The Nation November 30, 2011

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Senate prescribes 14-year jail for same sex couple Eagles star Obinna Nsofor to undergo knee surgery Ogun budgets N99.5b for capital projects in 2012

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VOL. 7, NO. 1960 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

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•ACN alleges plot to arrest Audu •AND MORE •’PDP’s end in Kogi will come on Saturday’ •’We’re stockpilling the electorate, not arms’

KOGI 2011

•COUNTDOWN TO THE DECEMBER 3 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN THE CONFLUENCE STATE •PAGES 8,43,44&45

Governors’ tenure

Supreme Court puts off verdict From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

F

OR five hours yesterday, five governors tried to convince the Supreme Court to let them keep their seats.

The governors are Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Liyel Imoke (Cross River). They are members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This was at the hearing of an appeal filed by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

A seven-member panel of Justices, chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Dahiru Continued on page 4

•Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola presenting the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2011 Award to Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (second left) at a dinner in honour of the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2011, organised by the ABN Publishing in Lagos ... on Monday. With them are: Managing Director, Africa Forbes, Mr. Chris Bishop (left), Group Managing Director, First Bank of Nigeria PLC, Mr. Bisi Onasanya (second right) and Vice Chairman, CNBC Africa, Mr. Rakesh Wahi PHOTO: DAVID ADEJO

Ojukwu: Jonathan gets demand for state burial Obi visits President Senate to debate death From Onyedi Ojiabor, Chris Oji, Enugu and Nwanosike Onu, Akwa

T

HE President has been urged to approve state burial for Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Igbo leader who died in London on Saturday.

Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who visited the Presidential Villa in Abuja Monday night, according to sources, told Dr Goodluck Jonathan that “given the stream of tributes for Ojukwu,” the ex-Biafran leader should get a state burial.

Obi, who officially informed the President of Ojukwu’s death, also thanked him for his concern throughout the 11month period of Ojukwu’s illness, it was learnt.

Besides, the request for a state funeral, there SEE is also a demand for a posthumous national ALSO honour for the late Ojukwu.

The former President-General of Ohanaeze •A TEARFUL TASK: Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola presenting a plaque to Mr. PAGES Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife, who spoke on be- Afolabi Razak, son of the late Lamidi Eesade, who was assassinated in the political crisis in the

2&3

state, during the last administration, during the celebration of Heroes and Martyrs of Democracy in Continued on page 4 Osogbo ... yesterday.

STORY ON PAGE 7.

ICPC chair may be dropped From Yusuf Alli and Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja

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HE fate of the nominated Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) chairman was hanging in the balance yesterday, after President Goodluck Jonathan failed to administer the oath of office on him.

Mr Fracis Ugochukwu Elechi was stopped at the gate of the Villa.

Security operatives told Continued on page 4

•JACKSON’S DOCTOR JAILED P60 •OYO DISBANDS SHOOTING P41

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

2

NEWS EMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU (1933 - 2011)

Towns that made Ojukwu speak Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, French, English The late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu spoke Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, English and French fluently. He might have achieved this feat through his sojourn in Nnewi, Zungeru, Lagos, London, Enugu, Yamoussoukro and Bingerville, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

Z

UNGERU, a town now in Niger State, had its trappings. It was the capital of the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria from 1902 to 1916. Colonial administrator Frederick Lugard chose the town as capital of Northern Nigeria over Jebba and Lokoja owing to its central location.

The British cleared the forest in the area and established a market, military barracks, and hospital, among other things. Seven years after Zungeru became a capital city, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was born. Years later, even though Zungeru was no longer the capital, it still held a lot of promises. Ojukwu, an Igboman from Nnewi, made it a home and from there he operated a transport business, which soon made him Nigeria’s first millionaire. He gave birth to his first son, Emeka, in this town on November 4, 1933. He was 24.

By the time Emeka, who later became head of the defunct Biafran Republic, was to start school, his father took him to Lagos. In 1944, he was briefly put in jail for assaulting a white British colonial teacher who was humiliating a black woman at King’s College in Lagos, an event which generated widespread coverage in local newspapers.

London was his next port of call, the town where he died last weekend. At 13, his father sent him overseas to study in the United Kingdom; first at Epsom College and later at Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he earned a Master’s degree in history. He returned to colonial Nigeria in 1956. When he took ill early this year, he was flown to London for treatment. He eventually died after months of anxiety.

He returned to Enugu after his sojourn in London. The late Odumegwu-Ojukwu joined the civil service of the defunct Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer in Udi. In 1957, he left the colonial service and joined the military. He was, by then, the second university graduate to join the Nigerian Army.

He served in the United Nations’ peace-keeping force in the Congo, under Maj-Gen. Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi. In 1964, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and posted to Kano, where he took charge of the 5th Battalion. He was in this position when the 1966 coup took place. His support for the forces loyal to Major-General AguiyiIronisi paid off as he was later made the military governor of Eastern Region.

The counter coup of July 1966 re-

‘

His journey through some of these towns made him multilingual.

He picked up Yoruba in Lagos before learning to speak his native Igbo. His mastery of English language was as a result of good education at home and in London. Hausa became one of the languages he spoke fluently because he was born in Zungeru and he served as an Army officer in the North.

His exile in Bingerville and Yamoussoukro added French to his chain of languages

’

sulted in pogroms in the North.

Many Igbo were killed. The late Odumegwu-Ojukwu led talks to end hostilities by seeking peace with then military head of state Gen. Yakubu Gowon. The military leadership met in Aburi, a town northeast of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. But on their return to Nigeria, the agreements reached were not implemented to the satisfaction of all parties to the talks.

This failure to resolve the issues amicably, creation of states in the Eastern Region and continued massacre of Igbo in the North led Ojukwu to announce a secession of the Eastern Region from Nigeria under the name Biafra in 1967. The sequence of events sparked the Nigerian civil war.

Aburi, where the failed talks to prevent the war took place, is famous for the Aburi Botanical Gardens. It is home to Aburi Presbyterian Technical Secondary School, which is linked to The Sixth Form College, Farnborough in Hampshire, England. Aburi has a relatively small population and is headed by the Aburihene (chief of Aburi). The journey from Accra to Aburi is about 45 minutes (less

‘A reformist is gone’

F

ORMER Special Assistant to the late Chief M.K.O Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Lisa Olu Akerele, has said the country has lost a reformist with the death of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

In a statement in Abuja, Akerele said Ojukwu was destined for the progress of Nigeria.

Akerele, however, observed that if leaders like when the dual carriage road from Tetteh Quarshie Circle to Adenta Barrier is completed next year.)

Due to the altitude of Aburi, the climate is a lot cooler than neighbouring Accra.

Aburi is host to one of the finest wood markets not only in Ghana but in Africa. It has been rumoured that goods manufactured at the Aburi markets are being sold to tourists in South Africa.

Before the defeat of Biafran forces, the late Odumegwu-Ojukwu proclaimed the Ahiara Declaration on June 1, 1969 in Ahiara in the present Imo State. This was one event that has shaped the history of the town.

On realising that the battle for

Ojukwu had risen beyond their ethnic cleavages and viewed the June 12 annulment with a national perspective, the country would have been a better entity today.

He urged Ojukwu’s contemporaries still alive and the younger generation to strive beyond their ethnic enclave, and view Nigeria from a nationalistic perspective.

secession had been lost, he gave instructions to his second-in-command, Philip Effiong, and rode into exile for 13 years in Cote D’Ivoire.

He was in Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Cote D’Ivoire and home of his host, the late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who named it the federal capital in 1983.

Yamoussoukro is also the site of what is claimed to be the largest Christian place of worship on Earth: The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, consecrated by Pope John Paul II on September 10 1990.

Ojukwu also stayed in Bingerville, an old capital of Cote D’Ivoire. While in Cote D’Ivoire, he was supplying granite to construction sites. He returned to Ni-

geria after he was pardoned by second civilian President Shehu Shagari. He stayed in his father’s Villaska Lodge, Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi home. But three years after, the military administration evicted the Ikemba Nnewi from his home on the grounds that it was an Abandoned Property. The late Odumegwu-Ojukwu challenged this, all through to the Supreme Court. He won his home back.

The late Odumegwu-Ojukwu lived the greater part of his life in Enugu after his exile. Shortly after his return, he was crowned the Ikemba Nnewi in Nnewi, his hometown. Nnewi, a metropolitan city, encompasses two local government areas, Nnewi North and

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NEWS EMEKA ODUMEGWU-OJUKWU (1933 - 2011)

Frederick Forsyth’s Biafran story

I

F there was one journalist the late Biafran leader, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu trusted most, it must have been British-born Frederick Forsyth, who unashamedly supported the Biafran cause, and became Ojukwu’s biographer and friend.

The case of the typewriter with which the British author wrote his first, and perhaps, greatest novel, The Day of the Jackal, has a bullet mark. The typewriter still occupies an important position in his London home.

The bullet mark on the case has its history in the Nigerian civil war, which Forsyth covered first for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and later as a freelance reporter.

Forsyth’s story cannot be complete without the Biafran angle to it. After he arrived in Nigeria to cover the war, he developed a relationship with the late leader of defunct Republic of Biafran, Chief Emeka OdumegwuOjukwu. The relationship produced two books; The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend, an account of the war first published in 1969, and Emeka, a biography of the late Biafran head of state published in 1982 which he revised in the early 90s. It covers his youth, army training, the civil war, and his years in exile.

He strongly and publicly supported the Biafran cause.

All through Ojukwu’s 13 years in exile in Cote D’ Ivoire, Forsyth made at least four visits every year.

The Biafra Story: The Making of an African Legend, first published in paperback by Penguin Books in 1969, marked Forsyth’s transition from journalist to author.

The book voiced Forsyth’s outrage at the extreme of human violence and the duplicity of the Western governments who tacitly accepted or actively aided the violence. The research and experience of this work later found expression in another of Forsyth’s fictional work,

By Olukorede Yishau

The Dogs of War. Forsyth, who joined the British Royal Air Force as a pilot at 19, relived the incident which almost cost him his life in a recent interview with The Telegraph to mark the 40th anniversary of The Day of Jackal: “I was in my bungalow and I think it was a MiG that came over, strafing. The window went in and bang, churrrunk. I hit the floor and the plane went overhead.”

The 73-year-old author said while in Biafra, he met hired guns for the first time. He said: “Some of the mercenaries were psychopaths, sociopaths, sadists and the cruelties they perpetrated have been recorded and are very unpalatable indeed. Others were just ex-soldiers, down on their luck. Well, I would tag along behind them on raids, behind Nigerian lines because that was the story. The other half of the story – of course – was the camps where the children were dying. “ I was sitting around campfires in the jungle doing my best to look non-threatening and listening to the scuttlebutt and the gossip. I heard some pretty miserable life stories, out of which came how to get a false passport, how to get a gun, how to break a neck.”

The books he wrote with some of his experiences in Biafra turned his fortunes around. For instance, The Day of Jackal did far beyond his imagination. A small print run was planned. But to the surprise of both Forsyth and his publishers, buyers wanted more. He said: “Slowly, the orders began to move faster. It was all word of mouth. Then my publisher phoned me at 4 am in my bed-sit. He’d sold the book to an American publisher for $365,000, which was roughly £100,000.

And I got half of that. I’d never seen money like it and never thought I would.”

Life and times of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu

T

•CLOCKWISE from top left: Ojukwu’s Enugu home; Forsyth; the cover of Emeka’s biography written by Forsyth; and his Ikoyi home - which he battled to save from being impounded by the military government which said it was an abandoned property

Nnewi South. Nnewi North is commonly referred to as Nnewi central, and comprises four autonomous quarters: Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim, and Nnewi-ichi. Nnewi North also includes Ichi, an autonomous neighbouring town.

Nnewi, the second largest city in Anambra State, has an estimated population of over 391,227 (census figures). The city spans over 1,076.9 square miles (2,789 km2).

Nnewi has an edge over all other units, recognised by the 1953 figures as the largest inland town in the eastern states.

Besides Ojukwu, other key political players from are: Dr. A.A. Nwafor Orizu, president of the Senate in the First Republic and

Acting President before the 1966 coup d’etat; M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu, nationalist, anti-colonial fighter and First Republic lawmaker; as well as Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu.

His journey through some of these towns made him multilingual. He picked up Yoruba in Lagos before learning to speak his native Igbo. His mastery of English language was as a result of good education at home and in London. Hausa became one of the languages he spoke fluently because he was born in Zungeru and he served in the North. His exile in Bingerville and Yamoussoukro added French to his chain of languages.

HE death at the age of 78 of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, former leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra, removes a charismatic, larger-than-life figure from the Nigerian political scene. Although deeply controversial in his lifetime, he will be missed in Nigeria far beyond his own Igbo people. President Goodluck Jonathan’s tribute spoke of Ojukwu’s “immense love for his people, justice, equity and fairness which forced him into the leading role he played in the Nigerian civil war.”

In the long perspective of history, the failure of the Biafran secession, which lasted from May 1967 to January 1970, helped decisively to consolidate the unity of independent Nigeria. And if after his pardon and return to his country Ojukwu never made the political breakthrough he had sought, the myth of Biafra that he did so much to create still lingers, even while there is no prospect of recreating it.

Ojukwu, widely known as Emeka, was born in Zungeru, northern Nigeria. His father was the transport millionaire Sir Louis Ojukwu. Schooled at King’s college, Lagos, and Epsom college, Surrey, Emeka studied history at Lincoln College, Oxford. Graduating in 1955, he returned to work in the eastern Nigeria administrative service, and two years later joined the army, one of the first Nigerian graduates to do so. It was a surprising decision for one who had been known in Oxford for his playboy lifestyle, but it reflected a serious commitment to Nigeria, and even a certain farsightedness about the role the military might come to play in politics.

He had two spells of officer training in Britain (1958 and 1962), and served in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1963, and at the time of Nigeria’s first coup in January 1966 was in command of the fifth battalion in Kano. He played his cards well, declaring loyalty to the new military head of state, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, and became governor of the Eastern region.

Thus history had cast him as a destiny’s child. When the counter-coup came in July 1966, and the Igbo people, who had benefited from the first coup, were on the receiving end of northern revenge attacks – most notably the killing of many senior officers, including Ironsi himself – he was in a position to provide the leadership for which he had surely been groomed, refusing to accept the authority of the Federal Government in Lagos.

As the series of massacres of easterners, especially Igbos, grew in the North, the pressure from his people made secession increasingly likely. It was strongly believed in Lagos that Ojukwu’s own sizeable ego was now a factor, and that another leader might have managed to avoid secession.

After the failure of peace talks in Aburi, Ghana, in January 1967, in which the wily Ojukwu had outmanoeuvred the more straightforward federal leader General Yakubu Gowon, the prospect of a full breakaway loomed closer, especially since an Aburi-style confederation had been rejected in Lagos. Ojukwu, claiming to be doubtful, was swept along the tide of his own public opinion, and secession became inevitable.

The historical motives of this period will continue to be argued passionately, since they were at the core

By Kaye Whiteman of the case for Biafra. Gowon declared the creation of 12 states on May 27, 1967, including notably splitting the Eastern region into three, thus separating minority ethnic groups from Igbos. It was said that the creation of the states was a pre-emptive move, since secession was in any case planned. And once the “independent and sovereign state” of Biafra was proclaimed on May 29, it was only a matter of time before fighting began a few weeks later.

After a bold move on the Mid-west region in August, a push towards Lagos failed, and federal troops recaptured the Mid-west in September. The story of the war and the famine and disease that went with it, causing between one million and three million deaths, was then one of the slow encirclement of Biafra. This progressively confined the Igbos to their own heartland, but they still managed a noble and courageous resistance, sustained by Ojukwu’s charismatic and authoritarian leadership.

If at the beginning there was a real fear of further massacres, the policy of “no victor, no vanquished” pursued by Gowon meant that after the eventual surrender in January 1970, reconciliation largely worked.

Visiting the former rebel areas soon after the end of the war, I was told: “We were forced out of the federation, now we’ve been forced back into it.”

Ojukwu had left for exile in Ivory Coast on the last flight out of Biafra’s improvised airport at Uli, and it was more than 12 years before he was finally pardoned by civilian president Shehu Shagari, and allowed to make a triumphant return in 1982. It was then that he was given the title of Ikemba by the people of his father’s home town of Nnewi.

He even joined the ruling party, which was seeking to gain Igbo support. But his ventures into politics did not work, and he was detained with many other politicians for a few months after the coup of December 31, 1983.

He continued in politics when activity revived briefly in the early 1990s, and after the full return to civil rule in 1999 helped form the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), for which he ran as presidential candidate in 2003 and 2007, both notably fraudulent elections. In this period he often gave interviews in which he retained his old political authority and panache, although latterly he was increasingly unwell, suffering a stroke early this year.

He had a gift for oratory – his collected speeches were edited by his great admirer the writer Frederick Forsyth, and published with the simple title, Biafra (1969); Forsyth also wrote a biography, Emeka (1982, revised 1991). The former editor of the journal West Africa, David Williams, no friend of Biafra, used to say that in other circumstances he could see Ojukwu’s style and gravitas entirely in place at a Commonwealth leaders’ conference.

In 1994, he married his third wife, Bianca Onoh, daughter of a senior politician, and former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 1988. He is survived by her and several children.

-Mr. Whiteman, Editor-in-Chief of West Africa, wrote this obituary for The Guardian of London.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

NEWS Ojukwu: Jonathan gets demand for state burial Continued from page 1

•Imo State Deputy Governor Jude Agbaso at NICON Insurance Limited’s stand at the on-going International Gas Round table and Exhibition yesterday in Imo State, Owerri. (Holding miorophone) Mr. Awa Kalu, NICON Regional General Manager (South East). He is flanked by NICON RegionalGeneral (South South), Mrs Nkiru Nzegwu (right).

half of Southeast elders, insisted that the national honour must come before Ojukwu’s burial, adding that such recognition coming after his burial will be unacceptable to Ndigbo.

Ikedife said Ojukwu deserves such recognition, being a former Governor of the Eastern Region, which comprises today’s 11 states.

His words: “We want the Federal Government to give him national honour posthumously and it must come before his burial.

“The Federal Government should give him national honours for the sake of no

victor, no vanquished, declared at the end of the war.

If they fail to do this, it means there is a victor and a vanquished. And we are insisting that he must be honoured before his burial. Such an honour is unacceptable to Ndigbo, if it comes after his burial,” Ikedife said.

Also yesterday, the Senate resolved to debate Ojukwu’s death tomorrow.

Senator Andy Uba (Anambra South) drew the attention of the Senate to Ojukwu’s death.

As required by the Standing Rule of the Senate, Senate President David Mark sought Senators’ approval to discuss Ojukwu’s death

ICPC chairman barred from Presidential Villa Continued from page 1

Elechi, a Rivers State nominee, to return to his hotel and await instructions, but other board members were allowed into the Villa. They were inaugurated by President Jonathan.

The President said he stopped Elechi’s inauguration because people kicked against his appointment.

Dr Jonathan said: “The chairman couldn’t follow the oath taking this morning, because from about Wednesday last week, I started receiving disturbing calls and reports and a body like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the President should be very careful about the opinion of people.

“A minister can come in and go the next day, but you cannot gamble with the INEC, EFCC and ICPC and that is why when we were to inaugurate the board

of INEC the same thing happened, there were protests that there were some PDP members.

To make sure that people had a proper perception of INEC and to make sure that the perception is correct, we dropped those people. I’m not saying we are going to drop the chairman, but we are going to look into the reports we have and reconfirm.

But we will not do anything that will bring any stain to any of these bodies no matter how painful it may be to anybody.

“So, the chairman is not taking his oath of office today. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will formally write a letter, but Mr Nta Ekpo will act until we sort out the issue of the chairman. He will get a letter from the Secretary of the Government once we leave here,” the President said.

The President said: “The moment you travel out of this country, they will be beaming the searchlight on you. That is the

cross all of us have to carry until we leave the board.

“I remember after the elections when I travelled out, some of the world leaders who chatted with me said, ‘Jonathan, we are very happy with the elections you conducted in Nigeria, but the remaining thing is corruption’.

“Yes, we have done well in elections and until the monster called corruption is dealt with in this country, we will still not get our appropriate place in the comity of nations.”

Jonathan also swore in Amb. Lawrence Nworuku as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It was gathered that Elechi and his well-dressed wife had arrived at the gate of the Villa at about 10.30am, in preparation for his inauguration.

But, he was told to go back to his hotel and await further instruction by 2pm.

As at 5.30pm, Elechi was still

awaiting a directive from the Federal Government.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “bemused chairman that he could not enter the Villa.

“Attempts to know the reasons for the turn of events after the chairman has been cleared by the Senate fell on deaf ears.

“I think Elechi and his family deserve the courtesy of knowing before hand that he will not be inaugurated. Neither him nor his state government was informed of this twist.”

A Presidency source said “Elechi, who is from Rivers State, may be dropped following security reports”.

“There were security reports that made the President to shelve plans to administer the oath of office on the new ICPC chairman.”

Investigation however confirmed that Elechi might have been dropped following a cold war between the President and

Amaechi over the handling of the screening and disqualification of the Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipreye Sylva by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It was learnt that Amaechi’s alleged backing of angered the President.

Another source said: “I think the ICPC chairman is a victim of the cold war between the two leaders over the situation in Bayelsa.

“This is a man who has been in private practice for over 23 years. He has never occupied any public office. So, what manner of security report would have informed this kind of humiliation?

“Amaechi does not pretend over his backing for Sylva in line with the agreement reached with the President.

“Being a nominee of the state, the President chose the auspicious time to send a message to Amaechi that he is in control.”

through a voice vote.

The lawmakers unanimously voted to discuss it.

Mark said the matter should have been slated for discussion today (Wednesday), but for the debate of the probe of the activities of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) already billed for debate.

Political parties in Anambra State are working together for a befitting burial for Ojukwu.

The 78-year old leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) passed on last Saturday.

Traders also said they are set to immortalise him.

Southeast chairman of Amalgamated Traders Association Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, confirmed the traders’ plan yesterday in Onitsha.

Most of the traders, who spoke with our correspondent, said they will be willing to close their shops, in compliance with the directive by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

Besides, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) said they are mobilising to ensure that Ojukwu’s burial is first of its kind.

Prince Kenneth Emeakayi, state chairman of the PDP, Chief Amaechi Obidike of (ACN) and Chief Chukwuemeka Ojiako of ANPP, described Ojukwu as “everybody’s hero”. They must unite to accord him that respect, irrespective of party affiliation, he said.

Supreme Court puts off verdict in governors tenure dispute Continued from page 1

Musdapher, reserved judgment indefinitely in the case.

The CJN said the date shall be communicated to counsel “within a reasonable time”.

Other members of the panel are Justices Mahmud Mukhtar, Walter Onnonghen, Chukwuma Ene, Ibrahim Coomasie, Olufunlola Adekeye and Mary Peter-Odili.

The appellants are challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which upheld the decision of an Abuja Federal High Court that extended the tenure of the five governors beyond May 29, 2011.

Two of the three legal experts-amicus curiae (friends of the court) – invited by the Supreme Court have called for their removal. They are a renowned constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) and Mr Olukanyinsola Ajayi (SAN).

But a former AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF), Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), advised the apex court to uphold the decision of the Court of Appeal.

The governors and the PDP yesterday accused the amicus curiae of whipping dangerous sentiment which cannot be backed by law.

Adopting their written briefs, Marwa’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside

the verdict of the two lower courts.

Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court, in his consolidated judgment, ruled that the tenure of the governors started in 2008 when they took a fresh Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office after their victories in the rerun elections conducted by INEC. The rerun elections were conducted by INEC after the Court of Appeal nullified their victories in the April 14, 2007 general elections.

The Judge held that since the 2007 elections were nullified and set aside by competent courts, the oaths of office and allegiance subscribed to by the governors had been nullified.

Following the judgment, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal panel of five Justices, chaired by Justice Muhammad Garuba, governorship elections did not hold in the five states on April 26.

Sensing that INEC was lukewarm in pursuing the appeals, the former Military Administrator of Lagos State, applied to be joined as an interested party. His prayer was granted.

Olanipekun told the sevenmember panel of Justices that “the issue of second oath is subsidiary, not relevant and it is of no moment”.

He argued that “the judgment of the two courts is dangerous. If not corrected, it will become a judicial albatross. It

could be an ill-wind that will blow us into lagoon.”

Olanipekun urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower courts.

Nyako’s counsel, Mr. Kanu Agabi (SAN) who argued otherwise said “a governor whose election has been annulled is not an elected governor. Once an election is annulled, the oath is annulled.

The word second oath is a contrivance of the appellants.”

“Prior to the amendment, the time spent in office by a governor, following an invalid election does not count as part of his tenure,” he added.

PDP National Legal Adviser, Olusola Oke, who represented the party, maintained that “oath is a condition precedent to becoming a governor”. “The oath must be predicated on an election. The election is a foundation of the oath. Oath cannot precede an office. Can it be said that the oath taken in 2007 is relevant to the election won in 2008?

The answer is No! “A tenure of four years cannot be predicated on two elections. The fear expressed by the appellants has been cured by the 2010 Amendment Act,” Oke added.

Rejecting his position, INEC counsel A.B. Mahmud (SAN) argued that Section 180 (2a), as amended, “is to give the meaning intended by the 1999 Constitution on tenure of of-

fice”.

To him, it was the ambiguity created by Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution that necessitated the clarification in the 2010 Amendment Act. But, counsel to Idris, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), argued that the oath of office is a consequence of election, election is not a consequence of oath of office. The oath is an accessory to the super structure. The election contemplated in the Constitution is a valid and legal election.

Once a given election is nullified, the effects are the same”.

Fagbemi said the 1999 Constitution as amended in the 2010 Act cannot be visited on the rerun elections conducted in 2008 since it does not have

a retrospective effect.

Expressing reservations on the position taken by the amicus curiae, he called the attention of the court to the language used in their brief of argument.

Fagbemi said: “The submissions of the amicus curiae are sentimental. If you saw the brief, the Respondents (five governors and PDP) are already condemned to death.

Their duty as an amicus curiae is to analyse the issue as a nonpartisan party not to take a position on it; you leave the rest for the court to do. Your lordships should not be persuaded by their submissions.”

Toeing the same line, counsel to Sylva, Chief Ladi Williams (SAN), said the only law

applicable for determination of the governors’ tenure is the law in existence when the cause of action arose.

According to him, the 2010 Amendment Act was not in existence then; so, it will be wrong to use it in determining the present case.

Counsel to Imoke, Paul Erokoro (SAN), also argued that the 1999 did not envisage a four-year split tenure. Since the elections of the governors were nullified, he argued, they never existed in the eyes of the law.

Counsel to Wamakko, Mr. S. I. Ameh (SAN), urged the court to discountenance the argument of the appellants and dismiss it as “it is completely devoid of merit”.

CBN begins e-Payment campaign

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HE Central Bank on Monday began its public sector enlightenment forum on the implementation of the end-to-end electronic payment of all forms of government suppliers, taxes, salaries and pensions in the country. The flag-off of the nationwide campaign, took place at the Ocean View Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The campaign is part of efforts to ensure the successful enforcement of electronic payment system.

The public sector sensitisation forum drew participants from ministries and agencies from across the states and local governments in the Southwest zone. The states are Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun and Osun.

It is billed for all the six geo-political zones in the country.

The states in the Southsouth region - Delta, Edo, Rivers, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom and

Bayelsa will take their turn today at Rachael Hotel, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Imo and Ebonyi states in the Southeast zone are scheduled to assemble on Friday at the Golden Royale Hotel, in Enugu for the sesitisation programme.

The Northeast forum for Bornu, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba and Bauchi states and will take place on December 6 at Emerald Royal Hill Hotel, Gombe GRA, by Government House, Gombe, while the sensitisation for the Northwest states of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara, Kastina, Kebbi and Sokoto is scheduled for December at Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna.

Benue, Niger, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will have their forum at the CBN Main Auditorium, Abuja on December 13.

ADVERT HOTLINES: 01-280668, 08070591302, 08052592524 NEWSROOM: LAGOS – 01-8962807, ABUJA – 07028105302 COMPLAINTS: 01-8930678

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NEWS Tinubu, Obi condole with el-Rufai over daughter’s death FORMER Lagos State Governor and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Anambra State Governor Peter Obi have condoled with former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, ove the death of his daughter, Yasmin.

In a statement in Lagos, Tinubu said: “To say the least, the death of Yasmin came as a shock, particularly when it was reported that she died in her sleep.

“All I can say is for you to take heart. God will surely see you through this period of intense grief and tribulation.”

Saying it is painful to lose a promising youth full of life and zest, Tinubu added that Yasmin’s death was not only a loss to her grieving parents, but also to Nigeria.

He said by her death, the nation has lost yet another promising youth.

“Our country has lost yet another promising youth. But God knows best. That is why we must pray for her grieving parents and also pray for our country,” Tinubu said.

Obi noted that whatever happened to human beings and how it happens are by the will of Almighty Allah.

In his condolence message, the governor said Allah knows why He decided to call el-Rufai’s daughter at this time.

Group calls for removal of soldiers from Bayelsa

By Musa Odoshimokhe

THE Coalition of Nigerian Civil Rights Groups (CONRIG) yesterday urged the Federal Government to withdrawn soldiers from Bayelsa State to lessen the tension created by the recent primary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Addressing reporters in Lagos, CONREG Secreatary Kehinde Adegboyi noted that the deployment of soldiers in the streets was capable of jeopardising the peace in the state and causing anarchy.

He said: “We are particularly worried that the PDP, at the federal level, has embarked on several steps to consciously undermine the future of democracy in Bayelsa State. This is gradually becoming a state policy to be replicated in other parts of the country.”

The group urged the government to release those detained during the party’s primary, saying the deployment of military men in the streets during elections was not in the interest of democracy.

CONRIG noted that the deployment of military men would have a negative effect on the polity as the electorate would be afraid to exercise their franchise.

The group said the police should be allowed to perform their statutory obligation since Nigeria is not at war, adding that there should be no cause to deploy soldiers in streets during elections.

Senate votes against same sex marriage

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HE Senate yesterday voted to outlaw same sex marriage in the country.

It passed “A Bill for an Act to prohibit marriage or civil union entered into between persons of same sex, solemnisation of same and for other matters related therewith, 2011.”

Senate President David Mark warned Britain and other Western countries to stay away from Nigeria in their promotion of same sex marriage.

If the House of Representatives concurs with the Bill and it is assented to by President

From Onyedi Ojiabor (Assistant Editor), Abuja

Goodluck Jonathan, persons who enter into same sex marriage contract or civil union would commit an offence liable on conviction to 14 years imprisonment.

The Bill also states that any person who registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations, or directly or indirectly make public show of same sex amorous relationship in Nigeria, commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years imprisonment.

It said that any person or group of persons that witness, abet and aids the solemnisation of a same sex marriage or civil union, or supports the registration, operation and sustenance of gay clubs, societies, organisations, processions or meetings in Nigeria commit an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a term of 10 years imprisonment.

It said that marriage or civil union entered into between persons of same sex shall not be solemnised in any place of worship either church of mosque in Nigeria.

“No certificate issued to persons of same sex in a marriage

or civil union shall be valid in Nigeria,” it added.

According to the Bill, “only marriage contracted between a man and a woman either under Islamic Law, Customary Law or the marriage Act is recognised as valid in Nigeria”.

It said that the registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations, their sustenance and meetings are prohibited just as the public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly is also prohibited in Nigeria.

Senator Mark said “no country has the right to interfere with the way and manner we

make our laws.”

He tacitly told British Prime Minister, David Cameron, reportedly said Britain will tie aid to African countries to the acceptance of gay marriage.

Mark said yesterday “If there is any country that does not want to give us aid on account of this, it should keep its aid. We hold our values, customs and tradition dearly.

No country has the right to interfere with the way we make our laws. If it is on the basis of embracing same sex marriage that they want to give us aid they should keep their aid.”

The suggestion that those involved in same sex marriage should face death penalty made by Senator Ehigie Uzamare, was rejected.

The Bill was jointly sponsored by Senators Domingo Obende, Oluremi Tinubu, Ehigie Uzamare, Adegbenga Kaka, Helen Esuene and Mohammed Magoro.

Navy promotes 126 senior officers

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•The Rev. T. A. Ojo Building, comprising 21 classrooms, with modern laboratories and other facilities, built by the Lagos State Government at Birch Freeman High School in Surulere, Lagos. Inset: Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) (middle) cutting the tape to inaugurate the building...yesterday. With him are: Onitire of Itire, Oba Lateef Dauda (third left); Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye (second right); Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga (right); Principal, Birch Freeman High School, Mr. Christopher Abiodun Agbonjinmi (third right); Special Adviser to the Governor on Central Business District, Mrs. Derin Disu (second left); and Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed (left).

HE Board of the Nigerian Navy has approved the promotion of 126 senior officers to their next ranks. The promotions, which were released on Monday, produced 11 Rear Admirals, 40 Commodores, 56 Captains and 19 Commanders.

The newly promoted Rear Admirals include Commodores I.A. Ajuonu, D.O. Osuofa, A.A. Sam-Sele, S.H. Usman and A.G. Inusa. The new Commodores are: O.E. Ekwe, S.U. Chinweuba, A.A. Yusuf, S.A. Orie, A. Shettima and O.U. Emele.

A statement by the Director of Information of Nigerian Navy, Commodore K. Aliyu, said the newly promoted officers would be decorated with their new ranks by their administrative authorities.

Gowon blames sectarian violence on power struggle

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ORMER Head of State General Yakubu Gowon has said the battle for political power is the major factor militating against sustainable national unity and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria.

Addressing the opening of a four-day International Conference on Islam, Peace-Building and Political Engagement in Nigeria, at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Gowon noted that efforts by successive administrations to entrench peace have remained a mirage due to ethnic religious and ethnic misunderstanding.

According to him, these are fuelled by “political charlatans.”

Gowon said politics with its struggle for power at all cost

From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

has increased suspicion among Nigerians and poisoned national unity and peaceful coexistence.

Apparently referring to the Boko Haram uprising in the Northeast as well as other militant groups, the former Head of State said at no time has Islam been so challenged by identity crisis in Nigeria than now.

He urged members of the sect and other militant groups to sheath their sword and give peace a chance.

According to him, violence is an ill-wind that blows no one any good.

Gowon regretted that the creation of states, which began

during his administration, has been bastardised to divide Nigerians instead of uniting them.

He noted that the politics of state creation has triggered the battle for supremacy and the contest for power among some groups and individuals to the detriment of national unity.

Gowon said: “Many are quick to forget that the national unity they so much seek to undermine was paid for by the blood of patriots who, today would weep at our attitudes.

The question asked by many these days is whether our sacrifices to keep Nigeria one were worth it? My answer to this question is still YES!” Calling for national unity,

peaceful coexistence and interethnic harmony, the former Head of State said the task of keeping Nigeria united and indissoluble is a task that every citizen must accomplish.

He restated the need for constitutional amendment to accommodate issues that frustrate peace-building efforts, adding: “I wish to quickly state that our political journey as a nation has tended to play the ostrich over a few issues that have continued to resurface as thorns in our flesh in our efforts at peace building.

“These issues are constitutional in nature and we have the opportunity to address them now that the Justice Alfa Belgore Committee is set to look into the issues requiring constitutional amendment.”

•Gowon

Reps berate FRSC over refusal to stop new number plates, licences

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HE House of Representatives yesterday berated the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) over its refusal to stop the issuance of the new number plates and licences despite the House’s resolution stopping the agency.

Members of the House Committee on FRSC, who spoke during the investigative hearing on the planned phasing out of old vehicle number plates and driver’s licence, expressed displeas-

From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

ure over the issue.

The House at Plenary on November 15 had urged the FRSC to halt the issuance of the new number plates and driver’s licence, saying it was not only economically oppressive but has no value on national security.

The House directed its Committee on FRSC to investigate the rationale, necessity and circumstances for the

planned phasing out and their replacement with new ones.

The FRSC was also advised to put on hold the implementation of the policy pending the outcome of the investigation.

But the hearing could not hold yesterday because committee Chairman Zango Daura said the Corps Marshal, Osita Cghidoka, and the Chairperson of the Joint Tax Board, Mrs. Ifueko OmoiguiOkauru, were unable to fur-

nish the committee with necessary documents.

The Deputy Minority Leader, Sumaila Kawu, who was at the hearing to monitor proceedings on behalf of the leadership, accused the Corps Marshal of refusing to stop the implementation of the policy despite the House resolution.

He said: “As the Chairman of the committee said earlier, I am here on behalf of the leadership. When we met at the office of the Speaker, many members complained that the

resolution of the House was not being complied with by the FRSC. There’s a resolution to that effect. But to our surprise, the FRSC ignored our resolution.

“The FRSC was created by an Act of the National Assembly and we expect the commission to abide by the law.”

Chidoka said he had not received any communication on the House resolution, adding that this was why the Commission had not complied.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NEWS Ogbemudia extols Ibru From Osagie Otabor, Benin

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ORMER Governor of defunct Bendel State Samuel Ogbemudia has said the late Gen Sanni Abacha’s wish was to be friends with the late publisher of The Guardian, Alex Ibru.

Ogbemudia, in a condolence letter to Senator Felix Ibru, said the late Ibru never departed from principles throughout his time in government.

According to him, “I recall how well and friendly Alex and I related while in government. I was the Minister of Labour and Productivity and he was the Minister of Internal Affairs, a very big portfolio. Alex saw me as his older brother and guide.

“Alex never departed from principles throughout his stay in government even when that meant that he had to leave and that would lead to the closure of his newspaper.

“When I intervened to plead with Gen Abacha, he confessed to me that he was impressed by Alex’s doggedness and that he wanted him to be his friend.”

Ogbemudia described the late Ibru as the gentlest of the Ibrus, adding that Nigeria has lost a gentle and principled patriot.

NYSC sets up distress call centres

A

UTHORITIES of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have set up distress call centres, the NYSC DirectorGeneral, Brigadier-General Nnamdi Okore-Affia has said.

He said the establishment of the centres was to ensure security of corps members in their places of primary assignment after the orientation.

Gen Okore-Affia spoke yesterday at the NYSC permanent orientation camp in Yikpata, Edu Local Government of Kwara State.

He said collective and individual security of corps members and officials were paramount to the authorities.

The NYSC DG said the corps members would submit their phone numbers to their state coordinators, adding that the data would be

T

From Kamarudeen Ogundele, Abuja

The witnesses include Franklyn Onyesagbe; a civil servant and a principal administrative officer with the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He testified that in June, his office received a letter from EFCC requesting for the procedures for lending money by government agencies, which he said his office promptly responded to.

The response to the letter, which was signed by the Director General, Budget Office, was admitted in evidence and marked A42.

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Abubakar

Maikasuwa and Rasheed Abdullahi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police on secondment to the EFCC also testified.

During cross examination, Maikasuwa confirmed that the House took the loans from UBA and First Bank.

He said the National Assembly operates three accounts: Senate account, House of Reps account and the Management account.

Maikasuw, however, confirmed that while the Speaker is the approving officer for the House of Reps accounts, no proceedings can take place if the Clerk does not append his signature.

Bankole’s counsel Wale

Akanni (SAN) requested for the court proceedings to prepare for the defence.

The judge, however, asked him to apply to the Registrar.

The duo of Bankole and Nafada were arraigned on Monday, June 13, on a 17count charge of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and theft.

The accused allegedly shared the loan to members without the consent and approval of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the extant Revised Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 2009.

Ilorin

uploaded to the NYSC data system at their primary places of assignment.

He added: “If you call any of our numbers, every thing about you will appear, including your place of primary assignment.

“So, you will be contacted fast and easy if you are in trouble.”

He, however, warned corps members to stay out of trouble, adding that they should be security conscious.

Gen Okore-Affia also advised them to pay attention to and understand the cultural norms and practices of their host communities, adding “what you take for granted where you come from may be ‘haram’ (forbidden) at your places of primary assignment.”

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HE 20th edition of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) will hold December 11 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja.

A statement from the DAME secretariat said 23 prizes would be awarded to deserving individuals and organisations in the fields of print journalism, broadcasting and advertising.

DAME Judges are usually drawn from the academia, the media and civil society.

Assessors for the 20th edition include three media trainers, Prof. Nosa Owens Ibie of Caleb University;Muda Ganiyu, Bisi Olawunmi, of the Lagos Polytechnic and Bowen University respectively.

Included are Ben Lawrence, Taiwo Obileye, Tunde Thompson, and Muyiwa Adetiba. Photographers Tam Fiofori and Victor Agunbiade and two advertising practitioners, Joseph Afolabi and Gbemi Sagay.

Others were five women, Mrs. Agbeke Ogunsanwo, Ms. Bunmi Sofola, Mrs. Tinu Odugbemi, Ms. Efiom Asuquo, and Mrs. Wale Sokunbi. Messrs. Jimi Disu, Feyi Smith and Gbolahan Gbadamosi completed the team.

The Nation’s summit in Jan

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HE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday closed its case against former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and his deputy, Usman Bayero Nafada.

The duo are facing a 17count charge of criminal breach of trust, dishonest use of House bank account to obtain loan slammed on them by the EFCC before Justice Suleiman Belgore of Abuja High Court.

The agency yesterday presented three witnesses and one exhibit, bringing to 12 witnesses and 42 exhibits presented before the court.

From Adekunle Jimoh,

DAME awards for Dec 11

LEGISLATIVE summit being organised by Vintage Press Ltd, publishers of The Nation in conjunction with CEEDEE Resources will hold on January 11-13.

The summit, with the theme: ‘Achieving Regional Integration Agenda for Rapid Growth and Development’, is for federal and state legislators from the Southwest and Edo State.

The forum, which is a follow up to the meeting of governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo states in Ado-Ekiti, will provide the avenue to explore areas of socio-economic collaborations

EFCC closes Bankole’s, Nafada’s case

within the states for acceleration of development through trades, socio-economic activities and networking opportunities.

It is also aimed at harmonising peculiar visions of the people into a common, acceptable and wellguided goal for proper presentation at both national and state legislatures.

In a statement by the organisation’s General Manager (Training and Development), Soji Omotunde, the three-day summit will focus on timed platform as a “watchdog performance assessment medium that will enhance government performance.”

•New members of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) taking their oaths...yesterday. From right are: Mrs Julie Onum-Nwariaku; Prof. Olu Aina; Abdullahi Adobayero; Isa Salami and Ekpo Nta PHOTO: NAN

Release my husband, senator’s wife tells EFCC S ENATOR Olabode Ola has been languishing in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since last Thursday, his wife, Bunmi, alleged yesterday.

Ola, a former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) senator from Ekiti State, was invited by the anti-graft agency to its Abuja office.

“My husband thought he was invited for negotiation over how the EFCC will pay the damages of N50million awarded against the commission, following his suit on the breach of his fundamental human rights.

But he was whisked to Lagos where he has since been detained,” she said.

According to her, on arrival at the EFCC office, “Ola was handed a three-count charge: permitting the use of his cyber cafe to commit crime; a document of false pretence in his café and also knowingly refusing to register the said café with the EFCC as

required by law.”

Said Mrs. Ola: “He was taken to Akure on Sunday and the following morning, they brought him to court in AdoEkiti. The judge was not present and we learnt that the judge would not be around until December 19.

“The EFCC operatives returned him to Lagos and he is still in detention.”

An EFCC official said he had no details on the matter, promising to get back to The Nation today.

