The Nation April 20, 2014

Newspaper of the Year

President, Mark, Abduction: We saw govs pray for no soldiers in bush, peace at Easter say victims’ parents

Boko Haram to Jonathan:

We’re in your city

Tinubu: Nigeria deserves better –Page 8

Sect claims responsibility for Abuja motor park bombing –Page 6

Borno still searching for 84 school girls –Page 4

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.08, No. 2817

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

APRIL 20, 2014

N200.00

Members of the Diocese of Lagos West of Anglican Communion at the Jesus Festival 2014 held at the Bishop Vining Memorial Church playground GRA, Ikeja, Lagos to mark Easter.

Photo: OLUSEGUN RAPHEAL.

N10BN JET SCANDAL

Diezani, NNPC GMD in cold war Presidency saves Minister may N1.5bn debt still owed on Andrew Yakubu’s job sack two aides aircraft expenses –Page 5

Presidency, Nyako clash over genocide allegation –Page 4

–Page52

Angry youth sack Anambra monarch, Laz Ekwueme –Page 7

Palace set ablaze as soldier kills masquerade

Whereabouts unknown

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

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‘Spicy food, excessive alcohol cause mouth odour’

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PHARMACIST with the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), AbdulHamid Alege, yesterday in Ilorin said spicy food and excessive alcohol could cause mouth odour.

He said this in his lecture, which was part of the activities at the “Keep fit'' exercise for the month of April for members of staff of UITH. He also said dental plaque, the sticky stuff which coats the teeth and inflame the gum where germs grow, has been identified as the major cause of mouth odour.

The pharmacist said the best way to prevent mouth odour is to brush the teeth after each meal, and to consult a dentist if mouth odour persists.

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HE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and presidency officials call them unity rallies. In reality, however, they are full-blown political campaigns that stop just short of enunciating campaign promises. The rallies are addressed by President Goodluck Jonathan, and the rally train has moved from one city to another purporting to unite squabbling PDP groups, and presenting grassroots mobilisers to party supporters and potential voters. During the rallies, the mobilisers themselves fall over one another to embrace and proclaim the president's undeclared but no less ambiguous intention to contest the 2015 presidential poll. It would require very brave INEC officials to curb the president's undisciplined approach to the polls. Either such brave officials no longer exist or, perhaps, the men who occupy the highest office in the land, as exemplified by President Jonathan himself, have become less fastidious about electoral rules and indeed all other laws.

Nobody thinks the president will not contest. Indeed, no one thinks any person of substance will attempt to contest against President Jonathan for the party's ticket. More crucially, no one expects that the PDP would present anyone but President Jona-

Easter shower A local school girl in traditional clothes of the 'Kalocsa' region react as boys throw water in Kalocsa, some 100 km south of Budapest on April 17, 2014 during a rehearsal of the traditional Easter celebrations by the members of the local folk dance group. Locals from south Hungary celebrate Easter with the traditional "watering of the girls", a fertility ritual rooted in Hungary's tribal pre-Christian past, going as far back as the second century.

Photo: AFP

BAROMETER sunday@thenationonlineng.net

2015 campaigns begin, thanks to Jonathan than as its candidate next year. Previously, there was some small talk about whether President Jonathan was qualified to seek re-election, or whether he did not in fact sign a one-term deal with his backers, especially his reluctant northern backers. Now, everyone knows that that small talk was pure balderdash, and the supposed oneterm deal absolute hogwash. No sane politician will sign a one-term deal nor, if he did, agree to step down after his first term. The jobholders around him would kick him in the groin if he pretended to be honourable enough to keep his word, and his ethnic group would murder him if he as much as exhibited the slightest reluctance to seek re-election.

If indeed President Jonathan signed or promised a one-term deal, he had absolutely no intention of honouring it even from the outset. The gusto with which he is seeking re- unchecked are infallible proofs he has election and the zeal with which he nothing but contempt for one-term breaches electoral and moral laws deals so-called. Shortly after last week's

Nyanya blast in Abuja in which about 75 people died, the president attended another unity rally in Kano where he swore at Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, inveighed against the opposition, and promised what he described as the recapture of Kano from the opposition. Nothing was done about succouring victims of the blast and their families, and no administrative steps were taken to ensure the government's promises to the Nyanya injured were redeemed.

The president had earlier attended another rally in Enugu where he addressed the entire Southeast zone and hurled boyish innuendoes at opposition leaders. Said he: “Somebody will come and say they are progressives and you begin to ask how progressive are they, where you cannot win a councillorship or chairmanship election unless your brother is the dictator, where you are a maximum dictator and you are progressives; progressive to where? Progressives to

hell or to where?” Quite apart from vulgarising political ideologies in his idiosyncratic syntax, the president also made some stridently exaggerated, if not downrightly jejune, claims about the bigness and sanctity of his party. But above all he talked of how his party won the Southeast in 2011 and how it intends to win it again in 2015. The zone, through its wellknown and fawning spokesmen, cheered him on and assured him of their loyalty and support.

Nothing will stop the president's campaign rallies: not the bombs of terrorists, nor the abduction of scores of schoolgirls from school dormitories, nor any disaster of truly horrendous proportions, nor even the barking but toothless electoral commission that vows to assert its independence. President Jonathan has restarted his visit to traditional rulers, and will embark on anything his aides and political strategists suggest, including talking sophomoric philosophy, religion and ethnicity. But let him and his defenders not tell us he is not campaigning.

For when the real campaigns start, the president is unlikely to do better than he is unlawfully doing now, jumping the starter's gun, and revelling in impunity and a one-sided race.

Lamido Adamawa's conservative radicalism

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HE Lamido Adamawa, Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, is one of the most spectacular revelations in the ongoing national conference.

At the beginning, the main attractions were the sleeping geriatrics, some of them perhaps hobbled by poor health. But thrice now, Dr Mustapha has held the conference and the nation in thrall with his astounding and radical views.

As one of Nigeria's woolly aristocrats, he had been expected to advance generally conservative, if not entirely reactionary, views.

Instead, he seems in the opinion

of some fellow confab delegates to be transmuting from conservatism to untrammelled radicalism.

Some others even describe him as a conservative gadfly.

In an interview with the BBC Hausa service two Saturdays ago, Dr Mustapha described his fellow northerners as lazy for depending almost exclusively on oil revenue when they were sitting atop rich agricultural potentials. His northern compatriots are unlikely to find that description funny. But it is in his character to speak frankly and directly, without mincing words. In his

very first contribution at the confab, he had shown his exasperation with the way many delegates spoke condescendingly of the North and their irritating insinuations that if the country fractured the North would end up with the short end of the stick.

Not so, bellowed Dr Mustapha.

He and his people in the old Adamawa Province had affinity with the Adamawa people in Cameroun, he shot back, and would easily integrate across the border should Nigeria come to grief.

While that seemingly incen-

diary statement was yet to sink in, he then told the media he was sick and tired of the oil producing states derivation campaign.

Let them have their oil 100 percent. But let the others, particularly the expansive territories of the North and Abuja also embrace land derivation 100 percent. Barely three weeks into the confab, Dr Mustapha testily pushes ideological and political frontiers to their limits. What else would the verbally exuberant and learned traditionalist do before the confab is over?

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

COLUMN

Martyrs arising T

•Lord Lugard and his wife, Flora

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nooping around

HIS morning, this column suspends all intellectual hostilities to wish our compatriots a happy and prosperous Easter.

There is time for everything; a time to curse and a time to cry; a time to hiss and a time to sing. The Easter season is the season of resurrection, of spring and amazing renewal for humanity and nature alike. It takes a divine and peculiar miracle for humans to resurrect. But unlike living organisms, dead nations do resurrect.

In its one hundred years of existence, this nation has suffered too much. There have been too many strife, bloodshed and mayhems.

The killing and mutual elimination have been on an industrial scale. It has been a blood-splattered canvas; a killing field on an Olympian scale. If we were to resurrect all those who have died, all those who have been sacrificed at the shrine of modern Nigeria, what an endless cortege of misery and suffering!! !

Only this week in Abuja, a city willed into existence from virgin forests by the ingenuity and imagination of some visionary compatriots, hundreds were bombed out of existence. In the same week, a hundred and twenty female students were abducted from their school in the dead of the night by

gunmen who herded them into waiting buses. It doesn’t get more eerily unsettling.

In Africa, only two countries, the Congo and Sudan, can be said to have suffered more than Nigeria.

But there is suffering and there is suffering. There is quantitative suffering and there is qualitative suffering. These three African countries are distinguished by their humongous sizes. Perhaps in the post-colonial condition “big” is the beginning of trouble. Yet after the forcible partitioning of Sudan, South Sudan has dissolved into a nasty civil war. The nightmare of colonial cartography survives radical surgery.

We cannot continue to blame the colonialists for our woes. You cannot give what you don’t have.

Based on their history, the British have been compulsory unitarists, privileging and placing premium and priority on order over justice.

From its time as a Roman colony, through waves of Viking invasions and the Norman Conquest, the isle

has been a potpourri of immigrants. There was always a need for a harsh central authority no matter how bloody-minded to ward off anarchy and weld the human amalgam together. This is the colonial bequeathal to Africa.

This morning in the spirit of Easter celebration, we take an unusual look at the amalgamation not as a political tragedy but as a classic love story. Love and loving are classic human attributes transcending race, religion and creed. Jesus Christ, the man we celebrate this morning, was a great revolutionary, just like Prophet Mohammed.

In the two avatars, radical nobility of nature takes a quantum leap forward. Jesus had a special place in his heart for women, just as Mohammed codified the humane treatment of women as a cornerstone of Islamic philosophy. Reading through the following may soften our heart towards Lord Lugard. He was human after all, and a gallant and chivalrous lover to the bargain.

Perhams could as well have been describing a classic Byronic hero.

There were also the dark Spanish looks and a hint of the ancient conquistador and his menacing machismo. But Lugard was not your typical garden variety Don Juan.

Any hint of sensual frivolity had been savagely repressed, particularly after the Indian fiasco. Enveloped in a forbidding aura of testy reserve, Lugard never gave anything away.

Yet it was at this point in time that the invisible hand of fate summoned Lugard to what was perhaps his greatest campaign. Militarily and politically, he was already approaching the summit of his power and glory. But emotionally, he remained an Arctic tundra of frigid and frozen impulses. The conqueror of the lower and upper tribes of the Niger was ripe for conquest by love, by affection and by lifelong devotion and faithful collaboration. Romance beckoned…… in the tropics of fever.

Fiona Louise Shaw was born in 1852, six full years before Fredrick John Dealtry Lugard. She was the daughter of a British general of Irish extraction and a French mother. She was as beautiful as she was proud, imperious, fiercely independent and intellectually self-assured. In the history of British journalism, she was the first woman to have reached its stratospheric summit.

Margery Perhams description of this Amazon of the pen is equally gripping: “She looks what she is, a woman to go anywhere and do anything; the woman to write three columns of good copy for a newspaper on the back of a portmanteau in a desert.” Fiona Shaw was an original in every sense of the word. Like her husband to be, she did not take hostages or suffer fools gladly.

They first met in 1893 when they were both approaching midlife.

Nothing came out of that encounter. But it was obvious that they shared a passion for the new British colonies of Africa, Nigeria in particular. It was Fiona Shaw who coined the new name for the British protectorates, although it can be argued that the name had been in pri-

vate circulation among the Lagos coastal elite for some time. It is an irony of history that the same elite group would view the subsequent amalgamation of the protectorates with considerable dismay.

Fiona Shaw was at this time romantically involved with Sir George Goldie, the legendary helmsman of the Royal Niger Company. It was a doomed relationship. Goldie was a notorious womaniser and feckless rake. His brutal indiscretions led to Fiona’s emotional breakdown. It was at this point that Lugard stepped in like a shinning knight in armour.

Even then, Fiona Shaw turned him down and only accepted his proposal the second time.

They married in Madeira in 1902 while Lugard was on a leave of absence from the Northern protectorate. Shaw fully supported Lugard’s proposals about the need for an amalgamation of the protectorates. The basic argument was that there was no need sending the surplus extracted from the South through taxation on liquor, railway and natural produce to Whitehall when the north remained virtually bankrupt.

The union seemed to have liberated Lugard’s political genius. This was Lugard at the summit of his political and administrative ingenuity: brilliantly gaming against Whitehall and frustrating its attempt to rein him in militarily; propping up belligerent subordinates like Abadie, the Colonial Resident of Zaria, against wiser and more restrained counsel from his more experienced lieutenants. An exasperated Whitehall mandarin actually whispered the word “coup” to describe Lugard’s adroit manoeuvres.

The amalgamation was actually Nigeria’s first coup.

A vengeful Lugard was bent on putting the old north, particularly the emirate of Kano and the Sultanate, to sword: The emir of Kano for joyously welcoming the thuggish band that put Moloney to death in Keffi and the sultanate for the contumely of Sultan Abdu who had questioned his authority in a moment of frustration.

Military historians have suggested that the Emir of Kano was actually on his way to Sokoto with numerous sup-

porters to commiserate with the new Sultan, Attahiru, over the death of his predecessor and to urge him to get the Fulani to flee en masse from the protectorate to escape the mighty wrath of the Raj. This strange movement provided Lugard with a casus belli. Lugard moved with swift and merciless precision. The Fulani hegemons were put to death. Men are killed not because horses are stolen, but so that horses will not be stolen. The sultanate had been pacified.

But nothing lasts for long in the tropics. Tropical fever set in. Fiona suffered an irreversible breakdown.

She left never to come back, but remained in ceaseless correspondence with her beloved husband. It is a curious irony that Lugard who was to singlehandedly establish the University of Hong Kong and who also championed the cause of the sophisticated Chinese islanders would be so riled by the sophisticated and western-educated elite of Lagos. In correspondence with his wife, he noted of them:” I am not in sympathy with him. His loud and arrogant conceit are distasteful to me.”

The vengeful African tropics had left their indelible marks on the greatest colonial administrator of the last century. But when we hurt others, we also hurt ourselves. Unlike the Chinese who had five thousand years of fairly stable history behind them and who did not have to adopt a new culture and language, early educated African elite came a long way overcoming the colonial mindset about Africa and other entrenched prejudices. They could not but be loud, arrogant and conceited, unlike the self-assured Chinese who had nothing but sublime contempt for Western culture and civilisation.

The pity of it all. Britain would have found a powerful ally in a powerful, prosperous, democratic and liberal-minded contemporary Nigeria. Equatorial distemper is no respecter of humanity. Lugard was human after all, and a gallant and chivalrous lover to the bargain. Let good old Freddie now rest in peace while we get on with it.

With

Tatalo Alamu

Love in the tropics of malaria

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HERE was something of the tropics about Fredrick John Dealtry Lugard. Despite his ice-cool exterior and glacial temperament, there was an underlying fire, a capacity for fury and vengefulness which was quite tropical in nature. Lugard also had a capacity for torrid, equatorial passion in the amatorial sense which would be considered in the west as a sign of the emotional incontinence that Africans are particularly prone. Despite being a British warlord, Lugard was in every sense of the word Othello’s compatriot.

Fredrick was a child of the tropics. He was born in the tropics, in Madras, India. He was the son of a British clergyman and his third wife. But he was raised in Britain and eventually enrolled at the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. After commissioning, he was posted to the East Norfolk Regiment and from there to the second battalion in India. The tropics had reclaimed its own. It was from the orient that Lugard was to first contract the malaria that plagued him for the rest of his life and which became worse as Africa added its own vicious variety.

The fateful conjoining with the tropics and its colonial history was to alter the fundamental trajectory and course of Lugard’s life. But in retrospect, it did not affect his substantial destiny. This is the way fate sometimes plays poker with human destiny. In any case, there is malaria and there is malaria. There is also emotional malaria, which sends the afflicted to the pitch of fevered delirium.

In India, the young officer fell hopelessly and fecklessly in love with a married woman. It was the height of indiscretion. The ensuing furor was to destroy what was a promising military career. Normally high-strung, it was believed that it was at this point that Lugard suffered an emotional and nervous breakdown. In a feat of self-obliteration partly to redress the shame of an aborted career and partly to satisfy his love of high-risk adven-

ture on behalf of the crown, the future ruler of Nigeria journeyed to East Africa to join the battle against predominantly Arab slave raiders.

The year following his arrival in Africa, Lugard was severely wounded while leading a charge against the stockade of a slave raider very close to Lake Nyasa. For days, Lugard hovered between life and death. It was probably at that point that he experienced a radical epiphany. He found his life’s purpose. He was not going to be a regular British officer periodically called out to defend the interests of empire. But he was going to spend the rest of his life fighting for and securing the interests of the royal majesty in Africa and the Far East.

It was actually on his second tour of what was to become Nigeria that Lugard was named High Commissioner for the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. Even by then, the Madras-born soldier had become something of a legend in colonial military history. In several campaigns, he had distinguished himself for exceptional valour and his fabled contempt for personal safety. Often hopelessly outnumbered by the swarming natives, Lugard’s military maxim seemed to have been never to spare a maxim or show mercy when you needed to be merciless.

The African campaigns—or punitive expeditions properly speaking— were marked by such savagery and brutality that they marked Lugard in turn for the rest of his life. Apart from having been severely wounded in Zanzibar, Lugard also had a poisoned arrow stuck on his forehead from northern Nigeria. Nobody is sure of how this impacted on Lugard’s mental and psychological state. But gone forever was the callow officer of the Indian Second Batallion, or the youthful inexperienced lover.

Margery Perhams description of Lugard is incredibly graphic and unforgettable: “Africa has marked him as her own: Tall, gaunt, angular, dark as a Spaniard, Lugard has the yellow skin, the hollowed cheeks, the sunken eyes, the indented temples which mark the man who has struggled for life with the fever-fiend.”

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Blackout imminent as NLC issues seven-day ultimatum From Damisi Ojo, Akure

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HE southern part of the country may be plunged into darkness as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the weekend gave a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government and investors in the power sector.

The union is asking the government and investors to resolve issues on the working condition of workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

The ultimatum lapses next Friday after which the union vowed to act if government fails to meet up with its demands.

At a meeting with the officials of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) held in Akure, Ondo State, NLC said government should address the issues raised before the ultimatum in order to guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the power sector.

The meeting was attended by NLC Executives from 14 states in the Southwest, South South, Kwara and Kogi States.

A communique read by the Chairperson of NLC in Ondo State, Mrs. Bosede Daramola, at the end of the meeting frowned at the epileptic power supply in the country.

It lamented the alleged exploitation of the masses by the buyers of the electricity distribution companies.

Besides, the workers said the ongoing action of the new investors to de-unionise workers in the power sector was unacceptable, and called on the Federal Government to caution the investors.

Part of the Communique reads “ The meeting in session condemn in strong terms the victimization of labour leaders and the failure of the federal government to call the investors in the power sector to order in tandem with the tripartite agreement reached with the organised labour on January 13 so as to promote industrial harmony which is key to our national productivity”.

ARENTS and relations of students of the Girls Secondary School Chibok in Borno State abducted by suspected insurgents returned home yesterday without any of the girls.

They alleged no soldier went in search of the girls because none of them was at sight throughout their stints in the farthest parts of the bush.

The parents told the Hausa service of the BBC that throughout their 12- hour search in the forest, they did not come in contact with any soldier but found abandoned huts, breads and vehicles possibly belonging to security agents.

There was no trace of the girls, the parents added.

One of the parents, who spoke with the BBC on condition of anonymity, said throughout their fruitless search in the Sambisa forest, they did not come in contact with any Nigerian soldier in the forest.

He said they began their search in the forest at about 6 am but could not trace any of the abducted female students until

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

NEWS

Presidency, Nyako clash over genocide claim

•L-R: CEO, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Mrs. Sola David-Borha; Brand Manager, Cocoa Beverages, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mr. Mobolaji Alalade and Coordinator, God’s Children Got Talent (GCGT), Mrs. Adedoyin Odunfa, at a press conference to mark the 4th Season Quarter-Final of GCGT initiative of City of David Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Province on Victoria Island, Lagos…yesterday.

of the affairs of the country.

Accusing the Presidency of telling lies and feeding the public with untruth in its response to his memo to fellow Governors of the northern states on the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram Islamic sect and other issues of insecurity, Nyako, in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Affairs in the Government House, Ahmad Sajoh, said it is now very clear that President Goodluck Jonathan is very complacent about the insecurity in the northern part of the country.

According to him, “They arrogate all knowledge and wisdom to themselves alone.

We hold the statements we released as true and challenge those who claim to have a sense of history to cut-off the use of jaundiced semantics to address the issues raised in this and several other documents before it. By telling black lies about the attack on Governor Nyako which was never investigated nor ascertained, the Presidency is providing further proof that it knows more than it is willing to admit in the whole saga.”

The statement accused the federal government of misleading the populace on all fronts saying, “Feeding the public with untruth is becoming a new culture in Abuja. The statement on the supposed rescue of the abducted girls is enough to prove that. It is a pity that responsible and supposedly educated people could manufacture statements and attribute them to others just to create an escape route from their glaring failures. None of the statements attributed to Governor Nyako by the Presidency were ever made by him.

They were all manufactured for lack of a sound counter argument.”

The Adamawa helmsman challenged the President to react directly to the issues raised in the memo instead of making up statements that were not part of the correspondence in question.

He continued “If indeed the Presidency is not complacent about the killings in the country how come the President went dancing a day after several citizens were killed in Abuja?

If they claim that Nyako does not deserve to be Governor, are they fit to be where they are?

When we say the Boko Haram phenomenon is phantom we are talking based on several testimonies by the President.

•Continued on page 74

they gave up the search at about 6 pm.

According to him: “We were about 200 in the forest but we had to return back. We couldn’t sleep there; we saw nothing but make shift huts that were erected in the bushes.

“We saw vehicles like that of security agents in the bush, there were so many things, and there was even bread.

“We however saw a different set of people who asked of our mission and we told them.

It is a very thick forest and anyone would be scared to explore the forest.

“Contrary to claims by the authorities that soldiers were in the forest trying to rescue the school girls, we saw nobody; we didn’t see any vigilante agent too.

families as a tactical measure pending the return of their colleagues and subsequent decision by the State Governor on the way forward.

“Like I also said yesterday, we are hopefully expecting the return of our 84 students as intensive search and rescue efforts continue. I once again like always, acknowledge the combined efforts of the security agencies and civilian volunteers for their patriotism”.

A top security source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Most parents, local vigilante groups and sympathisers involved in the search have opted to remain in the forest to secure the release of the girls. This is the level of patriotism which parents and locals have demonstrated so far.”

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HE Presidency has described a memo written by Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State to the Northern Governors’ Forum as a sad betrayal of trust by a major beneficiary of the Nigerian nation.

Reacting yesterday to the memo which highlighted Governor Nyako’s fears that the Presidency may intentionally not be doing enough to solve the many problems of insecurity in the north, the Presidency said the Governor’s positions smacks of “an unmitigated leadership disaster.”

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement said the content of the governor’s letter betrays his lack of a sense of history.

According to Okupe, the memo portrayed the governor as incapable of rising above parochial sentiments as a result of his deep rooted disdain for facts and truth in public

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

discourse.

The SSA, who said the memo is extremely divisive, added that it was intentionally meant to incite one section of the country against the other.

“Governor Nyako claims that President Goodluck Jonathan is from the Eastern region which according to him was responsible for the killing of Northern political elites on the 15th of January 1966. This is a very disgraceful remark by the governor and a pathetic embarrassment to the Nigerian Military from where Nyako derives his career antecedents.

It is certainly a reflection of the Governor’s ignorance and unpatriotic inclinations.”

Similarly, the Adamawa State governor referred to the Boko Haram terrorist group as a ‘phantom organization’ which he believes does not exist! How hypocritical? In his unwise and desperate attempt to demonise the Federal Government, Governor Nyako likened the

military operations against insurgents to the activities of German dictator, Adolf Hitler. In his befuddled mind and apparent hallucination, the Federal Government should be held responsible for the activities of insurgents in the North East and the sad killings, wanton destruction, murder and kidnapping of school children as well as other horrendous activities of Boko Haram should be hung on the neck of the Federal Government!

“He therefore invited his colleague northern governors to join him to sue the Federal Government. This definitely defies common sense and portrays Mr. Nyako as unfit for the hallowed position of a state governor. It is obvious that Governor Nyako’s opposition to the declaration of a State of Emergency in three affected states of the North East as well as his repeated calls for the withdrawal of the Military from troubled states without any credible alternative or security

road map, is an open endorsement of the activities of the insurgents which is meant to provide them unrestricted opportunity to further unleash terror on innocent citizens in order to precipitate chaos, further instability, mayhem and anarchy ; a situation which they intend to exploit to undermine the administration and truncate our growing democracy. This, Nigerians will surely not allow to happen.”

Okupe restated the federal government’s “continuous determination to defeat terror and restore peace to every part of northern Nigeria so that every law abiding citizen can go about with his/her socio economic pursuit without let or hindrance.”

But reacting to the presidency’s statement same day, Governor Nyako said the response by the Presidency to his memo to Northern Governors has further proved that those running the Federal Government are too arrogant and confused in their handling

Abduction: We saw no soldiers in bush, say victims’ parents •Borno still searching for 84 school girls From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operations and Tony Akowe, Kaduna

We did not see any security agent, even in our dreams. These soldiers, we didn’t see any”.

The Borno State Government yesterday said it is searching for 84 students of the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok.

It said although one of the missing students returned to the school yesterday, she was not among those abducted.

The Commissioner for Education, Mr. Musa Kubo, made the disclosure in an update last night against the backdrop of sus-

tained search for the school girls by parents and volunteers.

It was learnt that those in the search team were locked up in the forest to secure the release of the girls.

The statement by Kubo said: “I am afraid we do not have an update that is as encouraging as Friday’s. Only one of our missing students returned today (Saturday).

“She was not among those abducted. She was however one of the 129 girls at the hostel on that black day the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok was attacked.

“She ran out of the school during the attack and thereafter,

went to her parents. She was brought back by her mother on Saturday.”

Kubo, who gave a breakdown of the rescue operation, said the 45 girls in the school are being reconnected with their families.

He added: “So far, we now have 45 students back in school.

Out of this number, 28 escaped from abduction while 17 fled home during the attack and returned home.

“As at yesterday, we had 44 students. Today, we have 45 while 84 are yet to be found.

Like I explained in yesterday’s release, all the accounted girls are being reconnected with their

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

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Controversies over claims that Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, blew a whooping N10 billion on a chartered jet provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) appear to be spiraling out of control with the topmost figures managing the nation's oil industry at each other's throat.

Disturbed by leakage of information on alleged N10 billion expended on the chartered jet, Mrs. AlisonMadueke is poised to sack two of her Special Assistants. The aides on the firing line were after being linked with the leakage of information on the chartered jet.

The Minister has also vented her anger at a former Minister, who was recently sacked from the cabinet and some top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the leaks and the management of the fallout.

A source within the ministry said: "There was disquiet in the Minister's office on Wednesday when some aides were threatened with sack by the Minister. In fact, one of the affected assistants is in charge of a sensitive unit.

"But at the close of work on Thursday, I saw the affected aides in office. No one was sure whether they came to clear their desks or someone from the top has acceded on their behalf. The true picture will emerge on Tuesday when we resume work."

The development has resulted in a cold war between pitching the Petroleum Minister against the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu.

But for the intervention of the presidency which feared it would lose the support of the people of Southern Kaduna for President Goodluck Jonathan's second term bid in 2015, Yakubu was set to be ousted from his position last week.

The President is banking on Northern minorities and Christians to win his re-election bid against the backdrop of perceived hostility of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy in the North against his ambition.

In spite of the intrigues, the House of Representatives has drawn a battle line over its intention to proceed with the probe of the alleged scandal on April 28.

NEWS

N10b jet scandal: Diezani, NNPC GMD in cold war • Presidency saves Andrew Yakubu’s job •Minister may sack two aides •N1.5b debt still owed on aircraft expenses

• Osun State Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola with Prof Wole Soyinka at the closing ceremony of the three-day colloquium organised by the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding and the State Government: Fundamental Imperatives of Cohabitation: Faith and Secularism held at Osogbo.

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts already has in its possession documents including the movement log of Challenger 850 jet in question.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the chartered jet scandal has caused considerable disquiet in the presidency leading to a major split in the seat of power.

While some forces are supporting the minister to confront the House Committee by challenging its powers to investigate in court, some friends and associates of the President Goodluck Jonathan are pleading with him to allow the minister bear her cross.

It was, however, learnt that the division has put the minister in a difficult position leading to a desperate

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

moves to reorganise her office and deployment of propaganda by her supporters through the organization of a pocket of pro-Diezani rallies in Abuja.

A top source said: "The chartered jet allegation has put the presidency under undue pressure on whether the Minister should face the probe or not. Although some forces believe that the presidency should live up to its avowed commitment to the fight against corruption, others feel the House should be checked following suspicion that it is using the investigation to undermine the presidency.

"This explains why some people in the presidency are backing Diezani to go to court to obtain injunction to

restrain the House Committee on Public Accounts.

There is a plan to hang on to legal technicalities to stall the probe.

"Despite plans to frustrate the probe, all is not well in Diezani's office on how the leakage came about leading to threats to sack two Special Assistants to the Minister during the week.

She was said to be uncomfortable with the roles of the SAs on her travel logs with the jet.

"There is so much anger everywhere from the Minister because she has never been under heat like in the past few weeks. During the week, the blame game continued culminating in a cold war between the Minister and some NNPC officials. It got to a stage when she was almost sacking the Group Managing Director of

NNPC, Andrew Yakubu.

"A major source of the war borders on the alleged refusal of the NNPC to pay the outstanding N1.56billion debt on the Challenger 850 jet.

"About 500,000 Euros (aboutN130 million) was paid monthly to hire the jet.

The company managing the lease of the aircraft is being owed for 12 months which amounted to about N1.56 billion. The NNPC management was said to be reluctant to pay the debt.

"It is also suspected that some NNPC officials might have contributed to the leakage of information on the chartered jet causing some friction between the Minister and the GMD. "Also, the GMD was said to be unhappy at being sidelined in decision-making process by the Minister. If

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she had her way, the GMD would have gone by now."

It was, however, feared that Yakubu's sack might trigger political backlash and that "the President would lose the sympathy of Northern minorities who are mostly in the North-Central and some parts of the North-East. The President might lose the support of Northern minority, especially the people of Southern Kaduna, who have been complaining of marginalisation."

Responding to a question, the source said: "Concerning the GMD's fate, I am aware that he was in London for a greater part of the week for a meeting of the NLNG. Whatever happened must have been at the top."

Meanwhile, as the House Committee prepares for its inquiry, more documents and fact-sheets on the chartered Challenger jet have been submitted by firms and individuals connected with the transactions.

One source on the committee said: "We are set for the inquiry although the Minister has refused to respond to queries from the committee. Instead, there was a plot to distract the House by casting aspersions on Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.

"We will not join issues with anybody or group on this probe. Rather, we will ensure that we are fair and objective as possible to the Minister and whoever may appear before us.

"So far, we have got relevant information to set the stage for our probe. The Minister appears indisposed to our summons, we will go ahead. No amount of propaganda by media consultants can stop us.

"The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts is already in possession of the manifest of the Minister's trips. We have also received a fact-sheet indicating that the aircraft lease firm, Vista Jet is being owed N1.56 billion for 12 months at 500,000 Euros (aboutN130 million) per month.

"We now have response from Evergreen, which has provided records of the movement of the jet in question. They, however, did not include the manifest. We understand that they are claiming that officially the other agencies in the aviation sector are to provide manifests for the House Committee."

Defection: 37 Reps warn against moves to declare seats vacant

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HE 37 members of the House of Representatives, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday warned against stampeding Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to declare their seats vacant.

They said those embarking on prejudicial comments should stop it or face contempt charge in court.

They also reminded apologists in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) behind the agitation against

From: Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

them to note that some lawmakers also defected to PDP and the declaration of seats vacant would apply across board.

The lawmakers gave the warning in a statement in Abuja by Andrew Uchendu, against the backdrop of fresh moves to force them to vacate their seats.

The statement said: "We have noticed that it has become commonplace every now and then to read in the

media comments and calls on the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to declare vacant the seats of the 37 lawmakers who defected from PDP to APC. "One cannot but be amused at such calls due to its inexplicable display of ignorance of our system. And when such calls emanate from people who should otherwise know better, the intention to mislead the public immediately becomes apparent.

"At the risk of being cited for contempt, it needs to be

reiterated that the issue of whether a seat is or not vacant is a matter before a competent court in Abuja and we all know that once a matter is before the court, it behooves on civilized and law abiding citizens to stay away from drawing conclusions or deciding the matter before the court does so."

The statement continued, "Such calls at this period amount to contempt of the judicial process. Those who are so concerned and eager to see the defectors out have option to approach the

Federal High Court through a motion of joinder, and join PDP as plaintiffs in the ongoing matter."

"Our argument before the court is that only Mr. Speaker is constitutionally empowered to declare seats vacant after satisfying himself with some facts.

"And if the speaker were to declare seats vacant, these PDP apologists should note that it will cut across all parties whose members have so far cross-carpeted in one way or the other. Thus declaring seat vacant, after due

process has been followed, would not only affect APC as a party."

The statement appeals to all "to stay away from all speculative comments and refrain from heating the polity until the judicial process comes to some determination," saying "This arrant display of ignorance and brigandage is enough and our members will not hesitate to approach the court to file contempt charges against people who seek to be more politically concerned than the PDP itself."

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Abuja bomb blasts: Boko Haram claims responsibility, threatens Jonathan

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BUBAKAR Shekau, leader of the militant Boko Haram Islamist group, yesterday claimed responsibility for last week’s bombing of a crowded bus station in Nyanya Motor Park, Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The twin bomb blasts killed at least 75 people and left hundreds seriously wounded.

The outlawed insurgent commander made the claims in a 28-minute video message posted online on yesterday. He

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor also took time out to threaten more attacks, telling President Goodluck Jonathan that his men are already stationed in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs.

Shekau who spoke in Arabic and Hausa in the video boasted, “We are the ones that carried out the attack in Abuja.” The deadliest attack ever in the

federal capital targeted a bus station in the Nyanya area of the capital city where early morning commuters and other people were caught in the explosion.

Dressed in military uniform and seated with a Kalashnikov resting on his left shoulder, Shekau addressed President Jonathan directly saying, “We are in your city.”

The video, which comes nearly a week after the dastardly act, confirms initial speculations

by military and government authorities that the bombing was carried out by insurgents loyal to the Abubakar Shekauled Boko Haram Islamist group.

Shekau’s latest video was released just as the search continued for 85 schoolgirls still missing after a mass abduction of students in a boarding school by the Islamists also suspected to be Boko Haram fighters.

Hours after the Abuja bombing, gunmen stormed a

girls’ school in the northeast and kidnapped 129 students, an attack also blamed on Boko Haram that has sparked global outrage. Forty-four of the girls have escaped so far, according to officials of the school and Military authorities.

Parents have been scouring the bush for days looking for the kidnapped girls. “We have been contributing money to buy fuel for motorcycles and vehicles to help in the search of our innocent

daughters.”

Shekau and his men, blamed for killing thousands since 2009, claim they are fighting perceived imbalance in the system and they want to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden”, has been attacking schools, homes, church, mosques and government buildings since it started the fiveyear uprising.

2015: Amaechi, APC are jittery, says Wike •He is a dreamer; we cannot be jittery over a sinking ship - Gov T

HE Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has alleged that the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and his supporters are jittery and afraid.

He alleged that the governor and his supporters are making efforts to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Wike also accused Amaechi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), of planting moles in the PDP, stressing that members of the party knew them and their movements.

The minister who is a former chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and the Directorgeneral of the Amaechi Campaign Organisation in 2011, described Rivers as a PDP state, while stating that the party will take over the seat of power in Rivers in 2015, from the APC. The supervising minister of education spoke yesterday at the Krisdera Stadium, Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area in Orashi Region of Rivers State, where a former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili, hails from.

The event was the first anniversary of the Chief Felix Obuah-led executive of the PDP, which came into office through the judgment of an Abuja High Court on April 15, 2013, which sacked the Chief Godspower Ake-led executive, but being challenged at the Court of Appeal.

Amaechi, who spoke through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, described Wike as a day dreamer; stressing that he (Rivers governor) and his teeming supporters could not be jittery over a sinking PDP ship.

The NGF chairman also asked the supervising minister of education to resign and declare his governorship ambition, noting that no rightthinking person would leave a place of comfort (APC) for hell (PDP), describing Rivers as an APC state.

The Rivers governor stated that yesterday’s supposed crowd at the stadium in Omoku, from the 23 LGAs of the state, would not be up to the crowd of APC members in Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers State.

Wike, a two-term Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council said: “When the Chairman (Obuah) and his team won on April 15, 2013, they said in the next three

From Bisi Olaniyi, Port Harcourt

weeks, the government would step aside. Today (yesterday), we are one year and they have moved to another party.

“Instead for them to concentrate on what is happening in their party, they are interested in what is happening in the PDP and they are all making efforts to come back to the party.

“If they are coming back to the party, they must come in a proper way. Anybody that wants to follow the window, we will throw him out through the window. I urge you to continue to work for the PDP. I urge you to continue to remain steadfast, because you cannot achieve what you want to achieve, without commitment and sacrifice.”

He added, “What is important to us is how PDP will take back the seat of Government House, Port Harcourt in 2015. Let Amaechi not rush. Let him take it calmly.

Let him take it easy. He has been telling various stories to different people and groups. All those people he has planted in PDP. We are aware. We know them and we know their movements.

“They are saying it is the turn of this and that. Come to the party. The party will tell you the war canoe house it is going.

Come and participate in the affairs of the party, in order to be waxing stronger.”

The supervising minister of education also stated that anybody who was committed to the affairs of the PDP, who believed in the party, would make sacrifice, reiterating that members of the PDP were one family, which he claimed was why APC members were afraid.

He said there must be a party first, for people to say they wanted to vie, while urging all the members of the PDP in the state to come together and work for the party.

Wike said: “When the time comes for who will be here and who will be there, we shall all sit down and take a collective decision. We have one common enemy, which by the grace of God, we shall chase them out of Government House, Port Harcourt come 2015.

