BOKO HARAM BOMBS MAIDUGURI: Over 100 feared dead

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How to end Boko Haram insurgency, by Sultan, Atiku

BY TAYE OBATERU, Jos

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HE Sultan of Soko to, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has called for a collective effort towards tackling the menace of terrorism, poverty and unemployment in the country saying they are not peculiar to any section or religion.

He spoke yesterday during a visit to the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba just as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar stressed the need for a government backed – civilian militia action to fight Boko Haram Islamist group. The Sultan urged Nigerians not to see the challenges facing the nation as that of any section or religion.

The Sultan, who was in Plateau State to attend the meeting of the Alumni Association of the National Institute, Kuru, said traditional rulers as custodians of the customs and traditions of the people had a lot to do in fashioning solutions to the country’s problems. ”All of us as Nigerian citizens have common problems as Christians or Muslims, whether it is extremism, terrorism, poverty, unemployment, children dropping out of school and poor infrastructure at every level and these are the problems all of us must come together to solve. We must continue to close ranks for the sake of our people,” Abubakar stated. ”No doubt, we will be able to solve these common

problems if we are united as a people. We can’t overcome these challenges if we are divided hence our unity is not negotiable”, he said.

The Gbong Gwom in welcoming the Sultan agreed that the problems confronting the country could not be left to those in government alone to resolve as they require the effort of every Nigerian.

Atiku, in a statement, said, yesterday, that there was the urgent need for a government-backed civilian militia action if the activities of members of Boko Haram must be brought to a halt.

The former VP made a strong call for the use of local militia as the way to tackle the insurgency, saying the time has come where all hands must be on deck, rather than waste energy on trade of blame.

“We are all guilty of expending endless energy on handwringing and the trading of blame, none of

L-R: Chairman, Board of Directors, Senior Citizens Care Foundation, SCCF, Prince Adesumbo Ajibola; a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN; Excellence Award recipient/Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; during the conferment of the award ceremony by the SCCF on the governor, in Ado-Ekiti. which is able to save lives or change the status quo,” he said.

Atiku continued: “Boko Haram continues to leave a trail of blood and tears

in its wake. On Tuesday February 25, in the early hours of Tuesday February 25, barely six months after a similar attack, a band of murderers invaded the Fed-

eral Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, wielding explosives and guns and machetes, slaughtering more than 40 boys in cold blood.

”In light of this, I’ve got some suggestions, focusing on solutions.

First is regarding the use of local militias. ”When the President, in his most recent media chat, spoke about the government’s successes at pushing Boko Haram to the “fringes” of the North-east, it immediately occurred to me that some of the credit for that should go to the ‘civilian JTF’ – the band of youth in and around Maiduguri who have taken it upon themselves to act as a vigilante force to fight Boko Haram. ”I acknowledge that talk of a government-backed civilian militia is a controversial matter, but I do not think that should stop us from debating and seriously considering the matter, including it in our list of possible measures. Especially as we’ve seen it work in flushing the militants out of Maiduguri.

Over 100 die as explosions rock Maiduguri Continued from page 1 to have killed dozens of the fans in a ‘viewing centre’ when suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated at about 6pm.

The second explosion, it was learnt, went off as rescuers rushed to the scene, killing many more.

In another location, Dugolong village, in Askira Uba local government

area of the state, about 20 persons were allegedly killed.

It was not clear if the incident was a terror attack or resulted from airstrikes as an airforce fighter jet was said to have been spotted around the scene at the time of attack.

Meanwhile, a female student of the state college of education, Waka, in Biu LGA was said to have been

slaughtered by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Friday.

In the Maiduguri attack, fans, according to an eye witness, were watching football in a ‘viewing centre’ when the explosion occurred.

“The explosion apparently left about 70 dead,” the eye witness said.

The blast was said to have attracted many people

nearby including wedding guests who launched a rescue operation.

“Moments after the rescue operation got underway, another explosion went off, killing many more and wounding several others.”

The eye witness believed the second explosion was detonated from two pick up vans disguised as selling firewood.

“As I am talking to you now, we have counted over 70 corpses. Even then, some have been taken to hospital, dead or injured.

We probably have at least 100 dead,” he added.

In the Dugolong attack, report said insurgents laid an ambush which killed over 20 people, while another version said the deaths resulted from air

Continues on page 7

How I escaped death, by Gov Nyako

BY SONI DANIEL

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OVERNOR Mur tala Nyako of Ad amawa State, who survived a gun attack, on Friday, in Shuwa, yesterday, narrated his narrow escape.

Nyako defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, last December along with four other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors. He said it was by the grace of God that he escaped the bullets fired by some men close to a

military checkpoint.

Speaking through his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Sajoh, the governor said he was convinced the assailants wanted to eliminate him given that the attack happened in broad daylight.

Sajoh said the governor and his entourage were about to depart Shuwa at about 12:33pm after addressing some victims of a terror attack when Nyako noticed some people across the road close to a military checkpoint.

The aide explained that

as Nyako made to cross the road and greet some men and women, who had gathered to receive him, some unknown gunmen started firing at him. ”Before the gunshots started, we heard, “Ga su nan, ga su nan”, as soldiers at the checkpoint ran menacingly towards a stationary armoured vehicle. ”The gunfire came from the direction of the soldiers, “ Nyako’s spokesman claimed. ”The sporadic shooting created so much tension and confusion that everyone made spirited attempts to board his vehic l e . ”The courageous and gallant security details

around the governor pulled him off his official car into one of their vehicles. ”As an ex-military man, Nyako was trying to identify the source of the fire and he was unperturbed. ”The top military officers accompanying the governor on the visit were also protected by their security details. It was an interesting scenario. Other people around made spirited efforts to board their vehicles while others just jumped into the back of any vehicle especially pick up vans, to escape being hit by bullets. ”The governor was forced by the gun attack to cut short his sympathy visit to the terror victims and returned to

Yola, the state capital, at about 1.00pm.

Although it was a Friday when the governor and other Muslim faithful would have stopped to observe their prayers in accordance with Islamic injunctions, the bullets forced everyone to scamper for his life and nothing of such was remembered.

The governor ’s spokesman said before the gunfire erupted, his principal was received at the border of Michika Local Government Area by a large number of people including community leaders and traditional rulers.

Members of the community were said to have lined

the street waving at the governor. The damage recorded in the town was reportedly monumental.

A journalist resident in Michika, Mr. Emmanuel Kwache, told Nyako he was a victim and that he lost five rooms in their family compound, seven bags of maize, two bags of beans, two bags of groundnuts, one pick-up van loaded with soft drinks and personal effects. Others had far greater losses.

