SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016. WEEKEND EDITION.

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Saturday, February 27, 2016 Jimadal Awwal 18, 1437 AH

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. . . P utti ng the p eop l e fi r st

S’Court affirms death sentence on Rev. King

N150 Vol. 4 No. 82

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Fire fighters trying to put out fire during an inferno that razed parts of a plaza housing the Skye and Zenith banks on Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Area, yesterday, in Abuja .

Photo: Justin ImoOwo

Buhari’s trips abroad’ll soon yield results —Oyegun >>PG 6

Jonathan named in statement ‘torn’ by Metuh —EFCC

>>PG 17

N E W S

Army rescue 1,890 hostages from Boko Haram >>PG 11

684 Days after

Will the abducted Chibok schoolgirls ever be rescued?

Man dies during marriage introduction in Delta

Pg 17

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

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Interview Ministries’ merger will cut high cost of governance —Bldr Yakubu

Bldr. Musa Yakubu is a private professional building practitioner based in Abuja and the National Publicity Secretary of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), in this exclusive interview with Peoples Daily Weekend, the image maker shares his thoughts on government’s wisdom in merging ministries.

Bldr. Yakubu argued that apart from the administrative convenience it offers, it will also help government to cut cost as well as reduce the over bloated cabinet that had hitherto increased government spending in recurrent expenditure.

He also spoke on other issues

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s a professional in the built environment, what do you think is the wisdom in merging ministries of Power, Works, and Housing and Urban Development by the incumbent administration?

One of the important things I want you to understand about merging ministries is to first of all look at the wisdom behind what the action of government intended to achieve in this era of positive change. To start with, merging the ministries does not entail reducing the professionals in the ministries.

What government did was just to streamline administrative procedures. What do I mean by administrative procedures? If you go to each of the ministries that were merged into one for instance, you will find out that all the departments, directors and professionals in the ministries were still maintained. The only difference now is that you have only one administrative head which is the minister. I believe that the wisdom behind the government’s action in this matter is its attempt to cut cost in running government and reduce the over bloated cabinet for the benefit of the country. The president believes that it is not how large the government is but how efficient.

Is the new minister not a square peg in a round hole as some industry watchers had insinuated?

The new minister of Power, Works, Land and Urban Development Barr.Fashola is a seasoned administrator who had governed one of the most challenging and problematic states in the country and at the same time performed tremendously well.So as far as I am concerned he is a square peg in a square hole. As governor of Lagos State, he changed the face of the state to a modern and mega city in Africa. His records at least speak for him; therefore it is not about professionals occupying certain positions but competent person who is a technocrat, has broad idea and technical capacity in administration.Ministerial position is not a rocket science that requires the services of rocket scientist, it is more of administrative in nature so he does not need to be an engi-

neer or architect or builder to function effectively in a position that is largely policy driven. The minister is a policy formulator while the directors and other retinue of staff carry out the major technical task in the ministry.

As a professional, don’t you feel short changed to see professional from another field come to head a ministry that is largely construction driven?

Well, a minister like I said earlier is more of an administrator who helps to formulate policies, show leadership direction and coordinates the activities of professionals in a ministry.Besides, it is not only in the built environment that the right professional was not appointed to head the sector.

There are other ministries that professionals that are not in that ministry are there. Will you say that they are also short changed; in my view, government is trying to balance governance. A professional in a particular sector may feel that he knows too much and may not give the best to the sector because he will not want to see things from other people’s perspectives whereas an administrator who wants to succeed sees every opportunity as a platform to learn and make impact with a view to improving the system. An administrator will accommodate new ideas, suggestions and inputs synthesize them and come up with the best of the ideas that will help solve a particular problem in the sector.

The current administration is planning to re-introduce toll gates in the nation’s roads with the view to generating revenue from road users, are you for or against the plan?

Personally, I am in support of government’s plan because I do not see anything wrong in collecting toll from road users as far as the funds generated from the toll will be used for the purpose it was collected. If you remember very well, it was because the proceeds from tolling were being diverted into private pockets that the administration of President Obasanjo decided to cancel the tolling system.

Meanwhile the original intention of tolling system as is obtained in other climes is for maintenance

of the road network which in turn enhances the durability and good state of the roads. Don’t also forget that all these heavy duty vehicles that ply the roads with heavy loads contribute in no small measures to the deplorable state of the roads yet, those who haul goods to different parts of the country with these trucks contribute nothing to the maintenance of the roads. So they need to contribute to the maintenance of the road network that they contribute to spoil. Therefore I see nothing wrong in government looking inwards to raise funds from road users as is done elsewhere in the globe to fix many of those roads begging for attention.

Nigerians should learn and cultivate the habit of appreciating the services that government renders to the people. It is just like saying we make calls free without buying airtime from telecom companies, how will they continue to render services? Therefore the road users should also pay for using the road so that the road can be put in a better shape to serve the public better.

In what ways will you want the new minister to partner with your institute so as to succeed in his new assignment?

It is very important for every administrator to understand that he needs professional bodies to be able to succeed well. As an administrator, you need advice from those persons that have the specific knowledge, understanding and technical knowhow of the field he is superintending over. I think that the minister should create a platform where he will bring together all the professional bodies relevant to his ministry and have a forum of interaction with them so as to seek and tap from their reservoir of knowledge. He is just an administrator who may not have the technical knowhow of how to go about certain issues in the ministry. We at the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) are available to work with him. This is because our input in housing development is very crucial considering the huge deficit that already exists. We well be delighted to contribute our quarter in whatever capacity that will be required to solve the problems of quackery and infrastructure decay. We want the new minister and

Yakubu the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari to succeed in delivery dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

It is on record that no professional builder had ever been involved or indicted on the issue of building collapse in Nigeria despite their crucial role in the built environment, how were you able to maintain such clean record?

I am very happy about your observation and that shows that Nigerians especially the members of the press are taking account of happening in the construction industry. It is true that there is no collapse building that had happened in the country that a builderhas played any role in the construction. We are proud about that but that is not to say that there are no bad builders. The ethics of our profession is fashioned in such a way that put every builder in check and compels them to always discharge their duties diligently. It is also true that builder play crucial role in the construction environment.

A builder is actually responsible for the management and production process of any building project. He is a “jack of all trades and master of all” as he must understand the role and work of all other professionals in the built industry to be able to interpret their designs and put them into reality. However, lack of awareness on the part of the public and the clients on the roles expected of each professional in the built environment is encour-

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aging many professionals to accept jobs made for other professionals.

But if clients understand that an architect’s role ends in the design, just like a structural and mechanical engineer’s role also has to do with the engineering and mechanical designs, they would not be engaged to manage the construction of his building. He will engage the relevant professionals at every stage of the construction. However the regulatory agencies of government are not also helping matters because they lack the capacity in terms of adequate manpower to function effectively in addition to paucity of fund to move round every site in the country to enforce compliance as they are the police of the industry. If they are living up to their responsibilities, professionals will not encroach into other duties other jobs and quackery will be eliminated in the industry.

What is your assessment of the current administration?

Well, the administration is moving in the right direction, even though there is hardship in the country; we are beginning to witness the promised change. Meanwhile there is nowhere in the world where you will witness a change from bad to good without witnessing some temporal pains that will eventually give way to blissfulness.

A lot had gone wrong and it will take time for those anomalies to be corrected.You can see the level of corruption that is being exposed by this administration.

If they are living up to their responsibilities, professionals will not encroach into other duties other jobs and quackery will be eliminated in the industry.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

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FEATURE Advocacy, value re-orientation campaign as tools for fighting insurgency

An IDP camp in Maiduguri

By Deji Abdulwahab

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he Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recently visited some areas affected in Borno by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents to obtain information that could help in the fight against terrorism.

The minister, accompanied by some journalists, paid an inspection visit to the Theatre Command of the Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, Bama, Konduga, and other areas affected by the crisis.

Expressing concern about level destruction in the areas, he said that his ministry would inaugurate a national security campaign against insurgency to sensitise Nigerians to the need for active participation of individuals in security matters. ``Intelligence gathering and robust advocacy would be used to sensitise Nigerians on the need to wage war against the insurgents. ``No nation succeeds in the fight against insurgency without the civilian component; so, we will let Nigerians know that the fight against insurgency is a national issue,’’ the minister said when he visited a camp of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bama.

According to him, the Federal Minister of Information and Culture will roll out national jingles to educate Nigerians on the need to be vigilant and report any suspicious movements to security agencies.

He noted that although security awareness messages had been going on as broadcast in many radio and television stations, there should be more awareness campaign, especially at the grassroots. ``I urge Nigerians to be vigilant in public places and ensure that they know their neigbours’ means of livelihood with a view to complementing the military’s efforts against the insurgents. ``I also call for synergy between the military and the media to enhance mutual

understanding in the war against insurgency because security is everybody’s business,’’ he said.

Maj.-Gen. Yushau Abubakar, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, also said that every Nigerian had a role to play to complement the military’s efforts at ending insurgency.

In his response, Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno acknowledged that Mohammed was the first Minister of Minister of Information and Culture that visited the state to get firsthand information on the war against insurgency.

The governor said the state had witnessed unimaginable destruction of 27 local government areas from 2009 to date by the insurgents.

Shettima, who blamed the insurgency on poverty and unemployment, urged the Federal Government to address the problems of poverty, unemployment and lack of hope for the youth.

Beside this, the minister stressed that there should be effective value re-orientation for positive attitude to sustain the ethics and values among Nigerians. ``We need to re-inject values into our society as value re-orientation is imperative to the achievement of the change agenda of the present administration,’’ he said recently in a meeting in Abuja.

He said his ministry would soon begin a nationwide campaign against indiscipline, African-time syndrome and loss of social norms and values. ``I have convened to present to you the template for the massive, nationwide reorientation campaign to be embarked upon by this ministry very soon. ``Those invited to this meeting have been painstakingly selected because I believe they have the necessary expertise to help drive the campaign. ``However, let me state unequivocally, that everyone in the Ministry of Information and Culture as well as its parastatals, is key to

the campaign. ``This is because as the lead ministry, we must first buy into the campaign before we can propagate it,’’ he said.

The minister said that the National Orientation Agency would spearhead the campaign to ensure positive change of attitude, values and behaviours among Nigerians. ``Make no mistake about it, we need to change the way we do things in Nigeria; it is important to let our people know that they cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result. ``The impending campaign must take on indiscipline, the lack of respect for time, loss of our time-tested values and generally lead to attitudinal change in such a way that there will be a paradigm shift in the way we do things.,’’ he noted.

The minister said the change agenda of the present administration could only succeed if Nigerians decided to change their attitude.

Muhammed said the merger of information and culture would make the ministry to drive the change agenda effectively.

Sharing similar sentiments, an Islamic scholar in Abuja, Alhaji Mufutaudeen Balogun, urged the religious leaders to inculcate moral values in children.

He said the inculcation of education and moral teachings were fundamental to national development. ``One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and reckless pursuit material comfort. ``Broad steps should be taken by our religious leaders to inculcate moral values in our children in the early childhood since their hearts will be pure at that tender age. ``Once we have that assistance in guidance, there will be no more violence or terrorism,’’ Balogun said.

In his view, Alhaji Nuru Khalid, the Chief Imam of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque, Abuja, observed that security challenges

had, over the years, become a concern in the world.

He urged Nigerians to support government’s programme aimed at deradicalising the thoughts of the youth. ``Religion is the tool they (insurgents) use to indoctrinate extremism in the minds of our children; they misinterpret our scripture to radicalise the youth against us but religious leaders have a duty to discourage this,’’ he said.

For inclusive advocacy, the Primate of Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, insists that all religious leaders must support the Federal Government in fighting terrorism through their sermons on the need to ensure peace in the country.

(NAN Features)

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He said his ministry would soon begin a nationwide campaign against indiscipline, African-time syndrome and loss of social norms and values.

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Special Report

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Yelwa: Source for alternative to crude oil

Nigeria’s rural areas provide the most peaceful atmosphere for living; thus, they remain to a large degree, more serene places to live in, especially when provided with the basic necessities of life like roads, schools, healthcare facilities, potable water, electricity and others. Yelwa is a village in Plateau State

Cable bridge

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his is a settlement located in the northern suburbs of Jos, popularly known as Yelwa Mr Bow; it is an ancient village of more than three centuries. It is a settlement of an estimated population of 5,000+ inhabitants according to the last head count, most of whom are Hausa, Kanuri, and Fulani that engage in tin mining and farming for their economic viability.

The place is a five-kilometre drive from the Jos city centre, but has a very bad road that leads to the village with a single-line carriage wooden bridge.

This makes it absolutely impossible for more than one vehicle to pass across at once, and was said to be constructed by the military in the 1980’s. It is from around the bridge that plantation of irrigated farms being practiced would give a rousing welcome to any person approaching the village from that end.

Prior to the construction of the wooden bridge, there used to exist a pedestrian bridge (Gadar langa langa) in the same position, made of iron cable and a wood floor said to be constructed

which inhabitants have against all odds, remain quite productive especially on their farms. Peoples Daily Weekend correspondent was there and reports with additional information from agency reports that the village could provide an alternative to the crude oil for Nigeria.

Part of the village by the colonial masters in the 1900’s to convey tin that was mined and also allow for passage to neighbouring communities of Narkuta and Jos. Signs of tin mining activities that had taken place are glaringly traceable in the community, as one can simply sight pit holes that characterized such activities, though little quantity of the product is still found as people still take time to dig the soil in search of the product till date.

The village was said to have predated Narkuta and even Jos for several years. This was according to an aged man Malam Baba believed to be about one hundred and twenty years old. He told our correspondent that, “ Yelwa existed longer than Narkuta which later also gave birth to Jos; and that the people of Yelwa specialize in tin mining even before the advent of the British who came and met our fore fathers and fathers mining.”

Baba explained that apart from tin mining, Yelwa people are also good in farming both in the rainy and dry seasons but most specifically irrigation

system of farming. This according to him is as of today, the major economic activity that keeps the people moving.

“Noman Lambu, (irrigation) is today the major work that our people do with little tin mining; even though some of the youths are now into mechanic work and other trades. While some of them had left the village because there are no amenities due to government neglect.”

To the old man, the punctured peace that used to disturb the mutual coexistence of Jos which by extension affected the surrounding villages was a major cause for concern.

Majority of the vast land that made up the village is either put into use as farm land or left fallow, with trees and other plantations surrounding the village thereby attracting other people that usually visit to relax and enjoy its quietness and serenity with natural air blowing devoid of contamination.

The village often has quiet and scanty features most especially during morning through afternoon period of the day, with its riverside experiencing

the bubble and bustles of its inhabitants as they go about their irrigated farming activities.

Vegetable and other plantations that range from carrots, cabbage, onions, citrus, tomatoes, cassava, guava, mango, maize, millet and many others, are grown and harvested in commercial quantities in and around Yelwa throughout the year.

Our reporter was able transverse the riverside where irrigation farming is taking place; and sighted harvest of some of the products.

Malam Danladi, a full time farmer born and brought up in Yelwa village, narrated that even his grandfathers were farmers and apart from the period of his school days, he had also never left the village neither had he done anything else apart from farming.

“I have no other business in my life apart from farming. I teach Islamic studies in the school we have, upon request by the PTA, but farming has been my way of life. The occupation Contd on Page 5

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

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Special Report

Source for alternative to crude oil Contd from Page 4 is today only manageable because the harvest therefrom is rather very low with little profit coming out of it due to lack of sufficient capital to acquire farm implements and fertilizer on time to meet market demands.”

He said students from the University of Jos have been visiting the place for their experiments on how to cultivate crops and other perishable products mostly during the dry season of farming. He decried the absence of support from government, as one of the factors hindering the growth of the business.

It was gathered that the hitherto persistent crises and the general insecurity of the state in the past was yet another major obstacle that caused decline in the patronage of farm products from the state as the number of traders who go there from far and near was low.

Our correspondent saw farm produce cultivated from Danladi’s farm, with tomatoes and cabbage being packaged in readiness for conveyance to major markets in Jos from where other people come from across Nigeria to patronize.

One could see and also feel the deplorable situation of the road and the bridge from both ways that lead into the village which if properly constructed, will surely raise the standard of the village. This would also not only allow the people to

Harvest time

enjoy good access but would further pave way for development and will also serve as another metropolitan by-pass, more so that the road links to the major Bauchi road that leads to North eastern states of the federation. It would also link to Zaria road which leads to North western states, thereby creating easy access for commuters.

It is not only the road that is bad, but also the lone primary school which structures are inadequate and dilapidated, with insufficient teachers. This was said to have compelled parents to take their children to distant schools in search of education. Likewise, the only primary health care facility in the village was not only lacking in good structure but also in even the most relevant drugs and health personnel.

Narrating some of their plights, Alhaji Aliyu, a youth leader in the village, explained that, “basically there are lots of challenges disturbing us; road, hospital, water, electricity and educational challenges as well.

We also have a health facility that lacks qualified doctors, light and obviously it is not good because as old as the village and as close as it is to Jos, being not more than five kilometres away, we face all these challenges.”

The youth leader stated that they expended up to N800,000 in putting additional structure of two classrooms in their primary school to complement the efforts of government; but lamented that it was not enough to ac-

Vegitable farm commodate the teeming children seeking for knowledge.

He equally urged governments at all levels to come to their aid especially in the area of water supply to the community.

According to the 2006 population census estimate Yelwa has no fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, which must have increased going by the trend that many other people have migrated from other places to settle there. This was said to be one of the end results of the persistent crises in some places. It was also worthy of mention that despite having this growing population, the

village had only one borehole as the source of potable water, and scores of people were seen queuing to fetch this very basic requirement there.

Our reporter monitored children, men and women waiting for their turns to get the water from the borehole that rather flows low, thereby taking longer time than necessary for one to have a full content of a bucket.

Sparse darkness is also one other feature of Yelwa, due to the inadequacy of lightening though the high tension service cables that supply energy to North Eastern states passed

Harvested tomatoes

through the village. The village is said to have been lucky though as crime rate is quite low.

Yelwa is a community that if those basic social amenities are properly provided for, its scenic natural environment as well as its potentials in the field of agriculture will not only attract more people to settle and bring development but will further lead to the exploration of other opportunities especially in solid minerals especially against the dwindling oil revenue.

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Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

News

Buhari’s trips abroad will soon yield results —Oyegun

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has assured that President Muhammadu Buhari’s various trips abroad will soon yield results for Nigerian to see.

Odigie-Oyegun gave the assurance yesterday in Abuja while responding to questions posed by newsmen on the incessant trips embarked by the President since his assumption of duty.

The chairman said that the trips were necessary at this point in time to garner support and open up the

country to more investors.

He said that though there was no specific date for the results of the trips to manifest, they would manifest in a matter of months not years.

He said that part of the reasons the President was visiting the Middle East was to canvass for improved prices for the nation’s crude oil.

Odigie-Oyegun described Buhari as an international salesman marketing Nigeria.

He said that the president was doing a `fantastic job’ building and re-building the crack in the foundation of Nigeria.

Supreme Court gives reasons for upholding Gov. Ikpeazu’s election

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President Muhammadu Buhari (M) coming out from the Inner Chamber of the Holy Ka’aba, yesterday in Makkah .

Supreme Court affirms death sentence on Rev. King

By Osby Isibor

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he Supreme Court yesterday in Abuja affirmed the death sentence passed on the GeneralOverseer of Christian Praying Assembly, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, popularly called “Rev. King”, over the brutal killing of a member of the church, Ann Uzoh.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Sylvester Nguta, held that the convict’s appeal lacked

merit.

“The facts of the case could have been lifted from horror film and the court cannot but resolve all the 12 issues raised in this appeal against Ezeugo.

“This appeal has no merit.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal is hereby affirmed.

“The prison sentence that was earlier handed based on the other five-count charge is no longer relevant in view of the death sentence passed on him.

“The appellant, in his defence, claimed that the victims sustained the various injuries from an exploded generator within the church’s premises but failed to prove this defence,” Mr. Nguta said.

It could be recalled that Mr. Ezeugo was arraigned on Sept. 26, 2006, on a six-count charge of attempted murder and murder.

The charge against him was at the instance of the Lagos State Directorate of Public

Prosecutions over the death of Uzoh and willful injuries brought on five others.

The appellant was on Jan. 11, 2007, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for the alleged offences.

The prosecution had argued during the trial, that the convict poured petrol on the deceased and five others, set them alight, and left them for dead. Uzoh died on Aug. 2, 2006, 11 days after the incident.

he Supreme Court yesterday said that Okezie Ikpeazu was returned as governor of Abia because Alex Otti failed to prove the allegations brought against his victory in the April 11, 2015 governorship election.

Messrs. Ikpeazu and Otti contested the election on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) respectively.

Giving reasons for its Feb. 3 judgment, Justice Suleiman Galadima held that Mr. Otti and the APC were unable to prove the allegation of over voting, violence and corrupt practices allegedly perpetrated by the respondents.

“On the issue of over voting, the court holds that there was no sufficient proof as the voter register and the card reader report were not tendered.

“The criminal allegation of corrupt malpractices carried out by PDP loyalists for the benefit of the governor was not also proved,’’ he held.

On the cancellation of the election results in Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa and Isiala Ngwa by the returning

officers, Galadima held that it was wrong.

“That action amounted to the disenfranchisement of voters. It was also inappropriate for the tribunal to order the cancellation of election.

“All of this misappropriation only gave room for the unlawful declaration of the APGA candidate by the lower court.

“Those actions were perversion of justice and the apex court could not have allowed them,’’ he said.

Mr. Galadima held that the evidence placed before the court showed clearly that the tribunal usurped the constitutional duties of INEC. “On the card reader, the court maintains its earlier position that the tribunal cannot supplant the voter register.

“The gadget is only meant to authenticate bearers of voter card and not meant to usurp the statutory power of the voter register.

“At the moment, the voter register remains the only authentic document as provided by Section 49 of the Electoral Act to prove allegation of fraud in elections,’’ Galadima declared. (NAN)

Customs flags off distribution of relief materials to IDPs in North East From Umar Dankano, Yola

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igerian Customs Service has flagged off the distribution of relief items seized and forfeited to the Federal Government through appropriate legal processes to all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps of the Northeast. .

The Customs said it is executing a Presidential mandate to alleviate the plight of the IDPs and to bring succour to millions of Nigerians displaced, traumatized and separated from their loved ones by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Presenting the relief items to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at NYSC IDP Camp in Yola, Adamawa State capital, the Comptroller General, Col.

Hameed Ibrahim Ali (RTD) who was represented by the Acting GOC of 3 Division, Jos, Brigadier General, Mohammed Aliyu said the effort was to cushion the poverty effects on the IDPs. According to him, “the scope of the customs intervention involves transferring relief items that have been seized and forfeited to the Federal Government through appropriate legal processes to the IDPs camps. “ Today ‘s event is the first in the series of donations to be made in the first phase, we are flagging the exercise off in Adamawa and we shall be reaching other IDP camps of the North East” “We are also conscious of the Government ultimate objective of re-settling the IDPs back to their

communities. To encourage such returnees, the National Logistics Committee shall identify and reach out to them in the next phase “he said He said the provision of these items does not adequately solve the IDP question, but the biggest challenge before the nation to ensure that these Nigerians return to their communities to live in peace without entertaining fears of attack.

“It also involves providing safety, access to education, health care for their kids, guaranteeing safe corridors for trading, farming and economic activities without hindrance” he said The Comptroller General said the task of rebuilding the North East region will therefore require a

strong collaboration of all Nigerians, United in the belief that an injury to one or some represent an injury to all.

He said “under the first phase of this operation, we shall be donating 18,500 bags of rice (50kg), 8,900 Jerry cans (25ltrs) of vegetable oil, 6819 cartons of Soap and 1130 bales of used clothes to various IDP camps in the country.”

He expressed gratitude to the security agencies and NEMA and humanitarian agencies for their support since the exercise started.

Receiving the items, the state coordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Sa’ad Bello expressed thanks to the Nigerian Customs Service and military saying the gesture was timely especially for those who have returned to their homes since the

insurgents were overwhelmed in their areas.

He said the population of the IDPs in the camps has drastically reduced because most of them have returned to their communities adding that this bow down to the effort of military at liberating those from the grip of Boko Haram.

Also speaking at the event, Adamawa State Governor, Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow, represented by the Head of Service in the state, Barrister Musa Kaibo said, the initiative was a welcome development.

He further added that in the past, when the Customs made seizure, they usually destroyed them but this current administration had resolved to give out these items to IDPS for use.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

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Cover

Revisiting NCC, NESREA clash over masts

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ome time ago, two federal agencies- the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), tried to educate each other on the best ways to put mobile communication installations to effective use within our country’s earth’s surface. While one agency seemed to follow a moral and ethical pathway, the other looked at its profit margins in the course of doing business on the environment. According to industrial dispute indicators, the two agencies were heading to the courthouse to validate their claims.

The struggle came to the fore after the sealing and unsealing off of an MTN mast and base station located at EFAB Estate in the nation’s capital around 2012, where NESREA argued that the site of the mast fell short of the required distances from the perimeter fencing of any residential building.

According to a representative of NESREA, “masts and base stations must stand at least ten metres away from any residential quarters in order to protect inhabitants of the area from chemical emissions and noise pollutions emanating from such base stations. But as you can see, this mast here is only 1.2 meters away from that house. And of course, it is dangerously too close and we can’t allow it to continue to stand there in the interest of the health of people living in that house.”

In their own submission, authorities of NCC argued that, “It is the inalienable right of NCC to determine where telecom masts and base stations should be sited in this country for the success of mobile telephony, and not NESREA’s. We have approved the location of masts many years before NESREA came on board and our telephone companies have not caused any bodily harm to anyone in the course of their business operations.

NESREA is simply whipping up sentiments and meddling in the affairs of this commission and we won’t take it.”

It is no gainsaying that since then, both of them have exerted substantial strengths in trying to determine which of them is the ultimate judge in the dayto-day human interactions on the environment which has, no doubt, earned them front-burner attention with ordinary Nigerians asking if at all the chief executives of the two agencies actually know their onions in their constitutionally-assigned roles to the masses of this country.

As a matter-of-fact, Nigerian people have wondered if the two warring government departments were alien agencies who have no business carrying on their public service jobs under one federal authority.

In the not so recent past, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), fiercely engaged in a show of supremacy over how to use or how not to use Nigeria’s environmental space for telecommunication business purposes. Peoples Daily Weekend with additional information from agencies, relates some expert opinions on the issue

Dr. Lawrence Anukam, Director General/CEO of NESREA Since then, too, concerned Nigerians, have tried to find out which of the agencies has been overstepping its bounds. They have tried to find out if NESREA, the federal agency charged with the responsibility of regulating hu-

“

Prof Umar Garba Dambatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC

man actions on the environment is the one exceeding the limits or boundaries of its authority. Or NCC, the federal agency formally instructed to supervise how telecommunication operators carry on their businesses in Nigeria the one

As a matter-of-fact, Nigerian people have wondered if the two warring government departments were alien agencies who have no business carrying on their public service jobs under one federal authority.

stepping outside of its assigned roles.

On the other hand, critical observers also tried to find out if either of the two agencies was even being overzealous, altogether. But before any informed opinion could be reached on this vexed issue we tried to properly understand the various subsets of the mandates of the two agencies from their chief executives.

First, according to NESREA source, “The NESREA Act of 2007, empowers our agency to regulate and enforce, where necessary, all standards of social and economic operations undertaking by every inhabitant of this country’s biosphere insofar as such operation might affect the health and wellbeing of other inhabitants. And of course, this includes even unwholesome discharges into the atmospheric commons.”

At this point, if we understand the subset of its constitutional mandate properly, it means that NESREA overContd on Page 8

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 8

Cover

Revisiting NCC, NESREA clash over masts Contd from Page 7 sees how all humans interact with the whole areas of our country’s environmental space which include the atmosphere and our sea areas inhabited by living things in order to ensure sustainability of all life forms on the environment, namely; sustainability of the human environment and the ecosystem.

For full understanding of NCC mandate, a top official in the commission who spoke to us on grounds of anonymity, maintained that it is his agency’s responsibility to approve licenses for telephone companies and other communication outfits as well as oversee the development and rational use of telecom masts and base stations and their efficient operations for purposes of improving telecom services in Nigeria.

He concluded that, “in all this, we make sure that all telecom equipment are put to their best uses and are readily available to the general public while we are at the same time making sure that the actions of phone companies are coordinated in order that they may attain their economic potentials.”

Here, the subset in NCC’s mandate is clear and suggestive. That is to say, in addition to making sure that telecom properties are developed and made available to the public, such installations must also be positioned in such a way as to earn maximum profits for the telephone companies.

Now looking at the divergence or rather, the amount of difference in the mandates of the two agencies, it might not be out of place to state here that they are purely and unreservedly parallel lines that might never meet; while one should try to oversee and preserve the purity and sanctity of our natural environment the other should oversee or rather, coordinate the use of telecommunication devices and systems to transmit electronic and optical signals across long distances within and outside the country.

But is that the case? What should be their rallying point?

On the other hand, is anyone of them trying to muscle the other?

Whatever the answers though, an Abuja-based social analyst said that how each of the agencies succeeds in the execution of their national mandates should simply be a matter of synergizing. He, however, thinks that NCC has no business carrying on property developments on the environment without first, clearing with the environmental stand-

ards enforcement agency.

He said, “I don’t think NCC is getting it right, here. You see, you and I and everyone else in this country know that every agency of government has its own area of jurisdiction which must not cross each other.

Therefore, NCC has no right whatsoever, to judge in matters of environmental decency.

“

That decision is NESREA’s who should give environment impact reports to government concerning any industrial activities on the environment.”

On this, NESREA’s spokesman when the controversy lasted, Mr Sule Oyofo said, “the MTN mast in question was shut down on 23 April for breaching environmental laws. The site

of the mast did not meet the stipulated 10-meter setback – a requirement permitted by the National Environmental (Telecom and Broadcast Facilities) Regulations S1 No 11 of 2011.

Besides, the facility located in EFAB Estate in Mbora District of Abuja, was not captured in a national environmental audit carried out by NESREA to de-

Whatever the answers though, an Abujabased social analyst said that how each of the agencies succeeds in the execution of their national mandates should simply be a matter of synergizing. He, however, thinks that NCC has no business carrying on property developments on the environment without first, clearing with the environmental standards enforcement agency.

termine the rightness or otherwise of the locations of masts and base stations in the Capital City.”

We may wish to believe cited document as real and duly ratified by government. But what does he mean by rightness? Is his agency really interested in ethical issues and moral correctness in the conduct of government businesses, or the agency is just playing to the gallery and making people believe that NCC is a social bully?

At that time, an Abujabased constitutional lawyer, Barr Chukwudi Uzendu, said that regardless of the huge successes recorded by the telecommunication industry in this country, the health and wellbeing of citizens should be given due consideration over financial gains, adding that it is only a healthy citizenry that can do business with any going concern.

Speaking on the point of law he said, “the National Environmental Regulations S1 No 11 of 2011 which includes Telecommunications and Broadcast Facilities, is a document that is expected to be obeyed by all industry players including NCC and its motley of telephone companies. If NCC fails to obey that piece of rule then it is indeed seen as meddling in the affairs of the environmental agency and could, therefore be summarily adjudged as being overzealous in its mandates. The commission should rather concentrate its energy on properly coordinating the activities telecom companies that are almost going haywire in their operations.”