“The former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, has expressed his support for all of you, for what you are doing and that the next time this opportunity comes, he will be with you.”

He added, “Our assignment is to mobilise. Knowing full well that somebody has challenged us, saying he gave PDP two million votes and that he is going to deny President Goodluck Jonathan the two million votes.

Let us not dissipate our energy.

The only work we have to do is to make sure all of us mobilise, have sleepless nights and to be sure that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

emerges as the presidential candidate of the PDP and thereafter wins the general election come 2015.”

The supervising minister of education also disclosed that President Jonathan would be in Port Harcourt for the Southsouth Unity Rally of the PDP on May 3, while pleading with members of the party to conduct themselves well.

The Rivers State Chairman of the PDP, in his welcome address earlier, noted that the road in the last one year had been characterised with some challenges and obstacles, but still with some inspiring moments, with the challenges and obstacles surmounted through the support of the members of the PDP and their dedication to the party.

Obuah said: “Let me restate my resolve to give equal opportunity and a level playing field to every party member to express his or her political rights, as we approach the 2015 general elections, irrespective of social status, height and body weight, ethnic background, religious affiliation or colour.”

The Rivers PDP chairman also urged members of the party in the state to work for and support the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015.

•R-L: Marketing Manager, Mouka Limited, Stephen Uwazota; Senior Executive Officer, Legal Department, Mayowa Okuyiga; Lagos State Lottery Board, Oluwatooni Odewole; Brand Manager, Mouka Limited and Senior Delivery Executive Sproxil, Dennis Bello at the live raffle draw of “Mouka Sleep like a Millionaire” promo at the weekend in Lagos.

Man abducts, hangs four-year old girl in Imo

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HE people of Amaisi Uvuru Community in Aboh Mbaise Council Area of Imo State are yet to recover from the shock of the gruesome murder of a four-year old girl, who was hanged on a palm tree in a neighboring bush by her abductor.

The journey to the untimely and tortuous death began for the little Miss Adaeze Gloria Eke after his father, Mr. Martin Eke, a local building contractor,

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

received an anonymous letter which instructed him to pay the sum of N100, 000 or his daughter would be killed. He however, dismissed the threat with a wave of the hand, especially as the said letter was not signed.

But a week after the mysterious letter, his daughter suddenly disappeared and a search party comprising of the

parents and youths of the village searched through nooks and crannies of the village to no avail.

Just at a point the family was almost giving up hope of ever finding their child, a tenant living in their house, Mr. Franklin Njoku, a senior secondary school student of Evangel International Academy, approached the father of the victim and volunteered to take him to a witch doctor in his

village, Mgbala, in NgorOkpala LGA, who could unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of his daughter and those behind it.

The frantic father, who had no slightest idea that his tenant was behind the kidnap of his daughter, bought his advice and asked him to go and find out from the witch doctor what it will take to carry out the sacrifice before he will accompany him to the village so that he could be

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

NEWS

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• Dame’s sibling says well-wishers provided souvenirs

Mark, Soyinka absent at Olubadan’s conferment ceremony

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

‘Jonathan didn’t execute wedding from state fund’

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan expended little or nothing at the wedding of his daughter, Faith Osakwe, penultimate weekend in Abuja, Chief (Mrs.) Esther Gbonkumo, a member of the first family, has stated.

She described the controversies trailing the wedding of as unnecessary.

The President’s daughter, Faith, had last week wedded the Prince of Osimotu Kingdom, Godswill Osim from Abi, Cross River State.

The week-long event was heralded by a superlative engagement ceremony at Otuoke, Bayelsa State hometown of Jonathan and the wedding proper held at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with all the razzmatazz of a typical high society wedding.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Nation over the weekend, Mrs. Gbonkumo, who is a sibling of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, said insinuations that the presidency probably emptied the national treasury to give the president’s daughter a befitting wedding, was a misrepresentation of facts.

According to her: “The opposition is just out to cast aspersions on the president.

As an insider, I know for certain that President Goodluck Jonathan didn’t tamper with the public purse just because he wants to give his daughter out in marriage.

“Actually, a lot of the things you saw on the day of the wedding as gifts and souvenirs were donated by wellwishers from different parts of the world.

“Most of the donors who heard the president’s daughter was getting married came to shower gifts on their own volition.”

On why the president accepted the donations knowing such could raise serious moral question, she emphasised Jonathan had no fore knowledge of the donations in the first place.

“Even the president hardly knew most of the donors. Most of the donors were women and friends of the First Lady, who came from different parts of the world to show solidarity and support for Dame Patience Jonathan.

“Specifically, those who brought the customised iPads, about 50 of them, also used the opportunity afforded by the gathering of who is who across the world to advertise their services.

So, it is not as if they wasted money as such.”

The opposition, she reiterated, is just out to make an issue where there is none.

“In African tradition and customs, you don’t reject gifts at such occasions because everybody is supposed to be in a celebration mood.

“So, there is really no reason why people should be hell-bent in character assassination of the first family,” she stressed.

•Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji flanked by other lawmakers of the Lagos state House of Assembly (in apron of Special Marsha) and Lagos state Sector Commander of FRSC Chidi Nkwonta yesterday

Angry youth sack Anambra monarch •Palace set ablaze as soldier kills masquerade T •Army, Police take over community HE annual Afia Olu festival turned bloody yesterday in Oko, Orumba North local government area of Anambra State.

One of the soldiers, allegedly invited by the paramount ruler of the community, Prof Laz Ekwueme, to stop youth from observing the festival killed a masquerade.

It was gathered that the paramount ruler had ordered no masquerade should perform during the festival, which did not go down well with the youth.

The dissenting youth confronted the soldiers mobilised to enforce the order, resulting in a violent clash.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers shot at the rampaging youth, killing one of them in masquerade cloth.

Several others were reportedly wounded.

Sensing defeat, the protesting youth, it was gathered, retreated and reinforced.

They besieged the mansion of Igwe Ekwueme, setting his vehicles and belongings on fire.

Residents said they also sacked the monarch, whose whereabouts remained unknown as at the time of this report.

The irked youth also burnt the motorcycles, houses and property of other town chiefs and leaders suspected to have sympathies for the monarch.

When contacted, the President General of the community, Cyprian Nwanmuo, confirmed soldiers shot at the youth but denied anybody died.

He also confirmed the monarch was attacked with his house and belonging sets on fire.

Nwanmuo stated that he ran for his dear life, claiming the crisis was a snowball of the faceoff the community had with current Rector of the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Prof.

Godwin Onu. According to him: ‘’Nobody is dead yet. Igwe banned masquerades but that small group against the community in the sponsorship of the ‘man’ went ahead and insisted masquerade must be part of the festival and fought the Army brought to maintain peace and order when police was over-

From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

whelmed.

“The soldiers defended themselves. They are burning Igwe’s palace now and his vehicles and Igwe has not been rescued but I have left for Awka now.”

The Oko Youth leader, Evangelist Hilary Ezeokafor and the Assistant National secretary of Oko town union, Sopuluchukwu Ezeonwuka could not be reached.

Efforts to contact the monarch, Igwe Laz Ekwueme , who is younger brother of the former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, also proved abor-

tive, fuelling speculations about his safety and whereabouts.

But a youth in the village, who is also Commander of Arms Federal Polytechnic Oko, Nnolim Sunday, told our correspondent that he was in Ezira with the Rector.

He blamed Ekwueme for the crisis, wondering why he invited soldiers to stop a festival they have performed from immemorial.

Sunday frowned at the positions the Igwe has taken on some issues affecting the community lately.

When contacted, the new Commander 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, Col Jibrin Fagge, confirmed he heard

about the incident around 8pm.

He said investigations were on, asking for time to take stocks before making official statement on the issue.

As at the time of going to press, over 20 trucks of soldiers and policemen were sighted moving into position in Oko. Residents said several community leaders and youth have scampered away to safety.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Emeka Chukwuemeka DSP, confirmed the report.

He said policemen were in full control of the matter to avoid further collateral damages.

ENATE President David Mark and Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who were to be conferred with honorary chieftaincy titles by the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, were absent yesterday during the ceremony.

This was part of the oneweek activities to mark the centenary birthday celebration of the Olubadan, which kicked off on April 13.

The Nation gathered that the duo had been formally informed a couple of months ago about the titles but were unfortunately not present or represented yesterday.

Only an America-based Historian, Prof. Toyin Falola, was physically present to receive his chieftaincy title of Bobapitan of Ibadanland.

Falola said that he accepted the honour because Oba Odulana is not given to frivolous conferment of titles on undeserving individuals.

On why Mark and Soyinka were absent, the Personal Assistant to the monarch, Chief Isiaka Akinpelu, said that the Senate President had already written to the palace on his unavailability for the conferment due to official engagements.

He said:” Mark promised to give us a new date to receive the title. Also for Prof Soyinka, he is still mourning the death of his daughter and he called us yesterday evening that he would choose a new date when he will come for the title”.

Confusion as police stop pro-Jonathan rally in Bayelsa HERE was confusion in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State •‘We intervened to avert bloodshed’ yesterday after armed

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policemen stormed Opolo area to stop a rally organised to drum support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection in 2015.

It was gathered that a group under the aegis of the New Dawn Initiative Development (NDID) put the rally together to mobilise support for Jonathan in his home state.

But the police in a swift reaction quickly gave reasons for their action.

The commissioner of Police, Hilary Opara, in a statement signed by the police public relations officer (PRO), Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said intelligence uncovered a plot by a splinter group to disrupt the rally.

He said a faction of the pro-Jonathan group had perfected a plot to cause violence during the rally, which he said could lead to the breach of the peace.

Opara said the police advised the pro-Jonathan group to reschedule the rally for another day.

He explained: “The police have directed the group known as New Dawn Initiative Development to reschedule the rally billed to take place at Opolo Secondary

School, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

“This was premised on the available intelligence to the command that a splinter group had perfected plans to attack and disrupt the rally which could lead to breach of the peace.

“Finally, the police command hereby advises good people of Bayelsa and in particular political groups to always make efforts to settle their internal differences before requesting for police permit for rallies”.

But tempers were high as many members of the proJonathan group claimed that the action bore the stamp of the government.

They insisted that the action came against the backdrop of insinuations that the senior special assistant to the president on Domestic Matters, Dr. Waripamowei Dudafagh, was behind the group.

There have been speculations that Dudafagh, who is a close friend of Dame Patience, the wife of President Jonathan, is positioning himself to unseat Dickson in 2016.

He was said to have floated the new political group to drive the process of

making him a governor in 2016.

Some members of the group believe that the police acted based on rumours that the rally was to endorse the governorship ambition of Dudafagh.

However, close aides to the state governor, Seriake Dickson, said the present administration has been an avid supporter of the president and would not do anything to jeopardise his reelection.

They said that Dickson has been rallying support for the president and wondered why some mischief-makers were trying to pit him against Jonathan.

According to them, Dickson could not have given an order to stop the rally since he travelled overseas for an official assignment.

It was learnt that the group had secured a permit from the state police command to hold the rally.

Following the permit, members of the group from the eight local government areas were said to have started arriving at the rally ground at 8.30am.

Banners bearing pictures of President Jonathan and the Vice-President Nnamadi

Sambo, were mounted within and outside the venue.

But trouble was said to have started at about 9am when a detachment of armed policemen and an armoured personnel carrier (APC) stormed the area and asked members of the group to vacate the venue.

A member of the group from the Ekeremor Local Government Area, Preye Ebiade, described the action of police provocative.

He insisted that the rally was designed to ask the President Jonathan to heed the yearnings of kinsmen and declare for 2015 reelection.

He said: “The New Dawn had, while sending out invitations to political leaders and elders on the rally, extended invitation to the State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson. He acknowledged the invitation and promised to attend.

“This action is politically motivated. The Jonathan’s re-election should be a collective project and one person should not abort that dream on his own selfish altar for second term in Bayelsa.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

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Sure-P MNCH to reduce maternal mortality in Oyo Councils

Ikuforiji, Atunwa greet Christians

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HE speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji and his Kwara State counterpart, Razak Atunwa, has congratulated all Christians in Nigeria for being alive to celebrate yet another Easter.

In a press statement signed by his chief press secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, Ikuforiji declared, “As Christians the world over mark yet another anniversary of the Risen Christ, I heartily rejoice with all Nigerian Christians on the celebration of yet another Easter.”

Ikuforiji added, “While therefore rejoicing with you all, for being alive during this year’s celebration, we must give glory to the Almighty God for preserving us all to be hale and hearty during this year’s festivities.

“As you all therefore celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead to redeem Christians from their sins, I therefore urge you all to continue to pray for our great country, Nigeria, to enable her overcome the current security challenges that she has been facing.”

In another Easter message, the speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Barrister Razak Atunwa, urged all Christians to imbibe the virtues of perseverance, tolerance, steadfastness and love exhibited by Jesus Christ to restore stability, peaceful co-existence and accelerated development of Nigeria.

In a statement by his media assistant, Alhaji Abdulrahman Sanni, the speaker urged Nigerians not to use the occasion for mere merry making but for sober reflection on issues aggravating political and social upheaval, economic stagnation, suspicion, and civil unrest among the diverse ethno-religious groups that had been coexisting in the country more than a century ago.

The speaker, while urging the clergy to always preach love and tolerance, further noted that no nation could attain progress without love, trust, tolerance and understanding of each other’s differences.

ESVARBON inducts 163 estate surveyors

By Seyi Odewale

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O fewer than 163 new members of the Nigeria Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) have been inducted by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) in Lagos.

The new members, who were urged to be good ambassadors of the profession, were given seals and stamps at the 34th induction ceremony held at the Senate Chambers of the former National Assembly Complex, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

The chairman of ESVARBON, William Odudu, said the induction has pushed the number of estate surveyors in the country to 3395.

According to him, the number was considered low and should be worked upon. He noted that one of the major challenges of the board was how to accelerate the registration of new entrants into the profession in order to meet with the rapidly growing population of the country.

He said the stamps, seals and certificates given to them were the properties of the board and that it reserved the right to withdraw them any time the board feels it has been abused by members.

From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

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•L-R: Leader, Yoruba Obas’ Conflicts Resolution Committee, Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Obateru Akinruntan, Baapitan of Ibadan, Eminent Historian, Prof. Toyin Falola, Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, Chief Bisi Falola and Olori Iyabode at the installation of Prof. Falola as Baapitan of Ibadan…yesterday

Lagos charges accounting officers on Procurement Law

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HE Lagos State Government has tasked accounting officers in its employment to ensure total compliance in the implementation of the state Public Procurement Law. The general manager of the state procurement agency, Mr. Akin Onimole, gave the charge while addressing heads of parastatals at a workshop held Friday in Lagos.

By Miriam Ekene-Okoro

He said the objective was to remind the accounting officers of their key roles in the implementation of the law, adding that all procedures be followed to ensure compliance.

Onimole assured that the agency would provide technical and professional support needed by MDAs towards ensuring compliance

Ex-NBA scribe faults Ondo govt over disruption of carnival

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KURE-based lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Charles Titiloye, has condemned the alleged disruption of the Akure Youth Carnival by the Ondo State Government and the Police on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

Titiloye, who is the former Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Akure branch, faulted the claim by the state government that a disturbing security report at its disposal led to its directive to the Police to abort the rally.

With thus action, according to Titiloye, the fundamental human rights of the youth to peaceful assembly had been infringed upon by the government.

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

The activist described as shameful and primitive the orgy of violence resulting from confrontation between the youth and the Police.

He maintained that the aggrieved youth who complained to have spent over N18million to organise the event must be compensated by the state government.

Titiloye argued, “The Ondo state Government must encourage youths who despite the massive unemployment in the country organised this cultural carnival rather than engage in criminal acts of terrorism and kidnapping which have threatened the existence of this nation to its foundation.”

Vigilante group tackles police over release of suspected ritualist

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HE release of a middleaged man who was recently arrested by members of a vigilante group for allegedly having carnal knowledge of a mad woman by the police is currently raising dust at Oke Anu area in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Investigation revealed that in the last couple of weeks, residents of Oke-Anu area have been keeping tabs on the man, who has been allegedly having sexual intercourse with lunatic women.

The man is said to be happily married with grown-up children.

Sources in the area revealed that nemesis eventually caught up with him when residents alerted a team of the vigilante group led by Tijani

From Bode Durojaiye, Ogbomoso

Yinusa, who arrested the man while allegedly involved in the act.

The residents were said to have mobilised themselves with the aim of lynching the man, but the quick intervention of the men of the vigilante group who took him to Owode Divisional Police Station saved the day.

It was, however, learnt that the alleged accused was later released by the police which allegedly accused the residents and the vigilante group for carrying out an illegal arrest.

Efforts by The Nation to speak with the divisional police officer of the station were all to no avail, as his aides insisted he was not available for comment.

with the procurement law, as well as play his role in postreview audit. the special adviser, Parastatals Monitoring Office, Mr. Adebayo Salvador, said with the implementation of the law, it was important for chief executive officers to follow due process in the award and procurement of public assets.

He said the implementation kicked off fully in the state on the 2nd of

April, 2014, adding that this will impact in the mode of award of contracts in the state.

He enjoined the participants to ensure proper administration of all procurements, contractor’s registration, appropriate pricing, timely delivery of goods and services, while admonishing MDAs to form Procurement Planning Committee in line with Section 27 of the Procurement Law.

HE Oyo State advocacy group under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) scheme has disclosed its readiness to tackle maternal and child mortality in six council areas in Oyo State.

Sure-P MNCH was set up by the Federal Government to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in the country.

The state program officer, Mr. Oyewole Adejumo, stated this at the Sure-P MNCH media engagement forum held at Adesola, Orita-Aperin area in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

According to him, the team will take advocacy messages on maternal and child mortality to six local government areas in the state namely, Kajola, Surulere, Ido, Oorelope, Ibarapa North and Oluyole Local Government Areas.

He disclosed that the project will last for six weeks, adding that their target audience includes women, children, the state governor and his wife, commissioner for health and information, local government chairmen and their wives, among others.Adejumo, who also doubles as the coordinator of Doma Education Development Foundation (DEDF) in the state, said advocacy talk is aimed at getting increased funding and better positioning of MNCH in the development agenda of the state government and the local government areas.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

Ropo Sekoni

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Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 , 2014

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

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ETWEEN them, two mega churches with membership running into hundreds of thousands each have asked their members to observe at least 121 days of fasting this year alone. The churches Living Faith Church Worldwide (a.k.a.

Winners Chapel) - with Bishop David Oyedepo as its head, asked its members to observe the annual 21-day fasting which they did from January 6 to January 26.

Members of the second church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), headed by its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, observed a 100-day fast which started January 2 and ended on April 11. The position of these two churches represents that of Pentecostal churches concerning fasting, particularly with regard to Lent. For the benefit of those who do not know, Lent is a period when Christians practice fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline for 40 days, with the aim of imitating the actions of Jesus Christ and reflecting on his life, death and resurrection.

As for the orthodox churches - the Anglican Communion, the African Church, Catholic Church, Methodist Church, etc., they observe Lent so fastidiously. They hardly joke with the 40 days fast, and especially the very last week, which they observe as Passion Week. I guess the Pentecostal churches prefer to fast as the spirit directs, rather than during Lent like the orthodox churches. Definitely the question of fasting at other times apart from Lenten Season cannot be because they do not want people to know when they (Pentecostal churches) are fasting since the announcement is everywhere online whenever they eventually decide to fast. For instance, almost everyone knew members of the RCCG were fasting from January 2 to the time the fasting ended on April 11.

Anyway, this piece is not about the rightness or wrongness of any of these positions. Rather, its aim is to draw attention to fasting as a possible way out of our (specifically) national quagmire. And that is what we should focus on and not the ‘my Christianity (or even religion) is better or holier than yours’.

Apart from these two churches whose members have had a cumulative 121 days of fasting, many other churches, particularly the orthodox ones, have only just ended their 40 days fast, which started on March 5 and ended on April 18. Millions must have participated in the fasting, considering the number of the orthodox churches in the country and their equally large membership. My point is that this year alone, Christians of all shades in the country must have fasted for 161 days. This is not to talk of other churches and individuals that were not captured in the 161 days cumulative fasting. This is a lot and if really we did it conscientiously, there should be result.

Ordinarily, RCCG members fast every February; but Pastor Adeboye, in asking the faithful to embark on the 100 days fast this year, told them it is specifically for Nigeria, especially in the context of next

After the marathon fasting …

If need be, Nigerians should repeat the exercise next year, and then be expectant ity human resource. A situation where the children of meat sellers are eating bones is an aberration; just as children whose parents are selling expensive apparels should not be going about in rags. So Nigerians, particularly Christians, who feel sufficiently concerned should not hesitate to pray and fast their way out of these anomalies.

It will be a mockery of the spiritual exercise if at the end of the long days of fasting Gentiles and kings still keep sucking our milk when we ought to have wherever they have stored our stolen milk deep in our mouths, squeezing them with our tongues and teeth so as to draw in arrears our milk that they had sucked illegally in advance. If we must co-opt the Fall Down and Die people the next time we fast for this to happen, so be it.

There is nothing wrong in our church leaders coming together against bad governance.

As a matter of fact, this is one area they have been found wanting. It is not only political par•Christian Association of Nigeria President, Pastor Ayo ties that can enter into alliance; Oritsejafor spiritual leaders too can, if the year’s general elections and the earlier pre- aim is to defeat a common enemy. And diction that the country will disintegrate in they do not have to mention anybody or 2015. If morning shows the day, what we have any political party in particular when been seeing so far concerning the elections is praying. All they need do is pray ferenough to make us worry. And we should in vently for God to come and take absoa situation where a government that is not lute control of the country. It is not their performing is doing everything to remain in business to ask that God should touch the power. The question is: to do what? What new heart of the leadership. How many times thing has the ruling party to offer that it did God ask Moses to go tell Pharaoh to could not have done in the last 15 years that ‘let my people go’? This tells us the futilit has been in power? Curious enough, it is ity in asking God to touch the hearts of not talking about winning elections, its leader leaders, sometimes. The point is that is talking about ‘capturing’ states, including when our spiritual leaders call the right places where people who might have dreamt prayer points, like asking God to deal of voting for the party would go back to sleep with those troubling the peace of Nigeria, so they can have another dream to reverse the this is enough poison to make the political leaders who have made the churches bad one.

If only for this reason, I would not mind a Mecca of sort to think twice before goasking that the process be repeated next year. ing to those churches because they know I understand some members of the RCCG have what they are doing. They know they told Pastor Adeboye just that. Without doubt, are the ones troubling the peace of Niit is not going to be easy, but it pays. What the geria. As our people say in Yoruba land, Bible says is that “we shall also suck the milk a bad person knows he is bad; he is only of the Gentiles; and shall suck the breast of waiting for someone to tell him. With kings”. Unfortunately, it is the Gentiles and due respect to our church leaders, the fact the kings that are sucking the milk of the faith- that most of these political leaders find ful in Nigeria as in many parts of the world. it easy to go before those altars of God Or, what do you call a situation where the again and again should tell us that those governed are being burdened with all kinds altars are not carrying sufficient fire; othof yoke, including removal of fuel subsidy, erwise, the heat should be enough to deand asking the jobless to pay for jobs they ter them from getting anywhere close.

This country deserves better governwill never get? This surely is not God’s purpose for Nigeria. If God had intended us to ance and our spiritual leaders have a great suffer as we are doing, He would not have so role to play in its rejuvenation. I know blessed us, not only with crude oil, but also some faithful may feel so bad that many with other mineral resources as well as qual- of these spiritual leaders are too close for comfort to the political leadership; many, including those whose churches don’t have any need for the filthy lucre that the latter may offer. Not to worry; let them (the spiritual leaders) just make the mistake of asking that the faithful pray and fast again for the country and the congregation should know where to direct their prayer. This is a road we travelled before; we have had a situation where a particular leader thought even if he must be removed, it would be bloody. But when the time came, not a single shot was fired; not even a baton was lifted. The rest is history.

Things have just got to change.

“It will be a mockery of the spiritual exercise if at the end of the long days of fasting Gentiles and kings still keep sucking our milk when we ought to have wherever they have stored our stolen milk deep in our mouths, squeezing them with our tongues and teeth so as to draw in arrears our milk that they had sucked illegally in advance. If we must co-opt the Fall Down and Die people the next time we fast for this to happen, so be it”

Abduction: Gaskiya, its pure haram Gbemiga Olakunle

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By Gbemiga Olakunle, JP

HE dust raised by the latest Abuja bomb – blast where more than 150 were reportedly killed with several people injured has not settled when the news of the abduction of about 130 female students in Borno State filtered in.

The teenage students were reportedly abducted by the dreaded Islamist Sect Boko – Haram and the victims were being kept as sex – slaves. And the trauma that these girls may be passing through and their respective families (especially their parents) can better be imagined.

To say that law and order has broken down in that part of the country is saying the obvious fact. Apart from turning these young girls into their sex – slaves, there is the palpable fear that Boko – Haram may be forced to use them as human – shields in case of any air – raid or ground attack by the military.

The protection and the well – being of these innocent girls who were under the protective custody and care of their parents and those of other ladies that were earlier abducted before this recent incidence should be a matter of serious concern and worry to well – meaning Nigerians and the government whose primary responsibility is to protect lives and properties of the citizens.

Unfortunately instead of putting their acts together to address this security challenge that is fast spreading and getting worse, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- the Ruling party is pointing accusing fingers at the Opposition – All Progressives Congress (APC).

The innocent children should not be forced to pay for the sins of the officials who may be failing in their duty to perform their assigned responsibilities. Boko – Haram should not be allowed to be abducting our young girls (most of whom may be virgins).

The Sect members should wait until they get to their own heaven before they may be rewarded with 7 or 70 virgins as a reward for their “martyrdom”. With the ease that the sect operates these days, President Goodluck Jonathan claims about two years ago that Boko – Haram Sect has penetrated every aspect of the nation’s security apparatus including his cabinet is further confirmed.

Meanwhile, while our politicians are still bickering and trading blames over the worsening security situations, we want these unlawful captives in the captivity of Boko – Haram to be released as a matter of uttermost urgency. These unlawful captives include those innocent teenagers/young ladies and young men that the Boko – Haram has forcefully recruited into its own army.

At least for once, our governments should rise up and prove that they are equal to this task of guarantying lives and properties of the citizens. Boko – Haram should know where to turn to if they want to satisfy their sexual orgies. They can award the ‘’contract’’ to commercial sex – workers and pay for their services. It is pure harm to turn innocent girls and unwilling ladies into their sex – slaves. Gaskiya, it is pure haram.

We have started to rejoice when the Military broke the news of the purported rescue of about 107 girls that were earlier abducted earlier in the week. But our joy was cut short when the Principal of the affected school countered the news and maintained that the abducted girls are still in Boko – Haram captivity except those who had miraculously escaped from the camp of the enemy. And this latest development has remained the position of the Borno State government and the authorities of the affected school. The pertinent question now remains, for how long will the majority of these innocent girls be allowed to stay in the den of Boko – Haram with the attendant abuses and all kinds of maltreatment?

Gbemiga Olakunle, JP General Secretary, National Prayer Movement gbemigaolakunle@yahoo.co.uk

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

COMMENT

Pork galore after white paper on Oronsaye’s report

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WO years after the committee on rationalization and restructuring of federal government parastatals, commissions and agencies, the country has come to find out that nothing has changed. Less than 10% of agencies and commissions recommended for rationalization got the nod of the President.

Federal government’s final response to the call for rightsizing the bloated public service has raised many questions about governance in our post-military ethos.

Most of the agencies and commissions that the Oronsaye committee recommended for abolition or merger were created by military rulers. The thinking during the decades of military autocracy was that increasing the powers of the federal government vis-à-vis those of the regions or states was the best way to ensure the country’s territorial unity. Military dictators also believed that the more agencies, commissions, and authorities, the more pork would be available to distribute to military cronies and civilian collaborators. An enlarged federal civil service and expanded public service in the name of agencies and commissions were believed to be sources of jobs for the boys and girls around the corridors of power.

Even after Structural Adjustment Programme and the austerity that characterized it, military rulers kept at creating federal bureaucracies for any aspect of life that came to their mind.This thinking was even extended to the states, to the extent that most states today spend over 70% of their budget on servicing the public service. When President Jonathan established the committee headed by Oronsaye, the general belief was that the President had recognized the need to create a new culture of governing the country that is different from the one inherited from military rule,

Two years after the sitting of the Oronsaye committee, the federal government is still struggling with itself on what to do to achieve good governance which equated revenue from petroleum with wealth that was just waiting to be spent. It was also believed by many citizens that the Jonathan administration was ready to start the process of de-militarizing the polity.

But the President’s comment at the 2014 budget presentation confirmed (before the final position taken by the federal government recently) that the polity is not likely to be demilitarized any time soon: “It had been hoped that significant savings would be made from the implementation of government’s white paper on rationalizing public agencies. Unfortunately, very little or no savings are likely to be made from the implementation of government’s white paper on rationalizing public agencies due to the fact that many agencies recommended for closure or merger were allowed to remain partly due to the fact that some of them are underpinned by law, which cannot be repealed in the short-run.”

Many media pundits have argued pro and con since the release of the federal government’s final position on retaining most of the public agencies that the Oronsaye committee recommended for discontinuance. Those who believe that the federal government has not been courageous enough in its final attitude to the Oronsaye committee report are on the right side of history. To continue to fund overlapping agencies from sale of non-renewable petroleum is to deliberately play the ostrich game. The era that fueled creation of numerous agencies and commissions, when the thinking among military rulers was that money was not the problem of Nigeria but how to spend it, is no longer with us. What the federal government has done in relation to public agencies is to act as if money is still not a problem.

On the side of the limited response of the

federal government,Leadership of April 14 argued that it would not matter whether there are five or 500 agencies and departments once the wastage and leakage are curbed, and resources lost to corruption—foreign training, contract inflation, phantom procurement, and ghost workers are blocked while providing adequate re-orientation away from the culture of indolence, corruption and deep-rooted system of inefficiency that generally bedevil public institutions. The question is how can the culture of indolence and corruption be blocked when infrastructures for these problems are given new lease of life? Agencies that duplicate the job of other commissions should be easier to abolish than having hope in psychological re-orientation of workers in such agencies.

Just going through the names of most of the agencies on the books suggests that the latest position of the federal government on public agencies is disappointingly peripheral, more so at a time that the same federal government has overtly shown interest in restructuring the way the country is governed through the instrument of the ongoing national conference. Having waited for two years to respond to the recommendations on public agencies, the federal government might as well have passed the matter to the national conference, instead of giving another lease of life to numerous agencies that citizens see largely as pork or sources of jobs for the boys.

In a country that is actively looking at a national conference to create a system of governance that is efficient and effective, citizens cannot but wonder what the federal government still wants to keep, for example, Border Communities Development Agency for. What makes border communities any different from

communities within the border? Are border communities not part of existing states? Similarly, what is it that the National Refugees Commission does that cannot be done by the National Emergency Management? Where are refugees in Nigeria coming from? When they come, do such refugees come to a federal space or to states?

What makes Gurara Water Management Authority different from other water-related agencies, such as Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission or National Inland Waterways Authority? What is the difference between National Orientation Agency and National Institute for Cultural Orientation? These two agencies are not any distant from each other than the National Council of Arts and National Troupe and the National Theatre now merged into National Council of Arts and Culture?

What is the use for National Rural Electrification Agency at a time that electricity has been fully privatized? Shouldn’t the new Gencos and Discos be given the opportunity to serve urban and rural markets at the same time? What is the purpose to be served by Nigerian Institute of Education Planners and Administrators when there are 36 federal universities? What job does National Metallurgical Development Centre do that the National Metallurgical Training Institute cannot do? There is no better way to illustrate the absurdity of the country’s obsession with bureaucracies than the decision of the federal government to keep both NECO and WAEC under the excuse that more examination bodies are better for learners or to insist on keeping separate NTA, FRCN, and VON. Another laughable decision is the federal government’s further empowerment of JAMB to include direct entries in its menu of functions. What exactly is JAMB going to do in respect of direct entries better than universities, re-process A-level results?

It is now clear that two years after the sitting of the Oronsaye committee, the federal government is still struggling with itself on what to do to achieve good governance. If it can do so, the ongoing national conference should come to the aid of the federal government.

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

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Dance of shame

We condemn President Jonathan’s political jamboree to Kano and Ibadan at a time of national mourning

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OES President Goodluck Jonathan have empathy for human life? This question would have become unnecessary but for the frolicsome political visits the president made to Kano State and Ibadan, Oyo State, at a period that he should have led the country in mourning the several calamities that befell her within about 24 hours. Firstly, the Nyanya motor park in Abuja was bombed by Boko Haram terrorists, which led to the death of over 71 people (officially) while unofficial figures stand at about 200, with about 200 others injured. Secondly, barely a few hours after this gory incident, about 129 students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, a town west of Maiduguri writing their Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) were abducted

by Boko Haram terrorists, in Borno State.

Yet, the president ignored these incidents and still created time to welcome the former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): And to attend the 100 years birthday celebration of the Olubadan of Ibadan Oba Samuel Osundiran Odulana, when he could just have sent representation to the ancient city’s monarch’s event. Sadly, the presidential visits were just 24 hours after the Nyanya calamity and the barbaric abduction of the school girls in Borno State. Where is the fatherly compassion, the civilised leadership and humanity in President Jonathan?

This year alone, it is unfortunate that terrorism has reportedly led to the untimely deaths of 1,500 people. Despite these despicable acts, it is sad that the president still had the time to be in celebratory mood in Kano and Ibadan, at a time that the bereaved families were still counting their losses and victims were still writhing in pain in various hospitals. Also, the fate of the abducted school girls remained unknown.

The president’s rush to the Nyanya scene of

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HE recent bomb blast that occurred at Nyanya during rush hours when many Nigerian are eager to reach their various destination for the day’s work, It’s clear indication that Nigerian are not safe anywhere in this country.

The gory picture display in many newspapers across the country a day after the ugly incident left many Nigerian asking maybe the country is at war with any other country, to warrant such dastardly act of inhuman, ungodly and spill of

S

IR,

the incident and some of the hospitals where the victims were on admission, to us, was a ruse from a deceitful leader that wanted to give the impression that he was touched by the incident.

Unfortunately, President Jonathan is gradually evolving a pattern that portrays him as lacking the milk of human kindness. We recollect that last February, he was on top of his celebratory game when he and his guests clinked glasses at the wasteful centenary celebration, notwithstanding that not less than 43 school children were then just massacred in Yobe State. He did not even bother to visit the state or the parents of the unfortunate kids to commiserate with them.

President Jonathan is obviously more interested in keeping his job at whatever cost than in protecting lives and property in the nation. There is a huge disconnect between the government and the governed. Save for the regrettable political culture of docility among Nigerians, the contempt espoused by this presidency for Nigerians is enough to cost those in power their positions. The president routinely engages in acts that debase his office, otherwise, how can it be explained that he would descend so low as to be settling personal political scores with the Kano State governor at a time that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had not lifted the ban on political

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye •Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile •Associate Editors Taiwo Ogundipe Sam Egburonu

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

LETTER

The Nyayan rush hour bomb blasts innocent human blood and loss of lives. Nigeria of recent has been ranked as the most unsafe country after countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and other war-torn countries in the world, that are bedevilled with such attacks.

Those who carried out this mayhem at heart of the

nation the capital, Abuja.

And coming barely some months to the country’s crucial election are sending a wrong signal to the entire world on the unpreparedness of Nigeria in conducting credible, free and fair election acceptable by all Nigerian and the world in general The Nyanya bomb blast

is another dimension by those unpatriotic set of people to send fear in the minds of ordinary Nigerians that they can strike anywhere at any time and any place they so desire.

Its unfortunate the terrorist have to target such places at these odd period, when Nigerian who are consid-

It is not over yet for Nigerians

This message is for all Nigerians and the leaders. We need to be commited to God, which remains a way of showing gratitude for his provisions, despite the nation’s tragedies. In view of the myriad problems confronting Nigerians in the present day Nigeria, which make survival a herculean task for them, especially as it relates to insecurity, joblessness, poverty and uncertainty that they face daily, the miracle of life ought to be appreciated by Nigerians.

It is highly regretting the irresponsible manner the country is being run, in

campaign? To underscore the abyss of his degeneration, the president reportedly mentioned the Kano State governor’s name more than 50 times during his 15 minutes speech at the shameful political jamboree. More saddening is the fact that he travelled to Kano not to commission beneficial projects as dividends of democracy; he went there with the sole purpose of furthering his 2015 reelection ambition at a time that insecurity has blossomed to quite unacceptable levels in the country.

Moreover, President Jonathan cannot claim noncomplicity in the looming graft in the country with his indictment of the process that produced him as presidential candidate of the PDP when he said that Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State allegedly cornered the money he gave to him (Kwankwaso) for logistics for Kano delegates to the convention where he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. Where is the much touted internal democracy in the ruling party, especially now that we know that he emerged through reproachful monetary inducement of delegates at that convention? No wonder he has condemned the proposition that a seal should be placed on campaign funds. But he failed to tell his audience how politicians in power are expected to meet the huge budget of campaigning in a graft-ridden system like ours. He also reportedly ended his speech stating to whoever cared to listen that the PDP would ‘recapture’ Kano, Sokoto and Zamfara in 2015 general election while he was also sure that the party would retain Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina states that are currently under its control.

The dance of shame in Kano and the insensitive adventure to a birthday bash in Ibadan at a period of national mourning merely underscore one vital point: That in President Jonathan’s view, derisory power game is more important than providing good governance to Nigerians.

which essential developmental amenities are denied the citizenry, with brazen corruption and embezzlement as the order of the day, as it has and will create a psyche of abandonment and uselessness in the minds of the younger generation of Nigerians, which in turn, have made many of them to become easy tools of exploitation for evil-minded people in the country, to foment trouble and become agents of destabilization in their own country.

The situation of the country has got to the point where despair and recklessness has become the mindset of the youths, emanating from re-

pressed aggression. It poses danger for the very survival of the country, moreso, as we gradually move towards another general elections.

The government should do more to make life more meaningful to the citizenry, insisting that Nigeria is blessed with enough to take care of it people. The government need to resuscitate ailing industries and provide the enabling environment for entrepreneurial growth to guarantee job creation.