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Ogun celebrates centenary of first Nigeria international boundary

BY DAUD OLATUNJI, Abeokuta

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RADITIONAL rul ers and prominent natives of the Egun and Yoruba communities of Ijofin, Igbeji and Owo in Ipokia local government, Ogun State, yesterday, celebrated the 100 years of existence of the first internal boundary of Nigeria.

Following the amalgamation of 1914, the first international boundary between the Bristishrun Nigeria and the French-run Benin Republic was situated at Ijofin.

The Commissioner of

Etsako insists on 2015 senatorial ticket

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N enlarged gather ing of Etsako leaders in the three local government areas that make up Edo North have opted to sink their political differences, and have resolved to vie for the Edo North sole senatorial ticket in 2015 which they claimed is their rightful turn.

The gathering which took place in Auchi, the administrative headquarters of Edo North senatorial district attracted past and present members of National and State House of Assembly which includes Hon. Abubakar Momoh of House of Representatives and Abdul Razaq Momoh of Edo State House of Assembly, past and present political office holders, former chairmen of three Etsako LGAs, religious and traditional leaders.

Chairman and convener of the meeting, Chief Usman Shagadi said all the Etsako leaders decided to sink their differences and work hard for Etsako’s political glory.

the state Civil Service Commission, Honourable Abayomi Hunye, said that the late Johnson Whehuwede, an Egun man, was the one chosen by the British authorities to hoist the flag then known as Union Jack to mark the boundary between Nigeria and the French-controlled Dahomey.

He said the centenary celebration became necessary and important to the people as one of the forefathers was the one who hoisted the flag of the colonial master, Britain, during the event.

According to Hunye, “history has shown that the Egun have played significant roles leading to the creation of the entity today called Nigeria.

It is worthy to note that the Union Jack, as the British flag was then known, was hoisted by

an Egun man, the name of who was Johnson Whehuwede.”

Present at the occasion were, the Ololo of Ijofin, Oba Moruf Awode, Onigbeji of Igbeji, Oba Sunday Aihawu and the Olowo of Owo, Oba Patrick Akwanu and many other traditional chiefs.

A former Director General in the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Michael Kiki Gadonu, enjoined all natives of the communities to come and develop their ancestral homes noting that if government refused to help them, they should result to self-help.

The community leadership regretted that government did not participate in the event.

The first Customs office structure was also built there, but deserted and dilapidated.

Centenary: Jonathan has restored Nigeria’s unity — PDP

BY HENRY UMORU, Abuja

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ATIONAL leader ship of the Peo ples Democratic Party, PDP, said, yesterday, that with the centenary celebrations, President Goodluck Jonathan has helped to restore the nation’s unity, just as it stressed that the events have ushered in a new and beautiful era of oneness, brotherliness, unity and peace in Nigeria.

The PDP also called for constructive criticisms, saying all forms of bigotry must end. It is said the world was watching Nigeria where we must put all the problems behind us and move the country forward, adding that Jonathan, former President Olusegun

Obasanjo, former Head of State and a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, and others coming together during the celebration was an indication that their political misunderstanding did not get to the bones.

In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, the PDP, while noting that the centenary celebration has brought a new era in the country, stressed that the party was very proud of Jonathan for organizing the events which“ not only succeeded in putting the nation on the international arena to showcase our best but also fostered unity and genuine reconciliation among our leaders and the people.”

Centenary: Family faults govt over Biafran leader

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO USTODIANS of the Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Amichi in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State have frowned at the exclusion of the late Chief Benjamin Atuchukwu in the centenary post-humous award.

According to the custodians, it was an oversight on the part of government to have excluded Atuchukwu in the list of awardees. They argued that it was inside his house in Amichi that the declaration of the end to the Nigerian/Biafran civil was negotiated and adopted on January 13, 1970.

In a press statement in

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Onitsha, Anambra State, signed on their behalf by Sir Joe Atuchukwu and Chief Nto Akuchukwu, sons of the patriach, the custodians wondered why Atuchukwu’s name was missing in the list of awardees even as the Federal Government, through the National Commission for Museum and Monument, NCMM, declared his home a Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution. ”It is disheartening that after converting the late Atuchukwu’s compound into a Peace and Conflict Resolution Center and, at the same time, recognizing it as a national monument by exhibiting some rare artifacts at the center, the Federal Government did not deem it necessary to give him a

post-humous award, neither did the government release funds to the family to ease the inconveniences they are currently undergoing as a result of the visits of tourists, students and scholars at the center,” they said.

•From right; Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, his wife, Obioma, and Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State at the funeral of Imoke's in-law, Sir Valentine Nwosu, in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Friday

Nigeria doomed without National Conference — Braithwaite

*Says principalities out to scuttle confab

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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FORMER presi dential aspirant, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, says principalities and powers were out to frustrate the proposed National Conference, saying that without the confab, the dream of a new Nigeria would remain bleak.

He also stressed the need for Christians not to only support the conference through prayers, but also participate actively in every way.

Braithwaite, who was the guest speaker at a 50th anniversary lecture entitled: The Church Today, convened by the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, said this in Lagos.

He admonished Christians to get involved in political activities to salvage the country..

His words: “In a recent lecture I delivered at the Apostolic Church on the issue of the imminent National Conference in Nigeria, I had this to say, on the compelling duty and the necessity of Christians, especially the regenerate ones, to be fully involved in the conference. Even right now, principalities and powers are at work night and day

to scuttle the conference.

Without a successful conference , birthing a completely new country would be impossible.

The country ’s foreseeable picture would be bleak. ‘’Notwithstanding, there are on the boat of Nigeria, multitude of ethnic nationalities with diverse cultures and religious faith. We are all God’s creatures, bonded together by the love and fear of God. It is clearly wrong and uncharitable for any religion to set it-

Bishop Gbonigi loses wife

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure HE 81-year-old wife of the convener of the Yoruba Unity Forum and retired Bishop of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Akure Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi, Mrs Alice Ebun Gbonigi, is dead.

She died yesterday af-

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nities will have cause to smile as Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc., operators of the NPDC/ SEPLAT joint venture returns with the 3rd edition of its very popular Eye Can See CSR programme.

The programme, a key component of SEPLAT’s Corporate Social Investment, is a health focused community engagement

initiative which focuses on bringing free, qualitative and comprehensive eye care to members of its host communities.

The programme, which is now in its 3rd year, has reached over 4,000 people and will extend to another 2,000 this year.