Citing Lagos State as an example where separate regulatory agencies have been set up to stem indiscriminate erection of telecom masts and base stations, Uzendu said, “I think there is something wrong in the way the telecommu/nications industry operates in this country. Someone has to keep a close watch on them in the overriding interest of the Nigerian masses.”

In its own submissions in the inter-agency rivalry, League of Patriotic Youths of Nigeria, a nonpartisan, iconoclastic youths vanguard said, “we the youths of this country have watched with dismay the ongoing disagreement between NCC and NESREA over issues of communication and the environment and have, therefore, decided that NCC is being unreasonable in the matter because all NESREA is doing is to ensure that human health and the natural environment are safeguarded for purposes of sustainable development,” the youths concluded.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 9

Saturday Column

Dangers of excommunicating Muslims from Islam Contd from Back Page

someone worshiping upon monotheism is a serious mistake.

The mistake of leaving a thousand (dangerous and non-peaceful) unbelievers to go free is lesser than shedding the blood of a single Muslim.” (See Fath ul-Bari, 12/314) This is the case of the wrongful killing of a single Muslim believer accused of apostasy. How much greater, then, is the case of those who declare whole cities, towns, countries, and societies full of Muslims to be unbelievers? Indeed, it is an incredibly disturbing phenomenon we are witnessing that an entire country and all of its Muslim citizens are declared to be apostates and heinous violence is justified against them.

The caution we must have in this matter becomes all the more clear when we understand the important distinction between acts of unbelief and unbelievers themselves. A Muslim might commit an outward act of unbelief due to ignorance or misinterpretation, yet Allah considers them to be believers. This is proven in the following tradition (Hadith): Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A man had indulged himself in sin, so when death approached he enjoined his sons saying: if I die, then burn me, pulverize me, and scatter me to the winds over the sea, for by Allah, if He is able He will punish me in a way He has not punished anyone else. So they did that to him, and when he stood before his Lord, He said to him: what made you do that? The man said: Fear and awe of you, O Lord.

So Allah forgave him because of that.” (See Sahih Muslim, 2756) My people!

This man did not believe that Allah had the power to resurrect and judge him, a clear act of unbelief according to the consensus of Muslim scholars. Yet, Allah pardoned this act of unbelief due to man’s honest ignorance. The man’s righteous fear of Allah, based upon his faith, out weighted his act of unbelief.

Ibn Taymiyyah comments on this Hadith, saying:

“

“So Allah forgave him. This man doubted the ability of Allah to resurrect him when he was turned to dust. Rather, he believed Allah could not resurrect him and this is unbelief by the consensus of the Muslims but he was ignorant.

He did not know that and he was a believer who feared that Allah would punish him and so Allah forgave him for that.” (See Majmu’ Al-Fatawa, 3/231) Likewise, Ibn Al-Qayyim writes: “If one of these matters of faith is denied out of ignorance or misinterpretation, then he is excused and the one who did so does not become an unbeliever, as in the narration in which the man denied the power of Allah and he commanded his people to burn him and scatter his ashes in the wind. Despite this error, Allah forgave the man and had mercy upon him because of his ignorance.

The knowledge about the power of Allah that had reached him was not denied out of stubbornness or an intention to lie.” (See Madaarij As-Salikeen, 1/347) Hence, we must not declare an individual Muslim to be an unbeliever due to an act of unbelief, let alone an entire Muslim society.

A Muslim can only be considered an unbeliever when they declare themselves to be such. Their declarations of faith should be taken at face value and their lives protected by due process of law.

At-Tahawi writes in his important work on Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah creed: “A person does not leave faith except by disavowing what brought him into it.” (See Aqeedah AtTahawiyyah) Furthermore, Ash-Shawkani writes: “Know that with regard to the ruling upon a Muslim man for leaving Islam and entering into unbelief, it is not befitting for a Muslim who believes in Allah and the Last Day to apply it unless with a proof that is clearer than the light of day.” (See Sayl Al-Jarrar, 1/978) As such, it was the practice of the righteous predecessors (salaf as-salih) to refrain from excommunicating the heretics who opposed them, as it is the right of Allah alone to determine that a Muslim has become an unbeliever.

Ibn Taymiyyah writes:

“The scholars and people of the Sunnah would not excommunicate those who oppose them even if their opponents declared them to be unbelievers, for the matter of unbelief is a legal judgment and a person may not punish with the like of it, such as if someone lies against you or commits adultery with your family it would not be permissible for you to lie against him or commit adultery with his family. Fornication and falsehood are unlawful by the right of Allah.

Likewise, excommunication is the right of Allah, so we do not excommunicate anyone except those whom Allah and His Messenger have declared to be unbelievers.” (See Ar-Radd ‘ala AlBakri, 1/381) Perhaps our greatest example in this respect is the distinguished Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal who stood strong against the persecution of the Mu’tazilites. The extremist Mu’tazilitte sect fabricated their doctrine of the “creation of the Quran” and they were charging with unbelief and oppressing anyone who publicly disagreed with them.

Imam Ahmad was taken prisoner

Such is the excellent example of the patience, forbearance, and mercy of Imam Ahmad in stark contrast to the violent rebels and excommunicators of today.

by them and brutally flogged, yet he refrained from excommunicating them, cursing them, or calling for violent rebellion. Instead, Imam Ahmad understood that they were confused by misinterpretations and he prayed for Allah to guide and forgive them.

Ibn Taymiyyah writes: “Imam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, prayed for mercy, guidance and forgiveness for his persecutors because he knew it was not clear to them that they were denying the Messenger and disputing what he had brought. Rather, they had a misinterpretation and they were mistaken and imitated and followed those who told them that.”

(See Majmu’ Al-Fatawa, 23/349) Such is the excellent example of the patience, forbearance, and mercy of Imam Ahmad in stark contrast to the violent rebels and excommunicators of today.

Following in the footsteps of Imam Ahmad was Ibn Taymiyyah who also took a strong stance against excommunication (Takfeer).

Ibn Taymiyyah writes: “Those who always sit with me know that I am the strongest of the people to forbid declaring an individual to be an unbeliever or a sinner, unless it is known that the legal proof has been established against him that he is an unbeliever or sinner. I affirm that Allah will forgive this nation for its mistakes, whether it is mistakes in narrating or practice. The righteous predecessors continued to debate many of these matters and none of them testified that another among them was an unbeliever or a sinner.” (See Majmu’ Al-Fatawa, 3/229) Indeed, despite the persecution he endured at the hands of

opposing scholars, Ibn Taymiyyah vowed never to excommunicate a single Muslim.

Adh-Dhahabi reported: Ibn Taymiyyah said near the end of his life: “I will not declare anyone from this ummah (nation) to be an unbeliever.” (See Siyar A’lam anNubala, 15/88) In the same manner, we must take a principled stance against excommunication and those who use illegitimate violence against the Muslim community. We must be clear that declarations of faith and the offering of peace by anyone must be taken at face value and that such peace offerings immediately invalidate violent action.

And lastly, the Prophet (SAW) said: “Beware; do not return to unbelief after me by killing each other.” (See Sahih Bukhari, 121)O Allah! Make us among those who earn your forgiveness and acquire safety from the Hell fire, Ameen.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Prayers, peace and Mercy are upon our beloved Master, Muhammad (SAW), his family and companions.

And success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.

This Khutbah (Friday Sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Raby’ al-Thaany 11, 1437 AH (22 January, 2016), by Imam Murtadha Muhammad Gusau, the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’at Mosque and Alhaji Abdurrahman Okene’s Mosque, Okene Kogi State Nigeria. He can be reached through: +2348038289761.

PAGE 10

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

News

Delta disburses N1bn to 100 cooperative societies From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

D

etermined to improve agriculture, business and create wealth, the Delta State government has disbursed N101 million loan to 1,000 persons in 101 cooperative group under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) micro, small and medium Enterprises Development Fund.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa handed out the cheques to representatives of the cooperative societies on Thursday at the Government House Asaba.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, was represented by the State Deputy Comptroller, CBN, Dame Edith Agu.

The governor urged the beneficiary to take responsibility for their success or failure as they were all chosen on merit.

He disclosed that N435,180.000 was disbursed last year to 2,617 persons, while N101, 000.000 was disbursed yesterday to 1,000 persons drawn from the 25 local government areas under the CBN Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund.

Governor Okowa expressed joy that most of the beneficiaries are women.” To the beneficiaries I have only one word for you, go and succeed, you will only fail by choice. Make good use of the money you are receiving today, work hard, plan well, speed less and excellence.

Governor of the CBN thanked Okowa for the way he is ensuring that active Deltans are employed.

Chairman of the Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, Chief Suru Salami, stated that the programme was designed to address poverty and unemployment. ‘‘All beneficiaries should make prudent use of the fund to enable them pay back as at when due because, the agency is poised to recover all borrowed money,” he said.

Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Monday Igbuya, Deputy Speaker, Hon. Friday Osanebi, and a host of other political officeholders and members of the society were there.

Similarly, Governor Okowa inaugurated a 16-man Agriculture Marketing Coordinate Committee (AMCC), saying the agricultural sector deserves to be reformed.

Speaking during the inauguration of the committee which has the state Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, as Chairman, Governor Okowa said the committee was “to develop the agricultural sector in line with our stated objectives of economics diversification, food security, self-reliance and prosperity for all. ‘‘This is in consonance with our electoral promise to reform the agricultural sector for the purposes of wealth creation, to boost employment and sustainable economic growth,’’ Okowa said.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (R), greeting the SecretaryGeneral of United Nations Habitat 3 Africa Regional Conference, Dr Joan Clos, at the close of the conference, yesterday in Abuja.

Physically challenged group pledges support for Buhari From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos

T

he Disability Progressive Group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing one of its own, Dr. Samuel Ankeli, as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability Matters.

Plateau State Leader of the group, Mr. Bulus Shanding, in a press statement issued in Jos, yesterday, said the appointment was the first of its kind in the last 16 years.

“The appointment of Dr. Samuel Ankeli as

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Disability Matters is well deserved, considering his desire to contribute to policies on national growth, his personal contributions during electioneering campaigns for the 2015 elections was unquantifiable.”

The statement noted that Ankeli was the Director, Disability Mobilization Forum, APC presidential campaign.

According to Shanding, the appointment was a testimony that the present administration is an all inclusive government, therefore Nigerians should support its policies and

programmes.

The group urged the senior special assistant to the president on disability matters to prove his worth that there is “ability in disability” and formulate policies that would bring achieve the set goals of the Buhari government.

Mr. Shanding appealed to President Buhari to formulate policies that would better the lives of Nigerians, particularly the physically challenged in order to improve their earnings.

The release stated that Plateau State has about 33,000 physically challenged persons, but most of them are self employed in order to

NUJ, ANEEJ, others demand release of ERA boss wife

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin

N

igeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State council, and civil society groups including Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), yesterday, demanded for the unconditional release of the wife of the Executive Director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Mrs. Justina Uyi Ojo. Mrs. Ojo was abducted by suspected gunmen in front of her residence in Benin City on Monday night.

The notice was contained in a statement jointly signed

by Comrade Roland Osakue, Edo State chairman NUJ, President, Conference of NGO’s (CONGOS), Comrade Obasanmi Jude, and President, Network of Civil society Organizations of Nigeria (NOCSON), Comrade Oviawe Abraham.

Other signatories in the statement which expressed disgust with the abduction of the wife of the frontline human rights activist include Reverend David Ugolor, Executive Director, ANEEJ and Comrade Omobude Agho.

According to the statement, “Our appeal is to the conscience of the abductors of Mrs. Justina Ojo to release her unharmed”.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 11

News

El-Rufai signs new tax, pension laws in Kaduna From Mohammad Ibrahim, Kaduna

K

aduna State Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, yesterday, signed new Tax Codification and Pension bills into law, bringing revenue collection in the state under one agency.

According to him, the new Tax Codification Law would make investors, business owners and citizens to stop paying taxes to other agencies other than the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) from March 1.

Governor El-Rufai signed the bills into law at Sir Kashim Government House in the presence of top government officials.

He said the tax law enacts a comprehensive, all-in-one tax code for the state, which harmonizes and centralizes the collection of all revenues in a single agency.

“The Kaduna State Tax (Codi-

fication and Consolidation) Law is an investor-friendly tax code that consolidates all taxes payable in the state in one law and in one document.

“The tax law enacts a comprehensive, all-in-one tax code for the state. It harmonizes and centralizes the collection of all revenues in a single agency the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service. Its objectives include improving the revenue base of the state, making payments easy for the taxpayer and raising the efficiency of tax collection.

“The law ensures that any investor in Kaduna State can see all state and local government taxes in one document, and be assured that all companies and individuals can pay with ease to only one revenue collector.

“The new tax code has the advantage of assuring the certainty that businesses treasure. Investors know precisely what taxes are pay-

able, and can arrange prompt settlement of their obligations, secure in the knowledge that they will be dealing with only one agency.

“It is our expectation that this law will help improve the ease of doing business in the state, attract more investors and create more jobs. It will also protect taxpayers from harassment by multiple revenue-collection agencies.

“In the interests of accountability, the law prohibits the collection of cash revenues. All payments are to be made through the banks, or by electronic means.

“In furtherance of these goals, the tax law repeals sections of previous laws that have a tax component.

All state laws and sections in the existing laws that empower any other person or authority to collect any tax, levy charges and rates on behalf of the state cease to have effect.

“The laws that have been abrogated include the Local Government

Revenue Harmonisation Law of 2014, the Hotels and Resorts (Room Rates) Levy Law of 2012, and the Board of Internal Revenue Service Law of 2015. The taxes charged under the repealed laws are now listed in the new tax code.

“Let it be clear that the new tax code comes into effect immediately.

Henceforth, no local government in Kaduna State, or any other agency other than the KADIRS can approach individuals and businesses for the purposes of collecting taxes and levies payable to the Kaduna State Government.

“KADIRS will collect all revenues, and remit what is due to every local government. Those posing as revenue consultants or who block roads to collect money must know that they have been put out of business. This new tax law has no room for rascally behaviour, disorderly conduct, harassment or cash collection”, he said.

With regards to pension law, ElRufai the State House of Assembly recently established that by 2025, the entire revenues of the state will barely satisfy pension liabilities.

“We therefore cannot wait for this to happen, or continue this pattern of perilous dependence on the federation account.

“In fact, our determination is to reverse the ratio and ensure that Kaduna State can run its government machinery and pay salaries from its internally-generated revenue. That is the way to become a proper state government,” he said.

The governor added that the law reinforces their belief that the contributory pension scheme offers the best outcomes for pensioner and government alike.

He said it is the rational and logical thing to do to guarantee pension payments and make them sustainable.

Army rescues 1,890 hostages from Boko Haram

T

he Nigerian Army said yesterday that 1,890 Boko Haram hostages, including women and children, were rescued in the last two weeks by troops fighting insurgency in the North East Zone.

This was contained in a statement issued by the army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman.

He said the hostages were rescued in different locations in Borno State, following massive mop up operations conducted by different units in the state.

According to the statement, some of those rescued include 800 Nigerians who had initially crossed to Cameroon but were brought back to Banki town in Nigeria by troops of the 21 Brigade on Thursday.

The statement said: “Troops of 121 Task Force conducted joint patrols with Cameroonian forces at Mararraba, Angwan Fada, Dale and Wizha Bokko Timit, Bokko Nasanu and Bokko Hidde up to Ngoshe in which they rescued 17 women and 28 children.

“Similarly, troops of 7 Division Garrison carried out joint operations with 112 Battalion, Army Headquarters Support Group and Armed Forces Special Forces

at Gajibo, Maula, Gamai, Gamare. ``Maiwa, Warsale, Tangli, Tushi, Sowa, Hasanari, Changuwa, Malamaja, and Marya in Dikwa and Mafa Local Government areas and rescued 350 people, including five Cameroonian girls.

“In a similar operation, troops of 7 Division Garrison in conjunction with troops of 112 Task Force Battalion, and Armed Forces Special Forces on Feb. 17, conducted clearance operations at Kwaptara, Mijigete, Garin Boka, Mosole, Ngubdori, Ma’asa, Dukje and Gulumba in Dikwa and Bama Local Government Areas in which they rescued 195 hostages.”

Usman said on Feb. 23, troops of 21 Brigade in conjunction with troops of MNJTF on clearance operations at Kumshe general area rescued 250 persons, mainly women and children.

He said troops of 7 Division rescued 150 persons at Kodo on the same day.

Usman added that troops of the 25 Task Force Brigade in clearance operations on Thursday at Galmasku, Muli, Chiralia, Maisani, Talala, Ajigin, Shetimalau, 1 and 2 and Dalomi also rescued 250 civilians held hostage.

(NAN)

Governor Nasir ElRufai of Kaduna State (M) signing the Pension Reform Bill and task consolidation/codification bill into law in Kaduna him are the Deputy Governor of Kaduna state, Mr Bananas Bantex (L) and Speaker Kaduna state house of assembly, Alhaji Aminu Shagali, yesterday in Kaduna.

Lamorde goes to school despite Senate’s arrest warrant

By Mohammed Usman with agency report

I

mmediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, on Friday began a course for senior police officers at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, near Jos, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

Mr. Lamorde’s procession to the policy formation centre for bureaucrats in Plateau State is coming amidst an order for his arrest by the Senate.

“Lamorde is still a serving top police officer so it is unclear who is going to effect the arrest order by the Senate,” a source who did not want to be named told PREMIUM TIMES. “It was the police hierarchy that sent him to NIPSS. “What we are saying is, he was invited as head of EFCC, not as Mr.

Lamorde, to answer questions on how the agency had spent its money.

Now he is no longer there,and the EFCC is a continuum. The current boss should be the one to be invited,” the source said.

The Senate on Thursday issued a warrant for Lamorde’s arrest for repeatedly failing to appear before its committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.

The committee, chaired by Samuel Anyanwu (APC–Imo East), investigating Lamorde for alleged corruption, had requested for the arrest warrant.

But the former EFCC boss responded through his lawyer, Festus Keyamo, asking the Nigeria Police to disregard the Senate’s order for his arrest.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Mr. Keyamo said the police and other law enforcement agencies should resist the invitation to

drag themselves into “this illegal scheme.”

“We most respectfully urge the Nigeria Police Force to await the outcome of the matter pending in court before deciding one way or the other about the enforcement of the said Warrant of Arrest, if eventually issued,” his lawyer said in the statement.

“If the court decides otherwise against our position, our client is prepared to appear before the Senate or any of its Committees.”

Lamorde, a commissioner, was removed as EFCC chairman in November last year, four years after he took over as head of the anti-graft agency.

Three months earlier, a petitioner, George Uboh, had accused Mr. Lamorde of diverting about N1 trillion proceeds of corruption recovered by the agency, prompting a Senate committee to commence an

investigation.

The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions invited Mr. Lamorde to a “meeting” on August 26 but the former EFCC boss failed to attend.

Another letter of invitation from the Senate committee was sent to Mr. Lamorde proposing another meeting on November 5.

Again, he failed to attend the meeting.

On November 11, the Senate committee issued another invitation letter to Mr. Lamorde urging him to appear before them on November 17.

Mr. Lamorde also failed to appear on the said date, with his lawyer saying he was out of the country on his three month terminal leave.

On November 19, Mr. Lamorde instituted a legal action at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an interpretation of the powers of the Senate with respect to investigations.

Page 12

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Photo Splash

President, Defence and Police officers’ wives association (DEPOWA), mrs Omobolanle Olonisakin during her humanitarian visit medical centre Mogadishu barracks , Abuja

L-R: The Minister of Solid Minerals, Fayemi Kayode in a handshake with the Commandant-General Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, at the signing ceremony to curb illegal mining activities in the country, in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

The new ultra modern Electronic Library , build and Equip by Universal basic Education Commission (UBEC), through Federal Government Intervention, at the foremost Barewa College, Zaria in Kaduna State

L-R: Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the publisher of Alaroye Newspaper, Mr Musa Alao Adebayo during the visit of the minister to the newspaper house , yesterday in Lagos

President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote greeting one of the cement distributors in the Northern part of Nigeria at a customers’ forum meeting held in Kano recently.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 13

News

L-R: Former FIFA Committee Member, Dr Amos Adamu; President of Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Alhaji Habu Gumel; DeputyDdirector, Grass Root Sports Department, National Sports Commission, Mr t. Shua, and chairperson, NOC women commission, Chief Mary Onyali, at the inauguration of the Nigeria Olympic committee’s women commission, yesterday in Abuja

Group urges EFCC to arraign Moro or release him D

Okowa charges LG staff to impact positively on the people From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

S

ecretary-General of a pan Idoma socio-cultural body, Idoma Collective (IC), Dr Adakole Elijah, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign the former Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, in court within the stipulated constitutional requirement of 24 hours or release him unconditionally.

Elijah, who made the call during an interaction with journalists in Makurdi, yesterday, decried the deliberate manner that the anti-graft commission is being turned

into a political attack dog, noting that nobody can be arrested and not charged to court within the stipulated time.

“It is unfortunate that the APC-led government after unsuccessfully attempting to thwart the electoral victory of the former Senate president has decided to arrest his director general, Comrade Abba Moro, for defeating the ruling party in the re-run election for Benue South senatorial district.”

Elijah said he would mobilise 1,000 youths if Moro is not released or charged to court, “We will not seat and fold out arms and watch them destroy the constitution of Nige-

ria. The operation of the EFCC must be predicated on the workings of the 1999 constitution.”

According to him, the EFCC cannot select part of the Nigerian laws to use, adding that the 1999 constitution is sacrosanct.

“If other Nigerians have been arrested and charged to court within 48 hours there is no reason for the EFCC to continuously hold Moro. If you fail to follow the constitution then you are breeding anarchy which will not exclude anybody, including EFCC operatives.

“If they are not ready with their investigation then they have no business arresting

anybody. For Christ sake, it is not a crime for anybody to serve his fatherland. We view the arrest and the refusal by the EFCC to charge to court as a deliberate witch hunt, arising from the colossal defeat inflicted on the ruling party during the Benue South re-run.

“EFCC should not make us believe that they are selective in their arrest and being led by the nose because we are aware that over 100 APC members have been accused of graft yet they have not been arrested. Besides, the army of PDP members who out of fear of probe defected to the ruling party are yet to be arrested, confirming the allegation of selective justice.”

DSS arrest 3 over alleged plot to blackmail DG

T

he Department of State Services (DSS) said it has arrested three suspects (name withheld), who, according to the agency, have perfected plans to blackmail Alhaji Lawal Daura, the Director-General of the service.

Presenting the suspects before newsmen, on Friday in Abuja, an official of the service, Abdullahi Garba, said that they were arrested on Feb. 17 in Kaduna and Abuja respectively.

Garba explained that they claimed that the director-general had collected the sum of N4 billion from the PDP governors of Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia and Taraba, to influence Supreme Court judgments in their favour.

He said the suspects were also to misinform President Muhammadu Bu-

hari and the Nigerian public that the director-general had acquired choice property in Maitama and Asokoro areas of Abuja. ``The overall objective was to scare the director-general and put him under pressure just for the group to extort money from him to serve their pecuniary interest.`` Garba added that the director-general could not have helped the same PDP governors who daily accused him of not supporting them.

He said the activities of the group had become widespread, adding that it took advantage of the sustained war against corruption to further their illegal act. ``A method used by the group is to tell lies against their victims and also plant ru-

mours about them in certain government circles.`` Garba said they also used scaremongering and name dropping to deceive their victims to part with money.

He added that the service would not be distracted in its commitment to the anticorruption war and warned mischief makers and self appointed security experts to desist from dabbling into sensitive security matters. ``It is to be emphasised that the service will not hesitate to decisively deal with such persons and groups within the ambit of the law, ``he said.

Meanwhile, the trio, who hail from Kaduna, Borno and Katsina, however, denied the allegation, saying they were arrested on false allegation. (NAN)

elta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has urged staff of the Unified Local Government Service to positively impact on the socio-economic lives of those at the grassroots.

Okowa, who gave the charge on Thursday when members of the Association of Heads of Personnel Management (HPMs) and Treasurers [TLGs] in the state Local Government Councils paid him a courtesy visit in Asaba, said the local government directly deals with those at the grassroots and should strive to impact on their lives despite the economic situation in the country.

According to him, “I am glad that we have this association of HPM and TLG who appear to be the highest level of management staff at the local government council and to that extent I want to believe that the proper functioning of local governments rests on the members of this association. Local governments are dear to my heart because it affects the grassroots,” he said stressing that a good management will positively affect the lives of our people.

Okowa urged them

to always share and implement ideas that would help in the socioeconomic development of the people.

“It is my hope that since the association was actually put together to share ideas, such ideas should enrich the level of functionality at the local government so that we will be able to impact positively on our people,” he said.

He urged the local government councils not to be dormant but to be creative and invent ways of achieving positive results while following due process.

He admonished the staff of the Unified Local Government service including primary school teachers to key into the on-going biometric exercise as it was meant to identify the actual number of workers and save money for the service to attend to its responsibilities.

Earlier, The Chairman of the Association, Comrade Monday Agbeyi, commended Governor Okowa’s developmental stride in the past 8 months of his administration and assured him that the association would continue to abide by due process to ensure that things are properly done in the local government councils for the prosperity of all Deltans.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 14

Crime Cycle

Mashe Umaru Gwamna pmlcrimecycle@gmail.com 07037750515

Child trafficking: The modern day slavery in Nigeria

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

A

mina is a younger girl of 12 years old who hails from Kano state , shared her ordeals , fears and anxiety to the police .

Who looks beautiful , calm , quiet and naive. With many dreams about the future , ever though she too will be among the victim of child trafficking .

But she thanks her stars when the Kano state police command rescued in the hands of their adopters .

Amina story is not different from others stories of many children who their parents have been lured by cheap psychological lies and manipulative emotional 419 of selling their children in to unknown slavery of crystal “green pasture” outside the villages or towns.

However, Peoples Daily Weekend revealed that the trafficking of children for the purpose of domestic service, prostitution and other forms of exploitative labour is a widespread phenomenon in Nigeria for a very long time now.

However , there are classification of age range some are from ages 5- 10, 11- 18 and 18 above these Children are recruited with promises of well-paid jobs in urban centres within the country or abroad, realising

too late that they have been lured into a debt bond.

Violence, coercion and deception are used to take victims away from their families, since most of them are desperate for quick and easy way to get wealth .

Unfortunately , Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for trafficked women and children, Prostitution, domestic and exploitative labour continues to fuel this modern from of slavery.

Meanwhile, Human trafficking is said to be the third largest illegal trade after drug trafficking and arms trade.

There is yet no reliable estimate of the number of children trafficking internally and externally

by United Nation Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) primarily this is because of the clandestine nature of the phenomenon.

The causes of child trafficking are numerous.

They include poverty, desperation to escape violence, corruption, unemployment, illiteracy and ignorance.

Further more,these children lives under the mercy of those traffickers , in those countries they took their victims to country like Gabon, Togo, Cameroon, Niger, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Benin Republic, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

POLICE DIARY Security is a collective responsibility. Partner with the Police command to fight and provide security for all. Promote Community Partnership in preventing and controlling social disorder in the society

Police Emergency Numbers in the FCT

08032003913, 08061581936, 07057337653, 0802840883

Lately, children are reported to be trafficked from Nigeria to Dubai.

In reality, those who attempt to sell children into slavery or sexual exploitation do not seek their prey in comfortable suburbs; they look in the poorest shanty towns or the most underprivileged rural areas, where grinding poverty can heighten children’s vulnerability to protection abuses.

A cross section of resident give an insight on how most of these children suffering mental, psychological and emotional trauma and they children passed through.

A resident at Wuse 2 Jonathan Ibrahim said that most of these rich in United Kingdom , the adopted a child in Africa by agencies for black market organ trafficking after using keeping them for a month or when a child reach a certain age for their organ harvest, blood, labour because they are children and strong .

Another painful thing , is that after all inflicting pains on them ,killed or abounded them on the mercy of one .

And most of those agencies have not been

monitored .

Similarly ,Mrs. Omehi David emphasized that parents needs to be conscience of greed and selfishness of wealth . And most of those parents do not equally known the true situation of what is happening to them.

To fight child trafficking, the Government passed the Trafficking in Persons Prohibition and Administration Act and established the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related matters (NAPTIP) in 2003. Since then, investigation of cases, prosecution of criminals, rescue and rehabilitation of victims have been successfully carried out by the Agency.

Mrs. David reiterated that even of a recent media have been reported such cases and more grace to them.

Another resident , in utako market Miss Beverley Ben, decried the increasing rate of children who are being made vulnerable due to family and socio-economic hardship in the country maintaining that the experience effects the psychology and the

social well being of the victim especially those with poor education and lack of social amenities of life had contributed to the increase of child trafficking. She also observed the need to equip and educate Nigerians in the war against child trafficking in the country.

Adding that “I can recalled that the National Assembly passed a Human Trafficking Law to end the nefarious activities of the merchants, whether it is in trafficking of children or women. “But I have not seen or heard any conviction of perpetrators since the human trafficking bill was signed into law at the federal land,” she added.

If the government and agencies involved in combating child trafficking Put more effort, with their outstanding effort . Soon Nigeria will be curb the menace of child Trafficking , in as much as more enlightenment both in television , radio , newspaper and billboard adverts are involved in different languages in Nigeria , citizens will be enlightened and report any attempt of such evil act to the necessary authority .

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 15

Politics

The change APC promised Nigerians unrealistic —Tanko

H

ow prepared is the PDP to face the formidable APC in the forth coming area council polls in Federal Capital Terri-

tory (FCT)?

Well, we are fully prepared because the All Progressive Congress (APC) to me and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not a threat. We are working hard and mobilizing our people and we believe that the confidence that our supporters have on the party is still evergreen, especially now that the people have realized that the change which APC were preaching and promising is not change for progress but change for poverty and retardation. If you can make your inquiries very well, you will get to hear the feeling and frustration of the people as well as the disappointment that the people are expressing over the way and manner that APC administration is being run. So to me, I think it is an advantage to PDP because most of those who voted for APC are regretting for ever working and voting for APC. The AMAC administration under your party had concentrated two much effort in urban centers, thereby neglecting the rural communities in FCT. If elected, are you going to give priority attention to the rural areas?

Well, I beg to disagree with you on that, I think that the successive administrations in AMAC and other chairmen in PDP controlled area councils in FCT had done well in the areas of rural development. If you visit most communities in AMAC, the villagers will be confident and proud to point out to you various projects that were executed by AMAC under PDP leadership. When you talk of rural electrification, our party had provided that to most rural communities in FCT. When you talk of construction of schools which is education, we had done well in that, is it in the areas of health, agriculture, roads, and provision of clean and potable water, we had provided all that to the people at the grassroots. These are the reasons why they are still appreciative of PDP in the territory and I can assure you that they are really longing to vote for PDP again and again.

Which areas of the economy will you give priority attention if elected?

I believe in continuity because I had observed that our major problem as a nation in terms of provision of infrastructural facilities and basic amenities to the people is lack of maintenance culture. So I will continue from where the present administration is going to stop and ensure that the infrastructures that they had put in place are properly maintained before I think of embarking on new projects. One problem we have is absence of maintenance culture and lack of continuity on the part of our leaders.