Mrs Ola described the commission’s action as “unlawful, gross violation of the senator’s human rights and humiliation.”

“We do not know what they want by holding him. He should not be detained for more than 24 hours. Even the charges are bailable and knowing that the judge is away, for how long will the

commission keep him in its custody?” she queried.

Giving the background to the matter, Mrs. Ola recounted that on March 31, 2008, officials of the EFCC invaded Friendly International Hotel, AdoEkiti, owned by her husband.

She said: “The EFCC officials ransacked the cyber café inside the hotel, destroyed many valuable things and carted away over 30 computers, including servers belonging to the café.

Customers using the café were manhandled and arrested, including my husband and the café’s Manager, Ezekiel Olatunji.”

“The allegation was that some people were carrying out cyber crime in the café but they could not provide evidence. They took them to the police station; my brotherin-law went to the station to bail them later at night,” she

•Senator Ola

said.

Ola approached the Federal High Court, Jos, Plateau State to claim damages for breach of his fundamental rights and the seizure of his computers.

Justice Ambrose Allagoa declared Ola’s arrest and the invasion of the café illegal and awarded him N50 million damages on July 8.

“When my husband discovered that the commission is not willing to pay the money, he went back to the court, the judge gave a garnishee order on one of the EFCC’s accounts, two months ago,” Mrs Ola said.

JAMB can conduct exams, says Minister

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OLLOWING the tension over the postUnified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i yesterday said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is backed by law to conduct examination and regulate admission of tertiary institutions.

Speaking at the inauguration of JAMB’s test develop-

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja

ment department buildings in Bwari-Abuja, the minister said the administration would never allow a situation where institutions extort students.

However, she said institutions have the right to screen students they want to admit.

Emphasising that there is no contradiction in the law, Mrs. Rufa’i said: “ It would

only do the system a lot of good if JAMB interfaces appropriately with authorities of tertiary institutions in the spirit of the collaboration clause in its enabling law.

“JAMB has a legal backing to conduct examination and regulate admission of tertiary institutions. In essence JAMB serves as clearing house.

“On the other hand, universities also have the right

to screen students they admit. Therefore there is no contradiction in the law.

This is not in contention and shall not be compromised.

We must ensure quality control.

“It is my belief that any effort at achieving this objective should be seen as one directed at giving the nation the best without compromising the rule of law on which this administration firmly stands.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NEWS

Ogun budgets N187b for 2012 O

GUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday presented a N187,901 billion budget for next year to the House of Assembly in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The budget, tagged ‘Budget to Rebuild,’ is N65 billion higher than this year’s N124.61 billion budget.

It comprises N99,594 billion (53 per cent) capital expenditure and N88, 306 billion (47 per cent) recurrent expenditure.

Amosun said the budget would be financed by the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of N63, 601 billion (47 per cent) and federal allocation of N70.800 billion (53 per cent).

He said 65 per cent of the budget would be spent on his administration’s five point agenda.

They are: affordable education, N41,483 billion (22 per cent); rural and infrastructural development/ employment generation, N33, 432 billion (18 per cent); affordable housing and urban renewal, N22,956 billion (12 per cent); efficient healthcare delivery, N15.706 billion (eight per cent) and agriculture production/industrialisation, N8,813 billion (per cent).

Amosun said the education sec-

tor got the highest percentage because education is the future of the state.

He said his administration would ensure free and qualitative education in primary and secondary schools and rehabilitate public educational institutions.

Amosun said the government plans to establish five model secondary schools with hostel facilities in the three senatorial districts and provide textbooks in public schools.

He said N24.56 billion has been earmarked for road repairs.

On Industrialisation, the governor said: “My administration will kick-start the process through the implementation of the Industrialisation Master Plan, which is currently being finetuned.

“We will also provide soft loans to micro, small and medium enterprise; establish Technology Incubation Centres in Ogun West and East senatorial districts; and build access roads to the Technology Incubation Centre in Ogun Central.

“Several industrial parks will be created across the state and access roads will be built to link the rural areas with major roads.

•Amosun presenting the 2012 Budget…yesterday

“We also plan to build two and three bedroom low income housing units across the state; create a robust real estate market that can deliver development at an accelerated rate; and renovate existing quarters within Ibara Housing Estate.”

Amosun said N2 billion has been

set aside for the establishment of a mass transit scheme. This, he said, would ease transportation, if the Federal Government removes petroleum subsidy.

Amosun said he is determined to improve the state’s economy, so that it would not have to depend on federal allocation.

Aregbesola honours martyrs of democracy

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SUN State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday honoured

those killed during the 2007 governorship election.

It was an emotion-laden afternoon at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo, the state capital, as tearful relatives of the victims filed out to receive plaques and tokens from the governor, who was supported by his Lagos State counterpart, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

Also present were those incarcerated by the Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration in the bid to prevent Aregbesola’s victory.

Aregbesola said the mega schools to be built across the state by the government would be named after the heroes and martyrs of the struggle to free the state from the claws of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) misrule.

He gave scholarships to the children of those who were killed.

•To name schools after them Aregbesola said: “We shall build, by the special grace of God, 170 schools, and every one of you will have one named after you.”

Recalling several attempts on his life, the governor said he was driven to Ilesa for the 2007 election in a hearse to ensure his safety.

He said: “The murderous zeal of the PDP elements at the time was unequalled. We are however sure that those who killed, oppressed, misled and harassed our people will never go free.”

Aregbesola also recognised former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu as a major brain behind the struggle for the return of the mandate to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

He appealed to the parents, widows and representatives of those who were killed not to grieve too much, because the martyrs died for a noble cause.

Aregbesola said: “The most hideous brutality was

‘The murderous zeal of the PDP elements at the time was unequalled. We are however sure that those who killed, oppressed, misled and harassed our people will never go free’ visited on our people by that administration. In this instance, there was no discrimination. From the day of election, mobile policemen, the army and political thugs invaded our cities of Osogbo, Ilesa, Ile-Ife, Iragbiji, Ikirun, Iwo, Ede, Ijebu-Jesa, Ejigbo, Igbajo and other places.

“They shot, raped, arrested, harassed and flogged

our people, and looted their property. Gbenga Kayode, Abraham Jato, Sogo Adekoya, Chief Lawal Adesina, Samson Olarewaju, Saheed Adebiyi and Alhaja Taibat Orija Jeunkogbadun were all brutally killed in the futile bid to silence our people, trample on their democratic rights and forcibly take away their mandate.

“Others are Lamidi Eesade, Pastor Gbenga Obalola, Ayo Oni, Saheed Adeniyi, and Taju Nasiru. Some of these people were not even politicians. Pastor Obalola, for instance, was going to his church when he was accosted by soldiers and shot on the face.

“Chief Ade Komolafe, a frontline industrialist, was beaten to death at a filling station in Ilesa by Ibukun Fadipe, a former chairman of Ilesa West Local Government.”

Fashola said the sacrifice of the victims would not be in vain.

Fashola orders relocation of churches, houses on school premises

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has ordered the relocation of churches and property erected on the premises of Birth Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos.

Fashola gave the directive yesterday while donating a block of 21 classrooms with a capacity for 1,050 pupils; a hall with a capacity for 450 persons; offices for the head teacher and teachers; as well as a computer laboratory to the school.

Fashola received his secondary education at Birth Freeman High School.

He assured the school’s authority that he would recover every inch of land belonging to the school, which has been hijacked by encroachers.

•Inaugurates block of 21 classrooms

By Miriam Ndikanwu

Among the property that would be affected are three churches and residential houses.

Fashola said the drainage work required to prevent flooding in the school during the rainy season would necessitate the recovery of the encroached land.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to notify all squatters or occupiers of land that belongs to Birth Freeman High School that the trespass ends today and your relocation must start henceforth, as I intend work-

ing with the Old Boys Association to reclaim and return back to the school every inch of land that used to belong to her.”

Fashola said the donation of the new classrooms was borne out of the need to curb the decay, which was eating into the school.

The governor, who was a pupil of the school from September 1973 to June 1978, said during his stay there, many of the buildings were made of concrete foundation and wooden walls, except for the dining hall and the head teacher’s block.

He said when he attended the Old Boys Association

meeting in 2007, he was shocked at the level of decay.

Fayemi said: “Not only had the classroom blocks made of wood disappeared, the dining room, the principal’s block and the seniors block were shadows of themselves. My treasured memories were shattered. A shocking and painful reality had supplanted them. It seemed as if everything I could point to as references of who I was had evaporated.”

He said the determination of the Old Boys Association prompted the government to assist the school.

Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye and President of the Old Boys Association Mr. Feyi Diyon thanked the governor.

The event was attended by former Governors Olusegun Osoba, Navy Captain Oladeinde Joseph and Maj.Gen. Oladayo Popoola; former Deputy Governor Rafiu Ogunleye and the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April election, Gen. Adetunji Olurin, among others.

Ajimobi reaffirms Ibadan Poly fees reduction

O

YO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has ordered the authorities of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, to revert to the school fees it was charging before the past administration of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala increased it.

The governor gave the order following the school authority’s misunderstanding of an earlier order to reduce the fees by 50 per cent.

Students complained that a 50 per cent reduction only amounts to between N10,000 and N14,000 reduction and urged the government to revert to the old fees.

In a statement, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Taiwo Otegbeye, said the order is in fulfilment of the governor’s electioneering promise that he would reduce school fees by half if elected.

Ondo lawmaker petitions police over alleged threat to his life

A

MEMBER of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Folagbade

Gbemibade, has urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Hafiz Ringim, to save his life and that of his family.

Gbemibade spoke with reporters yesterday in Akure, the state capital.

He said several assassination attempts were made on his life and that of his sister, Fausat Gbemibade, in the last three weeks by identified political thugs in Ile-Oluji.

The lawmaker alleged that the attacks were led by Afolami Akinsanmi, a.k.a. Ope, whom he said is the leader of “Iroko Vanguard” in Ile-Oluji.

He said: “Akinsanmi and his gang have been trailing me all around, putting my life and that of my immediate family at risk.”

Gbemibade said his personal assistant, Akintunde Akinyosoye, was attacked by hoodlums in Oke-Igbo last Monday and his Honda Odyssey vehicle was damaged.

He accused an Abuja based politician of being behind his woes and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to call him to order.

Gbemibade said: “The politician has been harassing, intimidating and causing mayhem in my local government.

He threatened to get me out of the way, attack my family members, political associates and property if I refuse to do

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

his bid.”

The lawmaker urged the IGP and the Commissioner of Police, Sani Magaj, to provide security for him and his family.

Akinsanmi denied attacking anybody. He said people in the community can confirm that he’s peace loving.

Oke-Igbo community spokesperson and Secretary of the Labour Party (LP) in the council Sunday Oyemakinde said the Abuja based politician has been causing disaffection in the council.

Oke-Igbo Police Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) confirmed the attack on Gbemibade’s aide.

Three persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on Akinyosoye. They are Bayo Adeyemi, Motayo Olarewaju and a councillor in the local government, Segun Olasupo.

Osoba to deliver lecture tomorrow

F

ORMER Ogun State Governor Segun Osoba will deliver this year’s Gbagura Day lecture in honour of the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

The lecture, entitled “M.K.O. Abiola: The man, his ideals and June 12 politics,” will hold tomorrow.

8

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

NEWS KOGI 2011

ACN alleges plan by govt to arrest Audu •Govt: he’s no threat to PDP T HERE was an allegation yesterday by the Kogi chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the backing of the state government, was planning to arrest its governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu on trumped-up charges.

It also alleged that the PDP had perfected a plan to financially induce some ACN members to sign and attach their membership cards to an affidavit of a court process or petition to indict Audu on spurious accusations.

The party said it was all in a bid to stop Audu from participating in Saturday’s election being PDP’s major obstacle to maintaining its grip on the state.

But the government denied the allegation, saying Audu cannot be a threat to the PDP. It said Audu would not face the law if he has no committed a crime.

Audu’s media aide, Mr Sanni Onogu, had in a statement said his boss has nothing to hide, adding that the alleged plot was part of the ruling party’s desperate measures to win at all cost.

From Joseph Jibueze, Lokoja

Onogu said: “This latest evil plan, according to some of our members, who have rejected their offer of money and other mouthwatering promises, is to ensure that our governorship candidate is arrested and kept out of circulation during the December 3 governorship election.

“We are also aware that they plan to use their members to impersonate ACN members now that their wicked plan has been exposed.”

According to the statement, the move was aimed at smearing Audu’s name and casting aspersion on his character because the PDP has seen signs that Audu was matching to victory.

It said: “The PDP has seen the handwriting on the wall, that the people are rooting for Audu to come and re-enact and even surpass his developmental strides when he was governor of between 1999 and 2003.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we want Kogites and all Nigerians to know that this plot is being hatched by the PDP in collaboration with the state government in their desperation to win the forthcoming governorship election by hook or crook.

“We are happy that our members and supporters who have seen in Audu, the desired change Kogi earnestly yearns for, have been courageous enough to speak up.”

The party urged the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and other security agencies to disregard “all the lies the PDP is presently concocting in the interest of peace and security in the state before, during and after the elections.”

ACN urged the PDP to discard what it called a gate-crashing mentality and let the electorate decide who will govern them.

“This backdoor approach underscores the fact that they are already paranoid about their pending defeat.

“We also use this medium to

warn all our members and ACN supporters to be vigilant and not allow the agents of the PDP and any other person to use them for sinister purposes inimical to their advantage and the overall progress of our state.

“We make bold to say that our hands are clean because we know that those who come to equity must come with clean hands.

“Prince Audu hereby assures all the good people of Kogi state and his teaming supporters that he is committed to all his electioneering promises and would not be deterred by any spurious allegation the PDP and the state government may be cooking up at this time.”

Reacting through the DirectorGeneral, Media and Strategy Bureau, Government House, Lokoja, Mr Faruk Adejoh-Audu, denied any plan to arrest Audu on false charges.

He said the ACN candidate will only be arrested if he has committed a felony, just like any other citizen of the state.

Adejoh-Audu said: “Why would anybody arrest Audu? Has he committed an offence? The

•Audu

truth of the matter is nobody is going to arrest Audu. The only reason to keep anyone out of circulation is if the person constitutes a danger to your interest.

“Yes, Audu definitely constitutes a danger to the society because of his very violent tendencies and bestial nature, but he has no electoral value. The man has no electoral value whatsoever.

“This has been proven repeatedly in 2003, 2007, 2008 and April 2011.

Every political party he has ever led has always been thrashed, at all times winning less than 20 per cent of the votes.

“So, Audu does not constitute any threat to anybody’s electoral interest.”

ANPP looks beyond polls, plans unity summit

A

PPARENTLY looking beyond Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi, the state chapter of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) yesterday spoke of a plan to unite indigenes of the Confluence State.

Specifically, the party’s candidate, Elder Ubolo Okpanachi, said he would organise a stakeholders’ forum where issues of power shift and infrastructural needs will be resolved, if he wins.

Okpanachi said the move was in line with the theme of his party’s campaign tagged: Unity 2012.

The ANPP said its government would harness the solid mineral deposit for the good of all, and that its can-

From Joseph Jibueze, Lokoja

didate, being a former accountant-general in the state, will ensure prompt payment of workers’ salaries.

Declaring the party ready for the election, the chairman, Alhaji Patrick Daudu, said: “The ANPP in Kogi State is very, very well prepared for Saturday’s election.

We have presented the most credible candidate.

“All Kogites have to work together and be united to be able entrench justice, equity and fairness and that is what we are out for.

“The solution to power shift is a united Kogi. Past leadership has failed to unite the state. Let the stakehold-

•Okpanachi

•Daudu

ers of Kogi sit together and ask themselves the following questions. Where we have gone wrong? How did we start? How far have we gone? And which way for-

ward?

“Our government will unite the people of Kogi, and once the people are united, power shift will be easily resolved.”

He advised the people against selling their votes and their conscience on Saturday.

Daudu said: “My message to the people of Kogi State is: Will they allow their conscience to be bought? How long will they remain in slavery? The time for change is now. And that change will be through the ANPP. “Civil servants are crying in this state, but our government will pay all the arrears in the next one year.

“Virtually all the roads in Kogi are death traps, even within the Lokoja metropolis. The day President Goodluck Jonathan visited, the government started filling potholes in the state capital.

Is that what a government

that is ready to serve the people should do?

“You can see the roads are so bad. Hospitals are in total decay. Our students have not collected bursary allowance for a very long time. These are things our government will correct.

“We read the faces of the people. We know that they have been yearning for a change. We know there is so much poverty in the land, that our health system is in total decay, and that the people have been waiting for that party that will bring the needed change.”

He said Okpanachi will be Kogi’s Barrack Obama. “Even the leadership of Obama’s party did not believe he could win.

Family of shot trader seeks justice

H

E winced and recoiled in pains as he changed his position on the bed, his wife sitting beside him. Sympathisers coming in and out to console him.

Sunny Okpala, a Lagos trader, allegedly shot by a police officer in Mile 2 area of Lagos, yesterday expressed concern over his health.

Doctors said he may not be able to use the left arm again after a surgery. Speaking with The Nation on his hospital bed, Okpala said he was worried his arm may have been paralysed.

He said a portion of his thigh was cut to cover up the injury on his arm as the bullets shattered his flesh.

A policeman attached to the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), identified as Idris Samson, had opened fire on him on November 19 at the Light Rail Station under construction in Mile 2. Since then, he has been on admission at the Lagoon Hospital, Apapa, Lagos.

When The Nation visited the hospital yesterday, Okpala narrated his ordeal. His wife, Amaka, said they had been keeping vigils in the hospital since the incident.

Mrs Okpala said: “I was shocked

By Toluwani Eniola

when I heard that my husband was shot by the police. Since then, I have been coming to the hospital to take care of him. The most horrible thing was that he may not be able to use the hand again. He lost so much blood and he has been on drip. It is very frustrating that he is in this condition.”

Okpala said : “Right now I am praying to God to survive. I am feeling great pains on my left arm and my leg as a portion of my thigh was cut to fill the shattered arm. Doctors told me I need another surgery in six months and that I have 50 per cent to use the arm again after the surgery.

Recounting the incident, Okpala said he was on a business trip from Orile to Apapa .

His words: “On November 19, 2011, I was driving from Orile towards Mile 2. There was an ongoing road construction at Mile 2 and another route had been created for people to turn at the Berger area.

“While I was making a detour at Berger to navigate the Apapa Expressway, a policeman just showed up from nowhere and ordered me to park, saying I had contravened

•Okpala with wife, Amaka...yesterday

the traffic. I was surprised by the policeman’s claim because other vehicles before me had turned at that particular spot and were not challenged. I was trying to park properly to comply with the policeman’s order when I was shot.”

His brother, Uche said the family has spent over N1 million on hospital bills, saying he just left the theatre for another round of surgery.

He said: “Since the incident, I have been forced to relocate to Lagos. I live in Onitsha and I am deeply worried about the health of my brother.

Although the family of the policeman promised to offset the hospital bill, we are worried that nothing has been done. Some policemen from the FESTAC Police Post who visited him said the police would foot the medical bill. But nothing has been done.

Is it until my brother dies that they will raise money?

Police source said the triggerhappy officer was apprehended and detained at the FESTAC Police Post. He, however, was reported to have ran away after the incident but was arrested.

When contacted yesterday, the Lagos police spokesman, Samuel Jinadu, said he was not aware of the incident.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

9

NEWS

•Jonathan (middle) with members of the board...yesterday

PHOTO:NAN

Stay away from politics, Jonathan warns NDDC board

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday warned the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission

(NDDC) to stay away from politics.

He cleared past members of the board of allegations of corruption, saying the problem with them was lack of cooperation.

Jonathan spoke at the inauguration of the NDDC board in Abuja.

The President said members of the last board spent most of the time fighting instead of doing the work for which they were appointed.

He added that from his findings, it was deduced that selfishness was responsible for the short lifespan of the last board.

Jonathan, therefore, warned the new board

to face the responsibility of developing the area rather than dabbling into politics.

He also asked members of the board with interest in politics to step down.

The new board, which is to complete the remaining two years of the last board, has Dr. Terillah Tebepah as chairman. Dr. Christian Oboh is the Managing Director.

The President warned that he would not tolerate the board dabbling into politics; adding that the people of Niger Delta were not happy with the last administration.

His words: “Nigerians are angry with the NDDC. So you are taking up responsibility at a time that people are not pleased with what is happening in that commission.

“I hope you will not allow the wrath of the people come upon you.

“But our experience in this board that you are to complete its tenure is quite disturbing.

Warning the new board against playing politics with the assignment, the President said:”If anyone of you wants to become governor of your state, please tell us on time.”

He also warned that any member interested in partisan politics should step down from the board.

“The day you feel you want to be governor or a senator, please let us know early, so you leave the NDDC and pursue your political career.

“You can’t combine the two because it is a sensitive body. I want to repeat it again; I don’t want to hear NDDC members camping political thugs in Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt or any other hotel in Port Harcourt.

“It has happened over the period and I will no longer accept it.”

Tebepah said the board would face its responsibility of transforming the area.

Those sworn in include L.E.J Konboye, Director (Finance and Accounts), Edikan Eshett, Director (Projects) Others are: Oladele Omogbemi; Edward Orubo; Dr. Ibitamuno Aminigo; Solomon Ogba; Imaobong Johnson; Aloysious Nwagboso; Peter Ezeobi; Dominic Aqua Edem; Osabon Imaru; Joe Jakpa; Senator Garba Yakubu Lado; Rima Shawulu Kwewum; Senator Tunde Ogbeha, Minister of State (Finance) and Minister of Environment.

Three brothers, seven others nabbed for alleged kidnap HREE brothers, Joshua Teteh (37); Glad Teteh (35) and Moses Teteh (27) and four others have been arrested by the police in Lagos State for alleged kidnap and extortion.

The gang was arrested with guns at Ojota, Lagos by the policemen from Area H, Ojudu Division.

The suspects were said to have allegedly extorted N9.5 million from the husband of one of the victims they kidnapped at Mowe, Ogun State.

The other members of the gang are: Clement Ikpewe(36); Mayford Emone(37); Robinson Ojakovo (35) and Happiness Johnson (29).

The suspects are reportedly based in Benin, Edo State, but carry out their operations at Mowe and Maryland in Lagos.

T

By Titilayo Banjoko and Polycarp Orosevwotu, Warri

Glad and Ikpewe claimed they were former militants.

Joshua told The Nation how they kidnapped a business woman on November 12.

“On November 12, we kidnapped a business woman from her home, and demanded N12 million from her husband.

“He told us that he couldn’t afford the amount, but will be able to raise N9.5 million.

“He brought the money and we released his wife to him.

“After that, we also abducted a man named Peter in front of his Maryland home and collected N1million for his release.”

When asked what his share was and what he used the money for, Joshua said: “I was given N2million. I bought a

Bayelsa United player dies 20-year-old profesin hospital

A

sional football player in Nigeria has died after complaining of pain in his arm while playing with friends.

Nigerian football club Bayelsa United says striker Aruwa Ameh died nearly a week after being hospitalized in Kaduna, where he had been visiting family. He was pronounced dead Monday at a local hospital.

Team spokesman George Ameli tells The Associated Press that the cause of death was unknown.

He says the club, which is based in the southeastern town of Yenagoa, received reports that Ameh went to the hospital over arm pain “and never came back.”

Ameli says Ameh was the top scorer in the Nigerian Premier League in 2007.

Chorekee Jeep for N700,000 and invested the remaining into a truck for transporting sand.”

Moses said he was a furniture maker. He said it was his brother, Joshua, introduced him to the gang and he got N1 million from the operation at Mowe.

Glad said he was the driver of the gang and confessed that he got N2million from the operation, which he used to buy a Nissan Xterra.

Items recovered from them include a locally made pistol, 24 cartridges, one pair of pliers, charms, and one jack.

Police spokesman Samuel Jinadu said the men would be charged to court after investigation has been concluded.

Also in Delta, officers of the anti-kidnapping unit of the

State Security Services (SSS) arrested three kidnap suspects at Otor-Iyede in Isoko North Local Government.

It was learnt that the suspects kidnapped their victim and demanded for an undisclosed amount of money as ransom which was paid.

A source said the kidnappers were apprehended by the security operatives, who had been on their trail.

“They thought that since they collected the ransom and freed their victim, then the matter was over but we kept surveillance on them until they were apprehended,” the source said.

The suspect’s names were given as Aghogho Oghenekoko; David Akwele and Emmanuel Onovuakpor.

SSS Director Mrs. F. Ikanune could not be reached for comments.

Akwa Ibom deep sea port for 2015

By Oluwakemi Dauda

T

HE Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Omar Suleiman, has assured Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio that the proposed Ibaka deep sea port would start receiving ocean going vessels in three years.

Speaking in Abuja at an event to mark the official hand over of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the over 5580 sq meters of land area for the new port, Suleiman said all infrastructure needed to fast -tract the early completion of the port would be provided.

The NPA’s Managing Director hailed the governor’s gesture. He said the move to establish the deep sea port is a major step in the nation’s quest of becoming the hub of maritime operation in the West and Central African sub-region.

He noted that what is needed to realise the project is infrastructure, assuring that NPA would partner the state to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is provided.

Akpabio pledged to within one month award contract for the dualisation of the port main access road to link the east – west road with a view to making it more intermodal.

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I formerly known and addressed as Bako Modu Kagu, now wish to be known and addressed as Bako Modu Dejibe. All former documents remain valid. University of Maiduguri, Ramat Poly, Maiduguri, Federal Poly Damaturu and general public should take note.

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ACN chieftain blames Benue church attack on PDP thugs

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HE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chairman in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, Asombo Ifam, has said the attack on the party’s supporters and worshippers at Holy Trinity Parish of Catholic Church, Dagba, Adagi, in the council, was masterminded by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs.

In a statement in Adikpo, Benue State, the ACN chieftain alleged that over 300 suspected PDP thugs/militiamen disrupted a thanksgiving service in honour of Senate Minority Leader George Akume.

Ifam said among the personalities attacked were Benjamin Aboho (rtd), the member representing Kwande/ Ushongo Federal Constituency, and Rev. Fr. Joseph Akaashima.

According to him, many

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people were injured in the attack.

The ACN chieftain alleged that the thugs were recruited and deployed in the area by a council chief, with the aid of a PDP leader in the area.

He said the thugs arrived Adagi on November 26 and were camped in the home of …a PDP elder in Ikurav-Ya. Ifam alleged that the PDP leader had announced on the state-owned Radio Benue, when information on the planned thanksgiving service got to him, that he had banned thanksgiving and political gatherings in the council, except with his permission. The ACN, he said, advised the organisers of the church service to write and obtain the approval of the council Chairman. But he added that the council Chairman turned down the request.

“The ACN in Kwande Local Government Area commiserates with those who sustained injuries in the mayhem, especially Rev. Fr. Joseph Akaashima, who was on a visit to the Parish, and Catholic faithful of Holy Trinity Parish, Dagba. We pray God to grant you speedy recovery.

“The party hereby advises its supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, even in the face of the unwarranted provocation from the PDP. The whole world is now aware of who is desperate in Benue State, as PDP (leaders) have taken their desperation to the house of God by stopping people from exercising their constitutional right to freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution. God will fight for Himself…,” Ifam said.

Saraki’s opponent alleges lawyers’ connivance at tribunal T

THE Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate for Kwara Central Senatorial District in the April election, Hajia Bilkisu Gambari, yesterday urged the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to ensure stricter regulation of lawyers’ conducts.

Mrs Gambari, who spoke in Abuja, is contesting the verdict of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal at the Court of Appeal. She challenged the election of Senator Bukola Saraki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

From Dele Anofi and Olugbenga Adanikin, Abuja

The CPC candidate is seeking the cancellation of the election or a re-trial at the Court of Appeal.

She said her decision to appeal the tribunal verdict was because of the alleged connivance of her lawyers and some members of the Kwara State CPC executive whose actions turned out to be detrimental to her aspirations.

Mrs Gambari said: “At the tribunal, my lawyers were

discovered to be acting against my interest. The Kwara CPC brought in their lawyer and, without my consent, told the tribunal that I was withdrawing the case.

These are lawyers that I commissioned.

“While entrusting my faith in the hands of my lawyers, little did I know that I was falling into a grand conspiracy designed to use me and my petition to negotiate for and get higher bargains from my opponents.”

Kwara DPP to merge with PDP today

T

HE Kwara State Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) is set to merge with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today, it was learnt yesterday.

The Nation learnt that the leadership of both parties had been meeting for three months.

Though the two-time governorship candidate and sole financier of the DPP, Gbenga

•DPP: it is not true From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

Olawepo, was said to be outside the country, sources said the proposed merger might have received his blessing before he travelled.

Olawepo, a pioneer member of the ruling party, left the PDP over some differences he had with its

Tribunal to hear ACN candidate’s petition

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NEWS

From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

T

HE National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, yesterday got the nod of the Appeal Court to hear the petition of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Daniel Onjeh, challenging the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Hassan Saleh.

The tribunal set aside Saleh’s application, which sought to dismiss Onjeh’s prayers.

Onjeh, a former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the West Africa Students Union (WASU), contested to represent Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency in the April election.

His petition, challenging the election of Saleh, was dismissed at the tribunal, presided over by Justice Anselm Nwaigwe.

He headed to the Court of Appeal, Makurdi, seeking to upturn the tribunal verdict.

The Appeal Court, which held that the lower court erred in its decision by striking out the petition, ordered the petition to be heard again, based on its merits.

When the case came up yesterday before the newly constituted tribunal, Saleh insisted that the petition be struck out on the grounds that the 180 days allotted to hear and determine the case, according to Paragraph 47 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, had elapsed.

Justice Muktar Abimbola said the tribunal was bound by the decision of the Appeal Court, which ordered the retrial of the petition, based on its merits.

He warned that the tribunal would not entertain any form of technicalities to delay justice, assuring that it would ensure that both parties get justice.

The matter was adjourned till December 12 for hearing.

leadership.

He was said to have directed the state DPP Chairman, Alhaji Biodun Usman, and the Secretary, Alhaji AbdulRaheem Olesin, to go ahead with the merger.

PDP Acting National Chairman Alhaji Kawu Baraje is said to be the prime mover of the proposed merger.

Some DPP leaders said they decided to join the PDP because of the honour it did to the state at the national level through the appointment of Baraje as Acting National Chairman.

But the Kwara Central Senatorial District’s candidate of DPP in the April election, Alhaji Tunde Mohammed, denied knowledge of the merger plan.

He said Olawepo has neither initiated nor blessed the union.

Mohammed was the state’s spokesperson of DPP before the April election.

He said: “People are free to move to any party of their choice. After all, some people have moved from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to PDP in the state. But it is not true DPP is merging with PDP in the state. Olawepo has not initiated any of such.”

A DPP chieftain in the state, Alhaji Olesin, who confirmed the development, said: “All well-meaning Kwarans have the moral obligation of teaming up with PDP because of the honour the party has done to one of its citizens, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

11

BUSINESS THE NATION

E-mail:- bussiness@thenationonlineng.net

The Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010 offered the insurance industry in Nigeria the leverage to expand its market by underwriting 70 per cent of the risks emanating from that subsector.

-Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance (NAICOM)

Naira falls for third day

Fed Govt to increase power supply by 600mw

T

HE naira depreciated for a third day against the dollar on accumulated demand after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) failed to meet lenders’requests at successive foreign-currency auctions.

The currency, according to Bloomberg News, retreated 0.7 per cent, before paring the loss to 0.4 per cent at N160.83 per dollar in interbank trading at 3:58 p.m. in Lagos.

The apex bank sold $200 million at an auction on Monday, less than the $315.6 million sought by lenders, failing to meet demand for the third straight auction.

“The Central Bank has underfunded the market at the official currency auction, thereby raising dollar demand at the interbank,” Tunde Ladipo, chief executive of the Lagos-based Valuechain Investment Ltd., which trades in currencies, said yesterday by phone. “There is high dollar demand for imports toward the year-end and unless central bank intervenes, the naira will remain under pressure for the rest of today.”

American envoy backs fuel subsidy removal From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

T

HE Ambassador of the United States of America in Nigeria, Ambassador Terence McCulley, yesterday said America is in support of the Federal Government’s plan to remove fuel subsidy.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, who received the ambassador in his office had dropped the hint of the Federal Government plans to remove fuel subsidy to release funds to revamp the economy.

He said his country was considering ways of partnering with Nigeria by bringing Americans to invest and create jobs in the country.

DATA STREAM COMMODITY PRICES Oil -$115.3/barrel Cocoa -$2,686.35/metric ton Coffee - ¢132.70/pound Cotton - ¢95.17pound Gold -$1,800/troy ounce Rubber -¢159.21pound MARKET CAPITALISATIONS NSE JSE NYSE LSE

-N6.503 trillion -Z5.112trillion -$10.84 trillion -£61.67 trillion RATES Inflation -10.3% Treasury Bills -7.08% Maximum lending-22.42% Prime lending -15.87% Savings rate -2% 91-day NTB -15% Time Deposit -5.49% MPR -12% Foreign Reserve $32.820b CFA EUR £ $ ¥ SDR RIYAL

-

FOREX

0.2958 206.9 242.1 151.8 1.9179 238 40.472

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

T

• From left: Group MD, Access Bank Plc and Chairman, Bankers Committee Sub-committee on Economic Development, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy/Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Minister of Agriclture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, during signing ceremony of the tripartite MoU for Financing Supply of Seeds and Fertiliser to farmers between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Nigerian Banks for 2012 Farming Season in Abuja ... yesterday.

Minister demands secret meeting with senators over PIB F

OLLOWING the con troversy trailing the status of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Diezani AllisonMadueke, yesterday requested a secret meeting with the Senate on the issue.

Allison-Madueke made the request at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).

This followed a question by a member of the committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who wanted to know why the minister did not mention the PIB in her

• NNPC made $16.9b on cash call, says GMD From Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

submission to the committee.

The Minister had given the committee an overview of what her ministry planned for the next fiscal year.

But Abaribe felt that the minister should tell the committee what the government wanted the Senate to do with the Bill that lapsed with the Sixth Sen-

ate.

Specifically, Abaribe wanted to know whether the minister planned to forward a fresh PIB to the Senate.

Allison-Madueke described PIB as “highly topical and very sensitive.”

She noted that issues connected with PIB “are issues we would want discussed in a closed door session.”

The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria Na-

tional Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Austin Oniwon, told the committee that the agency has exceeded its cash call target for this fiscal year.

The NNPC chief noted that the corporation was expecting to make $13.9 billion.

He said NNPC has made $16.7 billion, surpassing its budget by 121 per cent.

Oniwon attributed the earnings to stability of crude price, which he said, “has been firm and volume has been good” with production of oil stabilising at “2.4 million barrels per day at that time.”

N450b probe: Reps flay NNPC spokesman’s comments

M

EMBERS of the House of Repre sentatives yesterday criticised the comments by the Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Levi Ajuonoma, who allegedly referred to them as un-learned and incompetent.

The NNPC spokesman in an interview in one of the national dailies last Saturday had said the probe by the lawmakers into the al-

From: Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

leged refusal of the NNPC to remit N450bilion to the Federation Account was a waste of taxpayer’s money.

He said instead of the recently-concluded public hearing carried out by the House of Representatives joint Committee on Finance, Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), and Gas resources on the al-

leged indebtedness of the Corporation, of about N450 billion to the Federation Account, the lawmakers, could have simply saved the country money by conducting a research on the issue.

Nkoyo Toyo (PDP, Cross River), who raised the issue on the floor of the House under motion of breach of privilege, told the House that there was no basis for the kind of assertion made by Ajunuoma.

She said the House must

take appropriate steps to ensure that the issues raised by Ajuonoma are addressed to disabuse the minds of Nigerians from the impression created by reading the interview.

Toyo disclosed that Ajunuoma said the NNPC had to “come very low to explain to them how the money was deducted.”

Many of the lawmakers were angry after listening to Toyo’s presentation, especially when she read out excerpts of the interview.

Sanusi is Forbes Africa Person of the Year

G

OVERNOR, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has been named winner of the Forbes Africa Person of the Year.

The announcement was made on Monday at the inaugural Forbes Africa Person of the Year awards organised by ABN Productions in Lagos.

By Akinola Ajibade

Sanusi was named winner from a shortlist of five of Africa’s most influential personalities including Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, Africa’s first female Head of State; Pedro Veron Pires, former president of Cape Verde, who won the Ibrahim Prize for Achieve-

ment in African Leadership; Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group; and the late Professor Wangari Mathaai, Nobel Prize Kenyan environmental and political activist.

Sanusi was selected by a judging panel consisting of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Bureau Chief, Peter Burdon; CNBC Africa Chief Editor,

Godfrey Mutizwa; Reuters Bureau Chief, Matthew Tostevin, Managing Editor Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop and Forbes Africa senior journalist, Vuyo Mvoko.

The Managing Editor of Forbes Africa, Chris Bishop, said the shortlisted candidates have had significant influence on the events of the year in Africa.

HE Federal Govern ment will add 600MW to the national grid by next month, Chief Executive Officer, Shiroro Hydro Power Station, Daudu Abdulaziz, has said.

He disclosed this on Monday when the Minister of State for Power, Darius Ishaku, made routine tour of the station.

He said to accomplish this the Shiroro Hydro Power Station, which was abandoned, is being overhauled and ready for operation.

In a statement the ministry stated that it said Ishaku commended the efforts of the chief executive and staff in the overhauling of the gas turbine and advised the workers to ensure that they are part of the history in ensuring that the sector works.

Also, he told the workers that the Federal Government privatisation is with a human face, and urged the workers to ensure that the allotted shares to them in the privatised entities are used.

Arik resumes Abuja-London flight Dec. 12

By Kelvin Osa-Okunbor

A

MONTH after it sus pended flights be tween Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and London- Heathrow Airport, Arik Air said yesterday that it is set to resume operations by December 12, this year.

According to the airline’s Chairman, Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide,this stems from the positive and favourable outcome of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the Federal Governments on the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA).

He explained that it has been agreed that Arik will receive two additional weekly slots at Heathrow Terminal 4 in order to operate a daily flight on theAbuja-London-Heathrow route compared to five times weekly that the airline had operated from November 2009 until last month when it suspended operations due to some extraneous factors.

The increased frequency on the route, he said, means Nigeria is operating 14 of its 21 agreed frequencies between the two countries.

The airline will operate a daily flight between the two capitals, complementing its daily Lagos-London, Heathrow service. This would bring Arik’s total flight frequencies between Nigeria and the UK to 14 per week.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

12

ISSUES Despite harbouring about 30 per cent of the world's gold and almost half of its diamonds and platinum, Africa, which has been plagued by economic woes and political instability, has consistently failed to cash in on its enormous wealth of natural resources. Some experts at the just concluded African Business Leaders Forum (ABLF) in Accra, Ghana, predicted that Africa may be the next region to attract large measures of global investments. COLLINS NWEZE, who was at the conference, reports.

•CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

•Minister of Finance Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Africa as the next global frontier W

ITH the crisis ravaging the Eurozone, analysts have predicted that African markets remain the next investment frontier. Business leaders at the just concluded 2011 African Business Leaders Forum (ABLF) in Accra, highlighted critical factors to attract investments to the continent. But the region has to be prepared for the spillover of the Euro zone crisis on its economies and financial systems.

The consensus was that growth and development of African economies can only happen with investment in infrastructure and business segments capable of creating jobs and boosting the productive sectors of the economies. Business leaders that participated in the forum said Africa is the next investment frontier, but has to be ready as opportunities in the continent become clearer to investors.

The theme for the two-day conference was Enhancing Africa's business opportunities through effective public private partnerships.

Alec Erwin, CEO, UBU Investment Holdings, South Africa, highlighted the need

for African leaders to have a focused developmental strategy to attract investment.

"It is important to have clarity of purpose.

We need to attract resources to develop infrastructure in Africa, and we will only be able to do this through establishing public private partnerships," Erwin said.

He emphasised that only by stabilising the economy, legal system and capital markets, can African countries gain the foreign investment that they require. "It can't be done by proceeding with 'business as usual,'" he added. "It means changing the way we govern in Africa."

Dr. Iraj Abedian, Pan- African Capital Holdings, South Africa, also shared same view. "If we don't actively engage and take the appropriate action, we will miss out on investment opportunities in Africa. We need to graduate from being subject to being citizen. A responsible citizen is an engaged citizen," Abedian said.

African firms He said several leading business profes-

sionals highlighted the need for African companies to spur the economic growth that the continent needs - instead of waiting for governments to take the lead. "The challenge lies with our indigenous companies, because they are the ones that are actually going to fuel the economy, especially the SMEs. So, strong leadership in this area is really important," explained Mr JB Winful, senior partner, KPMG Ghana.

According to Winful, governments aren't doing enough to encourage local businesses, and are actually making it difficult for home grown companies to be a success.

"Business leaders often have to 'go to bed' with the government to survive," he said. "If business leaders have to compromise all the time, this will not be sustainable. Only if we practice the integrity we preach, and do what is right to grow our local businesses, can we succeed."

However, Martyn Mensah, CEO, Kasapreko Company Limited, Ghana said a strong Africa is good for the world. "We must stop talking about foreign investment, and instead look at local investment. We must look within. Africa's time has come, if

we miss this opportunity, it may take a few more generations until this opportunity comes again," he said.

James Boateng, CEO of Cadbury Ghana emphasised the importance of harnessing Africa's most important resource - its people. "It all comes back to the people and the type of leadership we practice. This is what drives business forward," said Boateng.

Perspective of Africa Although Africa has always been adjudged the richest continent in terms of natural resources, the continent remains the poorest and the least developed region of the world.

But experts believe that with abundance of natural resources, a growing population, and a large market, Africa is the next global frontier that would follow the emerging powers of China, India and South America.

This, according to them, is however, de• Continued on page 13

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

13

ISSUES

Africa as the next global frontier • Continued from page 12

pendent on the quality of leaders in the continent. The experts who spoke at the ABLF tagged: Enhancing Africa's Business Opportunities through Effective Public Private Partnerships, held in Accra a fortnight ago, insisted that concerted efforts on the part of African leaders and businessmen could accelerate the process of Africa becoming a global power.

They emphasised the need for the sustenance and adoption economic policies that would translate into improvement of macroeconomic management in countries across the continent.

According to them, policies that would engender greater fiscal discipline, improved monetary policies, reforms such as privatisation, transparency, business ethics, among others, should be encouraged to enthrone macroeconomic stability, which they insisted is essential for growth.

Shared-services for banks' growth Experts and operators of banks in Africa explained that the banking sector is an extremely vital component for the development of the continent. According to them, cost of lending by banks can be reduced if banks can share some of their key infrastructure that contributing to their increasing cost of operations. The Managing Director, Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, Daniel Asiedu said that cost of lending always rise in line with banks' cost of operation, and that shared-services is the only way to reduce such costs.

He said even though banks think of supporting entrepreneurs, but the cost of lending has been a major roadblock. He said by sharing key infrastructure and cooperating with one another, banks in the continent will have their cost reduced drastically.

"I am the Treasurer of Bank Treasurers Association in Ghana, and there was a time we were trying to buy a particular note counting machine. We drove it from the association level and we got a bulk discount from the sellers.

There was a cost reduction. That means my overhead cost will reduce and my cost of lending will equally reduce," he said.

According to him, the banks need to share services in terms of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) usage. In many cases he said, the machines are mounted too closely, with basic infrastructure repeated in all the cases. By sharing and networking the infrastructure, the banks will save a huge fund, which could reduce cost of credit.

