to play in politics, insisting that women were

agents of change in any society.

Mrs Dorcas Jonah, a journalist, said: ``Although nature has made it that men should dominate; women should, nonetheless, make themselves relevant in the scheme of things’’.

All the same, Mr Mike Omeri, the Director-General of NOA, said that ``the current administration is bent on gender mainstreaming and it will build on the past efforts aimed at giving women and youths the chance to exhibit their talents. ``The agency is poised to take the campaign on gender mainstreaming to every part of the country, especially as it concerns the girl-child who must be educated.’’

Chief Edem Duke, the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, said that women ought to be fully involved in the affairs of their country.

He said that President Goodluck Jonathan had pledged to give the needed support to women in their desire to have more representatives in governance.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Institute, a nongovernmental organisation that aids democratic institutions across the world, has said that the equitable participation of women in politics is essential for building and sustaining any democracy.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the institute’s Chairman, said: ``Every country deserves to have the best possible leader; that means women ought to be given a chance to compete. ``If they’re never allowed to compete in the electoral process; then, the countries are really robbing themselves of a great deal of talents.’’

Source: NAN

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Fake driver’s licence owners to go to jail - FRSC boss

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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he Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka has warned that anybody caught with a fake driver’s licence will go to jail.

Chidoka gave this warning yesterday in Abuja while answering questions from newsmen on the illegal activities of some officers who produce the licence without the normal procedure.

He said the corps will not handle the issue of false driver’s licence with kid gloves, adding that anybody caught will face the wrath of the law.

Speaking on the FRSC upcoming annual lecture, Chidoka said the event will focus on initiating African agenda to address the developmental challenges to safer roads within the continent in the 21st Century.

He added that the event which will feature Ghana’s President, John Mahama, as guest speaker, will also demonstrate the corps strategic goal in reducing road crashes by 15% and fatality by 25%.

2015: Methodist bishop tasks INEC on voter registration

By Stanley Onyekwere

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he Methodist bishop, Diocese of Nyanya, Abuja, Rt. Rev. Samuel Nortrey, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give enough time for voters registration, to enable it capture all eligible voters for the 2015 elections.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the church’s 4th annual diocesan synod with the theme: “Let there be Light”, at the Methodist church Nigeria cathedral, Nyanya, the cleric commended INEC for releasing the electoral calendar for next year on time.

He also advised Nigerian electorates not to sell their votes or partake in snatching of ballot boxes and or violence before or after elections.

He added that the government should ensure that INEC is given all that it requires to organise a free and fair elections devoid of violence in 2015.

“Let me advice that they (INEC) should give enough time for voters’ registration, to enable them capture all eligible voters.

“But INEC cannot do it all alone; therefore, every Nigerian should decide that we will have credible elections in 2015 and elect leaders who will truly use what God has blessed us with for our development, and not for their personal enrichment,” the bishop said.

News Extra

Kaduna kicks-off distribution of textbooks to primary schools From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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aduna State Government has commenced the distribution of 1,015,523 textbooks and other library materials to primary and junior secondary schools across the state.

The 1,015,523 textbooks in the core subjects of English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies and Basic Science

and Technology are part of the instructional materials allocated to the state by the Federal Government though the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

Making the symbolic distribution of the textbooks to Headmasters in Kaduna North and Kaduna South local government areas yesterday, Governor Mukhtar Ramalan

Yero warned against the diversion of the books, warning that, anyone found wanting will face the wrath of the law.

According to the governor who was represented in the State by Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Ali, charged the state ministry of education to always ensure that, all resources meant at providing an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning

L-R: Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Mike Omeri, Director, Finance and Accounts, Chief Pascal Okolike, and Director, Admin/Human Resources, Dr. Lawrance Martins, during the 2014 budget defence by NOA before Senate Committee on Orientation and Tourism, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

at all levels of education are judiciously utilized.

He directed that, State Universal Basic Education Board Should (SUBEB) to immediately embark on a massive monitoring exercise to all schools to ensure that the books reach the pupils who are the end users.

“For the benefit of doubt, I want to assure you that I will personally participate in the monitoring exercise. I want to also request that, all stakeholders indicate interest by assisting in the monitoring and give us regular feedback.

Let me strongly warn that, anybody found diverting the books will face the full wrath of the law”, the Governor warned.

Governor Yero therefore urged education stakeholder like; SBMCs, PTAs, Civil Society Organisations and NGOs to play their roles effectively as the have always done.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of SUBEB, Sambo Ibrahim said the textbooks allocated to the state by Federal Government will go a long way in assisting to provide enabling environment for effective and efficient service delivery in the schools.

The textbooks are to be further distributed to all primary and junior secondary schools in the 23 local government areas of the state.

KDSG to build 3000 houses under mass housing scheme From Muhammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

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n an effort to solve accommodation problems in the state, Kaduna State Government will today (Wednesday) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Trans Atlantic Integrated Development Limited for the construction of 3000 units of houses under its Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Mass Housing Scheme.

Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero disclosed this when the

management of the company paid a courtesy call on him at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.

According to him, his administration is committed to bridging the housing deficit in the State by taking advantage of the mortgage system to be provided through partnership with private developers. “our administration attaches great importance to housing development in Kaduna State and Government is concerned about finding ways to address the huge deficit in housing. The

mortgage scheme will encourage personal ownership of houses through the refinancing policy of the company.

Governor Yero also attributed the widespread corruption in the country to desperate efforts by citizens to own personal houses said with this development, he believe people will no longer be under pressure to own their houses.

Under the arrangement, the Trans Atlantic Integrated Development Limited is to construct 3000 units of houses,

while Kaduna State Government provides Certificate of Occupancy for 100 hectares of land to be used for the project.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Company, Mike Williams said the mortgage refinancing system will enable beneficiaries to pay for the houses with a period span of between 20 to 25 years.

He said 90 percent of materials for the project are to be sources locally. This according to him will boost the economy of Kaduna State by creating jobs for unemployed youths.

NAFDAC monitors table water facilities for safer drinking water

By Abbas Aminu Bamalli

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he Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Ohii has said that as part of the agency’s effort in ensuring safer and portable drinking water, it has embarked on the annual monitoring of water quality standard and compliance.

Dr. Ohii who made this known yesterday in Abuja while flagging off the annual monitoring said in

keeping with the vision and mission of NAFDAC, the agency decided to partner with Emani Global Network Limited to embark on-site physico-chemical and microbiological test analysis at all package water manufacturing facilities nation-wide using modern mobile laboratory techniques.

He said the exercise is mandatory for all packaged water manufacturing facilities in the country saying it is also aimed at

building up suitable database of water quality at factory level before distribution and sale, especially with respect to compliance and quality standards.

According to him, the standards for the quality of portable water for the purpose of consumption should have mandatory limits regarding constituents and contaminants that are known to be hazardous to health.

In his speech, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health,

Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, suggested for NAFDAC collaboration with states and local governments in carrying out the test to ensure that quality water is been produced for the general consumption to avoid any health hazard.

He also advised that NAFDAC should find a way to partner with the producers of the table water by embarking on a special training for them to ensure that the quality of water they produce to public come along the line.

PAGE 40

Photo Splash

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

R-L: Former Head of State and Chairman, BoT, Nigeria Centenary Charities Trust, General Yakubu Gowon, Vice-President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, former Commonwealth Secretary General and Vice-Chairman, BoT, Nigeria Centenary Charities Trust, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and wife of Akwa Ibom state Governor, Mrs. Obioma Akpabio, during the Nigeria Centenary Charity, on Tuesday at Eko Hotel & Suite, in Lagos.

R-L: Former Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Reginald Stanley, handing over to his successor, Alhaji Farouk Ahmed, on Tuesday at the PPPRA headquarters, in Abuja.

Photo: NAN

L-R: Member, House Committee on Education, Hon. Abdulmalik Usman Cheche, Supervising Minister of Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike, and Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, during the budget defence by the minister before the committee, on Tuesday at National Assembly, in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

L-R: Pro Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Jerry Gana, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Rahamon Bello, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr Macjohn Nwaobiala, First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, and others, during the foundation laying ceremony of 15 storey female block hostel at University of Lagos, weekend in Lagos.

Sacked workers of Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), staging a peaceful protesting, yesterday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN

SporT 41 Page

PEOPLES DAILY, thursday, February 27, 2014

Clubs to present N25m to LMC as guarantee >>pg 42

SMS- 08036258222, albertakota@yahoo.com

Farah nominated for World Sportsman award

Gunmen kill ex-Venezuelan boxer

>>pg 43

>>pg 44

Eagles to wear World Cup jersey against Mexico

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he Super Eagles will wear it new kits design for the 2014 World Cup in a friendly against Mexico next week.

“There is uniqueness about the new jersey that Nigerians will love. The design is a top-of-therange thing especially for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014,” said NFF general secretary Musa Amadu.

The Nigeria Football Federation will today unveil the New Jersey at a ceremony in Abuja.

Super Eagles players Chigozie Agbim, midfielder Abdullahi Shehu and striker Ejike Uzoenyi will showcase the new kits at the occasion.

The new and refreshing design is produced by adidas, the official kit supplier of Nigeria national teams and the leading kit manufacturers in the world.

Minister of Sports Bolaji Abdullahi will be special guest of honour at the event slated for the front area of the Sunday Dankaro Football House, Package B of

the National Stadium Complex, Abuja, from 10am.

Also invited are Director General of the National Sports Commission, Gbenga Elegbeleye; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, Adamu Gumba; Chairman of the House of Reps’ Committee on Sports, Godfrey Gaiya; Chairman of the League Management Company, Nduka Irabor; PresidentGeneral of Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Rafiu Oladipo and a number of prominent football figures.

NFF president Aminu Maigari will have the compliment of his executive committee, as well as the NFF management led by general secretary Musa Amadu.