I need to emphasis that the church is relevant in every facet of human endeavour. So religious leaders can no longer bury their heads in the sand and turn

their face to the challenges facing the country. We need to wake-up to our responsibilities as the salt of the earth and the light of this world.

The church is always able to change the nation. It follows therefore that the church must become whatever it wants the nation to be; in other words, we must become the change we desire.

Prophet Oladipupo Funmilade-Joel The General Overseer, The Way of Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (TWOREM) Int’l, Lagos, Nigeria

ered as low and middle class were set to go out for their means of live hood to meet with such agonising end.

Also some Nigerian newspapers did not help matter by carrying some gory sights that would have made ordinary people question their journalistic ethics.

Many Nigeria are ex-

pressing fear of moving around the country, because nobody knows where the next bomb would explode As many are advocating, the government should call for stakeholder meeting to tackle the security situation in the country before the next election, because Nigerian are fed up with insistent bomb blast with the government promise of nipping the problems in the bud, not making any headway.

Bala Nayashi Lokoja, Kogi State.

Thank you Governor Amosun

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IR permit me space to commend the efforts of the state government in the recent approval of the promotion of not less than 2,141 officers in the state civil service.

It gladdens the heart to know that the promotion exercise conducted all over the state affected not less than 1,249 senior officers on GL. 07-GL.17, and 717 Junior Officers on GL.01-06 while the remaining officers were given appropriate upgrade and it also affected those who had inter-cadre transfers.

This step is noteworthy as the Amosun led administration has since been demonstrating that workers

welfare is of topmost importance. Not only does the government ensure promotions of workers as at when due but his administration has been constant with payment of workers’ salaries and leave bonuses, as I am a witness.

It is therefore imperative that the newly promoted officers reciprocate governments gesture by also contributing their own quota to the development of the state at large as a joint effort to the “Mission to Rebuild Agenda” Taiyese Ebunlomo Boluwatife. ebunlomo.okuwa@gmail.com Abeokuta, Ogun State.

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COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

As a repeat of 1965 beckons in Yoruba Land

But talking seriously, why would a man as mightily blessed of God as President Jonathan elect to tempt God, choosing to have a section of the country he governs, under God, be recklessly declared a war zone

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T is extremely unfortunate that for reasons of immaturity, selfcentredness, even self-importance, African political leaders never learn from history, but instead, unerringly allow history to repeat itself as tragedy. Southwest Nigeria, no thanks to President Jonathan, and his party the PDP, is fast regressing into the anomie of the 1965 West Regional Election era, about which the following was written: ‘… amid widespread charges of voting irregularities, Akintola’s NNDP, supported by its NPC ally, scored an impressive ‘victory’ in November. There were extensive protests, including considerable grumbling among senior army officials, at the apparent perversion of the democratic process. In the six months after the election, an estimated 2,000 people died in violence, called WETIE i.e douse him/her with petrol- that erupted in the Western Region’. Interested readers should go to: http:// www.mongabay.com/history/ nigeria.

If the motivation in 1965 was the urge to solidify the Hausa-Fulani hegemony over the entire country, President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition is the leitmotif for the current looming Armageddon in Yoruba land. In 1965, the NNDP, in which the respected father of Femi Fani-Kayode was the second ranking member, told the world that whether or not the Yoruba electorate voted for its candidates, their party will win the election. Femi Fani-Kayode’s recent rapprochement with President Jonathan is therefore

certainly not a happenstance: it must be either the President reached out to him to learn how to have his candidates get elected without the electorate voting for them in the coming governorship elections in Yoruba land or the charismatic Fani-Kayode went there selling his credentials as a ringside observer of the 1965 melodrama. Today the refrain, in Ekiti for instance, is that the electorate will be banished on 21 June, 2014, such that whether or not Ekitis vote for Ayo Fayose, he will be declared winner. FaniKayode, being such a good archivist, should complete his mission by telling his distinguished host the consequences, for country, as well as for the unfortunate dramatis personae, of the 1965 heinous election rigging.

The Yoruba nation has also heard, loud and clear, Vice President Sambo declare Odua land a war zone. We do not intend to ask these ‘soldiers of fortune’, these foreigners in our land of honour, not to come for their war, but we promise, in the name of Eledumare, that they will not return in one piece. The Yoruba is the David here but we do hope they remember what happened to the mighty Goliath.

Yoruba land has always triumphed in such ‘wars’ beginning from the 18th century treachery of Afonja, the Are-Ona Kakanfo, to the much more recent Abacha plot to decapitate us and lay our land to waste. And when we see the roles being played by some Yoruba elements in all these, we are poignantly

reminded that the same Afonja, against the tradition of never attacking Ife, Yoruba’s spiritual citadel, not only sacked Apomu, but marched on the capital, Oyo-Ile, to demand the abdication of Alafin Aole confirming that internal treachery is not new to Yoruba land. But in all cases, they always ended up miserably, both they, and their dastardly causes.[ But talking seriously, why would a man as mightily blessed of God as President Jonathan elect to tempt God, choosing to have a section of the country he governs, under God, be recklessly declared a war zone, when all we seek is to be able to democratically elect who to rule over us?

I continue to pray that President Jonathan will be restrained in the pursuit of his 2015 ambition. Without a scintilla of doubt, I know it is not that he loves Fayose or Omisore so, or cares that much about Yoruba land he once told Nigerians is populated by rascals. I am sure that what is playing out is that once the North East has played into his hands, and everything is now being done to ensure that elections do not hold there in 2015, the next major challenge for the President and his Think Tank, is how to also have the Southwest vote consumed by a raging inferno he would have set in place courtesy unprecedented post-election crisis, as there is no way this President will get away with rigging elections in Yoruba land. The history books are there for those who need to learn valuable lessons.

We are well aware that as part of preparations for the looming apoca-

lypse, the President has meticulously put in place a group whose history, to the last man, the Yoruba people know only too well. While we know that for Buruji Kashamu this is all about business, not so for the quartet of Fayose, Omisore, Obanikoro and Jelili, a group to which Alao Akala would soon be added. I came to that conclusion during the past week after I read that the court has declared he has a case to answer in the N11.5 Billion case instituted against him by the EFFC. He should, therefore, be a perfect fit for PDP’s candidature.

The above are the reason our people must appreciate what is afoot in our home land, especially what our political enemies have in stock for us.

It is heartwarming to note that this is already happening.

It was fascinating, for instance, seeing members of the Ekiti E-11 on the Ekiti state television morning of Thursday, 17 April, 2014, reminding our people of where exactly we are coming from and how, at the instance of these same federal elements, Ekiti had nine governors in eight years whereas Lagos state had two in fifteen. They equally reminded all Ekiti of the mayhem and bloodletting of those years of the locust compared to today’s relative peace.

More harrowing, however, is the likely overall consequences of President Jonathan’s plot to ‘pacify Yoruba land for his 2015 presidential ambition. A determined group of concerned Yoruba patriots, already working to thwart these evil plans, has summarised the situation as follows: ‘Yoruba land is being assailed. The

So sad that it’s Black all the way again!

Corruption not only allows people to live above their means to the chagrin and envy of their neighbours, it also allows people to be able to afford to arm and pay insurgents

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BVIOUSLY, there are things at stake in this country that are not too obvious to us ordinary Nigerians.

We can only guess. We can guess that there are people disgruntled enough to fund and arm, from illgotten monies, mercenaries to come into the country and decimate entire villages and pillage roads. We can guess that there are people desperate enough to want to force the presidents’ arm on some tawdry issue. Honestly, I have no interest in who stays or who goes because there is really no difference between black and dark black, which is what all our politicians are. It is not fair though that innocent people should be used as fodders for political ends. I tell you, the God of the innocent will not be silent.

What happened at the Nyanya bus stop last week remains one of the most horrific tales told so far in the confrontation between the Boko Haram sect and the country. Indeed, the story is past telling. And while we were still attempting to tell it, the bizarre tale of the abduction of about two hundred girls from a secondary school broke. Honestly, even that story is still rankling because of the senselessness of it.

True, the president’s initial response action and his party’s utterances have not been very encouraging. There are those who believe he should not have gone celebrating in Kano; there are those who say why not. There are those who think it is all politics gone bad; and there are those who say not. Yet, there are those who think it’s the beginning of the end. To be honest, I’m neither here nor there, for I think we are all missing the point.

As a matter of fact, I am more alarmed that there are those being housed within the four walls of this country who have no compunction about lopping off a large number of people just to make a political statement. To me, it is a real tragedy because it would seem that such hearts are no longer pumping blood around the owners’ bodies but something else, say poison. That is what worries me.

At the moment, everyone in the country has been left to play detective, undertaker or wonderer, mostly wonderer. We are wondering just what it is that would make a group of people: funders, planners, procurers, and executors come together over such a horrendous thing as this.

It is amazing that these all did

not come together to form a farm cooperative; they came together to prise the bodies of human beings apart, piece by piece. What on earth could they have been thinking?

Point is, what’s to be done now? Sometime in the week, when the story of the Nyanya bombing broke, many commentators offered some solutions.

Some said the president should resign because they were convinced that all the pillage and destruction were aimed at getting the president to resign. I laughed.

I mean, if the president were to resign because he can no longer cope with the job, I would understand. If he were to resign because he cannot guarantee constant electricity to my house, I honestly would understand. If he were to resign because he cannot guarantee my security, that will be something. To ask him to resign because some people have chosen to make political statements using the blood of innocent people I find rather strange. I mean, what happens if the person who succeeds the president cannot work as fast to curtail the problem, he should also resign?

Some people offered a more startling solution. Let there be more decisive actions against the

Boko Haram or whoever might be behind the attack. Surely, force has been applied systematically all along, and look where it’s got us. That’s right, nowhere. Those who are funding and arming them are making sure they are better armed than the JTF, perhaps because they are familiar with the limitations of the military.

I think the major problem is the government itself. After so many operations and destructions, I quite believe that it is not conceivable that it does not know those funding and arming the Boko Haram from within or without. Up till now, security agents have only picked up insurgents, but not the payers. It is not possible for there not to be a trail from the insurgents to the funders. The question is, why has the country not been given some names? In my opinion, the funders are more to be blamed than the executors.

The more fundamental problem is the fact that too many people have helped themselves too freely to money from government coffers for private use. This column, as well as many others, has consistently drawn attention to the problems surrounding this phenomenon commonly called

adversaries are tugging at our softest underbelly. There is great insult on our collective sensibilities. The core of what we stand for as a people, our ethos, our values and our heritage are being assaulted. A Fayose in Ekiti, an Omisore in Osun, and possibly, an Alao-Akala (or the likes of him) in Oyo, people who ill-represent core Yoruba values, are being arranged from Abuja to once again, intrude into our development process and set us back one more time. They are telling us that we should reject the likes of Fashola, Fayemi and Aregbesola and welcome with open arms these sorts of individuals. They have let on the loose the likes of Obanikoro and Adesiyan – a Minister of Police Affairs ludicrously nominated solely on the say so of an Omisore - to carry out invidious assignments against us. ( We are reliably informed they are already training some of their fake policemen/thugs in Badagry and Ojota, for instance). If care is not taken, and if all hands don’t come on deck, they will succeed and we will be in trouble. We would once again have to contend with another cycle of brigandage, mis-governance, underdevelopment and unimaginable setback, which God forbids.

WE MUST THEREFORE SAY NO, even on the pain of death!

They have no faith in the ballot box; otherwise we would have said bring it on. But their style is to act with impunity and they would most probably stop at nothing to ensure that our votes do not count. We must therefore be ready and vigilant. The Yoruba nation must never return to Egypt. We must square up to them with intelligence. We must ensure that they fail miserably. Yoruba land, the most politically important empire in these parts from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway over large parts of some nearby neigbouring countries, notably the Fon Kingdom and that of Dahomey in modern day Republic of Benin, will never again be sold on the cheap by these marauding buccaneers.

corruption. The fact is that too many people can afford to sponsor and keep private armies to be used against the state. That is the height of irony, isn’t it? People who have been asked to build and protect the state take the same state’s resources to procure weapons to fight against it. Marvellous.

To show that it is serious in this war, this country must mop up on corruption. Many people believe it is the primary problem.

Corruption not only allows people to live above their means to the chagrin and envy of their neighbours, it also allows people to be able to afford to arm and pay insurgents.

Secondly, the government’s crisis management style is beginning to be questionable. It does not inspire confidence when a gargantuan event such as last week’s occurs and the president still insists on keeping his appointments with his jolly political fellows. Haba! A little sensitivity might have helped matters just a wee bit.

Lastly, information management demands that we all be on our toes. Like it or not, a war has been declared against the nation.

I think it is time to stop playing peekaboo with the opponent.

These are no children. The government is not a nanny. More importantly, it needs the help of everyone in the country to win this war. Everyone needs to be involved as lookouts, or people to make the coffee for the SSS men while they sort through materials, or even as people to hold up tired, flagging arms while the war rages. Meanwhile this column joins others to pray that the remaining abducted girls will be found reasonably quickly.

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

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(61)

Writing in extremis: the TLH column in the context of life, personal and collective In extremis: Adverb. A phrase of Latin derivation meaning (1) in grave or extreme circumstances; in dire straits; (2) at the point of death (Medical) The Free Dictionary (online)

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T number 61, this column named Talakawa Liberation Herald reaches one year, two months and three weeks since it started appearing in The Nation on Sunday without missing a single week. As some of the regular or devoted readers of the column know, before The Nation, the column was appearing in The Guardian on Sunday under a slightly different name, Talakawa Liberation Courier. In that incarnation, the column appeared for about five years and eight months. Unlike The Nation where the column has not failed to appear week in week out, the column in The Guardian failed to appear in about five times in the more than five years that I wrote the column for that newspaper.

That failure was not my fault; I never failed to send my contribution every week. It was The Guardian which, for one reason or the other, failed to publish the column in about five times while I wrote for the paper. [That was in fact one of the reasons why I left The Guardian, but it was not the most important reason. Some day, I shall write a full account of the reasons why I left that newspaper in which, from its very inception, I was one of the most dependable among the small group of academics that played a major role in its rise to prominence among Nigerian newspapers] Since I have a full time job as a university teacher and researcher, many of my friends, themselves university teachers and researchers, regularly ask me how I am able to write the column every week unfailingly. The answer to that question is both simple and complicated, both direct and complex. The simple and direct factor can be briefly stated.

I have a passion for reading and writing, a passion that is almost lifelong since it started in primary school more than half a century ago. With that kind of back-

ground, producing a weekly newspaper unfailing year in year out turns out to be not as daunting as it seems. With the tremendous advantage of that kind of background, all I have had to do really is organize my weekly duties, obligations and habits in such a way that it leaves the period of from early Friday morning to noon free to write the column.

This was difficult at first, especially on the occasions when I was traveling in other countries, other continents. But after the first few months, this practice not only became routine, it actually became something that I looked forward to every week, so much so that the time spent writing the column became one of the most treasured experiences of the week for me. How I wish this was all there is to say about why I write the column!

The fact is also that I write the column in extremis. I think that most regular readers of the column will readily agree that for the most part, I write on topics, events and experiences that reflect profoundly disturbing, frightening or depressing things relating to how life is massively (dis)organized and made extremely burdensome for most of the peoples of our country, our continent and our world. In particular, I write about the present political order in our country and its capacity for corruption and predatoriness of the most unconscionable kind. But I also write about how the ethos, the rot that starts from the rulers have tragically taken deep roots in our peoples themselves in their tens of millions. Most especially I write, often in desperation, to indicate that I have lived long enough to know that things were not always what they are now in our country and our world. Without nostalgia and sentimentality, I write about a different time and an almost different world from my childhood through my early adulthood - at Oke-Bola, Ibadan; at the University of Ibadan as an undergraduate; and at both Ibadan and Ife as a teacher and researcher - when there was a basis for real hope for the country and for Africa, even with all the

crises that we experienced in that long period. I write with an almost maniacal urgency and certainly with a desperate hope that our youths, those who have not lived long enough to know a different Nigeria, do not become overwhelmed by the dire prospects confronting them and succumb to despair, cynicism and, worse, nihilism. This is what I have in mind when I say that I write in extremis.

As the dictionary meaning of the phrase, in extremis, that serves as the epilogue to this piece indicates, in its medical use the phrase means “at the point of death”. I hope that I have written enough in this column to indicate that this “death” is not literal; it relates neither to my own death nor the death of my society, my country. Rather, it is the death of the spirit which takes many forms. One of the most prevalent forms of this death of the spirit in our country at the present time is the fact that a frightening, terrifying future looms large on the historical horizon for our peoples, especially our young people and yet we seem completely unable to do even the minimum of what it will take to avert that looming, gloomy future. Of course, our indomitable prayer warriors are at work to redeem that future for us.

Apparently, there is no death of the spirit for them. But scratch beneath the surface of this spiritual buoyancy of the prayer warriors and you will find a hysterical and crippling fear of legions of nameless enemies which is but an ironic form of spiritual death.

There is another dimension to writing in extremis that perturbs me a lot and this is the fact that I am a full time teacher and researcher first, and a columnist second. As much as I have tried to organize my weekly life and affairs to make the writing of the column both assured and pleasurable, I still find it enormously challenging to combine my work as a fully employed academic with the demands and opportunities that come with being a columnist. The most regrettable expression of this conflict, this split

is the fact that I serve two consistencies whose pressures on my time, my energies are unequal.

Simply stated, my students, both undergraduate and graduate, exert a more immediate and a more embodied demand on me than the readers of my column. This is only partly due to the fact that I see my students all the time while, for the most part, the readers of my column encounter me only through the impersonal medium of print journalism.

More significant is the fact that I have to attend virtually all the time to the writing of my students, leaving me no time at all for the writing of my readers who, responding to things that have greatly intrigued or inspired them in my column, reach out to me through emails to start a conversation. To all such readers, my apologies. There are only 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week and one can only do half or even less of what one would really like to do in the little time that one has. This is part of the great dissatisfaction of writing in extremis, under seemingly dire and impossible conditions.

But then, as the next segment of this week’s column implies, hope spring eternal in the human heart….

• Seshat - the Egyptian goddess of writing knowledge wisdom

Pitakwa, our own cherished Pitakwa: Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014

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N its desperate optimism, this column is always on the lookout for hopeful signs of social, cultural and educational advancement in our country. The festivities that will next week mark the declaration by the UNESCO of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital for the year 2014 is one such great achievement. With a keynote address by Nobel Literature Laureate, Wole Soyinka and the attendance of many front rank writers and artists from Nigeria, Africa and the

world, the celebrations in Port Harcourt next week will be second to no other event in the cultural calendar of our country and the African continent this year. Set you gaze on Port Harcourt next week compatriots, but not for eruptions of political brigandage in the ruling party!

Festivities and celebrations are one thing, the activities and programs that give birth to and sustain them is another thing that is of far greater import than celebrations. Thus, behind the World

Book Capital celebrations in Port Harcourt next week is the Rainbow Book Club and its indefatigable founder and director, Koko Kalango, together with the unstinting and enlightened support of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Odili Amaechi. For quite a long time, the Rainbow Book Club has been doing a lot to encourage reading in Port Harcourt and Rivers State in particular and across the regions and states of Nigeria. It has sponsored “Reading Weeks and Months” among schoolchil-

dren. It has organised literary festivals that bring together older and younger Nigerian writers, thereby sponsoring a much-needed intergenerational conversation among the country’s literati. And it has published books and manuals that highlight the importance of reading in a country and a world in which reading has its back to the wall of survival against the depredations of the culture of the internet and smart phones and the philistine tendencies in their “texting” and “twitting” inducements to the

young. Will reading and writing as powerful means of cultural and educational advancement in our country survive the challenges of the barbarisms of the digital age? I think they will, though the road ahead is going to be rough and tough. The Rainbow Book Club is one of the most important bases of this hope. Hearty congratulations to the Rainbow Book Club and the Rivers State Governor.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

sms only: 08116759748

A short history of Nigerian terror, by PDP

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POLITICIAN’S grief is often very brief - especially when he or his kin are not on the receiving end of some tragic happening. When they make their public shows of empathy, it is often with an eye on the photo opportunity or to pre-empt any criticism about being unfeeling.

But this week Nigeria’s apex leadership outdid itself. What President Goodluck Jonathan did in scurrying to Kano to preside over a reception for defecting ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau barely 24 hours after 80 innocent Nigerians were blown to smithereens by terrorist bombs at Abuja’s Nyanya motor park is beyond the pale.

We are talking of 80 souls, for God’s sake, blown away in one moment of madness in the nation’s capital! How does the president react? One photo-opportunity at the bedside of a victim and quick as a flash he’s off to Kano for a bout of singing and dancing.

Politicians must truly be remarkable people who can switch from one emotion to another the way we turn light bulbs on and off. It just shows how desensitised we have become and what low stock we now set by human lives that rather than accept that he had made a mistake, the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Olisah Metuh, launched into an inane defence of the shameful outing.

In search of rationalisation, he embarked on time travel - landing in 1984 where he pounced on the fact that the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, continued with the Tory Party conference in Brighton after a terrorist attack that killed five.

What he did not tell us was whether Britain was under the kind of siege that has seen hundreds of people blown to bits by bombs in Nigerian villages and towns every week. It is always convenient to throw such isolated examples.

The PDP spokesman should tell us how the leadership of Norway reacted in 2011 when a gunman killed 77 young people on the island of Utoya. Aside other actions, the nation declared 30 days of mourning. That was just one incident! Here such things happen every other day and we react by going dancing.

No one is saying the government should shut down – because that would be impractical and pointless. But we have to show that we value human life and respect our people; and that as leaders our actions are not driven only by naked ambition and lust for power. In any event, the Kano excursion had nothing to do with governance: it was purely partisan politics – an occasion for Jonathan to inveigh against his arch foe, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.

While we were still digesting this, the nation woke up to the shocking news that barely 24 hours after that brutal Nyanya attack, Boko Haram insurgents invaded an isolated secondary school in Borno and abducted over 100 girls.

These days barely a week goes by without one such outrage or another. Leaders who respect their people would understand that these are not ordinary times and keep a low profile – especially when they cannot provide solutions to the evil ravaging the land.

Instead we continue to be assaulted by the arrogant and illogical statements from the likes of the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisah Metuh. In his latest offering he accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership, governors – even Rotimi Amaechi of being the sponsors of Boko Haram. Others whom he has identified as being the founders and financiers of the sect include former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari and suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

It is only in frontier territory that this sort of outrage can happen. You impugn people’s character in such a manner in the name of

•Jonathan during the PDP rally in Kano politics! Buhari has threatened to go to court if he doesn’t get an apology within seven days. Hopefully, Metuh and the PDP would be inundating the courts with proof soon.

The volatile partisan air that has overtaken the land cannot obliterate historical facts. Credible chronicles have been written tracing the emergence of what is now known as Boko Haram to the influences of the defunct radical Islamist group Maitatsine which flowered in parts of northern Nigeria in the 80s and was eventually wiped out in the early 1990s.

The present incarnation of the sect emerged from a radical group that met at the Ndimi Mosque in Maiduguri around 2002. They were led by the sect founder, Mohammed Ali, and were implacably opposed to the government of the then Borno State Governor, Mala Kachalla, who they viewed as irredeemably corrupt. Ali would later extend his activities to the Kanama community in Yobe State where he met his end in 2003 after clashes with the police and army.

It was the survivors of this battle who regrouped in the Ndimi mosque under the leadership of Mohammed Yusuf. Up until the clash between sect members and the administration of the then Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, in February 2009 over the use of helmets by motor cycle riders, they remained largely a local phenomenon.

But in July 2009, the sect would have a pivotal run-in with law the enforcement agents who stopped a procession of the group on their way to bury a prominent member of the sect. The clashes from that one incident snowballed into a massive orgy of burning and looting across Bauchi, Borno and Yobe States.

In the process, several policemen were killed. The intervention of the military brought the situation in Maiduguri under control and led to Yusuf being apprehended.

Unfortunately, after soldiers handed him over he would be killed by extra-judicial

means whilst in police custody. From that point on the thirst for revenge against federal government led by then President Umaru YarÁdua seemed to imbue the sect with a new zeal for mayhem that very few would have predicted.

As Nigerians thrashed around looking for explanations for the enduring power of the sect, many recalled a pregnant statement made in the heat of the 2011 PDP residential contest. So much has been made of the statements by Alhaji Lawal Kaita to the effect that the North would make Nigeria ungovernable if the PDP forced Jonathan down their throat as presidential candidate in 2011.

Metuh has also referred to comments made at the party’s convention that year by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to the effect that those who make peaceful change impossible make violence change inevitable.

These statements are now the lazy and convenient explanations for the scourge of terror sweeping the land. Unfortunately, these things don’t add up. Anyone who has followed the rise of Boko Haram and the emergence of its leaders like Yusuf and Abubakar Shekau would know that mainstream northern politicians had very little influence or contact with the group.

If anything, the sect’s leaders had only contempt for them. We seem to forget that it is this same sect that has threatened to kill everyone from the Sultan of Sokoto to former President Ibrahim Babangida, Buhari and others. A few days ago, they killed a monarch who dared complain about their activities.

Indeed, if anybody should be accused of being the driving forces behind the Boko Haram, it is those from within the ruling party. We have the weighty testimony of a President Jonathan to that effect! Speaking during an inter-denominational service to mark the 2012 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, he shocked the world by claiming that the sect had infiltrated his government.

“Some of them are in the executive arm of government; some of them are in the

“If anybody should be accused of being the driving forces behind Boko Haram, it is those from within the ruling party. We have the weighty testimony of the President Jonathan to that effect!

Speaking during an inter-denominational service to mark the 2012 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, he shocked the world by claiming that the sect had infiltrated his government”

parliamentary/legislative arm of government while some of them are even in the judiciary.

“Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies. Some continue to dip their hands and eat with you and you won’t even know the person who will point a gun at you or plant a bomb behind your house.”

Before it became fashionable to accuse the APC of terrorism, this same administration fought attempts in 2012 by the United States government to declare Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO). The excuse?

Such designation cause travelling inconveniences for Nigerians at foreign airports. The administration also argued that it was capable of resolving the problem with its own local solutions and didn’t need the American action.

Fast forward to 2013 when the US went ahead anyway and labelled Boko Haram an FTO. Without any sense of shame, the same government that was so keen to give comfort to the sect it claimed to be talking to, tripped over itself to welcome the move.

A couple of weeks ago, President Jonathan told an African Union Conference of Ministers of Finance, Economic and Planning in Abuja, that terrorists like Boko Haram and others who had access to very expensive weapons were clearly receiving external support.

All of this flies in the face of the partisan charges being levelled against the opposition.

If indeed the government and PDP know what they claim, then it is a mystery that decisive action is yet to be taken. A government that has all this information about the ‘terrorist’ activities of opposition leaders and has not apprehended and prosecuted them, can only be described as a joke.

But then, recent Nigerian history is replete with such antics. It was standard practice under the regime of the late General Sani Abacha to accuse every opponent or critic of the junta of coup-plotting. Many were jailed for participating in phantom coups that existed only in the imagination of the dictator’s goons.

The antics and utterances of the PDP and the government show that they still don’t grasp the gravity of the insurgency. If Jonathan and his men think that partisan posturing is the way out, then they should go ahead and solve the problem. But commonsense suggests that this is a time to rally the nation rather than demonising the opposition.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Ondo Labour Party chieftains battle Mimiko PAGES 22

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INCE August 31st last year, when the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had the controversial Special Convention in Abuja that heralded the walk-out of G-7 governors and eventually the birth of the New-PDP, things have continued to fall apart between President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Kano State Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

Several meetings held to settle the rift between Kwankwaso and Jonathan failed and at the last count, the Kano state governor left PDP with his supporters and joined the All Progressive Congress (APC), a party he has continued to describe as one that was established with the same political philosophy as his—the Kwankwassiyya.

At different occasions, Kwankwaso, who is alleged to be having an eye at the presidency in 2015 has continued to cast aspersions at President Jonathan’s leadership style which to him come short of what should be expected from a president of the largest country in Africa.

To many, Kwankwaso’s major grouse against Jonathan is that he refused to succumb to

Edo APC ward congresses raise fresh posers ahead 2015

Tambuwal’s survival streak and 2015 calculations

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Kano: Kwankwaso tackles Jonathan

Following exchange of verbal missiles between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso during the last Unity Rally of People’s Democratic Party in Kano, Kolade Adeyemi in Kano, takes a fresh look at the chances of the APC and PDP in the forth coming elections the PDP ‘Gentleman’ agreement that barred him from recontesting in 2015, as it was said in the agreement that power should return back to the North.

Jonathan’s enmity with Kwankwaso took a dangerous dimension last Tuesday when the President attended the PDP Unity Rally held at the Polo Ground in Kano and organised to formally welcome former Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau into the PDP. Before Jonathan’s arrival, Kwankwaso fired the first salvo when he declared that the

government and people of Kano State will not welcome Jonathan and his entourage to Kano because the President has been “useless” to the state and its people.

Kwankwaso further declared that Kano people will not welcome Jonathan, stressing that he has not done anything to better the lot of Nigerians since he assumed leadership of the country. He also regretted voting for Jonathan in 2011 elections, alleging that the president has disappointed Nigerians. “I am regretting for voting President

Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 Presidential Election, as he has done nothing to move the nation forward”, he alleged, adding that since Jonathan assumed office, nothing has been done towards the development of the nation.”

According to him, “under Jonathan, corruption, insecurity and embezzlement of treasury have become the orders of the day. ”Only a few people are enjoying in Nigeria at the expense of the generality of the citizenry” Kwankwaso said, lamenting that despite the

President’s glaring inadequacies, he is bent on being re-elected in 2015, Making real his threat, Kwankwaso shunned Jonathan as he visited the state. But Jonathan fired back at Kwankwaso during the PDP Rally, saying Kwankwaso never voted for him, just as he vowed that come 2015, “PDP must recapture Kano.” President Jonathan also challenged Kwankwaso to account for over N225 billion Local Government funds he received from the Federal Allocation within two years.

“We read in some of the daily newspapers that the Governor of Kano State, Kwankwaso, said he regretted voting for me. Let me tell my good people of Kano that Kwankwaso did not vote for me or Vice President Namadi Sambo whether in the primaries or the main election. We have accommodated a lot, but we talk less. Those of you from Kano in PDP knew what happened, that when we entered that Eagle Square; •Continued on Page 20

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

POLITICS

20

Kwankwaso tackles Jonathan

•Continued from Page 19 by the time the counting got up to half-way—when it was clear that I was to emerge as the candidate, Kwankwaso left the venue.

“Even the little money my campaign office provided for refreshment and transportation for Kano delegates,Kwankwaso refused to give them that money. He did that so that the Kano delegates would be angry, so that they would not vote for me. Even in the main election, the little money my campaign office sent to Kano State, Kwankwaso refused to release that money to anybody; now, how can Kwankwaso tell me that he voted for me,” Jonathan wondered.

The President also expressed astonishment at the insinuations that the federal government abandoned Kano people, saying, “some of you will be asking questions why is it that today, your President is not wearing the PDP dress; I decided to appear this way because there is somebody here in Kano who has been campaigning that the person wearing this bowler hat is a devil. I am here to tell you briefly what the federal government has done to Kano people and I want you to ask yourself whether such a person who has been able to do all these things for you is a devil.

“Federal Government has taken Kano as a major focus for its agricultural transformation agenda. The farmers of Kano are benefiting enormously from Federal Government Growth Enhancement Scheme. In the last two years, a total of 760,000 farmers in Kano State have benefited from the Federal Government’s subsidized fertilizer programme and free improved seeds for maize and rice.” Jonathan also said that over 70 percent of Kano farmers are benefiting from federal government’s fertilizer subsidy scheme also stated that within a period of two years, about 76, 000 metric tons of subsidized fertilizer

•Jonathan , others at the PDP Unity Rally in Kano

have been supplied to Kano farmers.

Jonathan also used the occasion to send his condolence to the families of those who lost their lives in last Monday’s Abuja bomb blast. “Let me at this point express my deepest condolence again to the family

members of those who lost their lives in the bomb blast in Abuja on Monday. I was at the scene of the incident, I also visited the hospitals, but I was so shocked that I couldn’t even talk. Again, I express my condolence to the direct family members of the victims and, indeed, the whole

country; and I want to reemphasize that terror will not stop Nigeria from moving. We will continue to move from strength to strength. We also continue to encourage security agencies. We are looking at different options and we promise Nigerians that we will

do our best and we will continue to do our best to make sure that we live peacefully in this country,” Jonathan said just as he expressed appreciation to Kano people for the warm reception accorded to him, saying, “let me thank the good people of Kano State for the reception. From the airport to this venue, people lined up to welcome us.”

While formally welcoming Shekarau, Jonathan described him as a man of the people, “you all know Shekarau very well. He is the man of the people. When he was a governor, he was a member of ANPP, I visited him two or three times as the Vice President of the PDP; but because Shekarau is a Nigerian, a well-learned man, an intelligent man, he received me in all the occasions I came here.

“These are the kind of people that Kano needs to project and follow. We thank Shekarau for joining the PDP today. He is fully welcomed and fully integrated into the party,” Jonathan said.

Mallam Shekarau during his speech, described the day as memorable and promised to protect and promote the interest of the Kano masses so long as he remains in politics no matter the party platform.

“As long as I remain in politics, I will be dedicated and do all within my ability and capability to remain loyal to the party so as to do everything within our power to show our solidarity and support to the party. I wish, first of all to pledge my commitment and that of my new members who made the choice to join PDP with me; to work ardently together with the party to achieve the ideals of democracy, inclusion and development to which our dear party, PDP, is committed at the local, state and national level.”

Dramatically, immediately Jonathan and his entourage left the Polo Ground, venue of the rally, Kwankwaso, his cabinet members and APC elders in Kano stormed the Polo Ground with brooms in their hands, sweeping away, “the dirt PDP brought to Kano.”

Why I call for modified presidential system- Ekweremadu

T

HE Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, who called for a modified presidential system of government during the week has explained that the call was for "effective governance and enduring democracy in Nigeria."

This is contained in a statement issued during the week in Abuja by Mr. Uche Anichukwu, Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy Senate President.

The statement quoted Ekweremadu as having made the call in a presentation, entitled, “Constitution Amendment in an Emerging Democracy: the Nigerian Experience”.

The occasion was at Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C, U.S.

"The presidential system has often come under criticism for its concentration of powers in the political chief executives.

"It also comes with sectional competition for political offices, expensiveness, and promotion of the politics of strong men, rather than strong institutions, "he said.

Ekweremadu said that though the parliamentary system looked attractive, it, nevertheless, failed the country in the First Republic.

He said that the challenges of governance in Nigeria were not essentially the choice of governmental system, “but the warped implementation of these systems.

"Nigeria needed to inject some elements of parliamentary system to entrench greater accountability and cohesion in governance.

"I suggest a hybrid system or

modification of the present presidential system to introduce Question Time in the parliament, to hold the ministers consistently accountable.

"We can replace impeachment with a procedure for vote of no confidence to make way for early elections when the need be.”

Ekweremadu listed the tenure of political chief executives, federal structure, fiscal federalism, local government system, policing system, and legislative lists as some of the key issues for constitution amendment in Nigeria.

He said the National Assembly would ensure the conclusion of the current constitution amendment project and further electoral reforms, early enough to facilitate a free, fair, and credible election in 2015.

•Ekweremadu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

POLITICS

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AT THE NATIONAL CONFAB THIS WEEK

Confab: Delegates’ week of fury Deadly attacks by Boko Haram dominated F deliberations at the national conference this week, OLLOWING news of the deadly bomb blast at Nyanya and the abduction of 200 girls in Borno State, the ongoing national conference in Abuja was reduced to a chamber of fury and lamentations as delegates took turn to condemn the dastardly acts individually and collectively.

It was a week when all the female delegates at the talk shop set aside all differences to turn out in black attire as a sign of mourning what they collectively described as an invasion of Nigeria by agents of destruction. School girls, aged between 9 and 12, were allegedly abducted by unknown armed bandits who drove in a convoy of trucks and buses, invaded the school compound, carted away goods from the stores and carried the girls away.

This was barely 24hours after an explosion allegedly masterminded by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, killed scores of people Monday at a bus station outside the capital, Abuja. Police confirmed that at least 71 people were killed and 124 injured in the early morning blast.

But some local media suggested the death toll could be almost 90.

A female delegate, Aisha Mohammed Sani Ismail, while condemning in strong terms what has befallen innocent children, whose only crime was to agree to be educated, urged the federal government to move swiftly to secure the release of the innocent kids.

Another female delegate, Fati Ibrahim, said the conference must look beyond expression of sympathy and the national mourning and take practical steps to ensure that the girls who have been abducted were returned in good condition.

“Today is not a day for laughing or smiling because we are all bereaved and so we are mourning and that’s why we are in black. We have not gotten over what happened yesterday; this is another one (abduction of female students) happening today.” She added: “Mr. Chairman, I’m so worried about those girls that have been abducted because we have had cases where women were raped. Some of the security agencies have given reports in the past that some of these girls kidnapped in the past were raped.

Our hearts are bleeding today.”

Mosunmola Umoru (youth), said the abducted girls would go through unimaginable pains and trauma, adding that the implication was grave on the country. She queried what the funds budgeted for security had been used for and called for accountability by security agencies.

Another delegate, Chief Annkio Briggs said: “I speak as a mother, I sp eak as a w om a n , ” c a ut i on e d against bringing religion or ethnicity into the killing issue. She said the Monday bombing at Nyanya motor park in Abuja did not differentiate between Muslims and Christians or among Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

“This is no longer about politics, it is about the security of the country,” she stressed.

Reacting to the Abuja bus station blast, Ebele Okeke, representing retired civil servants, suggested that the leadership, including five women, should visit hospitals where the corpses and the injured from the Nyanya bomb blast were taken to.

“We can have two groups with the chairman leading one group and the deputy chairman leading the other group. But it is important that we do not just sit here and talk about it but

reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

•Kutigi

•Briggs

•Bakare

•Nwanyanwu

we should empathise with the victims.

“Also, these children that were kidnapped, we cannot deceive ourselves, they are going to be serially raped; most of them will not survive and those who survive are totally ruined for life,” Okeke said.

She urged Nigerians to remember the victims and the abducted in their prayers.