"The point is we can have one or two ATMs serving the customers of all the banks to reduce cost of operation," he said.

He said the mistrust and cut throat competition that exist in the industry is affecting cooperation in terms of loan syndication. He explained that big ticket transactions are lost to foreign banks, where local banks fail to come together to finance such transactions.

"We have stronger and powerful foreign banks who will take over the transactions even though they are not based in the country. Look at the Cocoa Board of Ghana for

•South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan

instance; financing is still being done by foreign banks. We need to work together to change this situation," he said.

Asiedu argued that savers and depositors always expect to preserve the value of their savings by seeking a positive interest return after adjustment for inflation. According to Asiedu, other environmental factors such as weakness in institutions that support the financial system, credit bureau, bankruptcy, the judiciary system, among others impact on cost of borrowing in the continent.

"It is factual that banks in more developed economies have been able to lend at much lower rates than their counterparts in Africa.

These banks operate in developed markets characterised by greater level of competition, better depth and width of financial instruments, advanced supportive systems and institutional framework. Furthermore, the macro-economy within, which such banks operate is stronger with a perception of relatively stable and predictive indicators," he argued.

Similarly, a former Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, Mr. Emmanuel Asiedu-Mante, maintained that the initiative would help drive down bank rate and charges, which he pointed out had been the complaints of customers in the country. He said that Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is a big challenge, making less cash available to banks for lending. He said when the regulators reduce the CRR; it will make it easier for banks to reduce their spread on loans further.

P u b l i c / p r i v a t e partnerships Ghana's Minister of Communications, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, highlighted the importance of facilitating strong public/private partnerships to spur growth on the continent.

"We must establish strong leadership and institutions in Africa.

The key is to recognise the private sector as a partner to government in enhancing social and economic development," Iddrisu said.

He said the primary challenge facing Africa today is the need to

•Ghana Finance Minister Kwabena Duffour

build stronger institutions. These institutions will be challenged with fighting corruption, ensuring quality health care, fighting infant mortality among others.

"We have a unique opportunity - investment opportunities abound - and we can make a change in the lives of our people by making good choices about how we leverage our abundant natural resources, such as oil." "What Africa needs to do beyond building strong institutions is to facilitate the private sector in partnering government," he said.

Executive Director, Africa Business Leaders Foundation, Edith Dankwa, said African leaders in public and private sectors of the economy need to take positive actions that will turn the fortunes of the continent around for good. She said business leaders should do more of partnership to enhance their strengths to enable them compete favourably with firms from developed economies.

According to them, macroeconomic variable such as the growth of output, exchange rate volatility and the rate of inflation influences the direction of interest rates by banks in the continent.

Attracting investments The experts also stressed the need for leaders and policy makers in countries across the continent to develop strategies that would attract investments into the continent. Chief Executive Officer, UBU Investment Holdings, South Africa, Alec Erwin, argued that focused developmental strategy by governments in the continent would go a long way in increasing investments in the continent.

Erwin said: "It is important to have clarity of purpose. We need to attract resources to develop infrastructure in Africa, and we will only be able to do this through establishing public private partnerships."

He argued that it was only by stabilising the economy, the legal system as well as capital markets, that African countries could gain the desired foreign investment it required. "It cannot be done by proceeding with 'business as usual.

It means changing the way we gov-

ern in Africa,"he said.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pan-African Capital Holdings, South Africa, Dr. Iraj Abedian, said: "If we don't actively engage and take the appropriate action, we will miss out on investment opportunities in Africa. We need to graduate from being subject to being citizen."

However, the Chief Executive Officer, Progeny Ventures Incorporated, Ghana, Dr. Kofi Amoah, pointed out that some investors who come to Africa were always discouraged because of the unfavourable business climate. He emphasised that to build a new paradigm, the continent needed to consider key developmental issues.

These, he said, include our political space; human rights; the psychological state of our people; and the global environment."

Global Chief Executive Officer, The HuD Group, Canada, Dr. Yaw Perbi, also highlighted the importance of education and African youth development for the development of Africa.

"When we talk of Africa, everyone refers to our natural resources, forgetting our human capital. The existing educational system was built to create factory workers, and it is not going to work. Our greatest resource is our people, and if we do not develop the people, it is not going to work," Perbi argued.

Leadership and governance

is self-reflect, and become conscious of their flaws. He highlighted this as a misdeed of leaders.

"Democracy alone does not cause development. In Africa we focus on this first, without developing the foundations for growth. We need leaders who can break the rules and first do what is beneficial for their country. If you look at the leadership, which got us here today, we need a very different type of leadership moving forward.

"Leaders in Africa have to think differently. A lot of the things they do today are not useful for tomorrow. This is unlike China where they always have a long-term plan.

In addition, we must be able to ensure that leaders have strategies that they can be implemented.

Merely having a vision is useless," he added.

To the Managing Director, Stanbic Bank, Ghana, Mr. Alhassan Andani, the next leadership challenge for policy makers in Africa is to ensure that they lead their countries out of poverty level. He also challenged governments to churn out policies that would generate wealth that touches a larger number of their population.

Education and human capital development Chief Executive Officer, Axis Human Capital, Ghana, Dr. Esi Ansah, criticised the educational system in Africa, saying it does provide the necessary training for development.

"It is important to remember that schooling is not the same as education. We need to be training people who are versatile and critical thinkers. The goal of education is societal transformation. As a continent, we need to have key things that we are looking for at every level," Ansah explained.

She stressed the importance of having multiple stakeholders in education, establishing career centres, and building sustainable funding models that would decrease the reliance on government.

On her part, Director of Human Resources, Vodafone Ghana, Stella Appiah-Nkansah, proposed the recruitment and retention of highly qualified African professionals who are working abroad.

Mrs Appiah-Nkansah also listed strategies such as developing strong company brands, offering attractive and flexible remuneration packages, and targeting African-centred career fairs as ways of attracting African professional working abroad to the continent.

Devt of agriculture According to the Executive Director, CEIBS Africa, Prof Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, a major factor that has over the years, hampered growth in Africa is because of the 'distributive leaders' and policy makers in most countries across the continent.

Atuahene-Gima, who is based in China, gave a scathing description of the way in which some African politicians operate. He said: "When they get into power, our leaders think that their role is to distribute wealth - they do not create anything new. We also have 'fanfare' leaders, they like to win awards.

So, they first distribute wealth to their inner circle at the detriment of the economy."

He said one of the most important things that leaders need to do

‘Democracy alone does not cause development. In Africa we focus on this first, without developing the foundations for growth. We need leaders who can break the rules and first do what is beneficial for their country. If you look at the leadership, which got us here today, we need a very different type of leadership moving forward’

The experts also highlighted the need for African leaders to identify sustainable methods of agricultural production to slow down the damaging effects of climate change.

Executive Director, African Bank, South Africa, Tami Sokutu, decried the fact that Africa was the only region in which food security had not improved. According to him, the fight against poverty in Africa was becoming more challenging as the effects of climate change continue to worsen.

"One of the issues we face is that we grow food to be exported elsewhere, instead of ensuring that we have enough to feed ourselves. And if we are not careful about our agricultural practices, it is going to have a severe impact on economies in the continent," he said.

Consultant, Africa Seeds International Limited, Shade Bembatoum, also lamented that farmers in Africa were not adding enough value to their crops. She said: "We are just exporting commodities and going hungry at home. We are living in a global village. So, we can learn from the many successful examples of sustainable agricultural development and food chains around us.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

14

MONEY

CBN to sanction non-compliant merchants T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it would sanction any merchant that failed to comply with its directives on cash-lite banking.

Cash-lite banking refers to the process of carrying light cash around. It was adopted as a replacement for cashless banking, which CBN believe d has been miscontrued by many Nigerians.

Under the CBN’s guidelines for cash-lite banking, merchants were licensed to carry out certain responsibilities that would promote the system The CBN’s Acting Director, Banking Payments System Department, Gaius Emokape, said in a statement, that some merchants have been licensed to carry out cash-lite banking, adding that any of the merhants that failed to comply with the regulatory rules will be sanctioned.

Emokpae said the apex bank has designed a format through which the merchants would be sending

Stories by Collins Nweze

their reports to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System(NIBBS), adding that some merchants have not been using the format.

It has observed that some merchants are yet to comply with the directive for sending their reports in the required formats even after the given timeline of October 1, 2011. “Merchants are therefore mandated to comply with NIBSS format on or before November 30, 2011, failing which, he warned, the CBN shall sanction any errant party with a penalty of N50,000 for each day they fail to comply”.

The apex bank said it acted based on powers conferred in it in sec-

tion 47 of the CBN Act No. 7 of 2007.

Here, the CBN was charged with the duty of facilitating the clearing of cheques, credit instruments for banks and for this purpose to organise, in conjunction with other banks, clearing houses in such places as it may consider necessary.

The rules apply to clearing and settlement in the Nigeria Bankers Clearing Houses which practice cheque truncation system. However, where there is a conflict between the provisions of the cheque truncation guidelines and revised Nigeria bankers’ clearing house rules, the former would prevail.

E-Clearing otherwise known as cheque truncation, involves stop-

ping the physical movement of the cheque and replacing the physical instrument with the image of the instrument and the corresponding data contained in Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR) line. The cheque details are captured, typically by the bank presenting the cheque or its clearing agent and electronically presented in an agreed format to the clearing house for ward delivery to the paying bank for payment.

Unlike the more common form of presentation where a cheque is physically presented to the paying bank, a truncated cheque is typically stored by the presenting bank electronically. house rules, the former would prevail.

‘Merchants are therefore mandated to comply with NIBSS format on or before November 30, 2011, failing which, he warned, the CBN shall sanction any errant party with a penalty of N50,000 for each day they fail to comply’

He said CBN would ensure a one -day settlement cycle for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions. The one-day settlement cycle, known in the industry as Tier-One, is seen by the apex bank as a viable plan to ensuring the realisation of the Cashlite banking system which is to commence in January, 2012, in Lagos.

He said that adopting the TierOne model will encourage the implementation of electronic payments in the country, adding that the apex bank has also designed a format for sending settlement reports to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) aimed at giving value t merchants on the payment model.

“In order to build and sustain public confidence in the electronic payment system, especially for the successful implementation of the Cash-lite Lagos projects, it is important for merchants to get value for PoS transactions on Tier-One,” he said.

CBN, finance houses plan revival strategy

T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and operators of finance houses are forging ahead with a new plan to revive the moribound sector.

The CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Kingsley Moghalu, said aside starting next year comprehensive reforms of the sector, the apex bank will introduce new operational guidelines for its operations.

Moghalu, who spoke at the weekend during the International Conference on Finance Houses in Nigeria, explained that reviving the sector will boost the economy.

He said a recent on-site examination of the Finance Houses sub-sector by the CBN revealed that 22 per cent of the 104 licenced companies were considered to be sound, 20 were seen as technically insolvent, 33 were either inactive or had ceased operations totally. He said, factors like high level of non-performing loans, gross undercapitalisation, poor corporate governance and weak board oversight, meddlesome interference by principal shareholders, persistent operating losses, weak management, among others, contributed to their weak financial performance.

President, Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN), Eddie Osarenkhoe, said there is the need to broaden the funding of finance houses by authorising them to mobilise savings and idle funds from the public through fixed and savings deposit schemes. He said the operators will welcome appropriate regulatory controls limiting deposit taking capacity to a percentage of the shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.

He requested that the CBN brings finance companies under the deposit insurance scheme of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to boost investor’ confidence in the sub-sector.

He said the present minimum capital requirement has become grossly inadequate and has reinforced the narrow funding base of operators.

“We, therefore, wish to advise on the need to significantly raise the minimum capital base in the near future. This will immediately address partly, the issue of funding as well as create a barrier to entry into the system for fringe players and mushroom institutions,” he said.

MasterCard, Ecobank sign MoU

M

ASTERCARD Worldwide and the Ecobank Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see the global payments and technology organisation collaborating with the leading pan-African banking group to bring Mastercard’s payment solutions to more than 30 Sub-Saharan African markets.

The agreement will see MasterCard cooperating with Ecobank to explore joint business development opportunities in the future, as well as the issuance and acquisition of MasterCard products across Ecobank’s unrivalled footprint in Africa. ”This MOU will see Ecobank working closely with MasterCard to bring financial services to our customers across Africa through prepaid, debit and credit card products. This is in line with our strategy of providing convenient, accessible

and reliable products and services to our customers across Africa by leveraging electronic payment platforms, such as ATMs and POSs, to achieve wider and efficient distribution on a 24/7 basis.” says Arnold Ekpe, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank.

“It will also enable both organisations to develop extensive acquiring capabilities to serve international customers and tourists coming to Africa, implement mobile commerce strategies and expand our service offerings to retail and commercial customers in Africa,” he continues. “MasterCard already has a successful issuing relationship with Ecobank in Nigeria, and we are looking forward to expanding this collaboration into other markets in which Ecobank operates,” says Daniel Monehin, Area Head, East and West Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, MasterCard Worldwide.

•From left: Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-African University, Mr Peter Bankole; Executive Director, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, Mr Randall Kempner and Head, High Value Segment, Etisalat Nigeria Mr Bidemi Ladipo at the Etisalat sponsored-SME Toolkit Nigeria Conference, during the Global Entrepreneurship Wee, at the TerraKulture, Lagos.

Dollar demand to ease, say analysts

T

HE demand for dollar is expected to ease as companies round up importations for the year. Demand for the dollar at the official market last week rose by 150 per cent. But a moderation in dollar demand is expected in the remaining part of the year, as major importation activities for the year round off, said Afrinvest West Africa Limited, an investment and research firm.

Analysts urged banks to be sure of products being imported into the country by their customers before foreign exchange is made available to them. Apart from the nature of the goods being imported, other areas the banks are expected to scrutinise before making forex available to the importers are the history of both the importers and their overseas suppliers.

This, they said, would complement the Federal Government’s new resolve to checkmate the recent influx of unwanted goods, especially arms, into the country.

Based on that, the apex bank always insists that customers’ underlying transactions and supporting documents must be validated by the banks before forex is

sold to the importers.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports indicated that total imports in the second quarter of 2011 rose by seven per cent to N3.32 trillion from N3.10 trillion in the first quarter of the year.

Imports in second quarter of 2011 were also 175.5 per cent higher than the N1.22 trillion recorded in the corresponding period in 2010. Further analysis revealed that mineral products’ imports maintained the value of N870.03 in Q2 2011 With respect to import destination, China, United States of America, France and Saudi Arabia in that order, were Nigeria’s largest import destinations representing N395.5 billion, N328.8 billion, N200.8 billion and N197.2 billion respectively.

The total value of merchandise trade in the second quarter of the year stood at N6.89 trillion, compared to N6.32 trillion in the first quarter. This increase of N573.8 billion represented an increase in trade of 9.1 per cent in the second quarter 2011 over the previous quarter.

Further analysis revealed that on a year-on-year basis, total trade

grew by 42.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 relative to the corresponding period in 2010.

According to NBS, the balance of trade for second quarter remained positive at N248.4 billion, an improvement over the first quarter 2011 figure of N110.1 billion, but significantly below the second quarter 2010 figure of N2.3 trillion.

Afrinvest explained that in line with expectations, the Nigerian headline inflation edged up in October relative to September, while the year-on-year inflation for the month of October stood at 10.5 per cent versus 10.3 per cent in September.

It said as the earnings season winds down in the equities market, the Nigerian equities remain promising, due to their largely relatively attractive valuations.

It urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to be vigilant with respect to the developments in the foreign exchange market and maintain its stance in favour of stable exchange rates, and send clear signals that will help anchor the expectations of investors, manufacturers, and policy makers in the short-to-medium term.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

15

MONEY

CBN, shareholders bicker VISA introduces prepaid product over corporate governance V T

HE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and shareholders are accusing each other of hindering corporate governance practices. They bared their minds at a roundtable conference on corporate governance in Lagos. They were represented at the forum by their leaders.

CBN’s Deputy Governor, Financial Services Stability, Dr Kingsley Moghalu, accused shareholders of not contributing their own inputs to financial issues before the apex bank comes out with major policies. He said shareholders’ associations only made their grievances known, after the CBN might have rolled out some policies fundamental to the growth of the industry.

The shareholders alleged that CBN has not been helpful on issues that are of immense benefit to them.

They said the apex bank is fond of approving the annual general meetings of banks late, thereby hindering their attendance and vital contributions at such fora. The shareholders said they do not attend some annual general meetings, due to late

Stories by Akinola Ajibade

notification.

The National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Solidarity Association (ISAN), Mr Sunny Nwosu, said shareholders would appeal against the rulings of the Lagos High Court that directed the three nationalised banks to stop opening offices for operations, pending the declaration of the suit.

Nwosu said the shareholders are the major investors in those banks, and would not like to lose their investments. He said CBN erred on the issue of nationalisation of the banks, adding that it was not too good for the industry.

In a swift reaction, Moghalu said the apex bank follows due process on matters relating to court, among others. He said CBN always cross checks its facts and figures, before taking legal action. He said the banking regulatory body acts on the basis of the rule of law, before taking any legal steps on issues of financial interests to the economy.

He argued that Nigerians ap-

proach to constitutional issues, differs from other countries. According to him, Nigerians like to use political will to suppress the truth, and further achieve their own desires.

Moghalu said central banks in other countries issued directives that would guarantee healthy financial sector, adding that people obey promptly. He opined that it is only in Nigeria that people go to court and appeal against the judgments they have no right to contest.

The cold relationship between the CBN, and the banks started in August 2009, after the former sacked the managing directors of five banks in one fell swoop. Thereafter, the apex bank declared that the five banks have negative capital positions, and was over-exposed to inter-bank market for fund. Subsequently, CBN in conjunction with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) rounded up the examination of the 24 banks and came out with damning reports on three more banks.

ISA Incorporated has introduced a product serving the needs of the unbanked and under-banked consumers. The product ‘Visa prepaid account’ can be accessed through a mobile phone and offers consumers in developing countries a secure, reliable, globally interoperable electronic payment account.

The product is a significant step to bringing access to secure financial services and electronic payments to consumers in developing countries.

In a statement, Visa explained that it is partnering with the MTN Group to offer the new Visa product to MTN Mobile Money customers across its markets. The new product would be available to customers in Nigeria and Uganda.

More than 100 mobile money programmes provide consumers in

developing countries with basic financial services, with several more being planned by financial institutions and mobile network operators.

Visa’s new product will enhance the security, scale and inter-operability of these mobile money programmes, while extending their payment functionality by enabling account holders to send funds to each other. They can also send and receive international remittances, make purchases online where Visa is accepted or withdraw funds at a Visa Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

“Reaching consumers who have previously lacked access to formal financial services with secure and reliable electronic payments is finally a reality,” said Jim McCarthy, Head of Product for Visa Incorporated.

Businessman wins Skye Bank’s car

A

KANO-BASED businessman, Uchenna Okeke, has won the Toyota Corolla star prize at the Kano zonal draws of Skye Bank Plc’s on-going savers promo. So far, five people have won cars. Okeke praised the bank for the promo which he said has transformed his life forever. He said he was surprised and enjoined the public to join the promo train by saving a minimum of N25,000 with the bank for a month.

Also, a Yola-based worker, Fortune Felix, also won N1 million, while several other customers won various items, such as LCD televisions, generatos, airconditioners, household items, among others Speaking at the draw, the bank’s General Manager, Retail Banking, Mrs. Arinola Kola-Daisi, listed the

rationale for the promo as the need to encourage the saving culture among Nigerians, the need to reward the customers, as well as to increase the capacity of the customers to achieve their life ambitions through savings.

She said that 30 millionaires had so far been produced since the promo started five months ago, adding that opportunities still exist for those who wish to save with the bank.

According to her, savers are required to save a minimum of N25,000 a month to be eligible for the monthly draws.

The representative of the National Lottery Commission, Mallam Baba Adamu, praised the transparent nature of the draws which he described as the best in the country.

PayMaster backs CBN’s cash-lite policy

P •From left: Executive Director, Corporate Services, Bank of Industry (BoI) Chris Umeh; Managing Director, Ms. Evelyn Oputu and Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, during a courtesy visit of Uduaghan to BoI office, in Lagos.

‘Importation will not drag naira to abysmal level’

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MPORTATION of petroleum products, and raw materials by multinational firms cannot depreciate naira to an all-time low of N165 per dollar as the Christmas period is fast approaching. The Chief Executive officer, Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria (FMDAN), Mr Wale Abe said the naira cannot depreciate further even as companies are spending the last quarter of the year to import more raw materials for their operation in 2012.

He made this known to The Nation in Lagos on Monday.

According to him, the importation that characterised the last three

months, and its attendant high demand for dollars cannot put pressure on the naira.

Abe explained that companies have been importing raw materials before now, adding that the importation for the month of December cannot drag the value of naira further.

He said the exchange rate cannot come down drastically, unless there is a major shock in the international prices of crude oil.

“Those people importing products have been doing it before. The market has been there, and would continue to be there. I therefore, do not expect further depreciation of naira as a result of the end of the

year importation”, he said.

The naira depreciated to its lowest level in August, exchanging for between N160 to N162 per dollar in the market. The development was attributed to short-supply of dollars at the Wholesales Dutch Auction System (WDAS) – the CBN’s official window, speculation, and purchases made by importers of goods.

Nigeria’s economy is import- dependent, and at this time of the year, demand for foreign currency is normally high as companies increase importation to prepare for the end of the year sales. When this happens, naira is expected to experience huge pressures.

ICAN urges members to embrace best standards

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HE President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Prof Francis Ojaide, has advised accountants to exhibit high standards of professionalism to improve the image of the profession.

He said accountants should continue to uphold the core values of integrity and accountability, to ensure the best practices of corporate governance.

Speaking during the 48th In-

By Ernest Adhekegba

duction for new members in Accra, Ghana, Ojaide said accountability should be the watchword of practitioners.

He said fraud and corruption are causing the collapse of public institutions and hindering the national development. He urged members to be transparent and further discharge their duties well to assist the transformation

programme of the Federal Government.

He said the institute has over the last 46 years grown its membership from 250 to 34,344 members, adding that it is committed to producing highly trained chartered accountants to foster growth of the economy.

He called on the public and the private sector to support the profession to attain greater heights.

AYMASTER Limited, an indigenous e-business infrastructure provider, has reaffirmed its commitment to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new policy for a cashlife economy. In a statement PayMaster said it has started driving implementation of the policy through increased deployment of Point of Sale (PoS) terminals across select locations in Lagos ahead of commencement of ‘Cashlife Lagos’ in January 2012.

“Operation Cashlife Lagos’ is a six-month test-run of the CBN cashless policy aimed at moderating the volume of cash in the system and encouraging use of PoS terminals before its full expansion to other states of the federation.

Speaking ahead of kick-off of the test run, Mr. Ozurumba Afigbo, Chief Operating Officer, Ventures Development and Management, Nextzon Business Services Limited, said that PayMaster, which was set up by Chams Plc and Nextzon, has concluded arrangements to double its deployment of PoS in Lagos to ensure the success of the programme. ‘We have started deployment of suitable PoS terminals in strategic locations in Lagos to meet the January 1, 2012 take-off and support the government’s initiative towards a cashless economy. We wish to assure Lagosians that PayMaster is fully braced for the challenge.’

NEXIM’s intervention in export sector stands at N28.84b

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HE Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) has said it committed N28.84 billion to the export sector from 2005 to October, 2011. The NEXIM Assistant General Manager, Project Finance, Ifeanyi Nwade, disclosed this during an exporters enlightenment programme, tagged: “Developing the Nigerian Non-Oil Export Sector through Customised Solutions” organised by the bank in Lagos at the weekend.

Nwade said the figure represented actual funding to on-going projects initiated by the bank in the period under review. He said it excluded those transactions that were under negotiations or awaiting funding.

He said the Southwest geo-political zone is the foremost beneficiary of the bank’s intervention with N16.5 billion, equaling 57 per cent of the bank’s total intervention. He said thre are yet to receive the disbursements, adding that Lagos, Ogun and

Ondo were the only beneficiaries in the region.

“The Southwest region is richly endowed in agriculture, solid minerals and human capital. It is no doubt the commercial hub of the country and by far the most industrialised region,” he said.

The Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Robert Orya, said the export potentials of the beneficiary states were far from being significantly tapped.

He urged the investors to take advantage of the numerous business and investment opportunities that abound in the zone. He said that the bank had disbursed over N70 billion and supported over 900 export project in the real sector. The managing director said that they were mostly small and medium scale enterprises adding that the bank had also sustained over 300,000 direct jobs in addition to many indirect jobs.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

16

INSURANCE

Life insurance business undeveloped, says expert D

ESPITE its enormous potential, life insurance business remains undeveloped, a business analysis organisation, Afrinvest Nigeria has said.

Nigeria, the firm said, has one of the least developed life market, urging insurers to do more to develop the business.

Afrinvest noted that based on International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, Nigeria’s population is expected to grow by 2.8 per cent to reach 183.6million by 2016. It noted that in terms of total industry gross premiums, Nigeria has one of the least developed life insurance markets in Africa.

It added that, however, with a rapidly rising youthful population, the life insurance market is unstoppable.”Our view is reinforced by the fact that Nigeria has shown an increasing trend in the ratio of young dependents to working population with a median age of 19.2 years.

“We expect this to increase the demand for mortality coverage,

Stories by Chuks Udo Okonta

hence improving life insurance penetration. Another case for the rapid growth of life insurance in Nigeria is the increasing level of urbanisation which typically removes the bottlenecks against the distribution of life insurance products in Nigeria.

“We have assumed that the fundamental drivers of life premiums are population growth, as well as changes in life density (i.e. per capita premiums). In Nigeria, per capita premiums (Life Insurance) have grown by a 29.6 per cent compared to Non-Life per capita premium growth of 21.1 per cent in the last five years. We think much of the growth observed in the life segment in recent times has been driven by the mandatory group life insurance made compulsory by the Pension Act,” it said.

The legislation mandates every employer of Labour with a workforce of not less than five to maintain a Group Life Assurance

policy for their employees with minimum benefit of three times total emolument in both public and private sectors, albeit with limited compliance from the private organisations,” it said.

It noted that life density will grow by an annual average of 22.0 per cent in the next five years. With population growing at an average of 2.8 per cent and that life insurance premium will raise to N96.5billion in 2013.

But the Chairman, Capital Express Ltd, Mr Babatunde Adenuga

believes that the impact of the economic meltdown on disposable income is taking a toll on life insurance businesses.

Adenuga said in Lagos, that life operators are grappling with the challenges posed by the economic meltdown. “The downturn is negatively impacting disposable income, making it difficult for people to buy policies,” he said.

He said all hope is not lost as the measures introduced by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has continued to help

in weathering challenges raised by the meltdown. He said Capital Express and other operators would continue to work with NAICOM to enable the public maximise the enormous benefits in life business.

Adenuga said: “Clearly, the insurance industry will continue to witness new initiatives and statutory requirements in the nearest future. Though these may in the short term, constitute a strain to the practitioners, the industry will eventually become stronger and better.”

NAICOM unveils agenda for oil, gas risks

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HE National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has devised a strategy to enable insurers benefit from the lucrative oil and gas business.

NAICOM has constituted a committee to work out how insurers can come under a group to underwrite oil and gas risk.

Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel lamented that despite the government’s efforts in empowering insurers through the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act, their participation is still below average.

Under the law, insurers are empowered to underwrite 70 per cent risks in oil and gas.

Daniel said the mandate given to the committee would enable it develop a strategy to enhance the industry’s capacity in oil and gas business.

He said: “The Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010 also offers the insurance industry leverage for further expand its market. The commission took advantage of this law and developed a guideline for the industry. The guideline gives the roadmap on how oil and gas insurance business should be conducted in Nigeria.

“The oil and gas insurance guidelines were rolled out early this year. While it may be too early to adjudge the impact of oil and gas insurances on the overall performance of the industry, it has become apparent that we still have yawning capacity gap in that sub-sector.

“This realisation prompted the inception of an industry committee to explore the possibility of an oil and gas pool as a pool. The committee is still working and it

is hoped that the product of their deliberation will aid our quest for enhance industry capacity.”

The Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Mr Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, said in spite of the local content policy, oil and gas insurance rate is still dictated by the London market.

Ladipo-Ajayi said the rates applied in oil and gas businesses are determined by insurers in the London market who control larger chunk of the business.

He noted that local insurers cover small proportion of risk in the oil and gas sector, adding that it is the standard insurance practice for those who take the larger proportion of a risk to dictate the terms of any business.

“Our members in the Nigerian market are bound to follow the lead of those who bear the greater proportion of risk. The pricing of insurance cover is greatly determined by several factors which relate to the level of risk undertaken by the provider of the cover.

Among the factors to be considered in pricing are the probability of a loss, the total amount of liability that may arise in the event of a loss, the level of safety mechanism in place and reaction of the global insurance market to a particular risk in a given period and claims clauses,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner, Technical, NAICOM, Mr Ibrahim Hassan, said the industry has, no doubt, received development impetus by the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act 2010, adding that virtually all insurance related services in the oil and gas industry are now to be rendered locally.

GTAssur makes N803m Q3 profit

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UARANTY Assurance Plc realised N809.87million in the third quarter, its Chief Client Officer, Mr Tosin Runsewe, has said.

In a statement, he said the company made N676.921million within the same period last year, adding that the profit before tax (PBT) stood at N1.001billion as against N823.58 in 2010. Gross premium income was

N8.26billion as against N5.96 last year.

He said: “We are happy to announce our financial results for the nine months ended September 2011. The company achieved 100 per cent and 156 per cent of GPI and underwriting profit targets and also grew investment income and profit before tax by nine per cent and 22 per cent when compared with the same period in 2010.”

•From left: Director, Legal Services, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Bukhari Bello and Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, at an event organised by National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

‘Bond market safe haven for pension fund’

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HE bond market is a safe haven for pension fund, the Director-General, National Pension Commission (PenCom) Muhammad Ahmad, has said.

In a statement, Alimad noted that the bond market has continued to serve as a safety alternative for the investment of pension funds.

He noted that improved activities in the bond market were direct impact of government initiatives in this sector to encourage the development of the corporate bond market. He said pension operators have switched from other investment outlets to the bond market thereby trading high returns for safety.

He said: “The bond market continued to serve as safety alterna-

tive for the investment of pension funds, which were mostly put in FGN bonds with term to maturity of below seven years. Improved activities in the bond market were direct impact of Government initiatives in this sector in order to encourage the development of the corporate bond market.

“These included making investment income earned from the instrument tax-free, the liquidity status granted to state government bonds and the decrease in interest rate in September of 2010, which accounted for high coupon rate for new offers and higher marginal rates for reopened issues. Consequently, investors including pension operators switched from other invest-

ment outlets to the bond market thereby trading high returns for safety.

“However, one of the remarkable pictures of the bond market in 2010 was the surge in pension funds investment going to state governments bonds that increased by 134 per cent in 2010 over the placements in this investment class during the previous reporting period.”

He noted that in spite the continued reforms in the banking sector, the money market has continued to witness high liquidity, which resulted in a drop in interbank rates across tenors, drop in deposit interest rates across tenors, low interest rates and yields on money market instruments.

NIA seeks market agreement

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HE Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has reviewed the industry’s market agreement to make it enforceable, the Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Mr Sunday Thomas, has said.

Thomas told The Nation that the NIA organised a retreat with operators to seek ways of making the initiative works. He said the agreement is poised to enable operators comply with stipulated rules in the course of undertaking their operations.

He said: “The issue of market agreement is not just about rates, but about service delivery. People would have misconstrued market agreement to mean rates. They have actually taken market agree-

ment to be synonymous with rates cutting. It is beyond that a lot of things are meant to be achieved appropriate rating of risks in the insurance market.

“I can say the market agreement is working. We have had interventions on issues relating to the market agreement. We had understanding on the perception of our members, hence we had a retreat and the focus of the retreat essentially is to review the agreement and make it more workable. That is exactly what we have done. So far, members are respecting the agreements. We have not had serious complaints as we had prior the retreat.”

He said the NIA has spelt out measures of disciplining errant

members, adding that it has the constitutional power to expel members who portray the image of the association in bad light.

“We have a disciplinary committee among members who discipline errant members. Some members have been suspended and on serious cases some members have been expelled. Ours is a voluntary association not set-up by government.

If the way and manner a member conducts his affairs is not consistent with the belief of the association, the association has the right to excuse the fellow. If the association sees that what you are doing is not helping the interest of the association, they would ask you to move, which is part of the constitution of the association,” he added.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

17

THE NATION

INVESTORS NSE’s ex-Council members get N1.39b ‘illegal’ bonus F

ORMER members of the council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) allegedly received an alleged N1.39 billion bonus between 2006 and 2008, The Nation learnt yesterday.

The Exchange is seeking to recover N784million of the amount following the return of N607million by some of the directors.

In the audited report of the Exchange for last year presented at its yearly general meeting in Lagos yesterday.

The bonus, said to have been distributed to the council members as share of surplus, was described as illegal and a contravention of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

The report said upon directive from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to recover the money, some members refunded

•Beneficiaries return N607m

By Taofik Salako

N607 million to the Exchange. The money, it said, has been escrowed in an account.

But others are said to have gone to court over the directive to refund the money.

Those affected include a former president of council, former director-general and other key former executive officials, a former group managing director of a bank and a former vice-president of the NSE. There were also indications that the NSE might wound up two of its three subsidiaries as the board has made “full provision” for the impairment in value of the moribund subsidiaries.

About N73 million was provided for Coral Properties Plc and NSE

Consult Limited, two whollyowned subsidiaries of the NSE. Coral Properties, a property and real estate investment company, was incorporated as a private limited liability company in 1993 and became a public company in August 1995. The NSE has put up for sale its beleaguered commercial property development in Port Harcourt, River State.

NSE Consult Limited was incorporated in 2004 and began business in 2005 with the objectives of serving as consultants, financial advisers and analysts and to carry on business as the investment and private sector arm of the Exchange.

The report, however, showed improvement in NSE’s finances with a group operating surplus of

•Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Hon. Hermon Hembe (right) and his deputy, Hon. Chris Azubogu, during a briefing to compel the listing of oil and telecoms companies in the capital market, in Abuja.

PHOTOS: ABAYOMI FAYESE

GTI Capital is most active broker GTI Capital Limited was the most active stockbroker for the immediate past week with the broker-dealer accounting for more than one-quarter of the total volume during the period.

According to the trading statistics made available by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), GTI Capital traded 644.16 million shares, which translated into 26.07 per cent of the total volume for the period.

The top 10 stockbrokers accounted for 74.57 per cent of the total value traded in the fourth week of this month.

Rencap Securities was the second most active broker with 437.96 million shares, representing 17.72 per cent of the turnover while Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers traded 228.39 million shares, which amounted

to 9.24 per cent of total turnover.

Other most active brokers included Mega Equities Limited, with volume of 170.11 million shares and percentage contribution of 6.88 per cent; CSL Stockbrokers, with 74.32 million shares representing 3.01 per cent; Marina Securities, with 71.11 million shares totalling 2.88 per cent; Nigerian International Securities, with 59.64 million shares representing 2.41 per cent; Greenwich Securities Limited, with 40.79 million shares or 1.65 per cent; Falcon Securities, with 36.91 million shares amounting to 1.49 per cent while Centre-Point Investment Limited contributed 1.29 per cent through 31.97 million shares.

N357.95 million in last year as against a deficit of N2.22 billion in 2009. Gross income increased from N4.08 billion to N4.79 billion, reflecting an increase in gross fees from N3.24 billion to N4.01 billion.

Operating expenses halved from N3.47 billion to N1.98 billion.

In his address at the meeting, the Interim Head of Council of the NSE, Mallam Ballama Manu, called on the government to address the challenges militating against the further development of the market.

According to him, multiple tax regimes and the slow pace in the implementation of the privatisa-

SEC to modify ISA for multinationals

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HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to review the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) to accommodate multinational companies in the stock market.

Speaking at the FBN Capital Investors' conference, the DirectorGeneral of SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, said some of the companies had raised some issues contained in the ISA, such as earnings forecast, which she said might soon be reviewed and expunged.

She admitted that the government is discussing with telecoms companies, agro allied companies as well as those in the upstream and downstream sectors to get them listed to boost confidence in the capital market.

According to her, the pressure to list the companies is not only intended to have a capital market that could reflect the economy, but also to enhance the capital market as a brand.

Oteh said it is in the interest of the companies to ensure Nigerians are part owners of the going concern and by so doing, eliminate the dangers associated with the daily operations of the entities.

She explained that if the citizens

Amaechi calls for collaboration to woo investors RIVERS State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has called for more private sector and government collaboration as a strategy to attract the financial investment needed to drive growth and development of the nation's economy.

Amaechi, who made the call at the recently-concluded First Rivers State Investors'Forum in Port Harcourt, noted that for Nigeria to realise the vision of becoming of the 20 most developed economies in the world in 2020, there must be a combination of efforts by the government and private sector operators.

He noted that World Bank statistics showed that Rivers State is the nerve centre of the economy, accounting for 10 per cent of the nation's Gross

tion programme, especially of entities earmarked for sale through the market are impeding its growth.

He urged the National Assembly to expedite the enactment of appropriate legislation to address these challenges while reiterating the commitment of the Exchange to continuously work to support government and its agencies towards the realisation of Nigeria's economic development and growth objectives.

He said the Exchange would continue to take pro-active measures to enhance the quality of the market, pointing out that the initial preparation for the demutualisation of the Exchange has began.

The Exchange, he said, would also work to deepen the market in terms of tradable asset class and participants as well as provide alternative capital raising mechanisms to improve liquidity.

By Tonia Osundolire

Domestic Programme (GDP).

"The state accounts for over 40 per cent of crude oil produced on-shore in the country and 100 per cent of the liquefied natural gas exports from Nigeria. The state is also quite attractively positioned, being the economic hub of the Southsouth and Southeast regions of Nigeria.

With its accessibility by land, air, water and rail, it is definitely your ideal business destination," Amaechi said.

The governor disclosed that many steps had been taken to make the state investorfriendly, including the enactment of new laws including the Fiscal Responsibility Law, Public Private-Partnership (PPP) law, and the Public Procurement Law.

By Tonia Osundolire

see themselves as part owners of the companies, it would be difficult for them to vandalise facilities.

"If Nigerians have a stake in these companies, we will have Nigerians standing by the companies as human shield against vandalism of their installations," said Oteh.

Citing the Dangote Group of Companies, which is listed on the exchange, Oteh argued that if the companies get listed it would further enhance their corporate governance, credibility rating and their access to pool of funds in the capital market.

Oteh said SEC democratise the process of listing by allowing the companies to appreciate the need and what benefits they can gain from the exercise.

Chief Executive Officer, of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, said besides introducing fundamental changes, such as market segmentation, planned market making, and setting up a department to add value in the servicing of the quoted companies, the NSE is planning changes to reflect some of the issues raised by the companies.

Forecasts Q4 BECO PETROLEUM Turnover N860.84 million Profit after tax N8.156 million (H1 ending Jan 31, 2012) LAFARGE CEMENT WAPCO Turnover N18.658 billion Profit after tax of N1.02 billion BOC GASES PLC Turnover N2.28 billion Profit after tax N359.6 million ACADEMY PRESS Turnover N591.142 million Profit after tax N8.91 million CHAMS PLC Turnover N2.34 billion Profit after tax N238.1 million UNION VENTURES & PETROLEUM Turnover N283.5 million Profit after tax N1.5 million

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

18

THE NATION INVESTORS

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NVESTORS who buy into Conoil at the current market value may earn about 31 per cent, according to a report prepared by analysts at Apel Trust Limited.

With the impressive third quarter report of the company, analysts at Apel Trust, a dealing firm of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said Conoil is highly undervalued and investors could earn a total return of 30.57 per cent.

The benchmark index for the stock market indicates a year-to-date return of -18.84 per cent, which translates into a real return of -29.34 per cent when adjusted for inflation rate of 10.5 per cent.

Analysts said a positive return of 31 per cent for Conoil reflects the underlying values in several stocks in spite of the generally negative overall market situation.

According to analysts, Conoil is undervalued based on expected cash flows as the company's fair value of N45.70 is well above the current market price of N35, which appears to be ignoring improving cash flows associated with expansion in the company's capacity, improved operational efficiency and improved earnings potential.

Analysts used the discounted cash flow method to arrive at a fair value of N45.70 per share, which relates

Analysts predict 31% returns on Conoil current earnings with average growths over certain periods.

"Buying the stock at the current market price ofN35 and holding it to our fair value of N45.70 and adding the present value of the five-year forecast dividends, investors will earn a total return of 30.57 per cent.

Relating this return to the cost of equity at 19.40 per cent, investment in Conoil shares at the market price will record alpha return of11.17 per cent," the report stated.

The report indicated that forward earnings yield based on earnings per share of N5.47 generates 11.96 per cent at the fair value, while the 2010 forward dividend yield based on N3.50 dividend per share generates 7.65 per cent at the fair value.

Conoil had sustained impressive growths in turnover and profitability in the third quarter with sales and net profit rising by 86 per cent and 78 per cent.

Interim report and accounts of Conoil for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011 showed that profit before tax rose by 78 per cent from N2.6 billion recorded in third quarter 2010 to N4.6 billion in 2011.

The report also showed that profit

after tax increased from N1.7 billion in 2010 to N3.1 billion in 2011, representing an increase of 78 per cent.

Turnover stood at N120.3 billion in 2011 as against N64.8 billion in 2010.

With the third quarter performance, Conoil appeared to be in good stead to surpass the N6.5 billion full year profit forecast for 2011. The company is expected to improve on performance in the fourth quarter when activities in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry usually peak.

The board of the company has assured that shareholders would benefit from the increasing profitability of their company, implying possible increase in cash dividends.

While previewing the company's performance for 2011, Chairman of Conoil Plc, Dr. Mike Adenuga, projected that the company would record triple growth rate and deliver superior shareholder value.

"We have set for ourselves, some very challenging targets, but given the commitment of our people and the burning desire to go the extra mile and be the best, we feel confident that 2011 will be a greater success," he had pledged.

According to him, the foundation

FACTS

TO

for the impressive performance was hinged on the huge investment committed to the expansion of the businesses, the general overhaul of its facilities and equipment, the optimisation of its resources and total elimination of waste in its operations.

Analysts noted that with the expected full deregulation of the downstream oil sector, there would be further consolidation across the sector which would favour major marketers that are able to optimise scale and operational efficiency.

They pointed out that with Conoil's investments in logistics optimisation and network expansion, the company is best placed to benefit from deregulation.

Conoil has completed the expansion of its depot in Port Harcourt.

The facility is expected to increase storage capacity by 50 million litres and will enable the company to meet the needs of its customers in the Southsouth, Southeast and Northern part of the country more efficiently.

The company is also expanding its retail outlet by 250 stations to 550 stations by year 2014.

Conoil has begun production and distribution of Liquefied Petroleum

T

By Taofik Salako

pre-tax profit margin from 31 per cent to 27 per cent.

ASL showed similar downtrend.

Gross profit dropped by 8.6 per cent in 2010 as against an increase of 14 per cent in 2009. Profit before tax also partly reversed the gain of 63 per cent in 2009 with a decline of 39 per cent in 2010. However, with less tax in 2010, profit after tax rose by 33 per cent in 2010 in addition to an increase of 63 per cent in 2009. Underlying profitability measures were generally on the downward as gross profit margin slipped from 60 per cent to 59 per cent while pre-tax profit margin declined from 10 per cent to 6.6 per cent.