A statement released by the company noted that “SEPLAT will continue to prosecute far reaching community engagement initiatives such as Eye Can

ter a protracted illness.

Family sources said in Akure that she died two days after she was discharged from hospital.

Gbonigi was in mournful mood when Sunday Vanguard visited his Oba-Ile residence in Akure yesterday.

All he could say was that his wife of over “50 years was loving and caring”.

Uduehi under pressure to join Delta guber race

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group under the aegis of Delta Pro-

Seplat’s Eye Can See programme returns HE blind and visual T ly impaired members of SEPLAT’s host commu-

self above other faith. ‘’Finally, in answer to the question on the role of the Church of Christ in the impending National Conference, our role should not be limited to prayers only. We must go out there armed with faith, determination and commitment to righteousness and be fully involved in the generational duty of salvaging our freedoms. Christians should not leave politics because it is dirty. They must go there as salt to purify it.’’

See in our host and impact communities because we believe in enhancing and improving the quality of life of the average Nigerian, especially those in our communities.

A blind man is a burden and we are committed to relieving members of our host community of that burden with such a laudable initiative as this which empower them by impacting positively on their health and wellbeing.”

gressive Youth Movement, DPYM, has urged Rt. Hon. Dame Esther Uduehi to vie for the gubernatorial seat of Delta State in 2015.

The group’s President, Prince Uchechukwu Ossai, after a meeting of the group in Asaba, said the group took the decision because Uduehi possessed the qualities of a good leader.

Ossai described Uduehi as a worthy Deltan from Delta North whose political intentions will bring more dividends of democracy and enthrone good governance in the state.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014 — PAGE 7

Long queues at filling stations as fuel scarcity returns

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

34 days after Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, warned of impending fuel scarcity due to the depletion of their stock, long queues of vehicles have re surfaced in filling stations across the country.

The oil marketers have apparently been unable to replenish their stock following the failure of the Federal Government to settle their outstanding subsidy claims, totalling about N120 billion for the third and fourth quarters of 2013.

The Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, warning of looming fuel scarcity, last month,had appealed to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, to release the import allocation for the first quarter of 2014, explaining that its members had 45,000 metric tons which is about 60 million litres of fuel left in their storage facilities.

According to him, two of its six members had run out of petroleum products, while the remaining four members had stocks that would last for only five days if they were not replenished. The major marketers, who account for 60 per cent of petroleum products supply in the country, are Total, Conoil, Mobil, MRS and Forte Oil. He noted that 2013 ended on a very tall hope because some payment was received and products were brought into the country.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, dismissed MOMAN’s claims and urged

members of the public to avoid panic buying of petrol as there was enough fuel in the country.

IPMAN President Mr. Aminu Abdulkadri, said fuel supply situation in the country was stable. He said, “There is no scarcity of fuel in the country. The marketers and Nigerians should stop sending wrong signals over scarcity of petroleum products.

“We are loading petroleum products adequately from all

NNPC depots across the country and we don’t think there is any imminent scarcity because the NNPC has assured us of sufficient stock.”

He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary had sufficient stock in its marine reserves and in the national strategic reserves that would ensure that the country remained wet with petroleum products round the clock.

Couple arrested over underaged prostitutes

BY OLA AJAYI, Ibadan

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our commercial sex workers and a couple

believed to have hired them have been arrested by the Oyo State Police Command in Ibadan. The couple are said to be owners

of the brothel where the alleged under-aged girls were used as prostitutes.

They were rounded up at Orita Aperin in Ibadan North East local government area of the state. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Olabisi Ilobanafor, said

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igerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) has stressed the need to institute adequate control of metal recycling and production industries to guard against radiation.

“Several accidents involving radioactive sources have occurred in the metal recycling and production industries, hence the need to institute adequate control of these sources,” the acting Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NNRA, Dr

one of the girls who refused to have sex with one of the customers of the couple ran to some people for help.

While parading the suspects, Mr Mohammed Indabawa, the Commissioner of Police in the state, said the girls were under-aged.However, the girls claimed they were

aged 20, 22, 20 and 23 years respectively. Ilobanafor said when one of the girls living with the couple was arranged for sex with a man, but protested because she did not know that was the purpose for which she was engaged by the hotel operators. When she was to be forced, according to the

PPRO, she ran out of the place and reported to some people, who then alerted the police.

The owners of the hotel were said to have employed the girls as bar attendants but used them as commercial sex workers. One of the girls confessed that they were being used as prostitutes and paid N1,000 every Monday.

Why I rejected centenary award — Soyinka

BY WALE AKINOLA

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ob el laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, said, yesterday, he rejected his nomination for centenary award by the Federal Government because he could not share the award with the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who he described as a “murderer and thief of no redeeming quality”.

“I can’t think of nothing more grotesque and derisive of the lifetime struggle of several of this (Honours) List and their selfless services to humanity”, Soyinka said in a statement entitled, `The Canonisation of Terror ’.

“I reject my share of this national insult”, he added.Listing some of the atrocities that took place under Abacha that made the late Nigerian leader of undeserving of the cente-

*‘Can’t share honours with Abacha’ nary award, the Nobel Laureate said: “It is a confidence trick that speaks volumes of the perpetrators of

such a fraud. We shall pass over – for instance – the slave mentality that concocts loose formulas for an Honours List that automatically elevate any violent bird of passage to the status of nation builders who may, or may not be demonstrably motivated by genuine love of nation. Accordingly, generalized but false attributes to known killers and treasury robbers is a disservice to history and a desecration of memory. I t also compromises the future.

This failure to discriminate, to assess, and thereby make it possible to grudgingly concede that even out of a ‘doctrine of necessity’ – such as military dictatorship - some demonstrable governance virtue may emerge, reveals nothing but national self-glorification in a moral void, the breeding grounds of future cankerworm in the nation’s

Nuclear agency warns on radiation

BY FLORENCE NWOSE

New Chief of Staff, Bridagier-General Jonse Arogbofa (middle), welcoming Vice President Namadi Sambo (right) to a meeting of South-west leaders, while the convener, Chief Olabode George, shares in the joy of the moment.

Martin Ogbarandukun, said in Lagos.

Speaking at the opening of a workshop in Lagos, entitled, ‘Dealing, Processing and Recycling of Scrap Metals and other Commodities that could inadvertently contain Ra dioactive Material’, and which drew stakeholders including LAWMA and Centre for Nuclear Research, ABU, Ogbarandukun described scrap metal as an important source material for metal recycling and production industries, contributing a large fraction of the final product.