Ramatu Bala Usman raised the question of whether there are no elders in the communities whose citizens have been subjected to suffering and death, a d din g t h a t a s p e o p le w h o a r e respected by everyone, the elders should be able to identify those behind and those actually perpetrating the ugly development.

She said if it were possible to identify the people behind the dreaded Maitasine sect in the past, if it were possible to identify aggrieved youths of the Niger Delta and if it were possible to bring the situation under control, if it were possible to identity the OPC members in the west, then why can’t Boko Haram members be identified?

Another delegate, Mr. Edwin Clark, said it was imperative that the conference send a message to the federal government on the way forward because the country was no longer safe.

“I think the issue of my son that was kidnapped is very small now. What is happening in Nigeria is a national

issue. Nigerians are being killed day by day. We have a duty to look into this issue and not to play politics with it. It is a national calamity,” he said.

Clark admonished the conference to know that the existence of Nigeria as a nation would depend on what delegates did with the opportunity the national conference had offered them.

“We have no other country to go to,” he added, “we hear every day; 200 people being killed and we show no concern; we sit down here deliberating, what are we deliberating about? This conference must send a message to the government,” he stressed.

He went very emotional and suggested that his daily lunch be monetised and the money sent to take care of those who escaped the bomb blast.

Speaking on Tuesday, Pastor Tunde Bakare, suggested that proceedings at the conference be stood down as a show of solidarity with the victims of the insurgency. He said it must not be said of the conference that while the nation came under siege, delegates were still sitting and talking, showing no concern. But his suggestion, however was stepped down following counter majority opinions.

Kunle Olajide in his contribution said events of this week must be viewed with serious concern and demanded that politicians should come together

for the sake of the nation to salvage the situation. He said categorically: “It is a state of war. Politicians must take politics entirely out of this issue.

There are external sponsors who must be identified.”

His position was supported by Annkio Briggs, who said: “I speak as a mother, I speak as a woman; I speak as a Nigerian. What is happening in Nigeria happens because of what some people, whether inside or outside, have decided will happen.” She said although one part of Nigeria is principally affected by the acts of terror, it was becoming uncertain whether the killings and bombing could still be contained any longer.

Briggs made it clear that it was time for Nigerians to come together and decide on what was best for the country because “this is no longer about politics, it is about the security of the country.”

Dan Nwanyanwu of the Labour Party drew the attention of the delegates to the bomb blast and lamented; “I think there is conspiracy against Nigeria and the Nigerian people; there must be an enemy within.” He urged the conference to immediately react to the incident by urging the necessary security agencies involved in the fight against terrorism to maximise their efforts in the war against terrorism and end the killing of citizens across the country.

Chief Segun Osoba and Ledum Mitee offered what some members believed were concrete suggestions towards practically resolving the insecurity which most delegates attributed to infiltration of the Nigerian borders by people bent on destabilising the country. Osoba said Nigeria, at present, is in a state of war; and that gradually the economy and the education system in the northern part of the country were being destroyed in a manner that might be difficult to resuscitate.

He added that immediate closure of the borders between Nigeria and Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republics as an initial step to curb illegal border crossing. He also suggested that instead of closing down the conference, the secretariat should lead a delegation to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and express the position of the conference to him and the government.

Mitee, who supported Osoba’s submissions, added that at a time like this, dirty political mudslinging and blame-sharing must give way to decent reasoning among political leaders towards finding solutions to the problem.

It was also his position that in taking advantage of the human resources available at the conference, the issue of security should crisscross all the committees so that committee members can discuss and make suggestions for the final report.

“This is not the time to grandstand,” he cautioned, “we may have elders but at a time like this, we need statesmen who should rise up and lead the nation out of this mess. This is no time for politics.”

Retired General Tanko Ayuba from the northwest suggested a complete overhaul of the security system and agreed with the previous speakers that Nigeria’s borders with some countries should be closed because they were too porous.

In addition, he said modern surveillance equipment should be acquired and mounted across the closed borders. “The time for talk is over. It is now time to act,” he said.

22

POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Ondo Labour Party chieftains battle Mimiko Recent developments within the Labour Party in Ondo A State, which is the party’s national stronghold, show FTER years of what appeared to be the ability of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State to hold the ruling Labour Party in Ondo State together, there are strong indications that the party is beginning to experience its share of internal crisis. Recent developments within the party in the state, which is the LP’s national stronghold, show that growing discontent among party leaders and members against Mimiko may be taking negative tolls on the popularity of the ruling party across the state.

A flash of skirmish between the governor and top chieftains of his party, just before the last House of Representatives bye-election in Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government Area of the state, left members of the party wondering if all is well within the party. Prominent party leaders, mainly from the southern senatorial district of the state, had cried out over what they described as the criminal neglect of their part of the state by the Mimiko administration.

The public complaints of the LP leaders back then had been frowned at by the governor’s men who saw it as anti-party acts especially at a time when the party was going into an electoral contest in the same area of the state. But the leaders stood their ground, insisting that they have very little to campaign with among their people.

“We are not against Governor Mimiko.

We are not against our party, the Labour Party. What we are against is the criminal neglect of our parts of the state by the same government and party we led our people into years back. We are saying, for LP to continue to win election in Ondo South, there is need for the government and the party to compensate the people for the support it had enjoyed from our people in the past.

As we speak, we have nothing to campaign with among our people. What are we to tell them? They want to know why they should continue to vote Labour Party? We really don’t have much to tell them.

Apart from the market in Igbokoda, the OSOPADEC House at Igbokoda and the mega school at Igbokoda, we cannot point to any other project anywhere else in our vicinity after years of supporting this party,” Ondo South Eminent Leaders’ G r o u p (OSELG), led by Chief Jerome Shemudara, had said

•Mimiko

growing discontent among party leaders and members against Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Associate Editor, Dare Odufowokan, reports

then.

But rather than listen to the complaints of the leaders, the party leadership had summoned and lambasted them, accusing them of working for opposition parties ahead of the bye-election.

“The party leadership accused the leaders of plotting against the victory of the LP in the scheduled bye election. While the leaders insisted they have genuine reasons to complain, the party told them their approach was wrong and as such, their action is suspicious. The development degenerated into exchange of strong words between the two camps and not much was done to address the issues raised by the leaders,” our source said.

That was the situation as at the time the bye-election in Ilaje-Ese Odo was held a couple of weeks back. As predicted by the elders, the LP was unable to record victory as the election was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

That was when the simmering crisis blew open as a prominent leader of the ruling party in the state, Barrister Benson Enikuomehin, described the five years of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in charge of the state’s affair as a huge failure given the total absence of meaningful development in most parts of the southern senatorial district of the state.

Blaming the government for the inability of the party to win the House of Representatives byeelection in Ilaje-Ese Odo, Enikuomehin said all is not well within the ruling party because it is being administered as a one-man empire.

Enikuomehin, a legal practitioner and immediate

past commissioner of the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said the inability of the ruling party to register an outright victory during last weekend’s bye-election in Ilaje-Ese Odo was because the people of the area are dissatisfied with the current administration over the many unfulfilled promises made to them in the past.

The LP chieftain said “in spite of the about N800million that should accrue to the council monthly as an oil producing area, there is nothing to show to the people as the dividends of the same democracy they have diligently supported with their votes and efforts in the last five years.

“Billions of naira come to the state as derivation on a monthly basis. 40 percent of this should come to Ilaje Ese Odo as an oil producing area in the state. If you calculate that in five years, that is a lot of money. The question the people are asking is where is this money? They are asking because there is nothing on ground in terms of development to show that huge amount was spent anywhere near our locality.

“It is this situation that the people revolted against on Saturday by not voting for our party the way they used to do. I am a member of the Labour Party. We have complained severally but nothing came out of our complaints. We urged the governor to do something about the neglect of the area.

He didn’t do anything. He only came around on Thursday to flag off the campaign for the election. Just two days before the election. That was why we lost in my ward.

“Government must put in effort to persuade the people of our area. The hen that lays the golden egg shouldn’t be abandoned this way. The inability of the party to win is the reaction of the people to the inaction of this administration in the area. I am not saying the governor, but the government. This government has failed the people of Ilaje Ese Odo. “I pray we win the re-run election but if the people of the area decide otherwise, we should see it as a lesson for us as a party. W should simply accept it as a message from the people that they are unhappy with our government and our party. That will help us to correct our mistakes. Our chances in this election is similar to that of a dying man on life support with the gas running out,” he said.

Enikuomehin said in spite of the fact that the governor practically relocated to the area to canvass for votes, his party could only manage a 1,000-vote lead margin closely followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to him, this is a sign that the party is no longer popular amongst the people of the area.

“I will tell you this, from what I know of politics, it is largely about development of the people and about things accruing to the personalities involved. No single footbridge has been constructed in my place in five years by this administration. I know some people will say this is anti party, but I don’t care. They may say I am working for the PDP. But I ask, what will the PDP give me? Money or what?

Without being arrogant, I am a modestly successful person.

“I know what I am saying.

I cannot help saying these because I am used to saying the truth. The LP in Ondo State today is a government of one man for one man by one man.

This is the truth. As I speak,

the secretariat of our party in Akure is under lock and key. Who do we complain to, “ he lamented.

Sources within the party told The Nation that the leadership of the LP may be considering sanctioning the former NDDC top shot for his comments. “He should know better than to criticise the party and government that much if he is still interested in the membership of the party,” another party chieftain said.

But Enikuomehin said he is not disturbed by the rumoured attempt to discipline him. “If the LP is angry over what I have said here, they have just two options.

They can summarily throw me out of the party or summon me and question me. But if they don’t do any of these two, I remain a member of the Labour Party in Ondo State.

If they throw me out, I have options too. We have the APC there and we have the PDP. Any other party that I feel will advance the cause of my people is a choice; I will gladly follow,” he added.

This is not the first time the unity of the ruling party would be threatened by rift between the governor and other party leaders. In November 2012, tension rose between the leadership of Ondo State House of Assembly and the executive over the sack of nine local government caretaker chairmen in the state. The council chairmen were removed from office for their refusal to submit staff audit in their councils, and other related offences.

But Mimiko, apparently unhappy with the state legislators’ decision, condemned the action of the State Assembly for sacking the former council bosses. At a meeting summoned by an aide of the governor, the new caretaker chairmen were allegedly ordered not to resume office until Mimiko returns from his overseas trip.

The Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Information, Oyebo Aladetan, said the House took the decision in accordance with the nation’s constitution. He said the decision to sanction the council bosses was taken to put them on their toes and make them accountable to the people. However, one of the sacked Chairmen, Femi Ofakurin, said the decision of the House was not taken in good fate.

The crisis was eventually resolved following interventions by party chieftains and elder statesmen, including the national leadership of the party.

But by December 2013, 17 out of the 26 lawmakers elected into the Ondo State House of Assembly, shunned Mimiko’s 2014 budget presentation, sending signal of another breakdown in the relationship between the governor and the lawmakers.

Only nine lawmakers were present at the Assembly. It was gathered that majority of the lawmakers who shunned the presentation did so out of grudge, particularly over what they described as poor implementation of the 2013 budget.

The minority leader, Akpoebi Lubi, did not hide his feelings over the crisis. He rated the 2013 budget implementation in the state as 30 percent. He added that the House rejected the governor’s request for a review of the 2013 budget in December.

Lubi said, “The budget presentation ceremony was illegal,” submitting that the governor needed a two-third majority of the members of the House to present the budget.

The state Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, while reacting to the charge, said the budget represented the hope for the development of Ondo State and its people. He argued that the people could not be kept waiting and their yearnings threatened by any form of politics. According to him, there was no need to overheat the polity, because the governor was in a hurry to deliver projects that would transform the lives of the people.

Akinmade explained that the seeming conflict would certainly be resolved, but the state would need stability for robust politics.

Somehow, the issue was resolved and the party returned to its peaceful ways until the recent standoff between the governor and party chieftains reared its head, threatening to tear the ruling party apart.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

M

ONDAY morning, 14th of April, 2014, another tragedy. The bomb blast in Nyanya on the eastern outskirts was heard throughout Abuja. Casualty figures are high; the horror prompts exclamations that invoke the pains of childbirth. Lives cut short, make nonsense of birth. Just imagine the waste of lives and property. Nigeria deserves better, for all its resources and the investment in securing its existence over the years. This is no longer a regional issue, it concerns us all, and we should not be looking away.

The proximity to the seat of power made this security breach rather stark. The President, accompanied by the Senate president were quick to visit the scene, offering words of comfort. World leaders also condemned the attack. According to the spokesperson for the US State Department Jen Psaki, the Obama administration is outraged. Press reports say the British Foreign Secretary William Hague is deeply saddened by these “senseless killings”. Like Ronald Noble, Interpol secretary general, many have promised to assist Nigeria tackle threats to its security. But why are such comforting words not reassuring? Why is this not enough?

This incident is the latest in a long string of atrocities committed by the group and clearly not the last. You do not need me to remind you of the atrocious acts attributed to Boko Haram. It is more than a religious incursion, nor must it be viewed as a regional or political problem. Too many innocent lives have been lost, the carnage is fresh in our minds. We can speak of civilians caught in crossfire, those executed for facilitating law enforcement, there are the servicemen lost in their attempt to restore order, and we must account for lives lost amongst these bands of men who seek to place the nation under siege.

All human life is sacred after all. Were it not so absurd, one may imagine that these campaigns by Boko Haram are an indirect population control measure. But no, these are lashes on our national psyche. No one knows who is next and the problem is more than the loss of lives.

We are yet to know the full cost of these traumas. Horrific news reports are merely snapshots, albeit graphic evidence of the crippling costs of such wanton destruction. Consider the burnt out vehicles and motor parks, torched homes and shops, the wares in these and in markets razed to the ground. Even the seemingly inconsequential tray is evidence of someone’s livelihood, no matter how measly it may appear. These are hints of the severe disruptions to life and development; roads blown up, telecommunication masts set ablaze, commercial activities paralysed, religious premises made insecure. Rebuilding these comes at a cost. Some other project may have to be stalled if what was lost is to be replaced. Now that is what makes these so senseless.

These are disruptions that the nation can ill afford.

There are no rules in these outrageous assaults; it seems anything goes. The very latest report (Tuesday 15th April 2014) is of 200 school girls who have been abducted. The dead are not the only victims. Perhaps they are the lucky ones as, in death they are now beyond further terror. Not so the living, those maimed physically and emotionally, those left to mourn the dead. This but for the grace of God is a lifelong sentence. Many cannot begin to fathom challenges that lie ahead of widows and widowers, orphans and relatives who have to pick up the pieces of lives broken in this carnage. And there is yet another dimension which concerns the general public. It is the spectacle of mangled body parts which seep through press reports and social media, evading broadcast codes that seek to regulate against such. Time will tell if there

POLITICS

23

Distraction, we need action now, please!

Towards a new Nigeria

T •Jonathan

By Oluyinka Esan

will be any comeuppance, for this.

These are the unseen costs of wanton destruction of life.

So far, there has been some reaction from government and other quarters, but these remain inadequate. To be fair, military response has been intensified. North-eastern Nigeria is still in a declared state of emergency.

Sections of civil society are at alert, with much uproar in the press and on social media, especially following the March 2014 attack on the Federal Government College in Yobe State.

Nigerian women in different parts of the world marched to protest the mindless killings. Prayers are being offered for divine intervention, but many more look on and the horrors have not ceased. And life goes on!

Many simply look away, perhaps to avoid being overwhelmed. We just want to carry on as usual, perhaps to frustrate the terrorists; they should not see us cowering. Perhaps that is what the President meant when he referred to this as a temporary setback, stating that we will get over it.

But there was little comfort in that.

Rather, read against the backdrop of his other well publicised activities there is a sinister veneer to the declaration of the incident as an “unwanted distraction”. The question is distraction from what, the gruelling task of nation building or the many frivolities of office? Here is what we have seen; two examples of recent high profile events will suffice.

The centenary celebrations, carried on in spite of cruel murder of hapless students of a Federal Government College is one. Our leaders went off to lavish banquets whilst the nation mourned. Awards were given to many, the same national heroes whom we had honoured in the past and a few miscreants whose wicked deeds we thought had been buried with them were. Would it have mattered if that latest honour were not given, especially in light of the tragic situation? The second event should have been a private celebration, but Nigerians were called to witness a squandering of wealth. No one can begrudge the president’s family for celebrating on a joyous occasion, but since it is not a state affair, the wedding of the adopted daughter should not have been transmitted live on the continent’s largest television network - possibly at no charge to the family.

This media spectacle was ill timed, coinciding with more Boko Haram attacks. That just goes to show, that this is not time for repose, Nigeria’s foes are still on the prowl. This problem requires more serious attention.

It is irksome to hear Nigeria being described as a poor country by some government apologetic discussing the nation’s challenges in diffusing the threats to security on NTA International. His point is that

the military are ill equipped thus hampered in their efforts to tackle the terror of Boko Haram. That is questionable. Yes, the borders are porous and long, the Sahel region is unstable, but Nigeria is not poor. Only recently, it was reported as being the strongest economy in Africa. Going by the well reported extravagant public spending, the opulence on display at public functions, including private parties of the elite, (the president is just one of them) Nigeria is not poor. So there is no reason for the military to be ill equipped. If guests at a state function (the 53rd independence anniversary celebrations) or those at the wedding of the president’s adopted daughter can receive gold plated iPhones as mementos, Nigerians should at least be guaranteed of security. But the nation deserves even more.

Nigerians deserve good governance, basic infrastructure, means of livelihood and effective policing.

There should be avenues for resolving conflicts before these escalate. The cadre of the disgruntled who throw their lot in with rogue elements has to be offered meaningful alternatives, and this is not about merely offering bribes to community leaders. Development should be sustained and not merely reactions to aggression.

Progress in the economy should be reflected in the lives of the people not just in the books. At the heart of our many policies and activities should be due regard for the dignity of life. A root and branch change is needed but it won’t just happen, we have to work at it. This calls for much more than mere political platitudes or empty promises. Having fought to keep Nigeria one, the people of this land regardless of their origin or affiliation should be accorded respect.

So far, the political elite have shown no concrete actions to stem this haemorrhage of lives. Rather politicians on unofficial campaign trails haul accusation and counter accusations which confirm that public funds are being siphoned with impunity.

Each party it seems, seeks to make the most mileage from this most unfortunate loss of lives. No wonder Boko Haram is still on the prowl. Alas, they keep picking on the same soft targets, the hapless victims betrayed by government, undermined by poor infrastructural services, pillaged by armed robbers, and bombed by Boko Haram. In deed when elephants fight, the grass suffers. The governed in Nigeria are the grass, and the suffering so far has been unto death and there is no meaningful change in sight.

Alas! In the words of Fela Kuti, “Na double wahala for deadi body!” This is why there is no comfort in the promises. We need meaningful action NOW, if you please.

-Esan wrote in from School of Media and Film University of Winchester, UK.

HE 2015 elections are almost here with us. And, the President is demonstrating daily how awesome his powers are under the 1999 constitution. As Commander-in-Chief, he could literally exclude some areas, states from the polls. He could even precipitate crisis nationwide and find excuse to postpone the elections citing relevant sections of the constitution.

This would be easier done in a pseudo one-party state. But, at a time that another party has arrived to challenge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), attempting to use such powers could actually turn out an ill-wind that would do no one any good.

The article being reproduced below was first published in 2003, at the height of the Obasanjo autocracy. It is as relevant today as it was then. It only remains for me to warn that plans to use the military and Police to manipulate polls and hand over the mandate to a man rejected by the people would have dire consequences.

ONE question that must of necessity agitate the mind of anyone sufficiently knowledgeable about the working of democracy is whether there is a Nigerian brand of democracy. Democracy has been defined in many ways but what is important to notee is that there are some universal principles that define the system.

One, there are periodic elections. Two, there is a grundnorm binding on all operators within the system. Three, there is a due process (call it the Rule of Law) that must be followed to the letter. Four, and perhaps the most important of all, the will of the people must prevail at all times.

In this country, all the rules have been breached. It has been demonstrated over and over again that the will of the people amount to nothing in the court of politicians. The most ingenious among them are busy at all times devising means of thwarting the will of the people. When elections are held, meetings are held late into the night right from the compilation of the voters register with a view to discarding with the masses' choice.

Just a few weeks after the hotly disputed elections held in April, the government has started unfolding its own interpretation of the mandate purportedly received at the polls. Last week, it unveiled a new regime of petroleum products prices. In a sense, it is a way of showing that the people might have endorsed the plan to hike prices of such basic commodities. No one bothered explaining how the extra money to be "saved" from the exercise would be spent.

The 1999 Constitution makes the Nigerian President the most powerful in the world. He is really not accountable to anyone. He is, indeed, like the emperors of yore. He is the Chief Legislator, the most powerful judicial officer and, of course, the Chief Executive. Did you say how? Under the Constitution, the President proclaims, inaugurates and dissolves the National Assembly and most Bills are initiated by him. As we have seen over and over again since 1999, the President also, in unofficial capacity, appoints principal officers of the National Assembly and they enjoy office at his pleasure. With regard to the Judiciary, he appoints the Chief Justice of Nigeria. And, another appointee of his, this time, one responsible to him and him alone, the Attorney General, plays a crucial role in the National Judicial Council which administers the judiciary.

By virtue of Section 315 of the Constitution, the President could make and unmake laws. This power was first demonstrated over the fate of the Petroleum Trust Fund inherited from the military. The President simply scrapped the body without recourse to the legislature. When the legislators asked questions about the source of his power to abolish a statutory body without a repeal of the relevant law, he brandished Section 315. Looks more like 419.

Again, only last week, the President in what appears a flagrant disregard of the Constitution, decided to set aside the law by seeking to abrogate the Local Government Councils by fiat. To the best of this writer’s knowledge, Section 7 of the Constitution has not been abrogated. But the President has exercised his power to make and unmake. Makes him look more like the French King Louis XIV of the 17th Century.

As time rolls by, with a former military leader as president, more of such powers would be exercised to the discomfiture of the electorate. In Nigeria, the electorate is certainly not the king.

24

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

POLITICS

Edo APC ward congresses raise fresh posers ahead 2015

•Oshiomhole

T

HE ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that held on April 8, 2014, may have come and gone but the dust the exercise raised may take a while to settle.

Aspirants to political offices sought to enhance their electoral chances by taking control of the party machinery or structure as it is generally believed that whoever is able to install his or her loyalists as ward executive committee members would be favoured to win party nomination in his constituency primary elections. Therefore, some ambitious persons and their supporters put everything in them to ensure victory.

In Edo North Senatorial District, for instance, the battle of their lives was fought between current Senator, Domingo Alaba Obende; the Secretary to the Edo State Government, Professor Julius Ihonvbere; House of Representatives member, representing Etsako Federal Constituency, Engineer Abubakar Momoh and a retired military officer, Major Francis Alimhikhena.

An analysis of the outcome of the congresses reveals an interesting scenario which political watchers say is a precursor to the things to come, particularly in any exercise to choose a senatorial candidate for the party. It was a test of popularity for the aspirants in the six local government areas which make up the senatorial district, namely Akoko- Edo; Etsako Central, Etsako East; Etsako West; Owan East and Owan West, with each aspirant struggling hard to take charge of his area.

In Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, Senator Obende’s home turf, the congresses took place under an emotive atmosphere not devoid of thuggery and violence.

According to informed sources, Senator Obende was away from the local government when the congresses took place. It is not clear if this was the reason his preferred chairmanship candidates did

•Ihonvbere

•Obende

The ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State have raised several salient issues ahead 2015 elections in the state, reports Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin not win in the two wards in Igarra, his home town. A fencemending meeting with political appointees from the area was said to have been called by the Senator three days after the congresses but was roundly boycotted since the governor was said to have warned against such meetings with aspirants.

The meeting was said to have coincided with that of the Elders Council called by Chief Mike Oloyo, a situation interpreted by pundits as a calculated attempt to drive a wedge between the elders of the party in the area. The senator was also said to have met with the state chief executive, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for several hours on Monday over the outcome of the ward congresses not only in his local government area but in all the local government areas of the senatorial district. This is seen as a last ditch effort at putting his ambition back on track.

The two Owan Local Government Areas, East and West, are, no doubt, Professor Julius Ihonvbere’s strongholds with the very active support of Hon. Pally Iriase of the House of Representatives in Owan East. Political watchers say the 10 ward chairmen elected at the congresses would readily give their support to any aspirant anointed by him.

Ihonvbere seems to have problems with fellow political office holders in Owan West, his base, with the House of Assembly member, honourable commissioner, Council chairman and an Abuja-based businessman each holding on to their wards on behalf of other aspirants. But the congress results from the other seven wards are said to favour Ihonvbere. Some disputed results were said to have been the subject of a long meeting in Government House on Monday with the local government area party leader, Shagari Oni, said to be insistent

on subordinating the political office holders to his authority.

The three Etsako Local Government Areas have two senatorial aspirants with both coming from Etsako East. They are Engr.

Abubakar Momoh and retired Major Francis Alimhikhena.

Each of them was able to gain control of only his ward with about 80 percent of the local government area under the control of political forces alleged to be opposed to the elevation of Momoh from the House of Representatives to the Senate in 2015. With the congress results, the entire scenario may have changed.

Also, two distinct groups within the APC sought to outdo each other during the congresses in Etsako Central and Etsako West. In Central, the council chairman, House of Assembly member and an ex-council chairman, Chief Joseph Akhigbe Alemoh, squared up against veteran political tacticians, Alhaji M.Z. Naboya, Chief Brai Aloye and Alhaji Waziri Oshomah along with majority of political appointees. The conduct of the congresses was characterised with long delays and arguments, particularly in wards 1 and 2 but a consensus arrangement gave victory to the majority group headed by Chief Naboya with the 10 wards now conveniently dubbed ‘pro-Julius Ihonvbere’.

In Etsako West, Oshiomhole was said to have preached consensus to avoid acrimonious ward congress elections. It worked. Positions were said to have been shared to the various villages/quarters which make up the wards and party members selected/nominated by ward leaders to fill such positions. This ensured rancour-free ward congresses with all the 12 wards under the firm control of the comrade governor.

During the local government congress, scores of persons

scampered for safety in Edo North Senatorial District when thugs stormed the venue of the congress in Akoko Edo and Owan West respectively, and thereby left several persons sustaining varying degrees of injuries.

Specifically, in Owan West Local Government Area, the election was inconclusive due to the unruly behavour of the suspected thugs who were reported to have expressed displeasure over the list of the ward congress which they claimed was not favorable to them.

The exercise was, however, postponed to a later date. “The elders and leaders of the party have reported the issue to the Divisional Police Officer in the area and the governor subsequently.

We will not condone such unruly behavour from such top government functionaries,” Chief Isaiah Atafoh said.

In Akoko Edo, loyalists of one of the top stakeholders were reported to have caused bodily injury on their unsuspecting victims, thereby disrupting the exercise. No less than six persons were reportedly injured after the melée.

According to an eye witness account, Mr. Alaja Amune, loyalists of one of the top politicians from ward one and two in Igarra, administrative headquarters of Akoko Edo Local Government Area pounced on the other group when they were dissatisfied with the process and sensing defeat, they scattered the exercise and several people sustained injuries.

According to a council official, Mr. Oladele Ebeneza, policemen stationed at the venue of the exercise were over-powered and over-whelmed but soldiers were drafted to the scene much later to save the day.

It was gathered that the politician and his loyalists were dissatisfied with the position of the governor who told the leaders of

Ward 2 to harmonise their lists for the exercise. The governor was reported to have addressed them on Monday in Government House on the need for an all-inclusive exercise but the top politician was said to have jettisoned the instruction of the governor, the Barrister Samuel Obaro group alleged.

In a statement titled “Pitfalls Oshiomhole, Edo North APC leaders must avoid,” Mr. Oloyede Jamgbadi traced the political history this way, “Our beloved governor of Edo State and our son, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, is a kindhearted personality to a fault.

He abhors discrimination and wants to satisfy everybody at the same time but not without making enmity along the line.”

Recently, an associate of the top stakeholders was widely reported to have said, “We are not spectators in the party. We are not here to clap our hands for the Etsakos.

Etsakos have had it twice and Owan once. Now that it is Akoko Edo’s turn, they think they can arm twist us to it. They should wait for their turn.

“There must be fair play in this game. There must be justice and equity in the distribution of elective offices. The sitting governor is from Etsako, the majority leader of the House of Assembly is also from Etsako, the Chief of Staff to the President is from Etsako, the PDP State chairman is from Etsako.

“I understand that an Etsako man is also interested in the deputy governorship ticket after the expiration of the tenure of the governor. The question one would ask them is, how justifiable does it sound for an Etsako man to be the senator and also clinch the governorship running mate ticket just after the governor’s two-term tenure?”

As the party prepare for future elections, the issues raised as a result of the intrigues during the Ward congress will remain guides to the ruling APC in Edo State.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

I

T was another charged session at a closeddoor meeting of members of the House of Representatives, in Abuja, last week’s Wednesday, when what began as a routine enquiry almost crystallized into an impeachment battle against Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

In that hot encounter, some members of the House, who were reportedly in the minority, had asked the Speaker to give account of expenditure in the House. Apart from that, they demanded an increase in their quarterly allowances and running costs, warning that fulfillment of these demands would serve as preconditions for passing of the 2014 Budget.

The matter however got to a tricky point when the aggrieved members created scenes and supporters of the Speaker put up stiff resistance to save the Speaker.

The Nation gathered that since then, both Tambuwal and his opponents within and outside the House have redrawn their survival strategies. It was learnt that the sponsors of the latest impeachment attempt are directly connected to some powerful elements within the leadership of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Presidency who are not happy that the Speaker maintained his refusal to declare the seats of decamped former PDP members vacant.

“So, although it was introduced mildly, what happened last week was a well backed plot to unseat Tambuwal. It is obvious to some leaders of PDP that the Speaker is playing a complex game. As we prepare for 2015 elections, a leader like Tambuwal cannot afford to dine and wine with political opponents and expect the rest of us to trust he would protect the interest of the party when the chips are down,” said a member of the National Working Committee of PDP, who pleaded not to be named.

Our source said PDP, as the majority party must produce the Speaker of the House “and so, Tambuwal should realise the high office he is occupying on the ticket of PDP and act in ways that will boost the confidence of both the leadership and other members of the party. That is all we are saying. We are practicing partisan democracy. It is not realistic for any elected official, no matter how highly placed, to pretend that he or she got to the seat without a platform. What is happening at the House under Tambowal seem to give that impression and many of us think we cannot allow it to continue, not now that we are preparing for a crucial general election. From now on, the game must be plain. It is either you are for us or you are not. We cannot continue this double game.”

On their part, Tambuwal’s supporters had, during the week, insisted that allegations against the Speaker were baseless. Tambuwal, they argued, had told his persecutors that he could not exceed the N150billion appropriation limit for the House just to satisfy their request for increased allowances, even as he reminded them how former Speaker Dimeji Bankole was sacrificed for succumbing to that same trap, taking N10billion bank loan in order to pay increased allowances.

So the Easter break notwithstanding, it seems the struggle for Tambuwal’s seat is not yet over.

An associate of the Speaker said his loyalists have sworn to be “awake” and ensure they are not taken for a ride. “During this Easter break, we will meet and review the situation because we do not want to be taken unaware. “Considering what is at stake and the kind of people we are dealing with, it would not be wise to think they have accepted defeat. No, we are aware they may try again, but we are waiting for them.

The source, a top lawmaker, said top officials, including state governors, have been assigned the task of unseating Tambuwal “if he continues to hobnob with the opposition.”

Past impeachment attempts Since May 2011, when Tambuwal emerged the Speaker of the House of Representatives, against the calculations of the leadership of his party, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he has literally walked a tight rope even as he displays uncanny ability to retain full control of the House, the odds notwithstanding.

It would be recalled that way back in 2011, PDP leaders and the Presidency had zoned the slot to the South-West and Hon. Mulikat AdeolaAkande was fielded for the plum position, but riding on the wings of opposition groups and radical elements within the House, Tambuwal and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha emerged the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, an act some powerful members of the top leadership of PDP and the Presidency consider an affront and have therefore been unable to forgive them and their supporters.

Perhaps because of this tricky beginning, Tambuwal and Ihedioha have had to contend with many impeachment plots, most of which are alleged to have been traced to some powerful sponsors within the Presidency and

POLITICS

25

Tambuwal’s survival streak and 2015 calculations

Following the failure of last week’s impeachment plot against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, he and his supporters may have altered PDP and Presidency’s 2015 permutations, reports Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu the PDP leadership.

Perhaps, the first well-advertised attempt to remove Tambuwal was in early 2013, shortly after the Yuletide break, when his loyalists in the House successfully stopped a plot by a faceless group.

The impeachment plot then was based on alleged fraudulent activity in the purchase of 400 Toyota Camry cars for members.

The plot went awry following allegation that the administrators of the plot shortchanged other members of the group by paying them $5,000 each instead of the agreed amount, allegedly higher than the amount paid.

In a twist of fate, over 288 members of the House in plenary rose for Tambuwal instead of removing him.

Speaking earlier at the plenary, Tambuwal had said: “We are convinced now more than ever before, that the situation where majority of the citizens continue to live in abject poverty while an insignificant minority corner the commonwealth is not only unjust but unacceptable.

“In this regard, we shall continue to adopt a pragmatic and functional approach to ensure that the war against corruption is removed from the realm of rhetoric by exercising absolute diligence in our oversight function so as to enhance transparency and accountability in both high and low strata.

“As we begin a new year, we hope to be able to improve remarkably on the modest efforts we have made towards raising the quality of legislation in this country and the way we have handled issues arising from our oversight functions.

“Fellow colleagues, this Honourable House has a contract with the Nigerian people to make sure they reap from the gains of our hard-earned democracy and as you all know our goal has always been to fulfill that mandate to the best of our capacity.

“When we came in we promised to pursue an aggressive legislative agenda that will reposition this House not just as a key branch of government determined to deliver on its mandate, but as a veritable defender of the rights of the people.”

On September 2013, at the peak of the crisis in PDP, which resulted in a break-away faction, known as the newPDP; another plot by some members of the House to impeach Tambuwal failed when it became difficult for the sponsors to muster the statutorily required twothird majority for the proposed impeachment.

The Abubakar Baraje-led faction of the New-PDP had alleged that the Presidency dangled N2.5million carrot before lawmakers to remove Tambuwal, who w a s considered a member of the new faction.

That allegat i o n w a s based on the fact that the i m peachment plot

•Tambuwal

matured shortly after Tambuwal, in his capacity as the Speaker of the House, received the Baraje group during a visit to the National Assembly to brief members on why they pulled out of the main PDP then led by Dr. Bamanga Tukur.

His survival streak But since the commencement of his headship of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, Tambuwal’s successful handling of the most trying moments of the House have helped to shore up his reputation and acceptability, thus making it possible for him to survive power intrigues.

Though Tambuwal’s closest associates and supporters have tried to anchor his survival on alleged uprightness, the Speaker and his henchmen in the House have had to face very trying moments that have further tasked their credibility.

Such trying moments include the fuel subsidy scandal, where allegation of bribery was raised against some lawmakers identified as Tambuwal’s associates.

Another major challenge was that of resolving the crisis that arose from the allegation of extortion made against the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, Herman Hembe, by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh.

The most recent incidents that have tasked the House leadership under Tambuwal include the state of emergency declared on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and the decampment of members from the political parties they were elected in to the opposition party.

In all, while Tambuwal’s supporters applaud the way he has managed these tricky issues, especially his alleged prudence and financial transparency, his opponents complain over his relationship with the opposition.

Also, another plot, allegedly sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to suspend Tambuwal, over his alleged romance with the opposition later that year also hit the rocks.

He survived the plot when his home chapter of the PDP in Tambuwal Local Government

Area of Sokoto State reportedly rebuffed the then national leadership of the party.

According to sources, the plan of the PDP national leadership was for the PDP local chapter to announce his expulsion. If the local chapter had obliged, the plan, according to reports, was for the then national leadership to intervene by converting the expulsion to suspension “pending further investigation.”

However, party sources said the local executive members of the party saw through the instigation and declared that it was beyond them to expel him.

They advised those who had complaints against the Speaker to lodge same with the state executive council of the party.

A source was quoted then as saying, “The plan was to get the L.G.A chapter of the party to expel the Speaker. If that had happened, the national leadership would have intervened by revoking the expulsion order and placing the Speaker on suspension while it claims to be looking into the allegations against him,” sources said.

“That way, other lawmakers plotting to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) would have been cowed. But in spite of the heavy pressure mounted on them, the leadership of the PDP in the council declined to go all the way with the plan. Instead, they requested that those with genuine complaints against Tambuwal should report him to the state executive committee.”

The Nation investigation then revealed that the Speaker survived the plot through the intervention of Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. The governor, according to The Nation sources, prevailed upon the party chieftains in Tambuwal not to allow themselves to be used to disturb the peace of the state.

Last week’s failure notwithstanding, The Nation gathered that sponsors of impeachment plots against Tambuwal have not given up but have only returned to the drawing board, swearing never to let go until they are sure he remains a PDP member in spirit. This is even as the Speaker’s loyalists and supporters are said to have organized some series of meetings aimed at protecting him. As the battle over Tambuwal’s seat continues, the question on the lips of many Nigerians is if the Speaker will eventually join the opposition party as his opponents in PDP have been alleging or if he would continue to bear the intrigues and continue to deemphasize party politics while carrying out his assignment as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Informed observers are eager to know where the pendulum will swing to when the lawmakers return to the House after their Easter break.

They are also interested in locating the Tambuwal matter to the larger picture of 2015 general elections.

26 POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

ripples Ban on chieftaincy titles puts Chime under fire

T

he recent announcement by Enugu State Government, banning traditional rulers in the area from conferring any form of chieftaincy titles on anybody, no matter how highly placed in the society, has brought the Sullivan Chime-led state government under stiff criticism.

The ban, according to a circular issued to all recognised monarchs in the state by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs, Ferdinand Anikwe, read: "I am directed by the Honourable Commissioner to inform you that all the traditional rulers in Enugu State should not give title to anybody from this night 9, April, to December this year.”

"You are to come and collect letters to that effect on Wednesday 9th of April from the office of Commissioner for

Chieftaincy, Enugu State.”