If we do not maintain what we have, we will lose it to dilapidation and you know that it is more costly to build new infrastructures than to maintain existing ones. Therefore I will lay more emphasis on maintenance of public infrastructure. However education will be given priority attention it deserves because it is the bedrock of every development. Without education, there will be no development and peace. This is because if

Hon. Bitrus Kura Tanko is the immediate-past Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the chairmanship candidate of the party in the forth coming area council election in the territory.

In this interview with Peoples Daily Weekend, Kura alleged that the fight against corruption by the present administration is a direct witch-hunt against the opposition in the country. He noted that the promised change of the ruling party is not change for progress but change for poverty and retardation. He also spoke extensively on the coming election.

share and I feel that there is no reason for a state government to hijack local government allocation in the guise of joint account.

I will not seat and watch a situation where local council funds are diverted by the state government for other uses. Because these chairmen are accountable to the people who elected them into office and if these funds are diverted, they will not be able to fulfill their campaign promises to the people. I will challenge it to any level even though such ugly practice is not obtainable in FCT. What is your view on the ongoing fight against corruption by the federal government?

In fact, I believe that the fight against corruption is selective. Selective in the sense that we are all Nigerians, our behavior and thinking pattern is almost the same. Either in All Progressive Congress (APC) or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a Nigerian is a Nigerian. We think and behave almost the same way. You cannot tell me that it is only the PDP members that are corrupt. The president is surrounded by corrupt people and he is pretending not to be seeing what they are doing or what they seem to have done in the past. Take the issue of Dasuki for example; everybody in Nigeria knows that the President is on a vendetta mission, I want to tell you that this fight against graft

by APC administration is bound to fail. If truly the president is serious and sincere about this fight, let the fight be holistic.

This is because our people say that charity begins at home; therefore let him begin with his party, APC. Come to think of it, how did he get his campaign funds? Even when he openly told Nigerians that he borrowed money to buy his expression of interest form, but he ran a multi-billion naira campaign at the end of the day. Where did he get the money from? Let him come out and tell Nigerians how he raised his money?

Who are those that sponsored him? Who are those that financed his campaign and what was the source of their funds? You can fool some people sometime but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

“ Hon. Bitrus Kura Tanko

people are ignorant, problems and restiveness are bound to thrive; therefore, education will be given good attention. Health care delivery will also not be left out. We also need to go back to agriculture to ensure food security. I will also introduce programmes that will make our youths to be self employed by partnering with local and foreign NGOs to train our youths in contemporary skills that will make them self reliant. Government cannot employ every graduates but every graduate can be self employed if they have the zeal and are well trained. These are some of the few areas out of so many I intend to give priority attention if elected.

Your call to the electorate as the election draws nearer?

The call I have for the electorate is to remain resolute, to remain committed to the ideals of democracy, to vote according to their conscience and to come out in their numbers to vote for candidates of their choice.

What is your view on the local government joint account system with states in Nigeria?

There is no doubt that the constitution has recognized that there shall be a third tier of government which are the local government areas. And in terms of revenue allocation, local governments also have their own

The call I have for the electorate is to remain resolute, to remain committed to the ideals of democracy, to vote according to their conscience and to come out in their numbers to vote for candidates of their choice.

Page 16

News Extra

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Saraki dismisses his corruption trial at CCT as “persecution”

S

enate President Bukola Saraki yesterday told the audience at the Social Media Week Lagos that the Code of Conduct Tribunal trial he faces for massive acts of corruption is simply “persecution”.

Saraki made the comment in response to a question by a SaharaReporters correspondent who is attending the event.

He refused to identify what he is being persecuted for, or who is persecuting him, but he seemed to be calling the current government’s war into corruption into question.

The Senate President, whose trial

resumes in two weeks, faces 13 counts of corruption and false declaration of assets.

“I do not see this as a fight against corruption,” he said, “I see there more as persecution.”

He told his listeners that the first thing a public servant does is complete the asset declaration form, and that in view of the Code of Conduct Bureau having his declaration forms in question in 2003 and 2007 [when he took office as governor of Kwara State], no law was violated.

The moderator of the forum, lawyer and television host Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, then

pressed Mr. Saraki concerning his point about being persecuted, to disclose who is victimizing him.

Mr. Saraki demurred, saying the occasion was not the platform to discuss such matters. “Let’s keep the platform [to discussing] social media,” he pleaded.

It is unclear why the Senate President is only now seeking to challenge the validity of the charges against him and argue his case. Since he was first dragged before the CCB, his efforts have been to avoid the court rather than confront the trial, an approach that saw him wind up first in the Court of

Appeal, and then at the Supreme Court.

In October 2015, the Court of Appeal ruled against his attempts to quash the charges, affirming that the CCT is a court of criminal jurisdiction, albeit limited jurisdiction.

“There is no inherent difference between a court and a tribunal,” it said. “The only difference is that tribunals in most cases handle special cases”.

In November, Saraki then took his appeal to the Supreme Court, which also ruled against him a few days ago, saying he must face trial.

Full implementation of speed limit devices begins in April - FRSC boss

T

he Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Itori, Ogun, says it will commence the full implementation of speed limit device in April.

The Unit Commander of FRSC, Mrs Ime Offiong, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Ota, Ogun.

Offiong explained that the commission had embarked on advisory and cautioning of commercial vehicles which do not attract any fees or bookings, saying it will end on March 31. ``We implored commercial vehicles and private vehicles to install the devices to ensure reduction of crashes on our roads,’’ she said.

The unit commander lamented that one of the major challenges confronting the FRSC was disobeying of traffic rules by motorists.

Offiong advised transport owners, drivers and stakeholders to co-operate with the commission to achieve the implementation of the speed limit devices. ``As the day of the full implementation is drawing nearer, we enjoin people to comply with the full implementation of the speed limit devices,’’ she said.

(NAN)

L-R: Mr. Hussaini Monguno; Mr. Usman Danmallam and Mr. Nura Lawal suspected blackmailers paraded by the Department of State Security Service over plan to blackmail the Director General of the services, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Budgetary allocations to diversify economy inadequate —Chairman

R

ep. Abdulmumini Jibrin the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, on Friday said that budgetary allocations to critical sectors expected to drive economic diversification were grossly inadequate.

Jibrin, (APC Kano state), promised that the committee would work assiduously on the 2016 budget and make necessary adjustments in order to save the country’s dwindling economy.

He said that the 8th National Assembly was committed to

passing a budget that would promote diversification of the country’s economy.

Jibrin pledged that his committee would look critically into budgetary allocations to key sectors of the economy to ensure they aligned with the policy thrust of the APC-led administration. ``One of the policy thrust of the government is to diversify the economy by going into solid minerals and agriculture. ``But when you look at the budget, you will agree with me that allocations to critical sectors

like solid mineral do not strike a balance with what the government says is its policy in terms of diversification. ``These are some of the adjustments the Appropriation committee carry out so that we can pass a budget that will strike a balance with the general policy thrust of various sectors in our national budget,’’ Jibrin said.

The chairman said that the committee would also look into budgetary allocations of anti graft agencies to ensure that they were properly funded to carry out their

functions efficiently. ``The level at which the federal government has taken in the anticorruption fight does not match the allocation provided for agencies like the EFCC and ICPC. ``We are going to take a very good look at it and see what we need to do so that they can have the kind of allocation that will strike a balance with the policy thrust of the government. ``Otherwise there is going to be a huge vacuum,’’ Jibrin said.

(NAN)

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 17

News Extra

Police gun down armed robbery suspect in Delta

President, Women Arise , Dr Joe OkeiOdumakin (4th L) Presenting a trophy to the representative of Green House, the overall winner, Hephzibah at the 9th inter house sports competition of the royal masters school, yesterday in Lagos, with them are: (from left): Head Teacher, the Royal Masters School, Mrs Anugwo Olarenwaju, Head of Marketing, Fan Milk, Mr Wole Elusakin, Executive Director, the Royal Masters School, Mrs Seniorba Olatunji.

From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

P

olice detectives attached to the Delta State Police Command killed an armed robbery suspect who allegedly robbed a student of Novena University, Amai, Ukwuani Local Government Area.

The victim, Nenegi Ayebainaemi, was robbed of her bag containing N200, 000 and a GSM phone in front of GTB bank Abraka by three armed men operating with a Toyota Camry car with Reg. No KPE694 HB. But the bubble burst when police detectives received information that Ayebainaemi was being robbed. On receipt of the report, they mobilized and gave the hoodlums a hot pursuit up to Oviereovu village, along Warri Road, where the armed robbers alighted from their vehicles, ran into the bush and engaged the patrol men in a gun duel.

In the process, one of the hoodlums identified as Abel Omagboruko of Igun Village was shot and arrested, while others escaped with bullet wounds.

On a further search of the bush with vigilante men, the corpse of one Oke (surname unknown) was found.

The said Oke was identified by the wounded suspect as a member of the criminal gang, while the victim identified both suspects as those who robbed her.

Celestina Kalu, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, who confirmed the incident, said items recovered from the suspect include one cut to-size double barrel gun, the sum of N42,000 and a Toyota Camry car with reg. no. KPE 694 HB. While the injured suspect is receiving treatment, Mrs. Kalu said efforts were on to arrest the third member of the gang now at large, just as preliminary investigation revealed that the Toyota Camry was snatched from its owner at gun point in Orerokpe.

Jonathan named in statement ‘torn’ by Metuh —EFCC A

staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has told a court that a written statement allegedly volunteered by the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh, was destroyed by him partly because it made references to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Junaid told the court that Metuh admitted in the statement that he received N400 million arms money and used the sum for political activities and his personal needs, and made references to Jonathan.

The EFCC on Friday amended its charge of “destruction of evidence” against the Peoples Democratic Party’s national publicity secretary.

The charge was amended at the resumption of the proceeding by the commission’s counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, at an FCT High Court presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello.

Mr. Tahir said the third-count of “Mischief” contravened Section 326 punishable under Section 327 of the Penal Code.

Testifying in the case, an EFCC witness, Junaid Said, told the court that Mr. Metuh tore the commission’s document.

Mr. Said, a Special Task Force Team member of EFCC, led in evidence by Mr. Tahir, said that the team received a petition in January

2016.

He said that the petition was from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, which alleged that he transferred N400 million to Destra Investment Limited, a company owned by Metuh.

The EFCC witness said investigations revealed that the transfer was done without any contract approval.

He said the team visited the resident of Mr. Metuh at Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja, on Jan. 5 and invited him to the commission.

Mr. Said told the court that Mr. Metuh honoured the invitation and was interrogated by Ibrahim Musa, Michael Wetkas, Bello Umar, David Nkpe, Bello Adama and Eucharia Ibrahim.

The EFCC witness said the defendant volunteered a statement to the commission.

“My Lord, when he concluded writing his statement which was on four sheets of the EFCC statement form, I collected the statement and read over it, I then handed the statement over to my superiors Musa and Wetkas.

“When I was handing over the statement, the defendant said he was surprised that he had written that much and that he felt he had given too much information.

“Because of the comment, I was worried I gave him the statement

sheets one after the other for endorsement,’’ the witness said.

He said Mr. Metuh endorsed the first and second sheet, but tore the third sheet.

The witness told the court that the third sheet was where Mr. Metuh disclosed that he received the money for PDP political activities, settle his personal needs and made reference to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“My lord, he suddenly tore the statement sheet into pieces, in great shock and surprise I stood up I asked him why he did what he did?

“He said he did that because he was no longer willing to give the information on that statement sheet.

“I then requested the pieces of the statement, he declined and attempted to put them in his pocket, I then cautioned him and told him to respect himself, he insisted that he was going to dispose the torn sheet.

“I persuaded him to handover the tore sheet and brought one plain paper before him, he poured the pieces on the plain sheet, my other colleagues were there looking at us in surprise as well.

“He furthered tore them into pieces, saying only in the movies would this be recovered.

“I poured the pieces in the commission’s transparent polythene bag for exhibit and made entry of the incident into the EFCC’s incident

duty station diary, as well as EFCC’s pocket notebook.

“Later, in the day he requested to make additional statement, which he made, wrote his name and signed but declined to make any other statement on the torn paper.’’

The EFCC’s incident duty station diary, EFCC’s pocket notebook and the tore pieces were tendered and admitted as exhibits.

Mr. Said admitted under cross examination by Onyechi Ikpeazu, Mr. Metuh’s counsel, that the issue of the torn sheet was not written in his statement.

Mr. Ikpeazu demanded for the witness statement, but the prosecuting counsel gave him a photocopy of the statement.

Mr. Tahir said the defendant should have served him with notice to produce the document.

Justice Bello said the matter could no longer proceed without the original copy of the witness statement.

“Documents must meet the status as required by the law, there must be a certified copy of your documents.

“It is a healthy practice to produce the documents in your custody, especially in a criminal trial,’’ the judge told EFCC before adjourning the case till March 16 for continuation. (NAN)

Man collapses, dies during marriage introduction in Delta From Osakhare Erese, Asaba

T

ragedy struck on Thursday in Aviara community, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State when a 41 year-old businessman and a suitor, John Ejiro, allegedly collapsed and died during his marriage introduction.

Reports said the suitor suddenly developed headache mid-way to the introduction ceremony before his would be in-laws and as it allegedly persisted, he was said to have been of-

fered cold water to possibly relax his temperature.

But this was not to be, as few minutes later the situation worsened, and he was rushed out of the parlour where the introduction was being held.

Sources said while the battle to treat the headache lasted, the suitor allegedly collapsed and died on the spot.

Confirming his death, a family member of the suitor, Benjamin Okoghene, said “We made efforts

to save his life when he complained of severe headache, but it was to no avail as he collapsed and died on the spot”.

It was reliably gathered that the late suitor hailed from Udu Local Government Area and had allegedly been married with two children that he abandoned before the bubble burst.

As at the time of filing this report, his corpse has been deposited at Udu General Hospital morgue.

In another development, a three

year-old baby girl was reportedly snatched from her mother’s back at the popular Oleh market on Thursday by unidentified assailants who allegedly stormed the market in search of their target.

It was gathered that the assailants came in a motorcycle, armed with guns, they moved close to the unsuspecting woman and snatched the baby from her forcefully. But police officers in Oleh police division said they were on the trail of the suspects.

Page 18

Politics

Senate will expunge anti-social media provisions from anti-frivolous petitions bill —Saraki

By Justine Imo-Owo

T

he Senate will expunge Section 4 of the AntiFrivolous Petitions Bill, popularly known as ‘AntiSocial Media Bill,’ to give the media the freedom it deserved, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has assured.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Special Assistant on New Media, Mr Bankole Omishore and issued to newsmen yesterday in Abuja.

The statement said that Saraki gave the assurance while delivering a keynote address at an interactive session of Social Media Week in Lagos.

He promised that the National Assembly would not pass any bill that would gag the media or infringe on the rights of Nigerians.

Saraki recounted the critical role played by online media in the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections.

He said that social media ensured that manipulation of votes was reduced to the barest minimum because results were posted online as the elections progressed.

He urged Nigerians to continue to contribute to the development of the country through dialogue and debate on social media.

The president assured that the legislature would be open to Nigerians as part of its effort to ensure transparency and accountability.

He said that the recent interactive session between the National Assembly and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) was part of such efforts.

Saraki assured that the legislature would, from 2017, engage CSOs in budget hearing process to ensure inclusiveness.

It could be recalled that the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Na’ Allah sponsored a Bill for Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions, and other matters connected therewith, 2015. The bill scaled second reading on the floor of the Senate and it is scheduled for public hearing in March.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

FG seeks support of indigenous newspapers on value re-orientation campaign

T

he Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday, sought the support of indigenous newspapers in the Federal Government’s value re-orientation campaign and fight against corruption.

He made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the country’s indigenous Iroyin Owuro and the Alaroye newspapers in Lagos.

He commended the indigenous newspapers for disseminating information to people who would have been left out in getting the news.

Mohammed urged the newspapers to disseminate Federal Government policies and pro-

grammes, particularly the value re-orientation campaign entitled ``Change Begins With Me’’ to their huge readers.

He expressed government’s determination to bridge the communication gap between the government and the governed and stressed the need for a common platform toward achieving that. ``There are times when citizens don’t have the opportunity to understand government policies and programmes and don’t even know that such policies are for their common good and such situations creates a barrier between the two.’’

He explained that such discon-

nect could be used by mischievous people to carry wrong messages to the people.

The minister said that his visit was to make further consultation as he had met several stakeholders in the media industry.

He added that the visit was in double capacity as minister of information and that of culture, noting that as minister of culture, he would ensure that indigenous languages do not go into extinction. ``One of the mandates of the National Institute of cultural Orientation (NICON) is to ensure that local languages do not go into extinction,’’ he said.

The Managing Director of Alaroye Newspapers, Mr Alao Adedayo, said the visit was the first time the minister of information and culture would visit the company.

He thanked the minister for the visit, saying it was an indication of the determination to promote indigenous languages and culture in the country.

Mr Akeem Lasisi, the Managing Director of Iroyin Owuro newspaper, said the company would support Federal Government in its value re-orientation campaign and the fight against corruption.

(NAN)

L-R: President, Shippers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Rev Jonathan Nicol; Head of Lagos Operation, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Joe Bankole and Head, Maritime Desk (NAN) Lagos office, Mr Adeleye Ajayi during presentation of prudent news dissemination award to News Agency of Nigeria at the 2nd National Shipper’s Day Celebration, yesterday in Lagos

Samson Siasia reappointed Super Eagles coach

By Osby Isibor

F

ormer Super Eagles striker, Samson Siasia, has been reappointed coach of the team.

Siasia was appointed Friday as replacement for his former colleague, Sunday Oliseh, who resigned hours earlier.

Siasia will work with respected tactician Salisu Yusuf, FIFA U-17 World Cup – winner Emmanuel Amuneke and Alloy Agu for the upcoming 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Egypt, thenff.com, the official website of the Nigeria Football Federation, reported Friday.

Siasia worked as Super Eagles’ Head Coach between December 2010 and October 2011, before his contract was terminated following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Amuneke led the Nigeria U-17 male to a fifth FIFA World Cup title in Chile in 2015. Salisu Yusuf and Alloy Agu were in the imme-

diate past crew led by Oliseh.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has responded to the sudden resignation of Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, describing the development as ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’.

The spokesperson for the Federation, Ademola Olajire, said with Oliseh’s departure, the country would have to immediately empanel a new set of technical leadership for the national team.

“Oliseh is gone and we have to move forward,” Olajire said in an interview in Abuja with the Nigeria Television Authority. “As far as we are concerned, it is good riddance to bad rubbish. He is not the kind of person we though he was.

“He went on YouTube to abuse Nigerians. The Minister pleaded with the federation to allow him to remain in place for our next two matches. As you can see, he did not even wait for those matches.”

Olajire said the NFF only heard of the resignation in the media as the coach was yet to send in any letter to that effect.

The NFF spokesperson said he was in touch with the President of the NFF, Amaju Pinnick, and other top officials of the Federation, who are currently in Zurich for FIFA special congress.

“I cannot tell you what exactly they will do, but I can tell you that we will empanel a new set of technical hands for the team. And whatever Oliseh has mishandled in his few months in charge, they will have to right.”

Olajire faulted Oliseh’s claim that the NFF violated the terms of his contract, challenging the coach to publish details of those aspects of his contract that were breached.

Coach Oliseh resigned on Friday, just over seven months after he was appointed.

Oliseh, who announced his resignation on Twitter, said he

took the decision due to the inability of the NFF to honour the terms of his contract.

“Due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages, benefits to my players, assistant coaches and myself, I resign as Super Eagles Chief Coach,” he tweeted.

In a preceding tweet before announcing his resignation, Oliseh thanked Nigerians for the opportunity to serve as coach of the national team “I feel fortunate, blessed and eternally grateful for having the honour to play, captain and coach this great nation of ours, Nigeria.”

Oliseh, whose appointment was made with much fanfare by the NFF, soon started having problems with the executives of the federation over remuneration, match tactics and results.

His complaint about being owed was not well received by the NFF, which rather threatened to sanction him.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 19

Tourism

Owu Falls: Spectacular symbol of nature

Main fall

O

wu falls is the highest and most spectacular natural water fall in West Africa, and is located in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. The water fall is one of the symbols of nature and its existence is untraceable. The water fall is 120m above water level and cascades 330 feet down an escarpment with rocky out crops to a pool of ice cold water below. It is surrounded with a beautiful natural ambience and hills which makes sightseeing a memorable experience. The waterfall is characterised with ice cold water, beautiful rocky part, walk ways, and evergreen surroundings.

Kwara State (Yoruba: Ìpínl Kwárà) is in Western Nigeria. Its capital is Ilorin. The primary ethnic group in Kwara State is Yoruba, with significant Nupe, Bariba Hausa minorities.

History Kwara State was created on May 27, 1967, when the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon broke the four regions that then constituted the Federation of Nigeria into 12 states. At its creation, the state was made up of the former Ilorin and Kabba provinces of the then Northern Region and was initially named the West Central State but later changed to “Kwara”, a local name for the

River Niger.

Kwara State has since 1976 reduced considerably in size as a result of further state creation exercises in Nigeria.

On February 13, 1976, the Idah/ Dekina part of the state was carved out and merged with a part of the thenBenue/Plateau State to form Benue State.

On August 27, 1991, five local government areas, namely Oyi, Yagba, Okene, Okehi and Kogi were also excised to form part of the new Kogi State, while a sixth, Borgu Local Government Area, was merged with Niger State.

Tourism Important tourist attractions in Kwara State include Esie Museum, Owu Falls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Ogunjokoro, Kainji Lake National Parks and Agbonna Hill. There is need to develop tourist centers in the state to enhance physical development, a place like Owu Fall needs standard hotel and good road, which will encourage people to visit the fall as a picnic center.

Transport The Nigerian Railway Corporation extends services from Lagos through the state to the northern part of the country.

The Ilorin Airport is a major center for both domestic and international flights and has now been upgraded to a hub for

transportation of cargoes.

Economy Agriculture is the main source of the economy and the principal cash crops are: cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanut, tobacco, beniseed and palm produce.

Mineral resources in the state are gold, limestone, marble, feldspar, clay, kaolin, quartz and granite rocks.

Industries in the state

The lower course of the fall

include Dangote Flour Mill, Lubcon Lubricant Company, Kam Industries Nigeria Ltd, Tuyil Pharmacy Nig Ltd, Padson Industries Nig Ltd, Kwara Breweries, Ijagbo Global Soap and Detergent Industry, United Match Company, Tate and Lyle Company, Resinoplast Plastic Industry, Phamatech Nigeria Limited, Kwara Textile and Kwara Furniture Company all in Ilorin. Others are Paper

Manufacturing Industry, Jebba, Okin Foam and Okin Biscuits, Offa, Kay Plastic, Ganmo and Kwara Paper Converters Limited, Erin-ile. Others are Sugar Producing Company, Bacita, Kwara animal Feed Mall, Ilorin and the Agricultural Products Company.

Enwikipedia.org

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 20

Homes

Show your love of nature with bath tub decorations

Bring nature indoors to create the fantasy of a forest bath.

T

he tub is the leviathan in the bathroom; you can’t do too much with it, so decorating around it sets the tone for the entire room. Enclose the tub in decorative tiles, surround it with natural materials, or launch with a maritime theme. Let the designs around the tub spill over into the decor for the rest of the bathroom.

Tubs within walls What surrounds an indoor bathtub are walls, which can determine the quality of experience when you are soaking in the tub, as well as define the decor for the rest of the bathroom.

Mosaic tile walls transport bathers to the Aegean with a Greek frieze of painted ceramic tile bordered by a Greek key design.

The towels can pick up the key motif. A chrome-clad slipper tub set into a corner of marble tile walls and floor gleams in reflected light from a tarnished pier glass leaning against one wall. The palest blush pink towels in an old apothecary cabinet add a soft hint of colour without detracting from the hard shiny surfaces around the tub.

Bring in nature When the tub is in front of a mural of white aspen trees in winter, a warm-climate bathroom is cool and relaxing. Every touch of nature is a serene addition to the bathroom. Stock a rush basket near the tub with handmade scented soaps and sea sponges. Suspend a crooked tree branch high over the tub,

wound with fairy lights to make a starry chandelier. Use a cork or sisal bathmat for wet feet.

Beautiful and useful Rolled-up bath towels in a handy basket made of recycled strips of plastic are a quirky touch next to the tub in a guest bath. An all-white tub in a white bathroom is enlivened by a spring green bathmat and a lineup of bright yellow rubber duckies that entice a grubby child to full immersion. A vertical row of cast metal hooks in sea shapes whales, sailboats, sea sirens or surfboards -- holds towels right next to the tub and shower. A slab of weathered barn wood or silvered driftwood becomes a casual tub tray to hold a book or a relaxing mug of herbal tea.

Plastic, vinyl and fiber Choose bath accessories that project a neat and unified appearance around the tub. A clear, star-studded acrylic bucket to hold rolled towels, with a matching wastebasket, soap dish and hanging shower caddy, inspires a wall-mounted brass star over the tub and a clear vinyl shower curtain splattered with constellations. You might even paint the sides of a clawfoot tub midnight blue or black and stencil stars all over it. The seagrass tub mat is at home with neutral towels and washcloths in straw, sand and beige for a Zen tub. Re-purpose terra-cotta flower pots, from gigantic to minuscule, as towel baskets, shampoo and bath-brush holders. ehow.com

e n i z a

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

d n e k e We

g a M ent

m Entertain

Waje releases video for Ominiknowest

Fashion

ps Beauty Ti

od Kannywo

>>Pg 36

‘I never wanted to do music’

PG 36

Gospel singer, Houghton’s marriage crashes over infidelity

PG 37

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Hollywoo

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d Bollywoo

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 22

Your Body, Image & U

What you eat says a lot about your body image With Jacqui Iwu bwreforms@gmail.com 08184825606 (sms only)

A

lot of people feel what they feed their body is not vital and they can eat whatever they lay their hands on. Again, food must not be when you eat a whole pot of cooked food and drink whatever you see. Food could even be small but very healthy chops. Those who enjoy snacking can also feed on healthy snacks. Some nutritionist will disagree that snacking is healthy. This is because lots of people who love snacks hardly go for healthy ones. Cooked or fried groundnuts with fresh garden eggs are all healthy snacks. Roasted unripe plantain is good too. The only problem with roasted plantain is the unhygienic way it is prepared by road side sellers, if you have a barbecue equipment, you can do your roasted plantain on your own and add other items like fish and beef to spice it up depending on your taste. A combination of fried groundnuts and fresh banana is a also a healthy snack and can be used as food. There are so many healthy snacks so, I totally disagree that snacking is not healthy, it all depends on what you snack on.

Those who feed on too much baked foods and flavoured drinks suffer from the bad effects of snacking. Lots of people love to eat cakes, pies, doughnuts,

“

The thing with baked foods is that they go well with sweetened drinks so those who enjoy eating too much of them hardly drink water, but rely more on cola and other fizzy drinks which contain lots of caffeine and sugar.

chin-chin, biscuits, and all sorts of things, while forgetting to take fresh fruits and water. The thing with baked foods is that they go well with sweetened drinks so those who enjoy eating too much of them hardly drink water, but rely more on cola and other fizzy drinks which contain lots of caffeine and sugar.

Drinks with just caffeine and sugar are not healthy at all. They are just empty calories and have no nutritional value.

Those of you who love fruits like watermelon, oranges, coconut are on the right track. If you break the coconut yourself, enjoy the water. Coconut water flush out toxins and enrich your skin texture. These fruits can be used as food and your body will get all the nourishment it needs.

They will also make your skin glow. There are people you see, especially women

and you think that they use very expensive skin products, but if you examine them closely, they feed more on fruits and vegetables. Such women also drink lots of clean water to moisturizse/hydrate the skin both in and out.

If you are a man and you drink lots of alcohol, you must make regular water drinking your companion.

You must not rely on just the one glass of water you drink during your lunch or dinner, but must drink plenty water starting with your breakfast. Water will help reduce the bad effects of the alcohol in your vital organs like the kidney/ liver/heart. Please do not use water as an excuse to drown in alcohol. This will backfire in your face some day. Try to reduce the amount of alcohol you take and drink more water.

There are men you see with very crinky and dry skin,

such men tend to consume too much alcohol and apart from the damages done to the kidney/liver/heart, it dries up your skin and makes you look older than your age.

The worst kind of alcohol are the dry ones like gin, brandy, vodka, whiskey etc. It does not matter how expensive or refined these alcoholic drinks are, they are still unhealthy when consumed too much.

Those who drink beer can always check the number of bottles they take in a day and must not make beer consumption a regular stuff.

How about wine? Different wines have their alcoholic contents and some are much healtheir than others. Wines are made from grapes which are basically fruits, but their production process matters a lot, making some more healthier than others. Red

wine is much healtier than other types of wine, but stay away from wines with high alcoholic contents.

I personally get very bad headache when I drink some types of white/dry wine in small quantity so, I keep away from white wine even if it is one glass.

If this happens to you each time you consume any wine product, stay away from such wine. It means they are not good for your body.

Champagnes are good, but also contain alcohol as well so do not pride yourself as one who can afford to drink champagne and then feel it is healthy. The alcohol in them are equally as bad as the ones in other alcoholic drinks.

Those who come from countries where most wines are being produced tend to benefit more from getting them fresher than some of us in this part of the world.

Coming back to solid foods, those who cook their own food and also understand various food nutrients tend to eat healthy because they know how to combine their food items.

Someone who eats eba/ amala/tuwo every day, morning, afternoon/night does not understand what eating healthy is. These are basically carbs that must be combined with some protien so that you can have a balanced diet.

Knowing how to combine your food makes your diet rich/healthy. Carbs are just for energy and weight gain. The foods that nourishes your body and gives it a good look are protein/fruits/vegetables plus plenty of water.

Jacqui Iwu is a Life/Career/Business Coach A Stress Management Expert &Conference Speaker Media Relations Personnel BLOG: http//bluntjacqui.blogspot.com FACEBOOK: Beautifulwoman.column TWITTER: @ JacquiWORLD

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Nativity

S

enator Patricia Naomi Akwashiki (born 2 November 1953) was elected Senator for the Nasarawa North constituency of Nasarawa State, and took office on 29 May 2007. She is a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Early education and career Akwashiki earned a BA in Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1982. She entered the banking industry, where she became a senior manager. She was elected to the 5th Assembly (2003–2007) of the House of Representatives on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform. She failed to win the PDP nomination to run for a second term, and transferred to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), on which ticket she won election in 2007 as Senator for Nasarawa North.

Akwashiki has done well as a politician but as a growing up child, she actually dreamt of a career in medicine. “I wanted to be a doctor. But I was ignorant about choosing the right path to meeting my career goals”, she revealed. “I didn’t know that by attending a regular secondary school, rather than a teachers training college, I would have wider opportunities with regard to choosing a career. I had the option of going to a secondary school in Yola or attending Madonna Teachers College.

But I chose Madonna College.

At the end I discovered that I had to start all over if I were to study medicine. So from Madonna College, I moved on the path of studying education up to degree level.

But I am very grateful to God for what I turned out to be. I only taught as NYSC member after which I worked in the information ministry briefly before going into banking.”