On the average, Nahco remained substantially ahead of the competition with average sales growth of 21 per cent as against ASL's 1.3 per cent and pre-tax profit growth of 23 per cent as against ASL's 12

FACTS TO FACTS

Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

Gas (LPG) under the brand name Congas and the company's state-ofthe art LPG plant in Lagos has the capacity to bottle 5,000 cylinders daily.

Conoil has constantly augmented its storage capacity and enhanced service delivery to its growing clientele which comprises breweries, cement companies, textile firms, banks, hotels, transport companies, amongst others. The company has also continued to set standards in the growing market of base oil, where the loading facilities have been modernised to ensure excellent customer service and prompt product delivery.

FACTS

Nahco vs ASL: Many sides of aviation HE aviation sector of the economy is strategic.

Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (Nahco) Plc and the Airline Services and Logistics (ASL) Plc are the two prominent and only quoted aviation companies.

Privatised in 2005, Nahco is owned by more than 80,000 individual shareholders including three foreign airlines. The company engages in aircraft, cargo and passenger handling services as well as crew transportation and passenger profiling.

With equity investments by Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa, Nahco has substantial foreign shareholding although Nigerian investors hold the majority equity stake of some 68 per cent.

Airline Services & Logistics PLC (ASL) is the leading provider of catering and hospitality services to international airlines and airports in Nigeria. Established in 1996, the company operates international standard flight kitchen facilities, VIP lounges and restaurants at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

The performance outlook of the two companies in recent years shows a positive trend, although reports in the immediate past year indicated declines in the operating fundamentals of the companies.

Sales Generation Nahco has sustained top-lines growths over the years with average yearly growth of 21 per cent in the past two years. Turnover grew by 4.6 per cent in 2010, a slowdown compared with 37 per cent increase recorded in 2009.

However, ASL's sales contracted by 6.9 per cent in 2010, nearly overriding the modest growth of 9.5 per cent posted in the previous year.

This whittled down average sales growth to a negligible 1.3 per cent.

Profitability Both companies witnessed declines in actual profits as underlying profitability indices weakened considerably to below-average levels. Nahco's profit before tax dropped by 9.8 per cent in 2010 as against an impressive growth of 56 per cent in 2009. Profit after tax also slipped by 5.6 per cent compared with an increase of 55 per cent in 2009. These reflected declines in

•Chairman, Conoil Plc, Dr Mike Adenuga (Jr)

•MD, ASL, Mr Richard Akerele

•MD, Nahco, Mr Kayode Ojo

per cent. At 29 per cent, Nahco's average pre-tax profit margin quadrupled ASL's 8.3 per cent.

Actual Returns ASL improved on returns in the immediate past year compared with declines witnessed by Nahco.

ASL returned about 11 per cent on total assets in 2010 as against 7.1 per cent in 2009, representing average return on assets of 8.95 per cent. Return on equity improved from 12.6 per cent to 15.3 per cent, indicating average return of 13.95

per cent.

Nahco's return on total assets slipped from 18 per cent to 16 per cent while return on equity dropped from 27 per cent to 24 per cent. With average returns on assets and equity at 17 per cent and 25 per cent, Nahco's returns still doubled ASL's returns.

The Bottom-line The aviation sector is, without gainsaying, troubled. The global and national economic slowdown as well as the financial crisis impacted negatively on the industry. With many domestic airlines forced out of business and many others gasping for breath, nearly all airlines, except one, has withdrawn from international routes. Although the intervention of the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria's aviation intervention fund has helped to partly address the debt overhang and financial leverage, the industry remains sluggish. Nahco and ASL have showed considerable resilience, but they need to break new grounds to re-energise profitability.

ASL

Nahco 2010 %

2009 %

Average %

4.6

36.9

-9.8

55.9

27 -5.6 16.1 23.6

31.3 55.3 18.4 26.7

20.75 0 23.05 0 29.15 24.85 17.25 25.15

Pre-tax profit margin (Nahco)

Turnover growth Gross profit growth Pre-tax profit growth Gross margin Pre-tax profit margin Net profit growth Return on Assets Return on Equity

2010 %

2009 %

Average %

-6.9 -8.6 -39.2 59 6.6 32.9 10.8 15.3

9.5 14 63.3 60 10 63.3 7.1 12.6

1.3 2.70 12.05 59.5 8.3 48.1 8.95 13.95

Pre-tax profit margin (ASL)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

19

EDITORIAL/OPINION EDITORIAL FROM OTHER LAND

COMMENT

Return of impunity •The denial of Governor Aregbesola airtime on a minister’s order must be condemned

I

T is unfortunate that the people of Osun State would again be forced to relive the painful experience of political intolerance exactly a year after the wind of democratic change swept out the usurpers from office. Last week, the state government reportedly paid for a two-hour radio programme Radio Link broadcast by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN). The programme was to have featured as part of events marking the first anniversary of the administration of the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Alas, this was not to be. Few hours to the planned broadcast, the management of the radio station, ostensibly acting on the orders of the Minister of Information and Communications Labaran Maku, allegedly caused the stoppage of the

‘What makes it worse is that the minister whose primary duty is to inform citizens on government activities is the one actively seeking to circumscribe the rights of fellow citizens to be heard by their elected government. ...

The citizens of this country deserve to know what informed the minister’s action’

programme. Not surprisingly, no explanations were given except a terse announcement that the programme, which would have been broadcast live to the people of the state and beyond, would no longer hold.

The latest act of hostility against the state government by the federal government – though implacable, hardly comes as a surprise. If anything, it merely extends the strings of hostile actions targeted at the state and its people by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) -led Federal Government. The incident of October 25 is still fresh in memory. In that incident, Kogi State Commissioner of Police Amamama Ababakasanga, also claiming to be acting on orders from above, took a contingent of the state through an unprecedented ordeal of internal deportation after aborting their journey to Abuja, the federal capital.

We are of course alarmed that a minister of the republic would so blatantly abuse his authority for partisan ends as was the case in Osun State at the weekend. We dare ask – whose interest is the minister promoting, the partisan interest of his PDP or the Nigerian public whose taxes are used to maintain the broadcast outfit? It does the radio station grave injury that a political functionary can sit back in office in Abuja and decree what the station can broadcast or reject on a publiclyowned medium. We also consider it an unacceptable derogation of the

rights of the citizens to be informed on the activities of their government.

What makes it worse is that the minister whose primary duty is to inform citizens on government activities is the one actively seeking to circumscribe the rights of fellow citizens to be heard by their elected government. The minister is, after all, not a functionary of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) or part of the management of FRCN. That is what makes his meddlesomeness shameful, irresponsible as it is unacceptable.

The citizens of this country deserve to know what informed the minister’s action. Is it that an opposition voice in a plural democracy like ours does not deserve to be heard? What message is the administration sending across to the international community on how it treats opposition?

In case the minister pretends not to know, this is supposed to be a democracy governed by the rule of law. The culture of might and impunity, reminiscent of the military era, has no place in a constitutional environment. Conduct like that of minister Maku merely exemplifies how far the political class, particularly the PDP, has to go to imbibe a true democratic culture.

We expect the government of Osun State to take up the matter with the appropriate authorities. We expect every right-thinking Nigerian to join in saying Never Again to this manifest intolerance.

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1933-2011) • A man of history, immense personality and presence, transits

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IS life and times were so intricately entwined around Nigeria’s history that the one corroborates the story of the other. It would be a very poor historian who would pen Nigeria’s post-independence history without devoting a hefty chunk to Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. An intellectual, an officer, a war-leader and a statesman, Ojukwu passed on last Saturday, November 25, 2011 aged 78 years.

The stature of Ojukwu in Nigeria’s firmament and his prominence are defined by so many elements that he ended up being, at once, very important and as he was controversial. First, he came from a very wealthy and influential parentage with his father, Sir Louis-Phillip Odumegwu-Ojukwu on record as perhaps the richest man in preindependence Nigeria. There is no doubt that a wealthy background could have been one of the trajectories that shot him to global reckoning, after all he attended the best schools money could buy, including the inimitable Oxford University where he earned a master’s degree at a time Africa was still referred to as a ‘dark continent’. But more than anything else, providence seemed to have destined the Ikemba Nnewi for a life of acclaim.

No amount of money imbues a man with unmatchable charisma and oratorical prowess.

You do not purchase the sheer power of personality and presence from any market.

He also happened to be around and well positioned in the army at a time coup-making was in vogue across Africa. Though he never participated in any coup d’etat, he became a major beneficiary. These were the forces that propelled Ojukwu. Add a dose of ambition (some say he was overambitious) to these and you are bound to have the game changer of a generation.

It was as if Ojukwu could not help but be

caught up in the flow and tide of Nigeria’s history. He had to join the army after a master’s degree from Oxford; not minding to start from the boot camp. He could have gone on to become a super civil servant or to bestride Louis-Phillip’s colossal business empire. But it was the army he joined when there was no graduate, except Olutoye, in the green uniform.

Thus at 33 and as a Lieutenant-Colonel and Military Governor of the Eastern Region, the lot fell on young Ojukwu on May 30, 1967, to lead his ethnic group, the Igbo, to a secessionist war, following a pogrom against the Igbo people and a relentless genocidal massacre, especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. The killings were purportedly in retaliation to the January 15, 1966 coup which was considered an Igbo officers’ uprising against leaders of the North. He declared the region a sovereign state of Biafra when negotiations failed. The Nigerian civil war ensued, lasting about 30 months. While Ojukwu led Biafra as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, Yakubu Gowon, then a Colonel, led the Nigerian side.

In January 1970, Ojukwu went into exile in Cote d’Ivoire when it was apparent that the war had become a lost cause and an effort in mass slaughter and human waste. Many still criticise Ojukwu till today, first for leading his people to a war they were ill prepared for and could never have won; and, second, for the manner he prosecuted the war. It is said that he never could muster the kind of discipline and presence of mind required for such an affair in which the lives of millions of people were at stake. In fact, some Nigerian civil war historians think he was driven more by his huge ego than the need to rescue his people from their murderous compatriots. But the point has been made that the Igbo needed a strong leadership at that point in time and they found it in Ojukwu.

His foray into politics after a pardon and his return to Nigeria in 1982 was less than successful but he showed more character in politics than most Nigerian politicians of today. He refrained from jumping from one party to another in search of positions and appointments like most others. Though he never could rally the Igbo elite to change with any significance, the lot of Ndigbo since after the war, he gradually carved a name for himself as the voice of not only the Igbo but for all the nationalities seeking justice in the polity. In an interview in 2004, he said that, “The problem with Nigeria is that of ethnicity.

Somehow, if we can solve that problem, if all ethnic groups are made comfortable in Nigeria, there will be less tension.”

As Ikemba advanced in age, he increasingly became a voice of reason and the conscience of the nation, speaking truth to power and making reasoned interventions at critical turns of the nation’s affairs. As encomiums pour in for the fallen giant, Odumegwu-Ojukwu, we join his widow Bianca, his family, Ndigbo and the nation in mourning the passing on of a man who best embodied the Igbo persona and the Igbo spirit. We mourn a man who was truly involved.

‘As encomiums pour in for the fallen giant, OdumegwuOjukwu, we join his widow Bianca, his family, Ndigbo and the nation in mourning the passing on of a man who best embodied the Igbo persona and the Igbo spirit.

We mourn a man who was truly involved’

How will Occupy L.A. end?

C

ITY Hall is no longer the right place for an encampment. But the LAPD shouldn’t resort to unnecessary force.

Occupy L.A. has occupied the grounds outside City Hall for nearly two months. City leaders, to their credit, did not pick a fight but welcomed the protesters and allowed them to camp out. But it’s crunch time now. New York has dispersed its Occupy demonstrators, Oakland has battled with its activists, and it is becoming clear that Los Angeles is disinclined to allow its protesters to stay too much longer.

There have been a lot of smart reasons for the city and the Police Department to sanction the weeks of illegal camping overnight in a public park — “a very minor infraction,” LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith points out. Strongarming a group of non-violent political demonstrators would have looked bad. And the ongoing presence of the protesters has been healthy for public debate. The Occupy movement, proudly leaderless, has done a surprisingly good job of raising consciousness about wealth disparities — who is not now familiar with the 1% and the 99%? Its spirit has inspired protests on university campuses against tuition hikes and budget cuts. And Occupy L.A. — as fuzzy as its political aims and as disparate as its denizens are — has managed to pull off the unusual feat of bringing some center to the center of the city as it draws campers and curious visitors alike.

But as a campground, City Hall is not ideal.

The encampment, which has filled with protesters as well as with homeless people seeking a safer haven than skid row, has limited sanitation. The lawn is gone, lice have been a problem and at least five arrests have been made, including for several violent incidents, Smith says. City and police officials have said that it will end at some point, although, as Smith put it Thursday, “there is no timeline.” The police are right to be cautious.

The last thing the LAPD needs is another debacle like the 2007 May Day rally in MacArthur Park, in which poor planning and bad decisions left marchers and journalists injured. According to Smith, police are informally talking with Occupy L.A. protesters about when they plan to leave.

We hope that however it ends, there will not be a repeat of the violence of Oakland or the midnight rousting in New York. Los Angeles’ is among the last of the big encampments still standing. Now the protesters and city officials face their greatest challenge. Police conducted a series of so-called orchestrated arrests of 23 people on Thursday during a downtown protest that drew some of the participants in Occupy L.A. In that case, police talked with protesters before any arrests, and those who were detained knew it was about to happen. If some people have to be removed from the City Hall camp, that might be one approach.

Better still would be an orchestrated finale involving no arrests — with protesters and police agreeing on an exit strategy.

– Los Angeles Times

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh • Editor Gbenga Omotoso •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Kunle Fagbemi •Editor, Online Lekan Otufodunrin •Managing Editor Northern Operation Yusuf Alli •Managing Editor Waheed Odusile •Deputy Editor Lawal Ogienagbon •Deputy Editor (News) Adeniyi Adesina •Group Political Editor Bolade Omonijo •Group Business Editor Ayodele Aminu •Abuja Bureau Chief Yomi Odunuga •Sport Editor Ade Ojeikere •Editorial Page Editor Sanya Oni

• Executive Director (Finance & Administration) Ade Odunewu • Gen. Manager (Training and Development) Soji Omotunde •Chief Internal Auditor Toke Folorunsho •Senior Manager (sales) Akeem Shoge •Advert Manager Robinson Osirike •IT Manager Bolarinwa Meekness •Press Manager Udensi Chikaodi •Manager, Corporate Marketing Hameed Odejayi • Manager (Admin) Folake Adeoye

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

20

EDITORIAL/OPINION

S

IR: Does Nigeria still harbor some vestiges and residue of those draconian dictatorial tendencies for which the then military dictators that held Nigeria hostage for decades were condemned by all and sundry?

Put differently, are the current crop of political office holders inflicted by/with the virus of military tyranny and dictatorship which is characterized by total lack of tolerance for dissenting voices?

The above questions were inspired by the experiences of the Osun state governor Mr. Rauf Aregbesola in the hands of the Minister of Information Mr. Labaran Maku who unilaterally cancelled a live radio program that was to have been aired last weekend on the air waves of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.

The Nation newspaper on November 27, ran a story that the minister unilaterally cancelled the Radio link live program of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria at the eleventh hour even after the technical crew of the Radio Nigeria network studio were already in Osun State and had put all machinery in motion for the take off of the program. The broadcast was arranged as part of the elaborate events to mark the one year in office of the administration of Aregbesola.

This is not the first time that politicians in the office of the Ministry of Information will interfere in the affairs of publicly funded broadcasting stations and especially FRCN. Successive military and civilian administrations have controlled Radio Nigeria as if it is their asset whereby they can put into selfish use and stop opponents or perceived political rivals from gaining access to the air waves of these publicly funded broadcasting stations.

The consequences are that these broadcasting stations have

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Does Labaran Maku want FRCN dead? progressively lost respect in the minds of the general public and the level of listenership or viewership has radically declined.

But why does Mr. Maku who used to be a professional media worker be the one that will perpetuate the draconian, unprofessional and illegal style of running down the publicly sponsored broadcasting stations especially now that the same Federal Government is struggling to convince the critical

segments of the society that it is open, transparent and democratically accountable using the signing of the freedom of information law as an example?

The British government will risk impeachment if any of their officials interferes with the running of the publicly funded British Broadcasting Corporation.

Is the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria loyal to the Nigerian people or to the political party in

power? Is Radio Nigeria an asset of the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal administration or to the people of Nigeria who are the constitutional owners of the Nigerian sovereignty?

Ironically, the official website of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria is sugar -coated with false information which fraudulently claims that Radio Nigeria is out to serve the public interest.

It further lies that it “reaches more

than 100 million listeners, broadcasting in 15 languages, catering to the diverse broadcasting needs of a multiethnic Nigeria, uplifting the people and uniting the nation”.

The truth is that not more than one million people made up largely of illiterate Fulani herdsmen, rural farmers still have the patience to listen to the heavily teleguided and slanted broadcasting activities of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria no thanks to the interferences of political office holders who, over the years have manned the federal ministry of information. I can bet that even Mr. Labaran Maku does not listen to FRCN. • Emmanuel Onwubiko Abuja.

Ikemba: An elephant has fallen

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IR: I heard the bang and I thought an elephant has fallen! The timeless lyrics from the late crooner Dr. Orlando Owoh, at best describes the passage of the nationalist – Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

In 1982, I was too young to understand the cause of excitement and celebration across Silva Street in Mushin Lagos, by elders who were anticipating the return of Ojukwu as he was called, and seeing the arrival on television, could not understand why the man was carried shoulder high when he was not a Challenge Cup (now Federation Cup) winner!

Borne out of my teenage curiosity, I was able to devour every material on the Nigerian Civil war available in my school library at FGC Ugwolawo from 1986 till 1990 that the librarian became suspicious of my motive and confronted whether I was planning another civil war!

This unique experience made me

to adopt him as a nationalist that was conveniently ignored in textbooks! Ojukwu means different things to different people, but it is a distortion of history to refer to him as the Igbo Leader, because Ojukwu was only doing his duty as a Nigerian soldier who could have repeated same had he been the military governor of any of the

other three regions and to quote him “It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless, it is not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds” A sacrificial leader who I believed saved more lives than what could have been had he allowed the pogroms to continue unchallenged.

Today, the best balm that can be

offered to sooth the pains of our motherland (the transitions of Ibru and Ojukwu within a space of a week) should be to sustain the legacies these legends were synonymous with, which to me is the best tribute to their memories.

• Opeyemi Ajala ACA Lagos.

Amosun, give us a new director of layouts

S

IR: Whenever the head of a sensitive organization dies, it is essential to find an immediate replacement so as to prevent the work of that organization and it’s clients from suffering undue delays and hardships. Recently, the Director of Layouts in the Bureau of Urban and Regional Planning of Ogun State died; may God grant his soul eternal rest. However, since his death, work at the layouts department has literally shut down

because Governor Ibikunle Amosun is yet to appoint a replacement. Clients’ job are just hanging in the air of uncertainty.

Deadlines and targets have been set but all these are suffering setbacks as a result of the non appointment of a new Director.

In view of this, I hereby call on Governor Amosun to kindly ameliorate the hardship and loss this vacuum is inflicting on people and businesses and use his good office to immediately appoint a

new Director of Layouts in the Bureau of Urban and Regional Planning of state’s Ministry of Lands.

It is a well known fact that no matter what happens, the machinery of government should not be allowed to break down; it must continue to run.

• Adebanjo Owoeye Ogba, Lagos State.

21

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 , 2011

EDITORIAL/OPINION

Ojukwu; Educating UNESCO partners?; Why are co-curricular activities ‘Not in the syllabus’?

C

ONDOLENCES on the death of the Ikemba of Nnewi and former Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu for a life of dedicated courageous military service and political leadership to

Tony Marinho

Nigeria, his people and Biafra. Ojukwu was not ‘a rebel’ or bad for pointing out what was bad with Nigeria and taking action to protect his people. In fact we still have not yet got it right 40 years later as true federalism still eludes us. Over a million people died in the civil war but many more have died from subsequent bad and poor ruler-ship consequent on the winning of the civil war and today there are 10-15 million economic refugees abroad. To a large extent, those who won the war actually have lost the opportunities arising from the peace as real development still eludes us 40 years later. Judging from the poor roads, infrastructure and unaddressed erosion in the ‘East’ for many years, the civil war actually only ended when Obasanjo became President nearly 30 years after 1970.

Life is so serious and yet we play so much politics with what could make us great. We are told that the education sector is making giant strides warranting NASU awarding the current Minister of Education an award of excellence. But some bad things seem beyond ministerial control. Will the National Assembly please hold a public enquiry into how best to reverse the fact that Nigeria has no functioning updated school libraries or toilets and sanitation in 95% of its schools at the end of 2011?

We expect our youth to spend six hours in school but neglect to nourish and protect their brains and bodies.

No books, no posters, no learning aids!

And now Nigeria thinks it can train other poorer countries in education under a UNESCO initiative?

Nigeria can only boast of a 20% pass rate, 45% ‘abc’ literacy and 30% of children out of school. Nigeria has an undeclared educational emergency in its hands whether it wants to admit it or not. The youth who are failed by the education system, know this. To make matters worse, 90% of Nigeria’s over 1,000,000 classrooms are NFRP or ‘Not Fit For Purpose’, empty of any iota of educational aids, uninspiring and unattractive. There is no ‘Educational Poster Strategy’.

Those classrooms are also not fit for human habitation as they are unhealthy, unhygienic and unfit for young minds to dwell in for six hours a day. Which body certifies classrooms as fit to learn in? And all this takes place in spite of the UN/ UNESCO gold standard that 26% of budgets. Governor Peter Obi has returned over 700 schools to missions and given grants to help on their way. Other governors should follow suit.

So by what right does Nigeria seek to be an education reference point for West Africa unless it is a reference failure point? Perhaps the move will attract some UNESCO grants that, of course, we will never hear about –like Nigeria’s international football matches attract millions into the Nigerian Football Association for never executed ‘local sports development’ and the massive inflows of funds into FAAN from foreign airline landing fees. Nigeria’s children and youth deserve a better deal from governments at every level before we teach others our evil and negligent ‘education’ ways. Education has declined over the last 30 years so how can we teach others? What will we teach them? How to fail? This is a huge misplacement of ‘education’ priorities. Before becoming a teacher of others and exporting teachers to other countries and removing the speck from their eyes, Nigeria should first remove the log from her own eye and fulfil its responsibility to its teeming under-educated youth, numbering 10-15 million at least. ‘Education Business Is Serious Business-Books please’.

For example, curriculum review needs a massive overhaul and needs to be speeded up to catch up with

the 21st Century trends. Nigeria is far behind in education content and delivery systems and we seem shamefully complacent. We live in a country which abandons its education responsibility in co-curricular, career guidance and ‘life skills’ to poorly empowered and largely unavailable NGOs. We live in a country which neglects to empower its potential army for development –the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Red Cross/ Blue Crescent etc. All the important thematic areas from Abortion to Zebra crossing, from breast examination to Hand Washing to Road Safety are ‘Not In The Syllabus’. We must ask ourselves with all the education gurus filling the corridors of power and in the Ministry of Education what exactly should be in our syllabus. How does that syllabus compare to our local needs for simple health and safety education and international normal practice. Education is international and must meet international standards.

For years government left ‘entrepreneurship’ out of the syllabus. Now government and private jobs are gone, that reality has forced ‘entrepreneurship’ into the syllabus. Perhaps paradoxically ‘co-curricular education’ must became a mainstream subject in the curriculum. One day someone will say ‘All these NGOs visiting schools are not getting the message across. If any students are away they will miss the life saving message about AIDS, Malaria, TB or road safety and die early and ignorant. Let us take all their messages, put them in a book and teach it as a subject ‘Life Skills and co-curricular topics’ to all students. Then nobody will be left out of the knowledge chain.’ Is anyone reading this?

‘We expect our youth to spend six hours in school but neglect to nourish and protect their brains and bodies. No books, no posters, no learning aids!’

This ‘War’ against Corruption (1)

F

ARIDA Waziri, the chairman and chief executive officer of the anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was unceremoniously yanked off her seat last week.

Her removal was not the first time in the history of the commission. It followed a recurring pattern that is almost synonymous with the scorn and disdain with which any public official who is not in the good books of ‘those in power’ are usually treated.

When I say those in power, I think I need to provide some explanation.

When a man is either voted or appointed into an office in Nigeria, we should not be fooled that he alone runs the office. There are interested parties here and there. Perhaps, those who made the appointment possible through various decent or ingenious methods are there in the shadows pumping ideas to the occupant’s head mostly for selfish interests.

Take for example, the President.

Whenever he comes up with an earth-shaking decision such as the removal of Waziri, he is not likely acting alone. The hawks around him must have told him it is time to take such a step and damn the consequences. Let us flash back to Nuhu Ribadu’s removal. For the five years he held sway, Ribadu was the scourge of corrupt politicians and political opponents of the occupant of Aso Rock at that time. Remember the impeachment of Joshua Dariye and Dieprieye

Alamieyesigha, governors of Plateau and Bayelsa states respectively.

In the case of Plateau State, the EFCC had to ‘warehouse’ the legislators of the state assembly until Dariye was removed by less than the constitutionally required number of lawmakers. The same thing happened to Alamieyesigha, who was first pursued to England and later disgraced out of office with handcuffs in his hands.

What happened next? The tempo of forced arrests and handcuffing slowed down. It only played out again when Tafa Balogun, former Inspector-General of Police, IGP, fell out of favour with “those in power” which included some personal aides who made away with a chunk of his money and later squealed on him. We all know that a large amount of the money allegedly seized from Balogun came from governments’ patronage here and there. Ribadu humiliated and dehumanised his boss, Balogun, during that saga to please his ‘masters’. His behaviour at that time was strange to many reasonable people.

Balogun was not only handcuffed, he was also dragged on the floor at a point like a sallah ram resisting the slaughterer.

At the end of the day, Ribadu, too, was made to swallow the bitter pill.

He only ‘escaped’ the handcuffs treatment by a stroke of luck. The story was that he was removed because of an earlier treatment he meted out to the late President

”…The corruption in the civil service is one thousand times more than the ones committed by governors, ministers and other public office holders … how many civil servants have been prosecuted and jailed along with these public officers?”

Umaru Yar’Adua, when he, Yar’Adua, was the governor of Katsina State. By the time he became President, it was payback time and the then sitting IGP, Mike Okiro, became handy. At the time, his cup was full - Ribadu too had incurred the hatred and dislike of his superiors, perhaps, because he was not making ‘returns’, not because he was not doing his job but because he became too independent. Ribadu was almost disgraced out of office.

The way and manner Waziri dealt with Ribadu’s ‘boys’ at the commission was less than salutary. Ibrahim Lamorde, then head of investigation, who was considered as the ‘engine room’ of the commission under Ribadu, was posted out as an Area Commander in one obscure district of Bauchi State. Others were either sent to some Siberia of sorts.

Not only this, Waziri engaged Ribadu in the media as if what was at stake was not the war against corruption anymore but war of attrition among comrades.

Waziri had her own crowd as EFCC boss. If she had wanted to do the job assigned to her with vigour and seriousness, those around her were not so committed. She fought many battles, including when she was almost blackmailed that her rank in the Police at her exit many years ago was not an Assistant Inspector General of Police. The politicians in the National Assembly too would hardly give her a breathing space. As recently as one month ago, a bill to appoint the head of the commission from the rank of retired judges was tabled.

Maybe those who sponsored that bill were unaware that there is a legal department in the agency that has the final say on those to be prosecuted or not.

By and large, Waziri’s unceremonious exit from office has brought into the fore, once more, this whole concept of fighting corruption. Not

so long ago, Rotimi Amaechi, governor of River State and chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, complained loudly that the war on corruption seemed to be targeted at political office holders alone and that the issue had become so bad that public officers were being seen as criminals. Amaechi is right. But the import of his worries is that the anti-corruption war had become sectional and had lost its focus and steam.

At any rate, different statistics have been paraded as the number of arrests made, convictions obtained and money or assets recovered by EFCC. But the question is: are we really fighting corruption in Nigeria? The answer, certainly, is an emphatic “No!” There are corruption and economic crimes everywhere in the country. In our homes, in the churches, mosques, marketplaces, and in fact, wherever two or more persons are gathered, there is either corruption or one form of economic crime or another taking place. We only fight corruption through lip service. In actual fact, our culture, customs, traditions and social behaviours seem to condone the evil. Take the list of people who are usually bestowed with chieftaincy titles for instance. Many of them are thieves. The society only rewards ‘success’ that carries with it a lot of money and patronage.

It is like we are in a rat race to make money. Once a person goes into public office, the families, friends, political godfathers and foot soldiers will queue up for the share of the ‘national cake’. To be able to satisfy these hungry mouths, the public officer will need to dip his hands into the public till. If he doesn’t, he is regarded as a foolish man and could be derided or even ostracised for not playing their game. It is this ‘turn by turn’ thing that is fuelling corruption. We need to ask ourselves: why do all impor-

Dele Agekameh tant public officers struggle to own property in Lekki, Ajah, Magodoin Lagos and Maitama, Asokoro or Wuse in Abuja? If you don’t and you prefer to remain in Zuba, Gwagwalada in Abuja or AbuleEgba or Ikorodu in Lagos, then you are regarded as having missed a great opportunity to change your status and that of your family while in office.

Above all, the corruption in the civil service is one thousand times more than the ones committed by governors, ministers and other public office holders. In actual fact, civil servants perfect the papers through which these public officers steal money from the coffers. For one thieving public officer, there are 10 corrupt civil servants down the line - from the permanent secretary, through the directors, to the office clerks. And how many civil servants have been prosecuted and jailed along with these public officers? Even in the case of bank directors and chairmen, they did not steal the money alone. What happened to those who perfected the papers to facilitate the looting?

Now people are falling over one another to take up Waziri’s job.

Who are these characters? We’ll visit this next week.

Send reactions to: 08058354382 (SMS only)

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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EDITORIAL/OPINION

Strategy for business growth

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HE overall aim of any business can be summed up in one word “survival” (albeit some may argue it is profit making). One of the key survival strategies for business growth is adequate funding. This is because to ensure its preservation, continuity and survival, a business must be adequately funded and has enough funds at its disposal to carry out its operations. As oxygen is to a man for survival, so is funding to a business; finance is the oxygen a business needs to survive. Concomitantly, to ensure that a business is well funded for enhanced growth, there is need for proper, efficient and effective financial planning. Simply put, financial planning is a proactive and systematic process of gathering financial data/ information, analyzing these data and preparing a financial guide (plan) for the future.

The first step in the process of financial planning is to assess and determine where you are now, in terms of your present financial net worth, by way of preparing a balance sheet. The essential purpose of preparing the balance sheet is to determine how much funds you have now, so that you can estimate how much more you will need to attain your short term and long

‘Every successful entrepreneur knows that how far you grow your business depends on how far you can go to take risks, by venturing into new vistas of unexplored opportunities.

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EFORE May 29, if there was one state that was renowned for infrastructural, as well as social decay, it was was Oyo. The apparent incapability of the government to grapple with governance, which culminated in the state hitherto known as the home of ‘firsts’ regressing in people’s estimation, became vivid for all to see. It was apparent to all and sundry that whoever inherited the mantle of office from Adebayo Alao-Akala, the bejeweled state helmsman who tagged himself Oyato, was not only beginning from a mathematical minus-zero level, his task was comparable to an architect handed a structurally cracked edifice.

The first step taken by Governor Ajimobi, on assumption of office, was to restore the peace which had for long eluded the state, owing to the violent activities of the state branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). This particular feat has attracted accolades from far and near, as the people of Oyo State have now been sleeping with their two eyes closed as against the palpable fear in which they were hitherto living.

Besides, the city of Ibadan, the state capital, had before now been identified as one of the dirtiest cities in Nigeria. The situation is also the same with other major towns and cities across the state. To Senator Ajimobi, this is unacceptable and must be addressed with the seriousness it deserves. Hence the launching of weekly environmental sanitation exercise during which residents of the state are expected to clean their environment between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. every Thursday. The programme has since been a huge success, with Ibadan now gradually shedding the toga of filth and dirt.

Before the emergence of the Ajimobi administration, most of the roads in Oyo State were, to say the least, horrible and needed urgent attention to change the face of the state and jump-start its economy. The first step the governor took was the rehabilitation of 16 roads under the first phase of the massive road rehabilitation exercise programme of his administration, while the second phase, covering another set of 24 roads spread across Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Saki and Ibarapa zones has kicked off. In addition to these, the contracts for the construction of another set of 50 roads across the state will soon be signed between the state government and some contractors to ease the

By Kayode Oluwa term financial goals. In other words, the balance sheet will enable you, at a glance, to identify what you own (your assets) and what you owe (your liabilities). The difference between the two – assets minus liabilities – is your net worth. Your net worth (positive) is the excess of your assets over liabilities. You have a negative net worth if your liabilities are more than your assets. Your net worth is, therefore, a snapshot of your financial standing or position at a particular point in time. By analyzing and taking stock of the financial net worth of your business at periodic intervals, say monthly, quarterly or yearly, as the case may be, you will be in a position to compare and determine your financial progress / success, from time to time.

After establishing your present financial standing, the next step is to identify and articulate your financial goals and objectives both in the short and long terms to enable you have a purpose and direction.

For instance, if your present net worth is negative, then your primary financial goal should be to increase your net worth by either decreasing your liabilities, increasing your assets, or both. To enable you determine your financial goals and objectives in quantitative terms and your plan to achieve them, there is the need to prepare a budge/ cash flow. A budget is a basic tool of financial planning and management which helps you to anticipate income that will be received (fees, profits etc) and how that income will be spent (rent, salaries, overheads maintenance etc). If strictly and duly followed, a budget allows you to live within your means. The motivation for maintaining and sticking to a budget/cash flow is that it enables

you to cover all your bills by paying according to a cash-management agenda and to have some funds left over for savings and investments. The budget is, therefore, crucial to gaining control of your financial future and ultimately achieving financial success. You must avoid, as much as possible, a budget deficit, a situation where you spend more that you budgeted for. In other words try to always be in a “black” instead of “red” and live below or, at least, within your means, in order to achieve an enduring financial success.

A businessman or entrepreneur who truly wants to achieve financial success understands that lifestyle choices that consume money need to be monitored, and in some cases, delayed in order for the process of investments and financial wealthbuilding/accumulation to take a firm root.

A major objective should be to save, build enough reserves and invest appropriately to prepare for future needs. Accordingly, there is the need to be frugal, responsible, prudent, and judicious in spending and utilization of resources. A lifestyle of frivolous living, conspicuous consumption and extravagant spending patterns usually results in financial and economic failures.

Learning how to invest and effectively allocate your financial resources in a way that provides for quality lifestyle now and in the future is key to business success.

A major mistake most businessmen and entrepreneurs often make in the area of financial management is the failure to appropriately allocate their financial and investment resources efficiently. The premise of efficient asset allocation is that, over time, you will allocate your financial resources to different investment mixes or portfolios with varying risk sensitivities.

Ajimobi: 200 days after

By Benson Olootu transportation problem facing the people of the state.

One of the things that characterized the immediate past administration was incessant public protests by pensioners over the nonpayment of the arrears of their 142 per cent increase. Indeed, the senior citizens never had it so bad during the Alao-Akala administration as they were treated with disdain and their demands dismissed with ignominy. But, the pensioners are now singing a new tune. Reason: Gov. Ajimobi has approved the payment of the arrears. In fact, their joy knew no bounds on Thursday, October 27, 2011 when a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the government and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Oyo State chapter, on the payment of the money.

The governor, while speaking through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Waheed Akin Olajide, said that the gesture was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the welfare of the people of the state.

He said that the payment of the arrears, spanning five years and two months, would go a long way in mitigating the suffering of the pensioners who, he said, had not been fairly treated by the immediate past administration.

The governor also assured serving civil servants that their welfare would continue to be given priority attention by his administration.

The highly elated Chairman of the state branch of NUP, Alhaji Lateef Adegoke, expressed appreciation to the governor for approving the payment of the arrears which, he said, his members had been struggling for in the last six years.

“It is indeed a good development for pensioners in Oyo State. It is wonderful and unbelievable. We had been struggling for the payment in the last six years. The last administration gave us several promises to pay the money but they failed to fulfill the promises. In fact, they told us in October 2010 that by December of that year, the arrears

would be paid. When we went back to them, they told us that there was no money to pay us as they were already preparing for campaign for their second term”.

The era of civil servants receiving the salary of previous month in the middle of the following month is also gone for good in Oyo State as they now receiving their pay latest by 25th of every month, while the epayment just introduced into teachers’ salaries has facilitated prompt payment, with the teachers now singing a new tune.

Gov. Ajimobi has also inaugurated the State Socio-economic Management Team (OSSEMAT), with a promise to ensure a focused process of restoration and transformation, with a view to repositioning the state.

The 11-member committee, headed by the governor himself, was charged with the responsibility of developing strategies to fasttrack the articulation and implementation of economic policies and programmes in the state, in order to ensure the growth of the state’s strategic sectors and its overall economy.

It is also expected to harmonize the agenda of each sector and agency to achieve the required synergy in government policies and operations and articulate policies and strategies to stimulate substantial local and foreign investment and trade flows in priority sectors of the state’s economy.

Aside the governor as the chairman, the team also has a renowned economist, Prof.

Ademola Ariyo of the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan as ViceChairman and Coordinating Consultant, while the state Commissioner for Finance is to serve as the Coordinating Commissioner.

Gov. Ajimobi’s commitment to the development of free trade zones in the state had also led to the signing of MoU between the state government and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga on the take-off of Okerete International Border Market.

The project, which is one of several others by the state government, aimed at boosting the economy of the state, could create over one million jobs, when completed.

Some investments will be low risk, others high risk, while others in between. When you consider any investment, remember that risk and return are a trade-off. Risk is directly correlated to the uncertainty of the return you can expect. In most cases, investments with low risks have low yields, while those with high risks have high returns, although these vary from one investment to the other. The amount or portion of your portfolio that is allocated to anyone class or risk category changes, from time to time, based on your goals, current realities and other variables. In sum, effective allocation of resources presupposes that you find the right mix and diversify your investments in order to have a reasonable hedge to reduce the danger of losing the overall value of your investments.

There are various types of investments that you can go into including, but not limited to the following: bank deposits/fixed income investments (including commercial papers, treasury bills etc.), stock/equity investments, pension funds, unit trusts, real estate investments, hard asset investments (e.g. gold, diamond, precious stone, oil/gas etc.). You may need to seek expert advice/opinion in order to determine which of the investments you will opt for.

Finally, every successful entrepreneur knows that how far you grow your business depends on how far you can go to take risks, by venturing into new vistas of unexplored opportunities. Taking risks is not a bed of roses, but it is better to fail doing something than to make the mistake of doing nothing. Be optimistic and work towards your financial plan, goals and objectives and success will be yours.

• Oluwa wrote from the Executive Business School, Lagos.

Perhaps it should be stated here that the Okerete International Border Market near Saki is a pilot scheme of the Federal Government’s six border markets and Oyo State was chosen chiefly because of the state government’s extension of a hand of fellowship to the federal ministry for partnership. Of course, the signing of the MoU was consequent upon Sen. Ajimobi’s visit on August 16 to the minister in Abuja where he solicited the support of the Federal Government to make the Oluyole Free Trade Zone and the Okerete International Border Market realities.

As part of efforts towards attracting foreign investments to Oyo State, the governor has also succeeded in securing the attention of German Intervention Development Partners to the state..

What is more? The governor also moved a step further by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an automobile firm, DAG Motorcycle Industries Nigeria Limited, for the procurement and distribution of 1,000 units of tricycles for the people of the state while efforts are being made to acquire at least 300 mini buses for onward distribution to commercial drivers so as to change the face of the transport sector of the state.

Concerned by the traffic snarl which has now become the order of the day in Oyo State, the state government has embarked on the construction of major intra and inter-city motor parks in three locations within the Ibadan metropolis. They will be inaugurated any moment from now.

In fulfillment of his electioneering promise of creating employment opportunities for the youth in the state, Gov. Ajimobi has floated a scheme tagged Youth Empowerment Scheme popularly known as YES-O through which no fewer than 20,000 youths are to be engaged.

The scheme is scheduled for inauguration tomorrow December 1 by the governor.

Though it is obvious to Governor Ajimobi and his team that, placed side by side his campaign promises of total restoration of a house of ruins he inherited and the gargantuan expectations of the public, he is yet to begin, these token achievements in 200 days seem to be his first salvo. For a peculiar house of ruins that he inherited, he hasn’t done badly at all.

• Olootu is a secondary school teacher in Otu, via Iseyin, Oyo State.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NATION SPORT Olympic tickets go on sale today

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NATION SPORT

VVV Venlo betrayed me –Eguavoen

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OACH of the Nigeria’s national Under-23 football team, Austin Eguavoen insists he was betrayed by Dutch

ICKETS for the football tournament at the London 2012 Olympics will go back on sale

today.

Some 1.5million tickets will be available to buy from 11am for the tournament, including for matches involving the men's and women's Great Britain sides.

Prices start at £20 for a ticket although there are reductions for the young and those over 60. Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Team GB men's side, being coached by Stuart Pearce, will play their first group game at Old Trafford on Thursday July 26 - the day before the opening ceremony of the Games.

This will be followed by Wembley Stadium on Sunday July 29 and the final group game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Wednesday August 1.

The women's team is being coached

by Hope Powell and kick off their tournament on Wednesday July 25 at the Millennium Stadium, and their second match on Saturday 28 July, also in Cardiff. Their final group game will be on Tuesday 31 July at Wembley Stadium.

The matches involving the other sides in the Olympic football tournament will be decided at a draw on April 24. Other venues involved are: City of Coventry Stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow and Newcastle's St James' Park.

club, VVV Venlo as regards releasing their Nigerian players for the CAF U-23 Championships.

The Nigerian team in Morocco is currently weakened following the absence of several high profile players whose clubs refused to release them.

Ahmed Musa, Nnnamdi Oduamadi, Lukman Haruna, Odion Ighalo, and Rabiu Ibrahim are just some of the high profile players that will be absent from Morocco and Eguavoen insists that Venlo ‘let him down’ with regard to the release of Ahmed Musa.

“I did my best (to get the players released) and the Federation (NFF) did their best too. I went to Holland; but I couldn’t go to Ukraine (Dynamo Kyiev) because

the time really wasn’t there but I spoke to Haruna (Lukman) almost every day and the Technical Director (of Kyiev) too,” Eguavoen said.

The Nigerian manager admits knowing Rabiu Ibrahim would not be available for the tournament as the Technical Director of PSV Eindhoven informed him that the player would not be released.

“I respect the PSV People because they told us from day one that they would not release Rabiu, so we rested that case. But for the case of VVV (Venlo), they assured us; told us they would consider the situation and get back to us. They raised our hopes only to dash it at the last moment and that was not too good,” Eguavoen said.

•Eguavoen

By Bimbo Adesina Odusanya noted that the focus of government has been football, hence, the need for corporate organisations in Nigeria to develop other sports.

Odusanya, who said he has been involved in sports through ticketing, logistics, accomodation and sponsorship expressed confidence in the Nigerian lifters to make the country proud during the Commonwealth Championships.

"Most of the lifters are gold medalist as well as world record holders, as such they will not disappoint the country," he reckons.