Reacting to the development, a chieftain of the All Progressives Alliance (APC) Dr. Ben Nwoye, who is also a prince of a royal family in Nkanu West Council Area of the state, condemned the government action, describing it as "unfortunate.”

According to Nwoye, "I think Governor Sullivan is now governing Enugu State like an emperor. He is trying to destroy the traditional institution in the state.

"It is quite unfortunate that someone who calls himself a democrat and lawyer, could be doing such an unconstitutional thing, just probably because he has some scores to settle with some of his aggrieved PDP members, such as the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu."

"Probably, the ban is because there are speculations that Ekweremadu is facilitating the conferring of traditional titles on some PDP chieftains by a traditional ruler in the state.”

Nwoye, an aspirant of Enugu East Senatorial District in 2015, under the platform of All Progressive Congress (APC), posited that if allowed, such action was capable of spelling doom on the traditional institution in Enugu State and the country at large.

He noted that with such action, Chime, had disrupted the entire 2014 traditional programmes or calendar of monarchs in the state, calling on citizens of the state to say no to such unconstitutional act . Nwoye also warned against the danger inherent in politicising the traditional institution in the state.

Fresh fears over Imoke, Ndoma-Egba’s senatorial ambition

C

ross River State Government House top officials are at a loss how to manouvre between Governor Liyel Imoke's ambition of retiring to the Senate in 2015 by taking over the seat currently occupied by the Senate Leader, Senate Victor NdomaEgba and the senator's overt decision to return to the same seat.

The ambition of the two political

Abba, Murtala Muhammed's son, joins partisan politics

A

bba Risqua Muhammad, son of slain military Head of State, General Murtala Muhammad, has formerly joined partisan politics, just as he is gearing up to contest elective position in Kano come 2015.

Abba, who played visible role during the visit of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to Kano, confirmed to reporters yesterday that he has finally decided to play partisan politics under the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Abba, who is the heir of Murtala Muhammad's dynasty, confirmed his quest to play politics saying, “I am moved to contribute my quota to the development of my country.”

Speaking on his experience in public life, Abba said, “I have worked in an Asset Management Company / Petroleum company for a number of years, after which I worked with the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, as Special Assistant on International Relations, and Privatizations.

“I was with President Obasanjo for seven years, and when he left office, I also left back to the company I was working before I was appointed as a government aide. And that is what I was doing since.”

He explained that his presence at the Kano

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

PDP Unity Rally was because of his love for the party and as an active member of the party, “I will do everything possible to support the party and make sure that we succeed in the coming elections.”

Also, commenting on developmental issues confronting Nigeria, he disclosed that the major challenge is that Nigeria still lacks infrastructure that will make it a functional society. “What I mean by this is that presently, we lack near ideal situation, such as, when you open the tap, water is there flowing, you have steady power supply.

If you go to the hospital, doctors and medicines are there, and the schools are for the children to acquire qualitative and quantitative education.

“Basically, this is the kind of society I want to see in Nigeria, a place where jobs are available for those who want to work. A lot have been achieved, but we still want to see more achieved in the country,” he further explained.

Abba revealed that his involvement in Nigerian politics would provide him the opportunity to help work with people of like minds to ensure that the country becomes a functional society that will benefit the present and future generations of Nigerians.

•Muhammed

heavyweights has been a source of concern to some Cross River State indigenes, especially some top government officials in Cross River State Government House who are known to be close associates of the two politicians.

Following what an insider described as renewed campaigns by the senator, some of his friends in the Government House are worried that they may be suspected of aiding his ambition to the detriment of their boss.

IN VOGUE

By Kehinde Oluleye

Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

GLAMOUR

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32 GLAMOUR

ADETUTU AUDU

crownkool@yahoo.com

08023849036, 08112662587

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34 GLAMOUR/OUT & ABOUT

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

ROAD TO BRAZIL

WORLD CUP With Emma Okocha

Beverly Osu strikes gold

Continued on Page 53

Continued on Page 53

ID Cabasa, Terry G, D-tunes in search of

Naija Street Champ

Why I dumped law for music

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

ETCETERA

56

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

A twenty-first century guide No one becomes great without possessing some special quality to be isolated and studied by all. The reader may here drink from the fountain of wisdom shared by some of the greatest minds that ever lived.

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

IN pursuit of success, the beginning matters as much as the end. Whatever your dreams and aspirations may be, identify the appropriate moment to start. Generally, the more intricate the skills required to perform some task or activity, the longer the required training. You may thus do well to begin skill acquisition as early as possible.

At the same time, you will enhance your chances by knowing when to stop pushing yourself, for great danger lies in overdoing it. As the most successful generals, industry leaders and politicians have proved throughout history, pacing of progress matters and can mean the difference between failure and survival. And only the surviving can succeed and enjoy the comfort and adulation that follows. In other words, get rich if you can, but don’t die trying.

On the march towards enlightenment, never think you know all the answers. To be counted among the wisest, acknowledge your ignorance.

The world is full of people who think they know it all when there are so many questions begging answers and so many problems courting solutions. Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge – which quickly becomes obsolete – but in perpetually seeking and using it.

And never forget that people are infinitely more important than things and that all people matter. Listen to all and learn from them. Observe and note the tiniest details. Nothing is so small as to be insignificant. The smaller the size, the wider the eyes. Carefully note what everything does, and why, and draw meaningful conclusions from your findings.

You will think big on occasion, of course, but observe the little things, and store them carefully in your mind. Success comes from getting countless small things right so that big things may follow naturally.

Through the pitfalls of life that are bound to come your way, great and small, never gave up. Learn from your mistakes, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and have another go. Study again. Play again. Create again.

Invest again. Serve again. And trade again.

Accept criticism and blame without resentment. Face the world in truth and with sincerity. Conquer tension without medical help. Relax without alcoholic beverage. And sleep without the aid of drugs. The best tranquilliser, by the way, is a healthy mind and a clear conscience.

Do not forget to pay others, especially loved ones, regular compliments.

In addition, share activities with family and friends and generally cause little stress. Give others some space and do your best to remember birthdays, anniversaries and arrangements.

Be always content with the food, clothing and accommodation you can afford. Be grateful for life’s little mercies. Resist complaining lest you bore others with your troubles. Understand it when loved ones are too busy to give you time and overlook the fact that people sometimes take their frustrations out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong.

At home and elsewhere, be, as well as you can, a friend, a companion, a lover, a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a patron, a matron, a chef, an electrician, a decorator, a carpenter, a stylist, a plumber, a sexologist, a mechanic, a gynecologist and a psychologist. Be a pest exterminator, a psychiatrist, a healer, a good listener and an organiser.

Be clean, sympathetic, athletic, warm, attentive, gallant, intelligent, funny, creative, tender, firm and strong. Be tolerant, prudent, ambitious, capable, courageous, true, honest, dependable, passionate, compassionate and determined.

With success, material and otherwise, usually come recognition and leadership positions in society. If you must practice politics do your best to wait for the call as opposed to forcing relevance. The wise would not seek political power for its sake. He would wait to be called by the unanimous voice of the people – and it should be a pretty general one.

QUOTE

Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.

—Thomas Jefferson

Jokes Humour

Nothing but the Truth “DEAR,” said the wife. “What would you do if I died?”

“Why, dear, I would be extremely upset,” said the husband.

“Would you remarry?” asked the wife.

“No, of course not, dear,” said the husband.

“Don’t you like being married?” said the wife.

“Of course I do, dear,” he said.

“Then why wouldn’t you remarry?” she asked.

“Alright,” said the husband, “I’d remarry.”

“You would?” said the wife, looking vaguely hurt.

“Yes,” said the husband.

“Would you sleep with her in our bed?” asked the wife.

“Well yes, I suppose I would,” said the husband.

“I see,” said the wife indignantly. “And would you let her wear my old clothes?”

“I suppose, if she wanted to,” said the husband.

“Really,” said the wife icily. “And would you take down the pictures of me and

replace them with pictures of her?”

“Yes. I think that would be the correct thing to do.”

“Is that so?” said the wife, leaping to her feet.

“And I suppose you’d let her play with my golf clubs, too.”

“Of course not, dear,” said the husband. “She’s left-handed!”

Stagnant?

A GIRL walked up to the information desk in a hospital and asked to see the “upturn.”

“I think you mean the ‘intern,’ don’t you?” asked the nurse on duty.

“Yes,” said the girl. “I want to have a ‘contamination.’”

“You mean ‘examination,’” the nurse said in correction.

“Well I want to go to the ‘fraternity ward,’ anyway.”

“I’m sure you mean the maternity ward.”

To which the girl said: “Upturn, intern; contamination, examination; fraternity, maternity … what’s the difference? All I know is I haven’t demonstrated in two months, and I think I’m stagnant.

•Adapted from the Internet

H

Writer’s Fountain OOKING the reader or listeners by the ears and if you don’t stumble, straightaway: Hook your reader, play you will keep that rapt look in their eyes until him, and get him in your boat. It’s the secret of the last word or the last period in the last every successful story. But how do we do that? sentence.

If the sweetest five words to a fiction writer are The question again is: how do you do it?

“I couldn’t put your book down!” then the most It depends on how you hook the reader, how valuable three words you can ever hear while long you can play him, and then how you get telling any story are “Then what happened?” him in the boat, flopping around in the delight When you hear those, you have your readers of your mystery and magical words. Be careful you don’t hook anyone by the first line, or first Critical ratios: paragraph, only to have him or her yawn within •More than 25% of the world’s forests are the next few pages because you didn’t keep a in Siberia. tight line to hold interest.

•More than 50% of the people in the world So what would grab the reader’s attention have never made or received a telephone and hold it? call.

You must know that the reader doesn’t expect •More than 80% of all the world’s a killer moment, like a beautiful song, to last earthquakes occur in the Pacific basin on and on. No author can maintain excitement borders. for too long.

•More than 99.9% of all the animal species He drops it on the reader and then goes into that have ever lived on earth were extinct exposition or dialogue which will carry it for a before the coming of man. bit and then increase the tension on the line at •Kuwait is about 60% male (highest in the just the right moment. world) while Latvia is about 54% female This is the craft of the art or the art of the craft (highest in the world).

– knowing when to tighten the line.

•It’s estimated that at any one time around Avoid a trite opening line like “It was a dark 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk. and stormy night”.

57

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

-- Page 53

Jobs for sale Page 58, 59

Page 61

Complaint: A disguised gift

Heritage, Fidelity, Stanbic IBTC others may acquire Enterprise Bank

T

HE much anticipated sale of Enterprise Bank Limited, will soon be concluded as some of the prospective investors who submitted indicative bids for the purchase of the bank are already being shortlisted by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), The Nation has learnt.

Enterprise Bank, one of the three nationalised banks wholly owned by AMCON, was created from the carcass of the defunct Spring Bank.

It would be recalled that AMCON had on September 2, 2013, called for expression of interest in acquiring its 100 per cent stake in Enterprise Bank

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf Limited including its seven subsidiaries and subsequently appointed Citigroup and Africa-focused investment bank, Vetiva Capital, to manage its divestment from the bank.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that so far over 24 prospective foreign and local investors have shown interest in acquiring the bank.

The Nation can authoritatively report that some of the banks at the forefront of acquiring Enterprise Bank are Diamond Bank Plc, Heritage Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Skye Bank.

Others include Fidelity

What do manufacturers owe consumers?

Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and other investors like Taunus Holdings, Sahara Energy, Obat Oil and over 12 private equity firms.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Bank, Mr. Ahmed Kuru, who confirmed this in an interview with journalists in Lagos, recently said the timeline for the planned sale would not be later than October 2014.

He said: "About 24 prospective investors have shown interest locally and internationally. A lot of them called us, including international financial institutions that showed interest because they have seen the figures and the financials and

they strongly believe that the bank has a lot of potential. So we don't know how many institutions finally made the list.

"But what we decided to do internally is to focus on running the institutions; we don't ask questions about what is happening and we have allowed those responsible for the process of divestment to carry on with the assignment.

At any point in time, if AMCON requires our attention, they will surely get it," he added.

Attempts by The Nation to get the reaction of the AMCON boss, Mr. Mustapha Chike-Obi was futile as he neither picked his calls or replied text messages sent to his GSM.

•Customers at a shopping mall

Page 63

Bonga oil spillage: Minister moves to reconcile warring factions

T

From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

HE Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia Mallam, has promised to reconcile Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, SPDC, with all the shoreline communities in the Niger Delta who are affected by the spillage.

The spillage occurred on the 11th December, 2012.

Affirming her determination to find an amicable resolution to the challenges posed by the Bonga oil spillage, the minister said she will meet with all relevant stakeholders with a view to finding a lasting solution to the incident.

Mrs. Mallam was speaking at a meeting with Shell in her office in Abuja, when members of the corporation visited her.

It would be recalled that leaders of shoreline communities of Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa States had paid a courtesy call on the minister recently, complaining against Shell over the handling of the Bonga oil spillage, which they said has had devastating impact on marine and aquatic life, thereby affecting fishing activities.

The meeting with Shell is a follow-up to the promise the minister made to the affected communities that she will consult with all relevant stakeholders with a view to finding a lasting and amicable solution to the problem.

In a statement in Abuja by the Ministry's Deputy Director (Press), Mr. Bem Goong, the minister promised to visit the affected communities and persuade those already in court to explore other peaceful means of settlement of the dispute and ensure that the matter is brought to a peaceful settlement within the shortest possible time and to the satisfaction of all parties.

Speaking earlier at the meeting, leader of delegation and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu told the minister that the corporation was willing to find an amicable solution to the problem, adding that the intervention of the minister will help accelerate the process.

The Shell boss assured the minister and Permanent Secretary that it was possible for both the Ministry and Shell to work together for the progress of the corporation in particular, and Nigeria in general.

The Shell chief who regretted the incident told the minister that the spillage was not an act of corporate irresponsibility, but a direct accident arising from its operations.

FG to enforce standards in cement industry

•From left: Mr. Alex Goma, Managing Director, Family Care SBU PZ Cussons, Pharm. Lekan Asuni, Managing Director, GlaxoSmithkline and President, the Association of Nigerian Representatives of Overseas Pharmaceutical Manufacturers ( NIROPHARM ) and Pharm. Maomud Segiru, representing Director-General of NAFDAC, during the Business Networking Meeting organised by the Association in Lagos‌recently

F

ROM economic and financial experts have come a damn verdict on Nigeria: 'The euphoria expressed by the Federal Government and others over rebasing of the nation's economy which placed Nigeria as Africa's largest economy with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $510b, ahead of South Africa, is misplaced as the nation still lags behind in other socioeconomic indices.'

From an estimated per capita GDP of $1, 437 in 2012, the figure rose to $2, 688 after the rebasing. This is however still lower to South Africa's per capita GDP which is over $6, 000.

In an interview with The Nation over the weekend, Dr.

GDP not enough to assess Nigeria's financial health- experts

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Joe Agbro Jr Austin Nweze, a political economist at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, said the Federal Government has a lot of work to work as far as getting the economy on track.

According to Nweze, GDP is just one measure of an economy. He identified retail trade, balance of trade, inflation, and interest rates as other important indicators of an economy's well-being.

Recognising small businesses as the engine room of any economy, Nweze said

the high interest rates they contend with at the banks is stifling.

"It's like every sector of the economy, there are just different things and there is no synchronicity," he said.

"If for instance, you want to industrialise, you want small businesses to grow, meanwhile, your interest rates is so high that small businesses cannot even borrow money.

And banks are not ready to give (them) money.

"You can't say you're using the right hand to encourage small businesses which is the bedrock of any economy and

then you're using the left hand to increasing the interest rate, thereby discouraging them."

On the diversification of the Nigerian economy, Nweze, offering a template, said: "Natural resources are deposited in different places across the country which if you harness it and build other ancillary services around it, the local government will begin to pick up. So, that way, you don't need to come to Lagos to become a 'big man'. You can stay where you are and be comfortable. So, the ruralurban migration challenge will be minimised."

T

From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

HE Federal Government is to improve supervision and enforcement standards for the cement industry to check the growing incidence of collapsed buildings in the country.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, made this disclosure in Abuja at the second Lafarge National dialogue series.

Aganga, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Amb. Abdulkadir Musa, said the challenge that building collapse is posing to the nation is a source of concern to the government.

The minister stated that "the implementation of ISO standards for building as well as the enforcement of building codes is currently being embarked upon."

Aganga said the government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts at establishing quality standards in the country.

According to him, "a new era of consciousness has begun and will be sustained effectively. To this end, we are working on introduction of courses on standards in universities in the country."

Government he said "is fighting the scourge with all resources in order to ensure that the trend is permanently halted and as instrument of positive change, we are responding appropriately to incidence and occurrences as they arise, while working assiduously to prevent others from ever occurring."

The Representative of Minister of Housing Alhaji Sanni Gidado also disclosed that the nation's building code is being reviewed and has reached its final stage. The executive he said is now working with the National Assembly to pass the law to enforce the use of building code and working to see that public buildings go through proper approval.

Also speaking at the event, Lafarge's Group Executive Vice President/Country CEO Nigeria and Benin Republic, Mr. Guillaume Roux stated that the national building code which came into force in 2006 needs to be widely accepted by all stakeholders and be fully implemented.

58

BUSINESS

With about 1.8 million Nigerians being released into the labour market annually, getting a job in Nigeria has been tough. But the process is now such that other than efforts, some Nigerians are being made to part with money as well, writes Joe Agbro Jr.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Jobs

fo

“G

ROW up and get a job," is one phrase a lot of people get to hear at one time or the other while growing up. To many people, a job signifies a transition to adulthood.

But, in present day Nigeria, such theory may not apply at all. Why? Because getting a job has not only become Herculean task, it may also involve parting with money to scammers. Welcome to the sinister world of some employment agencies.

Job hunting hassles In June 2004, Michael Obukowho, an Accounting graduate from the Delta State University had relocated from Warri, Delta State, to Lagos State.

According to him, though he understood that unemployment was rife, but he figured that his chances of securing employment in Lagos were greater than remaining in the oil-rich but activity-poor city of Warri. And while job opportunities were indeed more than in other places, Obukowho also discovered, Esther Breakthrough, and some other sides of some agencies as he job-hunted.

"I was walking through Ojuelegba to attend a test when I was handed a flyer with vacancies," Obukowho recalled. Following instructions on the flyer, he said he had to pay N1, 000 and do a test while his results would be forwarded to companies for job placements. Reasoning that taking such step could stop his job search, he willingly paid the N1, 000, wrote the test conducted by the recruitment firm, expecting to hear from the company about job placements. But he never heard anything.

"I called and called but nothing happened," said Obukowho. "I was just told to be coming and coming for appointments. I did not hear anything from them about any job and in the end I just gave up."

Last month, the Minister for Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said no fewer than 1.8 million graduates move into the labour market every year, according to data generated by the National Bureau of Statistics.

At that same forum, OkonjoIweala said Nigeria has "a pool of 5.3 million unemployed graduates that have been accumulating over the years."

Last year, the Federal Government announced it created 1.6 million jobs for Nigerians which sparked controversy over the authenticity of such claim. But these jobs have not stemmed the pushing out of pamphlets by so-called agencies advertising jobs.

"I see people sharing all these papers advertising jobs every time," said Kehinde Adeniji, who works as a computer technician at the Computer Village in Ikeja and on his daily commute walks along the ever-busy Obafemi Awolowo Way. "I used to collect them before but I don't bother again."

In other bustling spots of Lagos such as Mile 2, Oshodi, Obaende, Ketu, Yaba, Agege, and Lagos Island, people, especially young men and women actively distribute flyers of all sorts. But on most working days, most of the flyers being handed out are those advertising jobs and other get-rich quick schemes. Other jobs are commission-based jobs like selling insurance policies or marketing products.

"I think they are fake," said

•Flyers used by job agencies to lure prospective job applicants

Adeniji. "I know how hard it is to get a job where they would be paying even N30, 000 not to talk of some of the salary they write."

These young people who are called 'flyer boys' distribute pamphlets advertising various job vacancies requesting job applicants to text contact information or call some phone numbers for enquiry.

After that, they are invited to write aptitude tests or attend interviews.

From investigations, it was found out that, such test or interview does not really matter as every candidate passes and gets to the next stage. It is at that point the candidates are asked to register for a fee which usually ranges from N500 to N1000 depending on the organisation.

This registration could include reference to companies for job placement or training on how to prepare for aptitude tests and job interviews, depending on the firm.

Some scammers now give their enterprise a form of credibility by placing advertisements in major Nigerian newspapers. It was such advert that prompted Bunmi (not real name), a 2012 Microbiology graduate of University of Benin to apply at a company last July.

Responding to an advert she saw in The Guardian, she went to the firm and was told she needed to write a test and be interviewed and had to pay N500 for that. She recalled being aghast because even the firm, located at Cele Bus Stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway Lagos did not look corporate.

"But, coming all the way from

•Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala

Sango (a border town in Ogun State)," Bunmi said, "I said, 'let me just try it, pay the N500 and see what happens,' although I was reluctant to do that. After a week, I got a message that I should come with N2, 500 for posting and I went."

She was posted to a company, though she said she was not okay with the work.

"They were paying me N35, 000," she said. "It was a 12-hour work and you will be working everyday with overtime on Sundays. And my distance was far. Had it been I was staying in that area, I could have managed."

•IGP, MD Abubakar

She asked for another reposting but did not go back there when she was asked to pay another N2, 500 for that. She said the company also takes 35% of the first salary of successful applicants.

And also in September last year, she registered with another company at Ajao Estate Lagos with N4, 000 which promised to help her secure another job. Unfortunately the job too did not materialise. But Bunmi has learnt a lesson.

"Now, once I go anywhere and they tell me to pay, I will just leave the place."

Breakthrough or what?

It is no news that the country is in dire straits as far as unemployment is concerned.

Unemployment rate which measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force, increased from 21.1% in 2010 to 23.9% in 2011 according to the 2011 Performance Monitoring Report on Government's Ministries, Departments and Agencies which was released last year. As the number of job seekers swell, so also does their hunger, frustration, and

BUSINESS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

for sale

desperation. To add to their dilemma, some of them are falling prey to exploitation by some employment agencies.

On a visit to Esther Breakthrough located at Ojuelegba in Lagos, the proprietor, Mr. Sunday Okon offered a different story. Okon said he set up the firm in 1998 to help people get jobs and he has been successful at it.

"There are jobs everywhere," Okon said. "As I'm here, people are calling me for jobs. The point is that most of the time, the applicants are unemployable."

On the wall as one enters the office is a list of successful applicants Okon said has gotten jobs from his firm. And according to a sheaf of paper he later showed this reporter, in the month of January and February, 49 and 50 people respectively got employment from his outfit.

At Esther Breakthrough, the registration form costs N1, 000 and it is stated that the contract lasts for four months. Also on the form is a portion where the job seekers are asked to sign an undertaking to pay 20% of their first month's salary to the company (Esther Breakthrough).

"Jobs are not our problem in this place," he said. "We have marketers who go from company to company.

We have almost 50 staff."

When the applicants must have registered, they are then posted to various companies for placement.

"The company," Okon however said, "has the right to conduct its own interview."

Okon said those rejected or who don't like their postings are reposted to other companies without paying more. He said at Esther Breakthrough, applicants are also taught how to write CVs, how to dress for interviews.

"The jobs are there but it is difficult for people to see. Like now, there may be a job in that street and somebody passes through here, he does know that if he enters here, he would see something. Not every job must be millions of naira. There are jobs that can take you out of your house. There are jobs that can boost your CV. At least, you have to start somewhere to get job experience.

Everybody wants big money even though they have just finished school today. They go to companies and demand N100, 000 salaries, (without) work experience."

"Government (is) supposed to be assisting us. But there is no help from anywhere. In other countries, if you do something like this, they will come to your aid", he emphasised with a tinge of pride evident in his voice.

Asked if he is aware of the rap his company is taking, Okon said he knows. "You can't please everybody," he said. "The problem is that people that got jobs would not come out and say it."

But in the court of job-seekers, Esther Breakthrough has a tough rap. On the social network forum, www.nairaland.com, discussions are tilted towards the bent that Esther Breakthrough is just a notorious setup defrauding unsuspecting jobseekers.

Unsolicited offers on the prowl Other smart alecs are devising ingenious ways of defrauding job seekers by specifically targeting them.

Imagine getting a call, purportedly from someone you participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme with, offering a vacancy. That was the situation Johnson Igaba was faced with last September.

He had served in Osun State between 2006 and 2007, hence, when he got a text message from someone he thought he served together with, he reacted as if someone was offering him a lifeline. Though later, he said he became worried because, "the text message was from a number and name I was not familiar with. And it was difficult to imagine that somebody I did not know would so favour me like that."

The text read: 'Johnson, hope you're fine. My name is Akor Emmanuel, ur ex-kopa mate @ Osun State, batch B. My state code is OS/ 06B/0795. I work with NIG AGIP OIL COMPY, in Rivers Branch. Ve U gotten a job; if no, cal me 4 urgent information.'

Igaba called back and proving right his suspicion, after sending his CV, he was asked to buy an employment slot supposedly reserved for the community. The price was put at N150, 000. Igaba said he suspects his details were lifted from the Passing Out magazine which contains names, photos, and contacts of all passing out corps members.

Surely, with unemployment rates in double digits, it doesn't take rocket science to postulate that the bulk of these corps remain jobless a long while after the mandatory oneyear national service.

The internet has also allowed this scam to fester. A lot of people pose being who they are not, announcing jobs too. Even the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide also

said she has been a victim.

"On facebook, there are about four accounts bearing the name Ngozi Braide with my picture," she said. "I have equally done a press release to alert the public. They might also tell people, 'I would assist you get into the Force."

While there abound genuine recruitment agencies, from investigations, it was discovered that some bogus agencies exist just to prey on the desperation and gullibility of the prospective applicants. However, despite the plethora of applicants that claim to have been 'duped', Braide said, "personally, I have not received any complaints but I'm not saying we don't have such things. You know, scammers use all sorts of methods to deceive people."

Okon corroborates this. "There are some people that have left us," he said. "And when they leave, they know how we run the business but they are just interested in the money and have no jobs to offer."

Braide, however, urged aggrieved applicants to contact the police if they have been swindled.

"I know there are certain agencies that assist people in securing jobs but I don't know how authentic some of these agencies are," she said. "And if you're saying they take certain amount of fees, I know you don't offer such services free of charge. But it is always necessary for these job seekers to always get the police involved in anything they are doing."

Investigation by The Nation further revealed that some of these unscrupulous job agencies also purport to recruit for multinational oil companies and equally scam unsuspecting applicants.

Perhaps, it is to guide against the activities of these fraudsters that has compelled some corporate organisations like Shell, Mobil, Chevron, to place on their websites disclaimers that they do not collect money from job applicants contrary to claims by those out to scam unsuspecting victims.

Recently, when the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) conducted a recruitment exercise, over 19 applicants died, out of which over 700, 000 applicants had paid N1, 000 each for the application forms.

But Dr. Austin Nweze, a lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, said that the scamming of job seekers is not new. He recalls being duped in his search for a job in 1980 in Lagos when he had just finished secondary school.

He advised that all firms involved in recruitment should be registered and "if they breach the industry rules and regulations, they should be penalised."

According to Nweze, those scam employment agencies "take advantage of the poverty situation of the country. And Nigerians are gullible because they need jobs."

He blamed companies that give out recruitment to such firms. He also said, "at times, these firms just make up some things (jobs) and ask people to contribute money for form."

"The Ministry of Labour should be able to work with associations like Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to advice their members not to give recruiting jobs to just anybody."

Speaking further, Nweze said, the onus lies on government to monitor the activities of such people. "And those that are looking for people to employ should go through the right channels."

But while getting a job in Nigeria is tough, it is definitely beneficial for job seekers to also follow the timetested law maxim of Caveat Emptor (Buyers beware).

59

Minister appeals to SURE-P to increase funding of East-West road

M

R Darius Ishaku, the Supervising Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, over the weekend appealed to the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) to increase funding for the East-West road.

Ishaku made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Chairman of SURE-P, Retired General Martin Agwai in Abuja.

The minister was there to brief the chairman on the progress made on the East-West road project.

He said that the intervention by SURE-P in 2013 had contributed immensely toward the realisation of the project.

He said that the provision of N30 billion for the project in the 2014 budget of the ministry was inadequate.

He pointed out that if more money was not made available, the target date would not be realisable.

He further emphasised the urgent need to complete the 15-kilometer Port-Harcourt-Onne portion of the road to reduce traffic holdup in the city. ``I can assure that the work will continue and also be concluded once the funding issue is addressed," he said.

Ishaku highlighted the economic importance of the road to the nation and urged the management of SURE-P to consider an increase in the budgetary provisions it made for the road project in 2014.

Responding, Agwai said the committee was mandated by the president to accelerate Nigeria's economic transformation through investment in critical infrastructure to achieve Vision 20:20 20 of the Federal Government.

He applauded the minister for the positive impact he made recently in the Niger Delta region.

He said, ``SURE-P has new projects to undertake in the 2014 budget in spite of competing demands on its lean resources,'' he said.

He, however, emphasised that new strategies would be evolved in close collaboration with the ministry in completion of the project, which links diverse communities in the Niger Delta region.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the supervising minister had earlier said that the East-West Road project is 70 per cent completed.

Ishaku said that in spite of the budgetary provision and funds from African Development Bank (AfDB), a gap of N30 billion still existed.

He said that the Federal Government had committed the sum of N248 billion as at March.

He, however, added that the ministry had obtained a 300 million dollars loan from AfDB, adding that about 50 per-cent of this loan was released and committed to the 2013 financial year.

He further stressed that the total contract sum for the East West road was put at N349. 87billion and a total of N248 billion had so far been paid for the work done.

Easter: Banks record low turnout of customers

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Joe Agbro Jr with agency report

T

HE banking sub-sector witnessed a lull in activities in most in parts of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as workers and residents prepared for the Easter celebrations.

Investigation by The Nation revealed that whereas activities which peaked last Wednesday, during which many customers surged top the banks to withdraw in time for the Easter feast, there was however, a low turnout in subsequent days, especially Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who went round banks in the FCT, observed that in spite of the Easter festivities coming up at the weekend, most banks did not have the usual crowd associated with festivities.

Some of the banks visited were First Bank of Nig. Plc, Zenith Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), United Bank for Africa(UBA), Stanbic IBTC Bank and Ecobank.

Among all the banks visited, it was observed that First Bank had the highest number of customers of over 70.

Mr Tunde Adebayo, a customer at the First bank expressed surprise at the low turnout of customers at the bank, saying this was unusual, especially before a festive period. ``Although there are many people on the queue, I am sure to be out of the bank soon. I was expecting to see more people than what I saw today. `` I just got my salary alert and want to collect some money that I will use to celebrate Easter with my family,'' Adebayo said.

Another customer, Miss Agnes Imeh complained that the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) had poor network thereby causing delays in withdrawals. `` Whenever there is festivity, the First bank ATMs are always experiencing poor network and this usually makes customers to be on long queues for a long time. `` I wish they will find a permanent solution to this network situation because it can be very annoying when you have to stand for so long just to get small money,'' Imeh said.

M r Chinedu Ugochukwu, a customer at GTB told NAN that he was at the bank to send money to his relatives in the village because he would not be travelling for the Easter.

He also expressed surprise at the low turnout, saying this was unlike previous festive periods when the bank was usually filled to the brim. `` I want to send some money to some of my relatives in the village. I am so happy that the crowd is not much today as it used to be during other holidays. `` The security situation in our country has become something else and we no longer know the safest place anymore. `` It is better for me and my family to remain in our house and celebrate the Easter instead of being on the road at this period,'' Ugochukwu said.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

BUSINESS

Open defecation: Lagos FG has not sold PHCN non- imposes fine, imprisonment core assets, says NELCOM ...says PHCN still stands legally T T

By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie

HE Federal Government is yet to sell of the non- core assets of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), according to the Managing Director, Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELCOM), Mr. Sam Agbogun.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, he noted that the company would comply with due process to dispose of the assets when the time comes.

His words: "As I speak to you and with particular

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

reference to non-core assets, NELMCO has not commenced any disposal of them. When the non-core assets are to be disposed, NELMCO will have to follow due process through the board that assures accountability and transparency of the process with the proceeds applied to the settlement of the

liabilities."

Agbogun maintained that PHCN still legally stands as a company, insisting that the organization has not been liquidated.

He said that "NELMCO is faced with serious challenges.

The first one is a psychological one, which is the delayed liquidation of PHCN. As you all know today, PHCN still stands legally as a company.

But PHCN has got its assets transferred to NELMCO and the other 18 successor companies, which have been privatized. But because PHCN still having some skeletal staff, it is still casting a shadow on the activities on NELMCO." Agbogun added that what NELMCO has done is to sell scrap and obsolete items comprising of discussed and decommissioned abandoned old power stations which PHCN has valued, sought and obtained the approval for sale as scrap.

HE Lagos state government has read the riot act against unscrupulous individuals who openly defecate in public places, saying stiffer penalties including fines and imprisonment awaits any culprit.

The First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Abimbola Emmanuella Fashola gave this warning recently during a oneday advocacy and sensitisation campaign /stakeholders meeting tagged: "The eradication of open defecation and urination in the state: Public toilets in focus."

Dame Fashola who said the state government would no longer tolerate public defecation and urination, noted that it is not only unhealthy but also harmful to the health of residents as they are easy ways to diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

She noted the efforts of government in the past in checking the menace through programmes and policies such as the construction of public toilets and the introduction of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigade to deter environmental abuse but regretted that rather than serve its purpose the public toilets have been converted to dwelling places or shops by miscreants. She urged market women, artisans and the general public to be mindful of the negative impact of their behavior on the health of the greater majority of the people.

Earlier the State Environment Commissioner Mr. Tunji Bello said government is poised to discourage the unwholesome acts of open defecation and enlist the support of well -meaning Lagosians to actualise the vision of making Lagos a cleaner, healthier and environmentally friendly haven.

A consultant with Konsadem Associates Limited, Mr. Soji Adeyemi an engineer canvassed standards for public toilets in the state especially in the markets, petrol stations and motor parks. He regretted that with a population of 21 million people the state can only boast of 578 public toilets.

Delta economy will strive on tourism

A •From left: Mayowa Okuyiga, Senior Executive Officer, Legal Department, Lagos State Lottery Board, Stephen Uwazota, Marketing Manager, Mouka Limited, Omoye Enyi, Bedding Centre Manager and Oluwatooni Odewole, Brand Manager during the raffle draw of "Mouka Sleep Like A Millionaire" Promo held in Lagos…recently.

PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

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HE International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has called for more financial assistance to rural farmers.

The agency also expressed optimism that the Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN) would achieve its objectives of reaching out to rural people.

Its Country Officer Programme, Dr Ben Odoemena expressed this view on the sidelines of the just concluded 8th Supervision Mission of the programme in Abuja.

He said: "RUFIN is doing well; in some communities it has done so well and in some other communities there are rooms for improvement.

"Basically RUFIN is on ground, we have seen a lot of

IFAD calls for more rural financing From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

savings and loans groups that are mobilizing finance among themselves and keeping good records, helping one another and also leveraging finance from the banks.

"RUFIN is on ground and there is a lot of confidence that RUFIN would achieve its objectives," he stressed.

Odoemena described IFAD is a result oriented institution, saying that its programmes were designed to achieve specific results.

He said IFAD had

identified financial gaps in rural areas as farmers suffer to get farm inputs, noting that it was difficult to obtain credit from regular commercial banks.

The country officer said the programme was designed to fill the financial gap in the rural areas to help farmers' access credit among themselves.

Odoemena noted that there was a lot of money in rural areas that were not being put into productive use.

He added that the essence of RUFIN was to mobiliSe financial resources internally among the rural groups of

people and also use that as medium to access credit from financial institution.

Odoemana however, lamented that none of the participating states were up to date in the payment of counterpart fund, saying that it was affecting the level of performance of the programme in the field.

He said that the counterpart fund was designed so that there would be ownership of the programme by the government and also by the communities.

Nobel laureates for Covenant University conference

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RRANGEMENTS are in top gear to host Covenant University, Ota's first international conference scheduled for Monday, May 5th-Tuesday, May 6th, 2014.

Among those expected at the conference are Professor Thomas Sergent of New York University and Professor Eric Maskin of Harvard University.

These world class economists will bring to bear development issues, a wealth of empirical research, publications, and guidance to policy makers on economic and social

variables which are important to growth and will help to sustain development.

Professor Sergent and Professor Maskin who are 2011 and 2007 Nobel laureates in Economics respectively will also speak on African development issues.

In an interview with The Nation, the facilitator and organiser of the conference, Professor John Ifediora of the University of Wisconsin, USA, said the conference would be particularly relevant to policy makers at all levels of government, development experts, economists, business,

corporate leaders and academics.

Justifying the need for the conference, he said: "I contend that social institutions matter and the economic development is path dependent. The path taken so far by African states in their quest for sustained development, while different to a large extent from those embarked upon by other resources-rich countries such as Iran, Algeria, Indonesia, and Venezuela ultimately led in many instances to the same destination.”

Other internationally recognised experts who will

provide further practical insights and depth on the issue include: Professor Jonathan Leape of the London School of Economics, a two-time Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, Acting governor of Central Bank, Dr. Sarah Alade, DirectorGeneral, Budget Office, Dr. Bright Okogu, Professor Machinko Nissanke of the University of London, Professor Ademola Oyejide of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kenneth Adeyemi of Covenant University, Dr Jonathan Aremu of ECOWAS and Professor Olu Ajakaiye.

BUSINESSMAN, Tony Prest, has described the tourism sector in Delta State as one of the core business potentials that will boost the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

Addressing reporters in Lagos, he said tourism will lead to a redistribution of wealth, ensuring the inflow of money from different parts of the world to areas that are neglected in the state.

He said: "Proper investment in tourism would bring income into a community that would otherwise not be earned.

Economic benefits resulting from tourism can take a number of forms including jobs."

He stressed that thousands of people in the labour market would be gainfully employed and will reduced the disproportionate movement of people from the rural areas to the urban settlement.

Prest said it is uneconomical to over-emphasise revenue based on the oil sector alone, adding that other sectors of the economy are money-spinners and should be tapped into.