After taking her seat in the Senate in May 2007, Akwashiki was appointed to committees on States and Local Government, Inter-Parliamentary Affairs, Communications, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions and Women and Youth. In a mid-term evaluation of Senators in May 2009. She sponsored a bill to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and contributed brilliantly to debate in plenary and committee assignments.

In January 2010 she staged a come-back when she returned to the PDP, citing injustice and insensitivity of the ANPP national secretariat and factional infighting in the state chapter of the party as reasons.

On her banking career, she disclosed that hard work led to her quick rise in the financial industry.

“When I converted from an admin staffer to mainstream banking, I worked in all the departments of the bank. The

Page 23

Womanhood

Patricia Akwashiki: Affecting lives through politics

She believes that those that cannot ignite change have no business in politics.

“Honestly, the most important thing for me as a politician is to make a difference in the existence of my people. I don’t like to see my people suffer or struggle with problems. I don’t like seeing people suffer. So, once I hear that you have a problem, I do what I can to solve it. I might not have solved all the problems, but I surely touched very many lives. I did a lot of lobbying to attract developmental projects to my zone. I built six health centers in my zone and I also conducted highly successful health outreaches. I assisted people that lived with diseases for years because they had help in the past. The joy and relief people got during these health outreaches made me vow that when I fully retire from politics, I will spend my time organising more of such interventions.”

Mrs. Patricia Akwashiki

highlight of my career was my appointment as branch manager of Lion Bank. I was posted from Jos to Abuja to open the branch. We broke even in six months which means we were making profit by the middle of the year, even as a new branch.”

Her helpful disposition as a banker led people to ask her

“

to contest election.

“Even as a banker my people interacted with me and they had complaints about those representing them. At that time most of us professionals left politics to people who were uneducated and they just couldn’t meet the aspirations of the people.

So the professionals later

started looking at politics and we knew that we had to make a move. The good thing is that in my state people are politically active. They love to be involved in the political happenings. I got tired of criticizing people and I got involved to make a difference and I do believe that I made the difference.”

Honestly, the most important thing for me as a politician is to make a difference in the existence of my people. I don’t like to see my people suffer or struggle with problems.

Advice for female politicians The ex-lawmaker who mentors young female politicians speaks from a position of experience with regards to advice for women wishing to mount the soap box. “I try to mentor young women because somebody, Mrs. Elizabeth Nyam also mentored and gave me the opportunity that changed things for me. Mrs. Nyam was chairperson of Lion Bank and she said that I should be given the chance to come to establish the Abuja branch of our bank. And from that job, I got lifted. I tell young women that politics is good.

But if you have a young family, wait until your kids are grown older. This is because politics is time consuming. It is even more tasking if you are to contest for office. Women must get the consent and support of their husbands.

The good thing is that many husbands do support their wives. But there are some men that don’t want anything to do with politics. You have to know which category your husband belongs to.”

According to Akwahsiki, women have to match men word for word when it comes to smear campaigns.

“I will tell women not to be intimidated by name calling, they have to boldly confront those who call them names and give them a dose of their own medicine. This is the only way they will think before speaking to you wrongly,” she advises.

Enwikipedia.org

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 24

Kiddies World SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

B E AD C

HIS AND HERS CORNER

Akwa Ibom Stadium

Akwa Stadium

T

he Akwa Ibom International Stadium is an all-seater national sports stadium located in Uyo, the state capital of Akwa Ibom.

The stadium serves as a home to the Nigerian Super Eagles as well as a center for various social, cultural, and religious events. The contract for the construction of the Akwa Ibom International Stadium complex and Games Village was awarded in 2012 to Julius Berger and was completed in 2014. The 30,000 seater ultra modern multipurpose sports complex was modeled after Allianz Arena.

Construction and Architecture The contract for the design of the stadium was awarded to Julius Berger a structural engineering firm based in Nigeria. They were responsible for the architectural design, execution planning, as well as constructional supervision of the stadium,as well as maintenance. The stadium which seats on 48 hectares of land has some unique features such as bullet proof VIP/VVIP sections, collapsable seats, two digital score boards, digital playback screens, digital flood lights, and 30 emergency exits.

Structure The stadium structure is

“

in two phases which includes a 400m-running track for athletic events, and is the pilot part of Uyo Sports Park development, and is enclosed by a white triangular-shaped outer covering that encircles the whole spectator stand. The East Stand and Curves can seat approximately 22,500 people.

The Governors’ Lounge has sitting capacity for between 30 and 40 VVIPs and is located in the Grand Stand on Level Two. It is constructed to carry little more than 30,000 spectators whether for soccer or track and field events, while the Grand Stand can comfortably accommodate about 7,500 spectators, including the VIP/ VVIPs. There is also a sixlane track built specifically for athletes to train.

The Akwa Ibom International Stadium meets the requirements of the International safety standards; it is equipped with emergency service units (to enable exit within 6 minutes), closed circuit security cameras as well as crowd control steel fencing. There are also standby fire fighting equipment and metal detectors which have been put in place to avoid any misfortunes. The stadium has been slated to host the AFCON qualifying series against South Africa on 17 November.

The Akwa Ibom International Stadium meets the requirements of the International safety standards; it is equipped with emergency service units (to enable exit within 6 minutes), closed circuit security cameras as well as crowd control steel fencing.

Time for play

Cartoon Angle

Tom and Jerry

Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 25

B Kiddies World

E A CD

MODEL OF THE WEEK

AFRICAN TALES

How Osato’s greed sent the sky far from earth

Bush Cow and Elephant

I

n the beginning, they sky was close to the earth. So close you could reach up and touch it. And you could eat it! In those days, people always had enough to eat, without ever having to work for it.

Men and women did not have to plow the fields and sow the seeds and gather the crops. Children did not have to fetch sticks for the fire. Whenever anybody was hungry, they just reached up and tore off a piece of the sky.

But people grew careless with the sky’s gifts. They broke off more than they needed. After all, the sky was so big; there would always be enough for everybody.

Who cared about a little wasted sky?

But the sky cared. Soon the sky’s sorrow turned to resentment, and its resentment grew to anger. “I offer myself every day to these people,” the sky brooded, “and they throw me away, half eaten, like garbage.”

“People of Earth!” The sky’s eyes flashed light lightning. Clouds bubbled and boiled. “You have not treated me with respect. You have wasted my gifts. I warn you. If you are greedy, I will leave. I will move far away.”

The people listened and promised to be more careful.

After that, no one broke off more than they could eat. And they always remembered to thank the sky.

But then the time came for the greatest festival of the year, in honor of

the chief of the kingdom. The night rang with music. Bells clanged and drums banged. People stamped and clapped and laughed.

But there was one woman who was never satisfied. Osato always wanted more. Her arms were heavy with brass bracelets. But brass wasn’t good enough for her—she wanted coral beads. And most of all, she loved to eat.

First she helped herself to a handful of noon-yellow sky that tasted like pineapple. Chunk after chunk disappeared into her mouth. Then she ladled out some sky stew, spicy and warm. She lifted the dish to her lips, draining it, dumplings and all. Soon her stomach was stuffed. She loosened her robe. What next? Delicate slices of morning sky, pink and glistening. With a swift movement, she scooped them up and slurped them down all at once.

At last the tables were empty. And Osato was full. She waddled home.

She called to her husband to help, but he had been feasting too and was slumped in his chair, too full even to move. She called to her children to help, but they too were full from the wonderful feast. Still, they forced down a few fingerfuls.

She called to her neighbors to help, but they had been at the festival too and at the sight of more food, they held their stomachs and groaned. But they ate as

much as they could, with worried frowns on their faces and anxious glances above their heads.

But even with the help of the entire village, they could not eat that last piece of sky. Osato had taken too much. No one slept well that night.

The next morning, the sky did not offer his food to the people. Parents had nothing for breakfast. Children cried, hungry. Osato knelt on the ground, rocking and sobbing. “I’m so sorry... “ But the sky just sighed. With a great rush of air, it lifted itself up. High as the tree tops. High as the mountain tops.

High above the earth rose the sky, far beyond the reach of humans. “I gave you all you needed,” its voice floated down to Osato, “but still you took more.

I cannot stand such greed. I must leave. I will not return.”

“But how will we live?” wept Osato.

“What will we eat?”

There was silence.

Osato’s tears fell to the Earth. And the Earth spoke. “Dry your tears,” it said gently. “I can feed you. But you will have to work for your living. You will have to learn to plow fields and sow seeds and harvest crops. And remember what you have learned today. Take only what you need. And I will give it gladly.”

“Oh, I will,” promised Osato through her tears. “I’ll never take more than I need—ever, ever again.”

Make a Cardboard box paper TV

H

ere’s a TV you won’t mind your kids staring at for hours...a cardboard TV that is! When they’re in charge of the design, the programming, and the technology, it’s hard to see television as anything but educational. It’s not a flatscreen, but you can’t beat the price.

What you need: • Large cardboard box • Large roll of white drawing paper (such as butcher paper or easel paper) • Magic markers and crayons • Paint • Decorative materials (optional) • Scissors or a craft knife • Glue

What you do: Remove the top of the box and discard. Set the box on its longest side, so the open part of the box is to the back.

Cut a large rectangle from the front (the part facing you) of the box. This will be your television screen.

Cut a slit on either side of the box long enough to accommodate the paper.

You will be threading the paper through vertically.

Decorate the cardboard tv by painting it and gluing on whatever decorative materials you might have handy.

Unroll the paper and have your child illustrate a story on the paper, starting at the beginning of the roll. Try to be sequential

(“Goldilocks is trying the porridge. Goldilocks is going upstairs”) but don’t worry too much about plot line at this point.

Roll the paper back up again.

Thread the beginning of the roll of paper through both slits in the box, with the drawing facing out through the box.

To turn on the television, one child will have to stand on one side of the TV and draw the paper through the slits while a helper stands on the other side and supports the heavier roll of paper.

Now it’s show time! Invite friends and family to watch your child’s creation, or have Mom and Dad man the TV while your child enjoys his homemade television show!

Josephat, Goddestiny Chikamnso

ACTIVITIES

With the help of the right materials, have a fun-filled weekend colouring the image below, show your work to your parents or teacher for correction. Cheers!

CREATIVITY

Cardboard box paper TV

Page 26

e-Learning

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Experts say smartphone owners are increasingly buying second handsets with limited features - but batteries that last for weeks

A

s smart phones continue to grow smarter, many people are now rejecting the increased connectivity and taking a huge step backward.

Embraced by average mobile users and high-profile figures alike, including British actor Eddie Redmayne, the ‘dumbphone’ is making a comeback, and it can only perform the most basic functions.

Ditching complex handsets, ‘dumbphone’ users actually have to use their phones as a phones, limiting functionality to calls and texts, and freeing up time otherwise spent glued to a screen.

While non-smartphones have become less visible in the last few years, they haven’t entirely been wiped off the shelves.

These basic phones, called ‘feature phones’ do little else above making calls or texts.

Some can play music, or access the internet, but according to The Financial Times, there’s still a demand for them (though it’s vastly outweighed by demand for current capabilities).

A study by research group Strategy Analytics estimated that 44m of these ‘basic’ phones were sold in 2015 – just two 2 per cent of

the global market.

‘Dumbphone’ enthusiasts have numerous reasons for turning their backs on smart devices.

Many argue that smartphones are broken easily and can’t hold a charge despite the steep prices, and the advanced capabilities are unnecessary for the average person.

Actor Eddie Redmayne even reportedly made the leap, and is quoted as saying the move ‘was a reaction against being glued permanently to my iPhone during waking hours.’

Some even choose to have the best of both worlds, using a smartphone or ‘phablet’ when needed and switching to a smaller, basic phone when it’s more convenient.

But, phones with limited capabilities aren’t just a way to escape the barrage of emails, or disconnect from social media.

Basic phones are known to maintain their battery lives much longer, making them more reliable, and these types of phones are also commonly given to children and elderly people.

They’re durable, easy to use, and cheap to replace.

Both Microsoft and Samsung still produce basic phones.

The Nokia 215, a brand that’s now owned by Microsoft, can hold its charge for

The Single SIM has a stand-by time of up to 29 days, while the dual SIM version offers up to 21 days.

As smart phones continue to grow smarter, many people are now rejecting the increased connectivity and taking a huge step backward. Embraced by average mobile users and highprofile figures alike, the ‘dumbphone’ is making a comeback, and it can only perform the most basic functions

29 days – and the Nokia 515 can go to 38 days.

Geared specifically for the elderly, phones like those produced by Doro have larger buttons, and Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, tells The Financial Times that this type of device is becoming a ‘niche opportunity.’

For many users, a smartphone just isn’t a practical or realistic option at all.

‘Using a smartphone in some countries in Africa, for instance, is not an option for many users, as it would require to charge it on a daily basis,’ Jeronimo told FT. ‘On the other hand using

a smartphone means little for users who cannot connect to a 3G network, either because they are not avail-

“

able or because the connectivity is extremely expensive.’

MAILONLINE

Geared specifically for the elderly, phones like those produced by Doro have larger buttons, and Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, tells The Financial Times that this type of device is becoming a ‘niche opportunity.’

PAGE 27

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Compiled By Doyin Ojosipe

The stolen soup aroma

A

long time ago in the village of Ipetumodu, there lived a poor woman. This woman was so poor that she did not have any soup for her eba. The eba is a starchy paste made from cassava flour and it is rather unappetizing to eat all by itself. Across the street from this poor woman lived another woman who cooked egusi soup every day.

One day, as the poor woman was sitting down to her only meal for the entire day, a small bowl of eba, the aroma from her neighbors cooking wafted down through her window; “Perhaps she will be kind enough to let me have a little soup for my eba” she thought. So she took her bowl of eba and headed over to her neighbor who was busy stirring a big pot of egusi soup.

“Please, may I have a little soup for my eba?”, the poor woman asked.

The woman stirring the egusi soup looked up to see her raggedy-looking neighbor and replied, “If you can’t make your own egusi soup, then you don’t deserve to have any.”

The poor woman went back to her hut and sat outside her doorsteps where the aroma from her neighbor’s egusi was very strong. She would scoop some eba with her hands; inhale a plenty of the egusi soup aroma while she swallowed the lump of eba.

The egusi woman, seeing this destitute neighbor eating her soup’s aroma got very angry. She ran out and yelled at the woman; “Stop eating the

Leisure Poem

EAGLE’S FANG

Many said their world crumbled When nature dismantled And no hope of assuaging desired Yet none is inspired The sun scourged all none was left From the north to south all were stepped The rain of nature is falling sharp and deep Distributor of God’s blessing is fast and quick Reaching the nook and cranny The fang of the eagle has pierced my heart The needle of nature is at my heart Like scorpion stings My heart has been stung My nerves seizes to function For the comatose in there The eagle’s fang has torn my world apart Though they call it sleep But my river is without ship How can I ferry the river How can fish lay?

When water is full of cormorants Where can I see happiness without my vision?

I have searched the moon and sun Rivers are naked with search Thinking all that receded could be found Yet I found not a piece

aroma from my soup!” But the poor woman did not stop; she kept inhaling the aroma from the egusi soup while she ate her eba. She found the aroma from the soup very satisfying.

Everyday, whenever the rich aroma of egusi soup wafted into the poor woman’s hut, she would quickly make a little bowl of eba and go outside to inhale the pleasant aroma. The egusi woman was getting very furious and she decided to take

her case to the Oba, that is the King of their village.

She told the King, “This woman steals the aroma from my egusi to eat her eba; She must be punished.” The Oba heard the story and agreed that the poor woman should indeed be punished for stealing soup’s aroma so he ordered the egusi woman to carry out the punishment.

“She stole your egusi aroma, therefore you shall flog

Search out the mining words in the puzzle

her shadow”, the Oba told the egusi woman. “You shall flog her shadow forty times” she was therefore handed a big stick with which she would carry out justice.

The egusi woman, wielding her big stick to beat the poor woman’s shadow felt very foolish. She felt so foolish that she asked the poor woman for forgiveness and offered to give her egusi soup from that day on.

The fang that knows no bound Thou go where ever thou found Both the rich and the poor The weak and strong Thou tear apart all Why has thy flood no respect for the red kingdom?

Why has thou no care of the pain caused Eagle, bird of nature thou shall not perch Do not perch again on our roof Thy hovering distort our joy Perch not close, go far and wild Go where thou shall die of starvation Where no flesh shall be torn again Go that men could have painless sleep Go never you come again go and go oblivion.

IN HONOUR OF MR. GARBA BUKAR

By John Ocheje

Laugh out loud (lol)!

Side effects…

Akpos was sick, so the doctor gave him a tablet but immediately, he started cutting the sides of the tablet, then the Doctor asked: “Why are you cutting the sides?”

Akpos replies: “To avoid the side effects” My child must bear my name Akpos insisted that his first child must bear his name, so so the day for the naming ceremony came; it was done in a church.

The following conversation took place: Rev: Which name would you like your child to bear?

Akpos: (With smiles all over his face), Akpos!

Rev: No! He has to bear an English name.

Akpos: ok oh, Akposking!

Rev: listen, your son should be named after a Saint in d bible.

Akpos: nawa oh; which kind wahala be this na? Ok Pastor, my son will bear St. Akpostus 1 of Warri.

Akpos loves his Dad! Dad (asks Akpors): who do you like more;

ABANDONED AGRICULTURAL BLASTHOLE COAL COPPER MINER CRUSHER DRILL EXPLORATION EXPLOSION

EROSION EXCAVATION ENVIRONMENT GEOLOGY METALLURGY ORE PETROLEUM PROSPECTING RECLAMATION

REFUSE RENEWABLE POTASH ROCK PRECIOUS SLURRY VEIN

Mum or Dad? Akpors : Both.

Dad - ok if I go to America and Your Mum goes to Paris, where will You go?

Akpors : Paris Dad: that means you like your Mum more?

Akpors: no I like Paris.

Dad: ok, if I go to Paris and your Mum goes to America, where will You go?

Akpors - America.

Dad: (angry) why?

Akpors: because I’ve been to Paris before

Do the right thing at the right time

I used to be mental, weird and dumb, with weird love and a small heart; never handing work on time, always got phone calls home, always get in trouble, suspended and almost expelled; but , one day I saw something that changed my life...and I want to share it with u!

I saw this Quote; “Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation.”

So, I started working hard and getting my wishes!

Beauty Page 28

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

TIPS

Home remedies for treating chapped lips

C

happed or dry lips can be painful and unattractive. Common symptoms are dryness, redness, cracking, flaking, and tender or sore lips. Some of the main causes are vitamin deficiency, allergic reaction, dehydration, smoking, excessive licking of lips, sun exposure and harsh weather. Lips can become chapped or dry when they are exposed to the sun, wind, cold or dry air. A lip balm containing petroleum or beeswax will provide a barrier and help seal in moisture.

More moisture is lost through the lips than through any other part of the face or body.

When the lips lose moisture, the skin covering them become tight and start to split.

The best thing to do for dry or sore lips is to regularly apply a lip balm containing petroleum or beeswax. Choose a balm with an additional sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 to help protect your lips in the sun.

A lip balm will act as a shield to protect your lips against the sun, wind, cold or dry air. It will trap in moisture and seal cracks against infection.

There are many commercial products available to treat chapped lips. But you can save money and easily get relief with some easy-tofollow natural remedies.

Sugar Exfoliating dead cells off your chapped lips will help restore their natural softness faster.

1. Mix two teaspoons of sugar with one teaspoon of honey. Apply the paste to your lips and let it sit for a few minutes. Then use your fingers to gently rub the mixture on your lips to loosen the dead skin cells.

Wash it off with lukewarm water.

Honey; Honey is a great moisturizer that also has healing and antibacterial properties to treat chapped lips. Simply apply pure organic honey on your chapped lips several times a day.

• You can also make a paste of honey and glycerin and apply it before going to bed.

1.

Rose petals; The rose plant in your garden can also come to your rescue when suffering from chapped lips. This remedy will help your lips stay moisturized while also enhancing their beautiful colour. Wash a handful of rose petals thoroughly in water. Soak the petals in milk for a few hours. (If you have issues with dairy products, you can soak them in glycerin instead.)

2. Mash the rose petals into a thick paste.

Apply the paste on your dry lips two to three times a day and every night before going to bed.

Coconut Oil; Coconut oil is a natural moisturizer that heals chapped lips caused by cold or dry weather. Simply apply pure coconut oil several times a day on your lips to keep them moist. You can also use olive oil.

Castor Oil Castor oil is another good treatment for dry and chapped lips. Simply apply it on your lips several times a day.

• You can also make a soothing treatment using one teaspoon of castor oil, one teaspoon of glycerin and a few drops of fresh lemon juice. Mix it well and apply it on your lips before going to bed. In the morning, wash it off with a cotton ball

dipped in lukewarm water. Repeat this daily until your lips are healed.

Milk Cream; The high fat content of milk cream makes it a great natural lip moisturizer.

1.

Apply fresh milk cream on your lips and leave it on for 10 minutes. Then gently wash your lips with a cotton ball dipped in lukewarm water.

2. Do this daily to help your lips heal faster.

Drink plenty of fluids. Having 8-10 glasses of water per day is ideal. When your body is dehydrated, it often shows first in your lips. The more water, the better!

Don’t lick or pick at your lips. These two common habits can dry out your lips more and lead to an infection or a cold sore. When your lips are chapped, avoid the temptation to lick them constantly or pick at them.

Exfoliate your lips. Before applying any sort of ointment, remove the dead skin using an exfoliation method. This will expose the fresh skin and help your lips heal. Don’t rub your lips too harshly - that could make things worse.

Gently massage them. You can exfoliate your lips using the same items you use to exfoliate other areas on your body.

Use an exfoliating brush. The easiest brush to use in this case might be your toothbrush! Just make sure it is clean. Any other small brush will also do. Rub it over your lips in a circular motion to remove dead skin.

• Don’t use a soap-based exfoliant. Face wash with scrubbing beads and other soap-based exfoliants will dry out your lips.

Apply an ointment. Be careful which overthe-counter ointment, or chapstick, you use to heal your cracked lips. Many chapsticks and ointments contain ingredients that can dry out your lips even more, forcing you to reapply them over and over.

• Look for a lip balm or chapstick that contains beeswax, shea butter, coconut butter, almond oil, and other natural moisturizers.

Don’t choose a lip balm with an extra-long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce.

• A vitamin E or glycerin-based ointment containing other natural ingredients could also be helpful.

• Avoid using lipstick to moisturize your lips.

Lipstick can be drying - you need a protective ointment underneath.

Chapped lips

A chapstick

Fashion

Page 29

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Get the comfortable feel of ankara, silk mix

I

t is always fun and trendy to mix colours and prints, more so when you are doing it with the vibrant fabric of Ankara. You can virtually mix your ankara fabric with dry lace or chiffon or even mix two ankara fabrics of different colours or patterns. The latest trend for most fashion lovers is to design

your ankara with matching silk materials and tone them up with nicely embellished sequins, beads, stones, buttons and even feathers.

You can also incorporate ankara with silk on an overall trouser or on a pair of jeans for that comfortable feel.

The ankara and silk mix feel is so

playful that you just want to make virtually anything with it, ranging from gowns, skirts and blouses and corporate to evening and casual wears. For make-up, it is ideal to use the colours of the silk fabric to match your dress. Wear comfortable heels in shades similar to your outfit for a perfect look.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 30

Pots & Pans Total Time: Preparation: Cook:

30 minutes 10 minutes 20 minutes

Irish potato cakes

Ingredients Leftover mashed potatoes 1/3 quantity of flour 2 tablespoons skimmed milk 1 tablespoon chopped mixed herbs 1 ½ tablespoons of butter Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions Combine two cups leftover mashed potatoes, a heaping 1/3 cup flour, 2 tablespoons milk and 1 tablespoon chopped mixed herbs in a bowl; knead until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper.

Divide into 4 balls on a floured surface and flatten each into a 3-inch patty.

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the patties and cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes per side, adding more butter to the pan as needed.

Season with salt.

Irish potato cakes

Peanut butter banana apple smoothie This is a quick fun smoothie recipe to lighten up your weekend. With just three simple ingredients namely: a banana, an apple, peanut butter and 1 cup crushed ice, make for yourself a fabulously delicious protein-filled snack or lunch and savor…….

Ingredients 1 banana, peeled 1 apple, cored and sliced 2 tablespoons peanut butter 1 cup crushed ice

How to prepare Wash the fruits thoroughly in flowing water Slice into cube sizes Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.

Serve right away.

Makes 1 serving.

PAGE 31

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Relationship

Let How to love me start by stating t h e obvious.

A typical Nigerian man is very egotistic.

You can’t expect to be his woman and yet rub shoulders with him.

That will never ever work. His definition of a relationship is ‘I lead, you follow.’ And if you tune your ears well, you’ll hear ‘I own you’.

I have always been an advocate of women being independent whether they are with a man or not. And let me define what I mean because in this part of the world, once the word ‘independence’ and ‘women’ come in the same sentence, people’s antennae go up. An independent woman simply means a woman who takes care of herself and is contented financially, emotionally or otherwise whether a man is in her life or not. It does not mean she does not need a man; it means she has an identity and does not need to be defined by anyone.

Having said that, I will be addressing the independent woman who wants to love and be with a typical Nigerian man and still maintain her identity. Here’s how to.

Treat him like a king. Respect Him. Don’t talk him down.

Show him a deep admiration for his abilities, qualities and achievements. You don’t have to go on your knees before him to show that you respect him. And treating him like a king doesn’t make you less.

Be faithful. The worst thing you can do to a Nigerian man is cheat on him. Don’t even try it.

He is the one and only in your life. Even if he cheats on you, do not retaliate; you’ll have no one as your support when shit hits the fan. Simply walk out of the relationship if he strays. But while you’re with him, you have to be 100 percent faithful.

A faithful woman is already at the top of the list. You earn any man’s respect by being faithful.

Take care of him. A Nigerian man loves to be cared for by his woman and this entails preparing his favorite meals, cleaning up his house/room, handling his laundry (if you want to stretch it far) and ensuring that he is generally in good condition.

He wants to know you care. His mother has done a pretty fine job

“

a Nigerian man

of that for him. He wants you to continue where she left off.

Be honest with yourself from the beginning about what you can or cannot do for him.

Sex him like a pro. Nigerian men talk about wanting a good girl in bed or something like that but in the end they complain when you are not responsive.

They do not like inexperienced girls. So, here’s my honest advice to you: be a freak in bed. If you are good in doing the thing, don’t hide it. Blow his mind the

whole nine inches yards. He might be worried about how you got so skilled but he’ll get over it soon when he discovers you are faithful.

Respect his family. This is no joke. Especially his mother, you have to kiss her ass big time.

You cannot score high by being stubborn on this point. Once a Nigerian man introduces you to his family, it means he is ready to take it far and if you meet them and start acting all pigheaded, he will dump you. Many

Be religious. Most Nigerian men believe in God. They might not all be religious but they want their women to be. They want women who would hold up the spiritual front for them. You might be an atheist or agnostic or not of his religion but he has chosen to love you the way you are, then you should show some respect for his faith, at least. Follow him to church once in a while. If he’s a Muslim, learn about Islam or dress as a Muslim woman on the occasion.

a Nigerian man have left their women because their families said no. So, score high on this one and it shall go well with you.

Be religious. Most Nigerian men believe in God. They might not all be religious but they want their women to be. They want women who would hold up the spiritual front for them. You might be an atheist or agnostic or not of his religion but he has chosen to love you the way you are, then you should show some respect for his faith, at least.

Follow him to church once in a while. If he’s a Muslim, learn about Islam or dress as a Muslim woman on the occasion.

Give him his personal space.

This is not peculiar to just Nigerian men. All men love their personal space. Allow him time with his guys, his family and his hobbies. Don’t cramp his space.

Find your own thing to do.

Hanging around your man all the time would make you dependent on him and you don’t want that.

Know how to cook. There is no escaping this one, I’m afraid.

It is probably one of the tests

you’ll undergo with him and with his family. And to emphasize, you must learn how to cook the meals he loves, the ones his mother always made for him. If you don’t learn this, he will stay out to eat another woman’s meals.

Ditch your male BFF. I’m sorry but that male best friend has to become just one of the guys. He and your man cannot share the same space. Nigerian men do not understand the concept of a woman having a close male friend when she already has a man. No matter how platonic your relationship with your friend is, your Nigerian man will see him as competition.

Do not take gifts from other men. Like seriously, don’t. A Nigerian man would tell you “bae, if he bought you that handbag and pair of shoes, you better be in his bed, not mine.”

Yes, they are that jealous. They own you as a woman and would proudly call you their property.

Hence, do not take gifts from other men asides your man. As much as he is proud to know he has a woman that is desired by other men, he doesn’t want you to have anything with them.

Be feminine.

Whether you’re a tomboy or just full of womanliness, maintain your femininity. A woman who acts like a man and rubs shoulders with her man is not appreciated in Nigeria. Even if you’re a boss at work, drop your ranks when you’re in his arms. Maintain the things that make you female like nice hair, nice nails, a clean appearance, clear skin, an alluring scent, light makeup, a gentle nature and a happy face.

Be wise and smart. Foolish women don’t make the cut in Nigeria. You’ll get cheated on, abused and find yourself at the bottom of very man’s list.

As much as a Nigerian man doesn’t want you smarter than him, he is also not interested in a dumb woman. He wants you to keep him on his toes with your intelligence. Many ladies believe an outward appearance gets them the man but the truth is intelligence and wisdom are more important when he starts to think of a long term relationship.

Be hardworking. No food for a lazy man is a popular saying around here. There’s nothing as unappealing as a woman who is slothful and expects her man to do all the work. Nigerian men work hard for their money, no joke. In the end, they want women who would have the skills to maintain what they have worked for, and not squander it.

Find something your hands can do if you don’t have a job. No one is born without a talent.

Be hard working and no man will treat you less than you are worth.

Nigerian men are the best in the world, forget what you have been told. Yes, there are bad ones, but then there are bad men everywhere else in the world.

Culled from 360nobs.com

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 32

Fiction

The wealth that brought their downfall M

ama Ola knew something strange was going on when she saw her husband’s blue Jincheng motorcycle in the compound. It was three o’ clock in the afternoon, so it was too early for him to be home. For two months, he had been coming in the evenings because he was doing some plumbing for a new set of apartments. Eyes squinted; she watched the motorcycle as if waiting for it to give her the answers she sought.

Tugging Ola, her three year old son, she moved faster along, stretching her wiry legs further despite the fact that her shoes were digging into the muddy ground. It had rained the whole morning and it looked like it would still rain again that day.

“Mama Ola, are you back already?” Mama Grace, her portly neighbor asked. “So early?” she continued. “Hope all is well?” She was squeezing a red cloth from a bucket of red colored water.

“Yes, I just closed the shop,” she replied. “I’ll be going back.

Ola has been crying, so I just want to give him something to eat,” she said and she kept walking on.

“Hmm. . . You’re spoiling this boy o. Is it every time he is hungry that he will eat? Ehen, did something happen?”

When she saw that Mama Ola kept on walking, obviously ignoring her, she continued, raising her voice “Ah, me, I thought something happened now. I saw your husband carrying one heavy carton like that and this one that he’s coming early today, eh?” She flapped her clothes and spread them on a thin wire, her nose scrunched upwards. Her nose was always this way, like she was ridiculing everyone in the world.