The assistant coach of Super Eagles, Daniel Amokachi, will represent coach Stephen Keshi, who is already in the United States preparatory to next Wednesday’s friendly in Atlanta.

NFF director of marketing Adama Idris will explain the concept of the new design.

Only focused players will make Flying Eagles, says Manu

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he Flying Eagles coach Manu Garba has said only players from his U17 World Cup-winning squad who remain focused would be in his new team.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have

cautioned Manu over promoting his U17 team wholesale to the U20s, stressing that he must give room for competition by inviting other players within the age bracket to fight for places in his team.

“It all depends on the players

who remain focused. Players who are doing very well at the moment,” Manu noted.

“But one thing is that about 10,11 of the first team players from the U17 team are already outside the country. This makes it difficult for us to start with

that set of players.

“I will try to give a lot of players a chance to see what they can, so that we can have a stable team on ground.

“So when the need arises, we could invite those who are abroad to come and fortify the

team” Manu is expected to soon open a training camp for the Flying Eagles, who are billed in May to take on the winners of the match between Kenya and Tanzania in the qualifying series for the 2015 AYC.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

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Sports

Brazil 2014: Lawal blasts Keshi over Uche’s exclusion

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x-International and Newly Appointed General Manager of Kaduna United Club, Garba Lawal has blasted the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi for exclusion of the Nigeria best legs toward the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil It will be recalled that Keshi has given the latest hint that Ikechukwu Uche and others will not make Nigeria’s team to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for indiscipline and others reason best known to him.

According to keshi, Uche is not a player I have not seen play. Ike Uche’s problem is not about not knowing how to play football.

His problem is that he wants to dictate how we play in the Super Eagles; he wants to tell us that the system we’re playing is not good.

The former Nigeria midfielder visibly frowned at the statement said “I don’t believe in indiscipline, how come he is scoring goal in Villarreal. I am following this boy week in week out is being fantastic, besides you are Coach; you are like a teacher, even if he is indiscipline.

I believe you can change him as a coach.

Meanwhile, Most of Nigeria players are playing from the bench Mikel is not playing, Moses is not paying they are match rusted and I want everybody to know that World Cup is not different.

“If you players are not playing week in week out is going to be difficult and Ike Uche, osaze that were playing week-in week-out he said they are indiscipline.

“Anyway is the Head Coach, he have the final saying if he decided to go the World Cup with the home base player, no problem, we can only advise him, if he take fine if he doesn’t take fine” he opined.

Ikechukwu Uche

NCF urges NSC to provide facilities to develop players

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he President of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Emeka Onyeama, has implored the National Sports Commission (NSC) to provide necessary facilities that would fast track the development of cricket game in the country.

Onyeama said that Team Nigeria is already Sri Linka preparing for the World Cup Division 5 League which would qualify the country to Division 4.

This is actually the first time we are trying to get them (the cricketers) close to Nigeria government; we are trying to get the country to know what is going on in the field of cricket worldwide.

“We are trying to see how we can get the National Sports Commission (NSC) to come to understand the implications of where we are today as playing from Nigeria in Division 5.

“Once we qualify for the Division 4, is going to be an embarrassment to us if we don’t have the facilities in place to be able to support the game going forward that is what the game calls for once you get to Division 4.

Onyeama said Tanzania and Nigeria are the two Africa countries in Division 5, adding that it would be a pride for the country to move to Division 4.

The president, who said that Nigeria was a cricket playing

nation, expressed hope that NSC would put the facilities in place once the team got promoted.

“I am very hopeful. I am trying to get NSC to understand where we are today when it comes to cricket, that it’s high time that the facilities of cricket has to be developed in Nigeria.

“Because today it’s glaring in the world that Nigeria is a cricket playing nation once we get to division 4 there are thing that are expected from us, “We are expected to host teams on a playing tour, just like we are on a playing tour to Sri Lanka and we are being hosted, that is what the game stipulate.”

Onyeama, added that

Clubs to present N25m to LMC as guarantee

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LMC boss Irabor presents Enyimba skipper Super 4 trophy

igeria premier league clubs are now to provide a bank guarantee of 25 million Naira (about $147,000) as against an earlier demand of 100 million Naira.

This followed yesterday’s meeting between the League Management Company (LMC) and the 20 clubs in Abuja.

The LMC have also moved swiftly to cushion some financial hardships of the clubs by paying for the registration fees for the new season and insurance cover to ensure the league kicks off on March 7 as announced.

Three clubs led by Giwa FC are to now formally ask for a special waiver to pay their players below the minimum monthly salary of 150,000 Naira.

“It was a very fruitful meeting and some of the lingering issues were thrashed out,” said a top club official.

“And as it is now we can safely say the league will begin on March 7 as announced.”

Cricket players

countries in Division 4 were expected to start playing interactive sports with those that were well established in the game.

The president further stated that with the ongoing preparations and playing tour

that the team would embarked on, he was hopeful that the team would win the league.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup league Division 5 is scheduled for March.3 to March .14 in Malaysia.