He remarked that it was time government looks at the possibility of tapping into landmark monuments that abound in the state by creating the enabling environment that will pave way for local and foreign investors' entrepreneurship.

"Delta State has the capacity to redistribute the wealth in various communities yet it has not been tapped into. This is the direction we should be looking at, we should get the people involved and encourage these who have the money to plough them into tourism," he stressed.

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Adewakun joins Vitafoam's board

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ITAFOAM Nigeria Plc has announced the appointment of Mrs. Adeola Adewakun as a non-Executive Director of the company.

Her appointment to the board was unanimously confirmed by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held recently in Lagos.

According to the Chairman of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Dr. Dele Makanjuola, Mrs. Adeola Adewakun brings to the board, the dynamism of youth, a wealth of experience in manufacturing and an uncommon organisational ability from which hopefully the company will benefit tremendously.

Mrs. Adeola Adewakun holds a Masters of Pharmacy Degree from the

•Adewakun University of Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom. She is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the General Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain. A United Kingdom registered pharmacist.

Mrs. Adewakun has held various management positions in different Pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

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OR so long, the issue of epileptic electricity supply has been a source of concern for many. A number businesses and manufacturers have suffered setbacks because they do not have power to meet their demands. Many therefore make use of generators but this makes the cost of production very high.

Thankfully, people are beginning to see the need to explore other alternative sources of energy-renewable energy.

This was the crux of a discussion at a public forum recently.

The forum tagged: 'The renewable energy option for entrepreneurs and stakeholders', drew participants from far and near.

Incidentally, Dr. John Isemede, Director General, Nigeria Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), who is one of those promoting the need for renewable energy was a facilitator at the forum.

To the NACCIMA boss, there is a need for a fundamental shift in the way energy is consumed and generated in the country.

The scale of the challenge requires a complete transformation of the way we produce, consume and distribute energy, while maintaining economic growth, he stressed.

"Today, we are talking of biomass renewable energy and people are using it in other parts of the world, they are using wave tied to electricity", informs Isemede.

He goes on to inform that with the trend around the world, it is not only hydropower that can be used to generate electricity. "People use wind, solar and other sources.

With globalisation, there is no home advantage in Nigeria as industrialists believe that the major part of production cost is taken by energy cost apart from the cost of borrowing, distribution and marketing. We all know that what determines success in business is the cost of production but we do not have that here."

He adds; "Why is it that the products produced 16,000 kms away in Asia is cheaper? Countries need to plan in the area of their specialisation. We started cocoa export in 1910 yet we cannot process cocoa. It is not that we do not have capacity but we do not have the power. It is cheaper to produce this in other parts of the world. It is sad that we export what we need and import what we have."

Sadly, he continues: "We export cocoa pods to bring in chocolate. So we create jobs for other people while our children are unemployed. I went to Netherlands and saw that the biggest cocoa plant is there.

There is no cocoa house and no cocoa farm yet they are doing all this. So there is a big challenge. In the past, the price of cocoa was good and proceeds were used to build the Cocoa House. Today, the price of cocoa cannot build the foundation of the Cocoa House. Why are we still importing foods? We do not have energy to process the food produced and even if we have the energy, things are not put in place properly. We have to go back to agriculture because it would give us food; it would give us jobs as well as give us sources of alternative energy."

Isemede said countries around the world would not consider the issue of power as a problem, adding that South Africa, for instance, was generating 48,000mw and also supply-

BUSINESS

'Renewable energy solution to Nigeria's energy crisis'

Complaint: A disguised gift

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•Isemede

By Yetunde Oladeinde

•Akinkuotu ing Namibia with energy.

He adds that what the country currently generates could not take care of industries in Lagos State alone and stressed the need to look inwards for alternative sources of energy.

Buttressing the fact that alternative source energy was safer and cheaper, he said: "Life expectancy in China is the highest in the world now. But today what we are talking about is between 50 to 52 years. A young lady came around and was talking about noise pollution but I told her that she was a smoker and she was surprised. I told her that she was a secondary smoker because a person in a block of flats with eight generators is a secondary smoker."

Agriculture, he also stressed, would lead the nation to the proverbial Promised Land. "We have to move agriculture from sustainable agriculture or subsistence farming to value chain agriculture. Those who have been to Kenya know that if you do not have a farm or a house nobody would give you a wife.

How are you going to feed her?

If you are working in Nairobi and you get your salary, part of it goes to NAGOGO and to your farm. But today all our emphasis in this country is on oil and the electricity that we are talking about, we are generating just 4000 megawatts, which is not enough for Lagos Island alone."

Getting the best, he stressed, can happen when there is a total transformation in terms of resources and personnel. "How can you transform a nation with-

out transforming the people?

Things are changing in Europe.

We are talking about cashless economy and we are talking about a N5,000 bill. There is confusion somewhere. The Transformation Agenda is about Public Private Partnership. Government cannot do it alone. There is nowhere in the world where government has full control of the people and the economy."

Isemede goes on to talk about energy and the perceptions of the average Nigerian on the subject. "To an average man, energy is electricity. The technology of the energy we are talking about is not the old technology.

As a young man we were using the phone on the table we dialed and from there some of us were going to NITEL with International Direct Dialing (IDD) and from there we moved to the different level of wireless. We should not confuse ourselves with the technology of electricity and that of mobile phones.

For instance, there are no wires connecting this wireless system to the main switch, the pole and transformer to the power from Kainji. That is why technology is complicated."

To make the required changes, Isemede advised that students and the young ones need to be carried along effectively. "One thing I used to say is that students have been left behind in most of our actions and calculations. As a young undergraduate, the Central Bank of Nigeria was our lecture hall and we go there on a regular basis for statistics. We also went to the World Bank office for records.

Most of the things we do now,

we do not think that our children and those yet unborn should be carried along. " Technologies, Isemede added, are changing and the entity called Nigeria needs to change with time. "Kainji was commissioned in 1959 and my father took me there as a baby and I was able to see things.

Three years later, I was taken to Akosombo in Ghana. Today, what legacies are we leaving for our children? How are we building the capacity of our children", he asked rhetorically.

Isemede continues: "The essence of going to school is not to Google but to learn and carry out research. In our days in the university, we used to carry three suitcases, two for our books and one for wears. But today the difference is the case.

Then if you had a mere pass, a lot of multinationals would be able to build on that."

But sadly, he says, this is not so any more. "Now first class degrees have become a generic product that they do not even have management trainee programmes for anybody. All you have today is come and take a job and we give you a target.

That is where we are today."

Prior to joining NACCIMA , Isemede was an international marketing professional who had worked with Unilever International as the Export/Head of New Market development , Promasidor , Federal Ministry of agriculture , the United nations and Dangote where he was Group Head, Exports and International Business Development Manager, West Africa.

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HE growing trend with most structured organisation maintaining a customer interaction centre is no longer news. Organisations are now one step closer to their clients as they could be reached via telephone calls, short messaging system and email or physically through officers at designated helpdesks or a more defined system which the call/contact centre affords.

A contact centre is often designed as an open office with partitioned work stations for each agent (officer). These work stations are each adequately equipped with a computer system, telephone and headset, which enables customer service representatives receive inbound calls to attend to inquiries and provide support services to customers or make outbound calls for the purpose of telemarketing or survey and take notes or log in details of each interaction simultaneously.

Companies rely on them as a channel through which requests and enquiries are attended to, complaints resolved and feedback or suggestions from the customers are gathered for the management to review with the aim of improving customer experience and maximising their market share.

Random survey of customers conducted across various industries, has, however, revealed that organisations give the most attention to request and or enquiry, then complaint or feedback. Feedback could be positive when it comes as a compliment or negative when it is an expression of dissatisfaction.

All organisations are in business to make and maximise profit.

As such, one would almost agree with the priority placed on their clients' request. This is because a processed request would immediately mean more sales and probably increased customer base.

When positive feedback is directed at the quality of service received, it often stops at the table of the recipient. Where it is directed at a product or service offered by the organisation, the messages are carefully archived for the purpose of product campaigns or advertisements.

However, when the news is unpleasant, it is instinctive for anyone and an organisation as an entity to become defensive, refuting claims and maintaining the stand that the fault is not theirs. Colleagues who believe they are looking out for each other on the job try not to allow such allegations go beyond them because they assume a colleague's job may be on the line if it is escalated, especially where the complaint is about poor service.

To the customer, a complaint is either an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction, pain, displeasure or annoyance about service received or product purchased. An organisation is expected to embrace such feedback as a GIFT. It is a mechanism that can help organisations rapidly and inexpensively shift products, style of service market focus to meet the needs of the customers. After all, customers pay the bills and they are the reason why firms are in business.

No customer walks into your business, gives you money and then says, "Dissatisfy me, please." Aim for 100% customer satisfaction. Where you fall short, all hands are supposed to be on deck to restore and strengthen the relationship.Customers don't expect you to be perfect but they do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. Even your most loyal customers always have a choice about where to take their businesses.

What to do?

Successfully utilising customer feedback is a must for any business looking to navigate the treacherous storm of today's business world.

It is expected that companies run policies that encourage receipt of complaint, periodic inspection of suggestion/complaint boxes with the information there is received with an open mind. This comes with anonymity which allows the complainant express him or herself just as they feel without reservations. As much as customers come across these boxes regularly in stores, banking halls, hospitals, schools, restaurants and in most places where they tender their funds in return for goods and services, only very few out of the dissatisfied ones actually make use of this channel.

Studies have revealed that many dissatisfied customers would rather walk away than share their experiences with the organisation especially when they are not asked.

Organisations should therefore ensure that for every feedback received, the firm acknowledges receipt of the information and appreciates the customer with an assurance that effort would be channeled at resolving it. The call/contact centre is required to maintain an updated CRM (customer relationship management software) which contains details of all customers and allows for a detailed grouping and logging of all interactions with the based on the product type or type of service. With ease, the firm would be able to decipher which complaint has the highest frequency and from what group of customers it is emanating from. An objective investigation into the source of complaint is usually required to be able to substantiate the claims.

Keep the customer abreast of development as they unfold during investigation because they deserve to know and it also creates an impression that you are keeping your promise and they have not been forgotten. Upon completion of the investigation and a decision has been reached on the resolution, endeavour to communicate this to the client giving an idea of the time required for absolute resolution. Better to under promise and deliver than over promise and under deliver.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

BUSINESS

U.S. warns money managers of more F Russia sanctions

Total discovers oil in coast of Cote d’Ivoire

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HE Obama administration told asset managers last week that it was planning additional sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

Officials from the Treasury Department and the National Security Council met in Washington with mutual-fund and hedgefund managers, according to a person who attended. Their comments sent a message that more sanctions are on the way and that investors, if they were concerned about the impact, should manage that risk, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions weren’t public.

The meeting, convened a week before talks with Russia in Geneva that ended yesterday, left managers grappling with the question of whether the government intended to follow through, or was trying to trigger asset sales through the threat of sanctions, said the person.

Former administration officials have said forcing Russia out of global financial markets is the strongest tool President Barack Obama has at his disposal in trying to defuse the crisis between Russia and

Ukraine.

“A lot of firms on the buy side have cut their exposure to Russia,” Jack Deino, the head of emerging-market debt at Atlanta-based Invesco Ltd., said in an interview, talking about the industry in general.

Staff of the National Security Council, which is the president’s main forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters, has reached out to businesses to provide information on sanctions against Russia, said Laura Lucas Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the council.

“As Russia continues to destabilize Ukraine, we are prepared to sanction additional individuals and entities, and we’ve made clear that we’d be prepared to target certain sectors of the Russian economy if we see a significant escalation including direct Russian military intervention in eastern Ukraine,” she said.

“We are coordinating our actions closely with our partners in Europe and the G7.”

The four-way talks on the crisis in Ukraine ended with an accord, after Russian President Vladimir Putin

said he hopes he won’t have to send in troops. Stocks in Russia and Asia rose. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia, which the U.S. and its European allies accuse of stoking the conflict, must start implementing the deal within days or face additional sanctions.

“If we’re not able to see progress on the immediate efforts, to be able to implement the principles of this agreement this weekend, then we will have no choice but to impose further costs on Russia,” Kerry said at a press conference.

Investors had been selling Russian securities, causing its currency to fall 7.6 percent against the dollar this year. The country’s reaction to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February -- annexing the Crimea region and amassing troops by the Ukraine border -- has increased the perception of risk attached to investing in Russian sovereign debt.

The cost to protect $10 million of debt through the credit default swap market has risen to $248,000 annually for five years from $166,000 at the end of last year,

according to data provider CMA, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc. An administration official warned this week that if the talks fail, the U.S. is ready to take further steps, targeting people in the Russian president’s inner circle and entities they oversee.

Industry-specific sanctions are also an option, according to the official, who spoke about private talks on condition of anonymity.

“The biggest weapon in terms of sanctions would be similar sanctions to what we did in Iran and basically try to exclude Russia from international financial markets,” said William Pomeranz, deputy director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “The Russians fear that, and that is what the Russians want to avoid.”

The meeting in Washington last week included several mutual-fund companies with large bond units, according to the person.

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been asking U.S. asset managers about their investments in Russian securities, said the person.

Culled from www.bloomberg.com

RENCH oil group, Total, has announced the detection of oil in the deep water off the coast of Cote d’Ivoire.

Total’s Senior Vice President, Exploration, Marc Blaizot, made the announcement in a statement made available to newsmen in Abidjan on Friday.

He said that Total’s Sapphire-1XB exploration well on Block CI-514 proved the existence of liquid hydrocarbons in deep water around the San Pedro Area. ``This is the first oil discovery within the San Pedro exploration frontier; we will now evaluate this promising result and focus on the extension of the prospect to the north and the east. ``The data acquired during drilling are being analysed and will be used to determine the area’s potential and in designing the delineation programme,’’ Blaizot said.

The official said that Total would continue intense exploration in the area with the drilling of two additional wells on blocks CI-515 and CI-516 before the end of 2014.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that apart from Block CI-514, Total is also interested in three other ultra-deep water exploration licences such as CI-100, CI-515 and CI-516.

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Toyota plans scion overhaul as youth brand hits adolescence

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OYOTA Motor Corp. (7203)’s Scion line, a U.S. experiment intended to win over young buyers with idiosyncratic designs and low prices, will overhaul its lineup amid fading sales as the brand reaches adolescence.

Beginning in 2015, 12 years after Scion’s establishment as Toyota’s third U.S. brand, the company will introduce the first of three new vehicles, Doug Murtha, vice president of Scion sales, said yesterday in an interview at the New York International Auto Show.

While Scion will continue to offer about five different models, Murtha declined to say which current products will be discontinued.

“Beginning in November in Los Angeles, we’re going to show the first of three new products that will come to market within a 24-month period,” Murtha said. “Beyond that, there are no real specifics on what’s going to sunset and what’s going to stick around.”

Scion sales surged after the nameplate’s introduction across the U.S. in 2003, peaking three years later at 173,034 units.

Deliveries of xB wagons, xD hatchbacks, and tC and FR-S sport coupes shrank to just 68,321 last year. That’s the result of an aging model line and more competitive offerings from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. (F) and Hyundai Motor Co. The xD and xB, introduced in 2007, are among the oldest products in Toyota’s U.S. lineup, and the iQ minicar added in 2012 didn’t replicate the sales success it had in Japan and Europe.

A recent bright spot is the rear-wheel-drive FR-S coupe introduced in 2012 that’s drawn “tuners” and performance-oriented customers to Scion, Murtha said.

Nearly half of Kenyans live in abject poverty - World Bank

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• Television screens showing Russian President Vladimir Putin

Compensation battle rages four years after BP's U.S. oil spill

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OUR years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, oil is still washing up on the long sandy beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and some islanders are fed up with hearing from BP that the crisis is over.

Jules Melancon, the last remaining oyster fisherman on an island dotted with colorful houses on stilts, says he has not found a single oyster alive in his leases in the area since the leak and relies on an onshore oyster nursery to make a living.

He and others in the southern U.S. state say compensation has been paid

unevenly and lawyers have taken big cuts.

The British oil major has paid out billions of dollars in compensation under a settlement experts say is unprecedented in its breadth.

Some claimants are satisfied, but others are irate that BP is now challenging aspects of the settlement. Its portrayal of the aftermath of the well blowout and explosion of its drilling rig has also caused anger.

"They got an advert on TV saying they fixed the Gulf but I've never been fixed," said Melancon, who was compensated by BP, but

deems the sum inadequate.

The oil company has spent over $26 billion on cleaning up, fines and compensation for the disaster, which killed 11 people on the rig and spilled millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days after the blast on April 20, 2010.

That is more than a third of BP's total revenues for 2013, and the company has allowed for the bill to almost double, while fighting to overturn and delay payments of claims it says have no validity, made after it relinquished control over who got paid in a settlement with plaintiff

lawyers in March 2012.

The advertisement that most riled Dean Blanchard, who began what later became the biggest shrimp company in the United States in 1982, was the one first aired by BP on television in late 2011 that said "all beaches and waters are open".(here) At that time almost 50 square miles of water in Louisiana were closed to fishing, according to the state's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Seven fishing areas are still closed, three where Blanchard says he would usually get his seafood.

EARLY half of Kenyans live in abject poverty, a new World Bank report reveals. This is second after Burundi, which has 67 per cent of its population poor, followed by Rwanda at 44.9 per cent. According to the World Development Indicator (WDI) released last week, Uganda has the lowest poverty levels at 24 per cent with Tanzania’s standing at 28 per cent. However, Kenya showed its prowess in generating national income in the region. East Africa’s largest economy created about Sh74 billion ($860 million) as Gross National Income (GNI) in 2012. Rwanda, which has enjoyed a favourable ranking by the World Bank in the ease of doing business emerged as Kenya’s closest rival generating about Sh51 billion (600$ million).

Burundi reported the lowest GNI of Sh20 billion ($240 million), half as that of Uganda with Tanzania registering $30 million shy of Rwanda. Kenya also performed below par compared to its neighbours, with only 55 per cent of the rural population able to access clean and safe water. Burundi leads the pack at 73 per cent.

About 68 per cent of the rural population in Rwanda access water while in Tanzania, 44 per cent are able. As an indication of being the most industrialised nation in the region, Kenya had about 0.3 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions as a percentage of the per capita, the highest in the region. Rwanda and Uganda have their emissions at 0.1 per cent with Tanzania’s standing at 0.2 per cent. Burundi had no emissions, making it the most environment-friendly country to live in. In primary school enrollment, Burundi outsmarted the region registering the highest primary school enrollment, at 137 per cent followed

by Rwanda at 134 per cent.

Kenya emerged third at 112 per cent with Uganda and Tanzania registering 110 and 93 per cent, respectively.

The WDI is a compilation of relevant, quality, and internationally comparable statistics about global development and the fight against poverty. “It intends to help policymakers, students, analysts, professors, program managers, and citizens find and use data related to all aspects of development, including those that help monitor and understand progress toward the two goals of the World Bank Group,” it said.

Some of the global objectives by the bank include ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity targeting to uplift one million people a week from extreme poverty for the next 16 years.

Lagos energy training institute to boost SMEs •Gov. Raji Fashola

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

Etisalat unveils winners of Easybusiness millionaires hunt …Empowers top 10 lucky entrepreneurs with N2m grants, office equipment

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•From left: Brand Manager, Knorr, Unilever Nig. Plc, Miss. Abimbola Ogunsemi, Brand Building Director, Mrs. Nsima OgediAlakwe, winner, Miss. Olakunbi Dixon, being presented her prize and General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Services, Coscharis Group, Mr. Abiona Babarinde during the Knorr Taste Grand Finale held at the Royal Roots Studio, Ikeja, Lagos...recently.

PHOTO: ISAAC AYODELE JIMOH

The African start-up - a new approach to funding SMEs development

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HE story of Olumide Olusanya, as revealed on 'The African StartUp', will make you want to become an entrepreneur, despite the daunting and frustrating challenges. But, Olumide was also confronted by the challenges.

A medical doctor, who founded the first online Nigerian grocery store, Gloo.ng also encountered and suffered vast and varied challenges which impedes, hinders and sometimes nullify the fulfilment of the dream of many entrepreneurs.

In Africa, the challenges range from lack of infrastructure, funding and access to market, as well as low capacity. In addition to these is the unstable political climate and war like situations in many African countries, which makes it difficult to even live not to talk of starting a business.

Olumide did not allow these difficulties to frustrate his vision, he rather overcame them. The same goes for Bankole Cardoso, founder of Eazy Taxi, Fomba Trawally a Liberian businessman who started his career as a street vendor and just recently opened Liberia's first paper and toiletry product manufacturing company.

African countries need more of these individuals who can defy the frustrating difficulties of turning ideas into goods and services via the vehicle of entrepreneurship. They are

needed to address the problem of youth unemployment across the country.

They are needed to boost productivity to enhance national growth and development. Small and Medium Enterprises are critical to the development of every economy. They are the ones that produce most of the goods and services that are either consumed by individuals or serve as raw materials by big companies. We can't do without them.

Thus African countries must devise ways to produce more successful entrepreneurs. One of the ways of doing this is to inspire aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with the story of Olumide and Fomba. That is what First Bank of Nigeria, in Partnership with Cable News Network (CNN) International hopes to achieve with, The African Start-Ups, a 30-minute documentary which follows entrepreneurs across African countries to see how they are working to make their dreams become reality.

In addition to Olumide, Cadoso and Fomba, the programme has featured start-ups like Isaac Oboh who started Media 256 a raising film and production company in Kampala, Uganda as well as a new digital store where Nigerians can access local music called MyMusic.com.ng founded by Tola Ogunsola, Damola Taiwo and Dolapo Taiwo.

The programme, which is funded exclusively by First Bank, explores how ideas are

generated, formulation of business plans, and access to capital and product development amongst other things.

The African Start-Up offers viewers the opportunities to see entrepreurship in a more detail view with each show dedicated to an entrepreneur taking viewers through daily challenges, where the rules are not defined, the setbacks are frustrating and the opportunities are for those with vision and creativity. Each segment is aimed to inspire the viewers as they witness these determined individuals defying the odds.

Beyond the inspirational impact on viewers, The African StartUp, represents a new vista in the quest to boost SME development in Nigeria and in Africa.

SME operators need many things, but they also need inspiration, the encouragement that comes from knowing that the challenges they face are surmountable, and have been surmounted by somebody.

This is rarely acknowledged in many funding support for SMEs. FirstBank has not only acknowledged this critical need it has also make it an important ingredient of its model of helping SMEs across Nigeria.

"African Start-Up" is a firm commitment of our drive to sustain the development of SME's in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. "We are proud to sponsor 'African Start-Up' on CNN International", said Folake Ani-Mumuney,

FirstBank's spokesperson and Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, "SMEs play a critical role as the engine of growth in the economy, providing employment to thousands of people and contributing significantly to GDP. This segment is a critical platform for repositioning the national economy for sustained growth, and one which aligns with FirstBank's position as the No.1 SME Bank in Nigeria.

"Having supported SME's in Nigeria for over a century with first class products and services, CNN's African Start-Up aligns with our commitment to drive and sustain the growth of SME's in Nigeria", she said.

"We're delighted that FirstBank has chosen to connect with CNN's global audience of key business decision makers and opinion leaders around the world via 'African Start-Up", commended Celine DeCarlo, Account Director CNN International Ad Sales.

FirstBank's funding of the programme is part of deliberate strategy developed to support the growth of SMEs. The strategy is driven by a focus on helping SMEs develop capacity needed to achieve their goals. This is reflected in the maiden edition of its SME Conference titled "SMEConnect" one of its SME's value propositions to focus on empowering small and medium enterprises and SME entrepreneurs.

• Culled from: http:// sme.firstbanknigeria.com

HE 2013 edition of the Etisalat Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt initiative came to a riveting climax last weekend when the top ten winners were announced at a grand event at The Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The 10 entrepreneurs adjudged to have exceptional business ideas won N2 million each to help them actualise their plans as well a six month mentorship from the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University to guide them in the course of business.

The lucky winners are Bosede Olanihun, Oluwayomi Ojo, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, Idongesit Umoh, Muhammad Salisu Abdullahi, Nwachinemere Emeka, Eberenna Nwanjoku, Opeyemi Ajayi, Joseph Eze, and Adesuwa Ojumola.

The Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt which was a demonstration of Etisalat's passion for the nucleus of economies, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector called for entries of business ideas from entrepreneurs and received responses from 761 businesses. The contestants were pruned down by professional assessment to 250 and then to 50 who got five-day training at the EDC, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos and office equipment, following which 10 ultimate winners emerged.

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher, highlighted Etisalat's passion for SMEs and the reason the company remains committed to the long-term development of growing businesses in Nigeria.

"Etisalat remains committed to investments in small and growing businesses in Nigeria because the country has a lot of young people joining the workforce every year and we at Etisalat believe that by helping to empower SMEs, the generation of more job opportunities can easily be achieved. It is important to us at Etisalat that we do a good job but more than that, we aspire to see our customers do a good job while using our services as well. We aim to help these companies grow just like we have grown over the last five years," he said.

Contributing, Director, Business Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada, explained the inspiration behind the Etisalat Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt and why Etisalat remains committed to small and medium enterprise companies.

"The major idea behind the Etisalat Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt is to inspire and empower small business owners and help them grow. Etisalat is aware that though every business starts small, there is always the potential of becoming big. Now in its fifth year of operations in Nigeria, Etisalat has grown exponentially. In the same vein, Etisalat is determined to see that small and growing businesses with viable business ideas get a chance to blossom," he said.

IITA lauds success of 'Agripreneur' programme

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HE International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, has expressed satisfaction with the success recorded by a programme it introduced, aimed at encouraging youths to embrace agriculture.

This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Godwin Atser, Information Officer of the institute, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria over the weekend in Abuja.

It said that the institute established the programme, called Agripreneurs' in 2012, as a platform to be used to change the minds of youths towards agricultural development.

The statement quoted Dr Nteranya Sanginga, the Director-General of the institute, as saying that there were opportunities for youths to start small businesses in seed production, input supply, and weed control and processing of agricultural products. ``The Youth Agripreneurs project is the first of its kind in the institute that engages young people from various educational disciplines, transforming them through mentoring and training. ``The project has so far been successful and we need to scale it up to other parts of the country,'' it said.

The statement noted that youths could be encouraged to engage in farming, by introducing them to modern methods and equipment for increased yields and income.

It called on government at all levels, to harness the potentials in the agriculture sector to ensure job and wealth creation in the country.

It said that this could be made possible by using Agripreneur as a model in attracting youths to the sector.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

66 BUSINESS

CIBN seeks inclusion of entrepreneurship study in tertiary institutions

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HE Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), over the weekend said that entrepreneurship study in tertiary institutions would leverage the nation's employment profile.

CIBN Executive Secretary, Dr Uju Ogubunka, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the economic challenges made it imperative for universities to

make entrepreneurship study compulsory for all final year students.

NAN recalls that the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi OkonjoIwala, said recently that about 1.8 million graduates get into the labour market yearly.

According to Ogbunka, conscious effort on the part government to challenge graduates on the available

business potential remains a potent vehicle in managing national unemployment rate.

He also suggested an overhaul of the prevailing fiscal policy toward the provision of tax holidays for entrepreneurs. ``Five years tax holidays should be provided as incentives for them. ``The tax holidays will reduce some of the challenges that they have to contend with,''

he said.

The other suggestions include waivers for entrepreneurs in the manufacturing sector and the provision of subsidised agricultural and research inputs. ``Young people should take the opportunity of the modern research development made by research institutions, especially in agriculture," he said.

•From left: Mr. Abimbola Okoya, Managing Director, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), Mr. Freddy Messanvi, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Director and Mr. Sola Dosunmu, Area Head of Regulatory Affairs, at the 2014 British American Tobacco Iseyin Agronomy (BATIA) farmers' productivity award ceremony held in Iseyin, Oyo‌recently

Lagos energy training institute to boost SMEs

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HE Lagos State Government is to establish an energy training institute to supply the manpower needs of the developing power sector especially for small businesses.

The Commissioner for Energy Resources, Mr Taofeek Tijani, announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Lagos. ``We are establishing this energy institute, basically to bridge the gap available for increase in opportunities in the emerging power sector. ``Really, as the sector is developing, we are having skills gap. ``So many workers of the defunct PHCN are ageing and are now going out, and that is creating a deficiency. ``We need to bring in young people to the sector; we need to train them and give them all the skills.''

He said that the state government saw an opportunity in all these, hence the plan to set up the institute.

Tijani said the privitisation of the power sector would open an avalanche of opportunities that could only be maximised by skilled personnel.

He said that the institute would produce a new generation of power professionals to fully tap the anticipated opportunities in the developing sector.

The commissioner said the institute, to be sited in Ikeja, would attract young graduates with science background who would be trained on the workings of the sector.

He added that the state government would partner some corporate organisations with interest in the sector to fund some of the institute's programmes, adding that government was yet to decide on its take-off date.

Tijani, however, assured that government was doing its best to make the project a reality as soon as possible.

He noted that the state government believed firmly in the emerging power sector and would support investors in the sector.

He added that the government established three independent power plants in Alausa, Adiyan and Lagos Island as part of its effort to improve power supply in the state.

Tijani said the state planned a 8.8 megawatts power plant in Mainland and another six megawatts plant in Lekki to further boost power supply. ``We have about three IPPs that are operational now. ``Two more are coming on board; one at Mainland that will service the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and some of the old GRA infrastructure. ``Another one in Lekki will take care of institutions in Lekki, the water schemes and those in Victoria Island, as well as street lights in those areas. ``Both IPPs will deliver about 14.8 megawatts, and we are sure the delivery of these projects will further improve supply,'' he said.

Tijani said the government was aware of the power challenges faced by businesses in the state and was working with power investors to address them.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

‘I don’t envy any minister or feel pressure at all’

The General Overseer of The Stone Church Ibadan, Pastor Alex Adegboye, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on recent strides in the church as well as challenges in the ministry. Excerpts:

O

NE sees so many infrastructural developments coming to the church’s environment. It seems the architect in you is finally paying off for the church?

Maybe but it is always there. Our new auditorium, The Word Alive International Convention centre, was commissioned last year to commemorate our 20th anniversary. I wanted us to have a structure that would the hub of our activities. We have come of age in 20 years and we needed to have some infrastructure in place.

We also developed our youth church called the Ark because we have so many young people. The Lord said we should reach out to senior teens from 19-22 in Mokola where we are based.

We gave them a pastor. We also have the junior church for children; so, we have three churches in one in the last one and half years. We also have the satellite church where we interpret in Yoruba and English.

How were you able to secure the property for such expansion in the heart of Ibadan?

I think it is just God. We came here in 1995 and so many people said we would have to relocate because of space constraints and I was looking forward to that.

Then, about three years ago, it occurred to me that we should solve our parking problems. We have been parking on the main roads and everywhere on Sundays. Once or twice, they have stolen our cars. During conventions, we used to utilise a space opposite us and

•Adegboyega

NEWS

G

Lord’s Chosen’s retreat ends

OD’S covenant of peace and blessing is the theme of the annual Easter programme of The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries Lagos, which ends today.

It holds at the The Chosen Revival Ground, Along Oshodi-Apapa Ex-

E

pressway, by Ijesha, Bus Stop.

The General Overseer of the church, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, said the annual convocation is aimed at “emphasising the significance of Easter, which symbolises the victory of Jesus over death and which by exten-

sion is the victory over hopelessness and anarchy.”

At the retreat, Muoka assured that “the Holy Spirit will deal with all the challenges of humanity and consequently evoke the covenant of peace and blessing mankind had with God upon the participants.”

Easter explosion kicks off

ASTER explosion organised

by New Covenant Gospel Church (The Excellent Church), Fadeyi, Lagos

begins today.

The two-day service has as its theme undeniable proofs.

The host, Rev. Sylvester

Eghianruwa, said the service will feature anointing and communion sessions.

The guest speaker is Bishop Sunny Ikiedemhen.

I thought why don’t we have a long lease? We got it and said we wanted to buy off.

The women said her father asked none of them to sell.

So, she gave us a long lease for 15 years. Further down, where the convention centre is, was owned by Chief Bisi Rodipe. He was ready to sell and asked for some millions in six months.

Somehow, God saw us through that outright sale.

So, that is how we were able to take over the whole place and stretch. God has just been grateful to us. I was planning to move out because we constituted a nuisance here. We were in Bodija when we started but ran into troubles because of parking space. The elites there gave us hell and we moved to Mokola. I thought we would move out but realised we don’t have to go after all.

Why are you and most of your pastors not on full time?

I think it has to do with how I developed in ministry. I was a deacon in a Baptist church and was teaching Bible Study in the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship. We filled up the banquet hall of the Premier Hotel in those days and God blessed the work. That went on for three years. So, I didn’t start out thinking that I had to be a full time pastor to be effective. It was easy for me to do the work because I wasn’t looking for the offering to survive.

So, when I started the church, I carried the same mentality there. In Full Gospel Fellowship, we were using our money to fund the operations and it was effective. Most of the preachers in Ibadan today came through the fellowship.

When I found out that I didn’t have to resign to work for God, I was thrilled. When God spoke to me about starting the church, I didn’t think he meant I should stop working. I knew I could not combine the two effectively though. What I used to do in those days, for the first five years, was to resume 8am in the office in Dugbe and come over to the church office from 12noon. But after five years, I could not cope because practice involves so many meetings and travels.

Right now, my practice runs without me running it on daily basis. When I get projects, I get people to do

them under my name while I only supervise. I attend some very, very important meetings. So, many of the pastors that came came in like that. They felt comfortable and have been working while still pastoring.

Many feel if you were in Lagos, you would have built a richer, larger and more popular church. Does this bother you?

Maybe but I am never bothered by those permutations. I came into ministry reluctantly. So, I don’t compare myself or envy anybody. I am very, very comfortable with myself and confident in my person.

Are you then insulated from the performance pressure that most ministers face?

Trust me, I am. I don’t feel any pressure to perform anything at all my brother. I don’t feel intimidated or envious of any minister. I feel we are all serving God and running a different race. I cannot be like them and they cannot be like me.

The day those robbers came to your church. You could have hidden your identity when they were asking for the general overseer. Why did you give up yourself at gun point?

It was a Sunday and a guy walked up to me after the service. And that is one of my problems; I can be too accessible. He asked to see me and I said he should come later that evening when I would be meeting with some pastors and departmental heads. Looking back, I feel he was one of them. They would still have fished me out and it could have been messier. So, there was no point hiding because they told us to face down.

Then, they just shot at you…

No, they took me to our account department, which was then at the basement. They asked me to open the safe, which was there and I said I didn’t have the keys. They said who kept the keys and I said it was the accountant, who was then at home. I mean, it was around 6pm.

I said the accountant was home and the guy just got angry and shot at me.

What ran through your mind after he fired the shot?

I didn’t feel anything for some moments. I just looked down and saw blood,

which convinced me I had been shot. I remember when we were in the university and one Akintunde Ojo was shot in the leg. He bled to death before they could rescue him to Igbobi. So, I felt I was going to die and just sat down. That went on for about forty-five minutes and it started raining heavily. There was so much noise and my people didn’t know what had become of me; they were very afraid. When I realised, I hadn’t died, I crawled to the phone box and called them to come over. That was the last thing I remember. When they got to the hospital, I was paper white.

Did that incident shake your faith in God? No, not in God but it shook my faith in ministry. I doubted if God really called me. I thought if he did, why did that happen? I thought can God call a man and will still face crisis? I had to come around that until sometimes later.

But what shook me was the crisis later because the wound did not heal until two years. I was in UCH for three months during which I had two operations. I was discharged to go home but the wound had swelled. I was infected by bacteria that I took up in the hospital. I was in a side room and there was no water. The head of the orthopedic department was a member of my church. My brother is a professor in the hospital, so I had the best that UCH could offer then. That best was the infection I took away. I was a big patient and that is why I wonder what would have happened to somebody who knew nobody. It was that wound that took me to England for two years.

You have seen many messy things in the ministry in the last 21 years. Do some of these things sometimes want you to throw up?

No, rather I wonder how God copes with all that he knows about his ministers. Knowing those things humbles me the more. My mentor when I was in NYSC, Pa S.G Elton, told us he used to agonise over how some Nigerian ministers lived despite being used of God. One day, he went to God in prayers to complain and God told him: “are they your servants?

What is your business?’

Since then, he learnt to keep silent.

What is the vision behind Higher Dimension, which is the theme for your convention?

We believe that this ministry has taken roots after over 21 years. So, we want to grow within and without. We want to bear fruits upwards and take roots downwards.

We are moving on to the next level in reaching more souls and imparting righteousness.

xxx

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

WORSHIP NEWS

COLUMN

CAN kicks against establishment of grazing reserves

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HE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has rejected the proposal to establish grazing reserves across the country.

Its national president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said the proposal cannot resolve the protracted fracas between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in various parts of the country.

Reacting to a news report that the Federal Government had approved the constitution of a committee to work out the modalities for establishing grazing reserves across the country, Oritsejafor said such proposal was absolutely unacceptable to the Christian community.

He alleged the proposal, which emerged at the end of National Economic Council meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo, is another in a grand design to Islamise the nation.

Oritsejafor vowed that Christians will not fold their arms while the Federal Government unilaterally hands over their farmlands to Fulani herdsmen for grazing reserves which will in a few years be converted to Hausa-

By Sunday Oguntola

Fulani emirates with emirs across the nation.

According to the CAN’s helmsman: “Is there any other tribe in this country that can do these things for three years running now and get away with it?

“This culture of impunity must stop. The best way to tackle clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers head on is for the Federal Government to first and foremost investigate the source of arms supply to the herdsmen before the clashes grow out of control.

“Two, we must establish grazing reserves for them in their own locale where the government can establish modern facilities including schools, hospitals and such facilities that will make life conducive for them and their families bearing in mind that in other nations of the world, cows are not on parade on highways as we have here”.

He added:”Except somebody is being economical with the truth, there is nowhere in the civilised world where cattle rearers walk long distances with cows on the streets.

“All across Europe and America, cow owners have permanent settlements where they graze and slaughter their cows while refrigerated vehicles take the meat to different parts of the country for distribution.”

Oritsejafor challenged President Jonathan to find out why nobody had been prosecuted despite the huge number of casualties recorded in clashes in Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Delta, Edo, Ondo and several parts of the country.