Not bothering to answer, she continued on home and opened the door. Then she saw Baba Ola holding some cables and at the corner of the small sitting room, she spotted a brand new generator. “Baba Ola, what is that?” she asked, pointing at the gen with her index finger as if it had done something wrong.

“Oh, you’re back.” He turned with a smile. “As you can see, I bought a new gen.”

“Generator, Hmm, with which money?” she asked going to touch it to ascertain if it was real.

Ola was touching it, too, and jumping. He looked very happy.

“I have finished the work for those houses, so I was paid today. You know the World cup qualifiers have started, so I just decided to buy this generator.”

“Instead of you to tell me first? What is wrong with you, eh?

Are there no other things to use the money for? Now you’ll still spend money on fuel. That was how the other day, you bought the Jincheng. You did not even tell me, now, this one again. What is it, Baba Ola? What is wrong with you? Ehn, What?!” The sound of her voice increasing with each word.

As she droned on, Baba Ola tuned her out. He kept on connecting wires round the sitting room. He didn’t know what her problem was. Was she not the one that complained every night for the past three months? “This stupid NEPA, why can’t they ever bring light? What is their problem? One won’t even know

what is going on,” she always said. And she didn’t like to listen to the radio. So, he had decided to buy it. Now, she could watch the news. But, she wasn’t happy. He sighed.

“What of servicing? You know we are managing.” Mama Ola’s voice drew him from his musings and he wondered for how long she had been talking.

“It’s okay. You’ve not even greeted me well and you’re already attacking me. Don’t worry, God will see us through.

Besides, things are looking up” he said smiling and then he hugged her.

Grinning, she pushed him away. “You, eh,” she said wagging her finger.

Just then, a knock was heard on the door. It was Mama Grace.

She extended a small blue bowl to him. “Where Mama Ola dey?

I want to borrow salt,” she said, then shoved him out of the way and entered the parlor. “Ehen,” she said, dragging the last syllable, her mouth pushed forward.

“Generator, hmm, this is good news o. It’s like God has decided to bless this house o.”

There was a tone of insincerity in her voice as she re-tied her wrapper. “But it’s a small one now. Me too, my husband will soon buy a generator, but that big one.” Then she put a finger to her

“

chin, tapped it lightly as if she was pondering a difficult situation.

Papa Ola watched his wife.

Their eyes locked and they smiled.

Mama Grace would never change.

“Ehen, Mama Ola, is it not the type of generator that used to make noise? You know, this small-small ones, them dey shout.

I hope we can sleep this night o.

Hmm.” She smiled, and clutching her wrapper and bowl, she said, “Let me be going o. My Oga dey wait for me.” She rushed out not bothering to shut the door.

Baba Ola wondered what had happened to the salt she said she needed.

“Ola, come let’s go and eat,” Mama Ola said.

“No, mummy. I want to play with the generator.”

“After crying in the shop saying you’re hungry, you don’t want to eat, abi? Come here, jor,” she said dragging him along.

Papa Ola watched them both as they left, his wife’s buttocks swaying from side to side.

Although she was very slim and tall, she had big buttocks. Then smiling, he thought of his son.

It had taken eight years for God to bless them with a child but he thanked God every day that Ola was here. He was so bright and strong. Baba Ola knew his son would make him proud, that was why he named him ‘Olamide’,

meaning ‘My wealth has come’ because Ola was their wealth.

Whistling, he continued fixing the gen and making all the necessary connections. He wanted to watch the match Nigeria was playing that evening and he did not want to go to the viewing center to do so. He wanted to be with his family.

In the evening, as they settled down to eat dinner, Baba Ola switched on the gen and Ola screamed, “NEPA!!!” Mama Ola ate her dinner quietly and watched as the gen vibrated at the corner by the window. She watched as her husband turned on the television and increased the volume because, as Mama Grace had said, the gen was noisy.

But she knew that soon, they would not even take note of the noise. In days to come, the noise would fade away.

She watched as her husband cursed the players and blamed the referee and as he jumped when a Nigerian striker scored the only goal of the match at the last two minutes. She watched as her only son did everything his father did.

He adored his father and so did she. Baba Ola may not have been a handsome man but his face was arresting.

There was a knock at the door and she wondered who it was. It was Mama Grace again. She was

Instead of you to tell me first? What is wrong with you, eh? Are there no other things to use the money for? Now you’ll still spend money on fuel. That was how the other day, you bought the Jincheng. You did not even tell me, now, this one again. What is it, Baba Ola? What is wrong with you? Ehn, What?!”

holding phones and chargers.

“Mama Ola,” she called. “Help me charge my phone. I go collect am tomorrow.” She handed the phones, turned back and then hurried along.

“Stay and watch TV small now,” Mama Ola had proposed.

“No, you know say rain go soon start,” she declined with reason and left.

Mama Ola collected the phones, plugged them to charge, and then closed the windows. She did not want the rain to enter the house.

Ola was already asleep, so she carried him to the room. The weather was chilly. She covered him with a wrapper and watched him for a few moments. He had a big nose, just like his father. She smiled and closed the window to prevent the draft from coming in.

Leaving the door slightly ajar, she went over to sit with her husband.

The news was on and the presenter was talking about how the President had promised that in the next two years, there would be an increase in the wattage of power, therefore, putting an end to the electricity failure in the country. She sighed and hoped he would keep to his promise.

“At least, now we can watch the news. This NEPA self,” and leaning her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes.

Baba Ola held her hands. He knew that now, she was no longer upset with him. Next week, he would buy her a blender so she would stop using a grinding stone. He didn’t want her hands to be too rough. He wanted them soft. During the course of their marriage, times had been tough financially but she never complained. She didn’t request for jewelries and she didn’t like it when he spent money on things for her. But things were already looking up. The man who gave him the plumbing contract had been so impressed with his work, he promised to recommend him to his other landlord friends. She just didn’t understand. Next, he would buy her creams and clothes so she would always look good.

She deserved every good thing she got. He knew she would complain but later, she would be okay with it. He did not know when he slept off, holding his wife’s hand.

It was Mama Grace that discovered them the next morning. She had come to collect the phones. When she knocked several times and no one came to open the door, when she shouted their names severally and there was no reply, she went to get her husband who broke down the door. That was when they discovered that the family of three was no more. Later, Mama Grace told everyone who listened that the doctor had said the gas from the new gen killed them. If they had not closed the windows or used the gen indoors, maybe they would have still been alive or if they had not bought the new gen, maybe they would have been here today and then sobbing, she would say, “Maybe Mama Ola know say that day go be her last day, because when I go her place go charge my phone, she invite me in. Una know sey she been no like me.” Then shaking her head, she would say, “Very strange, Very Strange indeed.”

Naijastories.com

Page 33

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Romance

Fifteen years down the line; still loving him

K

athryn walked with careful steps along the lonely dark bushy path. Her feet moved, one after the other, in swift strides; her thoughts maintained an equal pace too. Kathryn’s thoughts alternated between the possible dangers, she’d heard, that lurked in those paths; memoirs of the evening—well spent; and the stern faces she was sure would greet her when she got home. Kathryn prayed her parents would be considerate knowing this was the first time she would return home after her curfew.

It only worried her that the curfew had elapsed by more than an hour.

The movie Titanic she had gone to watch had started later than its scheduled time. As Kathryn walked, she wondered if an army would have found it an easy task to excuse her from her seat before the tape rolled its last.

Kathryn smiled as she remembered a line. “Draw me like one of your French girls.” Rose had said to Jack. Her smile broadened as she remembered the sweaty hand against the window while Jack made love to Rose.

Still, Kathryn knew the thrills and romance in the movie had not totally kept her fixed to her seat.

The heavily perfumed shirt Simeon wore that evening had numbed her senses. She smiled as she recalled the look of importance on Simeon’s face when he mentioned that the perfume was a gift from an aunt who had returned from The States.

“It just might be impossible to find another bottle of it in Nigeria.”

Simeon had told her.

Kathryn had told him the perfume fitted him well. Though she did not tell him that it lent a cool appeal to his rather brawny personality.

The rustling of weeds close by pulled the brakes to her thoughts.

Kathryn thought she heard the squeak of rats. And she hoped the rustling sound was nothing more than a large rodent in pursuit of a mate.

The thought of mating rodents made her young mind drift back to Simeon. Kathryn assured herself that whatever scare she would have to face as she journeyed home or the beating she guessed her father would unleash would not measure to the joy she had sitting close to Simeon, taking in the smell of his perfume.

Maybe not, she mused. She was sure she heard another sound. This time it was not a rustling sound.

Kathryn was sure she had heard footsteps. She turned slightly, and she saw them behind her: three briskly walking figures. She was certain they were not friendly and they were all male. Her feet broke into a run and the boys followed after. It took only seconds for a hand to grab at her shoulder and a second more for a slap to send her crashing to the ground. Though her back hurt so bad, Kathryn cared more for the hand that was pulling her skirt down.

Kathryn fought hard. But she knew she was no match for the

trio, nor for the one who had her straightened on the ground. Yet she knew she had the strength to engage something else in a fight— her thoughts. There was something about the boy on top of her that made her tizzy. The perfume he wore could not be mistaken. It was same as Simeon’s.

The perfume Simeon had called—Illusion.

5:41 pm November 22, 2013 Ambrose Giwa Holdings, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Kathryn lifted her gaze from the table and the array of files that lay on it, most of them yet to be filled. Her eyes fell on the only clock that graced her office wall. She gazed fixedly on the slow movement of the seconds hand as it made its revolution on the dials. Its tick-tock sound momentarily providing an escape from the thoughts in her head.

Her mobile phone on the table rang. Kathryn was grateful for the further distraction.

“James,” she said after she pressed the green button on her phone.

“Hi, Kathryn,” James’ highpitched, near-feminine, voice rang in her ears. “I was unable to complete the transaction at Planet 10. The bitch whom you warned me about lived true to her reputation.”

James lamented. Kathryn smiled as James narrated his ordeal with Agnes. It puzzled her how she had been able to bear Agnes’ madness for the past eight years. It puzzled her more that Planet 10 would keep a quick-tempered secretary for that long. “I’ll come for the others tomorrow morning, first thing in the morning.” James said, giving the conversation a finer direction. “I’m sorry about—“ “No need to be sorry. I know Agnes and her infamous ways of delaying one’s work.” Kathryn said as she returned her gaze to the table, and the waiting files. She beamed.

Kathryn was grateful that James was not coming for the files that evening. Most of them were yet to be filled. Kathryn chuckled before she said, “Moreover, the files, the way they are, won’t be of any use to you.” Kathryn whispered when she continued, “I’ve hardly touched them, except one or two.”

“What?”

Kathryn chuckled again. “Don’t worry; they should be ready for you to collect by tomorrow morning.”

“Eight o’clock?”

“Nine-thirty.”

“Nine.”

“Deal.”

“I hope you don’t want to be another Agnes, do you?”

“You never know.”

“Don’t dare. It won’t fit you.”

“Oh, thanks James. That’s a compliment.” Kathryn said. She could imagine James smiling from ear to ear, more like a little girl would.

“Bye, Kathryn.”

“Bye.” Kathryn smiled as she dropped her phone on the table. James

Salako, a junior colleague, and one she would gladly call a friend. James had been there when she struggled with the pains of losing her mother.

James had been there when she had been sick and away from work. He had brought a heap of files, on her request, to her house and they had worked late into the night. James had spent the night at her home. He had slept on the couch in the sitting room. James seemed to have been out of his elements when Kathryn jokingly suggested he shared same bed with her. In the years she had known him, James had never

need to be sorry. “ No I know Agnes and

her infamous ways of delaying one’s work.”

mentioned dating a lady. Neither did he seem interested in the ladies that swarmed about him. Kathryn could swear that James was gay.

Kathryn pushed the files on her table aside and made a fast arrangement of the other items on the table—work was done for the day.

As she glanced at the clock, the thoughts that had waned for a while laid siege again.

Time to get this over and done with, she mused as she raised a mirror to her face and dabbed on a bright red lipstick.

Kathryn stood from her chair, picked up her handbag and walked towards the door. She planned to make a brief stop at her house before heading to Claire’s restaurant. She was meeting with Simeon for the first time after that night at the cinema fifteen years ago. Kathryn chose not to call it a date. Simeon was now married.

As she closed the door behind her, Kathryn wondered if fifteen years had not been too long a time to wait.

Naijastories.com

PAGE 34

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Nollywood

Why I mix Yoruba language into my songs…Tiwa Savage

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avin records first lady, Tiwa Savage, has been speaking to BBC Africa’s Bola Mosuro, about her new album R.E.D and explaining the challenges she went through to get the songs ready.

While responding to questions about her infusion of local dialect into her music, she explained that she can be a good singer but for her to connect with her culture, she has to respect her roots.

She noted that as an African singer, there should be that uniqueness that will stand one out from their Western counterparts and that is ability to connect.

In her words, “The reason why I always add my local dialect in my songs is because I want to stay true to my culture. I don’t want it just because I want to be a singer and then what is the different between myself and Kelly Rowland. I just want to be African.”

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Despite his father’s wealth, Davido is still a hustler —Olamide

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any might not like the way some Nigerian celebs love flaunting their luxuries especially Davido, but one person who seems to envy the singer is YBNL boss, Olamide.

The singer recently disclosed that some children whose parents are rich will not want to work hard to earn their living but will chose to depend on their father’s wealth.

He noted that Davido’s drive and passion for music is so high that he has been making it without the support of his father.

Recently, Davido had described Olamide as a legend which could possibly be what won the heart of the singer.

According to Olamide, “I feel the same way about you OBO if some people pop get money like you, them no go hustle reach you.

Your drive is crazy!”

Mercy Aigbe is a small god to me —Busty actress

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radually becoming a house hold name, Yoruba actress, Nkechi Blessing Sunday better known as Omoge Lekki, may have not been that long in the Nigerian movie industry, but within her short journey, she has been able to carve a niche for herself.

Aside her acting prowess, the actress has been able to attract fans with her well endowed structure which has continued to be a topic of discuss when she steps out on red carpet events but hey, she loves the way God has molded her.

Many have been wondering what is the closeness existing between her and fellow actress Mercy Aigbe, as the two are always seen almost at every events

Funke Akindele to marry again as singer JJC proposes

but within and outside Lagos, and Nkechi wasted no time in clearing the air on that.

She recently explained that Mercy Aigbe, has been one actress who has stood by her all along and helped to discover the real person she is. Nkechi also disclosed that Mercy was the person who gave her money to shoot her first movie ‘Omoge Lekki’ which will soon be released anytime soon.

In her words, “Mercy stood by me; in fact, she was the one that gave me money to shoot my first movie, ‘Omoge Lekki.’ She is a mentor to me, helper, Mercy Aigbe is a Small God because she gave me the chance to showcase my talent.”

t all started with Monalisa Chinda taking another shot at marriage this year, 2016, now another popular actress, Funke Akindele is about taking same bold step.

The actress better known as Jenifa said a resounding ‘Yes’ to multi-talented musician, Abdul Rasheed Bello popularly known as JJC Skillz when he recently popped the big question of marriage.

It was gathered that the overwhelmed actress was moved to tears and speechless, when her singer lover went down on one knee and presented to her a beautiful ring.

More sources confirmed that the surprise proposal took place few weeks ago in Lekki on the set of her new TV Comedy Drama, Jenifa’s Diary.

Funke Akindele has remained single after separating from her hubby, Kehinde Almaroof in 2013 under very controversial circumstances. JJC Skillz is a single father of three children, ages 18, 15 and 10 from three different women.

The couple has managed to hide their blossoming romance away from the public until some few weeks ago when Nigeriafilms.com reported it.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

PAGE 35

Hollywood

Brit Awards 2016: David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones loved the tribute to his dad

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avid Bowie’s son Duncan Jones has tweeted a heartfelt message of gratitude to the Brits for the “beautiful” tribute to his dad.

This contrasted strongly with the tweet the 44-year-old movie director posted after Lady Gaga’s interpretation of some of the late rocker’s songs at the Grammys.

The Brits chose to remember the late rocker with some rousing words by Annie Lennox who announced the Let’s Dance hit-maker as the recipient of the Icon Award.

The former Eurythmics singer then introduced actor Gary Oldman, David’s old friend, who was collecting the award on behalf of the family.

Eulogising the Space Oddity star, he said the late singer faced his cancer with “courage, dignity, grace and customary humour”.

“As Annie so gracefully said, David’s contribution, his influence on popular music, on culture itself, has no equal.

He was the very definition, the living embodiment of that singular word icon,” Gary stated.

He continued: “Whether in music or in life, he emphasised originality,

experimentation, exploration, and in his very unique way he also reminded us never to take ourselves too seriously. David was funny, hilariously so, and the laughs were many and massive and I shall miss them.”

Praising his “positive outlook”, Gary revealed: “I never once heard him complain. I can share with you that David faced his illness with enormous courage, dignity, grace and customary humour.”

He added: “Even in dire circumstances, when he wrote to tell me the bad news he had cancer, he added, ‘The good news is I’ve got cheekbones back’. He was the sweetest soul ever, with the best cheekbones, until it was done.”

Finishing his tribute, he said: “David, you were mortal but your potential was superhuman and your remarkable music is living on. We love you and we thank you.”

Bowie’s band performed a medley of his hits and New Zealand singer Lorde – who the singer had called “the future of music” – closed by performing hit Life On Mars.

In the cryptic tweet Duncan sent after Lady Gaga’s tribute, he posted the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word “gaga”.

Kaley Cuoco talks about Ryan Sweeting divorce on The Ellen Show

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he Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco has opened up about her split with Ryan Sweeting. In September 2015, Cuoco had filed for divorce from Sweeting after 18 months of marriage.

“Yes, I’m getting divorced,” she said, while appearing on The Ellen Show. “Ya know last year was very bizarre and we all go through really weird ups and downs. And sometimes I’m a little bit more seen. And everyone goes through that stuff. Ya know so I already feel like 2016 is going to be a much better year than 2015. And ya know, it’s been rough, but things are going good.

I’m much, much better now. I’m in a much better place than I was.”

The Bahamian-born American professional tennis player had proposed to the actress, who is best known for her role as Penny in the award-winning comedy, a few days after the couple made their red carpet debut at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. They got married on 31 December 2013.

The Oscar host asked Cuoco how long the marriage lasted and about covering up her wedding date tattoo. She said: “Not that long, a year-and-a-half. I know. I know. I know. I had the date tattooed on my back and everything to remind me. I know.

I know. Don’t tattoo wedding date. I know. I know.”

Cuoco had replaced the ink with a dark moth. She said: “The tattoo was a mistake. I had to cover it. Because it was big enough to cover the numbers — the big wings. It’s just what I picked out when I was there.”

Mariah Carey’s grand wedding plan

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ariah Carey is planning a “grand” wedding.

The ‘Hero’ hitmaker - who was previously married to record company boss Tommy Motola and ‘America’s Got Talent’ host Nick Cannon - got engaged to billionaire James Packer last month and they plan to keep their nuptials “very private” and won’t be hosting “tons of people”.

She said: “I’m most excited about the grandeur, darling.

“It’s not gonna be a big wedding. But it’s going to be grand.

“I think the most important thing is the relationship and, you know, just the connection. The love it of all. That’s the most important thing, but of course I love a grand moment.”

The 45-year-old singer - who has four-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe with Nick - has kept details of James’ proposal under wraps but admitted she was “surprised” when he popped the question.

She told ‘Access Hollywood’: “Darling, it’s my engagement ring, we can’t know when it’s coming.

“We just have to receive it.”

And Mariah adores her stunning 35-carat diamond and platinum ring.

She joked: “Walking through a crowd with a ring on your finger and a lot of bracelets is a little bit, you know, daunting.

“But it’s hard to take it off cause I love it so much.”

Louis Tomlinson: ‘Fatherhood is intense’

L

ouis Tomlinson says fatherhood is “intense”.

The 24-year-old singer attended the Brit Awards in London on Wednesday (24.02.16) with his One Direction bandmate Liam Payne and revealed it was tough leaving his newborn son Freddie Reign behind in Los Angeles.

During an interview with Laura Whitmore for ITV2, he said: “[Fatherhood] is good. It’s intense. It’s really exciting. This is my first time away from Freddie so it’s tough.

Band members Harry Styles and Niall Horan did not attend the awards ceremony at London’s O2 and Louis joked that if they won an award, he would sell Harry and Niall’s.

He quipped: “If we win who gets their awards, we could sell them.”

Meanwhile, the pair have been keeping busy during One Direction’s hiatus, with Liam saying: “We’ve been doing a bit of writing out in LA, it’s been really fun. I’ve been in the studio, he’s got different things on the horizon.”

One Direction have been nominated for British Group and Video of the Year at 2016 Brit Awards, in association with Mastercard.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 36

Celebrity Gists Mosun Filani celebrates wedding anniversary

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oruba actress, Mosunmola Filani Oduoye, and her hubby, Kayode Oduoye, are elated as they have been able to scale through the storms of marriage for four years now and still waxing strong.

The couple recently celebrated their fourth year wedding anniversary.

Marriage seems to be sweet and Mosun has been enjoying every bit of it, as she has been seen with her husband attending political functions.

The light skinned beauty seems to have slowed down in her acting career and is rarely at movie locations unlike when she was still single.

In her words, “4 years down, forever to go, happy wedding anniversary to us.”

The Ibadan-based actress, who is very popular in the industry, had a celebrated romance with Kayode, CEO, Shalom Kay Productions, but they kept the romance under wraps even though it was said to have caused a lot of controversy for the actress, especially since the dark skinned guy already has two wives, some even say three.

‘I never wanted to do music’

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op gospel artiste, Tope Alabi, disclosed that she was with Orire Caucus for 21 years as acting was her passion, but was never invited on any set.

She claimed she was so desperate to the extent that she was ready to pay just to be featured in a movie.

After all failed attempts, she later got lucky and was featured in Abiku So Ologun De Ke, and a film by Alade Aromire.

The singer claimed she was never interested in music, but it was the lords doing that she ended up as a musician.

“I didn’t like being a musician, acting was what I wanted God loves me and put me at the right position which was singing.”

She has successfully produced two movies, titled Ija Ibeji and Ikoko Dudu, but presently, she revealed that she can only act in Christian movies.

Leriq features Wande Coal in ‘Wish List’

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igerian superstar and hitmaker, LeriQ kicks off his 2016 campaign with the release of the video to ‘Wish list’ featuring Wande Coal, the third single off his debut album, The Lost Sounds.

The video was directed by fast rising Director/Cinematographer, Mex of Mex Films and was shot in the Northern Nigerian city of Kajuru in Kaduna State.

S Waje releases video for Ominiknowest

inger Waje has released the video for her ‘social commentary’ themed song, Ominiknowest.

The song was produced by E-Kelly, while the video was directed by Clarence Peters and shot in black and white.

‘Ominiknowest’ shows Waje at her fiercest hitting back at ‘naysayers’ and critics. While undeniably Fela influenced, the video has Waje take on several personas; from a fiery Malcolm X, to a sultry Marilyn Monroe, a 90’s Janet Jackson in all her tomboy glory and shades of the king of Pop. Michael Jackson.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 37

Entertainment Gospel singer, Houghton’s marriage crashes over infidelity

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rammy award winning Gospel singer, Israel Houghton, admitted on his Facebook page that his infidelity led to the break up of his over 20year old marriage.

The internationally renowned artist has performed with Alicia Keys and is a worship leader at Joel Osteen‘s church.

He wrote on his Facebook Page ‘‘It is with a collective heavy heart that we announce that after over 20 years of marriage and a long separation, Meleasa and I are officially divorced. Several years ago I failed and sinned in my marriage. Though this is new to many, it is not new to us as we have been working through this for over five years. Although we tried, the challenges in our relationship have proven too much to overcome.

We have always handled our family and ministry with grace

and generosity toward others, discretion, and privacy. So, for the sake of our amazing kids, we are also handling this privately with pastoral oversight and assistance. ‘‘We choose to remain friendly and kind to each other going forward. I am in the process of restoration and I have repented for my actions. Although I am sincerely sorry, and forgiven, I soberly realized that I will live with the consequences of my failings for the rest of my life. As this has become a public matter I want to apologize to those who have supported my ministry through the years. I am sorry for the many who will be hurt to learn of my personal failure. I regret any pain or disappointment that this news may cause you. We thank you for your prayers and for allowing us to handle this privately with those who are set over us in this process.’’

Dice Ailes releases video for ‘Machinery’

Mo’ Cheddah F in ‘Survive’ S

ast-rising Chocolate City artiste, Dice Ailes, is out with the much anticipated visuals to his recently released single, ‘Machinery’.

The video was directed by Visionnaire Pictures shot on different locations in Lagos, Nigeria. It also featured cameos from M.I, Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz.

inger Mo’Cheddah‘s soft vocals with the magic of Cobhams Asuquo‘s production resulted in ‘Survive‘.

Mo’Cheddah’s latest single is an upbeat tune that promises to be the next survivor’s anthem.

Mixed and mastered

by Olaitan Dada of Natalio productions, Survive is accompanied by live strings provided by Nsikak David.

Dice Ailes releases video for ‘Machinery’

Femi Adebayo gets political appointment

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ollywood actor, Femi Adebayo, known more for his roles in Yoruba movies, has been appointed as the Special Assistant, Arts, Culture and Tourism to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed.

The 43-year-old actor joins the string of Nollywood stars that have made a move into politics.

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Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

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Chairman Malam Wada Maida, Oon, Fnge Director/Editor-in-Chief Rufa’i Ibrahim Editor, Daily Hameed M. Bello

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“To be a reputable, profitable, innovative and technologically Deputy Manager, Production reliant media Aminu Jibril Mohammed company offering world class Acting Head, Lagos Bureau Ayodele Samuel services and products”

ISSUES The increasing influence of non-state actors

By Nuhu Othman

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he activities of pressure groups played a significant role in ushering democracy in Nigeria in 1999. The annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election set the pace for a groundswell of opposition to Nigeria’s lengthy military interregnum. Groups and individuals such as the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Campaign for Democracy (CD), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP),Gani Fawehinmi etc touched off a nationwide awareness on the ills of military leadership. From that moment, the influence of non-state actors has assumed a full spectrum. This broad net is attracting different types of players with varying agendas. These actors have posed as a litmus test to the survival and entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria. Past and present democratic administrations struggle to find the right balance between fundamental human rights and freedoms on the one hand, and security of lives and property on the other. Achieving the right mix is always difficult.

As a result of the interplay between government and these actors, power is now distributed in a three-dimensional way. At the very top is the security apparatus firmly in the hands and control of government. The second is the economy, though once in the grabs of the government, now is gradually being transfered to the organised private sector. Since it is proven that government is a bad manager of business. Lastly and by no means the least are the non-governmental organisations, religious groups, terror organisations etc. However, this sector has international reach and links. To assume that managing these three sectors as an easy task will be to oversimplify a complex reality.

The most complex power resource is the military. For a country that has now

WRITE TO US

Peoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messages and ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Word limits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: The Editor, Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza, 35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja. contacts@peoplesdailyng.com adverts@peoplesdailyng.com admin@peoplesdailyng.com news@peoplesdailyng.com witnessed the longest multiple political cycles under a democracy, it has become very important to re-professionalise this critical sector to be seen to conform with a democratic setting. The disproportionate use of force by the military against the Shiites which led to a siege on the facilities of the Shiites for more than 24 hours brushed off the good image of this administration, especially as it is perceived to have enjoyed official sanction.

So far the free-market economic system has survived two major onslaughts, namely: the Great Depression of the 1930s and the 2008 economic meltdown. The economic meltdown had dealt murderous blows to Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and has seen power shift to the left in Greece. Despite several campaign promises by the Syriza in Greece and with a fiery Alexis Tsipras as the head of government, the Bretton Woods has seen through most of its reform programmes. Julius Nyerere’s “Ujamaa” did not work as well. Before them, the collectivisation programme of the former USSR of forcing the “Kulak” did not achieve industralisation as a targeted outcome. Globalisation, as a by product of the free-market economic system, has forced the Middle Kingdom

(China) to gradually dismantle barriers to international trade. Inspite of all these shocks, the free-market economic system has proved that there are no alternative systems waiting by the wing to replace it.

Sure, there are lessons for Nigeria to learn from – protectionism has its advantages and limits. Nigeria is gradually moving towards a private sector driven system. Therefore, if Nigeria’s system wants to attract foreign investments, we must set our priorities right. This is where Nigeria got it wrong when the telecommunication sector was privatised. The Nigerian government did not make research and development in our various institutions as one of the focal points of its privatisation drive.

That is partly why more than a decade after privatisation, these telcos only promote the entertainment industry.

For example, the MTN “Project Fame”, Etisalat’s “The Johnsons”, “Glo Naija Sings”, Glo’s “Dance With Peter Reality TV Show” etc. By this, Nigerians have been taken to a stage of mass consumption of non-durable goods and services without a corresponding purchasing power to sustain it. Is it right to ignore our teeming students of Physics and Electrical Engineering for the entertainment industry? Do we

have to wait until when a graduate of physics or electrical engineering could not explain satisfactorily what a circuit breaker is before something is done?

In South America, priorities were set for Daimler Chrysler to use coconut fibres for their car seats and head rests.

This significantly enriched the coconut farmers. Costa Rica had a mutually beneficial relationship with Coca Cola.

The situation could be salvaged. The penalty hit on MTN is just another lease of life. The government can select six universities/polytechnics and make this telco giant to anchor its researches with the proceeds of the fine spread over 15 years.

The recent encounter between the federal government delegation and the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) members was almost a PR disaster. Because there was plenty information but less public attention. Attention rather than information became the scarce resource.

And neither of the parties offered to be the cue-giver. Different versions of what transpired between the parties made the public less sympathetic. In an information age, it is about whose story wins-and the story that wins is that the kidnapped girls should be safely returned and re-united with their parents. It is noteworthy to state that the governing APC used the BBOG movement as a platform to mobilise both domestic and international support ahead of the 2015 general elections. Credibility has become an even more important power resource to the governing Party than ever before.

The APC must not squander it.

These non-state actors should not be seen in adversarial terms. The government should use its interactions with these actors to increase the country’s attractiveness.

Othman posted this piece on Abusidiqu.com

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 39

Opinion

Of APC ‘worshippers’ and PDP ‘wailers’

By Festus Ogun

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n Nigeria’s political context, a ‘worshipper’ is a person who is a staunch supporter of President Buhari. A worshipper is one that sings always the song of ‘Buhari is always right’ and ‘Jonathan/ PDP is always wrong’. They are the ‘image maker’ and ‘image builder’ of Buhari and the APC, who fight against any form of criticism.

They are the set of Nigerians that view Buhari as a saint. They do much of antagonistic work against the PDP and former President Jonathan. The synonym that is apt for this term is ‘Buharist’. They believe and uphold the promises and ideologies of the president come rain or sunshine. Also, they coined the other term which is to be discussed below.

‘Wailers’ on the other hand, are the strong, faithful, loyal, trustworthy and diehard supporters of Jonathan. To them, he is the saviour. They always defend the man and suppress any form of criticism of his government. They are good at comparing and contrasting –the past and present administrations. To the wailers, Jonathan is always right and Buhari is always not. They criticize ‘all’ steps taken by the Buhari’s government. Wailers are just the villain of the worshippers. Briefly put, they always ‘tackle’ Buhari’s steps and sing song of praise to Jonathan, any time, and any day. The word ‘Worshipper’ got its origin from these set of people. Another name for Wailers is ‘Gejites’.