He, however, commended Lagos state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) for giving priority to sport in his programme, noting that he is in the forefront of youth development in the country.

Ikoyi Ladies Golf Open gets Heineken support

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IGERIAN international striker, Obinna Nsofor will undergo surgery on a niggling knee injury next month. “’Obi’ has been nursing a nagging injury but after his Russian club’s two Europa League matches against Sturm Graz of Austria and Anderlecht of Belgium, he will go under the surgeon’s

knife,” a close source to the Lokomotiv striker informed MTNFootball.com Lokomotiv are second in Group L with nine points from four matches and are away to group leaders, Anderlecht on December 14.

Nsofor is believed to have sustained the injury since his final days at, English Premier League side West Ham before switching to Russia in a big-money move in the summer Surgery is likely to be done in Italy, where the player featured for Chievo Verona and Inter Milan.

The knee injury prevented Nsofor from featuring for the Super Eagles under new

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Corner 47 boosts Nigeria powerlifting A

REMIUM Lager Beer, Heineken has been named as the official sponsors of the nation’s foremost women golf tournament, the Ikoyi Club Ladies Golf Open Championship, which is attracting over 100 women players drawn from golf clubs in Nigeria and Ghana.

At a media briefing heralding the tournament, the Lady Captain of Ikoyi Club 1938 (Golf Section) Mrs Busola Joseph said the 37th edition of the tournament would hold from Thursday and Friday this week.

Now in its 37th edition, the annual tournament which is held at the prestigious Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos would be held between December 1st and 2nd. Expectedly, the championship would feature lady golfers from different clubs around the country with guests (men) and lady golfers with

Nsofor to undergo surgery coach, Stephen Keshi in team recent friendlies against Zambia and Botswana.

“He has been resting the injury and also taking a lot of pain killers to play for Lokomotiv. He has been putting off the surgery, but now the doctors insist he has to do the operation very soon,” another source told MTNFootball.com.

The 24-year-old Nigeria international has made seven appearances for Lokomotiv this season and scored three goals.

His club are sixth in the Russian league with 53 points from 32 matches and two points outside the bracket to play international football next season.

Ike Uche to play Oyo Govt. sacks Adepoju dissolves, closed-door match 3SC’s, Crown’s boards with Granada N a bid to chart a new course for manager since 2008 and Gabriel

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IGERIA striker, Ikechukwu Uche will on December 7 play behind closed doors with his Spanish Club side, Granada when they face Real Mallorca in a rescheduled Spanish La Liga game.

The match was postponed on November 20 mid-way through the second half after a linesman was hit by an umbrella thrown from the crowd.

Granada were ahead the match between the two struggling sides after coming from behind to lead Mallorca 2-1 when the referee headed straight for the tunnel after one of his linesmen was struck.

The remaining 29 minutes will be played with the score as it stood when the match was stopped.

Granada have been fined 6,000 euros, with a warning that their Los Carmenes stadium will be closed in the case of a recurrence. The Andalucian club is appealing.

Copa Lagos ‘awakens sleeping giant’

COMMONWEALTH CHAMPIONSHIPS S preparation heats up for the 4th edition of the Commonwealth Powerlifting Federation Championships slated for Bournemouth University, England from December 16 to 18, 2011, Corner 47 Travel and Tours Ltd has thrown its weight behind Nigeria Professional Powerlifting Federation (NPPF) for the event.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, Gbolahan Odusanya, CEO Corner 47 said the company partnered NPPF as a way of encouragement and contributing to the growth of sports in the country. He said as a registered company in London, adequate arrangement is on ground for the lifters and their officials when in England.

"Powerlifting needs encouragement, and we believe the only way to contribute is to back them in their planned trip to London. We cannot leave everything to government, the private organization should also help in the development of sports in Nigeria.

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handicap 0 – 36 showcasing their skills on the opening day. The second day of the championship is exclusively for ladies with handicap of 28 and below while a Gala night for the presentation of prizes to deserving players would round off the event.

Heineken had in the past sponsored the Nigeria Cup Golf Tournament and notably, the UEFA Champions League which has made it a household name across the globe.

Speaking on behalf of Heineken, Jacqueline Van Faassen, Senior Brand Manager Heineken, reiterated the commitment of the company to the development of sports, saying the sponsorship of the Ikoyi Club Ladies Golf Open Championship is to strengthen the efforts of the women folk in the game which was once exclusive preserve of the men.

•Ike Uche

ITH the game at the national level currently in a state of decline and the Olympic hopefuls finding qualification for the Olympics difficult, Nigerians may be wondering when the glory days will return. The good news, however, is that not all is lost, and indeed a return to the glory days may come around sooner than expected, and from the most unlikely of sources.

The attention that Copa Lagos has brought to Beach Soccer may have shone the light on the Sand Eagles.

While the national team has experienced testy periods and failures in international competitions, the Sand Eagles have quietly gone about restoring pride to the nation and winning the silverware to put Nigeria back on the map.

If you do not believe it, the evidence is clear. The Beach Eagles have won the CAF Beach Soccer Championship twice (2007 and 2009) and have been two times Quarter-finalists at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which has only ran for six editions.

Already the Sand Eagles can boast to be the most successful team in

CAF Beach Soccer history and at the biggest stage of all Nigeria has twice been quarter finalist. Not only are the Sand Eagles successful, they also play the “Nigerian Way” that is exciting, attacking football. This is summed up by the Sand Eagles

memorable encounter with Brazil, Nigeria was trailing Brazil 8-5 of the quarter final but fought back to level score at 8-8, dragging the game into extra time before evetually falling 10-8 to the four-time World champions.

Akpala, Nwanganga attract Levante

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EVANTE, Spain are monitoring two Nigerian strikers- Joseph Akpala (25 years) and Kennedy Nwanganga( 21 years)- to beef up their attack in January according to reports in the Spanish Press.

Promising Nigerian striker Kennedy Nwanganga, who plays for UEFA Champions League campaigners Racing Genk, is the first target for the fourth placed Spanish team.

However, Nwanganga appears too expensive as the former Enyimba youth-teamer is under contract with Genk until the end of the 2014 season.

Genk say they are prepared to do business with any club if they come up with the right offer.

Representatives of Levante watched Nwanganga in the Champions League last week in Genk's 0-7

disgraceful loss to Valencia.

Allnigeriasoccer.com values the left offensive player at two million euros.

The Spanish club will shift focus to Joseph Akpala if they fail to land their prime target - Kennedy Nwanganga.

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Charity Cup holds Dec. 29 From Tunde Liadi, Owerri

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HE traditional curtain raiser of the Nigeria Premier League, the Charity Cup will come up on Thursday December 29th, 2011 at a venue yet to be announced by the organizers.

The Charity Cup which will pitch the winner of the 2011 Federation Cup, Heartland of Owerri with the League champions, Dolphins of Port Harcourt is among the series of activities to herald the 2011 NFF Annual General Assembly and it is slated for the evening of the day set aside for the AGA. The winner of the tie is expected to cart away a giant trophy and it will mark a good way to start the league season which is expected to begin about a week later barring any last minute change in the football calendar.

Babalola Olugbodi, who was appointed after the demise of Chief Layi Olagbenro to head the management team of Crown FC since the 2009/2010 season.

When contacted, Demola Alabi, 3SC’s administrative secretary, said all directives have been received from the Commissioner as the team awaits further development.

The development was greeted with jubilation by the fans of both teams who were seen gathered at Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan the training ground of 3SC and Ogbomoso township stadium home ground of the Ajilete Warriors, discussing the incidents.

LAGOS TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE

Durosimi retains title, as competition enters week five

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INCE the commencement of the Lagos Table Tennis League, Tolu Durosimi-Etti is the first player to win the league back-to-back in the women’s event after beating Funke Hassan in week four of the championship.

However, it was not the same in the men's event, as new champions continued to emerge every week after Kazeem Makanjuola defeated Ayo Omotara in the week four final held at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park in Yaba.

The weekly tournament is always preceded by HIV/AIDS sensitisation programme organised by the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency.Former champions, like Aminat Fashola, Funke Hassan failed to retain the titles after winning week one and two but Durosimi-Etti aided by her experience in the game set a new record by overcoming Hassan 3-1 (115, 11-3, 5-11, 11-5) in the week four final of the competition. She had also claimed the title in the week three after beating Fatimo Bello 3-2.

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From Tunde Liadi, Owerri mother, Chief (Mrs.) Rebecca Chukwu.

In a letter to the bereaved African Football Legend, Chukwu, Heartland FC General Manager, Chief Fan Ndubuoke said the club received the sad news of Chukwu’s mother with deep shock and sorrow.

Describing the deceased as ‘a woman of Christian virtue who through her wise counsel, nurtured and guided her children to became useful to their community and society in general,’ Ndubuoke prayed for God to grant her eternal life.

The General Manager said Christian Chukwu particularly, was very close to her mother while she was alive and there was no doubt he would miss her solely.

“There are no words to adequately assuage the burden of your grief, knowing your closeness to her, but be consoled by the knowledge that she lived a worthwhile life and left legacies by which she will be remembered,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chukwu has reported back to Owerri to assist in the trial of new players for Heartland FC. On arrival at Dan Anyiam Stadium early this week, the former Green Eagles captain was besieged by fans who came to sympathize with him.

the two Oyo State owned football teams, the State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Dapo LamAdesina yesterday (Tuesday) announced the sack of 3SC of Ibadan and Crown FC of Ogbomoso management.

The youthful Commissioner said the development became necessary in the process to overhaul and reposition the two teams for better performances come next season, adding that soon announce new administrators for both teams considering the exigency of the moment.

Affected are ex-international, Mutiu Adepoju, who had been at the helm, Shooting Stars Sports Club’s as general

By Innocent Amomoh Also in the women’s event, the most unfortunate player of the championship has been Bello who had played in the final of three weeks but failed to win any week. In the men’s event, there has not been any permanent champion for two weeks as Sola Oyetayo who won week three title was nowhere near the final of week four won by Makanjuola who surmounted Omotara 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-8) to claim the title for the first time.

For their efforts the top four players were rewarded each week with cash prizes ranging from N10, 000 for the winner, N7,500 for runners up while the third and fourth players in the men's and women's events get N5,000 each. So far, Makanjuola and Bello have garnered 18points to lead their charts.

Tomorrow, the week five of the championship will hold with new champions expected to be crowned in each event.

Adokiye Amiesimaka Complex wows South Africans

Heartland FC condoles Chukwu over mum’s death EARTLAND FC of Owerri have condoled their Technical Consultant, Christian Chukwu (MFR) over the recent demise of his

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•Akpala

Man Utd, Liverpool battle for Ola John

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IVERPOOL are challenging Manchester United for FC Twente striker Ola John.

The young Dutchmam, 19, is being followed by Liverpool chief Damien Comolli this season as he impresses for Twente.

However, John has revealed he's also wanted by United - which have an advantage on Liverpool courtesy of their partnership agreement with Twente.

"I was interesting Manchester United and Arsenal. But I have chosen for my chances to remain with FC Twente," said John earlier this year.

BOUT five Nations have arrived the Garden City of Port Harcourt for the 9th Africa Junior Swimming Championship which kicks off on the First of December 2011.

Of the five countries, South Africa and Namibia were the first two countries to have arrived Port Harcourt on Sunday evening and ever since has been enjoying the feel of the swimming complex at the Chief Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium, while Senegal, Zimbabwe and Algeria joined yesterday.

According to Chairman, technical Committee, CANA, Captain Olugbenga Lawal, South Africa flew in about 28 swimmers and nine officials, while Namibia has eight swimmers and two officials.

He also noted that, four parents accompanied their children from South Africa to Port Harcourt.

Meanwhile, about 55 officials are being expected to take part in the fourday championship and according to Capt Lawal, eight officials from CANA member countries, eight Technical Committee members from Nigeria, six National officials from outside Port Harcourt are expected to handle the competition while the rest officials would come from within Port Harcourt and its environs.

The CANA officials and the Nigerian officials are expected into Port Harcourt on Monday. He added that, the bulk of Nigerian officials who attended the FINA officiating school, Abuja, last month would also be used for the swimming championship.

From Florence Nkem Israel, Port Harcourt However, Swimmers vying for honours in the African Junior Swimming championship would be subjected to doping tests.

This was hinted Sporting Life by the Chairman of the Main Organizing Committee, Chief OlatokunboThomas, after the MOC meeting in Port Harcourt over the weekend.

He said the swimmers would be randomly picked for doping tests, under the Anti-Doping Agency Law of the international body, FINA. Chief Thomas revealed that Dr Nwachukwu of Rivers State Ministry of Health and a member of the African swimming body, CANA, has been commissioned to handle the doping exercise.

Also Two ambulances have been acquired from the Ministry of Health and the State Teaching Hospital as the official medical facility for any emergency, during the four day tournament.

The MOC chairman, Chief Fashina thanked the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi, who he said to has saved the face of Nigeria by accepting to host the African Junior Swimming Championship.

According to him, the Nigeria Swimming Federation, was at a crossroad on where and how to host the event, as the stipulated venue, swimming complex of the Abuja National Stadium had some technical hitches, to host the world class event.

PROGRAMME

EXPENDITURE

Family unity canvassed Makurdi

N3.9b spent on food security

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Sokoto

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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CHALLENGE

Yobe tackles water shortage Yobe

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Email: news_extra@yahoo.com

Page 25

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N annual event in Benue State has brought succour to the less privileged.

Every year, the state celebrates women who have excelled in their professions. The idea is not only to appreciate the iconic ladies for their efforts; it is also to inspire others to work harder and lift the profile of the state.

But this year, the event turned out to be more than an anniversary or even an occasion to recognise hard-working women.

The wife of the state governor Mrs Yemisi Dooshima Suswam was in charge of proceedings.

It was a day the crippled felt loved. The governor’s wife donated a set of 100 wheelchairs to them. She also presented two buses for ambulance services in the state.

The event tagged ‘Celebrate Benue Woman’ is also a forum at which women are encouraged to participate in the political process and the running of the state.

It is in effect a special occasion to rouse Benue women up and get them to assert themselves positively not just to develop themselves but also the state.

Unlike other editions, this year’s event was memorable because Mrs Suswam was determined to make it succeed and positively impact people’s live especially the less privileged.

Participants streamed in from across the country.

The three-day event, which began with a symposium, was rounded off with the presentation of the wheelchairs and the buses.

Governor Gabriel Suswam inaugurated the ambulance buses.

In her speech, the governor’s wife said the wheelchairs were part of her contribution to the less privileged especially women who are neglected in the society.

She said the ambulances which have emergency phone numbers boldly written on them will be stationed in Makurdi, the state capital, for now. But she enjoined eve-

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ESIDENTS of the farming Kadarko community in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State have lamented lack of access roads in the community, saying this is discouraging farming activity in the area.

They called for immediate government’s intervention in order to boost agriculture and facilitate the movement of farm products.

The residents, whose chief produce include maize, rice, yam, groundnuts, sugarcane, millet and cattle, are cut off from their neighbours and transporting farms produce to surrounding markets around the communities have been stalled.

Lamenting the situation, the councillor representing Kadarko Ward in the local government,

•Governor Suswam (fourth left), his wife Yemisi (fifth) and dignitaries with beneficiaries at the event

A day for the physically challenged Suswam’s wife donates wheelchairs, ambulances From Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi

ryone to make full use of them whenever they are in need. She said they could call the toll-free numbers from

any part of the state. She also urged women to support the administration in the state.

Governor Suswam, in his brief remark, enjoined Benue people to contribute to the development of the

state which was created more than 36 years with little to show for it.

The governor advised the people to disregard the impression being created by opposition parties that his mandate was stolen and that he

would soon be removed.

He said his administration would continue to provide necessary infrastructural development as a means of boosting the economic base of the state.

The governor’s wife was conferred with a United Nation’s Grand Patron award.

Plateau farmers lament lack of access road From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

Nanven Audu Fadip, said the condition of the existing road is a big problem to the people, as moving farm produce to other places is hampered by lack of access roads.

According to him, Kadarko is rich in commodities and can even feed the entire state, but the road which was constructed during the military era is no longer passable and this is discouraging the farming population from active farming.

He added: “The people engage in subsistence farming, leaving out commercial farming because truck

owners avoid the dilapidated roads for the safety of their vehicles. That is why we are calling on governments at all levels to come to the rescue of my people.”

Fadip recalled how farmers’ produce were left to rot in the last har-

vest season because “buyers no longer patronise the area due to bad roads and the farmers themselves find it difficult to hire trucks to convey the produce to nearby markets.

“Kadarko, about 25kms from Wase town is also a stone’s throw to

Buyers no longer patronise the area due to bad roads and the farmers themselves find it difficult to hire trucks to convey the produce to nearby markets

Langtang South Local Government Area and it would be good if the authorities at all levels consider the Wase-Kadarko-Langtang South major road. That will boost the economy of the rural people and further discourage the youth from abandoning the village for the cities in search of livelihood,” the Councillor added.

On his part, he said he often engaged the people to embark on communal labour to patch the bad portions on the road, adding that during rainy seasons, all these efforts are wasted because the rains wash off the patched work.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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Family unity canvassed

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OUPLES have been urged to foster peace and unity in their homes. Rounding off a four-day event tagged ‘Family Weekend’ organised by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, Pastor Olusola Morakinyo, who is in charge of the Upper Room Parish in the High Level area of the city, rallied families to boost their relationships with prayer.

The programme also gave room for children to express themselves.

Our reporter, who attended it, witnessed the closing ceremony which featured children not only praying but also acting, reciting the bible and casting news. The child newscasters were Joshua Danjuma and Janet Agbalinkwu.

During the Church Service to mark the end of the Family Weekend, Pastor Morakinyo who taught on the topic “Keeping Your Family Shinning and United,” stressed the need for unity in every home to guarantee God’s presence.

Morakinyo who took his reading from the book of John 2:7–11, told the congregation that no family can shine except they allow God to be involved in their affairs. He urged the congregation to keep away from sin as it is capable of extinguishing God’s light in the home.

He exhorted them to always praise God, worship Him and

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ONTROLLER of Operations in the Department

for Petroleum Resources (DPR), Sokoto, Alhaji Umaru Salihu Moriki has warned marketers of petroleum products involved in sharp practices in the zone to desist from such acts, as the department has finalised strategies to deal with any marketer or filling station running foul of the law or refusing to adhere to regulations.

Moriki also said hawking of lubricants has been banned while retailers must obtain licenses from the Department to enable them to market the products.

The Department, Moriki said, was not out against the business operations and success of any marketer but iscommitted to en-

•The children singing choruses during the week From Johnny Danjuma, Lafia

pray, saying such an exercise always brings abundant joy. The pastor also admonished youths to abstain from fornication which the enemy (the devil) is using to destroy them.

He gave the example of the biblical Joseph who shunned sin even when the wife of his master, Potiphar, did all she could to lure him into an illicit act. Morakinyo explained that if Joseph had consented to the woman’s scheme, it would have been the end of his

dreams.

Prayer according to him is also one of the strongest pillars of the home, adding that families that find time to pray together often, find peace from God. He said temptations may creep in without prayers. Family life may not

all be bed of roses, Pastor Morankiyo told the congregation, but people can look up to Jesus, they will find succor.

A home that is not protected by God is like one with cracks through which cockroaches, lizards and other creatures can crawl in.

DPR warns petroleum products marketers From Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

suring compliance and safety in all operations while the scarcity of kerosene is being tackled by the government to ensure its availability.

“Also, the issue of the removal of subsidy is currently before the National Assembly. While I observe that the relationship between the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and government agencies in the zone has been cordial for the effective functions of the Department.

However, he observed that some marketers carry out renovation works on their stations as well as burial of underground tanks without the consent of the department, a situation which he said runs counter to the laws and regulations of the Department.

“To crown it all, construction of illegal petrol stations is still resurfacing despite continued public enlightenment,” he said.

Alhaji Moriki, who made the observation in Sokoto last week during the Department’s 2011 Annual Marketers’ Meeting at the Sultan Maccido Institute for Qu’ranic and General Studies, Sokoto also noted

•A cultural troupe from Mochina, Yobe State at the Abuja National Carnival

that routine surveillance by the Department had revealed that some petrol stations’ dispensing pumps were obsolete, thus capable of not dispensing accurate quantities thereby, short-changing the buying public.

“We want to ensure, through our collective resolve that customers buy petroleum products at approved prices at designated sales points. This is the only forum that will guarantee the discussion of issues that are beneficial to the marketers, regulators and government agencies,” he added.

He listed some of the activities carried out by marketers that are against the laws and regulations of the department to include storage of large volume of lubricants in petrol stations, sale of giant containers. He maintained that such activities were prohibited by laws of the Department.

“All lubricants must be properly labelled, packaged and branded with the products disposal and production details,” he said.

He noted that the zone has, within the year under review, not recorded any fire incident, a situa-

tion he commended saying; “it is an indication that filling stations are observing safety guidelines.”

“Therefore, let us sustain this by ensuring the provision of necessary fire fighting and safety devices such as extinguishers, electrical earthing systems, avoidance of naked wire and good house-keeping with periodic auditing of wiring systems as precautionary measures,” he added.

The Sokoto DPR-organised annual marketers’ meeting was also attended by the Kaduna Zonal Controller, the Operations Controllers of Kano and Katsina states respectively.

Marketers from Sokoto and Kebbi states, including security agencies were also in attendance at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the meeting, which also observed technical sessions in two segments concerning marketing, investment and expansion in refineries, plants, depot as well as laws and regulations and safety operations, were conducted with illustrations by Musa Z. Tambawal and Musa Isiyaku Gombe of the Department.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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Jukuns urge unity

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UKUNS in the country and the diaspora have been urged to embrace unity and continue to work for the overall growth and development of their motherland, even as they called on President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently redress the junior ministerial slot given to Taraba State.

The Madakin Wukari Mr Jubrin Anfani, made the appeal at the end of year and award ceremony organised by the Jukun Development Association, (JDA), Lagos branch, at the Nigeria Airforce Officer’s Mess, on Victoria Island, Lagos.

Anfani, who obviously commands a large followership inspite of his blindness, said Jukuns being one of the largest ethnic group in the country today refused to be treated like second class citizens who should manage the junior ministerial slot.

“While other states that are not as large as we are have two ministers while should we be given a junior ranking officer. We would urge the President to redress this in the interest of fairness,” he said.

He also urged the people especially to work for the realisation of the state of kwararafa, with headquarter at Wukari, the traditional home of the Jukuns.

Anfani, a local Jukun historian, said it is sad that despite a century long history behind it, jukunland is yet to boast of a state of its own unlike other kingdoms such as the Kanuri or the Yoruba with which Jukuns had the same historical antecedent.

He said: “It is sad though we (Jukuns), are scattered in 24 of the 36 states of the country, we do not have a state of our own, and this is because wee have always being working at cross purposes. Let all of us be united this time around and collectively push for the realisation of the creation of the state of Kwararafa. This time that one of our sons, is the number three citizen of this country, we should make sure this is realised.”

His push for state creation got an overwhelming support from other eminent Jukuns, including the Minister of state for Power, Arc Darius

By Yinka Aderibigbe

Ishaku, who was represented by Joshua Sangari, Chief Musa Danjuma, the junior brother of Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, Chief Bujuje Vyonku, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs and Excise, and Mr Sadiq Adamu a top official of ExxonMobil Nigeria, among others.

Earlier the President of the association, Mr Benjamin Bako Danborno, had challenged the Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai, to be more engaged in transforming the lot of the people of the state.

He said situation on ground in Taraba, where many major towns are yet to have a general hospital among other basic infrastructure does not tally with the over N200 billion accessed by the governor since 2007.

“We call on our governor to accelerate the development of Taraba. If allegation that he now owns a private jet is true, then, he should sell as that does not reflect the situation in the state. What we badly need now is rapid development.”

He equally charged the people to be an active participant in the political process as this remains the only way they could hold their political leaders accountable to their actions.

Danborno said even the little that has been achieved during the political dispensation could be eroded if the citizens became docile and went to sleep.

In this vein he called on President Goodluck jonathan He lamented the erosion of Jukun culture and language by foreign cultures and counseled parents to continue to promote the speaking of their native tongues and their inculcation of their cultures in their children. “Parents should note that we are the custodians of the language and cultures of Jukunland. We should refrain from giving preference to English language and European names instead of our native names and mother tongue,” he said.

Danborno came down hard on the sale of indigeneship forms by council chairmen in the state, saying that

•Danborno (left) and Ibrahim Sangari

PHOTO: BADE DARAMOLA

Let all of us be united this time around and collectively push for the realisation of the creation of the state of Kwararafa. This time that one of our sons, is the number three citizen of this country the practice has been abused as many who had no roots in the state are currently parading themselves as citizens of the state.

The Chairman of the event, Arc Darius Ishaku, commended the entire leadership of the association for their support for his nomination and clearance as Minister. He also promised to continue to work for the continued peace, progress and development of the country and the state in

particular.

The highlight of the even was the presentation of awards to 11 eminent Jukuns who has distinguished themselves in their service to their country and Jukunland in particular.

Among other eminent sons honoured by the association were: Mr Yakubu Tokto, Mr Manasseh Zorto, a deputy Director of Customs D.C. Taninga Benga, the first President of the association, late Chief

Christopher Audu, Mr Jubrin Anfani, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, the G20 Club, and late Usman Bibinu, Brig.Gen ishaya Balba, Damina Dodo, and Chief David Sabo Kente, a deputy director of the National Assembly, among others.

Speaking on behalf of other awardees, Zorto commended the association for deening it fit to institute the awards. He said the awards would go a long way to motivate all awardees to continue to do more for the people while it would also ginger others to strive to do something for their community.

“Collectively, we would do more for the people of Nigeria and continue to live the dream of Jukunland anywhere we might be,” Zorto said.

Chief Musa Danjuma urge the association to continue to champion the cause of the average Jukuns home and abroad, adding that he would continue to render his support for his homeland.

Fed Govt intensifies action on renewable energy

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N a bid to improve power generation in the country, the Federal Government has disclosed its plans to align renewable energy to the national grid.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji at the second Nigerian Renewable Energy

From Augustine Ehikioya and Gbenga Adanikin, Abuja

Day. Noting that renewable energy cannot substantially provide electricity needed for consumption in

the country, he said that efforts are on to increase the use of renewable energy in Nigeria.

According to him, the power sector even though it is making giant strides, still has specific areas to tackle in terms of what type of fuel to use in power generation and the

•Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola inspecting pupils of Mahu Deen Islamic Academy during the celebration of Hijrah 1432, organised by the state Muslim Community at Osogbo Grammar School, Osogbo

means of sustaining electricity infrastructure.

His words: “There is synergy now to work on renewable energy, the President has said it. We had joint meetings with the ministries of environment, water and petroleum.

Renewable energy is contributory. The cost of solar energy is higher than gas. There is no other cheaper way for power generation than gas. Renewable energy through solar paneling is important, though it’s costlier, it’s just a contributor but not complete generation.”

Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafiya said: “The use of sun, wind and even waste to generate energy is very prudent compared to the cost of fossil fuels. Currently, countries that have developed policies on reduction on dependence on the use of fossil fuels are at the forefront to turn their economies green.”

She called for co-operation among all the levels of governments in order to address the challenges in the nation’s environment.

“Government at all tiers also has the responsibility of greening the economy. Development must be carried out in a sustainable manner using renewable energy sources,” she stated.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Daouda Toure, harped on the need to promote the use of renewable energy He said that expanding access to energy would, in the long run, assist in economic empowerment of rural dwellers and act as optimal response strategy needed in the decentralisation of national grid energy system.

“Renewable energy,” he said “underscores the roles of energy issues, access to affordable energy in the country’s quest for economic transformation and sustainable development.”

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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Sokoto spends N3.9b on food security T

•Governor Wamakko

HE Sokoto State government has committed more than N3.9 billion to modernise the agricultural sector to ensure massive food production.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources,Dr Jabbi Kilgore, told journalists in Sokoto, that the measure was aimed at ensuring food security in the state.

He said that about N950 million was spent to procure 150 tractors, which, he noted, had since been allocated to some large and small farmers on loan basis.

He added that it would go along way to boost farming in the state for the sustainability of food security.

The commissioner said already the state government had spent N 1. 2 billion to

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HE Niger State Head of Service, Alhaji Ibrahim Matane, has decried the activities of illegal gold miners in Maiwayo village, Katcha Local Government Area of the state.

Matane told journalists in Minna that nonadherence to the mining laws of the state by the miners was of great concern to the government.

“They do not have any prospecting or mining licence from the relevant authorities such as the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development or the regulatory arm in Abuja.”

Matane further said that the miners did not have permit from any authority in the state before undertaking their illegal activities nor did they have any regard for environmental hazards their activities could cause.

He said more than 1,000 illegal miners were operating on locations along the Minna-Bida Road, noting that a miner had died in the process.

“We learnt during our visit to the site that one artisan miner had begun digging a hole around 12 midnight and the tunnel collapsed on him and his colleagues were only able to

Niger dig out his lifeless body by 5 a.m., five hour after the incident.

“Our concern is about the lack of safety in

Lawmaker empowers 102

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O fewer than 102 people have benefitted from an empowerment scheme instituted by a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Hon. Mohammed Ali. Ali (CPC-Kawo), told journalists in Kaduna that the beneficiaries included 82 women and 20 male youths.

He said they were trained in paint, detergent, candle, pomade and soap making, among others.

“The beneficiaries were trained under our Human Resource Development and Empowerment Initiative and in line with the manifesto of our great party, the CPC.”

Five communities benefit from N1b water project

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Sokoto

estabilish Sokoto State College of Agriculture at Wurno Local Government Area of the state.

He said the college would provide quality manpower to complement the effort of the government in its efforts to modernise the sector.

He also said that assorted fertilisers worth N1.8 billion had been purchased and sold to farmers at government controlled rates.

Kilgore called for more working support from farmers by reporting any outbreak of epidemic for prompt action.

Niger decries illegal mining the mining operations as well as the environmental challenges this kind of mining poise to the community and non-adherence to the laws governing such exploitation of the commodity.

“We are particularly worried that the incident which occurred in Zamfara (lead poisoning) does not happen here.”

The head of service said the state was “awaiting a report from the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on the situation at hand before we know what necessary steps to be taken”.

•From left: Permanent Secretary, LTV, Mr Lekan-Ogunbanwo; Wife of Head of Service Lagos State, Mrs Adenike Ogunlewe ;Public Relations Manager, Indomie, Mr Tope-Ashiwaju and General Manager Radio Lagos, Eko FM, Mrs Tinu Aina Badejo at the inauguration of the Indomie Fun Park at the Lagos Television PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU

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103 households resist polio immunisation

O fewer than 103 households in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State resisted the administratering of the Polio Plus Vaccines Immunisation during the just concluded exercise in the area.

The Director, Primary Health Care of the

Committee denies mismanaging relief funds T

HE Chairman of the Kebbi Flood Relief Committee, Alhaji Muhammad Kwaido, has denied allegations that funds collected to assist victims have been mismanaged.

It was gathered that N828 million was realised as donation to the 137,023 victims who were displaced by floods in the state this year during which 329 villages and 43,685 structures were destroyed.

Kwaido told journalists in Birnin Kebbi that the allegations were untrue, noting that the death of the former Chairman of the committee, Prof. Abdullahi Gwandu, had resulted in the suspension of payments to the victims.

The chairman, who did not disclose the amount paid so far, explained that the present

committee took over from another one which was dissolved earlier.

“And we have taken adequate measures to ensure equity and fairness in the payment of compensation to the victims.”

Kwaido said the committee had resumed payment of compensation to the victims, adding that information gathered about them had facilitated the exercise.

He appealed to people to desist from politicising the issue and gave assurance that a comprehensive report would be provided for accountability purposes.

“We were appointed as honourable men and our activities will be transparent.”

Group donates mosquito nets HE Customs Officers Wives Association (COWA), on Saturday fumigated the Customs Barracks in the FCT, and distributed 2,000 insecticides treated mosquito nets to hospitals and residents of the barracks.

The National President of COWA, Hajiya Sa’Adiya Dikko, at Karu Customs Quarters’ Clinic, said the exercise was part of the association’s contributions to riding the country of malaria.

“Malaria is a very serious disease that if we cannot prevent it, we should try as much as possible to make sure we reduce the number

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of people who are dying from the disease.

“This malaria campaign, which includes the fumigation of our barracks and the distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets, is another demonstration of our commitment to total wellbeing of Customs family and the community around us.’’

The National President promised that the association would try to sustain the programme by making it a yearly campaign.

Dikko advised beneficiaries of the items to use them and keep their environment clean, to avoid malaria disease.

•Mr Mukandas Olaitan Ogidan, Chairman, Lekki Local Council Development Area (right) congratulating the Leader of the legislative arm Hon. Toheeb Bisola Salisu at the swearing-in ceremony

•General Counsel and Company Secretary, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Mrs Cecilia Madueke receiving Sectoral Leadership Awards in Construction from member Board of Governor Pearl Awards, Prof. Herbert Orji (left) and Vice President Institute of Directors Nigeria, Chief Eniola-Fadayomi during 2011 Pearl Awards in Lagos PHOTO: BOLA OMILABU

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Group to boost education

RKED by the deplorable state of education in the country,particularly in Southwest, a group, Yoruba Education Trust Fund (YETFUND), has decided to return education to its glorious state.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos, former ViceChancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University

Briefly

2011 World AIDS Day

By Fredrick Adegboye

IT is 30 years since HIV and AIDS came to public knowledge with a cure still being pursued with all the clinical vigour and methodical muscles of scientists globally.

To commemorate 2011 World AIDS Day (WAD) coming up tomorrow, the World AIDS Campaign (WAC) has chosen: Getting to Zero as this year’s theme.

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the theme, which rests on the three-foot of Zero new infections, Zero discrimination and Zero AIDS related deaths, will be used until 2015.

Director of Global Outreach at UNAIDS, Djibril Diallo, said: “But the priority may be zero discrimination in some parts of the world and zero AIDS-related deaths in other parts – it’s important to keep this connection with the local realities.”

December 1 of every year is earmarked for the commemoration of the pandemic by drawing attention to people living with the infection and spurring the global community to make commitment to dealing with the scourge.

37

By Tajudeen Adebanjo

(OAU), Prof Wale Omole and Chairman YETFUND Public Presentation Committee, Chief Tola Adeniyi, said the group has identified six major intervention points to revive the fading education status.

Highlighting the points, Chief Adeniyi said these will include capacity building, curriculum development, management of schools, infrastructure; educational support services and informal adult/technical education.

The move, he said, became necessary due to poor funding of education in the country.

“Various Nigerian governments allocate an average of 1.6 per cent of annual budget to education instead of 26 per cent recommended

by UNESCO. “Our entire intervention models are corrective and they are an advocacy in a way that will lead to building a new crop of children,” he said.

While recognising the fact that no government can finance and cater for educational needs of its citizen, Chief Adeniyi enjoined all and sundry to teem up with YETFUND in resuscitating the sector. Prof Omole urged other nationals in the country to take a cue from YETFUND. Education, the former OAU chief said, represents the state of the nation.He lamented the increasing level of unemployment in the country.

“Education is in a mess; our nation is in serious trouble. Our graduates are selling recharge cards.

It is a pity they are not allowed to use their brains to develop this nation,” he said.

He stated that the decision of YETFUND to take the first step in technical and vocational training was born out of concern for the dangerous situation of unemployment by the youths who have abandoned vocational jobs to artisans from neighbouring West African states.

Kaduna council, Garba Abbati, said this in Misau in an interview with journalists.

Abbati explained that 90 households had their cases resolved through the intervention of traditional and religious rulers.

He further explained that the cases of remaining households were yet to be resolved, adding that efforts were being intensified by both the council and traditional rulers to resolve the issue.

Abbati said that the cases of non-compliance were recorded in all the 16 wards within the council.

He attributed the high cases of such incidence to shortage of plus items such as bathing soap, biscuits and others used to entice parents and children for the exercise.

Abbati added that “only 189 items of plus were procured and distributed to households in the 16 wards within the area during the four-day exercise’’.

He announced that 76,809 children were immunised during the period as against 75,000 targeted.

Abbati said 224 personnel including supervisors, vaccinators, recorders and monitors were used for the exercise.

He further disclosed that 83,000 doses of vaccines were used during the exercise while the local government did not release any money from the N2 million budgeted for the exercise.

URAL communities in five states of the federation are benefiting from water and road projects worth about N1 billion under the African Development BankCommunity Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme.

Mrs Abegail Fada, the Project Support Officer with the AFDB-CBARDP, told journalists in Bauchi that the benefiting states were Bauchi, Adamawa, Kwara, Gombe and Kaduna.

She said that contractors were already on site working on the projects, adding that when completed, they would benefit the rural communities immensely.

“The AFDB-CBARDP is a support project jointly funded by the African Development Bank, the federal and state governments, aimed at boosting food security and providing rural infrastructure.

“It has the infrastructure component, targeting rural roads construction, provision

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of water, as well as the production development component that focuses on capacity building and empowerment of communities.”

Fada explained that although a lot had been achieved in the area of production development in the five benefiting states since the inception of the project in 2004, the infrastructure component was lagging behind and therefore needed to be boosted.

“The AFDB-CBARDP activities were to have ended in December 2011, but the sponsors of the project have graciously granted an extension of one year to enable us to meet the set target of providing 54 km roads and drilling of 30 boreholes in each of the five states.

“It is our hope that everything will be completed by December 2012.”

•Governor Yakowa Fada said a training programme had been organised for stakeholders in each of the five states toward ensuring that the infrastructure provided were maintained and sustained by the benefiting communities.

Nine local government areas in the states were selected for the project, three from each of the three Senatorial Districts.

NGO offers free medical services to FCT communities

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N NGO, Abuja Technology Village Foundation ( ATV), last week offered a one-day free medical service to residents of Aleyita and Chika, located within the Abuja Technology Village.

The Programme Coordinator of the Foundation, Mr Kenechukwu Nwankwo, told journalists that the exercise was carried out in collaboration with the Medicaid Radio Diagnostics Medical Centre.

“This is the second community-related initiative to get us closer to the villagers and touch their lives.”

He said 32 persons from various agencies and health centres volunteered to render the free medical services to the indigenes of the communities.

Nwankwo explained that 17 medical personnel, who participated in the programme as volunteers, offered free consultations and prescriptions to the residents, while 15 non medical professionals helped in organising the programme.

He said that some pharmaceutical companies offered free drugs, adding that free breast cancer screening was also offered to the women who turned up for the programme.

“All indigenes of the community are the beneficiaries of the initiative with no age restrictions.”

He said that during the exercise, it was discovered that the residents were primarily suffering from malaria, typhoid and dustrelated illnesses, like cough and catarrh.

The co-ordinator said in the previous

Govt to spend N10m on livestock vaccination

HE Gombe State government has set aside N10 million for the vaccination of livestock against preventable diseases.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture,Dr Yusuf Garba told journalists in Gombe that enough vaccines had been purchased for the exercise.

He said arrangement had been completed for the flag-off at Lalaifido Village in Shongom Local Government Area of the state, adding that at least 800,000 herds of cattle would be vaccinated.

Garba said the cattle would be vaccinated against the contagious pneumonia, while sheep and goats would be vaccinated against

Kaduna

Gombe catarrh, and dogs against rabies.

He called on people in the area to bring out their livestock for the exercise.

The permanent secretary said, “The health of livestock is very important because if they are healthy definitely production will increase and everybody in the society will benefit.”

He particularly appealed to people, who kept dogs to make them available for vaccination against rabies.

“Rabies is very dangerous to public health and people should utilise the opportunity and vaccinate their dogs against it,” he said.

Abuja exercise which took place at Piakassa, located within the ATV, 503 patients were treated and they hoped to double the figure in the outreach.

A beneficiary of the programme, Mrs Ruth

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Nuhu, expressed happiness with the programme, adding that she was tested and given free drugs for her ailment.

No fewer than 920 patients were reached in the programme in both Chika and Aleyita.

Gifts and souvenirs were given to the children who turned up for the programme.

Council inaugurates market committee

HE Chairman of Mushin Local Government Area Hon Olatunde Adepitan has inaugurated a nine-man caretaker committee to oversee the affairs of Aguiyi Ironsi International Market, within the Ladipo Spare Part Market.

Aguiyi Ironsi market is one of the 18 divisions in the large market seen by many as the largest concentration of used automobile engines in the whole of Africa.

The market is mainly occupied by Igbo traders.They have been there since inception.

Aguiyi Ironsi International market has witnessed leadership problem within the past four years owing to sit tight syndrome of most of the leaders.

The trader’s had, many times, protested to the office of the chairman, complaining of high handedness, thuggery, maiming and even killing within the market.

The tenure of the former leader of the market had expired but they refused to conduct another election. Hon Babatunde Adepitan therefore visited the traders and assured them that action would be taken to see that they do their business under a peaceful atmosphere.

The committee headed by Mr. Ismail Yalipa, directed members to count the number of shops within the market, and all the traders to provide a conducive environment for the conduct of elections within the shortest possible time.

Members of the committee include: Hon. Fausat Hassan-Olajokun, Mr. J. O. Onitolo, Okey Imoh, Obinna Oniezinwa, Sofela Olawale, Mr. Afolabi Kalejaiye. Others are Thony Nwazoroibe and Festus Nnalepere.

The chairman warned the committee not to impose unnecessary dues on the traders and ensure that the market is always kept clean.

He directed them to find a lasting solution to

the rift between the traders and LAWAMAN. The council boss also warned the traders to obey the law guiding the affairs of the market saying for instance, nobody should stay in the market beyond 6pm, no trader should sleep in the market, no trader should cook in the shop, except in designated restaurants.

He appealed to the traders to be united, peaceful and cooperate with the government.

Mr Okay Imoh, who spoke on behalf of the traders, thanked the authorities of the council for liberation the traders from oppression. He called for adequate security within the market.

Church holds programme

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HRIST Abundant Power Apostolic Church, Ibudo Agbara, 34/36, Ezobi Street, Alapere Ketu, Lagos, will hold a three-day marathon prayer session from today to Friday, December 2 at the church auditorium. The programme holds from 12noon to 6pm and 10pm to 5am respectively.

The theme is:Owners of Evil load, carry your load.

Speaking on the programme, the General Overseer and Senior Pastor, Dr David Oluwayinka Olorunleye said: “The programme is set apart for fervent prayers to thwart and destroy forces of evil and power of oppression occasioned by household enemies plaguing our daily lives. They would be forcefully sent back to their owners by the prayers” He expressed confidence those that will attend will give testimonies at the end.

NGO gives food, clothes to widows, orphans T

HE Mercy Vincent Foundation, a nongovernmentalorganisation,has distributed food items and clothes to widows and orphans as part of its efforts to give succour to vulnerable groups in Borno State.

The donation of 50 bags of rice and many clothes to 50 widows and 25 orphans was made at the premises of the foundation in Maiduguri last week.

However, three other widows, Hajiya Fatima Musa, Mrs Mary Mark and Mrs Medugu Amos, benefited from scholarship awards for their children by the foundation at the occasion.

Dr Oufuani Vincent, the Managing Director and Founder of the charity home, said that most widows were being confronted with tough and difficult lives after the death of their husbands.

He said at the annual event, entitled:Borno Widows Forum, that the widows “ are left

Borno

almost alone with the burden of providing food, healthcare and education for their helpless children.

“That is why we at the Mercy Foundation, we have chosen to identify with you by providing you with an alternative home.