“The melting of a

radioactive source with scrap metal or its rupturing, when mixed with scrap metal can result in contaminated recycled metal and wastes.

C o n s e q u e n t l y, expensive cleanup operations may be necessary. Furthermore if the contaminated material is not detected at the metal recycling and production facility, workers may be exposed to radiation and radionuclides may become incorporated into various finished products and wastes, which, in turn, may lead to the exposure of users of these products,” he said.

edifice. ”Such abandonment of moral rigour comes full circle sooner or later. The survivors of a plague known as Boko

Haram, students in a place of enlightenment and moral instruction, are taken to a place of healing dedicated to an individual contagion – a murderer and thief of no redeeming quality known as Sani Abacha, one whose

plunder is still being pursued all over the world and recovered piecemeal by international consortiums – at the behest of this same government which sees fit to place him on the nation’s Roll of Honour!”

Explosions rock Maiduguri Continued from page 5 strikes launched by government forces.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Lawal Tanko, confirmed the incident but could not give casuality figures. But a security source, confirmed the incidents thus: “Yes, there were twin explosions in Maiduguri metropolis on Saturday evening. There

was also an attack in Dugolong on Friday. Although we are yet to ascertain those behind the Dugolong incident, preliminary investigation revealed that the attack took place when a fighter jet was firing at suspected insurgents killing over 20 of them”.

At press time, a fighter jet was seen hovering over Maiduguri while most residents could not wait for

the 9pm curfew imposed on the Borno capital before rushing back home leaving almost all the streets deserted.

Yesterday ’s bombings came in the wake of the insurgency attack on a school in Yobe State last week which killed about 59 students; and another raid in Adamawa State with over two dozens deaths.

Fashola honours Ijaw leader, Alakija, others

BY MARIAM EKO

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ctivities marking the 2014 “Support Our Schools Initiative”, programme organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Education was held in Lagos recently. During the event, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola and the State Commissioner of Education, presented corporate Social Responsibility Award to corporate bodies and indi-

viduals they said had contributed to the development of education in Lagos State. Recipients of the awards include Ijaw leader, Comrade Joseph Evah, Mrs. Modupe Folorunsho Akakija, MTN and First Bank Plc. At the event, Governor Fashola solicited the continued support of individuals and corporate bodies in the bid to guarantee qualitative education in the state.

According to Fashola: “The response to the appeal of government for private partnership in funding education, has been given the desired attention by the citizens. I remember how individuals and religious organisations laid the foundation of qualitative education in Nigeria during the colonial and post independence era and one is proud to see the level of commitment to education.

Uduaghan, Clark, get commendation

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ORMER councillor re presenting Kiag-

bodo ward 8, Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State, Hon. Joseph Alubeze-Fuludu, has applauded the South -South leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Edwin Clark and the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan over the

recent conferment of Lifetime Achievement awards by the Sun Newspaper.

The lawmaker, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja at the weekend, said that the award was a well deserved one for a leader of their time, Chief E. K. Clark, who has rendered selfless service to Nigeria nascent democracy, describing him as epitome of

good leadership.

Speaking further, Alubeze-Fuludu, who also c o m m e n d e d Governor.Uduaghan for the award bestowed on him, said that his developmental strides across the state is worth emulating, saying the award was an indication of excellent performance.

PAGE 8— SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

When southern leaders rallied for Nigeria’s indissolubility Emmanuel Una

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he expectations were high and the mood a frenzy in Calabar, the Cross River State capital on Monday when political, academic, traditional and business leaders from different parts of the South assembled in the city for what was touted to be a historic summit.

Under the aegis of the Southern Leaders Conference, participants came from all parts of the South: The Igbo from the South-East, the Yoruba from the South-west and representatives of the different ethnic nationalities of the South-south. They ssembled at the Tianapa Business and Leisure Resort to dialogue on how to confront the issues that would be tabled for discourse at the National Conference scheduled for March.

The roll call includes former Vice President Alex Ekweme, Pa Olaniwu Ajayi, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, Obong of Calabar, Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu, Chief Emmanuel Inwuanyanwu, Chief Olu Falae and Dr Edmond Daukuro, the Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom. Others include Governors Liyel Imoke, (Cross River) Godswill Akpabio, (Akwa Ibom),Dickson Seriake (Bayelsa), Peter Obi,(Anambra), Theodore Orji (Abia), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Chief Martin Elechi (Ebonyi) and Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta). Also there were Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, Senator Ken Nnamani, Idogensit Nkangha, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, Abioye Sekibo, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

Declaring the summit with theme ‘The centenary and the imperative for a National Conference” open, Falae, who was the Chairman of the summit, declared:”This summit is a continuation of wide-spread consultations with stakeholders on how to move Nigeria and southern Nigeria forward as we prepare for the National

read out a communiqué. “At the end of deliberations, we the leaders and people of southern Nigeria resolved as follows: that Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR), be commended for his commitment and dogged effort in fighting the menace of insecurity; and in spite of these security challenges, he has made remarkable progress in the development of critical sectors of the Nigerian economy, power, transport, aviation, agriculture and direct foreign investment.”

The summit further noted: “That we commit ourselves to a united and indivisible Nigeria based on the principles of justice, equity and rule of law with ample respect and understanding for cultural, linguistic and religious differences.”

The summit said the Federal Government “must revisit the issue of the loss of territory, particularly as it relates to the Bakassi Peninnsula.”

It also recommended the excision of solid minerals from the Exclusive Legislative List, just as it asked for an increase in the percentage of revenue derivation from oil and gas.”

Conference. “This is the first time past heroes, the Chairman of the PDP Nigerians are widely consulting across Governors’ Forum, Akpabio, said, “I regions with a view to forging a salute our past leaders for fighting for common front and I think we should independence. For us now, we should give President Jonathan kudos for his continue from where they stopped by sincerity and focus on a new Nigeria; forging a strong and united southern we should give him total support.”

Nigeria. “North has always spoken On what the South hopes to gain with one voice in the past 100 years. from the conference, he stated: “I We should have a strong belief in expect the emergence of a a stronger forming one southern bloc. The love southern Nigeria with equal of southern Nigeria must be re-ignited opportunity and citizenship.” in this conference.”

In his message at the summit, the Earlier in his opening speech, the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees chief host, Imoke, said, “It is important (BOT), Chief Tony Anenih, said, “We for us to come out historic decisions.

(South) must unite and give massive We must deliberate on issues of support to President Jonathan to national importance and come out with enable him face the global economic a clear cut agenda for the Southern challenges and combat the Boko people.”