Scotland consider Nigeria friendly

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he Super Eagles are likely to face Scotland in an international friendly billed for Fulham’s Craven Cottage in May. The European nation has been drawn with Germany, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Georgia and Gibraltar in Group D of the Euro 2016 championship billed for France.

This proposed game is billed to form part of Gordon Strachan’s preparations for the qualifiers which begins in September, according to BBC Scotland.

Nigeria defeated Scotland 2-1 in Aberdeen, a game that formed part of the Super Eagles’ preparation for the Korea/Japan World Cup in 2002.

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PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Sports

Aguero in contention for Capital One Cup final

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anchester City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero is in contention to play in Sunday’s Capital One Cup final after returning to training.

The Argentine striker has missed the past month with a hamstring injury, sustained in a 5-1 win at Tottenham.

During that time, City has failed to score in three of five matches.

But the 25-year-old came through a first-team session with no reaction and could feature in Sunday’s game against Sunderland at Wembley.

Aguero’s importance to the City team has been underlined during the past month, during which

they have lost at home to Chelsea in the Premier League and to Barcelona in the Champions League.

Following the defeat

by Chelsea, City drew 0-0 at Norwich and managed a 1-0 victory over Stoke at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, thanks to Yaya Toure’s goal.

City boss Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that Aguero’s fellow strikers Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko have not been 100% fit, while Stevan Jovetic was replaced against Stoke after suffering from cramp.

But he will hope to have all four available for Sunday as he seeks to win the first trophy of a targeted quadruple.

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who guided Chelsea to the Europa League title last year, has a simple anecdote for his side.

“I know Swansea very well and it all boils down to this: they scored three goals at the weekend, which is important.

A

didas will stop selling World Cup products that used sex appeal to promote host Brazil, a move that came after a formal complaint from the local government.

Adidas made the announcement just hours after Brazil’s tourism board released a statement condemning some T-shirts that were being sold on the company’s web site, including one which said “Lookin’ to Score,” with a woman in bikini in front of the word “Brazil” and an image of the Sugar

Loaf Mountain in the background.

Another said “I (heart) Brazil,” with what appeared to be the image of a thong bikini inside the heart.

Adidas, a main World Cup sponsor and the official ball provider for the tournament that begins in June, said in a statement the products were limited edition T-shirts available only in the United States.

The T-shirts were not available on the site on Tuesday shortly after Brazilian media published images of them.

Benfica legend, Coluna, dies

Sergio Aguero

Benitez eyes Europa League progress apoli coach Rafa Benitez believes his former club Liverpool have shown him the way to overcome Swansea in their Europa League tie tonight.

The 53-year-old,

Brazil upset with adidas’ new T-shirts for W/Cup

They conceded four, though, and that is also important.

“We play every game to win it; to impose ourselves. We all saw that Swansea play good, fast and intense Premier League football when

they played us and when they played Liverpool.

We’re going to have to defend well, but also attack to score goals.

Having possession is not the key, being precise in attack is.”

That will be a job for Gonzalo Higuain, while ensuring Swansea fail to get what could be a

crucial away goal will be where Pepe Reina comes in.

The goalkeeper, on loan from Liverpool, will be in the firing line today and he dismissed claims that Napoli are underperforming.

“I’d say we’ve done well so far,” Reina said. “We’ve played a good season. We have pretty much the same points as last season and the only difference is Juventus.

CHANGE OF NAME I, formerly known as KHADIJA MAILEMU ALIYU, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS KHADIJA MUHAMMAD TANKO, all former documents remain valid, the general public should please take note

Campbell hopes for Arsenal return

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oel Campbell has revealed his ambitions of breaking into the Arsenal team in the near future after scoring an impressive goal for Olympiakos to hand his side a 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Tuesday evening.

The 21-year-old Costa Rica international is currently on loan to the Greek side from the Gunners, and netted the second against David Moyes’ men to put Thrylos in a commanding position in their Champions League last-16 tie.

Campbell stated that while he is focused on succeeding for his current side, he needs to keep on improving in an effort to make an impression on Arsene Wenger.

“I am still hopeful of playing for Arsenal but I have not been given the chance yet, I hope to keep working at Olympiakos,” Campbell said.

“I am making sure that I take this opportunity. Thank God I scored a goal and celebrated it with my father, girlfriend and cousins.

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

PAGE 44

Sports

Farah nominated for World Sportsman award

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o Farah’s achievement in winning the 5,000m and 10,000m double at last year’s World Championships in Moscow has seen him nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year honour.

Among his rivals are Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, tennis star Rafael Nadal, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball’s LeBron James.

Sprinter Usain Bolt, who has won the award three times, is again nominated.

The ceremony takes place in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Farah’s nomination comes on the same day he announced he will run in the New York City Half Marathon in March, one month before he makes his debut over 26.2 miles at the London Marathon.