“Here we offer you hope, food, clothing, counselling and guidance in a world full of suffering, pain, affliction ,tragedies and death”.

While expressing appreciation for the donations made to the widows by philanthropic individuals and groups, he urged other public spirited members of the public to advance the cause, by emulating the gesture.

•Mr Nath Umeh-Okoh; Hon. Adepitan, the Council Manager Sunday Oduwole and Mr Okey Imoh at the inauguration

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Text only: 08023058761

A residency like no other – Page 32

Drawing lines around African art – Page 34

Carnival of peace, unity • SEE PAGE 30

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The curtain was drawn yesterday on this year’s Abuja National Carnival, tagged Carnival of Reconciliation, which kicked off last Saturday at the Eagle Square, reports OZOLUA UHAKHEME, Assistant Editor (Arts).

•Cross section of cultural troupe performing

Carnival of peace, unity

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OR four days, Abuja was literally lit up by artistic performances at different venues in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It was during the Seventh Abuja National Carnival, tagged, Carnival of Reconciliation last Saturday. President Goodluck Jonathan, flagged off the event that attracted thousands of participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt and most states of the federation. Trinidad and Tobago’s steel band was a delight to watch at the opening.

From colourful street carnivals to durbar, boat regatta, traditional food fair and masquerades’ performances, the carnival paralysed movement on major roads of Abuja.This year’s outing is believed to be an improvement over past editions in terms of content, which skewed towards showcasing the contemporary artistic elements of the nation’s cultural heritage. If the rich and diverse contemporary cultural elements of the carnival content are anything to go by, this year’s edition, many believe experienced a paradigm shift.

President Jonathan described the carnival as an emerging window to create an enduring platform for the promotion of unity, peace, social cohesion and integration of people through the showcasing of their strength and uniquely rich cultural diversity.

He said the carnival has become the biggest culture and tourism product of Nigeria, which requires the strategic support of the government and the engagement of the private sector to propel it to where its great investment potentials could be maximaly exploited.

“I will like to seize this opportunity to reiterate our administration’s commitment to effectively diversify Nigeria’s economic base away from dependence on oil and gas and focusing on stimulating growth in such sectors with huge potential as agriculture and tourism. “ I am glad to know that the Abuja Carnival has proven to be one successful step in the direction of exhibiting Nigeria’s exceptionally rich and diverse cultural and artistic heritage as an untapped huge investment opportunity waiting to be meaningfully exploited.

“The Federal Government is committed to creating the requisite enabling environment to promote the rapid sustained growth of tourism sector of our national economy.

To this end, it is gratifying to note that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation has evolved a stra-

tegic plan to meaningfully engage the organised private sector in the structured development of the sector as an integral part of our national transformation agenda,” he added.

The President, represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, urged state governments and groups to key into the vibrant sector, which not only promises enormous returns on investment but also provides great opportunities.

Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, lamented the poor funding of the carnival, saying N100 million was inadequate to execute the carnival. “There is so much we can do with N100 million to execute the carnival. And again, I saw there was little time for revolutionary reviews of the carnival, hence my thinking of expanding the size of the management committee for better results,” he said. The minister, who believed that the carnival must attract Nigerians in the Diaspora, stressed that the carnival must go beyond street dancing and incorporate fashion elements. He, however, warned that Nigeria must not give room for another African country to overtake it.

Instructively, many of the states’ motorised floats captured

‘I am glad to know that the Abuja Carnival has proven to be one successful step in the direction of exhibiting Nigeria’s exceptionally rich and diverse cultural and artistic heritage as an untapped huge investment opportunity waiting to be meaningfully exploited’

the kernel of this year’s theme, Reconciliation, during the street carnival at the opening. Ebonyi and Kaduna states’ floats stood out as strong images were uesed to interprete the theme in vibrant colours.

For Ebonyi State, its float showcased images and forms dressed in all white costumes, spiced with green ribbon round their necks to represent the 36 states. All the images that are in equal size and stature stand in a round table format atop the floats, sending a strong message on equality and religious tolerance among Nigerians. Also on the float, were three hands stretching out to hold the map of Nigeria above other objects, thus showing the supremacy of the nation.

Kaduna State’s float showcased a simulated bishop and an Imam praying together at close range as the contingents moved round the streets of Abuja. Apart from the aesthetic appeal of the design, religious tolerance was symbolised by these simulated pastor and imam. To all intents and purposes, this year’s carnival was aimed at bringing together Nigeria’s 500 ethnic and 250 tribes and two major religions to promote unity, co-existence and national development.

Kogi State expressed the carnival theme in the three hands carrying the map of Nigeria in its canoe float. The man dressed in the South south attire paddling the canoe, represents President Jonathan who is saddled with the responsibility of steering the Nigerian boat to a safe shore. The tree hands symbolise the three major ethnic groups - Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo, while it also represents the three major tribes in Kogi-Igala, Okun and Ebira. The symbols on the boat are expressions of reconciliation and unity, which are much needed in the country. Kano State contingent’s float was more colourful and striking than those of other northern states. Its float flowed with sounds of Hausa pop music blaring from the top of the float.

In contrast, Katsina State presented an empty moving truck in the name of a float. Apart from the small thatch-roofed hut at the truck head, the float accompanied by a handful of youths was not only a minus to the parade but an embarrassment to the organisers and the state. Same was was the case of Gombe State. Taraba featured no float at the parade, while Delta, Cross River, Plateau, Anambra, Abia and Lagos states were not part of the opening.

Other low points of the carnival are attendance by guests at the Eagle Square, Abuja and inadequate publicity for the event.

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•Some participants at the carnival

•The Akwa Ibom State’s float

Explore other funding sources, gallery owners advised

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HE Director-General of National Gallery of Art (NGA), Mr. Abdulahi Muku, has urged the Arts Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN) to explore other sources of funding Art Expo, to sustain the hosting of the yearly fiesta. He said apart from collaborating with NGA in organising the expo, AGAN should also collaborate with other relevant agencies to organise programmes that will impact on the artists.

He spoke while briefing art writers on the new date for the expo .

Muku urged other art associations to take the cue from the collaborative venture between AGAN and NGA for the benefit of Nigerians and African artists in particular.

“We are inviting stakeholders, art enthusiasts and collectors to come on board and join hands to lift the Nigerian visual art sub-sector to its place of pride in the league of world cultural ventures,” he noted.

This year’s expo, which has suffered two

By Ozolua Uhakheme Assistant Editor (Arts)

postponements, will hold on December 3, at the National Museum, Onikan Lagos. It is organised by the National Gallery of Art in collaboration with AGAN. Muku recalled that many people were skeptical about the hosting of this year expo, but that now it is a reality.

He explained that this year’s edition is meant to bring out the best of Nigerian artists, noting that with the successful hoisting of previous editions, the organisers cannot afford to perform below expectation.

“The annual event will continue to show case private galleries, within and outside Nigeria, the best of modern artworks, which will be displayed professionally for members of the public, art lovers, collectors and enthusiasts to view, appreciate and buy,” he said.

Muku observed that the expo is, therefore, a big market for visual artists in Africa as it

would create a market for modern African art works, expose entrepreneurs to the international market as well as create a platform for cultural exchange between Africa and the rest of the world.

He assured the public that organisers shall continue to improve the quality and the content of the event, noting that past editions’ brochures have provided written materials that are not only useful for the teaching of art in schools, but also assist stakeholders in the running of the business of art. “This year’s edition of the event is meant to bring out the best of our artists, put together by the collaboration between NGA and AGAN. With the successful packaging of the previous editions, we cannot afford to perform below expectation.

The yearly event will continue to showcase private galleries, within and outside Nigeria; the best of modern artworks, which will be displayed professionally for members of the public, art lovers, collectors and enthusiasts to view, appreciate and buy,” he said.

This year’s ArtExpo in Lagos, is expected to feature two international galleries alongside Nigerian galleries. These are Medjeva Ayeva Art Gallery from Lome, Togo and Midy Art Gallery, Cotonou, from Benin Republic.

POEM

The Elder Watching!

By Olalere Oladitan

Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching . . .

You held mere cutlasses before Now you've got a saw In desperation or deeper slide Felling now mere matter of time?

Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching . . .

Our reticence to ourselves In caution?

Taciturnity?

Or concealment?

Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching . . .

The gaps in our talks Hem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Hm Long pauses in our dialogues Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching . . .

Our absences from ourselves Excuses upon pretexts Other appointments kept To the detriment of ours II Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching . . .

The silences in ourselves On issues that matter most At hours best for sharing In our most sacred privacies Where will this tree fall ?

I am listening too . . .

For wisest words in all tongues Words futile and impotent Words of our impotence Capturing us but not our world Where will this tree fall ?

I am watching, I say You held mere cutlasses before Now you've got a saw In desperation or deeper slide Felling now mere matter of time?

•Ancestral by Moses Unokwa

Will you yet hear my cry ?

Can you yet heed my call ?

Can you yet hold the chain ?

Or helpless should I watch . . .

Time running out Where this tree will fall ?

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A residency like no other For six weeks, the Ebedi International Writers’ Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, hosted two budding writers, Tosin Otitoju and Ladi Opaluwa. EVELYN OSAGIE writes.

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S Ladi Opaluwa, 26, was leaving Iseyin that hot afternoon, the memory of the past six weeks flashed before her. She had so many treasured moments.

“Living together with Tosin Otitoju, a more experienced writer, was like having a six-week workshop on its own. She is the author of Comrade, a collection of poems. Also having to teach creative writing to the kids brought out knowledge that I did not think I had in the first place. I am surprised at how well it is run. Being in Nigeria, I did not expect it would be that good. Everything they promised they delivered. There was Internet, light and water was constant, allowances were prompt. What touched me most was that they have so many people taking care of us who truly care that we were around. The housekeeper took care of the house and us, so we were able to concentrate on our writing. I wrote first thing in the morning and when it is time for lunch, we come to the sitting room, ate and interacted. I loved listening to Tosin talk because of her experience. The entire experience is unforgettable.”

Ladi and Tosin are the immediate past residents of Ebedi International Writers’ Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, founded by former President of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Wale Okediran. The residency, which began last year, offers two writers at a time the opportunity to work and complete their manuscripts. Ladi and her colleague, lucky pick among the long list of applicants, were chosen immediately after Spencer Ejiofor and Anaele Ihuoma set, who passed out in July.

With her background at the Chimamanda Adichie’s writing workshop in 2007 and the 2008 British Council Radiophonic Programmes, Ladi, a Kogi State-born writer, had the right background to churn out a creative work. But time and space were her greatest challenges. For two years, she struggled to write her novel all to no avail; until Ebedi came calling.

“Before coming here, I was thinking about going somewhere to finish my manuscript. I conceived it two years ago, but have not been working on it consistently because I did not have the time and space to write. I teach English Language and Literature in a Secondary School in Kogi State and live with my parents and often have to do the house chores. And I needed the time and space urgently to complete my manuscript, then. But this six-week period gave me the time and space to work on it straight on. Ebedi was a challenge on me to finish the novel. I had 120 pages with normal font

•Ladi

‘Being in Nigeria, I did not expect it would be that good. Everything they promised they delivered. There was internet, light and water is constant, allowances were prompt. What touched me most was that they have so many people taking care of us’ size which took two years to put together before coming to the residency. I now have over 270 pages. I was able to write additional 150 pages within the period I was here. And now that I am leaving, I only have a few pages to go,” she said.

Like Ladi, Tosin’s experience was no less interesting. “I had a great time, writing. Before Ebedi I had a lot of work in progress – a collection of short stories and novel. I got a lot done staying here and that was really great for me. I have written poetry so I decided to try short, short stories. The manuscript is not yet finished, but I am very happy with it.

I like all these Arab things so I finally wrote a story. I am writing a lot of girl and women stories; a bit subtle and I finally wrote one inspired by some people I met while travelling. I think it’s going to spill over into a second story.

Also, being in Iseyin helped me understand some of the settings for ‘Zuzu the Nurse’ that I had already written and what I would write. Our interaction with the students was a nice component of the residency. Truly I am impressed; this is the kind of thing people should hear about.”

Although both writers spent a large part of the period writing, there was also room for brainstorming. Ladi said: “Writing was an everyday thing. I wake up with writing at 6am. And most times, the day ends with reading and sometimes writing. In the first two weeks, I did not do much writing because the whole thing was too good to be true, but I did a lot of brainstorming and idea sharing with my

Heartbeat mounts Coral Reef’s stage

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IRTEL Nigeria an indigenous theatre outfit, the Garden Theatre Company will stage a musical play entitled Heartbeat in Lagos on Friday.

The play, billed for Coral Reef Hall in Ikoyi, Lagos tells the story of a young girl from Nigeria, as she strives to achieve her dreams, while dealing with the loss of her mother and other problems.

According to the Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director of Airtel Nigeria, Deepak Srivastava, the firm decided to collaborate with the Garden Theatre because of its commitment to create excitement for Nigerians and connect with its customers through unique platforms that will offer entertainment and enlightenment.

“Airtel Nigeria is proud to be part of the Heartbeat musical play. The platform provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the Nigerian culture, music, and arts. We are more than ready to support initiatives that showcase the rich culture and the promising future of the Nigerian arts scene. We intend to use the occasion to create fun and excitement for our customers,” said Srivastava.

Heartbeat, written by Tosin Otudeko, was first presented in December 2005, to a select audience, whose feedback contributed to the further development of the script and music.

In 2008, the musical drama was short-listed as part of the Development Network of Perfect Pitch Musicals, a Londonbased organisation that helps to develop and display new musical theatre work.

A pre-run viewing took place in December 2009, where Heartbeat was critically acclaimed in the Nigerian press as a “must-see piece of drama”, a play that challenges society.

•Tosin

Analysts describe Heartbeat as a story with dramatic power, and musical accomplishment.

Essentially, Heartbeat is about making the choice to survive even when circumstances seek to suggest otherwise. It is about making a stand for those things that will heal, build, and last forever. The storyline of Heartbeat has been compared to classic musicals such as “Annie” and “Les Miserables”.

With the quality of the script and the exceptional dialogue, it is not surprising that the performance has received positive reviews by experts of the industry.

‘Airtel Nigeria is proud to be part of the Heartbeat musical play. The platform provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the Nigerian culture, music, and arts. We are more than ready to support initiatives that showcase Nigeria’s rich arts culture’

flatmate which later paid off.”

The residents urged the organisers to add one more writer to the set of two residents. “They have three sessions in a year with two residents each, I would prefer if it were three residents in a year and two sessions yearly – The reason being that it would create room for better interaction,” she said.

On her part, Tosin said: “The residency is a thing of pride for us and it’s a thing that will develop us as writers in different ways. However, I feel there should be more than two residents at a time. I feel that with more than two people there can be richer interaction between both the writers and the community.”

Interestingly, just as the writers have benefited from the programme, the community, particularly the students, have also benefited. Salvation Otubu is one student that benefited immensely from his interactions with the different sets of residents. According to him, it has affected his confidence as a writer. He said: “I got more experience on how to write short stories and on dramatic arts. And it helped boost my confidence. The residency programme has impacted a lot on me. Writing and the drama aspects are my most memorable moments with the last residents. I now have some short stories: Mysterious Little Creatures of two full-scap sheets size, and Prides goes before a fall and Mr Lukuluku, both a fullscap sheet each.”

VON shines at contests

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OICE of Nigeria (VON) duo of Chinyere Ndukwe and Ugonma Cokey have etched Nigeria's name in the globe broadcasting hall of fame. They shone brightly in different international radio competitions for their rich broadcast productions on critical development issues on child marriage and environmental sustainability.

Chinyere was in London recently to receive the prestigious award for her production on Child Marriage as she emerged one of the three finalists of the best creative feature radio category at the just-concluded Association of International Broadcasting (AIB) media award gala, which took place on November 9 in London. The presentation of AIB award was in 19 categories.

Ugonma Cokey, who just completed a six-month fellowship at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) Secretariat in Bonn, emerged one of the nine finalists announced by the UNFCCC Secretariat for the first UNFCC / Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) African Radio Contest.

The contest was for African radio story that answers the question on: "How can my community/city/country benefit from the CDM?" It is aimed at raising awareness on climate change issues and the CDM. The nine finalist selected from entries received will have the opportunity to take part in a two-week programme during the seventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UNFCCC, billed for November 28 to December 9, in Durban, South Africa.

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From barracks to the palace

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O be appointed the governor of a state at the very young age of 24 smacks of history.

Alfred Diete-Spiff made this history when, on May 27, 1967, he was appointed by the then Nigerian Head of State, Col. Yakubu Gowon, as the first Military Governor, of the newly created Rivers State. In the book, The Twelve-Day Revolution which essentially lionised the drive of Isaac Adaka Boro, author Tony Tebekaemi describes Diete-Spiff as “a man with a lion heart.”

This 332-page book, Alfred DieteSpiff: The Vision and Realism of a Statesman, is the authorised biography of Diete-Spiff and comes along with his January 1, 2009 letter of acceptance, complete with his signature. The book was inagurated by the Niger Delta Forum Study Group (NDFSG), a body that had earlier done work on the life and times of the late patriarch of minority struggle, HRH Harold Dappa-Biriye.

All of the six authors were involved in three strenuous years of doing the needed research and writing up the vast histories of Diete-Spiff. Each of the authors took charge of individual chapters, thusly: “Chapter One: Historical Background and Development on His Political Thought” by Ambily Etekpe (Ph.D); “Chapter Two: Military Trainings and Preparations for Leadership” by Don O Chinaka (MBA); “Chapter Three: Alfred Diete-Spiff and Governance” by Young M. Ayotamuno (LL.B, BL, MSc); “Chapter Four: PostGovernment House Activities” by Ugwulor Eugene Nwala (M.Ed); “Chapter Five: Political Views and National Roles” by Sam B Kalagbor (MSc, LLB); and “Chapter Six: His Vision for Rivers and Bayelsa States, Niger Delta, Nigeria and the World” by Martins C Jumbo (MSc.) As is to be expected of such a book, there is some overlapping of narration.

BOOK REVIEW Title:

Alfred Diete-Spiff: The Vision and Real ism of a Statesman

Authors:

Ambily Etekpe, Eugene Ugwulor Nwala, Young M Ayotamuno, Martins C Jumbo, Don O Chinaka, Sam B Kalagbor

Reviewer: Publisher: Pagination: Year:

Uzor Maxim Uzoatu Onyoma Research 332 2009

The core story, though begins with the birth of Alfred Diete-Spiff on Friday, July 30, 1942, at Nembe. His weight at birth was 12 pounds. His father and mother were initially primary school teachers before becoming employed as civil servants. His father was a distinguished postmaster before taking up the traditional chieftaincy stool of Amangi. Due to the transfers of his father as postmaster to several parts of the then Eastern Nigeria and the Cameroons, Alfred started his primary school education in 1947 at Government School, Buea in Cameroun. The young lad needed to put his hand across his head to touch his ear to be properly registered for the infant class in 1948.

He was later admitted to St. Joseph Secondary School, Sasse, also in Cameroun, about six miles from Buea. He had early Catholic education in which Catholic Catechism was recited in Pidgin English thus: Who make you?

Answer: God make me.

Who make God? Answer: God make God. It is remarkable that Tom Ikimi was a childhood pal of Alfred. After schooling in Cameroun, he took a job with the Meteorological Department of the then Ministry of Transport, Lagos. He would later change to the Nigerian Navy. He started out with the Merchant Navy in 1961, and performed brilliantly such that the Nigerian Navy requested for his transfer in 1962. Trained in Britain, he was given command of his first ship soon after his return to Nigeria in 1965.

The political upheavals in Nigeria led to the 1966 coup and counter-coup, and the appointment of 24-year-old Alfred Diete-Spiff as the Military Governor of Rivers State on May 27, 1967.

Those were heady days of war, and

Rivers State happened to be in the very heart of rebel Biafra.

He was, like Gowon, unmarried at the time he was appointed governor.

While serving as the Military Governor, he got married to Ethel and Victoria at different times. After leaving Government House he married Evangelist (Dr) Josephine Diete-Spiff, a lawyer.

According to the authors of Alfred Diete-Spiff: The Vision and Realism of a Statesman, Diete-Spiff “planned and executed many development programmes and projects in the old Rivers State that no other Government after 33 years has been able to match or surpass.”

Controversial issues on Diete-Spiff, such as the vexed Abandoned Property question and the maltreatment of journalist Minere Amakiri are given slight attention here. It suffices to stress that after the Murtala Muhammed coup that toppled Gowon on July 29, 1975, Diete-Spiff “was stripped of his rank, he worked so hard to earn” and “was detailed to forfeit a total of 18 properties located in the Government Reserved Area, Trans-Amadi, Borikiri layout, Recreation Layout and Ogbunabali, all in Port Harcourt.” All his protestations that he had committed no offence fell on deaf ears as he perforce retired into penury.

He reigns today as His majesty, Alfred Diete-Spiff, Amanyanabo of Two Brass in Bayelsa State, a throne he ascended in 1996.

The members of the Niger Delta Forum Study Group deserve ample commendation for initiating projects such as this authorised biography of one of the founding fathers of Rivers State.

The book, however, suffers from some editing errors, such as spelling “formidable” as “formidabble” (pg. xi).

Even so, this well-annotated book remains a treasure for Bayelsa and Rivers states people and Nigerians in general.

Ogun eyes NAFEST 2012 Ogun Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Chief Olu Odeyemi in a chat with OZOLUA UHAKHEME, Assistant Editor (Arts) speaks on the state’s readiness to host next year’s National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

‘ I have no doubt in my mind that finance cannot be our problem.

So far, I am very much impressed with what I have seen and the organisers are well-articulated. The festival has been very fine and peaceful. I would say Calabar town itself is law abiding, and it has remained very peaceful and hospitable’ •Odeyemi

A

RE you satisfied with the results at the competitive events of the festival?

“I am not disappointed in any way. In fact, I am very happy at the overall performances of my state at the festival. The artistes are real ambassadors of Ogun State and they have made me proud. Given any chance, they will perform better and make the best of what they have. One of the events I witnessed was the wrestling. I was thrilled with their performance at the semi-finals.

At the competition, Ogun State representative was able to outrun his opponent and won the ticket for the semi-

finals. But by virtue of his experience, Ogun representatives made it to the finals and he won. God helping me and my ministry the boy would go places.

Is this spurring you to bid for the hosting of next year’s festival?

We intend to hold the coming one next year and put in a very keen contest. One of the officials at the national level gave us privileged information to this effect.

However, Ogun State, I am sure, is ready to host NAFEST come next year.

Do you think Ogun has enough facilities on ground for the festival?

Let me draw your attention to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is not a mere department but a fully fledged

ministry. I can assure you we have all it takes and God helping us we would host even better. And I am going to put in all my efforts. Already, we have many hands to partner with in the state because Ogun State is so endowed and it is next to Lagos State. I am sure all states would come over to see wonders in the wonderland of Ogun State. All hands are on deck and we are calling on well meaning Ogun sons and daughters to come and build up the broken walls of Ogun State finance wise and they are already yielding.

Funding has always been the headache of most host states. Are you considering this factor?

I have no doubt in my mind that finance cannot be our problem. So far, I am very much impressed with what I have seen and the organisers are well-articulated. The festival has been very fine and peaceful. I would say Calabar town itself is law abiding, and it has remained very peaceful and hospitable. I wish other states can imbibe what has happened here. I give kudos to the government of Cross River State for a job well done.

What expectations for 2012?

We have come and seen, but we have not conquered. We are going to make up for the lapses and we have certain things we have learnt, which we must put into practice come next year in Ogun State.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Drawing lines around African art

‘P

EOPLE say my work looks like Picasso,” Francis Nnaggenda explains. “It is Picasso’s work that looks like mine. It is Picasso who borrowed from African art.”

It was late in 1974, and they were already looking for him when his visa approval notice arrived, just as they were trying to close in on him. No Nigerian military ruler, not even Sanni Abacha, haunted any artist because of his or her “style” of choice. When the great Kampala artist Francis Nnaggenda fled Uganda in 1975, he packed only a small suitcase containing a couple of shirts and his art materials. He had made an arrangement with a college in Indiana, and was invited for a sabbatical teaching lasting one semester. In fact it was the only way to get him a visa out of Uganda before he got gunned down. The Denver Art Museum prominently displays his statement about the relationship between his work and the styles of the greatest artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso.

The statement, in the African art gallery, is next to a life-size metal sculpture by the Ugandan sculptor. He produced the work in the seventies, while living in exile in the United States. The story leading to Nnaggenda’s exile is long, and it began with a totally unconnected event: Idi Amin Dada’s lawless reign in Uganda as President from 1971 to 1979.

Nnaggenda’s career peaked exactly when Idi Amin became the henchman of Uganda.

Amin did not like any art that was not his portraiture. A large man with an incongruous head screwed to his shoulders, Amin’s facial features were pugnacious, coarse, and not photogenic. But this obvious physical inadequacy served as no deterrent to him.

He commissioned artists to reproduce and distribute his portraits as sculptures, photographs, paintings, and drawings in copious abandon around his nation. Amin’s face confirmed the long-held suspicion that if you stare long at anything, you might get used to it. Thanks to his portrait artists, Ugandans stared long enough at his face that they got used to it. Carefully painted pictures that resembled photographs of his face easily pleased him. Artists who reproduce his busts also impressed him a lot. He thought they were very talented and rewarded them highly.

But abstract art stressed him out and artists who made abstract art distressed him.

The meaning of an abstract work was not clear and was open to other people’s opinions. This sort of laxity might generate interpretations different from his. He was therefore suspicious of abstract art because there was a democratic aspect to it that offended him. He also detested the element of intellectual arrogance in abstract art. The artist playing God irked him. He preferred his artists fettered and flogged.

His hostility toward abstract also art comes from his abhorrence of Western influences and cultural adoptions. He wanted to go back to the Africa of Shaka the Zulu, when everything was “pure and unadulterated” by Western cultural corruptions. He held Western culture responsible for infesting African art with abstract images and the idea of abstract art and other non-specific cultural pollutions and dumpings. But more than anything else, he wanted nothing to do with any art that required him to think so deeply. He wanted art to make sense: his portraits made sense to him, but abstract art made no sense as far as he was concerned. And many of those professors at the Makerere University, especially Nnaggenda, took pride in producing abstract art.

Nnaggenda received rumors in early 1974 that Amin’s boys believed that he was one of the radical professors corrupting the impressionable youths with foreign ideas.

Worse still, he was of the wrong ethnic group. Who more dangerous than an abstract artist of a different ethnic group? He knew that if he did not disappear from the country and hid himself in a safe place far away from Uganda, he would be kidnapped and possibly assassinated like a number of Makerere professors who had been accused of not supporting Amin’s regime. Nnaggenda quickly used his connections in the art world to es-

By Moyo Okediji

cape to the United States, where he went on voluntary exile for several years.

As Nnaggenda mused in exile in the United States, what seemed to bother him most often was the erroneous idea that abstract art was a foreign concept in African art. He constantly faced the same idea in exile, where people thought his work was derivative of Picasso. After several years of listening to opinions that his abstract art was not African enough, he traced the Western notion of abstraction back to Picasso, who sampled it from African sculpture. Although his statement directly references Pablo Picasso, it is not intended to address Picasso’ work specifically. The intention is to enable museum visitors to view the African art objects displayed in the Denver Art Museum gallery within the intercontinental framework of art production.

It is within this trans-Atlantic system that African culture grows, although each area has its contributions and traditions in styles.

Figurative and abstract works in contemporary African art have, therefore, confounded several critics, art historians, collectors, and curators, who often do not know how to approach or critique this body of works. Even the best-intentioned writers have struggled when confronted with contemporary African art, just as they struggled when they first encountered indigenous African art, before the advent of the modern and contemporary styles.

Carine Vanderstraeten, a European artist whose adopted African name is Torroo, demonstrates that the boundaries of art in Africa and Europe no longer exist. What remains are cultural crossroads and intersections that allow for ideas and images to move in and out without strict geographical labels. She states that “Visiting Africa, especially Nigeria seriously changed my life even when back in 2009, my first time - friends over here where calling me crazy cause of the bad reputation of Nigeria and because I didn’t know my contacts personally, but only by facebook or phone. But as I only listen to my heart, I just took the plane straight to Lagos, now I call Lagos ’the heartbeat of Black Africa’. I had the time of my life and went back in 2010. I could tell you many stories, adventures...Let’s say I have a very strong connection to Nigeria, the culture, especially the music. I truly found my roots in Nigeria.

As Torroo, her work samples and highlights forms associated with African art. From African music, she borrows the tension of freeflow rhythm within a geometrical structure, which she uses to organise her visual compositions. “It does not matter what materials we use. Maybe we use what’s available but at the end we create with our heart and soul.

For me I’m white: but I did the last cd cover of the popular Yoruba musician Beautiful Nubia. He selected my design for the album “Sun No Dey Sleep;’” When people who do not know me lsee the album, they all think I’m an African. Don’t you think this is interesting?”

There is really no basis for refusing to recognise the effects of easy communication tech-

‘He wanted art to make sense: his portraits made sense to him, but abstract art made no sense as far as he was concerned.

And many of those professors at the Makerere University, especially Nnaggenda, took pride in producing abstract art’

•Carine born with music

• Nnaggenda spirit masquerade

nologies that have liquefied the world, and made it easier to connect with foreign lands.

“Most of my creations were influenced by either African music or the ‘serenity’ of nature. I feel a strong sense of belonging and bonding with Africa; and listening to African music is for me a homecoming of some sort, a journey back to my roots. After carefully choosing a musician that I’d like to listen to, I would immerse myself in the sounds, and get absorbed in the numerous

instruments and all the emotions that come with the music. In this state of mind, I create every work, which I complete with a ‘dotpainting’ technique, otherwise called pointillism. In my painting process, I sing along with the music or simply hum the rhythms of Africa, falling into a trance, landing in Africa.”

• Okediji is of the University of Texas in Austin, USA

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

LIFELINE

Remembering an uncommon mentor

ANA announces shortlist

He was a celebrated achiever and mentor to many. The late Adewale Adesanya is today being remembered by his legacies. His passion for mentoring led him to write a book: Navigating through the ladder of success, which he completed before he died. The posthumous book launch turned out to be a sober reflection for his family, friends and colleagues. EVELYN OSAGIE reports.

H

E was a rare breed. He was sold out to his passion of mentoring the young. In essence, the late Adewale Adesanya left a piece of himself on everyone he met.

He led a life worthy of emulation. These and more came to light at the posthumous launch of his book, Navigating through the ladder of success: A guide to career fulfilment last Wednesday in Lagos. It was a day of reflection for guests.

The event began on an emotional note with a dirge by the ace Yoruba poetry (Ewi) chanter, Chief Sulaiman Ayilara Aremu popularly called Ajobiewe. Guests sat silently in a reflective mood as Ajobiewe recalled the feats of the late philanthropist.

They tried hard to fight back tears. And as he chanted, photo clips of the author from a projector flashed on the wall. This seemed to heighten the mood.

From the beginning till the end, encomiums kept pouring in honour of Adesanya, who was the late National Distribution Controller, Nigerian Breweries before his death. Everyone had something good to say about him. Even though he is dead, he lives in memory of many. Hence, a charity foundation named after him was also launched at the event.

His life, they agreed, holds lessons for all

who are seeking success in their career. And by writing the book, Adesanya had succeeded in documenting for posterity success secrets by which he rose to the top echelon of his profession, it was said.

Written in simple prose, according to Mr Kunle Ajibade, who is the Executive editor of The News and PM News, the book seeks to inspire leaders, professionals, including politicians. He added that it will also serve as a guide through the corporate world.

In searching for happiness and fulfillment in ones career, he noted that according to Adesanya, one need to identify ones God's given talent; be conversant with current affairs; think outside the box; comport oneself when sitting with superiors; measure the quality of service from customer's perspective, among others.

"He painstakingly filtered a lot of books and journals on business and leadership, then used his own experiences as a backrest to give us an inspiring book that we can use to guide our steps as we march through the sometimes treacherous terrain of the corporate world. Organised in 12 chapters, the book shares with its readers top tips that will help them grow their careers to the zenith. The lessons on leadership here would be useful to many of our politicians and smart money makers who always for-

• From left: The late Adesanya’s wife, Adejoke, Mooji and Oko

• Obalade

•Ajibade

get that the true measure of a successful leader and man lies in his selfless service," he said.

Of the author, Ajibade noted that he was very passionate about the development of human capital, believing that the future of humankind, civilisation, depends on it.

He said: "He spent much of his energy, time and money on moulding and growing other human beings for the betterment of their families. He was a true exemplar of everyday great people… He was not a celebrity, not a notable politician holding any big office at the time of his sudden death, but he remains a treasured memory, an Omoluabi original even in his grave… His record should be a challenge to all of us because the values he championed would make our humanity grow and survive."

The widow, Adejoke, said the launch brought back memories. Her husband, she said, wrote the last two chapters the day he died. She recounted: "Wale was a special breed. He was always passionate about impacting on people's lives. That was what inspired his writing the book in 1999. After writing 10 chapters, at a time, he stopped, saying he felt like writing two chapters but it was not yet time. I kept putting pressure on him to finish the book not knowing that as soon as he finished it, he would die. He added two chapters the day he died at his office. I believed Wale did not die because he lives on…" She could not complete her speech as she was overtaken by emotion.

For Dapo, the author's son, it was not time to mourn but to celebrate. I am going to celebrate his life…a life full of achievement.

He taught me life's lessons and showed me how to live life, leading by example. Even in death he is still leading by example. He is still with us, even though he is gone. We never forget him. I am happy that the book is wanted very much to write is out. It was a well-thought book because he gave himself to it and wanted not only to mentor a few but to live something that will inspire many, even after he was gone."

Dr Augustine Oko was one of those Adesanya mentored. "He was a very humble man," the Managing Director, Novogas Ltd, said as he recounted how Adesanya was instrumental to his establishing an oil and gas company.

"He was a worthy leader," the book presenter, the Executive Director of IGI Plc, Mr Yinka Obalade, said.

The Adewale Ademola Adesanya Foundation named after the author was also launched to continue the legacies which he stood for. "Adesanya was truly a great mentor who has touched many lives. And so the Adewale Ademola Adesanya Foundation is geared towards keeping his legacies alive. It will inspire youths; cater for the needy; support community, church and national projects; enter into partnership with government and other organisations which has the development of the society in mind," it was said.

Guests were drawn from all sphere of life.

They included the Logistic Director, NB, Robert Mooij; Mr Ayodele Sangosanya, chairman, Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board, and his wife, Adenike; Regional Operation Director, North, Airtel networks Ltd; Chariman, Micro-finance Bank, Ejigbo, Fatoki Ogunyan; The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)family; Pastor Dapo Awosika, RCCG Grace Assembly; staff of Nigerian Breweries Plc; members of Ejigbo Eagles Club, among others.

The Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) has announced the shortlist for its adult and children prizes as its annual convention begins tomorrow in Abuja.

The winners will be announced at the awards dinner of the convention holding at the Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja.

According to ANA’s General Secretary, Hyacinth Obunseh, the jury for the adult prizes received 137 entries across nine categories, spanning poetry, drama and prose for the ANA awards this year. The following works were shortlisted in alphabetical order (by title of entries) and not necessarily in order of merit.

ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa Prize for Women Writing (N100, 000) Heart Trick by Joan Oji Our Wife forever by Julie Okoh Twilight at Terracotta Indigo by Umari Ayim ANA/Jacaranda Prize for Prose (N50, 000) Sieged by Adamu Kyuta Usman The two Sparrows by Ida Offor ANA/Chevron Prize for Environmental Issues ($2,000) Only one merits being shortlisted which will be announced at the convention ANA/NDDC Ken Saro Wiwa Prize for Prose (N100,000) Roses and Bullets by Akachi Ezeigbo The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Soneyin Twilight at Terracotta Indigo by Umari Ayim ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara Prize for Poetry (N100,000) No award is made. However, three entries that merit honourable mention will be announced at the convention.

ANA/James Ene Henshaw Prize for Playwriting (N150,000) Olubu by Isiaka Aliagan The Scent of Crude Oil by Eni Umuko ANA/NDDC J. P. Clark Prize for Drama (N100,000) A haunting Past by Julie Okoh Casket of Her Dreams by Isaac Attah Ogezi Ogidi Mandate by Olu Obafemi ANA/Cadbury Prize for Poetry ($2, 000) Ode on Lagos and other Portraits by Jeff Unaegbu The Beauty I have Seen by Tanure Ojaide The Passions of Cupid by Abubakar Othman ANA Esiaba Irobi Prize for Playwriting (N50,000) Only one merits being shortlisted which will be announced at the Convention The Childrens Category ANA/Atiku Abubakar Prize for Children's Literature Fatima Akilu, Preye and the Sea of Plastic Chinyere Obi-Obasi, The Great Fall Lola Shoneyin, Mayowa and the Masquerades ANA/Funtime Prize for Children's Literature (prose) Nnenna Ihebom, The Lunar Princess Spencer Okoroafor, Jide Meets a Ghost K. C. Selman, Akin's Assignment ANA/Lantern books Prize for Children's Fiction Chinyere Obi-Obasi, Chijike Nze U. Nze, Tension in Animal Kingdom Ayo Kolapo, The Blind's Daughter ANA/Mazariyaja Prize No shortlist because of insufficient entries

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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The Midweek Magazine E-mail:- ozoluauhakheme@yahoo.com

Bamako at Night

Ayotunde Sewanu Bababunmi is the Assistant General Manager of Silverbird Distribution. He spoke on the organisation’s distribution network, the relationship with Nollywood producers and criteria for discontinuing screening a movie at Silverbird Cinemas, among others.

‘Why we stopped showing Yoruba movies in Port Harcourt’ H OW does film distribution chain work?

The first step is for the film producer to approach us with a preview copy of the movie he wants to release in the cinemas. Secondly, my team and I will preview the movie and if we agre, it is up to cinema standard, we send a letter of interest to the producer, or if it’s not good, we also explain the reasons we can’t accept such a movie. A date is then fixed for the release and the movie is offered to the various film exhibitors in the country. Depending on the exhibitors who indicate interest in showing the film, we draw up a deal memo, which is signed by both producer and distributor.

At present, we have nine cinemas operating in the country. We also request that the producers begin a publicity campaign at least three months prior to the release of the movie. The film distributor offers two weeks publicity before and after the movie is playing in all cinemas nationwide.

How is your organistion’s relationship with Nollywood producers?

Silverbird film distribution has a good relationship with Nollywood. We are proud to be a platform that can bring Nollywood movies to the cinemas. At present, we re-

lease to the cinemas at least two Nollywood movies every month. The constraints we face regularly are from producers who get offended when their movies are rejected, probably because they don’t understand the distribution process. Mainly, what we look out for in a movie is quality and good storyline, a movie that lacks either of these or both (from experience) cannot do well in the cinema. So, we advise such a film producer to take the film straight to the DVD market.

What are the criteria for discontinuing the screening of a movie at your cinemas?

The discretion to terminate a movie is from the cinema manager. An exhibitor will stop showing a movie if such a movie, based on box office analysis, is not making profits any longer. These exhibitors also have their cost of sale that must be optimised. There are definitely good Nollywood movies, such as Tango with me that have run in the cinemas for over 12 weeks.

It has been alleged that Silverbird refused to show Yoruba movies at your Port Harcourt cinemas. What is your response?

A basic reason for not showing Yoruba movies in Port Harcourt is because the state is not pre-dominantly Yoruba-speaking and based on past sales records Yoruba movies have not done well in Port Harcourt.

But how does Silverbird Group support Nollywood movies?

Silverbird has constantly used its platform of television and radio to support all upcoming movies. We even used the print media in our publicity support of Nollywood. I can assure you that only Silverbird offers these kind of support to Nigerian film producers, considering our existing structure.

It has also been alleged that Silverbird imposes movie premieres on Nollywood producers and, consequently, charges exorbitant rates for halls rental. What is your response?

Movie premieres are organised solely by film producers at their discretion. It is not a criteria for us as distributors whether a producer premieres or does not premiere a movie. The trend now is for film producers

•Bababunmi

to organise film premieres and this is done using cinema rates charged for movie premieres.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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NGOs build community school GOOD thing has come the way of Bolorunduro residents in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have teamed up to provide a building for the Junior Secondary School in the community. The building is worth over N6million.

The construction of the new school named “Christ College” began in 2008 with support from NGOs under the aegis of Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) and Kids and Teens in partnership with an International Action Aids Organisation.

The rural community which is located on the outskirts of Akure, the state capital, could only provide space and facilities for a primary school. Anyone who needed to proceed to secondary school had to go elsewhere.

Saint Luke’s Primary School which was the first primary school in the community was established in 1948 but since 1983 the community’s leaders had been urging government to provide them with a secondary school for pupils who graduated

A

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

from primary school.

This was just because the nearest secondary school to the community is located at Ogbese also in Akure North local council which is about 20 kilometers. The students had to cross the highway to get to the school.

The situation left the pupils in considerable danger. Most of the them, especially the female ones, were constantly harassed while some became targets of kidnappers, according the pioneer Senior Prefect of the school, Master Ossai Cornelius.

This shattered the fortunes of many children who had love for education as their parents preferred to nurse them in the community without having access to education.

The NGOs have appealed to the state government to approve the secondary school so that other social amenities would be provided. They also urged the government to give automatic employment to teachers that had been teaching the students. The teachers which they said are

•From left: The JDPC Director, Rev. Fr. Patrick Adebayo, Representative of Ondo Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr. Samsom Adesulu and the Head of Programmes, Action Aids, Mrs. Ifeoma Charles graduates were only working without receiving salaries.

Cornelius who commended the NGOs for their support toward the development of the community described the gesture as a tool to tackle poverty in the rural community.

His words: “The NGOs have been encouraging quality education in our community. In the first instance, they distributed 60 dozens of exercise books for us in or-

der to bring relief to our parents.

“We want the state government to support the NGOs in developing of our community because we are just like “Oliver Twist”; more is still expected to be done, like construction of good roads, provision of potable water, fencing of the schools, provision of computers.

The chairman of the community School Base Management

Committee (SBMC), Hon. S.A Oluwatuyi lauded the project.

Oluwatuyi described the NGOs as “God sent”, saying the combined team of Action Aids, JDPC and Kids and Teens would gather the children and ask them to write and paint. They took their photographs and at the end distributed exercise books, slippers •Continued on Page 37

T

WO sets of young female undergraduates have completed a year-long training on basic leadership and entrepreneurship organised by Afara Leadership Centre, a project of Women’s Board – Educational Cooperation Society, a not-forprofit, non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The second leadership conference and graduation ceremony of the Leadership Development Programme (LDP) was recently held at the University of Lagos during which the role of women in leadership of the country was reiterated.

The guest of honour at the occasion, Mrs Adesuwa Onyenokwe, broadcaster and magazine publisher congratulated the graduating students and noted that the nation is in dear need of female leaders who have a true passion for the country She spoke of the importance of the home front and the need to adequately balance it with the demands of a career adding that young ladies should be upright in their conduct.

Advising women to be cautious before making choices, Adesuwa said “for a woman to succeed, it depends on the type of choice of man you make. It may make or mar you.”

Mrs. Ifeoma Mafeni, Human Relations Manager of Guinness Nigeria Plc., who was the guest speaker, observed that the challenges faced by women in leadership positions in the corporate world include “low self-confidence, corporate climates and practices which are not very considerate of the added responsibilities of mothers and gender stereotypes.