Haram insurgents.

The summit considered issues “The President has performed and such as the indissolubility of Nigeria, we should rally round him to assist him true federalism, the current security to strengthen the fabric of our challenges, the economy as well as the nationhood. I give him kudos for his National Conference. At the conclusion sagacity to give Nigerians platform to of discussion, the Chairman, Falae, discuss our federation and find solutions.”

Ekweme told the gathering,”Now is the time for unity among the three zones of South-west, South-east and Southsouth. If there is unity among the zones, then there will be unity in Nigeria as a whole.”

Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Afenifere chieftain, in his good will message, said, “We are happy that southerners are coming together after 100 years of our existence as a nation.

We should embrace the conference and not allow the mistake of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo made by not taking over •From left: Governor Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Governor Liyel Imoke (Cross River), government then.”

Chief Olu Falae, Chief Tony Anenih and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha at the summit.

Paying tribute to our

Forever in love, unity and brotherhood The speech by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State at the southern leaders summit

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pay tribute to His Excellency Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, for his enduring faith in a greater Nigeria. I commend his courage in creating a forum for Nigerians of all political hues and persuasions to take their destiny in their hands, and contribute to the national discourse. I applaud him for his many transformational programmes and policies, which shall remain indelible legacies in the petals of our history.

He typifies our ideas about this country and he exemplifies the labours and sacrifices of our heroes past.

Patriots like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chiefs Mrs

Margeret Ekpo, Chief Eyo Ita, Chief Anthony Enahoro and others. They would be happy today as we assemble in this ancient city to rekindle the flame of nationalism they lit in their times. They would be glad that we have inherited their faith in our nation and are set, in our coming together, to redirect the course of our journey as a nation.

Today, the West, the East and the South South meet in this ancient city of Calabar, which was the capital of the Southern Protectorate of Nigeria before the amalgamation of our country. The history of Calabar undeniably makes Calabar the cradle

of Southern Nigeria; but by our converge here we can make it the crucible of a new Southern Nigeria, bound in love, unity and brotherhood.

A new Southern Nigeria, which would brim with hope for our nation and redefine the balance of our politics more along the lines of North and South.Politics have divided our country into six geopolitics zones, but history and origin partitioned us into Southern and Northern Protectorates. Today the Northern Protectorate still speaks with one voice; even though we have North West, North East and Middle Belt.

But the Southern Protectorate has been lost in South East, South West and South South Regions. I want the regions to remain (as we have in the North), but, like in the North, the regions should not become walls of separation. The crux of the matter is that our colonial masters divided the Southern Protectorate into Eastern and Western Regions, without doing the same to the Northern Protectorate.

But today we must put the Southern Protectorate back again in our national narrative as a bloc with common patriotic interest. If we can come together, speak with one voice; we can

give our country a new lease of life.

We are separated by language, but we are not separated by values. What binds us together is greater than what separates us.

There is a story of our relationship, which gnaws our hearts more than words could do. On July 28, 1966, an Igbo man finished his assignment in Ibadan and wanted to head back to Lagos. His host, a Yoruba man, warned him that his life was in danger and insisted that he should spend the night in Ibadan. That night when danger came calling, the Yoruba man stood his ground and laid down his life for the Igbo man. Jesus Christ said greater love had no man than this that he would lay down his life for another.

The story of Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi is a storied tale of friendship as compelling as that between David and Jonathan in the Bible. Let us adopt this story as the model for the relationship between the East, the West and the South South. Let us weave it into our folklores and fables, that because they died together in friendship, we will live forever in unity, love and brotherhood.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 9

PAGE 10 —SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

A tale of two sets of prostitutes in Abuja

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HE authorities of the Federal Cap ital Territory, FCT, ably led by the Honourable Minister, have been working very hard to rid the nation’s capital of undesirable elements. Ever since that great friend of poor people, Malam El-Rufia, formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, became Minister, they have been demolishing homes and shops, as well as the dwellings of poor people, which they call shanties – as if any really destitute person can afford palatial mansions.

Malam El-Rufai is now a leading member of the All Progressive Alliance, APC, the opposition party – some of whose governors have also been demolishing buildings

like the demon.

But, the current Minister had raised the matter of cleaning the nation’s capital to a new level. He had targeted two sets of poor people who must go – beggars and prostitutes. Incidentally, the FCT Minister, unlike Governor Fashola of Lagos, actually took out advertisements in various media to announce his intention to deny fellow Nigerians of the freedom of movement. And, so far, several thousand people had lost their means of livelihood and the roofs over their heads as a result. Surprisingly, not a word had been heard from all those hypocrites denouncing the displacement of less than a hundred destitute people from Lagos.

However, the people, declared persona non grata in Abuja, which interest me, are prostitutes.

According to the FCT Minister, the only prostitutes deserving of being shown the city gates are the night and street

See no evil, hear no evil "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?" -- Mahatma Gandhi HAT will it take for the govern ment to act and cleanse the nation of these cold blooded killers who are attacking, abducting, maiming and killing at will? What will it take the government to throw in the towel and admit they are powerless and clueless to stem the frequencies of the killing of innocent people, young defenseless students and teachers going about their normal business?

How can we let terror reign unabated and we have our government peddling empty, meaningless and unconvincing sound bites?

When will we Nigerians,

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understand that what concerns one Nigerian, concerns us all? Yobe State has become a killing zone and these nefarious monsters are killing at will, with no end in sight. Empty words will not comfort the family of the bereaved nor will it improve the state of siege that the people of Yobe are experiencing.

As a mother, I find it hard to comprehend how in this age, we have these murderous psychopaths running loose butchering and killing people with impunity and all the powers that be can say is that the BH have changed their tactics and now wear army fatigues.

What a cop out and a farce.

This does not make it okay as these miscreants will not stop until they are stopped.

Their "cause" lacks legitimacy and justification.

They have blatantly made a mockery of the law, the judicial and this adminis-

walkers, in short, the poor girls and women who must sell parts of their bodies in order to keep the rest together and, perhaps, help kids and parents to stay alive for another day. Invariably, they receive pittance for the humiliation of bedding people they would not ordinarily want to be

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“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread. Anatole France, 1844-1924.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 120).

Abuja will always be open; they will visit the Minister in the office and at home. The President will even invite them to Aso Rock; GEJ will take pictures with them as he did in Imo State.

However from close observations of girls and women of easy virtue, I can state, without fear of contradiction, that they are more honest, more faithful to their benefactors and more human than the political prostitutes. Area boys inform me that if you treat a prostitute well, she will never betray you. But, it matters not how well you treat most politicians they will eventually repay you with ingratitude.