The nominations follow a ballot by the world’s media and the winners are voted for by the Laureus World Sports Academy, which is made up of 46 of the greatest sportsmen and sportswomen of all-time, Golfer Justin Rose, who finally won his first major at last year’s US Open the age of 32, is nominated for Breakthrough of the Year, while British-born, now US-based, BMX star Jamie Bestwick is shortlisted for the Action Sports award for the fourth successive year.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie is nominated for the World Comeback of the Year award as a member of Oracle Team USA which won the America’s Cup in thrilling fashion last September.

Mo Farah (R)

withdraws from Honda Murray beats Andujar at Rose Classic with shoulder injury Mexican Open first round E ngland’s US Open champion Justin Rose has withdrawn from this week’s Honda Classic in Florida because of tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Six of the world’s top eight players, including world number one Tiger Woods, are set to tee off on Thursday.

But 33-year-old Rose has been battling with the problem all season.

A statement from Rose’s team said he needed time off because “scheduling four straight weeks of competition was an aggressive start to the season”.

The world number six originally hurt his shoulder last August but his team said that his

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ritain’s Andy Murray came from a set down to beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar 3-6 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

Andujar, ranked 34 in the world, won the first five games on his way to taking the first set and and broke Murray at the start of the second.

However, Murray responded by winning six games in a row and will face Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the last 16.

“It was 10 minutes in the match and I was down 5-0, but I started to play more aggressively to get the win and hopefully I can have a good week here.

Murray is playing in Latin America for the first time in his career and is hopeful Acapulco’s switch from clay to hard courts will give him the chance to boost his ranking.

He next faces world number 44 Sousa, whom he beat in straight sets at the Australian Open last year.

Murray said: “He was new on the tour then and he has improved. He’s playing good tennis. He’s good on clay and on hard courts.

David Ferrer is the top seed and three-time champion in Acapulco, and the Spaniard opened with a 6-2 6-3 win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Justin Rose

Andy Murray

Gunmen kill ex-Venezuelan boxer

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former boxing world champion from Venezuela has been killed after being kidnapped earlier this week, Venezuelan officials confirm.

The body of Antonio Cermeno, 44, was discovered on Tuesday with gunshot wounds on a roadside in the state of Miranda, police said.

He had been abducted from the capital, Caracas, on Monday evening.

“rehabilitation continues”.

Rose played in the last two PGA Tour events, tying for 45th in the Northern Trust Open two weeks ago, before losing to Ernie Els in the second round of the World Golf ChampionshipsAccenture Match Play Championship last week.

He still is hopeful for next week’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral, where he won two years ago.

In addition to Woods, the Honda Classic field also includes Australian world number two Adam Scott, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (three), Phil Mickelson (five), Zach Johnson (seven) and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy (eight).

The murder comes as the nation is gripped by a wave of anti-government protests over its high crime rates.

Venezuela has the fifth highest murder rate in the world, and insecurity and crime are rife in many urban centres.

Police said Mr Cermeno had been kidnapped with a number of relatives near the La Urbina neighbourhood in the east of the capital.

His family members managed to escape while the abductors were refuelling their car, police spokesman Eliseo Guzman said.

Mr Cermeno, nicknamed El Coloso (The Colossus), won bantamweight and featherweight world titles in the 1990s. He retired from the sport in 2006.

His death is the latest in a series of high-profile killings.

See picture on page 45

Ward loses to Youzhny at Dubai second round

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ritish number three James Ward suffered a straight-sets defeat by Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the second round of the Dubai Championships.

Ward, ranked 177, was given a wild card into the event and beat Teymuraz Gabashvili on Monday to claim his first ATP victory outside the UK. But sixth seed Youzhny

proved far too strong in round two, beating the 27-year-old Londoner 6-1 7-6 (7-3).

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are in action later on Wednesday.

Third seed Tomas Berdych beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-2 6-1 to claim his eighth win in a row and set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

PAGE 45

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Sports

P-i-c-t-o-r-i-a-l 1. England and Leicester Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi has recovered from his chest muscle injury and could return to club action against Newcastle Falcons on Sunday 2.France midfielder Blaise Matuidi has signed a new fouryear deal at Paris Saint-Germain and expressed his joy, while President Nasser Al-Khelaifi believes it sends out of strong signal to the top clubs in Europe.

3. Kent’s Darren Stevens has been found not guilty by a Bangladesh Cricket Board anticorruption tribunal of failing to report a corrupt approach.

4. Antonio Cermeno is shot dead in Venezuela after being kidnapped earlier this week, Venezuelan officials confirm.

1

5. JBritain’s Andy Murray comes from a set down to beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar in the first round of the Mexican Open

2

3

4

5

Page 46

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

LOSS OF DOCUMENTS

This is to inform the general public of the LOSS OF ORIGINAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WITH OLD FILE NO. MISC 50915 IN RESPECT OF PLOT NO. 26 CADASTRAL ZONE A00 AND DATED 04/11/03 BELONGING TO M/S CENTURY HEALTH & HOSP. LTD. all efforts made to trace the said document proved abortive. If found, please return to the nearest police station.