She encouraged young women to tap into the natural capacities women have rather than attempting to mirror their male counterparts.

While acknowledging that women are natural leaders because of their role of building homes Mafeni urged them to be confident in whatever assignment they are given.

In her welcome statement, Ms. Dolapo Afolami explained that Afara set up the Leadership Development Programme, LDP, in

•The graduating students

Centre graduates young women leaders

By Tosin Adesile

response to the dearth of efficient female leadership in the Nigerian society. LDP utilises a combination of practical classroom teaching, group work, team projects, on the field and corporate experience to energise the participants to be change agents; instill professionalism at work and provide entrepreneurial skills.

Social responsibility translating into selfless service to community is fostered through entrepreneurship training and mentoring of low-income urban women and other volunteer work experience.

Sandra Onwuekwe, a 4th year medical student of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos said the programme brought about a change in her attitude.

“I have come to see that leadership is not about occupying positions or bossing others around.

It’s about creating a circle of positive influence, starting off with myself and being the change I would like to see.”

Participants In the leadership programme designed and implemented community development projects in groups. The Public Relations Officer of the Lagos Cheshire Home thanked the young leaders for their supporting the or-

phanage with fundraising and awareness programme and provision of books, games and sewing machine The Secretary of the Red Cross Society Orphanage, Makoko expressed her gratitude for the initiative of a group of the participants who set up a library of 300 books for the Orphanage as well as spent time coaching the children who live in the home.

“Do not be satisfied with the status quo, you are equipped with all it takes to excel and to contribute your bit to turning this nation around on the path that leads to greatness. Be the Leader! Do yourself proud and do us proud! Keep

the flag flying high and let that cry – Leader, lead thyself – ever ring in your ears!” With these words, the director of the Afara Leadership Centre encouraged the young leaders graduating from the LDP to embark on the adventure of doing their bit to make this great people – Nigeria – into a great nation.

Over a hundred young undergraduates who have participated in the programme in the last four years have trained about 130 women in the basics of entrepreneurship, reached out to about 500 people in the different community development projects they have participated in.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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Pupils urged to prepare for leadership

A

BOUT 97 students from 12 secondary schools in Sagamu, Ogun State have marked the second edition of the Secondary Transition Programme.

The event was organised by National Heroes Initiative and ImpactHouse International at the Molaroid Events and Conference Centre, Sagamu.

The programme tagged Career Path Management and the Benefits of Volunteering featured Entrepreneurship, Leadership Development, Career Path Management, Life Management Skills, Introduction to Social Media and Volunteerism.

Speaking at the event, a director at ImpactHouse International, Ayodele Taofiq-Fanida, challenged the students to develop their leadership capacity to be relevant in the scheme of things in Nigeria.

He said that more leaders are needed in various sectors of the Nigerian economic, hence it is imperative that young people developed their leadership capacity.

In his lecture, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, SYSPERA, Ubong Udoh, who spoke on Entrepreneurship and the opportunities in the use of So-

•The pupils

By Adeola Ogunlade

cial Media identified the various uses of social media and encouraged the students to take advantage of many opportunities social

media has to offer.

In his welcome address, Ike Nwibe, the founder and team leader of National Heroes Initiative, said that the aim of the programme was to provide young

people who are in their later school years with an opportunity to clarify their direction in life, identify potentials, build required skills to manage the transition period, and be prepared for the next

stage of their lives.

The question and answer session was helpful as a number of concerns raised were clarified, with the support of 11 teachers and eight volunteers in attendance.

Church condemns violence against women

T

•The new Christ College building donated by the NGOs

NGOs build community school •Continued from Page 36 and other gifts to them.

“This project was the community’s agitation because when the NGOs came to us, they asked us to vote on the projects they could do for us and a secondary school building got the highest vote.

The chairman appealed to the state to quickly approve the school in order to bring relief to the residents.

In her speech, the Head of Programmes, Action Aids, Mrs. Ifeoma Charles described education as a major strategy to eradicate poverty in the society.

She noted that the NGOs are majorly concerned with transforming rural communities, most especially on the need to encour-

age female children to have access to standard education.

Mrs. Charles urged the state government to support the NGOs’ programmes rather than seeing them as rivals.

Also speaking, the Director of JDPC, Rev. Fr. Patrick Adebayo

said Bolorunduro is among the four rural communities benefiting from NGOs’ projects.

He noted that the projects are used in order to advocate for government intervention in some rural communities.

Adebayo, while commending

We don’t force project on them, they are expected to choose what they want for the NGO’s. Nigeria is part of some Africa countries benefiting from NGOs programmes

the community for their support, noted that there was something the residents could do like fetching water during the construction processing.

He said: “We don’t force projects on them; they are expected to choose what they want for the NGOs. Nigeria is part of some African countries benefiting from NGOs programmes”.

The state Commissioner for Education, Mr. Remi Olatubora who commended the NGOs described the programme as Private Public Partnership (PPP).

He promised that the state government would soon take over the school in order to allow the school to benefit from the present ruling Labour Party (LP’s) educational programmes.

HE Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Kaduna Province II has condemned the frequent cases of violence against women in the country.

The Church described as sad, the spate of gender violence in the society.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Sunday, the pastor incharge of the Province, Pastor Timothy Olaniyan, said the incidents were becoming too rampant and damaging on the country’s image.

Olaniyan warned that any form of violence against women were unscriptural as perpetrators of such acts were referred to as “weaker vessels” by the Bible.

Cue- in audio 1 “Women actually are to be taken care of, as men were supposed to be cover over the women and as a result, if in any way we see any sort of violence against women, that will be unscriptural. “ Cue-out audio 1 He said women had played important roles in nation building from the beginning of creation till date.

Cue-in audio 2 “Women have important roles to play both in the economy and development of any nation, so there should be no violence against them.”

Cue-out audio 2 He attributed the frequency of violence against women to insincerity and lack of openness in marriage institutions, family background, pride, soul ties, jealousy, deities and sexual abstinence.

The priest urged women to learn how to forgive despite any form of assault against them, adding that “without forgiveness there would not be unity in the family’’.

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

In view of the importance of this project to the people of Damaturu and its environs, the state government after several meetings at Abuja and Damaturu, has succeeded in taking over it over from the federal government to facilitate its speedy completion

Yobe tackles water shortage

Y

OBE STATE government has taken over a major water project in the state in order to end the perennial short shortage of the all-important liquid in the state, especially its capital, Damaturu.

Over the years, the provision of potable water in the state has been a tough challenge. Water vendors popularly called ‘Mai Ruwas’ by the locals have taken over the business of water supply and distribution in the state, just as the existing government water facilities have not coped with the growing water needs of the residents.

The EU intervention in Water Supply Sector and Sanitation Reform Program (WSSSRP) through the Millennium Development Goals in the last five years worked assiduously in Yobe to improve the quality and quantity of water provision in the state and help strengthen reforms and other hygiene practices especially in the rural communities where such practices were at the lowest ebb.

These reforms and campaigns did not deter the Private Borehole Owners (PBOs) who have been on the increase alongside the water vendors especially in the state capital and other major towns in the state such as Potiskum, Gashua, Nguru, Gaidam, Bursari, among others.

Water and hygiene experts argue

•Alhaji Karasuwa

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HE leadership of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) has decried the ongoing spate of violence in the country, saying it is the indication that the nation is bereft of visionary leaders who could take the masses out of difficulties.

In his farewell speech given in Jos to the COCIN General Church Council (GCC), the outgoing President of the Church, Rev. Pandang Yamsat said Nigeria is a country with great

From Duku Joel, Damaturu

that most of the boreholes sunk by private operators are way below standard, thus casting a huge question mark on the quality of water being consumed by the teeming poor.

An official of the Yobe State Water Board, who prefers anonymity, informed that “most of the borehole sunk by private individual are not far from the tube-wells that you see around because of their shallowness and the low quality of water obtained from them”.

As part of the state government commitment to deal with the water supply problem at least for the state capital and its environs, the federal government in September 2005 awarded a N3.6 billion contract for Katarko Dam/Damaturu Regional Water Project for sustainable water supply. The project was in the ratio of 50 per cent for the federal government, 40 per cent for the state government, and 10 per cent from benefiting communities of nearby local government areas. A gigantic project, it consists of the Well Fields; A, B & C with 30 boreholes, 10 for each and an overhead tank 6 million liters storage capacity.

Alhaji Yakubu Sidi Karasuwa, the Commissioner for Water Resources in the state disclosed at the occasion of the signing of an addendum agreement for the resumption of construction work that 65 per cent of the request of the people of the state during the electioneering campaign has been on water. He stressed that the determination of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam to boost water supply in the state was the reason the state government fought hard to take over the Damaturu regional water project from the federal government to ensure its timely completion so as to tackle head-on the problem of water scarcity in the state capital and its environs.

“In view of the importance of this project to the people of Damaturu and its environs, the state government after several meetings at Abuja and Damaturu, has succeeded in taking over it over from the federal government to facilitate its speedy completion and solve the problem of potable drinking water in the me-

•The reservoir to be completed at the water corporation tropolis,” he said.

Karasuwa said the project was stopped in October 2007 after about 35% of work was done due to lack of counterpart funding by the previous state government. He stressed that the takeover of the project by Gaidam administration was informed by its determination to end the water challenge.

“His Excellency Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam decided to complete Well Field ‘A’ which has 10 productive boreholes located near MalumMatari village and the service area located in the premises of the Water Corporation in the heart of the town.

This would enable the people of Damaturu to get water supply under this project as soon as possible, while the other 2 Well fields B & C will also be completed in phases in years to come.

Other water projects, Karasuwa said, are being carried out in the state by the African Development Fund (ADF) under the Federal Government intervention in rural water

supply through the MDGs office at the $55 million.

So far 300 hand-dug wells are already being constructed in 10 local government areas of the state at the cost of N400 million under the programme.

He said bidders have also been invited for the drilling and rehabilitation of 506 boreholes and that “over N3 billion will be invested under the contracts for 330 rural communities in 10 local government areas, while the remaining seven local government areas of Gulani, Tarmuwa, Karasuwa, Bursari, Nguru and Bade would benefit after this.

Giving his commitment to the renewed contract, the Project Manager of the firm, Unipumps Nig. Ltd. Mr S. Ravichandran told newsmen that the project would be ready within the stipulated period of 12 months.

He claimed that the firm was handling similar projects in many states of the federation.

As Damaturu residents await the completion of this laudable project

which has direct impact on the people, many are of the opinion that the state Water Corporation should be overhauled and brought to par with international best practices.

An engineer in the ministry told our correspondent on condition of anonymity that “It would make no impact if the old reticulation system of the town would have to remain.

Government must be bold to completely check the entire system because most of the pipelines at the moment have either been diverted illegally to people’s houses or that some people deliberately damage them in the name of construction. If this is not corrected, the impact of this good project may not be felt 100% by the residents,” he advised.

There is also the issue of low water rate being charged by the corporation which cannot march the maintenance cost of the corporation, which according to experts, calls for the periodic review of water laws and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in water supply.

Church decries poor leadership From Marie-Therese Peter, Jos

potential but always misdirected due to lack of focused leadership.

He urged Nigerians to be alive to their civic responsibilities as “We cannot cry to God but elect bad lead-

Nigeria is a country with great potential but it is misdirected because we are faced with the problem of lack of focused leadership for the benefit of the masses

ers and expect that things would change”.

Rev. Yamsat reiterated that insecurity has scared away potential investors who could complement the efforts of government in creating job opportunities for the youth. He called on government at all levels that have left the masses without the dividends of democracy like security of lives and property to rise up to their responsibilities.

He also called on religious leaders to give political awareness to their members so that they would be able to know how to elect visionary leaders into positions, as only righteousness can exalt a nation.

His words: “Nigeria is a country with great potential but misdirected because we are faced with the problem of lack of focused leadership for

the benefit of the masses.

“Our attitude to leadership is far from being servant-leader God intends it to be. The issue of minimum wage has generated strikes for months in many states and we are not sure if it is ended and the public is asking if there is any government that is poor in the midst of plenty that it cannot pay its poor workers whose conditions they promised to uplift?

“The Islamic terrorists known as Boko Haram are not giving the masses a breathing space and government appears not to be able to bring the menace to a halt therefore making insecurity the number one problem and Christians are hit the hardest.”

The COCIN outgoing President urged the Church Council to be fo-

cused as they set to elect a new President, saying they should not elect based on tribe and other sentiments.

He also urged them to allow the Holy Spirit of God to lead them during the election.

“I exhort you to continue in the vision and mission committed to us irrespective of any kind of intimidation you may face on the way. For this to be so, we must elect people with credibility, people of servantleadership spirit and not based on tribe or sections,” Yamsat advised.

However, the Church has a new President and he is Rev. Soja Bewarang who, until now was the Church’s Vice-President.

Rev. Bewarang is billed to take over from Rev. Yamsat by January, 2012.

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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POLITICS THE NATION

E-mail:- politics@thenationonlineng.net

KOGI GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION 2011

• From right: Gov. Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State, President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice-President Namadi Sambo and acting National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje during at a rally in Lokoja on Monday.

• L-R:

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, ACN National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE Audu and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Audu, Wada in battle for Lugard House Seventy-two hours to the Kogi State governorship election, Correspondent MOHAMMED BASHIR previews how the geo-political factor will likely play out at the poll. He identifies the heavyweight politicians who have adopted the major contenders and their strategies to swing the poll in favour of their respective candidates

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HE state’s political field is well laid out. Neatly divided into three senatorial and cultural zones, this Saturday’s election will show how the people stand behind the candidates.

The Central Senatorial district where the Ebira are predominant has five local government areas. It also has the Ogori/Magongos in the minority, the Eastern Senatorial District, with nine local government areas, is predominantly Igala with the Bassakomu/BassaNge as the minority; while the Western Senatorial District has seven local government areas, Predominantly Okun (the Yoruba speaking area) and Kakandas, Oworos, Nupe, Ebira Koto, Hausa and other settler communities in micro, minorities.

The Eastern Senatorial District is the base of both Prince Abubakar Audu and Idris Wada who has the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) ticket.

Ankpa The PDP is very visible in the area. It owes much of its strength in the LGA to the former Commissioner of Works and Housing under Idris administration, Hon. Timothy Omora, Hon. Abdullahi Halims, also a former member of the state House of Assembly on the PDP platform and now the Director General of the Audu Campaign Organisation. Alhaji Ibrahim Linco, now the Vice Chairman PDP eastern zone also has his feet firmly planted on ground. But Hon. Halims appears set to show his relevance to justify his position as chief campaign officer of the ACN but he must be prepared to contend with Alhaji Alhassan Enape who recently left Audu camp for the PDP.

Dekina This is the main base of Wada and the aggrieved Alhaji Jibrin Isah Echocho who lost the PDP ticket to the party’s candidate. Recently some Echocho’s supporters in Ajiolo village, came out enmass to hail and receive Audu who was passing by for a campaign. The supporters who were flying the posters of their leader (Echocho) blocked Audu’s convoy and were chanting “sai Audu”. The ACN flagberer, in excitement highlighted from his Subaru black Jeep and acknowledged the support.

Bassa It was a stronghold of the PDP with former House of Representatives member representing Dekina Bassa federal constituency, Hon. Positive Ihiabe as the strong man of politics there. But the last PDP primary election for the National Assembly ticket in the area created a

big sore relationship between the PDP and Ehiabe. Ehiabe was said to have left the PDP for Audu’s former ANPP in protest against conduct of the primary.

Olamaboro In the history of Kogi politics, Audu has never lost election in the area, despite the huge presence of PDP top shots. The chances of Prince Audu will be more brighter with presence of former House of Representatives member, Hon. Attai Aidoko Ali who left the PDP for the ANPP to pursue his Senate bid having been allegedly chased out of the PDP.

Omala Is the home base of Governor Idris, who is leader of PDP in the state. He is also political godfather of Wada’s. It is also most certain that, with the assistance of former Ambassador to Botswana, Hon. Isaac Onu.

Ibaji Has always been supportive the aspiration of Audu. But the tide may change in favour of the PDP, with the presence of Hon. Emmanuel Egwuche presently serving as special adviser to Governor Idris and a host of other party leaders who hold sway in the area.

Idah Is also a PDP catchment zone with the strong commitment of Alhaji Sanni Ogu known as Gbokeke, he left Audu’s camp in 2003 for the PDP where he held Governor Idris’s appointment as Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission before he was controversially removed by the governor. However, he has kept faith with the PDP.

Igalamela/Odolu There is no doubt that both ACN and the PDP will slug it out. It appears too chose to call Hon. Friday Sanni Makama who represents the area in the House of Assembly is likely to deliver his Odolu home town for the PDP while ACN will enjoy protest votes from aggrieved members and leaders of the PDP.

Ofu is the home base of Prince Audu. Elder Obolo Okpanachi who is the candidate of the ANPP, also hails from the area, Audu is expected to comfortably deliver the area.

The Central Senatorial District is another zone where both parties will slug it out. They are both laying claims to control of the zone.

Okene In times past, Okene was faithful to the Action Congress (AC) founded by the Late Senator Ahmed Tijjani Ahmed. But after his demise, things became awry for the ACN thereby giving the PDP window to infiltrate. Former chairman of the local government, Hon. Yahaya Abubakar Karaku holds political sway in the area for PDP along side the Speaker of the State Assembly, Hon. Abdullahi Bello. However there are rooting for the ACN some stout political fighters who are of A T Ahmed.

Adavi This is the home base of Mr. Patrick Adaba, who was deputy governor in Audu’s first outing as governor in 1992. He is in PDP. These is also Hon. Abdulrahman Badamasiu, an HOR member representing Okehi/Adavi federal constituency. Inevitably, the duo have to break down former caretaker chairman of Adavi local government area, Sulaiman Enesi, to win.

Okehi This is the home base of late Sen. A T Ahmed and the ACN has a large pool of supporters in the area. They may however have to tackle the former council boss Hon. Abubakar Zuberu Adagu known as Danguruma.

Ogori/Magongo It is predominantly PDP with the likes Hon. Albert Soje, Professor Olu Akerejola, Joseph Daudu, who is a member of the state assembly.

However there are some PDP members who are poised to switch electoral support for CAN as a fallout of the primary blues.

Ajaokuta The PDP appears to have the upper hand here with the support of Moses Ado Okino, Sule Muhammed, who is the Commissioner for Environment among other prominent leaders of the party.

The Western senatorial district It has been suggested that the PDP may record poor performance in the area as the people are said to have pitched tent with ACN.

Ijumu It is the home base of the campaign director of Wada/Awoniyi organisation, Prince Olusola Akanmode, and Senator Smart Adeyemi. It has been observed that Senator Adeyemi has been silent over who to support as he is said to be a

staunch supporter of Echocho. Hon. Dino Melaiye is in the Audu campaign organisation and is believed to have influence among the youths in the area.

Kabba/Bunnu Mopamuro

Too close to call.

This is the home base of Yomi Awoniyi. It is also the base of former speaker of the state assembly and running mate to Echocho, Clarence Olafemi. It is obvious that Olafemi is aggrieved but he has not been active in campaigning for either of the too formidable camps. It will likely be a tough battle.

Yagba East This is the local government Ojuola. He is set to deliver the area, but will have to slug it out with the likes of Hon. Hassan Salaudeen known as Erukutu and Hon. Tunde Olusunle who are strongly working for PDP. He will likely overcome the opponents.

Yagba West Investigations showed that both the and PDP are well rooted in the area. It is a race too close to call.

Lokoja It is the home base of Alhaji Abdulrazak Kutepa.

Kutepa will has an uphill task to deliver his area as there is strong opposition by Audu’s men.

Kogi/koton Karfe This is the base of the current Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Musa Ahmadu. Record shows that the SSG lost the polling unit right at the frontage of his family house to the CPC in the last national assembly election. But the question is, will history repeat itself in favour of the CAN as the major opposition party this time around.

The All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), between 1999 to 2003, held sway under Prince Audu. Since then, the party has been battling to reclaim its political relevance. Even though Audu dumped the party for ACN, some of the members have decided to struggle on. Elder Obolo Okpanachi who is the party’s flag bearer is from the same home town Audu. He traversed the nooks and crannies of the state to campaign. But political pundits observed that the former Accountant General of the state will only test his popularity.

The case of Mrs Aisha Emeje Audu, a native of Ayingba in Dekina local government area is not different. She was the First Lady of the state, perhaps owing to marital crisis, has opted to confront Audu at the poll. She will cut at best also ran.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

44

POLITICS How strong are the political structures of the candidates? JOSEPH JIBUEZE speaks with the campaign managers of the major parties and presents their strategies

How they plan to win

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O fewer that 19 political parties are fielding candidates for the December 3 governorship election in Kogi State, but four of them, from independent assessment by The Nation are in the forefront.

They are the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

Their candidates, Prince Abubakar Audu (ACN), Captain Idris Wada (PDP), Elder Itodo Okpanachi (ANPP) and James Ocholi (SAN) (CPC), have been on the road campaigning vigorously since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) flagged off the race.

All the four main candidates hail from Kogi East senatorial district, populated by the dominant ethnic group, the Igala. All their running mates are from Kogi West. It is thus likely that the election will be keenly contested in the East and West.

It is expected that greater energy would be deployed by candidates and their parties in getting votes from the Kogi Central District.

The belief is that the party that wins the zone will win the election.

Most of the parties and candidates drew confidence from the April elections as incumbents were defeated, despite powerful structures and connections. They are convinced that with free and fair elections, they can have good outing on Saturday.

But what are the parties’ structures and who are those directing the campaigns?

PDP The PDP is the ruling party in Kogi. It is banking on grassroots support from the local government areas, who directorsas those in charge were appointed by the governor as chairmanship election is yet to hold. The party also has a deep pocket to prosecute Wada’s campaign.

There is also the federal might behind the PDP candidate. Wada’s campaigns have been graced by the likes of Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal, among others.

The PDP candidate is also seen as a fresh hand.

Some observers say he and his running mate bring fresh ideas that could transform the state.

Whether the electorate buys that argument remains to be seen.

Besides, the three Senators representing Kogi were elected on the platform of the PDP. Out of nine members of the House of Representatives from the state, seven are PDP members.

And of the 25 members of the state House of Assembly, 22 are of the PDP. However, the PDP will have to quickly mend the crack in the party. Unless a compromise is quickly sealed, some party members may use their influence to scuttle victory for Wada.

Jibrin Isah Echocho won the PDP governorship primary in January before the INEC postponed elections in five states, including Kogi. This followed an Abuja Federal High Court verdict that the tenure of five governors would extend beyond May 29, 2011 as they had won re-elections at different times.

When the commission released a new election date, Kogi PDP conducted another primary in September at which Wada emerged winner. But a PDP member, Umar Lawal, is still challenging at a Federal High Court, Abuja,the nomination of Wada as the party’s governorship candidate. Echocho is joined as a plaintiff.

They are asking the court to declare that the January primary won by Echocho is still valid and therefore the September primary election should be cancelled. According to them, it is only in case of death or voluntary withdrawal that a candidate can be replaced. Besides, the plaintiffs said Wada was not a card-carrying member of the PDP by the time he was nominated.

In one of the proceedings, the plaintiffs alleged that the candidate has a record of mental disorder

•

Crowd at the flag off of Audu’s campaign in Lokoja.

(“grossly psychotic”) from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and therefore “is not fit and proper person to contest for the governorship of Kogi State.”

Wada has denied the allegations. He said: “Ordinarily, if a driver is found with a smell of alcohol coming out of his mouth, that driver won’t be allowed to drive, let alone a pilot. You must be 100 per cent healthy before you can be allowed close to a plane as a pilot.

“I have always had a clean bill of health before embarking on any trip, like piloting planes.

Let the truth prevail.”

The court will have the final say, although INEC has said that in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, a court injunction at this time cannot stop the election.

PDP campaign manager Chief Olusola Akanmode is the DirectorGeneral of the Wada/Awoniyi Campaign Organisation. Known as a consummate politician and a mobiliser, he was a former Chief of Staff to Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Akanmode was a founding member of the ACN. Before he returned to the PDP, he worked as Audu’s spokesman during the 2008 re-run election which the former governor contested on the ANPP platform in alliance with Action Congress (AC).

Analysts say having worked with Audu in the past, he knows his strengths and weaknesses and could use them to Wada’s advantage.

ACN The ACN’s sweeping successes in Lagos and other states have endeared it to the people of Kogi. The massive support it enjoys at rallies is an indication of its attractive base in Kogi. Being a party for progressives, it is seen by many as a credible alternative.

ACN is regarded as PDP’s major threat in the election. Having been in power, Audu understands the terrain and what is needed to win. Now, he has an even stronger backing in ACN, a party that has shown elsewhere that it can defeat incumbents and take on federal might and win.

Kogi West is said to favour power shift, and they see that happening with Audu in government. He has just four years to exhaust his constitutionally allowed tenure. He has also vowed to ensure that. “I have only four years and after that I will make sure that there is power shift,” he said.

The PDP candidate is said to be Gov. Ibrahim Idris in-law, who it is alleged the governor is preparing his son to succeed should, he win. It is believed that there is the strong craving of the Okuns in Kogi West for the Yoruba agenda, which could favour Audu.

Despite its shortcoming in terms of real structure, ACN has been able to mobilise the support of students, workers and some traditional rulers. Its progressive message may also appeal to the voters who wish for a replication of quality governance they hear about in ACNcontrolled states.

Audu is anchoring his campaign on his achievements while in power, feats he has argued have not been matched by the nine-year PDP administration. Voters seem to agree that he never failed to fulfill his electoral promises.

ACN campaign manager Running Audu’s campaign organisation as Director-General is a through-bred grassroots politician, Alhaji Abdullahi ‘Halims’ Ibrahim.

A former member of the House of Assembly.

He is said to be an astute mobiliser. A prominent member of his team is a former member of the House of Representatives and ex-PDP member, Dino Melaye, known as a tested political

strategist.

Ibrahim has first-hand knowledge of Kogi politics. A former PDP member, he lost to the son of Gov. Ibrahim Idris in a controversial primary for the Omala/Ankpa/Olamaboro Federal Constituency ANPP/CPC The ANPP and CPC are still the dominant parties in the North, but they lack solid structures in Kogi. The parties have one member each in the House of Representatives as against PDP’s seven. At the State House of Assembly, they also have a member each.

However, ANPP’s candidate Okpanachi cannot be dismissed. He has his fair share of supporters and may be a hard nut to crack in some parts of the state. As a former Accountant-General of the state, he is a seasoned civil servant and a man of the people. So workers may queue behind him.

Ocholi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), represents youth and change. Some analysts see him as the best candidate, but in the wrong party. Youths and other progressives may see him as the face of the future and a departure from the past and vote for him. But again, it is a game of numbers.

The managers ANPP’s campaign manager is John Sanni. He was a close associate of Gov. Idris in the early days, although his political base is somewhat in doubt.

CPC’s campaign manager, Alhaji Mohammed Mobo Kassim, doubles as state chairman of the party. He was chairman of Lokoja Local Government Area and later twice state chairman of the ANPP. He also contested for the House of Representatives on the ANPP platform. He has been CPC’s chairman in Kogi since the party was formed.

‘PDP’s end in Kogi will come on Saturday’ Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kogi State, Chief Haddi Ametuo speaks on why the people should vote for their Prince Abubakar Audu. JOSEPH JIBUEZE met him.

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HAT do you think stands Abubakar Audu out from other candidates?

A well-educated man, Audu transformed this state when he was in government between 1999 and 2003. He was named best governor. He has experience and he is a wonderful administrator. Development stopped in Kogi when Audu left in 2003. Ask an average Kogite. PDP, in nine years, could not do a quarter of what Audu did in four years.

There is no project that the Ibrahim Idris administration can point to as its achievement in nine years. Audu was getting about N350million federal allocation compared to about N20billion that Idris has been receiving.

Yet there is nothing to show for it. PDP government has taken us back 30 years, but their end will come on Saturday.

Do you think Audu’s promise of power shift will help his cause?

Audu will serve for only four years as required by the Constitution. Power shift to former Kwara, that is Central and West, is realisable with him. We believe we are brothers and they also deserve to produce a governor. But should PDP’s candidate win, he will seek a second term.

And what stops Idris’ son from attempting to take over from Wada when Wada’s tenure expires? So, where will that leave Central and

West? That is why they (central and west) should vote ACN on Saturday.

How strong is your faith in the electoral umpire?

We have confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led by Prof Attahiru Jega. What we need is free and fair election. But Jega cannot be everywhere.

But I expect INEC to correct the lapses experienced in the last election on Saturday.

Jega has to warn INEC officials and the corps members, because those are the people PDP is planning to use to rig. They are planning to buy the police, but I urge the security agencies to do their job fairly. I understand that the PDP is planning to use policemen as liaison between them and corps members at polling units. But we re-iterate that should we catch anyone – because we will be alert – that will be the end of the person’s career.

What specific lapses should INEC correct?

They should monitor their officers more closely. I urge those electoral officers to be guided by their conscience and not be swayed by monetary inducement. Same with police.

It’s not about Jega. Some of the corps members may think this is an opportunity to make money. When they are given money, they will start changing figures. PDP’s plan is to

thumbprint ballot papers somewhere, maybe in the Government House. The leaders will give it to their thugs, who will drop it in ballot boxes while pretending to vote. So INEC officials have to be on the alert.

Do you foresee an election devoid of violence?

You know our national leaders have spoken.

They are well-connected. They have said the PDP is stockpiling arms and sewing army uniforms to be worn by their thugs to intimate voters. We in Kogi know it is true. We know what PDP can do. I am aware they are holding series of meetings, planning to scuttle the peoples’ will using thugs and amenable security agents. But God will catch them. And any fake soldier we catch that day, I am very sorry for such a person. We will be ready for them because we will be very vigilant. We are not going to take it easy with them. But we as a party do not believe in violence and we don’t encourage it.

PDP’s plan will only backfire. I know the state police commissioner will not descend so low to do PDP’s bidding.

Do you think your party has done enough to win?

It is the PDP that feels intimidated by the massive support we receive. If they think they can rig, they will only rig themselves out. We have the structure to defeat PDP. The people are behind us. They want change.

THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

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POLITICS

We are ready, says Kogi REC T

HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared its readiness for Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State. No fewer than 19 political parties are contesting.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Ahmad Makama, said problems such as exclusion of party name and logo will not occur. The omission of a party’s logo caused the nullification of the 2007 poll and the 2008 rerun.

Makama said sensitive materials, such as ballot papers for Saturday’s governorship election, were stored at the Central Bank of Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office and will be collected tomorrow for distribution.

Speaking with The Nation, Makama said voters register had been cross-checked to avoid any mix-up, while training of supervisors had been concluded.

He added that there were enough Presiding Officers, made up of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.

The only challenge encountered, he said, was a shortfall of about 1,000 ad-hoc staff following the failure of students of Federal Polytechnic, Idah, to turn up for training, probably because they are on vacation.

According to him, arrangement was being made to make-up for the shortfall from other federal and state institutions and establishments in the state.

On security challenges, the REC said meetings had been held with heads of security agencies who assured him that they “are on top of the situation,” adding that he does not foresee any serious security problems.

His words: “I can say that, but for a few hitches here and there, we are adequately prepared for the election. Students of Federal Polytechnic Idah failed us. They refused to turn up for training and we could not get about 1,000 ad-hoc staff from that institution.

“They are still on break, so that

From Joseph Jibueze, Lokoja

put us in a very difficult situation. But the problem is being addressed. We should be able to address the problem comfortably. Except for that, we don’t have any problem.

“We have received and distributed non-sensitive materials to local governments since last week. I have been informed that the sensitive materials have been received by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). INEC’s arrangement is that even we cannot access them until two days to the election.

“If I go to the CBN now and ask them to give me the sensitive materials, they certainly will not give me, because that is not the directive.

There is an arrangement between CBN at the top and my headquarters. The sensitive materials will be given to us only two days to the election, that is on Thursday.

“The electoral officers crosschecked the voters register on Saturday so that we don’t end up packing one meant for one local government for another, as such mix-up could cause some problems.

“The supervisors have been trained. Even though I said students of Federal Polytechnic, Idah failed to turn up, we have enough Presiding Officers (POs).

As per rule, INEC insists that all POs must be NYSC members. So we have enough NYSC members who have been trained as POs. “We concluded our advocacy visits to traditional rulers on Friday. They received and appreciated our mission. We requested for their intervention especially in the area of conducting the election peacefully. It is our wish that the peace of the people is not disturbed.

“We have prepared radio jingles in English and other languages calling on people to do the right thing and to ensure that they cooperate with the officials. With all this, I believe we are steadily working towards

• Jega: Tough task ahead

a very, very successful governorship election in Kogi.”

Makama said the only challenge facing INEC generally was time. “Our arrangements always seem be at the eleventh hour. INEC’s main enemy is time. If you recall, INEC was inaugurated in June. It was expected at inauguration to conduct election in December.

There was no credible voters’ register.

“The election had to be put forward to April. We procured DDC machines. We had to register again. The registration itself could not start before January. So INEC’s main problem has been time. The election we are going to conduct in 2015, I believe, will be better.

“The election of 2011 was far better than previous ones. I believe that with the time available now, our outing in 2015 will demonstrate that INEC has come of age,” he said.

He attributed likely security concerns to what he called the

do-or-die approach of some politicians.

“But they forget that there is nothing anybody can do in what God has destined. So this has really caused some security concerns among the people. I believe security agencies are equal to the task. They have always been. We have met with them and they assured us they are on top of the situation.

“There are potentials of security breaches, but we have the assurance of security agencies that they will contain whatever might happen. So there is nothing significant that I will say is capable of disturbing the process or causing any concern for the successful conclusion of the process,” he said.

According to him, every effort will be made to ensure that electoral materials get to polling units early.

Makama said: “INEC has been trying its best. INEC state office can access the sensitive materials

two days to the election so Electoral Officers can take them to their respective local government areas. They will have the whole of Friday to distribute them to their wards. So, people will take them from the headquarters two days before election.

“So, we expect that in the morning of the election, people will be moving from their ward – not from the state or local government – to the polling units.

“Usually, distribution at the ward starts as early as 3 to 4am, so that by 8am, each Presiding Officer will be at his polling unit waiting for voters.

“But we’re human beings; there may be some hiccups, but there will be noticeable improvement, compared to the past.”

INEC had earlier said adequate security and logistics had been put in place to ensure smooth polls.

Its Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Emmanuel Umenger, said the weaknesses discovered during the April elections had been taken care of.

He said calls that Saturday’s election be suspended cannot be heeded since a date has already been fixed. “INEC does not organise intra-party elections.

Conduct of party primaries is the sole responsibility of political parties.

“I am not aware that there is a law suit to stop the Kogi election.

I have been away from Abuja and as I am talking to you, I am on my way to Abuja.

“But if you look at the Electoral Act, there is a particular section that says that once a date for an election has been fixed, nobody can stop it. So, we are working with what the law says.”

Speaking on the security measures taken, he said: “There is a committee on security comprising the SSS, Police, Army and Civil defence. We have mapped out strategies to ensure that all electoral materials and polling booths are fully secured.”

We’re stockpiling the electorate, not arms, says PDP chairman Chief Hassan Salawu is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in Kogi State. He tells JOSEPH JIBUEZE in Lokoja that the ruling party is the one to beat on Saturday.

D

ON’T you think your party being in power will confer undue ad vantage on you come Saturday?

I want to tell you that when PDP was not even in government in 2003, we beat Abubakar Audu and won the election overwhelmingly. In 2007, we were in government, an election was held. We won and they said Audu’s name was omitted.

There was a re-run in 2008. We also won.

The bulk of the people who supervised the election were not from Kogi. So the issue of rigging did not arise. He took us to the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, and we won. We believe in the efficacy of prayers. We are not importers of supporters. We don’t go to any neighbouring states to import people to attend our rallies. Ours are borne out of the commitment of the people. We are going to win by 70 percent of the total votes.

Do you think the PDP government has done enough for the people to deserve their votes?

Governor Ibrahim Idris is a silent achiever. Greater Lokoja Water Project is there. There is water everywhere in Lokoja. If you doubt me, please go round and check. See the Olympic-sized stadium. See the dualised roads. And our

university which Audu said he established was a glorified secondary school where an undergraduate was teaching an undergraduate. But under Gov Idris, we don’t have less than 120 professors there.

In fact, Kogi State University has become one of the best in the country. There is no village you will go in this state that you will not see new blocks of classrooms.

There is no Senatorial District where secondary schools have not been renovated.

Why are salaries of teachers and local government workers being owed?

There are three tiers of government: local, state and federal. At the state level, we have paid relativity salary which is N14,100. By December 3, we’re going to pay N18,000 minimum wage in Kogi. It will be the first state in Northcentral to implement the new wage. The responsibility of funding primary schools lies with local governments, which means when money comes, the first charge is payment of primary school teachers and it goes to SPEB. So the question is, with the number of teachers we have, if your wagebill is about N700million to N1.4billion, you will not be able to satisfy everyone, and that is why we are doing screening.

You cannot say because we want to win an election, we won’t do the right thing.

We have just finished the screening. We have said we are going to pay relativity at the local government level.

So, in essence, why are the schools closed?

It is not that primary schools are closed because salaries are not paid. They are closed because the relativity of the new minimum wage has not been paid. And it is not limited to Kogi State. If you’re speaking of strike, go to ACN states. They are not faring better than us.

What is your reaction to the allegation that the PDP is stockpiling arms to intimidate voters and rig election?

You are in the house of the PDP chairman in Kogi State. Did you see any policeman here? If you like, I would take you round this house to see if you can find even a single knife to cut a yam. I want to believe the ACN leaders are not being sincere with themselves. What we’re stockpiling is the electorate, because they are the ones to do the job and vote. If we’re stockpiling arms and ammunition, will our rallies be peaceful? We have the electorate behind us, and by the special grace of God, we’re going to win. The issue

of Wada is like that of President Goodluck Jonathan. Just as people were screaming ‘Goodluck, Goodluck’, if you ask a young child, he will tell you that the answer in Kogi State is Wada-Awoniyi ticket. As far as we are concerned, ACN is being smoked out of Kogi State. That is why they have gone to neighbouring states to seek for assistance. Let them come home and do the type of campaign we’re doing. We don’t pay Okada riders and others to attend our rallies. People come out of their commitment.

ACN alleged that PDP thugs attacked Audu’s campaign train, damaged vehicles and wounded people. What is your reaction?

ACN knows we’re on top and doing better that any other political party. The only thing they feel they can do is to assassinate the character of PDP. But I assure you we’re winning that election by 70 per cent.

Do you foresee a free and fair election?

Prof Attahiru Jega is doing his best. We believe in transparent election. At our rallies, we always tell people to ‘Shine their eyes’, line up, one man, one vote; one woman, one vote; one youth, one vote. We don’t believe in thuggery, we don’t believe in violence.

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SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Markets abound for branded shoes, says woman designer

By Daniel Essiet

• Mrs Odutola

C

HIEF Executive of Pitter – Patter shoes, Mrs. Yomi Odutola, is an entrepreneur, who has made a successful transition from being an avid footwear consumer to becoming a designer. She has launched her brand into the footwear industry.

She told The Nation she was pushed to learning more about shoe making and business opportunities it offers sometime in 2005. Then getting trendy, quality shoes for her three-year-old daughter was a challenge. One day, she reasoned within herself, isn’t it possible to get good, quality shoes for this child at reasonable price? That made her sat down to draw the design of the shoes she would love to see her daughter wear. Later, she went to the market and was directed to where she could get the materials she needed to make them.

On getting home, she put everything together and made her first pair of shoes.

The product was crude, but her husband was amazed. He said she has talent and they started working on it. She looked for courses she could take on the internet and found a course in England and went for it a year

later.

Today, Mrs Odutola is one Nigerian, who has made a name for herself in the leather industry through designing beautiful shoes for children.

She has established a shoe line, ‘Pitter-Patter Shoes.’ Mrs Yomi Odutola, is fascinated with the forms and shapes in footwear, because she looked at it as “wearable sculpture.” She feels good about her home made designs and very impressed because she is getting acceptance from Nigerians.

For her, it is satisfying to see people wear her designs. She is working to design and create new shoes and show her own point of view in footwear design.

Although she is stylish and sophisticated, her approach to footwear starts with an image and/ or concept and transforms to shoe design.

Each new design starts with an idea. She sketches it from different angles to see how it looks.

Her challenge is how to make quality shoes more affordable and durable.

Mrs Odutola told The Nation that shoe is not a very complicated object to design.

According to her, all the shoe parts — upper, insole and heel, sole — need to be created perfectly together to give the whole picture.

She is into artistic shoes. The next level is making customised shoes.

For her, the issue is not about making money all the time, but giving Nigerians what they need so they wouldn’t need to buy shoes abroad. For young Nigerians, she said the leather industry has huge potential for

them to make a living. She is happy that she has made shoes, which are comparable with ‘Clarks’. She is putting effort in ensuring quality. Amazingly, most of her customers are the foreign people who are more open to colours, fresh designs and most importantly, thrilled to see perfectly finished local goods.

The major challenge, she noted, is not even power supply, as she doesn’t not produce every day, but getting the right materials, especially the quintessential

leather. What is found locally, according to her, are a lot of black leather and brown leather which don’t meet her dream of creating shoes of different colours.

To get different high quantity leather, she has to get them from those who bring them from abroad.

The perception about made in Nigeria goods, she said is changing. The clothing industry has exploded. Given few years, Mrs Odutola said there will be op-

portunities for Nigerians to create branded shoes that can compete with foreign imports.

She said the business requires little capital to start. What is important are the eye for creativity, passion and intelligence.

There are shoes for women, children and men. She said designing possibilities are endless.

When starting shoes business, she said one has to determine the target market. This will allow one to determine what kind of shoes one is going to produce.

• From left: Assistant General Manager, Finance, NEXIM, Mr Ifeanyi Nwade; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Lagos State, Mr Wale Raji and Managing Director/CEO, NEXIM, Mr Robert Orya, during the exporter forum in Lagos.

How SMS marketing can boost business, services Global Reach Out provides mobile marketing solutions. The Managing Director, Quadri Folorunsho, explains the advantages of SMS marketing and how it boosts patronage, increases profit, brand loyalty and product awareness. He spoke with BUKOLA FASUYI. Excerpts.

• Quadri

W

HAT is SMS marketing ?

SMS Marketing is the art of bulk sending text messages to advertise your products and services. It is undeniably one of the best ways to attract the attention of your customers and get news and promotions in front of them – fast.

SMS Marketing messages have a fantastic open rate of over 98 per cent, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan report.

How can SMS marketing boost small and medium scale enterprises?

Advertising is the life of every business. If you do not advertise, your business will be static.

SMS marketing as a form of advertising is cost effective and

can suit the budget of small scale enterprises. With a target audience and demographic advertising, SMEs can reach out effectively to a reasonable audience and it will increase, as the business grows.

Taking a small real estate agent, for example, who has a property to rent or sell within Lagos. He can simply advertise the property by sending a brief SMS to random people advertising the property with his contact details. Someone who needs such real estate will call for enquiries or refer to a friend or family who does. That is the power in SMS marketing.

What is your vision so far on SMS marketing and why do you say it is the most effective?

My vision on SMS marketing in Nigeria, is that I see SMS advert as being the form of advert that has the highest reach to the expected targeted customers/ clients.

Statistics showed that approximately 11 per cent of Nigerians watch television, 26 per cent listen to radio, six per cent read newspapers, four per cent browse the internet, while 57.8 per cent use GSM phones. That is 57.8 per cent of a population of approximately 160 million Nigerians.