One example will prove

Area boys inform me that if you treat a prostitute well, she will never betray you.

But, it matters not how well you treat most politicians they will eventually repay you with ingratitude

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caught with in the same graveyard if not for fate which had dealt them a wicked hand.

But, there is another group of prostitutes – rich, powerful, well-connected, friends of the Minister and the President. They either live in or are frequent visitors to Abuja. They are called POLITICIANS. To these prostitutes, the gates of

the point. There was probably no more generous a politician than MKO Abiola. We were all witnesses to what happened to him. Yet, these are the people the Minister and the President want in Abuja.

Any wonder why the nation is going to hell?

With leaders worse than prostitutes, how can we

tration. To the outsider looking in, the daily announcement of the BH attacks and the abductions is one tragedy too many and for those who experience this horrors first hand, I am sure it is very traumatic.

Inusa Danboyi, a student was one of the victims of this heinous crime and his father, Mallam Danboyi, was understandably distraught. He said, "Inusa is my son, and an SSS 3 student who aspired to get Western Education and was even preparing for his final SSS 3 examination. But see what fate had in stock for him".

So can the president and all the armed forces tell

safeguard its citizens?

There is a great sense of apathy and this is the big impediment to fighting the common enemy.

And yet, the great divides pervade with some of our people trying to justify the tragedy by extricating their tribe, religion and situation from the fact; we are all Nigerians. The great apologists are deluded and this is not the way to progress.

We should all show some humanity, conscience and respect for human lives.

The college in Yobe was the fourth institution to be attacked in the state in the last eight months. Over 50 strong BH overwhelmed the college and they went

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Empty words will not comfort the family of the bereaved nor will it improve the state of siege that the people of Yobe are experiencing

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Mallam Danboyi that this would not happen again or that they have done everything they could have done to protect his son and the other students? I do not think so. So how can people support a government that cannot protect and

on a killing spree, killing over 40 students and staff alike and abducted 16 females. The graphic scene is what nightmares are made of, expect this is real and it is happening in Nigeria.

The criminals set the col-

create a nation with the ethical standards required for greatness?

RIGHT OF REPLY 807-313What goes round comes round, as Mr Sanusi Lamido’s current saga with the Federal govt reveals.

While I pity him, his travails are self-inflicted coupled with God’s judgment over innocent souls he wrongly trampled upon without any human compassion, disregard for the rule of law and principle of fair hearing in his handling of his so-called “Bank reforms”. Even when a Federal High Court ruled that the former CBN Czar had no absolute power in the removal of Afribank’s Directors SLS and his lawyer cohorts went on appeal and had since then stalled the hearing of the appeal….

0703-652-9443 Bros you see how the whole Sanusi imbroglio is panning out? Has he not been disgraced now? A man who has power to hire and fire can also suspend staff. That is the law and there nothing Sanusi can do about that but to enrich our SANs. Oseme, Benin.

0802290-5095 I’ve ordered dt half of my stock be put on sale this morning. My untrained eyes’ve also seen revelations dt agree with your conclusions. Foreign investors picking race now lege administrative block alight, then locked in the students and set the building alight and those that attempted to escape were shot at, gunned down and the throats of the students were slit trying to escape the lit building.

The incident in Yobe is not an isolated case. Terror is terror, no matter, who dealt it; experience it or who is directed at. We run the risk of turning into a nation that does not care for one another and whether we want to accept it or not we will all pay a hefty price for not acting collectively to rid our country of this terror.

The "Not in my backyard brigade", they better wake up and face reality. We are all in this together. So no one should go through this siege, if it is happening in Yobe, it will happen anywhere in whatever guises as possible. It is already happening; the kidnappings, murders, domestic violence, corruption and extreme sense of disorders.

In such a chaotic country, it gives CARTE BLANCHE to the menaces of the society to commit more atrocities with a feeling of satisfaction that they would not be apprehended. None of the armed forces have been able to quell the terror and violence. A country, they say, is defined by the way they treat their most vulnerable and weak. We definitely

d cbn wahala hs taken it to high heavens… Dr Ayo Ojo. P.S. Dear Dr Ojo, this is not going near heaven.

More like hell for shareholders. Dele.

0805-747-2552 Pls confirm postn of our banks as of today bcos I was a victim in 1997. I blif in u.

Pls reply. God bless u ORE. P.S. Recommendations about specific banks cannot be made on the pages on our paper in order not to cause a stampede.

Privately? Perhaps. But, at least two are hanging on the ropes again. Dele.

0805-590-4314 …You didn’t put the facts of contradictory claims of missing funds. First, it was 49b; later it was 10b and just recent, he said 20b. what kind of governor is this?

P.S. A Nigerian governor!!! But, you read a preview last week. Read more today or request for the entire lot on CBN ECONOMIC CZARISM AND CONSEQUENCES. My Fellow Countrymen were warned in 2011 about this danger. As usual, I was ignored until now – after the damage had been done.

Visit: www.delesobowale.com or Visit: www.facebook.com/ biolasobowale

have fallen far short of what is expected of us as people and no one is taking responsibility of the this bedlam. And still people cannot see any end in sight.

That is the tragedy of the situation that we are in.

So where are the security agents, the intelligence, the police, the hardware and the equipment to do the job? Where is the capital allocated to fight terrorists?

Who is responsible for the coordination of the tasks?

It is quite laughable that the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade remained resolute that the Nigerian troops are on the trail of the terrorists who attacked and killed the students. He is convinced that they know where they come from and also their methods and how they plan the attacks. Yes, he said "We will get them and we will deal with them appropriately". I would not hold my breath nor should anyone. The president has not fared well as he sent his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, to tell Nigerians how sad and anguished he is about the tragedy. I believe he should have spoken directly to the people as a matter of course "You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it." --- Malcolm X

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 11

So, can’t we count even our dead?