In a democracy, the importance of the opposition can never be belittled, same thing with the ruling party. In Nigeria, however, both the so called wailers and worshippers are not getting their roles right. From their characteristics discussed above, it is evident that the role has shifted from what it ought to be to a Buhari-Jonathan war. This is pitiable and one of the disturbing factor to the growth of our democracy.

The APC guys -the worshippers- that are supposed to be up and doing in their ‘role’ as supporters and members of the ruling party are getting it wrong. Praising Baba everytime is not the main function of the

so-called worshippers. I mean, attacking the opponent, the wailers, shouldn’t be the utmost priority of these guys. They are simply in the position to effect the expected change. Look, effecting the desired change is not by always ‘exalting Buhari and destroying Jonathan’. The desired change cannot be achieved if all we think is ‘Buhari is always right’. It can be simply achieved when the right finger is pointed at the wrong doing, irrespective of the doer. The notion of ‘Buhari is always right’ has been the main reason our eyes have not been able to see things that ought to be worked on.

And the reason for this too is not farfetched. It is simply blind loyalty which is a serious threat to democracy. Among the disheartening things done by the said wailers is to overlook or pretend not the see things that are ‘not too good’ done by their masters. Also, they involve in covering up the exposed secrets of their master and painting the bad done or mistake made with a good image.

Additionally, they shun, indirectly, the opposition by attacking all that comes from them, either good or bad. They see the ‘opponents’ as devil which needs to be crushed totally. They do not tend to listen to their opinions, believing good things or idea

“

will not come from them. When the ‘wailers’ criticize them, they make comparison of the present administration to the last emphasizing: ‘at least it’s better than your time’ (PDP/Jonathan administration).

Or at times, they just escape criticism attacks, usually when they are guilty of the accusation, by calling the critics ‘wailing wailers’. They have the ‘PDP can never be of any use’ mindset. Infact, they seem not to know what it takes to deal with opposition.

Those set of worshippers that compare the two administrations (present and past) are missing a very germane point. The purpose of the present government is to make things change for the better, not making unreasonable comparison to the injuries caused by the last administration.

To the wailers, they are getting it wrong the most. The function of the opposition is to make criticism that is free from fallacy thereby making the government in power work hard on areas that need to be corrected.

What is expected of the opposition is constructive, logical and intelligent criticism which will make for a strong and serious government. Unfortunately, what we have is a direct antonym of the expected.

The wailers make ingénue and illogical criticism. They play the role of hatred and

enmity to the ruling party –the president.

This is, to the best of my knowledge, what has made the ruling party see the wailers as nothing but noise makers and thereby not giving serious attention to them.

The point I’m stressing is not that you should not criticize. What I’m evangelizing is the application of common-sense in criticizing. It is not about criticizing things that are evidently ‘uncriticizable’ –criticism of hatred. But, to take time, study the government and make criticism of the wrong actions, weak point and unfulfilled promises of government. If criticism, that are not maliciously and fallaciously free are made, no good government will ever take you serious. But, if the right and constructive criticism are made, it will not only wake the government but hasten our democratic growth.

It should be noted that not all PDP members are wailers but all wailers are PDP members. Same thing applies to the worshippers: not all APC members are worshippers but all worshippers are APC members. There are members of both parties that play their role right, but they are very few.

Ogun, a law undergraduate, posted this article on Abusidiqu.com

Those set of worshippers that compare the two administrations (present and past) are missing a very germane point. The purpose of the present government is to make things change for the better, not making unreasonable comparison to the injuries caused by the last administration.

Identity crisis among Africans

By Olawale Rotimi

I

n this jet age, it is difficult to tell who an African is, the standards that define an African are uneasy to define, as foreign cultures, languages, and philosophies have strongly influenced us to the extent that majority of Africans have abandoned African cultures and languages to imbibe foreign cultures and languages. Therefore, welcome to Africa; a continent where Africans travel to Europe and America to study African culture and languages; Welcome to Africa, a continent with vast agro-ecology and resources, yet her people takes pride in importing foreign food items; Welcome to Africa, a continent where her people abandon their beautiful and unique attires, tag them as archaic to purchase nonAfrican attires; Welcome to Africa, where our mother tongues are forbidden in schools and official gatherings, while foreign languages are the best to understand and speak. Welcome to Africa, a continent where the culture is regarded as barbaric and neglected by her own people and foreign cultures are elevated; Oh welcome to Africa, a continent where children are raised with foreign languages as evidence of civilization. This may be strange, but this is the African experience.

I have travelled to a few African countries, there’s a collective ignorance that I see in majority of us which makes us underestimate

our identities, and take pride in foreign identities. The disconnect between Africans and their cultures have been traced to a few things which include: colonialism, western education, and influence of foreign media content. Some are of the view that the colonial masters robbed us of our culture by introducing their own cultural values; their philosophies were used to suppress our cultural standards.

Further to this, some are of the view that the introduction of western education consisting of western oriented curriculum, our culture, languages and belief systems gave way, as teachings relegated the efficacy of the African culture to Africans. In this age, others believe

“

western media stripped us of our culture.

Anyone of these might have influenced the identity crisis faced by Africans today, but we must carefully understand that, our cultural values, belief system and language cannot be restored by blaming a particular race or group of people; after all, none of these foreign cultures were forced on Africans.

The worse irony! Africans abandon free access to their cultures and travel to Europe and America to study African culture with bogus fees. Interestingly, some of these courses in African culture are taught by white people who came to Africa to learn the same culture Africans leave their own soil to study overseas.

If Africans do not reinvent their cultures, we will continue to travel overseas and pay high fees in foreign schools to learn our cultures and languages, we will continue to read our history written by foreigners. We must liberate ourselves mentally and celebrate our identities instead of celebrating foreign identities, their way of speaking, dressing and eating. No culture is superior to the other.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its forecast had warned that if nothing is done, half of 6000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century. With the on-going challenge confronting African languages, the continent may have larger share in this forecast. Today, majority of African schools do not offer African languages as a subject. Since foreign languages are the official languages in Africa, our daily communications largely depend on them. More and more, our mother tongues become less relevant.

The diversity and value of African identities should serve as strength in a globalised world.

Also, promotion of African contents in our media is very important in reinventing our cultural values. Being African is more than where you were born or grew up; it is a state of understanding our cultural values, living them and speaking the languages. If Africans do not reinvent their cultures, we will continue to travel overseas and pay high fees in foreign schools to learn our cultures and languages, we will continue to read our history written by foreigners. We must liberate ourselves mentally and celebrate our identities instead of celebrating foreign identities, their way of speaking, dressing and eating. No culture is superior to the other.

Culled from Omojuwa.com

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 40

Comment

Why Nigeria needs a reboot

By Jeff Okoroafor

I

s the country better off today as it was eight, nine months ago when a well respected, self-disciplined and fearless man in the name of Muhammadu Buhari walked into the Aso Villa and vowed to work tirelessly for his people?

There’s definitely no justifiable or modest way to respond to this question without looking at facts and figures – unemployment rate and economic growth rate.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, unemployment rate in the first quarter of last year, 2015, jumped to 7.5 percent, compared to 6.4 percent reached in the fourth quarter of 2014. Third quarter of same year, 2015, pegged it at 9.90 percent from 8.20 percent in the second quarter of same year.

Today, according to Trading Economics, unemployment rate has risen to approximately 26.0 percent. On the economic growth rate, the NBS report of 2015 indicated that the real growth rate of the monetary value of all goods and services produced in the country during the period of 2015 slowed to 2.4 percent Y-o-Y, down from 4.0 percent in Q1, 2015 and 6.5

percent in Q2, 2014. Presently, the percentage growth rate of our economy is 2.8 percent or approximately 3.0 percent.

Based on these criteria, it is safe to state confidently, that the country is not better off today as it was eight, nine months ago when Buhari took over. bout eight, nine months ago, Nigerians had great hope.

Hope that those who have perpetrated hideous financial crimes against the Nigeria state and the people, will be brought to book – prosecuted and imprisoned accordingly. Hope that the hardship they face will disappear in a twinkle of an eye – jobs created and economy made

“

stable. Investors, businessmen and women, manufacturers, importers and exporters of different goods and services, are also not left out in this brackets of hope faithfuls. Fast-forward to eight, nine months later, their situation has worsened.

Hopes has been dashed. The economy is in a terrible shape and deteriorating by the day.

Companies are laying off workers while those who no longer have capacity to stand are shutting down. Lightly put, Nigeria is approaching a critical moment.

Following the 2015 estimates by the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) as carried out

by teams composed of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) staff, members of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society, 1,538,982 people forced to flee their homes in the North East of the country are still living in internal displacement. This figure includes people displaced as a result of brutal attacks by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria, the government-led counterinsurgency operations against the group, ongoing intercommunal clashes and natural

On the economic growth rate, the NBS report of 2015 indicated that the real growth rate of the monetary value of all goods and services produced in the country during the period of 2015 slowed to 2.4 percent Y-o-Y, down from 4.0 percent in Q1, 2015 and 6.5 percent in Q2, 2014.

hazard-induced disasters. That was the “official” figure in 2015, right now, that figure has been tripled – over 3 million people in the North East are internally displaced.

Before Buhari came in, Boko Haram was seizing up territories, bombing places and killing people, that hasn’t changed today. They still have control of some towns in the North East of the country.

They still blow up markets and other public places. They still kill innocent Nigerians.

In a plain language, security is still an issue. And lets also not forget too soon, the 219 chibok schoolgirls who were abducted in 2014, they remain captive even as you read this piece.

Right now, given all that is happening, what Nigeria urgently need is a reset. A reboot. We need to take it from the top. If it means a wholesome change in the composition of the current government then so be it. Any minister who up till this very moment haven’t figured out how to institute real, cost effective and economically viable change, should go.

Culled from Abusidiqu.com

PDP and the inevitable dance of death

By Anthony Ubani

T

he shocking and almost unbelievable news that Ali Modu Sheriff has been appointed the new acting National Chairman of PDP has now been confirmed. With this confirmation, even those who termed themselves die-hard PDP supporters, are aghast, stupefied and speechless at this audaciously toxic decision..

For a party that has made so much noise about wanting to rebrand and return the party to the people, this is a Guinness book of world record level tragic move.

If this where a movie script, it will be titled “The Final Insult” This latest PDP move reminds me of the popular saying that those whom the gods have earmarked for destruction, they first make deaf and mad. This is a public relations disaster of unqualified proportions. For a party whose reputation is already in tatters, this is a political gambit which is sure to drag the party deeper into the tawdry halls of infamy.

The appointment of a man who, rightly or wrongly, has been serially accused of being

a major sponsor of the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group and has also been earlier accused of being the one that initiated and started the sect that later metamorphosed into boko haram is the craziest thing that has ever happened in politics anywhere in the world. It shows an appalling disdain of public opinion and citizens’s concerns.

With this development, it is now clear beyond every reasonable doubt that, one, the PDP does not seem to understand that perception is reality and that in this age of knowledge, information and communication, leaders and organizations that

“

hope to survive and thrive must solemnly contemplate and take into account public opinion and public perception in making decisions.

Two, it is certain that the PDP has learnt nothing from its comprehensive defeat at the polls in 2015. Impunity, arrogance and corruption still reign supreme and if anything, arrogance seems to occupy a prominent position in the party.

Finally, it is most certainly now obvious that there is a cabal in the PDP that is working assiduously to ensure that the PDP does not survive its present crisis. Any hope of a resurgence is now gone

and the impending demise of the PDP is almost given.

The appointment of Ali Modu Sheriff as acting PDP National Chairman, if only for just one day, is the worst and most brazen thing that has happened to the PDP in its almost 20 years history as a party. It is a classic suicide move.

Here is a man who has moved from ANPP to PDP to APC and the APC found him to be so repugnant that they quickly showed him the door and he scurried back again to the PDP; the EFCC has brought corruption charges against him regarding the expenditure of over three hundred billion Naira that

It is certain that the PDP has learnt nothing from its comprehensive defeat at the polls in 2015. Impunity, arrogance and corruption still reign supreme and if anything, arrogance seems to occupy a prominent position in the party.

accrued to Bornu State under his watch as governor; he has been accused by the Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis of sponsorship of terrorism; he was previously arrested in Cameroon in 2012 for alleged links to boko haram terrorists; he is unabashedly celebrated as the owner of the most expensive private jet in Nigeria estimated to be worth 11. 5 billion Naira – this is the qualification, the profile of the man that the PDP chose to lead them at this sober time of national renewal, in this auspicious moment when integrity is the sign and symbol that is sorely needed.

Across the length and breadth of the north east zone which parades an endless list of polished and brilliant political minds, the only person the PDP saw to appoint its acting National Chairman, is the one man who was certain to revolt, repulse, provoke, annoy, dismay, shock and alienate the few remaining PDP members and Nigerians in general.

Behold the PDP undertakers are out in the public square. So let the dance of death begin. It is finished!

Culled from Abusidiqu.com

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 41

Online Comments State of the nation: Osinbajo, Saraki, Atiku, Tinubu, others in closed door meeting SirOscie. says: Party leaders discussing the way forward is always a welcome development, one that all organs of the party and Nigerians stand to benefit from considering the fact that the APC is now the party in power.

Army on high alert to combat N/Delta militants Tony says: It is preposterous to think that hungrylooking and inept Nigerian soldiers can stand the highly equipped Niger Delta militants, many of whom are experts in guerilla warfare.

Murtala Made Us Crazy S. A. Maigari says: There’s always a new way of telling an old story. Well done, Oga Yawe.

JIBWIS unveils satellite radio, television stations in Abuja Yusuf Abdullai Kwoffie says: We need and want to donate to manara programmes and also register our masjid so kindly help us.

The emerging political debate in Jigawa Shehu Bello says: Leaders like Sule Lamido are visionaries, committed, honest, dedicated, transparent, faithful; hardworking and unbiased and they are in very short supply. So, he deserves to be appreciated and respected. Suspending his son makes us believe that he is being witch-hunted by this clueless administration of Gov. Badaru. It is unfortunate. Lamido will continue to excel.

Abubakar Aliyu says: This is incredible!!! Why will the governor behave this way? Why will he suspend district heads? He should take things easy and gently. He should be wary of all these kind of things because what goes around comes around. Sule Lamido deserves respect, gratitude, commendation and appreciation. Not humiliation and witch-hunt. May God guide us aright.

Muhammad Bello says:

The late Murtala

Mr. Adam, Governor Muhammad has nothing to envy in Sule talk less of those district heads who want to live under the expense of their community and the Jigawa people in general. Infact even if you are ignorant of what Badaru’s government is all about you can’t compare him with Lamido.

Isa Dan-Sidi Kafin-Hausa says: Administrators are cheap and easy to find and cheap to keep. Leaders like Sule Lamido are visionaries, committed, honest, dedicated, transparent, faithful; hardworking and unbiased and they are in very short supply. And ones with vision are pure gold. Lamido is more than gold. Sir, keep on, sky is the limit. Baba we are with you come rain come sun. May Allah reward you. Sai Lamido. .

Isa Dan-Sidi Kafin-Hausa says: This action of suspending Lamido’s son is illogical and politically motivated. I pity governors with this kind of attitude.

Badaru you are governor and we are all yours but don’t intimidate Lamido’s family and his supporters. We pray for Jigawa’s peace and unity. Oh God help us.

Adamu Muhd Usman KafinHausa says: Lamido and his administration accommodated insults and abuses from the people without having to reprimand anyone and in its bid to entrench democratic values, his government ensured the freedom of speech. PDP was not afraid of the APC, but was enjoying its activities.

He observed that it was his deliberate policy of promoting freedom of association that made it possible for those in the opposition to merge and challenge the ruling party.

Lamido believes that strong opposition is good for our democracy. APC should be very grateful to Sule Lamido and his administration. He added that the administration has promoted the right to vote and be voted for and strengthened the sanctity and integrity of democracy by ensuring that votes count.

Lamido pointed out that despite all negative comments against him and his government, there had not been any political prisoner or suspend anybody because he is facing trial in the state also the administration of Lamido had been able to stabilise the state assembly by not interfering with their operations. This, he explained, is his own way of decentralizing power by strengthening institutions rather than making himself or anybody serving under his government a dictator.

Atiku’s philanthropy not inspired by political consideration

Atiku Abubakar

VP Osinbajo

Saraki

– Associate

For example from late 2007 to 2015 Jigawa State accomplished the construction of over 1,200 housing units in the state capital, Malam Aminu Kano Triangle square, state high court complex, Second phase of state secretariat, chief judge, grand kadi, deputy governor, speaker, deputy speaker residences, five Emirs lodges, Dutse ultramodern market, NYSC permanent orientation camp and sport complex, New legislative quarters, illuminated Dual Carrige road traversing the nook and cranny of the state capital.

The state University at Kafin-Hausa, the beautiful airport etc.

SirOscie. says: I believe Atiku means well for Nigerians and will keep giving back to the people even after 2019.

Between Gov. Badaru, Lamido and Jigawa health sector (II) Abubakar Aliyu says: The purpose of human life is to serve, show compassion and the will to help others. It is very rare, thrilling and fascinating to get a leader with this kind of initiative and attributes of pity, love, care, concern, compassion, commitment, dedication, devotion and empathy etc to his people like Sule Lamido. He who cares the situation and bears the challenges and interests of humanity, that man is blessed Thank you Lamido.

Mansur Ahmed Jahun. says: I really pity my beloved state, Jigawa.

Things are going in a reverse gear. From inception of this present administration we are lacking and lagging behind in all works of life and missing good things.

Because of ignoring or not continuing with Sule Lamido’s policies and the application of some unpopular and outdated policies in the state especially the neglect of health sector in the state. Sule Lamido’s uncommon commitment, efficiency, selfless service, love of his people, intensity and approbation of fashionable developmental issues mark him out as a purposeful leader. Thank you Baba, we are with you come rain come sun.

Auwal Muhd says: One good thing about life is the rotation of time. It is popularly said: “A fool does not know the value of his left hand until he loses it”. I really sympathize with the good people of Jigawa for a great lose. Lamido is the one who has Jigawa and its people at heart. A meaningful developer and a great achiever. The best that has ever ruled the state. Without fear of contradiction, his name has been written in gold, shining and glowing. Jigawa people are today victims of circumstances (change). If at all there will be meaningful development, honour must be given to whom it is due..

Umar Danjani says: Sule Lamido touched all spheres of human life ranging from education, health, transportation, rural and infrastructural development to agriculture, economic empowerment, housing and water supply.

Isa Dan-Sidi Kafin-Hausa says: Dr Sule Lamido, a great Leader that contributed immensely to the development of Jigawa State. He left lasting structures, especially free education, free health delivery, youth empowerment, massive road contraction etc.

Emmanual Abraham says: Malam Adamu, I really appreciate your consistent comments and stand on Jigawa and Nigerian politics in general. One thing with politics is that you can win election with propaganda but you can’t run government with it. APC has deceived gullible people on electioneering campaigns now they find it impossible to take people to a Promising Land. . Keep on brother, don’t relent in your effort please. Lamido has proven to be a leader par excellence. He changed Jigawa to a modern locality and a place to be and live. The present governor should borrow a leaf and stop political vendetta. May God help us.

NFF threatens to demote Oliseh over CHAN comments

Onyekachi, M says: “The truth be said, Oliseh is yet to show signs that he is capable of taking the Eagles to the expected heights. We might ask him to work under a technical adviser or resign if he cannot but we can’t risk leaving him to experiment with our dear Super Eagles.”

NFF executives are unversed otherwise they would have known that Oliseh is inexperienced to coach a team like the Super Eagles in the first instance. How could you sack an experienced coach Keshi and replaced him with an inexperienced coach Oliseh? Does that make any sense?

Look! The Super Eagles won’t qualify for the Nations Cup if Oliseh remains the coach. Many of our high-profiled foreign-based players won’t honor Oliseh’s invitation (or even if they do, they won’t play well) simply because Oliseh lacks the pedigree to lead the Super Eagles.

Biographies

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 43

Mao Tse-tung (1893–1976)

M

ao Tse-tung was the principal Chinese Marxist theorist, soldier and statesman who led his nation’s Cultural Revolution.

Synopsis Born on December 26, 1893, in Shaoshan, Hunan Province, China, Mao Tse-tung served as chairman of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1959, and led the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 until his death. Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” and the Cultural Revolution were ill-conceived and had disastrous consequences, but many of his goals, including stressing China’s selfreliance, were generally laudable.

For the Great Leader, Humble Beginnings In the late 19th century, China was a shell of its once glorious past, led by the decrepit Qing Dynasty. Mao Tse-tung was born on December 26, 1893, in the farming community of Shaoshan, in the province of Hunan, China, to a peasant family that had tilled their three acres of land for several generations. Life was difficult for many Chinese citizens at the time, but Mao’s family was better off than most. His authoritarian father, Mao Zedong, was a prosperous grain dealer, and his mother, Wen Qimei, was a nurturing parent.

While Mao attended a small school in his village when he was 8 years old, he received little education. By age 13, he was working full-time in the fields, growing increasingly restless and ambitious.

At the age of 14, Mao Tse-tung’s father arranged a marriage for him, but he never accepted it. When he turned 17, he left home to enroll in a secondary school in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. In 1911, the Xinhua Revolution began against the monarchy, and Mao joined the Revolutionary Army and the Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party. Led

by Chinese statesman Sun Yat-sen, the Kuomintang overthrew the monarchy in 1912 and founded the Republic of China.

Spurred on by the promise of a new future for China and himself, Mao reveled in the political and cultural change sweeping the country.

Move Toward Communist Ideology In 1918, Mao Tse-tung graduated from the Hunan First Normal School, becoming a certified teacher. That same year, his mother died, and he had no desire to return home. He traveled to Beijing, but was unsuccessful in finding a job. He finally found a position as a librarian assistant at Beijing University and attended a few classes. At about this time, he heard of the successful Russian Revolution, which established the communist Soviet Union. In 1921, he became one of the inaugural members of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1923, Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen began a policy of active cooperation with the Chinese Communists, who had grown in strength and number. Mao Tse-tung had supported both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but over the next few years, he adopted Leninist ideas and believed that appealing to the farming peasants was the key to establishing communism in Asia. He rose up through the ranks of the party as a delegate assemblyman and then executive to the Shanghai branch of the party.

Death of Sun Yat-sen and the ‘Long March’ In March 1925, Chinese President Sun Yat-sen died, and his successor, Chiang Kai-shek, became the chairman of the Kuomintang. Unlike Sun Yatsen, Chiang was more conservative and traditional. In April 1927, he broke the alliance and began a violent purge of the Communists, imprisoning or killing many. That September, Mao Tse-tung led an army of peasants against the Kuomintang, but was handily defeated.

The remnants of the army fled to Jiangxi Province, where they reorganized. Mao helped establish the Soviet Republic of China in the mountainous area of Jiangxi and was elected chairman of the small republic. He developed a small but strong army of guerilla fighters, and directed the torture and execution of any dissidents who defied party law.

By 1934, there were more than 10 regions under the control of the Communists in Jiangxi Province. Chiang Kai-shek was getting nervous about their success and growing numbers. Small raids and attacks on outlying Communist strongholds had not discouraged them.

Chiang reasoned it was time for a massive sweep of the region to eliminate the Communist influence. In October 1934, Chiang amassed nearly 1 million government forces and surrounded the Communist stronghold. Mao was alerted to the impending attack. After some intense arguing with other leaders, who wanted to conduct a final stand against the government forces, he convinced them that retreat was the better tactic.

For the next 12 months, more than 100,000 Communists and their dependents trekked west and north in what became known as the “Long March” across the Chinese mountains and swampland to Yanan, in northern China.

It was estimated that only 30,000 of the original 100,000 survived the 8,000mile journey. As word spread that the Communists had escaped extermination by the Kuomintang, many young people migrated to Yanan. Here Mao employed his oratory talents and inspired volunteers to faithfully join his cause as he emerged the top Communist leader.

Japanese-Chinese Conflict and Mao’s Rise To Power In July 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to flee the capital in Nanking.

Chiang’s forces soon lost control of the coastal regions and most of the major cities. Unable to fight a war on two fronts, Chiang reached out to the Communists for a truce and support. During this time, Mao established himself as a military leader and, with aid from Allied forces, helped fight the Japanese.

With the Japanese defeat in 1945, Mao Tse-tung was able to set his sights on controlling all of China. Efforts were made—by the United States in particular— to establish a coalition government, but China slid into a bloody civil war.

On October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Mao announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and his followers fled to the island of Taiwan, where they formed the Republic of China.

Over the next few years, Mao Tsetung instituted sweeping land reform, sometimes through persuasion and other times through coercion, using violence and terror when he deemed it necessary.

He seized warlord land, converting it into people’s communes. He instituted positive changes in China, including promoting the status of women, doubling the school population and improving literacy, and increasing access to health care, which dramatically raised life expectancy. But Mao’s reforms and support were less successful in the cities, and he sensed the discontent. In 1956, he launched the “Hundred Flowers Campaign” and, in democratic fashion, allowed others to express their concerns. Mao hoped for a wide range of useful ideas, expecting only mild criticism of his policies. Instead, he received a harsh rebuke and was shaken by the intense rejection by the urban intelligentsia. Fearing a loss of control, he ruthlessly crushed any further dissent.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese were labeled “rightists,” and thousands were imprisoned.

Fallout from the “Great Leap Forward” In January 1958, Mao Tse-tung launched the “Great Leap Forward,” attempting to increase agricultural and industrial production. The program established large agricultural communes with as many as 75,000 people working the fields. Each family received a share of the profits and a small plot of land.

Mao had set idealistic, some would say improbable, expectations for both agriculture and industrial production, believing the country could make a century’s worth of advancement in a few decades.

At first, reports were promising, with accounts of overwhelming advancement.

Tse-tung However, three years of floods and bad harvests told a different story. Agricultural production had not come close to expectations, and reports of massive steel production proved to be false. Within a year, an appalling famine set in and entire villages died of starvation. In the worst manmade famine in human history, an estimated 40 million people died of hunger between 1959 and 1961. It became clear that Mao knew how to organize a revolution, but was totally inept at running a country. The scale of the disaster was hidden from the nation and the world.

Only high-level Communist Party leaders knew, and Mao’s protective inner circle kept many of the famine’s details from him.

As a result of the Great Leap Forward’s failure, in 1962 Mao Tse-tung was quietly pushed to the sidelines and his rivals took control of the country. For the first time in 25 years, Mao was not a central figure in leadership. While he waited for his time to return, an ardent supporter, Lin Biao, compiled some of Mao’s writings into a handbook entitled Quotations from Chairman Mao. Known as the “Little Red Book,” copies were made available to all Chinese.

Death of Sun Yat-sen and the ‘Long March’ In March 1925, Chinese President Sun Yat-sen died, and his successor, Chiang Kai-shek, became the chairman of the Kuomintang. Unlike Sun Yatsen, Chiang was more conservative and traditional. In April 1927, he broke the alliance and began a violent purge of the Communists, imprisoning or killing many. That September, Mao Tse-tung led an army of peasants against the Kuomintang, but was handily defeated.

The remnants of the army fled to Jiangxi Province, where they reorganized. Mao helped establish the Soviet Republic of China in the mountainous area of Jiangxi and was elected chairman of the small republic. He developed a small but strong army of guerilla fighters, and directed the torture and execution of any dissidents who defied party law.

By 1934, there were more than 10 regions under the control of the Communists in Jiangxi Province. Chiang Kai-shek was getting nervous about their success and growing numbers. Small raids and attacks on outlying Communist strongholds had not discouraged them.

Chiang reasoned it was time for a massive sweep of the region to eliminate the Communist influence. In October 1934, Chiang amassed nearly 1 million government forces and surrounded the Communist stronghold. Mao was alerted to the impending attack. After some intense arguing with other leaders, who wanted to conduct a final stand against the government forces, he convinced them that retreat was the better tactic.

For the next 12 months, more than 100,000 Communists and their dependents trekked west and north in what became known as the “Long March” across the Chinese mountains and swampland to Yanan, in northern China.

It was estimated that only 30,000 of the original 100,000 survived the 8,000mile journey. As word spread that the Communists had escaped extermination by the Kuomintang, many young people

migrated to Yanan. Here Mao employed his oratory talents and inspired volunteers to faithfully join his cause as he emerged the top Communist leader.

Japanese-Chinese Conflict and Mao’s Rise To Power In July 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to flee the capital in Nanking.

Chiang’s forces soon lost control of the coastal regions and most of the major cities. Unable to fight a war on two fronts, Chiang reached out to the Communists for a truce and support. During this time, Mao established himself as a military leader and, with aid from Allied forces, helped fight the Japanese.

With the Japanese defeat in 1945, Mao Tse-tung was able to set his sights on controlling all of China. Efforts were made—by the United States in particular— to establish a coalition government, but China slid into a bloody civil war.

On October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Mao announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and his followers fled to the island of Taiwan, where they formed the Republic of China.

Over the next few years, Mao Tsetung instituted sweeping land reform, sometimes through persuasion and other times through coercion, using violence and terror when he deemed it necessary.

He seized warlord land, converting it into people’s communes. He instituted positive changes in China, including promoting the status of women, doubling the school population and improving literacy, and increasing access to health care, which dramatically raised life expectancy. But Mao’s reforms and support were less successful in the cities, and he sensed the discontent. In 1956, he launched the “Hundred Flowers Campaign” and, in democratic fashion, allowed others to express their concerns. Mao hoped for a wide range of useful ideas, expecting only mild criticism of his policies. Instead, he received a harsh rebuke and was shaken by the intense rejection by the urban intelligentsia. Fearing a loss of control, he ruthlessly crushed any further dissent.

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese were labeled “rightists,” and thousands were imprisoned.

Fallout from the “Great Leap Forward” In January 1958, Mao Tse-tung launched the “Great Leap Forward,” attempting to increase agricultural and industrial production. The program established large agricultural communes with as many as 75,000 people working the fields. Each family received a share of the profits and a small plot of land.

Mao had set idealistic, some would say improbable, expectations for both agriculture and industrial production, believing the country could make a century’s worth of advancement in a few decades.

At first, reports were promising, with accounts of overwhelming advancement.

However, three years of floods and bad harvests told a different story. Agricultural production had not come close to expectations, and reports of massive steel production proved to be false. Within a year, an appalling famine set in and entire villages died of starvation. In the worst manmade famine in human history, an estimated 40 million people died of hunger between 1959 and 1961. It became clear that Mao knew how to organize a revolution, but was totally inept at running a country.

The scale of the disaster was hidden from the nation and the world. Only high-level Communist Party leaders knew, and Mao’s protective inner circle kept many of the famine’s details from him.

As a result of the Great Leap Forward’s failure, in 1962 Mao Tse-tung was quietly pushed to the sidelines and his rivals took control of the country. For the first time in 25 years, Mao was not a central figure in leadership. While he waited for his time to return, an ardent supporter, Lin Biao, compiled some of Mao’s writings into a handbook entitled Quotations from Chairman Mao. Known as the “Little Red Book,” copies were made available to all Chinese.

Page

Archives

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Neanderthals bred with early humans 50,000 years earlier than first thought

H

idden within the DNA of many of us is evidence that long ago our ancestors had some illicit liaisons with a closely related, but now extinct, species of human.