PUBLIC NOTICE SOUL AFLAME WORLD MINISTRY

SOCIETY FOR FAMILY AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

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. Apostle Kole Apochi President 2. Rev. Aisosa Apochi Vice President 3. Rev. Victor Urefe Secretary 4. Pastor Bright Odiase PRO 5. Pastor Jeff Obakogu Fin-Sec 6. Deacon Felix Aghedo Welfare Officer AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To propagate and spread the teachings and gospel of Jesus Christ 2. To reach out and help the needy in our association 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 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. Dr. Abiola Tilley-Gyado Chairman 2. Oluseyi Babatunde Oyebisi Secretary 3. Magana Kayama Dada 4. Dr. Jide Idris 5. Chimaobi Adiele 6. Grace Oyebola Adetula 7. Dr. Adetoun Agbe-Davies 8. Dr. Eugene Itua 9. Dr. Dolapo Fasawe 10. Dr. Ritgak Dimka AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To promote and protect family values 2. To promote family health education 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

BARRISTER SAM OTOBOEZE FOUNDATION

JOHN & DODIE OSTEEN ORPHANAGE 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.

Barr. Sam Chigozie Otoboeze 2.

HRH. Igwe Christian Iyoke Ezeh 3.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Evaristus Chuma Nnamene 4.

Gabriel Ofodile Okafor (SAN) 5.

Mrs. Faustina Uchenna Otoboeze AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To empower women, youths, orphans and the less privileged in the society through skills acquisition training, scholarships, etc 2. To assist and give hope/succor to victims of various kinds of disasters in the society through the creation of job opportunities donation of relief materials and provision of shelter 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: Donatus C. Ugwu Esq. 08036743610

PUBLIC NOTICE

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.

PUBLIC NOTICE THE PILLAR OF TRUTH AND LOVE 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. Rev. Felix Okafor Chairman 2.

Dr. Mrs. Esther Okafor 3.

Engr. Eminence M.I Okafor Treasurer 4.

Engr. Treasure C. Obiora 5.

Dr. Blossom C. Okafor 6.

Engr. Joshua C. Okafor 7.

Mr. Barnabas I. Okafor AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

To cater for the welfare of the orphans and the less privileged 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 TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Pastor Paul Kolawole 2.

Pastor Mrs. Felicia Aina Kolawole 3.

Pastor Adeyemi Olusola Isaac 4.

Akogun Jimoh Dumila 5.

Adebajo Adebayo 6.

Obadina Olanrewaju Bamidele AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.

To help the needy and promote oneness within communities 2.

To cater for the general welfare of members of the foundation 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

SIGNED: Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE END TIME BATTLE AXE REVIVAL MINISTRY

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY

The wind of change for youth and women empowerment foundation

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.

SIGNED: Shaibu Sani Esq.

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.

Mrs. David Victory Chairperson 2.

Mrs. Eke Patience 3.

Mrs. Isaac Patricia Secretary 4.

Mrs. Folorunsho Sarah AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 2. To preach the unconditional love of Christ and good news about redemption through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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. Felix Sunday Abiodun; 08065313166

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

ORI FOUNDATION

THE MERCY SEAT AND TRUTH TELLING FOUNDATION

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.

Snr. Pastor James Ocheje 2.

Pastor Mrs. Mercy Ocheje 3.

Ifeh Igwebuike Christian AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To preach the gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ.

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.

Global initiative against cultural discrimination

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. Dennis AMAESHI 2. Isaac Onymichi Daniel 3. Divine Chinonso Amaeshi 4. Malvin Uba Amaeshi AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To complement Government efforts in the fight against cultural discrimination 2. To sensitize the public on the negative effects of cultural discrimination 3. To help in rebuilding the victims of cultural discrimination 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 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 Felix Ota Offia 2. Madam Doris Ijeoma Offia 3. Mrs. Comfort Uloma Offia AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To care for widows and children in the society 2. To promote leadership training for youths 3. To provide general researches and reorientation towards higher personal and national ideals and goals 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: Victor Kanu Esq.

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. Sylvester Akpodiete 2. Odafe Ekuo Akpodiete 3. Emmanuel Odiaka 4. Nnabife Nwankwo AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. To promote growth, sustainable development and good leadership in the society 2. To provide security and empowerment for the youth and women 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: Secretary

This is to inform the general public that the above named foundation has applied to Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act No 1 of 1990.

The Trustees are: 1. COMRADE PRINCESS OKUWOBI ADEBIMPE ADEPEJU (MRS) 2. BARRISTER PETER KEHINDE OGUNKINLE 3. OLADAPO BOLAJOKO OKUWOBI 4. PRINCE AKIN ADENIYI WILSON 5. OGUNKINLE OLAITAN MORAYO Aims and Objectives: 1. To promote truth,love,Peace Nigerians.

and

Unity

among

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, Off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, and Maitama. P.M.B 198, Abuja, within Twenty Eight (28) days of this publication.

Signed: Secretary

PEOPLES DAILY, thursDAY, february 27, 2014

Some Interesting Facts

N

ot only the fur of the tiger is striped but also its skin.