Staff Union reportedly reacted to the death of 43 students. They may have been influenced by the alleged revelation of a senior medical staff at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu that bodies of 43 pupils retrieved from

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HE indisputable breaking news of the immediate past week was the killing by suspected insurgents of several students of the Federal Government College, Bun Yadi, Yobe State. Whereas, different accounts of what transpired centred on about the same content, everyone had a different version of the number of students affected. During a sympathy visit to the school by the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, a Senior Master in the institution, Ibrahim Abdul, confirmed that Twenty-nine students were killed. He added that 11 other students sustained gunshot wounds in the attack. Abdul’s report was corroborated by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Sanusi Rufai who also confirmed 29 dead By the time the media was reporting the reactions of different bodies, the figure began to fluctuate. For example, the Nigerian Union of Teachers and the Colleges of Education Academic

what he saw as conflicting, misleading and arbitrary figures. Machina told The Nation Newspapers in Damaturu that the death toll still stood at 29. He was quoted to have also added that he had an authentic report from the hospital which said that only 29 students were killed; 21 of whom were killed by gunshots while eight were burnt.. He was probably on soft grounds when he revealed that some of the injured students had been tak-

Perhaps some people believed the response of the military but certainly not Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State who suspects some collusion

the college were lying at the morgue. The figure was still 43 in the report by the French News Agency (AFP).

But reports on the reaction of UNICEF, moved up the number of dead students to 45. Hence the Chairman of the Parents Teachers’ Association of the College, Engr.

Mohammed Kati Machina became visibly angry over

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en away by their parents adding that of the 10 dead bodies that were brought to Damaturu, two were burnt beyond recognition.

Engr. Machina no doubt spoke with confidence as he was able to give what looked like persuasive details. But he seemed to have spoken too early going by the reports gathered by jour-

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

08116759758

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HIS is one of the root causes of poli tics-with-bitterness, largely responsible for the notion noted at the beginning of this discourse that politics in Nigeria is a dirty game. If politicians conduct themselves within constitutional bounds, political excitement is less likely to cause problems. But our politicians are yet to internalise self-restraint, democratic culture and patriotism that will dampen the urge to cause trouble by channelling political excitement to harmless or less destructive outlets.

Two interconnected politically important motives should be highlighted at this point, namely, fear and hate. These emotions are negative emotions; fear and hate most of the time lead to terrible behaviour in those that they dominate.

Russell observes correctly that we tend to hate what we fear, and oftentimes we fear what we hate. From the findings of anthropologists, it is clear that primitive people both fear and hate what is unfamiliar to them.

Even until now, a large percentage of people all over the world still fear and hate others who belong to a different tribe, country or race.

The issue of race, homosexuality and religious fundamentalism that lead to destructive behaviours are ul-

timately traceable to fear and hate. In Nigeria, intertribal rivalry and suspicion motivated by fear and hate were the principal causes of political crisis, which culminated in the first military coup of January 15, 1966, the revenge coup by Northern elements in July 29 that same year, and the devastating civil war of 19671970.

It is not gainsaid that most active politicians in the country right now have not really learnt any useful lessons from the repercussions of politics of fear and hatred that almost caused the disintegration of Nigeria as a single political and economic unit. How, one may ask? Because they are still using the old and irresponsible tactics of whipping up ethnic sentiments and religious fanaticism to cause unnecessary division, fear and hatred among members of different ethnic nationalities and religions in the country. It is sad that some political outlaws still employ undesirable elements to maim, kill and destroy for the sake of power. I am convinced that the spate of kidnapping in several states across the federation, particularly in the south, as well as the hideous boko haram phenomenon are the unintended consequences of politics of fear and hate engaged in by

some prominent politicians. Aside from that, exaggerated fear of probable economic ruin in future compels our politicians to steal public funds to an extent detrimental to their physical, mental and spiritual health. Nowadays, top politicians no longer steal millions. Rather, they prefer to embezzle hundreds of millions and billions, with the full knowledge that our compromised judicial system is impotent to stop

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Reflections on Nigerian politicians (3)

nalists at the Damaturu Specialist Hospital which put the death toll at 59. According to Reuters, fresh bodies were discovered in the bush after the students who had escaped with bullet wounds died from their injuries. The report also confirmed that the school’s 24 buildings, including staff quarters, were completely burnt by the attackers during the onslaught.

What the above suggests is that we do not seem to know how to count our people whether living or dead.

Although some people were uncomfortable with the assertion of the immediate past Chairman of the National Population Commission, Festus Odimegu that we have never had a credible census, many knew it to be the truth. We have similarly never had an authentic figure of casualties in any crisis-a trend confirmed by the handling of last week’s tragedy at the Yobe College. Those who blame the development on mischief by the Nigeria media should take a few minutes to look through the coverage of last week’s episode by the foreign press. A common point to be observed is that they all feel that our military takes delight in publishing false casualty figures.

So did the military withdraw from a check point near the college a few days before the tragedy occurred? The military’s response was that it had no security post near the school where the tragedy

occurred or near any school in the area. If so, is it not curious that schools in the area are not guarded considering the report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that last week’s episode was the fourth educational institution attacked in the state in the last eight months?.

UNICEF involuntarily answered the question during the week when it publicly expressed deep concern on the repeated attacks on schools in the North East.

In the words of UNICEF, “Since June 2013, four attacks resulted in school closures affecting thousands of students, many of whom have had no access to formal learning for months.

When a school is under attack and students become targets, not only their lives are shattered, the future of the nation is stolen,” The United Nation’s SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-Moon, also expressed worry over incessant attacks on places of learning and advised that the perpetrators be swiftly brought to justice. The secretary-general specifically drew attention to what he called “the increasing frequency and brutality of attacks against educational institutions in the North of the country”.

Perhaps some people believed the response of the military but certainly not Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State who suspects some collusion. Only 3 days back, Nyako himself a retired Admiral was quoted by the Press as having

said that during an attack on a major air force base last year, soldiers at nearby barracks did not respond until militants had destroyed all five aircraft at the base. Obviously many people are disillusioned by the development. Among them are members of the Senate Committee on Defence and Army, which had to pass a resolution directing the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to relocate his office temporarily to the 7th Division of Nigerian Army in Maiduguri for urgent and appropriate steps to q u e l l B o k o Haram’s repeated attacks on the North-East.

The committee also directed the Army boss to adopt new methods for curbing the sect’s excesses in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states.

Painfully, it does not appear that the scope of the war is as easy to understand as our lawmakers imagine.

This is because within the week of their resolution, another report surfaced again from Yola, Adamawa State of the killing of over 33 people. This time the report said that our soldiers who were outnumbered and outgunned, abandoned their checkpoints, leaving five villages and a town at the mercy of insurgents. The call for external help to resolve the issue may therefore be pertinent now but playing down the casualty list all the time may be our undoing

The level of hatred in Nigerian politics is too high: it is responsible for our arrested political development. It incubates and nourishes the winner-takesall syndrome that has caused a lot of havoc in the society. Hate makes politicians to sabotage the efforts of their rivals occupying public office. Another ugly repercussion of hatred in politics is the obdurate refusal to acknowledge the achievements of one's political rivals. For instance, in my estimation, President Jonathan's performance is slightly below average.