One needs to consider the media of advertisement with the highest audience to be able to reach out to as many of your potential customers as possible.

Also, SMS adverts have a direct call to action in which text messages can be stored on the mobile phone for future action or for referral purposes. It also can drive customers to your website or enquiry line.

What is the response rate in advertising through SMS? The response rate in SMS marketing is impressive. Let us imagine if you send an SMS advert to one million Nigerians and only one per cent responds ef-

‘Statistics showed that approximately 11 per cent of Nigerians watch television, 26 per cent listen to radio, six per cent read newspapers, four per cent browse the internet, while 57.8 per cent use GSM phones. That is 57.8 per cent of a population of approximately 160 million Nigerians.

One needs to consider the media of advertisement with the highest audience to be able to reach out to as many of your potential customers as possible’

fectively. That is, an extra 10,000 new clients to boost your sales.

Can you send SMS adverts to geographical targets within a state, local government area or town?

Yes, we are able to classify our database according to states to up to 90 per cent accuracy due to migration factors. However, we do not presently have local government areas, towns or area classification. We can only reach targets within any state.

What advice do you have for youths still seeking government jobs?

To the youths, getting a job is not easy both in the private and the public sector. We cannot deny the fact that the gospel of telling our graduates to venture into business has spread wide enough, but the snag they keep talking about is that there is no capital. I believe that being a young graduate with all that youthful energy, one can go into marking of products and service because even though there is are no jobs, marketing jobs are still available.

The youth can market any product and raise a little capital to start the business they have knowledge of. The most important assets that the youth has is the time they have on their hands that they don’t realise. Most of them want to get rich quick.

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MONEY LINK

Fed Govt, banks earmark N30b to boost agriculture

T

HE Federal Government and deposit money banks yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide N30 billion to revamp the agric sector.

The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who supervised the signing of the tripartite agreement in Abuja, said it would enable beneficiaries access the funds for fertilizer and seedlings in any of the banks at a single digit rate of seven per cent.

The banks, according to the MoU, are expected to provide a total loan facility of N22.68 billion for financing fertiliser and N2.75 billion for seeds procurement and distribution respectively. Also, the government, through the Ministry of Finance will guarantee 70 per cent of the loan’s principal payment under the said system.

Speaking on behalf of the banks, the Managing Director of Access Bank Plc,. Aigboje AigImoukhuede, said the bulk of the money would be for the agro dealers, adding that fertiliser subsidy system in the past has been poorly implemented.

He said: “The programme will expand distribution network for agro dealers so that seed and fertiliser will be there at the appropriate time. The agro dealers are not just anybody. They are certified, have bank accounts and the seed and fertiliser companies will be working with them. They will train and work with the farmers.”

He confirmed that at least five state government representatives have indicated interest in the scheme, stressing that since the fund is meant for 2012 farming season, potential beneficiaries could start accessing the loans

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

in the next 30 days.

The minister explained that the aim of the government is to grow agriculture so that Nigerians could have access to cheap food on their table, have jobs for millions of young people and achieve food security, which, she admitted, is becoming increas-

ingly important in the present world.

Her words: “To achieve these objectives, we are supporting the most critical group in agriculture, the farmers, with fertiliser and other inputs. And we are doing this as an innovative way which will ensure that we get the results we are after.

“We are putting our money

where our mouth is. By guaranteeing the loans, we are making sure that the farmers remain in their farms doing their jobs, and not waiting endlessly for fertiliser that may never arrive. But to whom much is given, much is expected; so we expect both the farmers and the bankers to do everything they can to ensure that Nigerians and the Nigerian economy benefit

BoI, stakeholder form alliance on cashew production

B

ANK of Industry (BoI) in collabo ration with the African Cashew Al liance (ACA), has unveiled plans to increase the production of cashew nuts in the country from 10,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes per annum.

Consequently, the two body have formed strategic partnership with the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), to actualise the increase in the production of cashew and boost export of the non-oil sector.

Speaking while on a visit to the BoI in Lagos, the President of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), Idrissi Kilangi, said at the moment, Cote d’Ivoire has the highest production volume in Af-

reason why the world is focusing on Africa, most especially Nigeria,” he said.

Idrissi said cashew nut is the major answer to the development of the nonoil sector, adding that government has neglected it for so long.

He said cashew needs to be included in the agenda of the existing donor platforms and government plans.

“The African cashew industry has the potential to realise more than $300 million in raw nut sales by smallholder farmers and another $300 million in added value from cashew processing, creating more than 200,000 new jobs for the poor in rural areas.

“The main measures to be taken, in-

By Toba Agboola

rica, with 350,000 tonnes per annum, adding that Nigeria has the potential of producing over 400,000 tonnes per annum.

He said the Asian countries are the highest producers of the product, but added that there is a challenge because their production has been exhausted.

“With all the resources, potentials, Nigeria can produce 400,000 tonnes every year. This is what, we, in conjunction with the BoI, will look into.

At the moment, the Asian countries that have the highest volume can no longer meet up, because their production has been exhausted. So this is the

P

LANS by the Central Bank of Ni geria (CBN) to strengthen e-pay ment systems that would extend financial services to the unbanked will have to take into consideration the need for legislative upgrade, especially a review of the Evidence Act. This was teh consensus of stakeholders at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation annual seminar for financial journalists.

They insisted that the Evidence Act be expanded to accept electronic evidences in court, should fraud occur in the use of e-payment platforms such as the point of sale (PoS) terminals.

around the world pay and get paid, and offers financial service providers in developing countries a new, efficient channel to serve the unbanked and under-banked, arguing that it is only when the funds in the hands of the unbanked are captured, can the financial system grow better.

“Large volume of transactions still go on in the informal sector and that taking banking to the grassroots through mobile banking and cashless banking would integrate such unaccounted funds into the financial system. According to her, the CBN

By Collins Nweze

A Senior Consultant with the NDIC on Financial Inclusion, Angela Adeboye, said the legislative process should be advanced to reflect new dimensions in the e-payment systems being canvassed by the apex bank.

She said the legislation guiding the e-banking should be adjusted to address new threats in the industry, adding that such a step would enhance confidence on branchless and mobile banking, which are the hallmarks of financial inclusion.

According to her, the mobile phone is changing how consumers

Amount N

Rate %

M/Date

3-Year 5-Year 5-Year

35m 35m 35m

11.039 12.23 13.19

19-05-2014 18-05-2016 19-05-2016

WHOLESALE DUTCH AUCTION SYSTEM Amount

Initial Current Quotation Price Market N8250.00 5495.33 N1000.00 N552.20

Price Loss 2754.67 447.80

INTERBANK RATES 7.9-10% 10-11%

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (T-BILLS) Amount 30m 46.7m 50m

Rate % 10.96 9.62 12.34

Date 28-04-2011 “ 14-04-2011

GAINERS AS AT 29-11-11 SYMBOL ROADS UNITYBNK LAWUNION FIDSON STERLNBANK IBTC WEMABANK FIDELITYBK OANDO NB

O/PRICE 7.52 0.51 0.52 1.14 1.15 7.50 0.52 1.36 25.75 90.01

C/PRICE 7.89 0.53 0.54 1.18 1.19 7.71 0.53 1.38 25.95 90.41

CHANGE 0.37 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.04 0.21 0.01 0.02 0.20 0.40

LOSER AS AT 29-11-11 SYMBOL INTBREW UAC-PROP TRANSCORP ACCESS CCNN MAYBAKER RTBRISCOE IKEJAHOTEL GTASSURE JAPAULOIL

O/PRICE 12.05 1.43 2.06 0.53 0.63 7.65 0.53 0.54 91.70 5.35

C/PRICE 11.45 1.36 1.98 0.51 0.61 7.50 0.52 0.53 90.01 5.26

Amount

Offered ($) Demanded ($)

MANAGED FUNDS

Tenor 91-Day 182-Day 1-Year

can monitor and systematically include the sector into the economy.

She said that cashless banking initiative being championed by the apex bank is also a viable tool of achieving the objective as more funds will have to pass through the financial system.

She explained that the informal sector are dominated by small-scale producers, largely employs indigenous technology, and sometimes, is involved in the apprenticeship system. She also said that empowering microfinance banks will also boost financial inclusion in the country.

DATA BANK

Tenor

OBB Rate Call Rate

clude promoting cashew sector development as a priority in donor platform and in government investment,” Idrissi said.

The Executive Director, Operation, BoI, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, said the bank is ready to support the production of the product, adding that it will create adequate funds to actualize it.

He said cashew production is one of the areas BoI is encouraging farmers to look into.

His words: “We have been there from the beginning and we are ready to work with you so as to make it work.

Financial inclusion: stakeholders seek review of Evidence Act

FGN BONDS

NIDF NESF

from this unique initiative,” she stated.

She lamented the poor state of agriculture in Nigeria, stressing that Nigeria is highly dependent on imported food, which cost enormous amount of resources, saying that importing food items like wheat, rice, sugar and fish alone, cost the country N1.3 trillion (about $8.5 billion) annually.

Amount

Exchange

Sold ($)

Rate (N)

Date

450m

452.7m

450m

150.8

08-8-11

250m

313.5m

250m

150.8

03-8-11

400m

443m

400m

150.7

01-8-11

EXHANGE RATE 26-08-11 CAPITAL MARKET INDEX Currency

Year Start Offer

Current Before

C u r r e n t CUV Start After %

NGN USD

147.6000

149.7100

150.7100

-2.11

NGN GBP

239.4810

244.0123

245.6422

-2.57

NGN EUR

212.4997

207.9023

209.2910

-1.51

149.7450

154.0000

154.3000

-3.04

Bureau de Change 152.0000 (S/N)

153.0000

155.5000

-2.30

Parallel Market

154.0000

156.0000

-1.96

NSE CAP Index

NIGERIA INTER BANK (S/N)

27-10-11 N6.5236tr 20,607.37

28-10-11 N6.617tr 20,903.16

% Change -1.44% -1.44%

MEMORANDUM QUOTATIONS Name

(S/N)

153.0000

DISCOUNT WINDOW Feb. ’11

July ’11

Aug ’11

MPR

6.50%

6.50%

8.75%

Standing Lending Rate ,, Deposit Rate ,, Liquidity Ratio Cash Return Rate Inflation Rate

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 1.00% 12.10%

8.50% 4.50% 25.00% 2.00% 12.10%

9.50% 5.50% 30.00% 2.00% 9.4%

Offer Price

Bid Price

9.17 1.00 118.85 98.43 0.76 1.04 0.88 1,642.73 8.24 1.39 1.87 7,351.90 193.00

9.08 1.00 118.69 96.65 0.73 1.04 0.87 1,635.25 7.84 1.33 1.80 7,149.37 191.08

ARM AGGRESSIVE KAKAWA GUARANTEED STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND THE LOTUS CAPITAL HALAL BGL SAPPHIRE FUND BGL NUBIAN FUND NIGERIA INTERNATIONAL DEB. PARAMOUNT EQUITY FUND CONTINENTAL UNIT TRUST CENTRE-POINT UNIT TRUST STANBIC IBTC NIG EQUITY THE DISCOVERY FUND • ARM AGGRESSIVE • KAKAWA GUARANTEED

CHANGE 0.30 0.64 0.03 0.24 0.24 0.10 0.06 0.13 0.07 0.03

• STANBIC IBTC GUARANTE • AFRINVEST W.A. EQUITY FUND

NIBOR Tenor 7 Days 30 Days 60 Days 150 Days

Rate (Previous) 24 Aug, 2011 9.0417 9.6667 11.2917 12.1250

Rate (Currency) 26, Aug, 2011 10.17% 11.46% 11.96% 12.54%

Movement

OPEN BUY BACK Previous

Current

04 July, 2011

07, Aug, 2011

Bank

8.5000

8.5000

P/Court

8.0833

8.0833

Movement

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NEWS

N11.5b Erosion Intervention Programme for Southeast

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HE Federal Government yesterday flagged off the N11.5 billion Erosion Intervention Project in the Southeast.

Speaking during the event at the commercial city of Onitsha, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mai Lafia, warned contractors handling the project to execute them according to specification.

According to Mrs. Mai Lafia, the Federal Government, following the requests of the Southeast Governors’ Forum, decided to tackle the major 15 active sites ravaged by erosion in

From Adimike George, Onitsha

the state, adding that it was targeted at reducing the effects of the erosion.

She said the Federal Government has approved 15 active sites in five Southeast states as part of the first phase of the project. More sites are to benefit from the special intervention project.

The minister assured that the project will not suffer the fate of previous intervention projects, stating that the fund for the project has been domesticated with the ecological fund office. She insisted that adequate mon-

itoring would be carried out to ensure efficiency.

The minister warned that the ministry would not tolerate any form of sabotage from the various contractors handling the project.

Mrs Lafia said: “We are warning the contractors to make sure they execute the project according to specification, we shall have adequate monitoring of these projects. Poor or outright abandonment of the project will not be condoned. The funds will be given to you as approved by the Federal Executive Council on prorata basis, you will be paid by the level of work executed. “

Man, 84, detained for alleged murder

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N 84-year old man has been remanded at Umuahia prisons, Abia State, for alleged murder.

Chikara Ugoji is protesting the way the charge against him was changed from manslaughter to murder by the police.

It has petitioned the Presidency over the matter.

The family, led by Ugoji’s eldest son, Pele, alleged that the Commissioner of Police, Bala Hassan, has an undue interest in the case, which made the police to change the charge at the court without informing the family. Pele alleged that the commissioner forced the court to detain their father at the prison custody.

From Ugochukwu Eke, Umuahia

However, the Commissioner said he changed the charge based on what the police has on their case file after investigation. He said there is no way a man would bring out his gun and shoot another and it would be manslaughter instead of murder.

Speaking with reporters in Umuahia, Pele, who led his brothers and sister , wondered why the case file with the charge against their father should be changed from manslaughter to murder midway into the case without first informing their lawyer.

Pele regretted that the pe-

titions they have written to the governor and the police have not yielded results.

He alleged that whenever the family wrote to the police or invited them to come over and handle issues, “they always say they do not have the means to come over to the village, only for them to come after an incident must have taken place”.

The family alleged that the traditional ruler of their community Eze Nwosu is using his thugs to maltreat the people of the community .

Pele said they have decided to petition the Presidency over the security situation in the community.

Anambra proposes N67.9b budget for 2012

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NAMBRA State Government has proposed a N67.9 billion budget for 2012, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget Prof. Chinyere Okunna has said.

She spoke yesterday at the J-JUMAC Hotels in Awka during the participatory public budget forum for 2012.

The proposed budget has a total recurrent expenditure of N35,671.340 billion and a total capital expenditure of N32, 245 billion.

Based on the proposal, which was split into six seg ments, environment would get N5,183.000 billion,

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

economy N16,199.056 billion, general administration N6,078.306 billion, and social sector N4,784.638 billion.

The Government House, Deputy Governor’s office, House of Assembly, among others, would get N45.billion.

Key interventions like bridges, land transport, roads would get N10 billion.

Governor Peter Obi was absent at the event.

Mrs Okunna said the state embarked on eight water

schemes (not borehole) in 2012 through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

She stated that the state government would partner UNICEF, World Bank, among others, for the execution of the projects.

Okunna decried the poor Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state and assured that the situation would improve next year.

Present at the forum were traditional rulers, Presidents General of Town Unions, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), among others.

Ebonyi to sanction corrupt education inspectors •Commissioner suspends two headteachers

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HE Ebonyi State Government will sanction education inspectors or members of the Committee on Closure of Illegal and Substandard Private Schools who collect bribe from proprietors of schools, Commissioner for Education Chibueze Agbo has said.

The commissioner’s threat was sequel to allegations by proprietors that members of the committee have been ex-

From Ogbonnaya Obinna, Abakaliki

torting money from them.

A proprietor of one of the illegal schools in Abakaliki, who did not want his name in print, said a four-man team yesterday visited the school to inspect the facilities in the school. He said the inspectors demanded N50, 000 bribe.

“Since the pronouncement

Rep Akinlaja loses wife

W

IFE of House of Representatives member Joseph Akinlaja is dead. Madam Victoria Onose Akinlaja was 57. She died on November 19 after a brief ill-

ness. She is survived by her husband and sons, Akinlolu and Samson Akintunde. According to a statement by the family, burial arrangements will be announced soon.

of the state government that the Commissioner for Education should immediately proceed on the closure of the illegal and substandard schools pencilled down by the government, different inspectors from the Ministry of Education have been invading our schools.

“The inspectors, during their visit, demand certain amount of money to make good recommendation to the Commissioner that would ensure that our school was not closed down. The first team that visited demanded N50, 000 but since we were certain that by January we would have met all the government criteria, we felt there was no need for the bribe.

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EQUITIES NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 29-11-11

Investor Protection Fund hits N600m •NSE moves to join World Federation of Exchanges

2ND-TIER SECURITIES Company Name LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC PRESCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 23 27

Quotation(N) 0.50 7.41

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 4,000,000 2,000,000.00 622,285 4,538,631.70 4,622,285 6,538,631.70

Quotation(N) 5.11

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 37,006 189,887.86 37,006 189,887.86

Quotation(N) 1.21

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 293,057 359,418.16 293,057 359,418.16

Quotation(N) 4.66 2.89 1.90 4.38 1.38 9.22 14.20 7.71 4.20 1.19 2.49 0.53 0.53 11.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 3,862,665 18,379,127.24 3,617,469 10,422,294.18 238,623 455,336.05 257,001 1,108,944.93 6,155,347 8,408,577.03 33,240,698 308,485,515.89 33,600,379 476,330,870.53 2,657,310 20,123,054.60 15,623,980 64,787,273.48 1,525,525 1,757,989.09 11,405,459 28,302,263.21 18,282,599 9,198,903.99 3,250,924 1,703,758.34 23,806,871 275,422,252.04 157,524,850 1,224,886,160.60

Quotation(N) 202.00 5.70 90.41 1.01

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 252,186 50,699,942.99 190,450 1,085,565.00 2,231,754 201,994,429.67 11,850 11,968.50 2,686,240 253,791,906.16

Quotation(N) 13.54 4.71 105.10 38.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 535,292 7,284,203.23 872,790 4,129,915.10 15,476 1,618,255.57 3,544,234 138,208,802.85 4,967,792 151,241,176.75

Quotation(N) 8.52 16.11 1.02 9.04 0.53

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 33,433 271,623.30 60,982 985,683.90 53,400 51,798.00 50 429.50 480,000 254,400.00 627,865 1,563,934.70

AIR SERVICES Company Name NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 16 16

AUTOMOBILE & TYRE Company Name R. T. BRISCOE (NIGERIA) PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 20 20 BANKING

Company Name ACCESS BANK PLC DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK NIGERIA PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC GTBANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC SKYE BANK PLC. STERLING BANK PLC UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC. UNITYBANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC ZENITH BANK PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 135 64 13 19 74 490 524 37 104 31 215 48 32 281 2,067 BREWERIES

Company Name GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 81 3 186 1 271 BUILDING MATERIALS

Company Name ASHAKA CEMENT PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 47 31 21 35 134 CHEMICAL & PAINTS

Company Name BERGER PAINTS NIGERIA PLC CHEMICAL AND ALLIED PRODUCTS PLC DN MEYER PLC NIGERIAN-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 26 5 1 3 42

COMMERCIAL/SERVICES Company Name COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC RED STAR EXPRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 10 11

Quotation(N) 0.50 2.29

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 50,000 25,000.00 402,687 895,853.23 452,687 920,853.23

COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT Company Name NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. OMATEK VENTURES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 3 5

Quotation(N) 8.87 0.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 1,498 13,302.24 375,000 187,500.00 376,498 200,802.24

Quotation(N) 5.89 30.00 0.58 29.05 26.00

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 330 1,848.00 150,532 4,358,301.02 1,105,200 650,886.36 740,048 21,444,971.64 461,885 11,934,495.39 2,457,995 38,390,502.41

Quotation(N) 38.43 7.89

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 194,925 7,496,206.77 50,567 398,973.63 245,492 7,895,180.40

CONGLOMERATES Company Name JOHN HOLT PLC PZ CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC UAC OF NIGERIA PLC UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 40 24 65 56 186 CONSTRUCTION

Company Name JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC ROADS NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 22 2 24

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Company Name CUTIX PLC INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 1 3

Quotation(N) 1.70 4.90

I

NVESTOR Protection Fund, a pool of funds by dealers on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to safeguard investors against traderelated losses; currently stand at about N600 million, the NSE has said.

The Fund is domiciled with a first generation bank, which the NSE said showed the transparency and integrity it seeks to bring to bear on the operation of the market.

Speaking at the 50th Annual General Meeting of the NDSE yesterday, interim head of council, Mallam Ballama Manu reiterated the commitments of the Exchange to investors’ protection and fairness to all operators.

He said the many rules and changes that the NSE had effected in recent period were aimed at strengthening the market, although some of the rules might initially be perceived as tough.

According to him, the NSE had observed some lapses in the enforcement of post listing rules on quoted companies, particularly as they relate to corporate reporting of interim and final audited accounts while market operators were also below par in the observance of the code of conduct.

“Consequently, under the direction of the Council, Management has taken initiatives to resolve the problem. In relation to our dealing members, new guidelines for their financial reporting for interims have been issued recently and compliance with these new guidelines is being strictly enforced,” Manu said.

He said the principle of fairness as contained in NSE’s mission statement requires that it must continually be guided by the strict adherence to the post-listing rules of the NSE and more importantly the principles of corporate governance while ensuring

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 10,500 17,190.00 20 93.20 10,520 17,283.20

No of Deals 14 31 56 84 54 12 1 22 58 3 335

Quotation(N) 48.00 11.13 5.15 4.60 62.50 2.85 1.21 4.20 400.00 0.50

DAILY SUMMARY AS AT 29-11-11 Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 15,191 717,429.90 357,574 4,023,260.12 860,321 4,444,696.47 3,947,060 18,245,128.60 263,714 16,363,296.20 43,051 119,330.35 500 575.00 132,162 557,347.24 366,297 146,021,305.53 12,500 6,250.00 5,998,370 190,498,619.41

Company Name JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 11 8 13 2 6 40

No of Deals 3 3

Quotation(N) 1.18 25.50 1.97 9.05 1.30

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 1,441,129 1,682,224.93 19,550 473,696.50 157,637 310,591.59 480 4,128.00 142,662 185,460.60 1,761,458 2,656,101.62

Quotation(N) 2.64

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 113,535 299,732.40 113,535 299,732.40

INDUSTRIAL/DOMESTIC PRODUCTS Company Name B. O. C. GASES NIGERIA PLC VITAFOAM NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 7 9

Quotation(N) 6.80 4.80

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 10,000 68,000.00 29,500 140,308.50 39,500 208,308.50

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Company Name CHAMS PLC STARCOMMS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 3 4

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 10,000 5,000.00 19,000 9,500.00 29,000 14,500.00

Quotation(N) 0.52 2.21 0.50 0.53 1.48 0.50 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 2,576,823 1,345,667.96 214,700 473,664.00 1,500 750.00 5,700 3,135.00 3,968,300 5,873,084.00 10,019 5,009.50 10,000 5,000.00 818,040 439,521.60 90,000 45,000.00 3,183,000 1,591,500.00 1,652 1,652.00 500 250.00 10,730,000 5,365,000.00 85,300 42,650.00 21,695,534 15,191,884.06

INSURANCE Company Name No of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. 34 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC 7 GREAT NIGERIA INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 2 GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC 2 GUARANTY TRUST ASSURANCE PLC 13 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 3 LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. 1 LAW UNION AND ROCK INSURANCE PLC. 15 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC 2 N.E.M. INSURANCE CO. (NIG.) PLC. 6 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE PLC. 1 UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC 1 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC 11 INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INSURANCE PLC 6 Sector Totals 104 MARITIME

Quotation(N) 0.66

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 1,808,752 1,200,877.62 1,808,752 1,200,877.62

MORTGAGE COMPANIES No of Deals 1 2 3

Quotation(N) 0.50 0.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 50,000 25,000.00 800 400.00 50,800 25,400.00

OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

HOTEL & TOURISM Company Name IKEJA HOTEL PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 69 69

Company Name ASO SAVINGS AND LOAND PLC RESORT SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Sector Totals

HEALTHCARE Company Name FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXOSMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC Sector Totals

fairness to all our stakeholders.

“No doubt some of the actions taken so far may have been rather drastic, we took them believing they are noble and would in the medium to long-term propel the Nigerian stock market on the path to a self sustaining growth. For us to be taken seriously as a global player, we must work by the rules and ensure strict adherence as obtained in other climes,” Manu noted.

He said the NSE has renewed efforts to fulfill the requirements for membership of the World Federation of Exchange (WFE) as it set a baseline for improving the governance structure of the Exchange as well as the market at large.

Meanwhile, the intervention of the former president of the Exchange, Dr. Oba Otudeko saved nominees who were co-opted into the council of the NSE by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from being voted out of the council yesterday.

The nominees included the interim Head of Council, Mallam Balama Manu, Mr. Nsa Harrison, Mrs. Yemisi Ayeni, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, Mr. Bismark Rewane, Mrs. Dorothy Ufot, Mr. Hassan Usman among others.

Trouble started when the council of the NSE called for the adoption of the nominees for another financial year.

Stockbrokers led by the former president of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr. Micheal Itegoje, managing director of Compass Investment Securities Limited, Mr. Emeka

Madubuike and the president of Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, Alhaji Rashidi Yussuff respectively kicked against their adoption, saying that the nominees should go for the election, which might have seen most of them being voted out.

Itegboje said the current composition of the council of the NSE was not clearly specified and might be a major hindrance to making the capital market attractive to investors.

Specifically, dealing member firms and stockbrokers requested for an effective date for the exit of the interim arrangement on the Council of the NSE, one year after their appointment by the SEC. The stockbrokers expressed support for the management of the NSE and called for an effective and speedy resolution of the issues that led to the sacking of the NSE management in 2010.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian stock market remained on the negative as the benchmark index slipped by 0.51 per cent to close at 20,000.76 points.

Similarly, market capitalisation dropped by N32.24 billion to close at N6.294 trillion.

The downturn was largely due to losses suffered by some highly capitalised companies including Access Bank, Dangote Sugar, First Bank, Nestle Nigeria, Skye Bank, Lafarge WAPCO, GT Bank, UBA and Zenith Bank.

Total turnover stood at 209.99 million valued at N1.95 billion in 3,743 deals as against 129.47 million shares worth N1.02 billion exchanged in 3,116 deals recorded in the previous day.

With this, the year-to-date return at the NSE stood at a negative 19.26 per cent.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE

FOOD/BEVERAGES & TOBACCO Company Name 7-UP BOTTLING CO. PLC CADBURY NIGERIA PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIGERIA PLC HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC NATIONAL SALT COMPANY NIGERIA PLC NESTLE NIGERIA PLC UTC NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

By Taofik Salako and Tonia Osundolire

Company Name CRUSADER NIGERIA PLC. DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND TRUST PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 1 3 4

Quotation(N) 0.50 2.02

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 2,000 1,000.00 10,200 20,604.00 12,200 21,604.00

Quotation(N) 1.73

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 996,594 1,695,829.84 996,594 1,695,829.84

PACKAGING Company Name NIGERIAN BAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 45 45

PETROLEUM(MARKETING) Company Name BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA OIL & GAS PLC. FORTE OIL PLC MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC. OANDO PLC TOTAL NIGERIA PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 2 5 12 12 32 13 151 13 240

Quotation(N) 0.50 63.86 35.00 3.44 15.52 141.00 25.95 200.00

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 3,500.00 7,000 4,892 297,658.39 18,030 631,052.46 90,006 296,669.68 108,775 1,710,322.85 9,326 1,256,446.25 1,007,394 25,953,050.96 24,897 4,730,430.50 1,270,320 34,879,131.09

PRINTING & PUBLISHING Company Name UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 7 7

Quotation(N) 3.70

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 149,040 546,518.00 149,040 546,518.00

Quotation(N) 12.26

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 270,774 3,323,108.92 270,774 3,323,108.92

REAL ESTATE Company Name UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 14 14

ROAD TRANSPORTATION Company Name ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Sector Totals

No of Deals 4 4

Quotation(N) 0.50

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 107,835 53,917.50 107,835 53,917.50

THE FOREIGN LISTINGS Company Name ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED Sector Totals Overall Totals

No of Deals 50 50

Quotation(N) 10.82

Quantity TradedValue of Shares (N) 1,388,743 14,748,264.75 1,388,743 14,748,264.75

3,737

209,994,742

1,951,359,535.12

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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011

FOREIGN NEWS Sudan expels Kenyan ambassador SUDAN has ordered the expulsion of the Kenyan ambassador after a Kenyan judge issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s foreign ministry has said.

Mr Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Sudan has ordered the Kenyan ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours.

It has also ordered the Sudanese ambassador in Kenya to return to Khartoum.

Mr Bashir was the first head of state to be indicted by the ICC, which accused him of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

He denies the charges, saying they are politically motivated.

The High Court in Nairobi on Monday issued the arrest warrant for President Bashir after Kenya allowed him to visit the country in August in defiance of an ICC warrant for his arrest.

Kenya’s Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told the BBC he expected Attorney General Githu Muigai to appeal against the ruling.

Mr Bashir enjoyed “sovereign immunity” and the African Union (AU) had decided that member states should “disregard” the ICC’s arrest warrant, he said.

Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray sentenced to four years C ONRAD Murray, the United States doctor convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson, has been sentenced to four years in county jail.

Murray was found guilty earlier this month after a sixweek trial.

Judge Michael Pastor told the court that while Murray was legally eligible for probation, he did not think his actions showed he was suitable.

He said the evidence in the case showed a “continuous pattern of lies and deceit” by Murray.

Prosecutors and defence will return in January 2012 to discuss the prosecution’s request for restitution to Jackson’s family.

While the prosecution successfully argued for the maximum term, Murray’s lawyers asked that he be kept on probation, saying he is serving “a lifetime sentence of self-punishment”.

Defence lawyer Ed Chernoff said he would already be punished for life by being known as “the man who killed Michael Jackson”.

In addition, Murray could still lose his licence to practise medicine.

As the sentencing hearing began a family friend of the Jackson family, lawyer Brian Panish, read a statement on behalf of the family.

Expressing their sense of loss for their “son, husband, brother and father”, the statement said the court should impose a suitable sentence.

“We respectfully request that you impose a sentence that demonstrates that physicians cannot sell their services to the highest bidder and lose sight of their Hippocratic oath,” Mr Panish read.

In a sentencing memorandum delivered to Judge Michael Pastor in advance of

T

HE International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Ivory Coast’s former strongman, who refused to accept his loss in last year’s election and nearly dragged the country into civil war in a bid to stay in power.

Ex-President Laurent Gbagbo has been under house arrest for the past seven months, secluded in a tiny village in the country’s far north ever since he was ousted by internationally backed forces.

Paris-based Gbagbo lawyer Emmanuel Altit said the In-

ternational Criminal Court issued the order Tuesday to his client through Ivory Coast state prosecutors. In Abidjan, Gbagbo spokesman Kone Katinan confirmed that he had received a telephone call Tuesday saying a team from the Hague was coming to transport the former ruler to the Netherlands.

The ICC’s move, which comes almost exactly a year to the day after Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election, threatens to stoke lingering divisions in this country that was brought to the brink of civil war by the election stand-

off.

If he is transferred to the Hague, Gbagbo will become the first former head of state to be taken into custody by the international tribunal.

The development was applauded by human rights groups that have collected hundreds of pages of testimony from victims of Gbagbo’s forces. But they also cautioned that it sends the message of victor’s justice, because grave abuses were also committed by forces loyal to the country’s democratically elected leader, Alassane Ouattara.

T

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

day by the ECOWAS Commission was launched in 2004 following the adoption of the road map and was initially expected to have been concluded in 2007 but remained inconclusive due to divergences between the two parties.

At the Accra meeting, the Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Honourable Hanna Tetteh on Monday urged regional experts involved with the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU to help the region avoid a situation where the non conclusion of the agreement will leave

the region with different trade regimes.

In December 2010, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana initialled an interim agreement with the EU in order not to lose the preferences they enjoy in exporting to countries of the EU. But the interim agreement is expected to lapse with the conclusion of the regional EPA.

•Conrad Murray

Michael Jackson died on 25 June 2009 from an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol.

He had been out of the public eye for several years but was preparing for a series of comeback performances at the O2 arena in London.

Anders Breivik declared insane over Norway terror attacks

ICC issues arrest warrant for Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo

ECOWAS experts brainstorm on free trade pact with EU O finalize the negotiation for a free trade agreement between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU), experts from the ECOWAS region are brainstorming on the issue in Accra, Ghana.

The agreement, according to a statement issued yester-

Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Walgren said Murray had shown no remorse for Jackson’s death.

Defence lawyers argued that Murray had done a huge service to the community throughout his life, including donating supplies to Caribbean doctors and opening a clinic in the poorest area of Houston, Texas.

“I do wonder though to what extent the court considers the entirety of a man’s book of life, as opposed to one chapter,” Mr Chernoff said, adding that Murray could better serve the community on probation.

•Breivik

A

NDERS Breivik has been found to have been insane at the time of the Norway terror attacks and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Psychiatrists Torgeir Husby and Synne Sorheim compiled the report on Breivik after conducting 13 conversations with the self admitted attacker, also reviewing more than 130 hours of police questioning.

Breivik lived in his “own delusional universe where all his thoughts and acts are guided by his delusions,” the 240page report found.

Public prosecutor Svein Holden said: “They (Husby and Sorheim) conclude that Anders Behring Breivik during a long period of time has

developed the mental disorder of paranoid schizophrenia, which has changed him and made him into the person he is today.”

“He believes he is chosen to decide who is to live and who is to die,” he added.

“Breivik stated that he committed these ‘executions’ out of love for his people. He describes himself as the most perfect knight since the Second World War.” Breivik is set to appear on trial on 16 April though the issued report may affect this planned hearing. The conclusion will also have an influence on Breivik’s punishment with long term psychiatric care a possibility over long term incarceration.

The report’s findings are not legally binding but hold significance in the upcoming trial.

Breivik admitted to the attacks in Oslo and on Utoya Island on 22 July which claimed 77 lives. He claimed not guilty to the charges after denouncing the Norwegian government for the “mass import of Muslims”.

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Tomorrow in THE NATION

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

VOL.7 NO.1960

‘As if to bring Fukuyama to reality, Samuel P. Huntington an influential American political scientist (1927-2008) prophesied that western liberalism would eventually be challenged by global Islam in what he suggested would constitute “a clash JIDE OSUNTOKUN of civilisations’

COMMENT & DEB ATE EBA

L

AST Monday, I chaired the 12th Annual Colloquium of the Ajasin Foundation.

The foundation, whose 12-man board of trustees headed by retired 80-year old Rt Rev Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi, is based in Owo, home town of late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, the first elected governor of Ondo State (1979 -1983) and a founding father of the Action Group, the leading opposition party in the First Republic (1960 to 1966) and the ruling party in Western Region during the period.

The colloquium, however, held in Akure, the state capital. Its theme, “Is Nigeria a failing state?” couldn’t have been more apt given the crisis of nation- statehood that seems to have gripped our country, a crisis symptomatised by the rising threat of Boko Haram to our national security and rooted in the general sheer incompetence, selfishness and impunity of our leadership in virtually all sectors and at all levels of society but particularly so at the centre.

In his welcome address, the Rt Rev Gbonigi seemed of the view that Nigeria is not just failing as a state but has already failed.

“Whether you settle for the former or the latter,” he said, “the crux of the matter is that the ravaging socio-economic, political, environmental, moral, religious cankerworms plaguing Nigeria today have been identified as the fundamental attributes of a failed state...What other label or name should a country that has invariably failed in its responsibility to be sensitive to the plight and predicament of its citizenry deserve?”

The reverend put the blame for the country’s predicament squarely on the shoulders of its leadership. “If,” he said, “(Libya’s) Ghaddafi deserved a bullet in the head in spite of the prosperity he bequeathed to the Libyan state and its people but fell short of ruling the country along human rights and democratic lines, how many bullets do our leaders deserve for the insanity and rots that have pervaded every nook and cranny of the Nigerian state?”

Governor Rauf Aregbeshola of Osun State was billed to give the keynote speech but was inadvertently absent. Instead Chief Ayo Opadokun, a well-known chieftain of NADECO, the main battle tank of the fight for the realisation of “June 12” up until the departure of the military from power in 1999, spoke ex-tempore and eloquently on the governor’s behalf and came to the conclusion that though the Nigerian state is yet to fail it looks certain to do so sooner than later. That is, he said, unless a sovereign conference of the country’s ethnic nationalities is convoked to overhaul the country’s “rules of engagement.” This was hardly a surprising prescription for a NADECO chieftain.

Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, two-term speaker of the Lagos State House of Assem-

People and Politics By MOHAMMED HARUNA ndajika@yahoo.com

Stemming Nigeria’s descent into a failed state

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Unless and until each and every one accepts to do his own bit for society and adopts the attitude, that bit, no matter how small, will make a difference between society’s decay...

•Map of Nigeria

bly before he went to the senate, spoke on the topic of confederation as a solution to the country’s crisis of nation-statehood. His conclusion seemed to be that true confederation has never really worked anywhere in the world and is not likely to do so in Nigeria. However, for the Nigerian federation to work, he said, its six unofficial geopolitical zones, Southsouth, Southeast, Southwest, Northcentral, Northeast and Northwest should become autonomous with each zone free to make its own laws but ceding areas like foreign policy and the military to the centre.

Mr Theophilus Adebowale, a youthful lecturer at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, spoke on the role of leadership and followership in Nigeria in creating the crisis of the country’s nation-statehood.

True, he said, Nigeria has had a serious crisis of leadership. For him, however, it seemed that of a lethargic followership was

RIPPLES PDP'll rule Nigeria for decades, says Lamido

HARDBALL

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Can’t and won’t somebody stop Assad’s murderous crackdown?

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… and that will be decades of WAILING, WEEPING and MOURNING

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even worse.

Nigerians as followers, he said, have far too easily allowed their leaders to get away even with blue murder and unless they end their lethargy and rise to challenge their leaders’ impunity, the failure of the country as a state is a foregone conclusion. It was, however, not clear, at least to me, how he thought Nigerians could end their lethargy without someone or some group taking the lead in getting them to, as they say in civil rights activist circles, organise rather than merely agonise.

A communiqué was to have been issued at the end of the colloquium but it was not. Rather it ended on a rather chaotic note when the organisers unwisely started distributing snacks and drinks among the audience as we moved into what would most probably have been a more interesting finale of audience participation.

However, even without a communiqué it was pretty obvious, from the reactions of the audi-

ence to the speeches from the high table as well as the reactions to the interventions from the floor before the decent into chaos, that our youthful lecturer, Mr Adebowale, was in a minority in his conclusion that poor followership among Nigerians was more to blame for Nigeria’s predicament than its poor leadership. And the audience, I believe, was right in not sharing his position.

No doubt lethargy among ordinary Nigerians is a fundamental problem. Certainly there is a lot to be said for the aphorism that a people get the leaders they deserve.

At the same time it is also a historical fact, indeed human nature, that no society has ever changed without an individual or a group providing the appropriate leadership, invariably in spite of the power of the status quo.

Several things have made it impossible for this kind of leadership to emerge in Nigeria.

One of them is that our system which by and large used to reward hard work and honesty seemed to have gone into the reverse of rewarding sloth and dishonesty, beginning from when oil became the king of public finance from the late ‘60s, and worsened by the militarisation of our politics from 1966.

Another, and perhaps the most important factor of them all, is our general notion of leadership. For almost all of us the leader is that fellow on top of the heap whether we put him there or he imposed himself on us. We forget, perhaps conveniently so, that each of us has a role to play in moving society forward and that that role implies leadership, no matter how seemingly insignificant it is, at one’s own level.

Each of us, as both the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Bible or whatever deity you believe in say, is a shepherd and will be held accountable for his “flock” or whatever he was entrusted with, no matter how big or small, if not right here on earth, certainly in the hereafter.

Unless and until each and every one accepts to do his own bit for society and adopts the attitude, that bit, no matter how small, will make a difference between society’s decay and progress, our country is guaranteed to fail as a state, perhaps sooner than the 2015 the Americans predicted in 2002, a prediction which predictably provoked so much indignation among our leaders.

More than Senator Mamora’s restructuring of our Federation, more than Chief Opadokun’s NADECO mantra of sovereign conference of the country’s ethnic nationalities (assuming that this is indeed a solution, an assumption I do not share), I believe it is this acceptance that each of us is a leader in his own right and at his own level that will stop Nigeria from continuing its steep descent into failed statehood.

HE bitter and bloody crackdown in Syria is nowhere nearing an end.

President Bashar Assad seems determined to crush pro-democracy protesters in his country wherever they can be found, and is unfazed by the rising casualty figure directly caused by his forces’ brutality. Avaaz, an international rights group, has estimated that since March when the protests began more than 1,700 unarmed protesters have been killed by security forces, 26,000 arrested, and a staggering 30,000 have disappeared and can’t be traced to any detention centre. The scale of the crackdown is so benumbing that fellow Arab countries have begun to distance themselves from Assad’s murderous rage. Many European countries have also condemned the killing spree, while the International Criminal Court may be preparing to bare its fangs against the intransigent leader.

Assad’s crackdown is so horrifying that even Bahrain, which recently needed the help of Saudi Arabia to contain the effects of its own Arab Spring, has strongly deplored the killings and recalled its ambassador in Damascus for consultation. Kuwait is not left

out in taking diplomatic action against Syria, worsening Assad’s growing isolation. Saudi Arabia’s denunciation is probably the most evocative. Saudi King Abdullah, who has called for an end to “the killing machine and bloodshed” in Syria, issued a statement warning that “Any sane Arab, Muslim or anyone else knows that this has nothing to do with religion, or ethics or morals; spilling the blood of the innocent for any reasons or pretext leads to no path to ... hope.” Saudi Arabia has also recalled its ambassador from the troubled country. Neighbouring Turkey, which is bearing the brunt of the refugee exodus, has strongly denounced Assad and added its voice to the growing call for the Syrian leader to respect the dignity and rights of his people.

Though Western nations have been cautious in their reaction to the Arab Spring in order not to be seen as fomenting or promoting dissent in Islamic countries, especially given the geopolitics of the region, the scale and brutality of the crackdown have so offended human feelings and civilised norms that it no longer makes sense to be restrained in tackling the madness in Damascus. It is, therefore, not enough to condemn Assad, or to merely warn of the interven-

tion of the International Criminal Court. It is time to match words with action. Syria’s neighbours have shown the way; they must now be assisted vigorously by the rest of the world.

Damascus should not only be completely isolated, Assad, his family, government officials, and military and security chiefs must be individually isolated and marked down for prosecution.

The world demonstrates little patience with crimes against humanity in regional and international wars. It must now send a strong message that it would be even more impatient with murderous leaders who terrorise their own people in order to extend the life of their governments. Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was in power for about 30 years; Zine Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia was in office for about 24 years; Muammar Gaddafi has been in power for about 42 years; and the Assad family has ruled Syria for about 40 years. As Egypt and Tunisia demonstrated, the forces and spirit behind the fight for political change are usually extremely difficult to defeat, no matter how bloody the crackdown. Syria will not be an exception.

•This article first appeared on August 10

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