He recalled that a bill for the establishment of grazing reserves was introduced in the National Assembly and because it didn’t get the desired result, the sponsors have decided to use the National Economic Council with the hope that with the escalation of the military campaign by the herdsmen, the Federal Government will consider the idea.

“We are opposed to it and we will vehemently resist any plan by the Federal Government to convert innocent people’s farmlands to grazing reserves that will soon be used as spring boards of further jihads in other parts of the country,” he insisted.

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Unveiling the healing mystery in the communion!

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ODAY is Easter Sunday, a day when Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As you celebrate, don’t forget that Christ is the reason for the season. I Wish You A Glorious And Happy Easter!

For us to enjoy the expertise of any physician, we must understand his prescriptions.

Jesus’ prescription is the medium through which He demonstrates His expertise. God said, ‘I will bring you Health and Cure’ this month, but you need a revelation of His prescription to partake of it. As the Bible says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

Our Lord Jesus Christ once said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life...(John 6:53-56).

The greatest enemy of the believer is not the devil, but spiritual ignorance, which has its cure in spiritual revelation.

Every provision in scriptures is only accessible by revelation. There is a Balm in Gilead and the Great Physician is available, but until we have a revelation of this, our affliction continues (Matthew 12:15).

What Is His Prescription?

The Holy Communion is one of the Great Prescriptions of the Great Physician for our total health and dignity. It is a mystery of life transplant as unveiled by the Great Physician Himself in John chapter 6 verses 48-58.

Jesus is the Bread of Life.

It is an anti-death Bread. When we partake of it, whatever is dying or dead in us is completely restored. It is a ‘global Bread,’ with global impact; it works anywhere on earth (John 6:52). When we partake of the Communion in faith, we are empowered to live like Jesus¯sickness-free, sin-free and mentally sound like Him (John 6:57; Galatians 2:20).

What Is In The Communion That Heals?: The Communion consists of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:23-30). First, what is in the Flesh?

•The Rod of God: Jesus is not only the Son of God; He is also the Rod of God (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus is the Rod that came out of the stem of Jesse with the seven Spirits of God upon Him (Revelation 4:5; 5:6). In Exodus 7:10-14, Moses took the Rod of God and went to Egypt.

When the Rod was cast down, it became a serpent and swallowed up the rods of the sorcerers and magicians of Egypt.

So, inside the Flesh is the Rod. When we take it in, it swallows the rods of the magicians (sickness and affliction). Therefore, whenever you take the Communion, imagine yourself taking the Rod, that is, Jesus. As you take it, not one serpent of the magicians, wise men or sorcerers in your body will escape its power.

•It is a Miracle Meal that neutralizes the poison in your Body: When eaten, every defiled part of our body is restored (2 Kings 4:40-41). The Flesh of Jesus is the Miracle

Meal that goes into our ‘biological pot’ (stomach) with its unlimited power and neutralizes every poison there.

Secondly, What Is In The Blood?

•The Life of the Flesh: Every disease is traced to the blood, because the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).

When we partake of the Blood of Jesus, there is a spiritual blood transfusion that ejects our defiled blood in exchange for His undefiled and incorruptible Blood. Therefore, whatever cannot be traced to His Blood disappears from our body.

•The Conquering Power of God: When we partake of the Blood of Jesus, every evil spirit waging war against our health is crushed (Revelation 12:11). So, the Blood of Jesus gives us victory and restores our health in a double fashion (Zechariah 9:11-12). The Communion is God’s method for dealing with every sickness of the spirit, soul and body.

Friend, the power to benefit from the communion, is the preserve of those saved.

You get saved by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. If you are set for this new birth experience, please say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!”

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, you can get my books: Keys To Divine Health and The Healing Balm and Satan Get Lost!

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m. and 10.45 a.m. respectively.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

NEWS •Members of the Women Fellowship of The Church of The Lord (Aladura) Lagos Province and Lediocese Hq on street evangelism during the World's Mothers' Day... recently

T

HE Anglican Bishop of Amichi, Rt Revd.

Ephraim Ikeakor, has warned Christians against worldliness.

He spoke at the installation of two archdeacons and one canon to beef up the work force in the Anglican Diocese of Awka, Anambra State.

Officers installed at the Catheral Church of St Faith, Awka were Arch-Deacon Ven Silas Okwudili Friday Ike and Ven. Ofonakara Chamberlain Uchenna while Revd. Vincent Chukwuma Nkemdilim was installed as Canon of the church.

He observed that many Christians attend church service but shield their minds assimilating the word of God which he said, was essential for healthy Christian living.

While commending the Anglican Bishop of Awka Diocese , Most Reverend Dr Alex Ibezim, Ikeakor said that even as in the days of Ezikiel 22:23, God was still

Anglican Dioceses install two archdeacons, canon From Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi

looking out for a man who would stand on the gap for humanity but expressed regret that such a man was still not available even among the ordained.

He lamented that Christendom is filled with actors in the guise of preachers, while the pulpit had been turned to acting stage.

“We are now in noise oriented generation, when people have turned the pulpit to acting stage and the preachers virtually turned into actors.”

He warned church leaders against financial and other abuses, pointing out that any church leader who uses stolen money to train his children would be incurring a curse on the children.

The Anglican Bishop of Awka Dioceses, His lordship the Rt Revd Alex Ibezim who installed the new officers advised them to continue to work hard, in order to continue winning souls for God. Bishop Ibezim commended them for their dedication in the service of the Lord which prompted their elevation to their new positions.

Anambra State deputy governor, Mr. Nkem Okeke, extolled the Anglican Church for its co-operation with the government which he said, would result in speedy development of the state.

He assured Governor Willie Obiano was working hard to deliver on all his election promises.

Scripture Union seeks support

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HE Scripture Union (SU) Nigeria Lagos Area is seeking not less than N17million to execute some projects in the year.

Its travelling secretary, Kingsley Ibekwe, made this known at the group’s Ministers’/Supporters Forum in FESTAC, Lagos.

He said the association needs a car, funds for training, among others.

Giving a breakdown of the activities of the group in 2013, he said it opened 12 new school groups, trained 117 studentleaders and had 19 school clubs.

He added that the SU vis-

ited 120 schools and employed six field missionaries.

In 2014, Ibekwe said the group is targeting the opening of nine school clubs in Badagry, reach 10,000 converts with its devotional and improve the welfare of staff, adding that a car was a sina qua non to its programmes.

The group’s patron, Rt. Rev Babatunde Adeyemi, sought assistance for the SU, adding that the group plays a major role in the growth of children.

The guest speaker, Bishop Humphrey Erumaka, who spoke on Purposeful partnership, also solicited help for the

HE Presiding Bishop of Manna Mountain (Ogudu Ori-Oke, Lagos, Dr. Chris Kwakpovwe, has urged Nigerians to embrace peace in the spirit of Easter.

He said all the agitations and insurgency in the country will give way if Nigeri-

ans accept the peace offer of Christ.

In his goodwill Easter message, the Publisher of Our Daily Manna (ODM) daily devotional guide, said Nigerians should “continue to strive for peace with all men,

T

By Joseph Eshanokpe

group.

He said the SU should be supported by all Christians, regardless of their denominations.

Erumaka, who is the founder/general overseer, Wordbase Asembly, said St Paul would have been killed if not for the help he received from fellow Christians.

He urged Christians to support the SU. He later raised funds for the group.

The chairman, SU, Lagos Area, Lekan Arigbede, thanked supporters of the group for their assistance in the past, urging them to continue their good work.

Cleric sues for peace

irrespective of their religious inclinations.”

He commiserated with families and victims of the Nyanya bomb blasts in Abuja, asking them to give them the fortitude to bear the losses.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

‘Writing has shaped my career’ I

MA-MARIAM Nike Agunbiade, has, in the past few years, devoted most of her life and time to writing books. Her love of writing is so vast and deeprooted that she has 12 books to her credit. The books range from marketing, career guide to motivational books and others on how to make the best out of children. So far, she has made herself and her works so visible that some private and public schools use her books both for moral instructions, attitudinal and character formations.

“Yes”, she said, reminiscing, “I have written about 12 books, ranging from career guide, to educational books to help both primary, nursery and secondary school students. Oh, for me, one has to write when one has something substantial to say. When you’ve interacted with the public the way I’ve done so far, then you’ll certainly have something to say. And that’s what I’ve been able to do.

Most of my works are based essentially on my experiences with people or what my friends have gone through in life. Some of these experiences have in one way or the other touched or inspired me to write.”

Making reference to one of her books entitled Survival and the Role of Detachment, which was basically inspired by what happened to one of her closest friends, she said: “She suddenly died when she wasn’t even sick.

Her death was so shocking to me and to most of our friends. That experience set my mind racing about the nothingness of life. It is a book that deals on how to handle sudden and impromptu events. In her own case, she was not sick – in fact, she was planning the wedding of one of her siblings and was very committed to it. Then suddenly it happened.”

That incident not only showed her that life itself is but a puff of the wind, it also began to let her see the other side of the philosophy of lifethat whatever we do here on earth is tied to our own ability to touch lives, using what we have to create the desired change. “We need to make plans in life but whether we succeed in achieving them or not is a different ballgame entirely. Again we have to take relationships seriously especially family relationships. They matter a lot in our day-to-day activities. Then some of the issues I took time to look into are how we spend our leisure times, how you react when you’ve worked in a particular place and when others were being promoted and

Author of many books, Ima-Mariam Nike Agunbiade, is an artiste, lawyer and educationist, who started writing since 1997. Ever since then, she has been using her works to touch lives by reaching out to students across schools not only in Nigeria but elsewhere. In this encounter with Edozie Udeze, she shares her experiences as a writer, a school proprietress, artiste and lawyer and lots more you were not. So many issues that bother most people from time to time also received my attention.”

Because of her love for writing, Agunbiade, who had his first degree in Creative Arts from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has since chosen to surround herself with books that can easily inspire her imagination and lubricate her discipline and comportment to write. “This is why I concentrate more on human situations. Apart from my own philosophy about life, I also think of how to handle what happens to the people I know, to my close friends and so on. So, when I want to write I get my inspiration from all that. Even then, one of my books was inspired by a journalist friend of mine who called me up one day and

•Agunbiade

said: “look you have to be here to talk to some of our students on career development. It was such a short notice but I had to do it”, she said, clasping her hands.

After delivering that talk, which was in a short form, the audience seemed to be carried away by its rich contents and message. “I am glad to tell you that that topic later led to a book I wrote to encourage young girls and boys to find their

rhythms in life. The book basically is for students both in secondary schools and those in higher institutions.

It is equally for those who have just graduated and are trying to develop their carrier or find their career and so on.”

With the acquisition of more degrees in Law and Educaton, Agunbiade has truly discovered that to write books that can help to shape characters and build individuals into meaningful citizens of the society, versatility and broader perspective and understanding of human nature count a lot. “My interest in writing began when I was in the university. Not only that I read Creative Arts, we did courses in script writing and directing. All these helped me to begin to show interest in writing.

Unfortunately, my first works, I was not really confident of myself to make them see the light of the day. From that moment, I just wanted to write. But when

later I went into education, the whole orientation began to change. By 1997, I had already started writing, especially when I began to run my own school and many children were being sent to my school.”

Even then, some physically challenged students were also being sent to her school.

Not properly trained to handle such cases, Agunbiade found herself in a very tight situation. In as much as she wanted to reject these children, more were still sent to her and her conscience did not allow her to abandon or reject them. Consequently, this singular experience made her to write another book on how to run and handle such children in such circumstances.

“And part of my post graduate diploma in education was on how to deal with such problems. I did it to be able to help because other schools around were not accepting the children.

I also went to the special school for the blind in Surulere, Lagos. There I learnt how to handle the special needs of children with different degrees of disabilities.”

Not satisfied with this level of exposure and experience, however, she proceeded to England where she took another post graduate diploma in education at the University of Nottingham. In addition, she studied yet for another diploma in Special Educational Needs at the Blackford Learning Institute also in England. Today, she has established a couple of schools which include Beaconsfield College, Silversands Hall Schools and others, located in Lagos where she and her welltrained teachers apply the modern Montessori teaching techniques to groom children to become better leaders in different respects and spheres.

Her concern primarily centres on the fact that the Nigerian society does not accord enough time to the physically challenged and children with other forms of deformities. “Imagine, out of the 100 universities we have in Nigeria, only

three have courses and provisions for such students. That also struck me to write a comprehensive book for special education teachers. It is for them to know what it entails to teach these children; to also realise and appreciate their needs.

A committed and prolific writer, Agunbiade takes her time to research into any topic she wants to write on “Once I have chosen a theme to handle, I can retire into my study for say one or two weeks to do justice to the theme.

Once I am writing, I do not want any other issue to distort the flow. During this period, I do not do any other thing except writing.

This helps me to avoid writer\s block or get stuck or even forget some salient issues. I make sure I get the theme to a reasonable level once I start. Thereafter, I give it to my secretary to type and other corrections would then follow.”

A lover of popcorn, she said that this is one habit she often indulges in once the muse takes hold of her.

“When I write in order to keep myself glued to what I do, I take a lot of popcorn.

This is to steady myself and help my body become attuned to my writing. You know sometimes when you are writing, you want to nibble at something and then it is a way to be attuned to the environment.

And if I pick popcorn, I also have a companion because I am all by myself writing.

You do it because you also do not want to get tired or bored or distracted. However, you don’t have to take something heavy so that it will not knock you off. You also need to replenish the energy you’ve been burning while writing. So for me, popcorn does it. At times I may prefer to take soft drink or the like.”

On the whole, she is not just a lover of motivational books done by both Nigerians and foreigners, she equally expressed her special interest in the works of Pastor David Oyedepo, founder of the Winners Chapel. “Most of his works touch me a lot. I read all sorts of books written by him even though I do not go to the Winners Chapel. Brian Tracy’s works have been of immense inspiration to me.

If you read some of these books you will have an idea of how things work,” she said, noting that she may one day write a play. “The one I did before was too crazy and somewhat radical. So I didn’t go further. In future, I may do one or two prose fictions”, she said hopefully.

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Title: The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales Author: Ayo Sogunro Publishers: A Bookvine Imprint, Lagos Year of Publication: 2013 No of Pages: 199 Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

What a wonderful tale

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HIS is a book full of the myriad of absurdities that define the social, political and religious landscapes of Nigeria today. The stories come in different shapes and guises, properly presented by the author, Ayo Sogunro, to dissect a society at war with itself.

Like the title of the book says, The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales, it is a total package of the many issues that trouble the land. The author, a legal practitioner, rather uses satires and innuendoes to tackle these issues. He uses themes and topics that touch on the core-values of the people, their leaders, their everyday lives and more, to bring out these problems.

At a first glance, you’d think that this is a novel or fictitious work to embellish the ideals of the people and what they stand for. But it is more than that. It is a well-thought out book, properly researched and clearly written to address Nigerian issues without reservation. The combination of poetry and prose in narrative style shows that Sogunro is an author with deep understanding of the art of writing. This approach, which in all intents and purposes, serves as his own forte and style spell him out as a force to reckon with as a literary genius.

He understands that the power of the people will one day overwhelm the sentiments of their leaders. Most of the issues he raised in the book are not only prophetic, but they go a long way to point to the direction Nigerian political landscape may assume in the nearest future. How soon will Nigerians lose confidence in their leaders? Are there proper indices of checks and balances in the political terrain in the land for the masses to hold their leaders accountable? In one of the stories in

the book entitled, A Loss of Confidence, the author directs his attention on a member of House of Representatives who suddenly becomes too big for his constituency that he feels he cannot be recalled and questioned. He feels he is now too big to go home to render account to his people. But can he succeed?

However, it is not that the people do not

have the nerve to rattle their leaders. The pentup anger in the minds of the people have reached its climax that even some police orderly are not happy with their bosses – the politicians, the very people they are detailed to guide. Now when a police orderly shoots his boss in an attempt to show his frustration, what then is the hope of the political class in the present political dispensation? That is the lesson in the absurdity or the loss of confidence, for whatever goes up must one day come down.

It is a law of nature.

In his clearly defined goal to present different issues to educate readers about the rough nature of leadership in the land, Sogunro narrates the political history of Senator Boniface.

His story is the story of most political office holders in Nigeria, who rise from nothing to fame only to turn back to stab the very people who made it possible for them. From being a lecturer to becoming a member of the House of Representatives to senator, Boniface ambitiously assumed that the position of the president of the nation was his by right. How far then can he go?

But the consequences of this untoward assumption are grave. The story is also prophetic because the author gives a vivid account of how the senator wisely lures his colleagues to attend his party where he plays his last game to end all political intrigues. On page 129, the author presents part of the scenario thus: a party to be hosted by Senator Lawrence Boniface was nothing unusual in itself. Parties were a stable of the Lagos metropolitan high life… What was exciting in this case was the circumstance under which the good senator had decided to throw the party… Indeed the final party hosted

by Senator Lawrence Boniface would be remembered for decades to come”.

It is a sordid scene created by the author to predict the possible end of corrupt leaders in this society someday soon. But he makes it abundantly clear that the leadership class may start to crumble from within. If that begins to happen, then the general political cleansing in Nigeria may have begun in earnest. However, how possible, how soon will this be, given the level of moral and political decay in the system? The story serves as an eye-opener of sorts. It shows that a system can correct itself when it cannot cope further or when it cannot continue to stomach more nonsense from within.

The book goes further to lampoon the social issues that have made it near impossible to have a clean society. The issues of murder, arrogance, thuggery, wickedness, ritual killings and so on are handled in two separate stories – The touts on the bridge and There is more than meets the eye. In these two stories the book presents Nigerians as their own worst enemies; that there is so much deep-rooted hatred and bile in the minds of most people. Poverty begets frustration which in turn breeds disorder, disunity and confusion yet what is the way out of this unfortunate situation?

In 14 stories divided under different sociopolitical and religious crises in Nigeria, Sogunro has been able to lay bare most of the serious problems that beset the society. The stories are factions, a combination of fiction and facts. And this is why they strike you as you read them. The book addresses both the leader and the led. It has a deep lesson for a people steeped in vices that do not benefit anyone. And the author uses his deep knowledge and understanding of the law to make the stories stick in the hearts of people.

Love meets sacrifice and conviction Book Title: Author: No of pages: Publisher: Reviewer:

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Falsely Accused Jide Popoola 99 Cypress Concepts & Solutions Ltd Hannah Ojo

ERHAPS one of the most puzzling features of love is the tendency for both partners who have caught the Cupid arrow to be deaf to the sound of reason, even if it is to the detriment of both partners. They become fools to themselves and the world, following after the dictate of passion. To pay the price of addiction, they are ready to incur the wrath of their families and even break the rules of established tradition. We saw this in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a classical love story written in the 15th century which continues to find relevance across cultures and times.

A peculiar love story served from the angle of a clash of culture and religion in a modern day Nigerian society is the subject matter of the novella ‘Falsely Accused’ by Jide Popoola. Although the book is more apt for the literary cravings of junior readers, adult individuals would also find it relishing as it touches on

Title: Author: Publishers: No of Pages: Reviewer:

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Survival and the Rule of Detachment Ima-Mariam Nike Agunbiade Henriz Designs, Lagos 112 Edozie Udeze

MA-MARIAM NIKE AGUNBIADE has no doubt created her own niche in the area of motivational books to inspire young and aspiring entrepreneurs to be on their feet. In most of her works, she recreates ideas, ideas that are not only simple but can also be easily replicated to make life more meaningful and ideal. In Survival and the Rule of Detachment, purposely written to help people find their rhythm early enough in life, her total emphasis is on the issue of detachment. People need to know or discover how to be happy and get what they want both at work, while in love or in a relationship.

Life generally has to do with one’s ability to be totally independent-minded both in terms of decision-making and other issues relating to life. According to the author, no one should try to compare himself or herself with the other person. “Never you think the next person is having more fun than you. The grass always seems greener on the other side.

issues which at one time or the other have birth conflicts in the society.

The evils of cultism and its irreparable damages is one of the issues addressed in the book.

Taking on cultism with vivid descriptions, shown in the use of language and the presentation of the lifestyle of their practitioners, one cannot but commend the author for his firm grasp of the underpinnings of the local parlance in the occultic world. One cannot but cringe at the spat of bloodlettings and havocs wrought by acts of savagery which has become the norm in our institutions of higher learning across the country. Cultism takes a center stage in Falsely Accused as personified by the character of Bashiru Babalola aka Stone, a fellow whose bent on revenge to heal the pains of his bruised ego led to the crisis in the book.

Hauwa Nagogo, a clever teenager who is the daughter of a devout Muslim and a hardline conservative, is the heroine of the story. Her choice of a lover from Igboland led to an unprecedented crisis. Hauwa met Austin Achebe at the Polytechnic, Ibadan where they were both students and became enamoured with affection.

“He reached out with his left hand and gently placed it on hers. She shivered visibly at his

touch. It was at once sweet, warm and electrifying! She knew that feeling. It plainly told her she was smitten (page 22)”. It was an affection she would have to pay heavily for thereafter as upcoming events in the novel would later show.

Angered by the turn of events and in order to detach her from her Iyanmiri lover, her father hurriedly gave her out in marriage to Alhaji Mai-Rabo, a wealthy business partner of his. Her strong will and love for Austin, which propelled her to refuse to be ‘touched’ resulted in her becoming a victim of mutilation. This aspect of tensions in the novella alluded to the dehumanising act some women have been subjected to in this part of the world. The case of Mallam Mai-Cindoya who mutilated his wife’s foot because of alleged infidelity in the year 2002 serves a bitter reminder.

Falsely Accused is such a good story but one tends to wonder why the author did not translate the meaning of some Yoruba words such as gbana and didn’t leave a foot note for explanation.

This may not help non Yoruba speakers. All in all, Popoola should be credited for a great effort.

His deep penetrations dished out with brevity would hold the interest of impressionable minds.

Obeying rule of detachment But if you take a closer look, they are as miserable as you are in their own way. So never mind what they tell you.”

This is one of the numerous wise counsels that pervade the book. It is a book that encourages you to be who you are, by not hinging your hope on a person or on that which is so dear to you, that if you do not have it, you will not live. In other words, start enjoying yourself rather than judging your situation with others because every situation has its own merits and demerits.

She reasons that detachment means freedom – freedom from obsession and addiction. It means control, that is your ability to divorce yourself from a particular situation that you feel in too indelible in your

life.

Invariably, detachment is synonymous with focus, a situation where you need to be truthful to yourself in all circumstances. A situation you cannot change or alter should not be a problem to you.

All you need do in a situation of this nature is to create your own code of conduct that will enable you to set goals and ideals you wish to achieve in life. In doing so, you need to create room to love yourself in order to love others around you. “It is paying good attention to yourself and life choices, accepting your mistakes without beating yourself up… In fact, detachment means developing your inner strength and inner muscle, knowing what you want and going after it…”

For someone to have ability to detachment himself and be on the road to greatness, he has to acquire the inner strength with brevity. When success comes your way, you should also appreciate it no matter how small or insignificant. Indeed the beauty of life is to be able to appreciate who you are and what you stand for. The author makes it crystal clear that there are bright sides of life and this is what one needs to focus on most times of his life. This is so because the whole purpose of our being on earth is to find reason why we are here. Using common examples, she drew attention to people who have followed her stipulations in life and have made it.

Part of the secret of life also is to be generous; try to be considerate to others. The author postulates that most rich men were able to make it and stay rich because of their ability to give.

Just try to use your sense of judgement to know when to accept a gift and when to walk away.

Then learn to forgive people; do not allow wrongs done to you to weigh you down for too long.

In more words than one, Agunbiade has told the world how to be a success. The ability to reach the pinnacle of success, lies in your ability to control yourself. So, be up and doing now in order to reach the top and attain the goal you’ve set for yourself.

ARTS EXTRA

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

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Abuja celebrates ‘Arrow of God’ at 50

•Prof Chudi Uwazurike and Dr Jerry Agada

•Pupil from School for the Gifted performing Arrow Of God

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S the train of the eight-city celebrations of the 50th anniversary of late Prof Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God continue to travel across the country, Abuja and Lagos will not be left out in the literary festivities.

While Lagos will be holding its version today at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) where Emeritus Prof Charles Larson from Washington DC, USA will be the keynote speaker along with other eminent Nigerian scholars, Abuja has already held its.

The Abuja literati commemorated the book’s anniversary with a Children’s Carnival held at NTA Arena. It featured drama sketches, quiz and dance dramas centred on the novel.

A major highlight of the event that thrilled the audience was a dance drama by pupils of the School for the Gifted, Gwagwalada. The performance, drawn from the novel, was focused on the taboo committed by Oduche, one of the sons of the chief priest of Ulu,

By Evelyn Osagie

Ezeulu, when he imprisoned the royal python. It earned them first place of the dramatic performance category.

The audience watched with amazement as a box was dropped with some violence on the ground, with the lid flinging open to the let the royal python out. With bated breath, the audience saw the royal python, slither out of the box and made its escape, albeit drawn by a thin, almost invisible thread by one of the dancers, to the thunderous ovation of the fear-gripped audience who had thought it was a real python.

For young post-primary school pupils, it was no doubt an ingenious theatrical stunt that would not fail to leave a lasting impression in the minds of the audience.

Chukwuemeka Obi-Obasi, Ikeogu Oke and other Abuja-based artistes also thrilled the audience. While Obi- Obasi, a fast growing young performance poet gave life

to Isaac Ogezi’s The Warrior’s Homecoming, a tribute to Achebe, Oke read two poems from his children’s poetry collection, Songs of Success.

The event was chaired by a Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Prof.

Chudi Uwazurike, who gave a brief opening remark. According to him, the development of education at the grassroots, i.e. the primary and post-primary stages of education, would help improve the present moribund reading culture in the country.

He commended the Achebe Foundation and the members of the National Organising Committee of the Arrow of God @ 50 celebrations for involving the secondary schools’ pupils in the eight-city literary fiesta.

Prof. Jerry Agada, former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and ex-Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, also lent his voice to the clarion call that “we must catch them young.”

The event had 350 pupils from 10 schools that qualified for the knock-out phase of the quiz competition in attendance. They were there with their teachers.

The School for the Gifted emerged winner of the final stage of the competition based on

Etching their names in gold Title:

Giants of History (The making of our world) Author: Lateef Aderemi Ibirogba Publishers: Sage, Lagos No. Pages: 322 Year of Publication: 2014 Reviewer: Sanya Oni HOMAS Carlyle, the Scottish writer it was who stated that “The history of the world is but the biography of great men”. Lateef Aderemi Ibirogba, journalist, advertising practitioner, politician and currently Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy must have taken this to heart when he set out to write the book aptly titled Giants of History (The making of our world).

The 322-page book, a biographical sketch of some 150 personalities is an important compendium – albeit a short one – on the lives of these remarkable individuals that have not only impacted massively on the vast canvas of human existence but have left indelible inks in the sands of time.

Ibirogba’s subjects, although a blend of the ancient and the contemporary, are in a sense truly giants as they are trail-blazers. Their lives are as remarkable as they inspirational. If the world now stands in awe of the cutting edge technologies that have revolutionalised travel, work, pleasure and even the beverages we consume, it is because of the invaluable work of these giants who dared to challenge the scientific orthodoxies of their days, going as far as laying the foundation for subsequent breakthroughs that the world now knows. These are truly leaders in ideas, humanities, service, law, economics, governance, and activism; individuals who made history by venturing into uncharted terrains for personal glory and as a consequence helped to expand the frontiers of humanity’s collective achievement. Among the pack are those who fought oppression, tyranny and

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injustice in all forms and manifestations and so ended up etching their names in gold. Humanity is today richer not just by the breathless pace of their ideas and inventions, but also by their commitment to the discipline of inquiry, and their endless striving to enhance the quality and dignity of the human person.

What Ibirogba has done through the book is present the lives of these individuals in simple strokes. Individuals like Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Archimedes, and Galileo –who through relentless inquiries defied the orthodoxies of their days. Great inventors like Marcus Pollio – the world’s first engineer; the Chinese Lun Cai who invented paper; the German Johannes Gutenberg who invented printing and in so doing supplied the catalyst for scientific revolution. Others like Blaise Pascal who invented the mechanical calculator, Thomas Edison who invented the electric bulb, Isaac Newton, the great mathematician who established the laws of motion and thermodynamics; James Watt whose improvements on the steam engine marked the turning point in industrial revolution in Great Britain; Alesandro Volta who invented the battery, not forgetting George Stephenson, the man who built the first railway and Steve Jobs who revolutionalised the world of Information Technology.

Not forgetting the trail-blazers in the medical sciences like Hippocrates – the ancient Greek

physician acknowledged as the father of the medical profession; Louis Pasteur for his revolutionary findings in vaccinations, Alexander Fleming, the biologist who discovered the anti-biotic penicillin; Florence Nightingale for her pioneering role in nursing. And of course, the greatest writer of all times, William Shakespeare; James Hadley Chase, inarguably, the king of thriller writing; Chinua Achebe probably the continent’s best-read writer, and Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate. So also are lives of leaders like Winston Churchill, J.F. Kennedy, Ayatollah Khomeini, Nelson Mandela; Kwame Nkrumah, Fidel Castro – and not least Adolf Hitler – leaders who at various times impacted the world. The reader will also find the book a compendium on Nigerian leaders past and present – individuals who have contributed and are still contributing to the shaping of the Nigerian state.

Giants of History is however much more than mere excursion into the past. It is also a window into the future – of the limitless possibilities available to those who would dare to be different – for themselves and for our world.

Clearly, this is the central theme of the book – something that should resonate with the youth and those dissatisfied with the status quo.

Ibirogba’s book is a welcome contribution into the discussion on the infinite possibilities of our future – our universe.

the celebration text with Regina Pacis and Government Secondary School as first and second runners-up. Peace and Unity School, Suleija, could not participate on the grounds of its late arrival to the venue.

Government Secondary School, Garki and Regina Pacis emerged second and third positions of the dramatic performances on the novel.

Other guests in attendance included the Chairman of the National Organizing Committee (NOC), represented by Mallam Denja Abdullahi; Oronto Douglas, represented by Mr Michael Afenfia; NTA Managing Director, Chief Ifeanyi Ileogbunam; the competition judges: Messrs Jide Atta, Spencer Okoroafor and Mrs Joan Orji, among others.

Abdullahi praised the efforts of the local organising committee led by Halima Usman and the sponsors of the eight-city fiestas.

The carnival came to an end after the presentation of awards and certificates of participations to schools by Chief Ifeanyi Ileogbunam and other dignitaries.

The train of celebrations comes to Lagos today. The event will hold at the.

Ten memorable quotes of Gabriel García Márquez 1. “Crazy people are not crazy if one accepts their reasoning.”

Love in the Time of Cholera 2. “What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”

One Hundred Years of Solitude 3. “But if they had learned anything together, it was that wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.”

Love in the Time of Cholera 4. “A famous writer who wants to continue writing has to be constantly defending himself against fame.”

Writers at Work 5. “I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of Him.” Love in the Time of Cholera 6. “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, General Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

One Hundred Years of Solitude 7. On Fidel Castro: “A man of austere habits and insatiable illusions, with an old-fashioned formal education of cautious words and subdued tones, and incapable of conceiving any idea that is not colossal.”

Article in honour of Castro’s 80th birthday in 2006 8. “The only difference today between Liberals and Conservatives is that the Liberals go to mass at five o’clock and the Conservatives at eight.”

One Hundred Years of Solitude 9. “The year I turned 90, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.”

Memories of My Melancholy Whores 10. “I say extraordinary things in an ordinary tone. It’s possible to get away with ANYTHING as long as you make it believable.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Presidency, Nyako clash over genocide claim •Continued from page 4 “At one point he said there are Boko Haram in his government, at another point he said they are ghosts he cannot dialogue with ghosts, yet recently he admitted that the young poverty stricken persons so far arrested cannot afford the guns they carry. And we say to them you have full command and control of the Armed Forces and security outfits with all the Intelligence units, investigate their activities, expose their patrons, sponsors and strategic commanders and arrest them.”

He challenged the Presidency to expose the source of the arms used by the insurgents. “We still repeat the earlier questions we raised.

How come the insurgents move about unchallenged at night in our states under so called Emergency Rule when we have a night time curfew in place? How come the insurgents operate for many hours unchallenged when we have military units all over the place? How come the insurgents move with a large convoy of vehicles through routes that have 24 hours military check points? How come statements by the Presidency and other authorities in Abuja are always at variance with realities on ground at the theatres of conflict? We want answers not insults or empty rhetoric.”

On allegation against the Governor that he is creating divisions among the people with his utterances, the Adamawa State Government said President Jonathan is the chief culprit in this.

“On the issue of creating divisions among the people, no one does it better than the Presidency that urges its backers to direct its people to implicate innocent Northerners in bombings they know nothing of, or one whose known official uses online sources to implicate someone it chooses to hate for no just cause. This Presidency also encourages some of its spokespersons to speak ill of certain persons and religion without a reprimand.

He accused the Presidency of being the most divisive administration in the country to date, “This is the most divisive leadership in the history of this country and it also the most desperate to cling to power even at the cost of several lives of innocent citizens. Unfortunately it is also the most inept, confused, greedy, corrupt and incompetent regime ever. On the corruption mantra, while the Presidency is fond of asking Governors to account for allocations given, we challenge them to live by the same token, declare what you got and account for it.”

He accused the Presidency of not executing project that funds have been disbursed for.

According to him, “After all we now have proof that certain projects which are not executed have been announced as completed such as the Hong to Mubi road in our state which the Minister of Information announced its execution at their Bauchi Rally. Meanwhile, someone should help us ask the President under what Budget sub-head did he get the money he allegedly gave Governor Kwankwaso to bribe delegates to vote for him which was allegedly diverted.

“We think rather than

vent their venom in insulting people, presidential spokespersons and media managers should do better by re-focussing the man to be more open minded and competent in grappling with the myriads of challenges facing the nation,” Nyako said.

The governor had in the now controversial memo accused the administration of President Jonathan of carrying out genocide against northern states with impunity. The Governor said the adverse security situation in the North in particular and Nigeria in general is being felt by all genuine stakeholders but lamented that while every state government is doing everything possible using virtually all its resources to stem the tide of near disaster facing the North, the present federal administration has become a government of impunity run by an evilminded leadership for the advancement of corruption.

Nyako regretted that the protection of life and property of innocent citizens in Northern Nigeria and recognising their human rights and voting right in the forthcoming general elections is no longer a cardinal principle of the administration.

“Clearly the victims of the Administration’s evilmindedness are substantially Northern Nigerians. The administration is bent on bringing wars in the North between Muslim and Christians and within them and between one ethnic group and another or others in various communities in the region. No wonder, we in the Northern Nigeria are now facing an organised ethnoreligious campaigns of hate fuelled by the federal administration to make communities which hitherto have remained peaceful for centuries to start killing the minorities in their midst and to facilitate mass killings of the innocent and the arbitrary arrests and torture of elders of minority ethnic groups in the various Northern communities.”

Listing occurrences of violence the governor wrote, “We, in Adamawa State, have been battling this heinous machination in the last three years. We also saw it as the Beginning of Genocide.

Genocide kingpins are now on prowl in Northern Nigeria!

Fulani communities in parts of the North who have been in their locations for over 100 years are now being raided and uprooted by paid killers within the Nigerian Army for the satisfaction of the Federal administration instead of being protected as citizens with their rights and dignity safe-guarded.”

He observed, “The Federal administration’s affront to frame Northerners is also an open secret. Senior Special Assistant to Mr. President tried to hoodwink us into believing that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was kingpin of Boko-Haram. Mr. Henry Okah, the convicted leader of MEND also stated under oath that he was being put under pressure by the administration to implicate senior Northern elements such as Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari as financiers of Boko Haram terrorism. We are in deep trouble. We have begun to sleep with ‘both our eyes widely open.”

CHANGE OF NAME OKUNWA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Okunwa, Aisien-Ogbebor, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okunwa Okpala. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNTUASE

I formerly known and addressed as Oguntuase, Kehinde Samuel, now wish to be known and addressed as Abel, Kehinde Sameul. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKINSULIRE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Morayo Rashidat Akinsulire, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Morayo Rashidat Onasanya. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ELEGBEDE

I formerly known and addressed as Elegbede, Taiwo Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Micheal Emmanuel Oluwatoyin.

All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

LADAPO

I formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Miss) Rasheedat Omolola Ladapo, now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Rasheedat Omolola Balogun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

TOGUNDE

I formerly known and addressed as Togunde Rebecca Tete, now wish to be known and addressed as Kehinde Rebecca Salako Togunde. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWEKE

I formerly known and addressed as Obi Hyacinth Nweke, now wish to be known and addressed as Obi Hyacinth Nwannennia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKPAN

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Andifon Sylvester Akpan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Andifon Raphael Edem. All former documents remain valid. University of Uyo, University of Port Harcourt, Domingo Controls Ltd and the general public should please take note.

MAKANUOLA

I formerly known and addressed as MISS MAKANUOLA MODUPE VICTORIA, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OLUKAYODE MODUPE VICTORIA. All former documents remain valid. National Agency for Food and Drug Administrative and Control and General Public should please take note.

UDOH

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS UDOH, MFONOBONG POLYCARP, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ALBERT MFONOBONG UDEME. All former documents remain valid. Nigerian Police Force and general public please take note.

AKOJURU

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AKOJURU FELICIA NNEKA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ALBERT CHRISTOPHER FELICIA NGOZI CHUKWUKA. All former documents remain valid. Federal Ministry of Education Abuja, Federal Civil Service Commission Abuja, Federal Girls’ College Owerri and general public please take note.

AJAYI

I, formerly known and addressed as Oladipupo Oyekunle Ajayi, now wish to be known and addressed as Oladipupo David Ajai Christian.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADEBAYO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Omoloro Nadia, now wish to be known as Mrs. Adeleke Omoloro Nadia. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.

SHERIF

I, formerly known and addressed as Sherif Tayo Wemimo, now wish to be known as Wemimo Seun. All former documents remain valid. general public please take note.

ARULEOBA

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aruleoba Mopelola Mercy, now wish to be known as Mrs. Balogun, Mercy Mopelola. All former documents remain valid.

Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, Ado-Ekiti and general public please take note.

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

CHANGE OF NAME

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Otitoju, Helen Oluwatoyin, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eguaoje Helen Oluwatoyin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunmosunle, Moyinoluwa Adenike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adaranijo, Moyinoluwa Adenike. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. OGHENERO AGBOJE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OGHENERO JOHNSON. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKOREDE

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. ROSEMARY OKAH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. ROSEMARY GEOFFERY AMADI. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OTITOJU

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, Miss Akinola Olakunbi Funmilayo Janet and Akinola Olakunbi refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adegbesan, Funmilayo Janet. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ORIKPETE

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Kesiena Kessington Orikpete, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Kesiena Kessington Uvietaire. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLADIPUPO

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oladipupo, Olajumoke Omobolanle, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Owopetu, Olajumoke Omobolanle. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

NWACHUKWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Nwachukwu Regina Ihunwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogbonna Chiemerie Ihunwa. All former documents remain valid. UNIZIK and general public should please take note.

AKOREDE

I formerly known and addressed as Akorede Dorcas Temitope, now wish to be known and addressed as Onigbogi, Dorcas Temitope Temiloluwa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

HAMUSAT

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Hamusat Fausat Olamide, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ahmad Fausat Olamide. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLOFIN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Olofin, Olayemi Roseline, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Titus Olayemi Roseline. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

PETER

I formerly known and addressed as Enosegbe Omodhagbe Peter, now wish to be known and addressed as Enosegbe Omodhiagbe Peter. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AJABALUKU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ajabaluku, Temitope Feyisara, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akanji, Temitope Feyisara. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SUBRAMANIA

I formerly known and addressed as Subramania Chalakudi Krishnan, now wish to be known and addressed as Subramani Krishnan. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BABALOLA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Babalola, Dorcas Oladotun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oji, Dorcas Oladotun. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EDOGA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Edoga, Nkemdilim Chinenye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okwo, Nkemdilim Chinenye. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGUNMOSUNLE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Akorede Janet Olusola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olowoyeye Janet Olusola. All former documents remain valid.

SUBEB, Ministry of Education, Ekiti State and general public should please take note.

OGUNMOLASUYI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogunmolasuyi, Abiodun Jumoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obanegha, Abiodun Jumoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UKE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Uke Veronica Adaku, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ihezukwu Veronica Adaku (nee Uke). All former documents remain valid. Abia State University, Uturu, Ministry of Education and general public should please take note.

DALOEK

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Eunice Kyale Daloek, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Eunice Kyale Mangdong. All former documents remain valid.

Plateau State Polytechnic and general public should please take note.

YUSUFF

I formerly known and addressed as Ganiat Olabisi Yusuff, now wish to be known and addressed as Ganiat Olabisi Falola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OSUNNIRAN

I formerly known and addressed as Osunniran Kazeem Adewale, now wish to be known and addressed as Sanusi Osunniran Kazeem Adewale. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

BELAU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Belau, Odeyinka Abosede, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kaamil, Odeyinka Abosede. All former documents remain valid. NYSC, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and general public should please take note.

OSUNNIRAN

I formerly known and addressed as Osunniran Kazeem Adewale, now wish to be known and addressed as Sanusi, O. Kazeem Adewale. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

AGBOJE

OKAH

IKAH

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. RITA IKAH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. RITA BORO. All former documents remain valid. UNIPORT, Federal Ministry of Health and general public should please take note.

NGAUJAH

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. LINDA KUBA NGAUJAH now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. LINDA PAUL RIKA. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NWANERI

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS. MAUREEN CHINWE NJOKU NWANERI now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. DESTINY CHINWE OKPARA. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OPARAKU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Vivian Chinwe Oparaku, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Vivian Chinwe Ekekeulu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AGU

I formerly known and addressed as MISS AGU PAMELA IHECHINYEREM, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OKECHUKWU PAMELA IHECHINYEREM. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ENEH

I formerly known and addressed as MISS ENEH TOCHUKWU DORIS, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS UDEZULUMBA TOCHUKWU DORIS. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ONUKU

OKE

I formerly known and addressed as ONUKU TITUS, now wish to be known and addressed as AYOGU TITUS TABUGBO. All former documentsremain valid. Nigeria Immigration Service and general public take note.

ISHMAEL

I formerly known and addressed as Robert Kola Omoniyi, now wish to be known and addressed as Robert Babatunde Abayomi Ogayemi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Oke, Esther Oluwaseun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dare-Osho, Esther O. All former documents remain valid.

PEDI, NYSC and general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ishmael, Nkuka Reuben, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Isreal Ogochukwu Ikem. All former documents remain valid.

FAAN and general public should please take note.

REUBEN

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Magdalene Reuben, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Magdalene Isreal Kemi. All former documents remain valid.

Stanbic IBTC and general public should please take note.

NWADIKE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ann Ogechi Nwadike, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ann Ogechi Ewulum. All former documents remain valid.

Nigerian Prison Service and general public should please take note.

UMEH

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Umeh Confidence O., now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ezeachu Confidence Chinedu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SANNI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Sanni, Olansile Kafilat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abijo, Olansile Kafilat. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

SHADA

I formerly known and addressed as Shada Omotoun Ibijoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Dosumu Omotoun Ibijoke. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

UDODI

I formerly known and addressed as Udodi Judith Ngozi, now wish to be known and addressed as Oliobi Judith Ngozi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OMONIYI

AJATTA

I formerly known and addressed as Ajatta Abiola Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatola Abiola Yetunde. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AFAM-ECHI

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. UGOCHI AFAM -ECHI, now wish to be known as Mrs. UGOCHI OBIAJUNWA. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

AMIKE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. AMIKE CHINWE JACINTA, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHINWE J. PRINCE OMA OBIRE. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

NDUKWE

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. LYDIA OLUCHI NDUKWE BENJAMIN, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIBUEZE- BEN LYDIA OLUCHI. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NMAWOKWE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. NMAWOKWE CHINAZUM CATHERINE, now wish to be known as Mrs. NKEMDIRIM CHINAZUM CATHERINE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

ADVERT: Simply produce your marriage certificate or sworn affidavit for a change of name publication, with just N4,500. The payment can be made through - FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc. Account number - 2017220392 Account Name VINTAGE PRESS LIMITED Scan the details of your advert and teller to gbengaodejide@yahoo.com or thenation.advert@gmail.com.

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75

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

New militant group claims responsibility for Cairo blast

Egypt election: Hamdeen Sabahi to run against Sisi

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GYPTIAN politician Hamdeen Sabahi has officially submitted his candidacy in forthcoming presidential elections.

Mr Sabahi, a left-winger who came third in the previous poll in 2012, is so far the only challenger to former army chief Abdel Fattah alSisi - who last month announced that he was standing.

Gen Sisi led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July after mass opposition protests.

Correspondents say he is likely to win the presidency, given his popularity.

Mr Sabahi submitted the required documents to the election committee after gathering 31,100 signatures, his campaign said on Saturday.

The required number of signatures is 25,000. Gen Sisi presented his documents last week after gathering 200,000.

Nominations close today. So far, there are no other candidates.

The first round of the presidential election has been set for 26-27 May. If no candidate wins more than 50% in the first round, a second will be held in June.

If Mr Sisi does become president, he will be the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military, going back to the 1950s - a line only briefly broken during President Morsi's year in office.

Human rights groups say the military-backed authorities have displayed increasing hostility to independent media and to political opponents.

Sunken SKorean ferry captain, two crew arrested

T

HE captain of the ferry that sank off South Korea, leaving more than 300 missing or dead, was arrested yesterday on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. Two crew members also were taken into custody, including a rookie third mate who a prosecutor said was steering in challenging waters unfamiliar to her when the accident occurred.

The number of confirmed dead rose to 32 when three bodies were found in the murky water near the ferry, said coast guard spokesman Kim Jae-in. Divers know at least some bodies remain inside the vessel, but they have been unable to get inside.

The ferry's captain, Lee Joon-seok, 68, was arrested along with one of the Sewol's three helmsmen and the 25year-old third mate, prosecutors said.

"I am sorry to the people of South Korea for causing a disturbance and I bow my head in apology to the families of the victims," Lee told reporters yesterday morning.

T

HE Egyptian militant group Ajnad Misr claimed responsibility yesterday for a blast that killed one police officer in Cairo.

The bomb exploded in Cairo's Lebanon Square on Friday night, killing the officer and wounding another.

Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, said in a statement on an Islamist website that its militants had monitored a police checkpoint in the square before detonating the bomb.

The group formally announced itself in January saying it would target "criminal elements" in the military-backed government.

It has claimed at least six attacks since then, including explosions outside Cairo University which killed a police brigadier-general and one other person earlier this month. • Buddhist followers pray for missing passengers aboard a capsized ferry at a temple in Seoul yesterday. Investigators yesterday arrested the captain accused of abandoning the South Korean ferry that capsized three days ago with 476 people on board, as divers finally accessed the submerged vessel and spotted bodies inside.

AFP PHOTO

French journalists freed after 10-month Syria hostage ordeal

Yemen drone strike kills 15 F Qaeda suspects, 3 civilians

A

drone strike yesterday killed 15 Al-Qaeda suspects and three civilians in Yemen's central Baida province, a stronghold of the extremist group, a security official said.

The jihadists were travelling in a vehicle towards the southern Shabwa province, witnesses said. The three civilians were passing by in another car.

The United States is the only country that operates drones in Yemen, but officials rarely discuss the covert programme.

Last month, Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi defended the use of drones against Al-Qaeda in his country, which has killed dozens of militants in a sharply intensified campaign over the past year.

Drone strikes "have greatly helped in limiting AlQaeda activities, despite some mistakes, which we are sorry about," Hadi told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.

The drone programme has come under criticism from human rights activists concerned over civilian casualties.

The United Nations said 16 civilians were killed and at least 10 wounded when two separate wedding processions were targeted in December.

The victims had been mistakenly identified as Al-Qaeda members, it quoted local security officials as saying at the time.

Following the deaths, Yemen's parliament voted for a ban on drone strikes, but analysts say lawmakers are unlikely to be able to halt the US campaign.

The US has defended the drone campaign, which allows it to target Al-Qaeda without the use of ground forces in lawless areas where authorities cannot or will not act against the group.

Militants regularly attack security forces from hideouts in the mountainous terrain of Baida.

On Tuesday, Al-Qaeda suspects shot dead the province's vice governor and an intelligence officer.

Tribal sources in the region claim a recent video of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula chief Nasser alWuhayshi welcoming 19 militants who escaped a Sanaa prison was filmed between Shabwa and Baida.

Addressing scores of jihadists in the rare video ap-

pearance, Wuhayshi pledged to pursue the war against Western "crusaders" everywhere possible.

In the February jailbreak, AQAP militants slammed a car bomb into the eastern gate of a Sanaa prison as others attacked the guards at its main entrance. The attack allowed 29 inmates to escape, including the 19 jihadists.

Yemen is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden and the home base of AQAP, which has been linked to a number of failed attacks on the US homeland.

The group has taken advantage of the weakening of Yemen's central government since 2011, when a popular uprising erupted that eventually forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 33 years in power.

Death toll hits 13 in worst tragedy on Everest

R

ESCUERS recovered the body of one mountain guide yesterday after an ice avalanche swept the lower slopes of Mount Everest, bringing the death toll to at least 13 in the deadliest accident on the world's highest mountain.

The avalanche struck a perilous passage called the Khumbu Icefall, which is riddled with crevasses and piled with serac - or huge chunks of ice - that can break free without warning.

"We were tied on a rope and carrying gas to camp when there was a sudden hrrrr sound," said

Ang Kami Sherpa, 25, one of at least three survivors flown by helicopter to Kathmandu. "We knew it was an avalanche but we couldn't run away or do anything.

"There was a big chunk of snow that fell over us and swept us away. It looked like clouds, all white," he said in a hospital intensive care unit where he was being treated for a blood clot on his leg and facial injuries.

Climbers declared a fourday halt to efforts to scale the 8,848-metre (29,029-ft) summit and, while some decided to aban-

don their mission, others said they would go ahead after talking to their guides. All of the victims were sherpa mountain guides.

"Everyone is shaken here at Base Camp. Some climbers are packing up and calling it quits, they want nothing to do with this," Tim Rippel of Peak Freaks Expeditions wrote in a blog.

Shocked relatives wondered how they would cope without the men who take huge risks to earn up to $5,000 for a two-month expedition - around 10 times average annual pay in

Nepal.

"He was the only breadwinner in the family," said 17-yearold Phinjum Sherpa, as she waited for the body of her uncle, Tenji Sherpa, at a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu. "We have no one to take care of us."

Although relatively low on the mountain, climbers say the icefall is one of the most dangerous places on Mount Everest. There are, however, no safer paths along the famous South Col route scaled by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

OUR French journalists taken hostage in Syria last year were freed yesterday after a 10-month ordeal in the world's most dangerous country for the media.

French President Francois Hollande announced the release of Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres, saying they were "in good health despite the very challenging conditions of their captivity".

Turkish soldiers found the four men abandoned in noman's land on the border with Syria overnight, wearing blindfolds and with their hands bound, the Turkish news agency Dogan reported.

They had been captured in two separate incidents in June last year while covering the conflict in Syria.

Two expats die of MERS in Saudi

T

WO foreigners died of MERS in the Saudi city of Jeddah, the health ministry said yesterday, as fears rise over the spreading respiratory virus in the kingdom's commercial hub.

The ministry said five more people were infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the western city, including two foreign medics aged 54.

The latest deaths of a 64year-old and 44-year-old, whose nationalities were undisclosed, bring to 76 the overall number of people to have died of MERS in Saudi Arabia, from a total of 231 infections.

Panic over the spread of MERS among medical staff in Jeddah this month forced the temporary closure of a hospital emergency room, prompting Health Minister Abdullah alRabiah to visit the facility in a bid to calm the public.

76

WORLD NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014

T

HE release of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, at the time arguably the world’s most famous political prisoner, in November 2010 seemed like a turning point for her isolated nation. The following year saw the military junta—which had ruled the country (also known as Myanmar) since taking power in a coup in 1962— hand over the reigns to a nominally civilian government. Crippling economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe were eased, allowing much needed capital to flow in.

Political prisoners were released, and censorship of the media and the Internet was relaxed. Once described as “one of the most repressive [countries] in the world,” Burma was on its way to becoming another autocratic also-ran, on par with Indonesia or Russia rather than North Korea.

“The war goes on,” Tha U Wa A Pa the leader of the Free Burma Rangers, tells me from deep within the Burmese jungle. Since 2011, attacks on ethnic minority groups, which opposed the junta for decades, have continued— and in some instances the situation has actually gotten worse. Over 100,000 people have had to flee their homes due to Burmese military actions in Kachin state, while inter-ethnic violence against the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority in western Burma— allegedly encouraged or orchestrated by the military—has displaced more than 140,000 people.

“Since Thein Sein became president [in March 2011], human-rights abuses which violate international law have increased,” said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK, a London-based human-rights organization.

Much of the outside world’s knowledge of those abuses comes from the Free Burma Rangers, perhaps the most remarkable human-rights group that you’ve likely never heard of.

Founded in 1997 by an ex-U.S. soldier (Tha U Wa A Pa is a Karen pseudonym; I have withheld his real name, and the names of other rangers upon request for their protection), the FBR could be described as Médecins Sans Frontières with guns.

Tha was born in Texas in 1960, but spent much of his early life in Thailand, where his parents, evangelical Christians, ran a school.

As an adult, Tha returned to the U.S. and joined the army, serving in Central America before transferring to the Special Forces, which sent him back to Southeast Asia. In 1992, he retired from the army to attend California’s prestigious Fuller Theological Seminary, Rick Warren’s alma mater.

Like his parents, Tha U Wa A Pa was drawn to missionary work, and after graduation he returned to Thailand, not knowing that events taking place on the other side of the Thai-Burma border would change his life forever.

In 1988, after decades of stagnant economic growth and political repression, pro-democracy demonstrations swept across Burma, leading to a violent crackdown in which thousands died.

The demonstrations did initially seem to have been effective, however, with the government agreeing to democratic elections within the next two years.

In May 1990, Burma had its first free elections in 30 years. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 392 of 489 parliamentary seats.

But the government decided it wasn’t so keen on democracy after all and began an extended crackdown on dissidents and civil society actors.

After the government ruled the election—which it organized and oversaw—illegitimate, hundreds of pro-democracy activists were jailed and Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest. The regime then turned its attention to the various ethnic militias in open revolt against it, particularly the Karen National Union which at the

Myanmar’s Free Burma Rangers are like Doctors without Borders… with guns The Free Burma Rangers are one of the few aid groups left operating in Myanmar’s contested ethnic states— and their work often straddles the line between humanitarian relief and armed activism.

BY JAMES GRIFFITHS

time was effectively operating an autonomous state in Burma’s south, with taxes, social security, and an army. In January 1995, Manerplaw, the Karen capital, fell to the Burmese army and tens of thousands of refugees began pouring into Thailand.

Tha was loosely involved in the prodemocracy movement at the time; he met with Suu Kyi in Rangoon in 1996 to help set up a global ‘day of prayer’ for Burma, which continues until this day. But it wasn’t until 1997 that he threw himself wholeheartedly into the Burmese cause.

Further offensives by the Burmese Army in 1997 displaced over a million people and the number of refugees living in makeshift camps on the Thai-Burma border surpassed 100,000 for the first time. Tha had begun working with Karen refugees in Thailand when one day he decided to head into Burma itself. There, he and a Karen associate worked as emergency medics until their supplies ran out. Tha returned to Thailand to restock on medicine, and the Free Burma Rangers were born.

FBR activities fall into three broad

categories: humanitarian relief, documentation, and training. Rangers provide emergency medical care, shelter, food, and clothing to people living in war zones and the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDP) trying to eke out an existence in the Burmese jungle.

According to FBR records, the group has treated around 360,000 patients since its founding, an average of one or two thousand per mission, and provided assistance to over 750,000 people. (While there is no way to independently verify these numbers, analysts from Human Rights Watch say they believe the figures are trustworthy.) Rangers also document atrocities and human-rights abuses by the Burmese Army, of which there are many. During several months of communicating with Tha and other FBR representatives, my inbox filled up with photos and firsthand accounts of alleged torture and executions, and stories of villagers who had seen their homes destroyed and their relatives killed or abducted for use as porters, carrying supplies for the army with little food or rest until they are released (or more often, die of exhaustion). In For Us Surrender is

Out of the Question, Mac McClelland describes how Burmese army offences can be charted by the “trail of porters’ corpses left in their wake.” In a February report on Burmese Army attacks in Kachin State, Rangers said they found the body of a man who had been strung up and scalded with boiling water before being summarily executed.

The Rangers’ reporting appears to be solid. In January 2013, a video released by the group to the BBC, showing attack helicopters and jets attacking trenches held by the Kachin Independence Army, helped halt government offences in the area.

The Rangers are not a neutral organization however, and the group is intrinsically linked with the “ethnic resistance armies” (what the government terms more simply “rebels”) such as the Karen National Liberation Army or the Kachin Independence Army. The ethnic armies protect the Rangers (many of whom are drawn from the same ethnic groups) and in return the FBR provides expertise and training. The group operates secret bases in Karen and Shan states where ethnic soldiers are trained in everything from emergency medical care and logistics, to land mine removal and battlefield communications.

This partnership allows the FBR to operate in a country not exactly hospitable to international humanrights organizations—Médecins Sans Frontières was expelled from Burma in late February after almost two decades—but comes at a price. While the FBR does not provide guns to its members, neither does the group forbid them from arming themselves. Unlike most human-rights NGOs, the FBR website has an “in memoriam” section which catalogues rangers killed in action, some of whom were reportedly tortured to death by the Burmese Army.

That the work of the FBR has changed little since the group’s inception is perhaps the most damning indictment of the Burmese government’s purported reforms. It is in Tha’s nature to be optimistic, but even he is skeptical of the government’s commitment to change while the military remains largely in control.

Other rangers are more blunt. “The Burmese Army has not changed,” one Karenni ranger said. “Ordinary people are suffering more than before.”

Ceasefires between the government and rebel groups do not help the situation, according to a Karen ranger who helped document the Burmese Army’s resupplying of its bases in the region during a lull in hostilities, believed to be in preparation for future actions against the KNU. “While ceasefire have meant less abuses in some states, ethnic people are deeply concerned that there are more, not fewer Burmese Army soldiers in their areas,” said Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK. “Groups who have been less compliant to the demands of the government, such as the Kachin, have faced renewed and increased conflict, and terrible human rights abuses.”

As the hope which accompanied Suu Kyi’s release fades into memory, it’s difficult to find much to be positive about in Burma. According to Farmaner, the reforms of 2011 have largely come to naught. Suu Kyi has been sidelined and, in the eyes of many Burmese human-rights campaigners, compromised by her reticence in standing up for the Rohingya in the face of Buddhist antiMuslim violence. The world’s longest running civil war, as the FBR has documented, carries on.

I ask Tha how he finds the motivation to continue: “We love the people of Burma, this is our heart. We enjoy the life in the field, this is our body. We feel this is God’s place for us, this is our soul.”

Source: dailybeast.com

NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 20, 2014

Ekweremadu seeks forgiveness, love From Sanni Onogu, Abuja

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EPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday called on Nigerians to imbibe the lessons of forgiveness and love inherent in Easter.

Ekweremadu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, to mark the Easter celebration, noted that forgiveness, self-sacrifice, love, and patriotism were indispensable instruments in nation building.

He urged Nigerians to eschew hate, selfishness and malice.

He said: “On the occasion of Easter, God wants to remind us of his selfless love for mankind in giving his only son as the sacrificial lamb to atone for our sins and the power of love to raise from the dead.

“Therefore, Easter is not just an event but a way of individual and national life of forgiveness, reconciliation, love, peace, unity, and patriotic zeal, which we must all imbibe to surmount present challenges and bring about the much desired national renaissance and development”.

EASTER MESSAGES

Jonathan reassures on security

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R E S I D E N T Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reassured the rising security challenges in the country will soon be over. He said Nigeria will overcome all retrogressive and divisive forces in the nation.

This was contained in his Easter message to Nigerians.

Jonathan noted that brotherly love, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, honesty, humility, justice, equity and fairness to all without discrimination as preached in the Holy Bible are of particular importance to Nigeria today.

He said: “I greet you all,

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

especially our Christian brothers and sisters who are celebrating Easter and commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ today.

“As we join Christians in other countries of the world in celebrating Easter this year, I urge all Nigerians to reflect on the significance of its lessons of piety, obedience to higher authorities, self sacrifice for the good of others, redemption, salvation, deliverance, renewal and the ultimate triumph of good over evil”.

He went on: “As our Christian compatriots cel-

ebrate the Messiah’s triumph over death and all that it connotes, let us all renew our faith and confidence in our ability as a people to overcome all obstacles, challenges and threats to national progress and well-being, including terrorism and other criminal attacks on our people in some parts of the country.”

“My belief in our ability to overcome all retrogressive and divisive forces in our midst and build a strong, united and prosperous nation by turning our unique diversity into a source of strength remains unshaken and we will continue to work with all

interest groups and stakeholders in the country to achieve the peaceful, secure and politically stable conditions essential for rapid socio-economic development.” He said Despite the evil activities of terrorists, criminals and their collaborators, the President reiterated his administration is focused on efforts to successfully execute the Federal Government’s Agenda for National Transformation to achieve sustained development.

He also commiserated with the families of the victims of the recent terrorist attacks.

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TH Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, has pleaded with indigenes to forgive all those behind their plights in the spirit of Easter and resist the temptation to take laws into their hands.

He reiterated his commitment to the restoration of peace in the state by ending the lingering attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen leading to displacement of thousands of people.

The governor said he was working tirelessly in collaboration with the federal government and the security forces deployed to ensure normalcy returns to the crisis-ridden communities.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on media and public affairs, Cletus Akwaya, the governor urged Christians to use the period to reflect on the lessons of the holy season of Easter which include humility, sacrifice, peace, forgiveness,

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ORMER Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, has called on Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love and sacrifice as they celebrate Easter.

In an Easter goodwill message by his media office in Abuja, Atiku enjoined Christians and Nigerians to internalise the spiritual gains and benefits of the season for an improved society.

According to him, this is the only path to enthroning a Nigeria where the basic human rights of the rich and poor are respected and upheld, and where citizens can dwell in peace and safety.

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

Atiku preaches sacrifice

Suswam advocates forgiveness

Don’t despair, Oshiomhole counsels

PFN prays for victims of Nyanya blasts today

HE Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has declared special prayers for families of the victims of Nyanya bomb blast today.

In a statement by its National President, Rev. Dr. Felix Omobude, the PFN said: “We mourn the loss of our fallen compatriots in Abuja, many of whom were felled in their prime.

“We pray for comfort and solace for the grieving families, friends of the departed and the generality of Nigerians.

“We also wish the survivors, who are receiving treatment speedy recovery while praying for God to restore all that they have lost. We encourage all Nigerians to come together to fight this evil.”

The PFN condemned the constant abduction of school girls in the northeast by the social renegades called Boko Haram.

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•A cross section of Catholic Faithful during the veneration of the Cross at Sacred Heart Parish, Gwagwalada in Abuja on PHOTO: NAN Friday

Let’s work together to make Nigeria safer-Mark

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HE Senate President, David Mark, has appealed for unity in the nation’s fight against terror.

He said Nigeria can bring terrorists and other evil workers to their knees if there is unity of purpose.

Mark, in an Easter message by his chief press secretary, Paul Mumeh, also cautioned against politicisation of security matters, stating that every

Nigerian is now a victim of terrorism.

According to him: “There is an answer to the security problems in our coming together as a team to tackle the menace headlong.

“There is a great wisdom in all of us, both the government and the governed, uniting against the forces of evil in the land.

There is no mountain we cannot pull if we work to-

gether.

“The perpetrators of the evil acts can be brought to their knees if we work harmoniously and honestly with a common purpose”.

The Senate President warned against politicking with the security problems ravaging parts of the nation, stressing that the issue is beyond ethnic, religious or political affiliations “because everyone is now a victim.”

He stated:“It would,

therefore, be uncharitable, unfair and a disservice to the Nigerian people to play politics with the attacks and killings of our defenceless country men and women.

“When these criminals attack, they do not isolate men from women or party A from party B. “Everybody is their victim. It therefore, demands that all of us must rise against them. We can defeat them if we unite.”

message to Nigerians, said: “We cannot continue to dance on the graves of our dead children and compatriots and claim that we were elected to lead them.

“We lose our credibility and legitimacy if we dilly dally in our collective response to the near genocide taking place in our country.

“Nigerians deserve better.

They deserve peace. They deserve a government that can apply itself to the task at hand”.

He added: “As we remember the death of Jesus and celebrate his resurrection, we must never forget

that if not for the sacrifice he made for all, there could never have been a celebration and hope for a better future.

“Such is the message of Easter to all our leaders to make the sacrifices necessary so that our country will be better”.

While wishing all Christians a happy and wonderful Easter, he called on them to remain fervent in prayers for Nigeria so that God will turn the country’s fortune around.

The former Lagos governor lamented that Nigeria of today is not exactly the kind our founding fathers envisioned.

“Given our abundant natural resources and human capacity, Nigeria has no business with poverty, The insecurity and massive unemployment.

“We must all pray that God will provide Nigeria God- fearing leaders with the vision and will to embark on the kind of change the country needs.”

He said the menace and atrocities of terrorists must be curbed urgently.

“Let all men of goodwill, irrespective of party, religion or creed come together to find a solution to this unending and unconscionable killings and shedding of blood.”

Nigeria deserves betters, says Tinubu

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HE National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has stated that Nigeria deserves better than the wanton destructions and deaths ravaging the land.

He charged political leaders to shed their egos, forgo their selfishness and renew their commitment to the people who elected them.

According to him, the current political and security situation is salvageable if leaders dare to serve the electorates.

Tinubu, in his Easter

DO State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has urged Nigerians not to despair or lose faith despite the numerous challenges facing the nation.

He assured that with prayers, the country will overcome her trials and achieve greatness.

In his Easter message, Oshiomhole urged Nigerians to seek the face of God and pray for the return of peace to every part of the country.

According to him: “Nigerians must see beyond the trials of the moment and continue to pray and seek the face of God for an end to the challenges of the moment”.

He added: “As Christians, we need to find deeper meaning and appeal in the symbolism of the death and resurrection of Christ.

“The lesson of Easter is for Christians to rededicate themselves to the teachings of Christ which are peace, faith, hope and love.

Imoke solicits for peace From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

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ross River State governor, Liyel Imoke, has enjoined Nigerians to close ranks and confront the current realities facing the nation.

In his Easter goodwill message by his chief press secretary, Christian Ita, Imoke urged Christians to use the opportunity of the celebration to rededicate themselves to the values of love, peace, sacrifice and tolerance embodied in the death of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

He said: “As we celebrate Easter, let us reflect on the significance of the season, which is sacrifice, to reach out to one another.”

QUOTABLE

“The Presidency is playing a dangerous game by seeking to make a political capital out of an insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, and done incalculable damage to property and the economy. It is now clear that this Presidency has its eyes firmly fixed on benefitting from the insurgency, and that is had no interest in any genuine measures to end it…”

SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 8, NO. 2824

—The All Progressives Congress (APC) accusing President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of politicising Nigeria’s security crises by excluding APC governors from last Thursday’s National Security Meeting.

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AST Wednesday, Vice President Namadi Sambo spoke of his party’s preparations for the Ekiti and Osun elections slated for June and August respectively. He is of course entitled to speak and act with as much self-aggrandisement as he can muster, and to inflate the hopes and expectations of his party and its candidates. But what he is not entitled to is his undignified and provocative use of language, one that absolutely does not edify his office or person. “We are going to the war front to bring back our stolen mandate,” he said brutally, if a little surprisingly, for someone previously thought to be mild-mannered and more polished than his principal. “Everybody knows that Ekiti belongs to PDP: they used all instruments to take it away from us.”

With that careless innuendo, the vice president spoke many untruths and denigrated his high office. Comparing the Ekiti and Osun political campaigns to war fronts in a society struggling to exorcise the pernicious influences of military rule and the concomitant effects of militarised minds is both reckless and unreflective. He might, like any other nostalgic civilian, wish to romanticise the electoral battles ahead as military engagements, but the demands of his office, not to say the longrunning battles his country has waged to democratise the polity and rid it of arbitrariness, ought to have sensitise him to the use of proper language and etiquette.

But likening politics to war was not the only gaffe the vice president made last Wednesday in Abuja. Like the often bucolic President Goodluck Jonathan, he also suggested wildly that the victories of the APC governors in Ekiti and Osun were procured by dangerous artifices, in particular through conniving courts. It sadly did not occur to the vice president that his office imposes great responsibility on him to sustain rather than undermine the independence and sanctity of the judiciary.

As a matter of fact both he and the president, not to talk of the many philistines and hawks in top echelons of the PDP, actually believe the court judgements that brought the APC to power in Ekiti and Osun were illegitimately procured. Even if it were so, it is still unbecoming of the vice president to lend credence to such dangerous and damaging insinuations. Once the highest court of jurisdiction gives a judgement, state officials at the level of the presidency must act and speak deco-

‘General’ Sambo goes to the war front rously.

Vice President Namadi may have been put in charge of the PDP campaign to reclaim Ekiti and Osun States, but his reputation as a robust and suave mind should have dictated a better approach to the selfstyled war he wishes so indecorously to wage. Had he in fact forborne a little and not excitedly subscribed to the historical fallacy bandied by PDP apparatchiks, he would have rephrased his inaccurate ascription of the two states’ ownership. While it is true that the PDP once governed the two states, it is even truer that the APC, through its progenitors, first governed the two states at the dawn of the Fourth Republic.

The vice president is, however, unlikely to find the motivation to restrain himself in his actions and use of language. It takes much deeper understanding of issues, not to say exposure to the politics and styles of other great climes, for those in high office in Nigeria to embrace measured and polished language.

The desperation to win the coming polls in Ekiti and Osun, and everywhere in 2015, will consistently predispose both the president and the vice president, and of course many

others in the PDP, to their characteristic fallacies and flippancy.

Two problems emerge from the vice president’s dangerous rhetoric. One is that the Nigerian government’s continuing misuse of power, as their often violent language and actions show, is one more confirmation that African rulers don’t react well to issues of power. Even though they are beneficiaries of modern constitutional arrangements, they have remained substantially and instinctively monarchical in mind and in practice.

Any challenge to their persons and policies is nearly always perceived as treason, or in mild cases, as disrespectful of the ‘exalted office of the President.’ They therefore have less motivation in speaking or acting with the courteousness Nigerians demand of them and are constitutionally entitled to.

The second problem is the general unwillingness of African leaders to institute conditions and structures by which their societies could flower and endure. It is not too clear what is behind that slothfulness. Could it be a lack of knowledge, or just plain

Boko Haram, sex slaves and counterinsurgency

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LL those who ever secretly or openly supported Boko Haram either as a social, political, economic or sectarian revolt should feel deeply mortified by the sect’s atrocious and nihilistic transformations. The sect always had it in them, especially judging from the circumstances surrounding its founding and initial operations, to engage in very appalling and destructive anti-social behaviour.

But it fooled many who were hoodwinked by its sectarian appeal, many who thought that in some quaint way it represented an uprising against political and economic corruption, many who were beguiled by its regional proclivities. Given its second major abduction of schoolgirls this year, it has become abundantly clear that the sect is irredeemably evil and that it represents the twisted and selfish interest of its demented and perverted founders and supporters.

As I indicated in this place a few weeks back, I am not sure that Nigeria has learnt the appropriate lessons from the disturbance sufficient to end the uprising. Neither the federal government which was for a long time ambivalent in fighting the sect, nor the religious, social and political elites of the North which initially saw the sect as a puritanical and messianic tool for societal cleansing, nor the dispossessed who saw it as a fitting retribution against govern-

•Badeh

•Minimah

ment at all levels for years of official tyranny , has had a new and deeper appreciation of the concepts of tolerance, justice, fairness and equity, and that these values actually transcend tribe, religion, class or political grouping.

More practically, however, it beggars belief that the security agencies were not proactive in defending the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, nor was their defensive dragnet tight enough to forestall the abductions of over a 100 students from that school. The first major abduction of about 20 schoolgirls at Konduga in Borno State in February caught the government and its security agencies flatfooted, notwithstanding the declaration of a state of emergency in that state and two others. Not all the girls have been freed. And now this. Coming a day after the Nyanya, Abuja bombing in which more than 75 people lost their lives, the Chibok, Borno

State abductions are bound to fuel a feeling of hopelessness and to underscore mounting lack of confidence in the ability of the government to perform its constitutional duty of protecting its people.

Every Nigerian, especially parents, must be deeply distressed by the abductions and the implication for the safety and chastity of the abducted girls. It is truly heartrending.

Indeed, every such abduction brings the country frightfully close to an implosion, as reports of parents determined to go into the bushes to liberate their daughters show. Dr Jonathan has called a security meeting, as he always does every time such horrendous crimes are committed. But does his government have a new plan to fight the sect? Does he himself inspire courage in the society and in those fighting the anarchists? Not only has the president inexplicably failed to visit the affected areas and show heartfelt empathy, even when he visited, all he did was talk down to the traumatised people of the emergency states.

More and more, the Jonathan presidency looks absolutely befuddled, if not paralysed, in fighting the sect. But the president clearly does not have time on his side. Nor do we as a country. If we do not defeat the sect very soon, the sect will be the death of us, for the country is so dangerously close to the precipice and so inflammable that a small fire at any remote part can provoke a conflagration.

indiscipline? Looking at Dr Jonathan’s policies and hearing the vice president’s statements on Ekiti and Osun, it is tempting to think it is a question of ignorance. If they knew the positive implications of promoting democratic values and principles, they might be motivated to honour their oaths of office, knowing full well that in the long run, their successors, country and people, not to say their own children, would thrive in a stable polity, one in which justice, fairness and equity would reign.

But perhaps it is a question of lack of discipline. African leaders are notoriously undisciplined, privately and publicly, as past Nigerian rulers showed. Until Nelson Mandela came along, it was thought that the continent was an unrelenting landscape of brutal and undisciplined rulers who find it difficult to even obey the laws they themselves wrote. Vice-president Sambo owes it to himself as the polished mind we are used to not to surrender to the putrefactive mannerisms of his party.

He is surely enlightened enough to know how to fight an election and campaign for votes with the decency inherent in his professional training and the civilisation intrinsic to his fundamental make-up. As for his principal, the one who enthrals only when he indulges his bucolic simplicity, this column gave up a long time ago.

Obanikoro’s speciousness

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ESPONDING to accusation of misusing the military for political ends, the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, has offered what is at best a specious explanation for his giddy actions in the past few weeks. He had been accused of deploying, or causing to be deployed, soldiers for the recent Ondo byelection. He was also accused of militarising Ile-Ife, together with Jelili Adesiyan who swooped on the town with truck loads of policemen, during the last Ife day. And, now, he is also accused of using soldiers to subvert the Lagos State government over a land matter clearly not in his purview.

His response does not do credit to his claims of intelligence. He had asked his accusers whether they knew how soldiers were deployed, as if in fact we didn’t. The military themselves, reports say, were embarrassed by what the junior minister was doing with soldiers everywhere. The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ondo State had complained about Mr Obanikoro’s obtrusion during the by-election. And even though the REC has rephrased his complaint, the essential details of Mr Obanikoro’s malfeasance remain unchanged. What business did he have with the Ondo by-election? Indeed, how does the Lagos land matter concern the Ministry of Defence to warrant his interference?

The fact is that in their obsequious minds, both Mr Obanikoro and Mr Adesiyan interpret their appointments as empowerment to subvert the governments of the Southwest, especially in states where elections will be held soon, and to reclaim the zone for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But if they must, should they destroy their zone in order to accomplish the task, or subvert due process and the constitution to please their employers?

But in all, it is a reflection of the low amperage of character left in both the military and the police that ministers could flagrantly and unconstitutionally suborn the security agencies for reprehensible, unethical and partisan duties. In addition, it is a reflection of the contempt the Jonathan presidency has for the country and its constitution that some of its ministers could embark on adventures that ridicule and undermine the country in the estimation of the world.

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