A baboon called Jackie became a private in the South African army in World War I. The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.

Basketball star Wilt Chamberlain holds 56 NBA records.

It is rumored that sucking on a copper penny will cause a breathalyzer to read 0.

Diamonds mined in Brazil are harder than those found in Africa.

During WWII, condoms were used on the ends of rife barrels to protect them from damage and corrosion while swimming to shore.

Muhammad is the most common name in the world.

It is illegal of tourists to enter Mexico with more than 2 CD’s.

The state of Florida is bigger than England.

On average, adults watch double the amount of TV as teenagers do.

The U.S. has a $10,000 bill with the head of Salomon Chase, a U.S. Senator on the front.

The sun shrinks five feet every hour.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.

The Queen of England has two birthdays.

A scientist who weighed people immediately before and after death concluded that the soul weighs 41 gms.

In Georgia, movie houses that want to show films on Sunday must reserve one showing a month for Religious material.

Average life span of a major league baseball is 7 pitches.

Page 47

The United States has the highest minimum drinking age in the world.

Having sex at least once per week can lower a man’s risk of heart disease by 30%, stroke by 50%, and diabetes by 40%. It has also been shown that men with an active sex life are more likely to live past 80 years.

Silly Putty was discovered as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It’s not widely publicized for obvious reasons.

Make a fist with your left hand, squeeze your left thumb, then put your right index finger down your throat. You now have no gag reflex.

A Rubik’s cube has

Leisure

43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible configurations.

Put two straws in your mouth: one inside a drink and one outside it.

You won’t be able to drink through either straw.

If you bite down on a Wint-O-Green Life Saver in the dark you will see SPARKS. The original pack of Skittles doesn’t contain the colour blue. Therefore, you CAN’T actually taste the rainbow.

If two pieces of metal touch in space, they get stuck together PERMANENTLY. In space, there is no oxidation layer. When pieces of metal come into contact with each other in space, they stick together to become one continuous piece of metal.

“Mountain Dew” is an old slang term for moonshine.

Eating breakfast will help you burn 5 to 20 percent more calories throughout the day.

There is a town in France named Condom.

53,800 people die annually from exposure to secondhand smoke.

When you snap your fingers, the sound is created from your middle finger hitting your palm and not your thumb rubbing against your index finger.

Alcohol causes 2.5 million deaths a year!

The New York Stock Exchange started as a coffee shop.

Say what?

SUDODKU

SUDODKU EASY 46

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Where’s he gone? For a split second the trout balanced on top of the cormorant’s head as the bird tried to eat it. The moment was captured by American photographer Andrew Lee, 52, when he spotted the incident on a trip to Long Beach, California.

Source Dailymail.co.uk

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

thursday, February 27, 2014

QUOTABLE QUOTE If our counter-insurgency strategy is not robust enough to keep our children inside their schools, then one wonders whether it isn’t mere shadow chasing.

–Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar reacting to the Monday night suspected Boko Haram attack on a school in Yobe state

SPORTS CBN:Jonathan as anti-North latest

FA bans Barcelona coach for rules violation

B

arcelona coach Gerardo Martino has been suspended for one game by FA following his sending-off in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad.

Martino was sent to the stands at half-time in that match at Anoeta, having reportedly called La Real assistant coach Txema Lumbreras a ‘pelotudo’ [Argentine slang for idiot] during a heated argument between individuals from both benches.

The Blaugrana boss whose future continues to be the subject of speculation in the Catalan press will now miss Sunday evening’s Primera Division clash with Almeria at the Camp Nou. Barca confirmed the news in a club statement released yesterday lunchtime, adding that the decision would not be appealed.

“Gerardo Martino will not be allowed to sit on the bench, at the Camp Nou, this Sunday, for the game against Almeria as he has been suspended for one match by the Competition Committee,” the statement said. “ I t ’ s w o r t h remembering that the Argentinian coach was sent off at the half-time break in the league match against Real Sociedad, in Anoeta. FC Barcelona will not appeal the ban to the Appeals Committee.”

Martino’s assistant coach Jorge Pautasso will therefore take charge of Sunday’s game, which is to be played just hours after La Liga leaders Real Madrid play at thirdplaced Atletico Madrid.

Advert: 0803 business: 0805 news: 0814 lagos: 0805 0803

L

ast week’s suspension of the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi,

by President Goodluck Jonathan didn’t come as a surprise. Many observers, including the victim of the clear witch-hunt, were not taken unawares. Lamido Sanusi himself had admitted that he had anticipated it for a while.

His suspension is the logical progression of his running battles with vested interests since he opened the can of worms that is the NNPC It will not be altogether surprising if the federal government goes ahead and begins the persecution of the former apex bank’s top man. His passport has already been seized.