But tracing exactly when Homo sapiens interbred with their Neanderthal cousins has been greatly debated.

Now researchers have uncovered evidence that suggests modern humans first interbred with their thickset relatives 100,000 years ago, a staggering 50,000 years earlier than first thought.

The finding has the potential to fundamentally rewrite our understanding of how modern humans left Africa and spread around the globe.

An international team of researchers have revealed the first genetic evidence of a scenario in which early modern humans left the African continent and mixed with now-extinct members of the human family in the Near East.

And astonishingly, this was before our ancestors are thought to have made the mass migration ‘out of Africa’ less than 65,000 years ago.

Antonio Rosas, of the Spanish Natural Science Museum, said: ‘Over 100,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa for the first time.

‘These modern humans met and interbred with a group of Neanderthals, which later may have moved to the south of modern day Siberia, carrying the genes of Homo sapiens.’

The finding, reported in the journal Nature, puts back the previously first-known case of a human-Neanderthal hybrid produced by the two species by 50,000 years.

‘It’s been known for several years, following the first sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, that Neanderthals and humans must have interbred,’ quan-

Over 100,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa for the first time (illustrated) and bred with Neanderthals. The finding could rewrite our understanding of how modern humans travelled across the world and came to live in different regions at different times

titative biologist Professor Adam Siepel of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) explained.

‘But the data so far refers to an event dating to around 47,000 to 65,000 years ago, around the time that human populations emigrated from Africa.

‘The event we found appears considerably older than that event.’

Professor Siepel added: ‘One very interesting thing about our finding is that it shows a signal of breeding in the ‘opposite’ direction from that already known.

‘That is, we show human DNA in a Neanderthal genome, rather

‘It’s been known for several years, following the first sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, that Neanderthals [illustrated with a museum model] and humans must have interbred,’ quantitative biologist Professor Adam Siepel of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) explained

than Neanderthal DNA in human genomes.’

The team of experts from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Cornell University and the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, used several kinds of computer modelling algorithms to compare the complete genomes of hundreds of contemporary humans with complete and partial genomes of four archaic humans.

Contemporary Europeans, Eurasians and Asians, carry two per cent genetic sequences from Neanderthals, which is proof of interbreeding that followed the ‘out of Africa’ human migration some 60,000 years ago.

This implies children born from Neanderthal-modern human pairings outside of Africa were raised among the modern humans and ultimately bred with other humans, explaining how fragments of Neanderthal DNA remain in human genomes.

Contemporary Africans, however, do not have detectable traces of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes.

This indicates that whatever sexual contact between modern humans and Neanderthals occurred among humans who had already left the African continent.

But the team’s evidence of ‘gene flow’ from descendants of modern humans into the Neanderthal genome applies to one specific Neanderthal, whose remains were found some years ago in a cave in south western Siberia,

in the Altai Mountains, near the Russia-Mongolia border.

The modern human ancestor who contributed genes to this particular Neanderthal individual – known as the Altai Neanderthal from a tiny toe bone fragment must have migrated out of Africa long before the main migration that led Homo sapiens into Europe and Asia 60,000 years ago, the scientists claimed.

In contrast, two Neanderthals from European caves that were sequenced for this study - one from Croatia, another from Spain - both lack DNA derived from ancestors of modern humans, indicating there was no early interbreeding event.

The team also analysed the DNA of another archaic human relative - a Denisovan individual whose remains were found in the same cave in the Altai Mountains as the Altai Neanderthal.

Denisovans, like Neanderthals, are members of the human line that eventually became extinct.

The Denisovan’s genome showed no traces of modern human DNA unlike, Neanderthal found in the same cave.

These findings do not mean modern human ancestors never mated with Denisovans or European Neanderthals, but Professor Siepel said ‘the signal we’re seeing in the Altai Neanderthal probably comes from an interbreeding event that occurred after this Neanderthal lineage diverged from its archaic cousins, a little more than 100,000 years ago.’

It is possible a group of modern human ancestors from Africa separated early from other humans, at a time when presentday African populations diverged from one another, around 200,000 years ago.

The researchers suggest there must therefore have been a long lag between the time when this group branched off the modern human family tree, roughly 200,000 years ago, and the time they left their genetic mark in the Altai Neandertal, about 100,000 years ago.

The group were then lost to extinction.

Martin Kuhlwilm of the Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said the team focused on the genomes of contemporary individuals from five populations across Africa to identify mutations which most of them have in common.

This was the data that provided evidence of ‘regions in the Altai Neanderthal genome that carry mutations observed in the Africans - but not in the Denisovan’ or in Neanderthals found in European caves.

Professor Sipel added: ‘This is consistent with the scenario of gene flow from a population closely related to modern humans into the Altai Neanderthal.

‘After ruling out contamination of DNA samples and other possible sources of error, we are not able to explain these observations in any other way.’

MAILONLINE

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Page 45

Digest

DNA of people with quick tempers ages faster than those who are easy-going

P

atience isn’t just a virtue. It could also help you live longer.

Research shows that the body’s DNA ages more quickly in people who are impatient - and women are particularly prone to the effect.

The finding comes from researchers in Singapore who put more than 1,000 healthy students through a test of patience.

They were then asked how much this would need to be for it to be worth waiting for.

The more money a volunteer said they would need wait, the less patient they were deemed to be.

The volunteers also gave blood samples which provided clues to how quickly they were ageing.

The researchers zeroed in on tiny structures called telomeres.

These are biological caps which are found at the ends of chromosomes and protect the DNA in them from damage, much like the caps on the ends of shoelaces prevent fraying.

As we get older, our telomeres get shorter and shorter, leading to DNA becoming damaged and raising the odds of age-related illness.

Shorter than average telomeres are seen as a sign of ill health and premature death and the structures are consid-

Patience isn’t just a virtue. It could also help you live longer. Research shows that the body’s DNA ages more quickly in people who are impatient - and women are particularly prone to the effect. Stock image ered so important that the scientists who discovered them seven years ago were awarded a Nobel prize for medicine.

Now, research has shown there to be a clear link between shorter telomeres and impa-

tience.

This stood even when other factors, including socio-economic status and how healthy a person’s lifestyle was, were taken into account.

It isn’t clear just how im-

patience speeds up ageing but it maybe that related to the stress associated with making hasty decisions.

Impatient people may also be drawn towards unhealthy lifestyles, and the study may have failed to fully account for this.

Differences in sex hormones may explain why women are particularly affected, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

The researchers said that

“ It isn’t clear just how impatience speeds up ageing in DNA (illustrated) but it maybe that related to the stress associated with making hasty decisions. Impatient people may also be drawn towards unhealthy lifestyles, and the study may have failed to fully account for this

while it is possible that there is something about shorter telomeres that sparks impatience, they believe it to be more likely that hastiness causes the damage.

Professor Richard Ebstein, of the National University of Singapore, said: ‘With an increasing per centage of the world’s population “greying”, the determinants of successful ageing are of paramount importance.’

MAILONLINE

Differences in sex hormones may explain why women are particularly affected, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports.

Page 46

International

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

How Israel is ‘turning Palestinians into Zionists’ Israel is forcing Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem to switch over to an Israeli-controlled curriculum.

By Jonathan Cook

I

srael is to put financial pressure on Palestinian schools in occupied East Jerusalem in an effort to make them switch over to an Israeli-controlled curriculum, according to local activists and officials.

Almost all of East Jerusalem’s schools currently use a syllabus developed by the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government-inwaiting created in the mid-1990s by the Oslo accords. Before that, they relied on the Jordanian curriculum.

Palestinian officials have slammed the move, warning that it is part of intensified efforts by Israel to disconnect East Jerusalem from the neighbouring West Bank and entrench its control over the 300,000 Palestinians in the city.

Peace efforts have long been premised on Israel ending its occupation of East Jerusalem and recognising the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

“This attack on our curriculum is part of Israel’s war on Palestinian identity,” Sabri Saidam, the Palestinian education minister, told Al Jazeera. “Israel is working to consolidate its illegal occupation.”

Israel tried to impose the Israeli curriculum when it first occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, but was forced to relent after parents and pupils staged months of strikes and protests.

Civil rights groups, meanwhile, fear Palestinian schools will have little choice but to submit to the Israeli scheme if they do not want to face further budget cuts in an East Jerusalem education system already chronically underfunded by Israel.

Palestinian pupils, local activists say, will be presented with a curriculum that denies their history and identity, and places a strong emphasis on Israel’s official position that all of Jerusalem is its “eternal, unified capital”.

“We don’t want our children to be told that al-Aqsa is not our holy place, that the Palestinian flag is not our flag, that the land belongs to the settlers, and that Ariel Sharon is a hero,” said Hatem Khweis, a spokesman for the Union of Parents’ Committees, a Palestinian group campaigning for improved education in East Jerusalem.

The plan to switch curriculums came to light after senior Israeli education officials divulged details to the local media. Last year only 1,900 Palestinian high-school pupils in East Jerusalem - about 5 percent - studied the Israeli curriculum.

Israel operates an almost entirely segregated education system between Jewish and Palestinian pupils, both in Israel and in occupied East Jerusalem.

Saidam said that Israel was required under international treaties it had signed to provide a public education that respected the occupied population’s heritage, identity

‘We don’t want our children be told that al-Aqsa is not our holy place,’ said Khweis [Getty Images] and culture.

Israel’s education minister, Naftali Bennett, who is also leader of the settler party Jewish Home, said he wanted to “provide a strong tailwind to any school that chooses the Israeli curriculum. My policy is clear: I want to aid the process of Israelization.”

According to the Jerusalem municipality, the scheme will exploit the Palestinian population’s increasing isolation from the West Bank since Israel built a wall through the city a decade ago.

The extra funding will entitle Palestinian schools that switch to the Israeli curriculum to more classroom hours as well as music and art classes, teacher training and student counselling services - most of which are currently lacking in East Jerusalem’s Palestinian schools.

Last year Israeli education officials said they were considering lengthening the short school day in East Jerusalem’s schools to take Palestinian youths off the streets.

An Israeli curriculum, it is also hoped, will reduce nationalist sentiment.

Israeli officials believe both factors have fuelled months of angry Palestinian protests, as well as knife and car attacks on Israelis, that have focused on Jerusalem. Some have termed the unrest a third intifada.

“Israel believes it can change the next Palestinian generation’s mentality in the classroom, turning them into Zionists, without addressing the political situation,” said Zakaria Odeh, director of the Civic Coalition, an umbrella group for Palestinian civil society groups

in Jerusalem. “But that is the real cause of their anger and frustration,” Odeh told Al Jazeera.

He added that the Israeli curriculum denied the Palestinians’ identity, characterising them instead as “minorities” and religious groups.

Israeli officials appear to hope that East Jerusalem residents’ will to resist is now weaker. Khweis, of the Union of Parents’ Committees, said the education ministry was exerting strong pressure on schools.

They were imposing the Israeli curriculum through “a war of financial attrition”, he said.

Israeli courts have harshly criticised the government for the dire state of East Jerusalem’s schools, especially a shortage of more than 2,200 extra classrooms. In 2011 the Supreme Court gave the government and municipality five years to build enough classrooms for Palestinian children in East Jerusalem. That deadline expires this summer.

A report in December by Ir Amim, an advocacy group for a fairer Jerusalem, found the situation had deteriorated dramatically since the ruling. Only 35 classrooms had been built over the past five years, failing even to keep pace with natural growth.”The education ministry is holding educational resources hostage by conditioning funds to schools on their agreement to change their curriculum,” Betty Herschman, a spokeswoman for Ir Amim, told Al Jazeera.

Khweis said Israeli officials had stepped up interference in the Palestinian curriculum in recent years, censoring large sections of textbooks. Changes have included: removing pictures of Palestinian

flags and PA logos; excising information about PLO leaders; cutting lines from poems that could be interpreted as promoting struggle against occupation; and redacting references to the Nakba, the Arabic term for the loss of the Palestinians’ homeland in 1948.

“Israel has so mangled the Palestinian textbooks that the curriculum is extremely weak,” he said.

“And now Israel turns to the schools and tells them they would be better off with the Israeli syllabus.”

Saidam, the PA’s education minister, said Israel had also started blocking the shipment of Palestinian textbooks to Jerusalem.

Fears have been heightened by comments from education officials that funds for schools making the switch will be offset by cuts to the budgets of schools that continue to use the Palestinian curriculum.

According to Ir Amim, Israel is also expected to raid a $12m fund, set aside in 2014, to help Jerusalem’s schools over the next five years. Some $4.5m was earmarked to increase Israel’s control in East Jerusalem.

Saidam said the Palestinian cabinet had recently agreed to raise emergency funds to help schools that stick with the Palestinian curriculum. However, officials in East Jerusalem privately expressed doubt that much money would reach the city. The PA is in financial crisis, and Israel has blocked it from having any direct role in Jerusalem since 2000.

With East Jerusalem increasingly isolated physically from the West Bank, Palestinian pupils have found themselves trapped in an educational no-man’s land, said

Odeh.

Few Israeli institutions of higher education recognise the Palestinian matriculation certificate, complaining that students’ competence in Hebrew is too low. But it is also difficult for East Jerusalem’s students to access Palestinian universities in West Bank cities. If they do, they risk Israel revoking their East Jerusalem residency permits.

The Jerusalem municipality provides schooling for only 42 percent of the city’s Palestinian pupils. A similar number are taught in what are known as “unofficial” schools, partially funded and supervised by the education ministry.

The rest study in private, mostly religious, schools.

A staggering 22,000 Palestinian children are unaccounted for in statistics kept by the Jerusalem municipality.

Ir Amim said the severe classroom shortage in municipal schools forced many parents to pay high fees to unofficial schools.

Their children often studied in overcrowded and improvised classrooms, lacking heating, airconditioning, libraries, computers and science labs.

As a result, more than a third of Palestinian pupils fail to matriculate - the highest figure in either Israel or the occupied territories.

The crisis facing East Jerusalem schools follows threats from Israeli officials that independent church schools serving some of Israel’s Palestinian minority will be forced to close unless they submit to government control.

Source: Al Jazeera

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 47

Business New Electricity Tariff Regime:

Selling dog to buy monkey?

T

he Federal Government had on February 1, unveiled a new 45% increase in electricity tariff regime without recourse to the minute dissenting voices of Nigerians raised against it. This is coming on the heels of a subsisting court order of May 28,2015 granted by Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos in the case of Toluwani Yemi-Adeniyi vs NERC and others that there shall be no further increment pending the determination of the substantive suit.

The moral fibre of democracy is resident in the temple of justice therefore; decisions of the court in a democratic dispensation or at any other time must be seen to be strictly adhered to. Moreover, the increase was also carried out in contravention of a Memorandum of Understanding of November 1, 2013 signed between Labour Unions and government to the effect that within 18 months gestation period, all consumers are to be metered.NLC has declared a nationwide protest on the increase. The reason for the protest according to NLC President Ayuba Wabba was that, “due process in the extant laws for such increment was not followed in consonance with section 76 of the power sector reform Act, 2005.” A resolution on the matter by the Federal House of Representatives urging NERC to shelve the proposed increase was completely ignored. Almost all the increase in electricity tariff regime in Nigeria has been generally contentious since the introduction of Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO-1) in 2008.

This current one like others before it lacks general consensus and endorsement of all the stakeholders especially the end users.

With the executive pronouncement made by Raji Fashola, the minister of power, Works and Housing at the 2016 Senate budget defence to the effect that the National Assembly and in effect all Nigerians cannot stop the increase in electricity tariff, the coast for NERC, suggestive of the rogue boy sent to steal by his parents who confidently breaks the door with his foot became clear for NERC to ensure immediate compliance and implementation of the increase by Distribution Companies. In Nigeria, whenever any price of goods and services goes up, it hardly comes down. Nigerians are faced with the same scenario with the imposition of a pro-

Minister of works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola investor electricity tariff regime designed not to end soon but for more years to come.

Both the minister of power and the NERC have painstakingly tried to justify the rationale behind the increase to no avail.

In short, there is no justification for the increase. It is clear that the approval of stakeholders NERC “duly” considered and “taken into consideration” before this increase cannot be that of the majority of Nigerians who find it difficult to feed on $1 per day. Has there been appreciable power supply which should have given rise to the increase in tariff?

Government and industry players have always contended that for a guaranteed stability of power supply; quick return on investment of local and foreign investors will be guaranteed with what they call “ a stable and cost-effective pricing structure to guarantee a modest return on investment

“

for efficient industry operators” simply known as upward review of tariff. This tariff regime is an unfortunate burden which will definitely compound the visible hard times currently facing the masses of Nigerians. Nigerians voted for APC to right the wrongs of the previous administrations and put the nation on the path of true development and not to impose hardship on them. For most electricity consumers in Nigeria, the new tariff which removed the contentious fixed charge amounts to selling a dog to buy a monkey. None is better than the other. The latter is even worse. It is laughable when one of the selling points of the increase was anchored on the removal of fixed charge.

The so called fixed charge for all intents and purposes was a rip-off and big time fraud.

It was an illegal and corrupt power sectorial practice qualified for investigation. I urge Ni-

gerians to demand for a refund from the period it begun till the time of its removal. Please, join me in doing this simple arithmetic. The 45% increase in percentage of the “naira per kilo- watt- hour” (n/kwh) is far above that of the removed fixed charge. For instance, by this tariff regime, Kaduna Electric: owners or rather interlopers of and providers of electricity supply and infrastructure to Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states which previously charges N800 as fixed charge on R2 customers has raised its naira- per - kilo-watthour from N 17.00to at least N 27.00. Therefore, if an R2 customer consumes say 300 units of energy per month, the cost amounts to N8100 excluding VAT, instead of N 5900 in addition to fixed charge as obtained previously, without VAT. According to africacheck.org, a 2011 World Bank survey of 3000 Nigerian businesses re-

With the executive pronouncement made by Raji Fashola, the minister of power, Works and Housing at the 2016 Senate budget defence to the effect that the National Assembly and in effect all Nigerians cannot stop the increase in electricity tariff, the coast for NERC, suggestive of the rogue boy sent to steal by his parents who confidently breaks the door with his foot became clear for NERC to ensure immediate compliance and implementation of the increase by Distribution Companies.

vealed that, “the biggest problem was unreliable power supply. Businesses reported that they experience average power outage of 8 hours per day. 88% of retail and manufacturing businesses surveyed showed that approximately 69% of their total electricity usage was produced by private generators. The expenses incurred running private generators cost the average business the equivalent of more than 4% of their sales.” The minister of Power should step upa robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism to continually monitor and report the level of services DISCO’s provide with this and every other tariff increase while a performance benchmark for power infrastructural development in the sector should also be in place to enable government and Nigerians to see and be able to appraise deliverable results and progresses made in the entire sector especially by the DISCO’s.

Nobody is against tariff per se, but it is unheard of for a service provider to confidently demand for an increase in price of an abysmal provision of service obviously in short supply.

You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand.

A nation confronted with harsh economic realities of borrowing $3.5bn emergency loan to fill the growing gap in budget deficit occasioned by the tumbling crude price should not condemn Nigerians with an increase in tariff simply because the new owners who obviously lack the needed capacity to move the power sector forward pressurises government to do so. So many fledging business empires have been built from nothing to something in Nigeria. These new owners should identify other plausible ways of revenue generation within the power sector other than tariff increase. After three years in the saddle, what stops them from producing meters, aluminium conductors, shackle insulators, electric poles etc. on their own as a way of revenue generation. Those who cannot contain the heat should leave the kitchen. It is time for government to stop bending backward to appease some interests whose excursion to the power sector is to further feather their financial nests. The new owners should think outside the box to be able to recover the backlog of arrears they inherited when buying the companies. Nigerians will no longer entertain another increase in tariff without commensurate available power supply.

PAGE 48

Business

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

BOI to disburse N310bn loans to SMEs in 4 years —DG

T

he Bank of Industry (BOI) on Friday said it would disburse at least N310 billion in loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) between 2016 and 2019.

Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Acting Director-General of the bank, disclosed this at a ceremony to mark the appointment of new internal auditors and accountants for the bank in Lagos.

“As we all know, SMEs are the engine of the economy and we have been working to support the government’s efforts at up scaling their capacity.

“To crash the rate of unemployment from the 25 per cent rate to a single digit, the SMEs and manufacturing sector need to be involved.

“The only issue we have been having with SMEs is that they keep saying that BOI does not disburse to them, but the truth is that banks need track record and character to disburse loans to enterprises.

“The major challenge of SMEs is not loan because asking for a loan at the very beginning of your micro business is not the best way to go.

“It is better to start from somewhere with assistance from friends and family; from there your track record and character can be monitored even by the business owner himself,’’ he said.

He said with the SME Website, SMEs could use the accounting applications, even from their phones or laptops without having to come over to any of the offices.

He said the BDSPs were there for a token to write proposals, application guides and all that small entrepreneurs would find difficult to present while applying for a loan.

“As a means of sustaining the tempo, we are looking to disbursing at least N310 billion to SMEs within the next 4 years.

“With a single digit interest rate and a 95 per cent per-

forming risk asset, it’s not going to be easy.

“But this is the same attitude we want for the change we want to see in Nigeria, especially in the non-oil sector,” Olagunju said.

He also urged Nigerians to patronise Made-in-Nigeria products just like other developing economies were doing.

Olagunju said that it was because of one of these reasons the BOI patronised made-in-Nigeria buses and encouraged wearing of traditional attires in its dress code.

While speaking on the sidelines of the event, Mr Rasak Jaiyeola, the Deputy Vice President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), said that accountants were involved in the scheme to assist BOI to achieve its loan targets.

Jaiyeola said that the accountants and auditors would work with BOI to reduce its non-performing loans from 4.1 per cent last year to zero in 2016. (NAN)

Interbank rate eases on expected cash refund

By Mohammed Usman with agency report

O

vernight interbank lending rate dropped to an average of 1 percent on Friday from around 4.5 percent on Thursday as the market anticipated refunds of cash deposited by commercial lenders for foreign exchange purchases.

Traders said liquidity dropped sharply in the week and the cost of borrowing climbed after commercial lenders moved cash to their naira accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to enable them to take part in the weekly forex intervention on Thursday.

On Tuesday, banks deposited about 700 billion naira ($3.5 billion) to back their planned forex purchases, draining liquidity in the banking system and pushing the lending rate above 4 percent.

“The cost of funds dropped today (Friday) based on expectation that the central bank will refund a portion of cash deposited for forex intervention before the close of business,” one dealer said.

The CBN usually intervenes once a week in the official interbank foreign exchange market to provide dollars for eligible importers, while it requires commercial lenders to fund its naira account 48 hours ahead of the intervention.

Traders said they were expecting around 450 billion-500 billion naira in refunds from the CBN, raising the level of cash credits in favour of commercial lenders and helping to hold down interbank lending.

The total commercial lenders’ credit balance with the CBN stood at 376 billion naira at the start of trading on Friday, but is set to rise

by Monday to reflect the refunds.

The secured Open Buy Back (OBB) traded at 0.5 percent on Friday, against 4 percent the previous day.

The interbank rate reflects the level of naira cash liquidity in the banking system.

L-R: Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Budget and Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin; Deputy Chairman, Rep. Chris Azubogu, and Rep. Bamigbose Joseph, during collation of 2016 Budget submitted by various committees to the house committee on budget and appropriation at the National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja

MTN may get ‘reasonable’ fine – Sources

M

TN Group could end up paying a “reasonable” amount following talks with the Nigerian authorities over a disputed $3.9 billion fine for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM card users, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Reuters reports A judge in Lagos last month gave both parties until March 18 to reach a settlement, after MTN in December had asked the court to arbitrate over the dispute, saying the Nigerian Communications Commission had no legal grounds to order the fine.

MTN was initially handed a $5.2 billion penalty in October, prompting weeks of lobbying that led to a 25 percent reduction by the NCC. At the time an NCC source said its decision was based on advice from Ni-

geria’s state security service which suspected unregistered SIM cards were being used for criminal activity.

It had originally asked MTN to disconnect between 10 and 18.6 million users but MTN told the regulator it had 5.2 million unregistered users on its network, the source said.

The original amount was based on fining the company $1,000 for every unregistered SIM card in use.

MTN has said the revised fine of $3.9 billion is still too high, equating to more than twice MTN’s annual average capital expenditure over the past five years.

On Friday, the sources said talks were bearing fruit. “There’s growing understanding within the NCC that the fine should be commercially reasonable,” a source close to the matter said.

Another source said a further reduction from $3.9 billion was a “possibility” because “the tone of the NCC is not combative any more.”

MTN’s spokesman Chris Maroleng said his company, which makes 37 percent of its sales in Nigeria, expected the talks with the NCC to lead to an “amicable resolution.”

MTN has hired former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, who was one of President Barack Obama’s longestserving cabinet members, to help with the matter.

“There remains some uncertainty as to the final quantum (amount) of the Nigerian fine, should-an-out of court settlement be reached,” MTN said in trading statement that warned of a drop in full-year profits on Thursday.

NPA welcomes Japanese technology on infrastructure development

T

he Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Malam Habib Abdullahi has said the organisation will welcome Japanese technology in areas of infrastructure development in form of Public Private Partnership (PPP).

This is contained in a statement issued by the General Manager, Public Affairs of NPA, Capt. Iheanacho Ebubeogu, a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

According to the statement, Abdullahi, in a message to the visiting Japanese delegation, said the management of NPA would expeditiously list out technical and infrastructural needs of the organisation.

The managing director was represented by the General Manager, Capital Projects, Mr Rufai Mohammed.

Abdullahi said that NPA was involved in massive infrastructural renewal projects at its headquarters, quay length rehabilitation in Onne, Warri and Lagos ports.

He said that the organisation’s 25-year Development Plan would soon be ready and that would be a compendium of these development projects.

The managing director said that NPA had benefited in training programmes by the Japanese Government in the past, adding that ``it is a welcome development that such assistance (infrastructure) is being put forward again.

Abdullahi said that as a bilateral issue, he expected the visit to further unite and improve the collaboration between Nigeria and Japan. ``Especially now that NPA is embarking on capital intensive port reform with the desire to be the leading port in Africa,’’ he said.

The Section Manager of Urban and Transportation Planning Group of the Yachiyo Engineering Company Ltd., Mr Yasuhiro Yamauchi, said that the Japanese Government was ready to partner with NPA in particular and Nigeria in general.

Yamauchi said this should be in the area of technical abilities that would be useful for different projects in the country.

He said that Japan was ready to help the African countries but wanted to start with Nigeria because of its population and economy. (NAN)

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 49

Oddities

Indian village bans unmarried women from having cell phones A

village in India imposed a ban on unmarried women and minor girls from owning cell phones.

Women found in violation of this ban will be fined about $30, while the person who reported the offense will receive a reward of almost $3.

“Why do girls need cell phone? Internet is a waste of time and money for a middleclass community like us. Girls should better utilise their time for study and other works,” village leader, Devshi Vankar, told Hindustan Times.

Villagers in Suraj reportedly agreed with the decision, as cell phones were viewed as tools used by young people to leave their homes and elope.

Girls are allowed to use cell phones at home with the supervision of their parents and women attending college are

completely exempted from the ban.

“College girls are mature enough to differentiate between good and bad. Further, they also need mobile phone to stay connected with their parents as colleges are located in nearby cities not in our village,” Vankar told the Indian Express.

Vankar said banning young girls from using mobile phones would protect them from being distracted in class and being harassed by men on messaging apps.

“Everyone knows what happens in today’s world due to mobile phones. This is Kalyug.

This is an era of Whatsapp, where people secretly talk with each other. We have to save girls from those who acquire their number and harass them or try to lure these innocent girls,” he said.

Farmers use sex dolls to keep vermin away from crops

A

farmer keeps pests away using a scarecrow made from an inflatable sex doll.

The muddy sex doll also wears a yellow safety helmet and has reportedly been effective at scaring off birds, as well as people.

The stark-naked blow-up doll is thought to have belonged to a worker at a construction site near the field in Chengdu, capital of China’s south-western Sichuan Province.

It was then found by a local rapeseed farmer, who stood it

up in the patch of greenery in order to ward off crows and other unwanted pests.

The yellow helmet, which also belonged to the construction worker, was placed on the blowup doll’s head in order to cover its jet-black hair and to add more realism to the unorthodox scarecrow.

Now these pictures have gone viral in China.

Rapeseed, which is consumed in China as a vegetable, is also used around the world to make cooking oil.

Man changes name to ‘Bacon Double Cheeseburger’ A

British man formerly known as Simon Smith has changed his name to something slightly more carnivorous: ‘Bacon Double Cheeseburger’. The change was inspired, like many bad ideas, by an evening of drinking.

“It was the culmination of probably too many drinks in the pub where there was a conversation about names,” Cheeseburger told the Evening Standard.

“Bacon Double Cheeseburger was pretty much the first thing that came up. Everyone loves bacon don’t they?”

Cheeseburger, 33, told the newspaper his new moniker is ‘the most ridiculous thing’ he and his friends could think of.

“My friends were quite supportive of anything that makes me look silly, as good friends are.”

Cheeseburger said his new name hasn’t affected his career as a consultant in the oil and gas industry.

“My work speaks for itself... people keep hiring me,” he told the BBC. But that is slightly misleading.

He acknowledged he uses the name he was born with on his resume and doesn’t inform employers his

real name is Cheeseburger when he is applying. “I usually drop that bombshell after the contracts have been signed,” Cheeseburger said.

The name, he said, has advantages and at least one downside.

Once word got out that a man really named himself Bacon Double Cheeseburger, fast food outlets came calling, including Byron Hamburgers, a Britishbased burger chain.

But Cheeseburger said his fiancee, Isabella, has a beef about

the new name.

“My fiancée is fairly reluctant about marrying a Cheeseburger,” he told the Evening Standard.

“That is something we are discussing a lot. No girl ever dreams of spending her big day marrying a man called Bacon.”

Cheeseburger is one of 85,000 Britons who legally changed their name in 2015, according to the Mirror.

Other unusual names adopted by people include “Happy Birthday,” “Sarge Metalfatigue” and “Simply MyLove Poet.”

Page 50

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Healthy Living

Amazing benefits of carrot juice

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arrots are a rich source of necessary nutrients and minerals. It helps treat and prevent diseases and improves our vision, skin, hair, nail etc.

Drinking carrot juice daily is a habit that everyone should imbibe, as it is both healthy and tasty as well.

What makes carrot juice so nutritious is that it contains a large amount of beta-carotene, vitamins and potassium in it.

Improves immunity and controls heart diseases: Betacarotene makes it a rich source of vitamin A. It also helps improve the immune system.

The abundance of vitamin A in carrot juice can help improve your sight and the daily intake can prevent the onset of heart diseases and stroke. Vitamin A in addition keeps the lining of the internal organs healthy in order to prevent it from being infected by pathogenic organisms.

Reduces cholesterol: Here comes an amazing benefit of carrot juice, the potassium present in carrot juice can reduce cholesterol levels. It is good for the liver as it reduces fat and bile in it.

Potassium, along with manganese and magnesium stabilizes blood sugar level, thus helping to reduce the risk of diabetes.

Aids in clotting of blood: Vitamin K present in carrot juice helps blood to clot.

Heals external wounds and gums: Vitamin C helps to heal wounds and keep the gums healthy.

Prevents cancer: It also acts like an anti-cancer agent, increased intake of carotenoids in carrot juice decreases instances of bladder, prostate, colon and breast cancer.