The Jonathan’s government has betrayed a reprehensible streak of persecuting certain people or regions for what are clearly political reasons. In the main, Sanusi’s travails are rooted in his insistence that a whopping $20 billion is unaccounted for by the oil company. Typically, rather than take punitive steps to against the offending minister, Jonathan chose to rid the ‘irritant’ that is Sanusi Lamido. In doing that, he proved observers right that he can be counted on to promote graft and impunity if his kinsmen and women are involved. The NNPC imbroglio is a clear case of partisanship.

Sanusi’s suspension was, therefore, expected. What came as a shock was the indecent haste in nominating his replacement.

In a twinkle of an eye, an acting governor was appointed and Godwin Emefiele, currently Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, named as successor to Sanusi in a serial breach of the law. Emefiele may be a decent

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GUEST COLUMNIST Mahdi Aliyu Shehu

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi banker but his choice like that of Mrs. Mfon Akon, nominated for the chair of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), is principally seen as self serving.

Both nominees are from the South-south geo-political zone, Jonathan’s enclave.

Fairness requires that Sanusi’s replacement should come from the North but nay.

In Jonathan’s Nigeria, it is perfectly acceptable to have, in addition to these two nominees, the minister of finance and Arunma Otteh, the DirectorGeneral of Nigeria Security and Exchange Commission

(SEC),Oscar Onyema, DirectorGeneral, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE),Uche Oji, Managing Director, Sovereign Wealth Fund, and Bright Okogwu, the DG, Budget Office. This list is, by no means, exhaustive. Nigeria’s economy is firmly in the control of a section of this country. This is patently sectional. In a diverse polity like ours, instituting a sectional cabal to superintend over a subsection of the nation’s economy is unhealthy.

Apart from entrenching an objectionable culture of ethnic solidarity, it also encourages fraud and sundry scam.

Regrettably, this is the pattern that has defined the Jonathan administration. That may help explain why some elements are sitting tight in their seats despite glaring proven cases of abuse.

The NNPC brouhaha is a case in point. The whistle blower is sacrificed while the fat necks united in graft continue to steal the country blind.

This government is being run exclusive of other regions of the federation. In suspending Sanusi and nominating Emefiele, the sustained marginalization of the North and indeed the other parts of the nation, especially the South-west, has been cemented.

It has been said often that the government under Jonathan’s watch may be on a ‘revenge’ mission on the North. The Sanusi ordeal is an example.

Removing him and replacing him with a southerner is a clear

Fairness requires that Sanusi’s replacement should come from the North but nay. In Jonathan’s Nigeria, it is perfectly acceptable to have, in addition to these two nominees, the minister of finance and Arunma Otteh, the Director-General of Nigeria Security and Exchange Commission (SEC),Oscar Onyema, Director-General, Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE),Uche Oji, Managing Director, Sovereign Wealth Fund, and Bright Okogwu, the DG, Budget Office. This list is, by no means, exhaustive. Nigeria’s economy is firmly in the control of a section of this country.

This is patently sectional. In a diverse polity like ours, instituting a sectional cabal to superintend over a subsection of the nation’s economy is unhealthy. Apart from entrenching an objectionable culture of ethnic solidarity, it also encourages fraud and sundry scam. Regrettably, this is the pattern that has defined the Jonathan administration.

manifestation of a subjugation agenda. This writer is piqued that in the motley crowd of professional bankers in the North Jonathan didn’t deem it fit to choose one from the lot.

Among the leading economists and bankers of repute from the North is Shamsudeen Usman who was at one time a deputy governor at the Apex bank.

Usman at one point was minister of finance and national planning and a card-carrying member of the ruling party, PDP. Besides him are Dr. Mansur Muktar, also a former finance finister, Tanimu Yakubu, a chief economic adviser to late President Umaru Yar’adua and Suleiman Barau, currently a deputy governor in the CBN. Barau is a homegrown economist with a wide-ranging commercial banking experience untainted by the discredited economic persuasion of Bretton Woods’s institutions. There are others. Two governor, namely Isa Yuguda and Muktar Ramalan Yero of Bauchi and Kaduna states respectively.

They are similarly qualified to competently discharge the duties of CBN governor. At one time, these last two were speculated as being considered for the top post but alas and out of the blue Jonathan announced Emefiele in flagrant disregard for fairness and sense of equity.

In other climes, this serial violation of the Constitution may mean impeachment. The north has been continually short changed by this government.

President Jonathan tenure itself is a violation of the zoning agreement enshrined in the People Democratic Party (PDP).Yet in 2011, Jonathan was massively voted for in the North. This writer is skeptical of similar support if he so decides unless some of the current marginalization of the North is quickly redressed and addressed.

But going by the present trend, it will be almost impossible for a reversal of fortunes of both the region and the party. It is not too late, however, to begin. For starters, Jonathan should expand the scope of Sanusi’s replacement specifically to the North. Two, the candidate should be one that is ‘home grown’ like Sanusi or Charles Soludo. Thirdly, he should have both commercial bank experience and possibly exposure to the workings of the Central Bank. Finally, he must be a northerner like Sanusi. I rest my case.

Mahdi Aliyu Shehu contributed this piece from 33 Emir Yahaya road, Sokoto

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