Protein building and bone health: Vitamin K, present in carrot juice is essential for the protein building process in the body. It also helps in the binding of calcium that in turn leads to the faster healing of broken bones.

Potassium present in carrot also helps to improve bone health.

Cleanses the Liver: Carrot juice cleanses and detoxifies the liver.

Toxins in the liver are released from the system and excreted after regular consumption of carrot juice. The bloodstream cannot rid the body of toxins and bile through the kidneys. This has to be ejected from the skin.

Carrot juice aids this process and ensures that harmful bile is removed from the body. When the liver functions well, it prevents the accumulation of fat and aids in its rapid digestion, preventing weight gain and obesity.

For the women, carrot juice is not just about good health, but also about looking beautiful. Its beauty benefits include: Reduces dryness and scarring: Potassium helps reduce skin dryness and reduces scars and blemishes. It also gives life to your skin by improving its tone. It will also help improve hydration and thus keep your skin moisturized.

Prevents acne: Since it is high in essential oils, it also helps

prevent acne by detoxifying your body.

Source of vitamins needed for skin: This juice effectively acts as a vitamin supplement for your skin.

It also contains so many healthy nutrients that it can reduce skin related problems like eczema which is caused by deficiency of vitamin A, dermatitis and rashes.

Fights ageing: The betacarotenoid when entering the body changes into vitamin A and reduces cell degeneration and thus slows down aging of the body. It largely improves the amount of collagen in the skin and thus helps in maintaining elasticity and reducing the visible signs of aging like sagging skin and wrinkles.

Although carrot is a healthy vegetable, eating it with loads of sugar, cashew and raisins is unhealthy. Many people love the natural taste of carrot juice, but you can also add other fresh juices such as orange, lemon, ginger or mint to give it a different flavour.

Carrot and cinnamon juice together forms a very healthy antioxidant rich drink which can reduce cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes. It is said that drinking fresh carrot juice is better than eating it raw because the nutrient content will be even more concentrated in the juice.

Ensure you drink at least one glass of carrot juice each day to burn fat and get the fab, svelte body you have always yearned for!

Get that glowing and beautiful skin you love!

A glass of carrot juice

How to lower bad cholesterol B ad cholesterol is a pain, isn’t it? When was the last time you tried getting rid of bad cholesterol but only quit because the process was too difficult or expensive? Well, reducing bad cholesterol isn’t

Almond and nuts

a straight forward and easy process that happens overnight.

It requires complete dedication and time. But then, what if there are certain foods that can make the process much easier?

What is bad (LDL)

cholesterol?

There are two types of cholesterol, bad (LDL) and good (HDL).

Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) or bad cholesterol: Usually, around two-thirds of the cholesterol is transported by LDL particles. These particles are like ferries, which transport cholesterol to different body parts. If you have an excess of LDL in your bloodstream, these particles dump it in the arteries, causing blockages and even heart attacks. Many people refer to LDL as bad cholesterol for this particular ability of creating blockages. The only saving grace is that you can easily reduce the amount of LDL if you follow a regular fat-free diet.

Reducing Bad (LDL) Cholesterol: LDL cholesterol can lead to blocked arteries, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and other arterial diseases like arteriosclerosis.

Let’s look at some foods that help you reduce LDL cholesterol naturally.

Oatmeal, oat bran & highfiber foods: Oatmeal is rich in soluble fiber, an agent known to reduce LDL cholesterol. Having only 5-10 grams of soluble fiber can help reduce LDL cholesterol. You

can even eat one and half cups of cooked oatmeal, to get the right amount of fiber in your diet.

Fish and Omega-3 fatty acids: Eating fish rich in omega-3 can be of great help in your quest to reduce LDL cholesterol. Some fish which contain the highest amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids include: Lake trout, mackerel, herring, salmon, sardines, halibut and albacore tuna.

Remember to grill or bake the fish to ensure that you don’t add unwanted fat to it. Other sources of omega-3 fatty acids include canola or ground flaxseed oil.

Almonds, walnuts and others: Almonds, walnuts and other types of nuts help reduce LDL. As nuts are also rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, they help keep the blood vessels unclogged. It is recommended that you eat around 45-50 gms of nuts daily. By doing this, you can effectively reduce LDL cholesterol from your body.

Olive oil: Olive oil is rich in antioxidants, which help reduce bad cholesterol. However, these antioxidants don’t reduce or flush the good HDL from the body. As extra virgin oil isn’t that refined or heavily processed it

contains more antioxidants. In fact, the lighter the colour of the oil, the more processed it is.

5. Stanol or sterol fortified foods: There are many foods available in the market, which are enhanced with stanols and sterols (plant chemicals) that usually inhibit cholesterol absorption. Fruit juices, yogurt and some other foods contain added sterols, which can reduce more than 10 percent of the body’s LDL. Apart from increasing the above-listed foods in your diet, there are certain precautions that you should take to ensure that you maintain a low LDL cholesterol level.

Avoid junk food: Junk food contains many trans-fats that usually increase the LDL cholesterol level in the body. Thus, the best thing to do is avoid junk food.

Avoid sweets: Sweets can increase blood sugar, as well as LDL cholesterol levels. If you are aiming to reduce the amount of LDL in your cholesterol, the best thing to do is avoid sweets.

Follow these tips to get rid of bad cholesterol and stay healthy and happy!

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 28, 2016

Beware of hypocrisy (II)

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’m grateful to God for the privilege to bring you the concluding part of this message, and speak into your life. As I said last week, Jesus, during his ministry on earth, warned against hypocrisy. I therefore urge you not to be a hypocrite, and pay attention so that you’re not a victim of hypocrisy.

Woe unto hypocrites!

Jesus also talked about the yeast of the Pharisees in Luke 12:1-3, and here reduced it to their hypocrisy. So to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees was to beware of their hypocrisy.

In his ministry, Jesus had to speak against this yeast – the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Pharisees were synonymous with hypocrisy. In Matt 23, Jesus pronounced woe on the scribes and the Pharisees – “woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Verses 13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). The scribes of Jesus’ day were also called lawyers – the teachers of the law, the experts of the Mosaic Law which governed the civil and religious lives of the Jewish people. In the Bible, the scribes were usually associated with the Pharisees, a religious society and political party with a reputation for pretentious holiness and emphasis on the observance of the law in accordance with scribes’ interpretation.

In Luke 20:20, the chief priest and the scribes wanted to seize Jesus on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor, “So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous” (Luke 20:20a, NKJV). Did you see that? They only pretended to be righteous but were not. A hypocrite is someone who is pretending to be what (or who) he is not. In the Greek drama from where the word used in the New Testament, hupokrites, is derived, a hypocrite was someone who would wear a mask and played a part on the stage, mimicking the speech, body language, and behavior of the character portrayed in a play. But no matter how Hebrews 11:4-6

W

e are living at such a time and place when faith in God is so needful for a purposeful life.

We will always need God and we need Him now more than ever, speaking in human language. All around us, we see and hear of adversity and disaster, “no peace, great vexations upon all the inhabitants of the countries,” “men’s hearts failing them for fear.” And yet, there is no end in sight. This is not the time to play religion; this is the time to seek the true and living God with unwavering faith in Jesus, His only begotten Son. “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

God demands faith, real faith, pure faith, implicit faith expressed in corresponding confession, conviction and consecration if we are to please Him. Though we are living in perilous times, it is not peculiar to our community or this era and age. Others have lived triumphantly through similar experiences as ours.

They were victorious by faith; we too can be overcomers and more than conquerors, by faith.

1.

TRUST AND TRANSFORMATION BY FAITH Hebrews 11:4; Genesis 4:35; Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22; Romans 3:23-26; 5:8-11; 1 Peter 1:14-20; Hebrews 10:1923; 11:28.

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.”

Cain offered a sacrifice too but his sacrifice was not acceptable to God. Cain was religious but he “was of that wicked one.” He sacrificed but

perfect he was he was just an imitator not the real person.

So these religious hypocrites who wanted to trap Jesus got to him and asked him whether it was right to pay tax or not. But Mark 12:15 says, “Jesus saw through their hypocrisy” (NLT). He knew they were setting a trap for him.

He knew they had an ulterior motive.

They were insincere; they were not real. Verses 15-17 say, “‘Whom are you trying to fool with your trick questions?

Show me a Roman coin, and I’ll tell you.

When they handed it to him, he asked, ‘Whose picture and title are stamped on it?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. ‘Well, then,’ Jesus said, ‘give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God.’ This reply completely amazed them” (NLT).

Hypocrisy in charitable deeds There are still many people in church today pretending as it was in the day of Jesus. Make sure you’re not a hypocrite, and don’t be fooled by any.

Jesus was not fooled. Hypocrites do their charitable deeds to call attention to themselves. Their giving is not because they love to give. There is no reward for them. “Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do — blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity!

I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get” (Matt 6:3 NLT). You must be careful that you’re not a hypocritical giver.

Hypocrisy in prayer and fasting Jesus also condemned hypocrisy in praying and fasting. Imagine that!

Are you praying and fasting to show off? Are you quick to tell people you’ve been on prayer and fasting for a certain number of days? Or maybe you’re always announcing that you’ve just

finished a marathon dry fasting and you’re about starting another round?

What is that for? You want to boost your ego and earn people’s respect?

There is no reward for you other than the applause of men that you receive.

Hear what the Master said: “And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you” (Matt 6:5-6, NLT).

Jesus continued with this thought in verses 16-18: “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you” (NLT) .It is only God who answers prayer so why should you play to the gallery; why seek the praise of men over your prayer and fasting? Will you listen to Jesus and stop this circus?

Hypocrisy in the latter days 1Tim 4:2 says in the latter days, some will depart from the faith, and will, among other things, be speaking lies in hypocrisy, and we are already in the last days. You must beware of hypocrisy of those around you, those who relate with you. Don’t follow their hypocrisy otherwise you will be led astray. Gal 2:13 talks about how Peter exhibited a form of hypocrisy which led others astray and how Paul confronted him. That was Peter, the great apostle!

Because of one reason or the other, if one is not careful, it is easy to be a hypocrite even if just for a short time.

Page 51

From the Pulpit green pastures

By Pastor T. O. Banso

cedarministryintl@yahoo.com GSM: 08033113523 Zeph 1:5 talks about the idolatry, and indeed hypocrisy of the people of Judah: “For they go up to their roofs and bow to the sun, moon, and stars.

They claim to follow the LORD, but then they worship Molech, too. So now I will destroy them!” (NLT) There are many people like that in church today living in duplicity. One leg in God and another leg in satan. They claim to be worshipping the Living God but are also fellowshipping with the devil.

Ensure you’re not a hypocrite – a Pharisee! Be sincere, be genuine.

Beware of play acting – that’s what hypocrites do. They appear clean outside but they are rotten inside.

Jesus says, “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs — beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt 23:27-28 NLT).

Deal with the rottenness inside you, and stop playing to the gallery.

Don’t concentrate on pointing out the faults or sins of others. First remove the plank in your own eyes before you try to remove the speck in the eyes of others (Luke 6:45-42, Matt 7:5).

Walk in love; no hypocrisy Beware of hypocrisy by others, and get rid of it in your life. Don’t become a victim of hypocrisy, and don’t be a perpetrator. Walk in love towards all,

both friends and foes. Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48, Luke 6:35). That’s God’s concept of love. With the God-kind of love, you can never go wrong. And the Bible is not talking about hypocritical love but sincere love. Rom 12:9 warns, “Let love be without hypocrisy” (NKJV). But why is love so important? It’s important because loving is obeying all God’s laws.

“Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God’s requirements” (Rom 13:10, NLT).

TAKE ACTION! If you’re not born again, kindly say this prayer now: “0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent and confess my sins. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God.” I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible believing, Bible teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things becoming all God wants you to be. I’ll be glad to hear from you. May the Lord be with you.

Freedom through faith that pleases God “his own works were evil.” Though religious, he hated his brother and had no eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:12-15). He lived and died under condemnation, not willing to repent and turn from the religion of works. In his man-centred religion, he could not attain to freedom from sin, guilt and eternal damnation.

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.”

Abel’s sacrifice was by faith, looking back to what God did in providing a substitute for Adam and Eve and looking forward to the coming of the promised Seed who will be our Sinbearer (Genesis 3:15, 21). His faith was in the acceptable Lamb “slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Man-made religion attempts to worship God with inventions of “men’s hands”, “man’s device” and “tradition” (Acts 17:25, 29; Mark 7:6-13). Religion without faith in God’s acceptable Lamb is vain and displeasing to God. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Abel’s faith was counted unto him for righteousness. He was transformed and set free – free from guilt and condemnation, free from the power and curse of sin, free from eternal wrath and judgment.

2.

TRANSITION AND TRANSLATION BY FAITH Hebrews 11:5; Genesis 5:22-24; Psalms 119:1-3; 15:1-5; Isaiah 33:1517; 1 John 1:7; 2:6; 3:1-3; 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 11; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;

By Pastor W.F Kumuyi Colossians 1:13.

“By faith” “Enoch walked with God” and “he pleased God”. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

God revealed Himself to Enoch and he agreed with God by faith. God’s revelation came to him that, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 14,15). Knowing the judgment of God, he turned from his own ways, asked and believed God for mercy, became committed to God and His way, at age 65. He received grace and divine enablement to walk with God. “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years” (Genesis 5:22).

Consistently, he remained “undefiled and walked in the law of the LORD”.

He walked “in the truth”“in the

light”, “in love”, “in the Spirit”, “uprightly”, “righteously”, “humbly” and “honestly” (Psalm 119:1; 3 John 3; 1 John 1:7; Ephesians 5:2; Galatians 5:16, 25; Psalm 84:11; Isaiah 33:15; Micah 6:8; Romans 13:13). Living each day at a time, it was possible for him to “walk with God ” because hewalked “by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Enoch’s translation is a prophetic illustration of the Rapture of the true Church. All true believers who have put their faith in Christ, living and walking consistently with God in righteousness and holiness of life will be translated, raptured, caught up to heaven, forever to be with the Lord.

3.

THE THRUST AND TRIUMPH OF FAITH Hebrews 11:6; Deuteronomy 32:20; Psalm 78:22-24,41; Romans

14:23; 1:16,17; 5:1,2; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 6:1012; 10:38,39; 12:1,2.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Can you be pleased and happy with anyone who never trusts you, who always doubts your words, always questioning your sincerity and integrity? Will you be pleased with ‘a good man’, ‘an innocent woman’ who is always asking if you meant what you said and if you said exactly what you meant? How pleased will you be with someone who professes to love and honour you but never trusts your words? How can God be pleased with anyone, any ‘good man’, any ‘innocent woman’, who does not trust Him, who does not have faith in His Word and in His provision of salvation?

“For he that cometh to God must believe that He is.” He who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is infinite, eternal, selfexistent; the Creator of all other beings and things, on whom all others depend and by whose power and providence all others exist, live and are supplied with the means of continued existence and life. “And that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” He who has genuine faith in God must believe that He is not indifferent to the needs of His creatures, that He cares for their eternal and temporal welfare, that He will fulfil His promises, that He will grant salvation if sought in His appointed way and bestow blessings according to His infallible Word.

S p or T

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 52

Mahrez confident of Premier League glory

Wenger set to unleash Welbeck at Manchester United Pg 54

Secret behind Oliseh, NFF tussle

Pg 55

Pg 53

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 53

Sports

Ighalo insists no pressure to resume scoring

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igeria international Odion Ighalo has maintained he is not under any pressure to be back scoring goals for his Premier League club Watford.

The former Granada striker, who has scored 14 goals in the English topflight league this season, has not scored since a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest in a cup game on January 30.

He has not found the back of the net in the last five games in all competitions,

But Ighalo said the priority remains his club winning games.

“I am not under any form of pressure to score goals,” he said. As a striker, I always want to score goals but sometimes you don’t get the goals.

“But as long my team keeps winning, I am happy because that is the most important thing.”

However, Bournemouth be warned because the striker has predicted he will be back scoring goals again today at home.

Utaka fails to save Japanese club

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igeria striker Peter Utaka failed to help his Japanese club Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Chinese side Shandong Luneng in an Asian Champions League game.

Utaka, who played for the entire duration of the game on Tuesday, failed to score as his

Odion Ighalo

Mahrez confident of Premier League glory

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team lost 2-1 at home to the Chinese club.

The former OB Odense of Denmark hitman had earlier warned the unknown Chinese club could be dangerous.

He recently won the Japan Super Cup with Sanfrecce Hiroshima after they beat Gamba Osaka.

Peter Utaka

Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez

eicester City winger Riyad Mahrez says they are confident of holding onto their advantage at the top of the Premier League table and claiming the crown at the end of the season.

The Algeria international has been instrumental in the Foxes’ outstanding campaign thus far, scoring 14 goals and delivering 10 assists from 25 league appearances for his side.

Claudio Ranieri’s men are enjoying a two-point lead over North London arch rivals Tottenham and Arsenal and a 12-point lead over fifth-placed Manchester United with 12 games remaining, and can realistically hope for a UEFA Champions League spot.

However, Mahrez firmly believes they stand a chance to cause the biggest upset in English football history.

“I used to dream of playing in the Nou Camp when I was younger so it’d be amazing, if we finish in the top four, to play there in the Champions League next season,” the 25-year-old told MOTD Magazine.

“If I had to sum up this season in one word it would be ‘fantastic’. I’ve never known a season like it.

“We’re confident, we believe we can win it and we dream of winning it - but let’s wait until there are five games to go; we’ll know more then.”

The Foxes will host Norwich City in their next Premier League outfit today.

Ugbade receives presidential award after 30-year wait

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he Nigeria squad that won the first Fifa Under-16 World championship have been rewarded after a 30-year wait.

New Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari has made good on a promise to reward the players after the 1985 tournament when he was the military head of state.

Nduka Ugbade, captain of the team who beat West Germany 2-0 in the final in Beijing, said he has finally received my

money.

Buhari had promised the players a house, stock in the central bank and a scholarship and other incentives after their success but soon after he was ousted by another military regime and the country’s government never fulfilled his pledges.

Following Buhari’s election as president last year he announced in January a 2m naira ($10,000; £7,000) reward for each of

the players and 1.5m for the officials.

“He’s truly a man of his word and on behalf of myself and the team I say a big ‘thank you’ to our president,” added Ugbade.

“I would also like to thank the sports ministry, Alhassan Yakmut of the sports commission, the Nigerian Football Federation, both local and international media, and everyone involved in this great story.”

However, the rewards came too late for Kingsley Aikhionbare, who died in London in 1996. At the presentation to the players a minute’s silence was held in his honour.

The Under-16 World Championship was contested three times before it was changed to the Under-17 world Championship in 1991.

Nigeria won the Fifa under-17 World Cup in 1993, 2007, 2013 and 2015.

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Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Sports

Wenger set to unleash Welbeck at Manchester United

A

rsene Wenger will want to keep the Danny Welbeck-inspired victory over Manchester United last season fresh in the minds of the Arsenal players ahead of the trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.

Welbeck’s first appearance at Old Trafford following his summer 2014 move to Arsenal came in the FA Cup fifth round last term, and the former United man bagged what turned out to be the winner in the 2-1 victory.

The victory was sweet because M16 has been an unhappy hunting ground for Arsenal, especially in the Premier League.

Their last victory came in September 2006, when a late Emmanuel Adebayor goal secured a 1-0 win, and in the eight games since Arsenal have lost six and

drawn two -- a grand total of two points from a potential 24.

That poor record is not the only concern. The fact that Wenger’s team are not finding the net with anywhere near the regularity they should is genuinely troubling at this stage of the season.

Every point is precious and there’s little time to make up for any that get dropped along the way.

Having scored more than anyone else this season, and also having played more minutes than any other attacker apart from Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud is looking a little leggy at the moment.

He’s provided a couple of crucial assists recently, but hasn’t scored in since Jan. 13 when he bagged a double at Liverpool in a 3-3 draw.

Danny Welbeck scored Manchester United in the FA Cup last season

Neymar technically better than Messi, Ronaldo —Cafu

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ormer Brazil international Cafu feels Neymar has already surpassed both his Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as well as Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to his technical ability.

Neymar had to settle for third at the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or behind Messi and Ronaldo, but Cafu nonetheless feels his compatriot is already on a higher level than the illustrious duo in one area of his game.

“Looking at his technical skills, I would say Neymar is stronger than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo right now..

Neymar has been a key figure for Brazil since making his debut in August 2010, but he was unable to lead his country to glory at the 2014 World Cup or last year’s Copa America.

Cafu is adamant Neymar is the Selecao’s undisputed star, though, although he has stressed the Barcelona man cannot do it all on his own.

“Neymar is the best Brazilian out there,” he added. He is on another level than the other Brazilians.

“But Brazil needs a united team more than anything else. Only a united team can guarantee a strong Selecao.

Arnold signs Wolfsburg renewal

M

aximilian Arnold has signed a new contract with Wolfsburg, keeping him tied to the Volkswagen Arena until the end of the 2019-20 campaign.

The Germany international’s previous deal was due to expire in 2017, but he has now signed a threeyear extension with the Bundesliga outfit.

Arnold joined the Wolfsburg youth academy from Dynamo Dresden in 2009 and made his official first-team debut in November 2011.

The 21-year-old has since made 109 appearances in all

competitions for the Champions League hopefuls, scoring 18 goals in the process.

“He is an important player for the fans. He is the living example that you can make it into the first team from the youth academy with the right attitude.”

The midfielder himself was equally delighted with his contract extension and is keen to keep on developing at Wolfsburg.

“I have developed into a Bundesliga player here and feel this is the right place to continue my development. This contract renewal shows the club believe in me.”

Barcelona attackers Neymar and Lionel Messi

Koeman hails Hiddink impact at Chelsea

R

Chelsea

onald Koeman hs praised the positive effect Guus Hiddink has had at Stamford Bridge as Southampton prepares to host Chelsea today.

Hiddink arrived at Chelsea in December for his second spell in charge, following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

Since his appointment, the reigning Premier League champions have lost just once in 14 outings – 2-1 at Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Koeman played under Hiddink at PSV in the late 1980s, as well as acting as his assistant with Netherlands in the late 1990s, and he believes his fellow Dutchman was the perfect choice to steady the

ship at Stamford Bridge following a dreadful start to their title defence.

“They signed Guus Hiddink, he has a good relationship with the players and I think he’s the right person for the right moment in the season,” Koeman said.

A run of five wins and a draw from their last six matches – all without conceding – has seen Southampton climb to sixth and prompted questions over Koeman’s long-term future at a club which continues to prosper under his guidance.

Asked whether the board had spoken to him about a new contract, Koeman replied: “No. I’m still in my second season; it’s too early to make conclusions or to talk about the future.

Germany international Maximilian Arnold

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Page 55

Sports

Secret behind Oliseh, NFF tussle

W

e have a problem, call it a challenge, in our polity [including football] is an understatement we just did not know the extent or the extreme scale of seriousness of the challenge.

Former national team goalkeeper and now football pundit, Peterside Idah, revealed on live television that when the Eagles trained in South Africa before the commencement of the CHAN tournament in Rwanda, Sunday Oliseh pleaded with him to arrange food for the team.

The NFF vice-president, Seyi Akinwunmi, explained on the same show that the ‘food’ the team was asking for was Nigerian food an occurrence

that is commonplace for Nigerian teams on international assignments.

That sounds plausible but as managers of the game, the NFF must know that the team would seek Nigerian food but they still did not prepare for that need. What does that say of the capacity of the NFF board to plan adequately?

Digest that information properly – the national team players did seek a different kind of menu, a situation that the NFF knew would happen…

If this is true, then Amaju Pinnick and the entire board just need to step up to their duties and stop blaming the coach for ‘laundering dirty underwear in the open’. Of

Oliseh disshing out instructions to a player

Oliseh in a pensive mood

course, there will always be excuses [valid only in their own eyes] why what happened had to happen.

But CHAN was not an emergency. We knew when we qualified that we would need money [not cowries] to prosecute the tournament and if the NFF could not raise the money, it behooves of them to make it public knowledge and pull the team out of the competition.

This is in no way justifying the rant by the national team boss, Sunday Oliseh, but I can see the justification only that he allowed his emotions to grow wild and make a detour from the right path.

These people are disgracing us and causing us embarrassment in the comity of nations because they are not doing what they were simply elected to do.

The challenge that faces us at the moment is much more than the fact that the Olisehled Super Eagles did not make it out of their group at the 2016 Africa Nations Championship but the fallouts of that failure.

Elon Musk [if you don’t know him please use Google] said, “Criticism is like exercise.

It sucks in the beginning.

“But it slowly shapes us into more healthy people and we experience many long-term benefits. While compliments create contentment, criticism creates improvement.”

That Oliseh failed in

Rwanda is not the main issue but the way he and the NFF has reacted to the criticisms that followed that failure.

Having poured opprobrium on his supposed naysayers in two videos released on his website, the former Super Eagles’ midfielder’s utterances did not portray a person who played football for close to 15 years and across five countries and for top clubs under renowned managers.

But Oliseh is just one person and he should grow up but the NFF is supposed to be an experienced group of managers designing a template and working through to grow the game of football in the country.

What we seem [and I could be very wrong] to have on our hands is a band of charlatans, seeking self-glory.

Would any of the board members have said the coach should keep quiet in the face of

“

all these gaps if they had sons playing in that team? Why did this have to happen in the first place?

This board is almost 18 months in the saddle and the same ‘systemic challenges’ that faced former boards are still around and have grown even ‘healthier’ while the halo of suspension or dismissal that constantly hangs over the heads of the coaches of the various national teams whenever they speak out does not bode well for the growth of the game in the country.

Now, the sense of injustice that Oliseh will be feeling will have been exacerbated by Tijani Babangida’s dismissal as his personal assistant.

Therefore, on this case of the NFF and Oliseh, the omens do not speak well and a likely and [quick] divorce seems to be on the cards! We hope it does not come to that!

The challenge that faces us at the moment is much more than the fact that the Oliseh-led Super Eagles did not make it out of their group at the 2016 Africa Nations Championship but the fallouts of that failure.

BIG PUNCH Since the insurgency has been reduced drastically, we are resuming orientation in Gombe state beginning with this batch ‘A’ of 2016. Adamawa state will resume with the next batch, while Borno and Yobe orientation camps will be re-opened before the end of the year.

Peoples Daily WEEKEND, SATURDAY — SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27-28, 2016

Saturday Column By

Imam Murtada Gusau In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

A

ll perfect praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His aid, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from our bad deeds. He whom Allah guides, there is none to misguide him, and he whom He leaves astray there is none to guide him!

I bear witness that none is worthy of Worship but Allah, who is alone without partners and I bear witness that Muhammad (SAW) is His Slave and Messenger.

To Proceed: “O you who have believe! Fear Allah, (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared, [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah.”

[Surah Ali-‘Imraan, 3: 102] “O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship).

Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you.” [Surah An-Nisaa’, 4:1] “O you who have believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins.

And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a greater achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hellfire and made to enter Paradise).”

[Surah Al-Ahzaab, 33: 70-71] To Proceed: Verily the most truthful speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (SAW). And the worst matters are the newly invented matters, and ALL new matters (in Religion) are innovations into the religion, and all the innovations are misguidance, and all the misguidance lead to the fire.

Servants of Allah!

One of the worst crimes against Islam and the Muslim community today is the practice of excommunication (takfir or takfeer), which is to declare a practicing Muslim to be an Advert: business: news: lagos:

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unbeliever. In several traditions, the prophet Muhammad and his companions warned us about the severity of charging a Muslim with unbelief or apostasy.

Ibn Umar (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When a man calls his brother an unbeliever, it returns at least to one of them.” (See Sahih Bukhari, 5753) Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When a man says to his brother o disbeliever, then it will return to at least one of them.” (See Sahih Bukhari, 5752) Abu Dharr (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A man does not accuse another man of wickedness or unbelief except that it will return against him if his companion is innocent.”

(See Sahih Bukhari, 5698) Qais reported: Ibn Mas’ud, May Allah be pleased with him, said: “When a man says to his companion: You are my enemy!

Then at least one of them has left Islam or his companion is innocent.” (See Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, 421) Thus, a Muslim who wrongfully accuses another Muslim of unbelief and apostasy will himself carry the heavy burden of unbelief on the Day of Resurrection.

Brothers and Sisters!

The issue of excommunication is not merely a theoretical or abstract matter, but rather it is used by criminals to justify violence.

It is well known that the life of a Muslim (and any innocent nonMuslim) is sacred and must be safeguarded in all respects.

Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “All of the Muslim is sacred to another Muslim: his life, his wealth, and his honour.” (See Sahih Muslim, 2564)

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—DG, NYSC Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi

Dangers of excommunicating Muslims from Islam

Imam Murtada Gusau Therefore whoever unjustly kills a single believer (or any innocent person) on purpose will enter Hellfire and reside there forever.

Allah the Most High said: “Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell wherein he will abide eternally and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.” (Surah An-Nisaa’, 4:93) Similarly, the lives of all peaceful non-Muslims are protected and whoever kills one of them wrongfully will never enter Paradise.

Abdullah ibn Amr (RA) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever kills a person protected by a treaty will never smell the fragrance of paradise.

Verily, its fragrance can be found a distance of forty years of travel.”

(See Sahih Bukhari, 6516) My respected people!

To bypass these clear

prohibitions, the criminal excommunicators (takfirists) within the Muslim community have developed a theory and ideology of excommunication. The original heresy was innovated by the kharijite sect and their misguidance continues today in the form of militant terrorism.

In reality, those who declare Muslims to be unbelievers and justify violence against them are closer to idolatry than the people they accuse.

Hudhaifah (RA) reported: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him said: “Verily, I fear for you that a man will recite the Quran until his delight is seen and he is wicked for Islam and he changes to whatever Allah wills for him, such that it is stripped from him and he throws it behind his back, assaulting his neighbour with the sword and accusing him of idolatry.” I said, “O prophet of Allah, which one is closer to idolatry? The accused or the accuser?” The prophet said:

The excommunicators merely use the charge of unbelief as an excuse to murder and plunder their innocent victims. Rather, the truth in Islam is that the killing of a single Muslim believer is a greater evil than the freeing of a thousand apostates.

Rather it is the accuser.” (See Sahih ibn hibban, 81) Allah knows that some Muslims will accuse others of unbelief and reject their peace offerings only because they want to plunder their wealth. Therefore, Allah has forbidden this in the strongest terms.

Ibn Abbas (RA) reported: “A man passed by a group of companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and he had with him some sheep. The man greeted them with peace and they said, “He only offered peace to protect himself.”

So they attacked him. Killed him, and took his sheep. They went to the prophet and Allah the exalted revealed the verse: “O you, who believe, when you go forth in the cause of Allah, do not say to whoever greets you with peace that you are not a believer.” (An-Nisaa’, 4:94) (See Sunan At-Tirmidhi, 3030) Servants of Allah!

The excommunicators merely use the charge of unbelief as an excuse to murder and plunder their innocent victims. Rather, the truth in Islam is that the killing of a single Muslim believer is a greater evil than the freeing of a thousand apostates.

Imam Al-Ghazali Rahimahullah said: “Verify, to permit the killing Contd on Page 9

DAN GAYE Niger gov, Bello shielding looters —Assembly

But why would he do that?

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