That does not mean that in some areas his administration has not made some positive impact. It is good

govern society for the benefit of everyone. Therefore, the use of abusive language, language that promotes hate and fear is not part of responsible politics.

There are two major ways of coping with fear and, derivatively, of dealing with hatred of that which people fear. The first one is to minimise, if not completely eliminate external danger; the second is to cultivate stoic indifference to danger.

Unless immediate action is required in a particular situation, the latter can be reinforced by shifting our thoughts away from the cause of fear. A little reflection would reveal that the conquest of fear by our politicians would have beneficial effects on Nigerian politics. Fear in itself is actually degrading; it easily becomes an obsession and, as we stated, earlier it leads to hatred of that which is feared. Cruelty is usually associated with fear. Hence, at this time in our history when an increasing number of Nigerians are fearful, it is not surprising that cruelty is increasing also. Our people need to feel protected and secure; it is one of the principal functions of government to provide security for the citizens, not only for VIPs in politics, business, the clergy, the armed forces and the police. Nigerians should learn to break those psychological barriers that make them see compatriots from other ethnic groups or religions as rivals and enemies, and ignore expired and expiring politicians whose stock-intrade is to use ethnic and religious differences to sow the seeds of fear and hatred.

In our analysis thus far, it seems that we have overemphasised bad or negative emotions, or ethically neu-

tral emotions. The fact is that such emotions are generally more powerful than good or altruistic motives.

In that regard, inspite of my generally negative view of Nigerian politicians, there are a vanishingly small number among them who are really actuated by altruistic motives. Late Chief Sam Mbakwe, for example, could not have achieved what he did as governor of old Imo state if he was not interested in uplifting the wellbeing of ordinary citizens of the state. In fact, altruistic sentiments must have figured in his efforts to help people recover their abandoned property after the war. There is no doubt that any politician dominated by altruistic motives would work hard for his people.

Sympathy is also an important emotion, but I do not know if that word still exists in the dictionary of party stalwarts irrespective of party affiliation. Evidently, sympathy is connected to humanitarian activities. Humanitarianism is important in democracy, because a politician motivated by humane feelings cannot engage in violence and outright lawlessness just to gain power. And when he eventually gets it, delivering genuine dividends of democracy to the masses will be his priority.

To sum up: Nigerian politicians need to learn that politics is about people. It is not about crude materialism or self-indulgent exhibitionism. Although there is enough reason to be pessimistic about the 2015 elections, there is also good reason for hope. We should not despair, no matter how ominous things might seem now. CONCLUDED.

Nigerians should learn to break those psychological barriers that make them see compatriots from other ethnic groups or religions as rivals and enemies, and ignore expired and expiring politicians whose stock-in-trade is to use ethnic and religious differences to sow the seeds of fear and hatred

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them.

Hatred and fear are acidic emotions. They have a corrosive effect on the hater both mentally and physically. In acting out of fear triggered by hatred, the average politician tends to lose every sense of proportion in the pursuit of his political objectives. Although there is some pragmatic sense in Nicolo Machiavelli's advise to the prince that it is better to be feared than to be loved, fear and hatred are antithetical to the evolution and sustenance of durable democratic culture.

politics for his rivals in other parties to criticise him; it s bad politics for them to continuously lambast him from A to Z, without recognising those areas where has done something tangible. The same reasoning applies to every political office holder in the country.

In my opinion, any politician who uses fear and hatred to achieve political ends is immature and unfit to hold public office in any capacity. The reason is simple: fear and hatred divide, whereas politics at its best is for consensus building to determine the best way to

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s government published the list of in dividuals it honored to mark Nigeria’s centenary and not unexpectedly it roused serious public umbrage. This administration is just simply plodding from one misstep into another, for in releasing that list, the Jonathan administration showed a total ignorance of history and the symbolism that accompanies every historical proclamation. Again, here, the president was offered poor guidance in the choices that he announced publicly.

Normally, Nigeria’s centenary celebration should be a period of true stock-taking; a celebration of this nation and its accomplishments through this stretch of time. From its amalgamation to the present, Nigeria has struggled to become. Indeed there are many who feel that the amalgamation of the three entities the Northern and Southern Nigeria, and the colony of Lagos was a categorical historical error given that the disparate and atomized entities that came to be forced together have thrived more as crabs in a bucket rather than a community of people who feel their destinies tied together. Indeed, the making of Nigeria these past hundred years has been an act of faith, and there are those who embody and reflect that faith in far greater measure than others. No single group has carried the weight of Nigerian nationhood and unity – the building of the modern Nigerian nation – far more than the Igbo group of Nigerians.

In fact as J.S. Coleman notes in that eponymous book, Nigeria: A Background to Nationalism: "One of the most provocative features of the emergence of the Ibos (in Nigeria) has been their role in political activity and in the nationalist movement. Post-war (WW11) radical and militant nationalism, which

emphasised the national unity of Nigeria as a transcendent imperative, was largely, but not exclusively, an Ibo endeavour.” To paraphrase the historian Professor Tekena Tamuno, an Ijaw, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, and one of Nigeria’s most formidable intellectuals, the Igbo were Nigeria’s nation builders, and this fact of course is writ large not only in history but even in contemporary Igbo activity and diffusion. But that overwhelming fact did not stop the centenary committee established by President Jonathan from embezzling the facts of Nigeria history.

Their list of those to be honored as makers of modern Nigeria reads mostly like a list of antinomes – the racist privateer Lugard, Abacha, the British Empire - and hardly acknowledges the fact of Nigeria’s authentic history. Let me dispel a myth: Alhaji Ahmadu Bello was not a Nigerian nationalist. He made that clear in his writings, utterances, and policies, and these are in the public domain. He was not active in the anticolonial nationalist struggle. In 1954, Sir Ahmadu and his party rejected independence to Nigeria, and preferred British rule, if certain agreements were not reached and incorporated into the decolonization agreements. On the president’s list of “Heroes of Nigerian struggle” are included Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, and so on. In 1945 as a law student in London, Awolowo was a card carrying member of the British Labour Party.

He was no Nigerian nationalist. He was a Yoruba fundamentalist who had been inspired and had bought into the separatist argument of a Pakistani politician and intellectual during the Indian partition. The British colonial office

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Nigeria: A century of lies

and its intelligence services funneled money through their local agents in Nigeria, to organize the Action Group and the Northern Peoples Congress, and tried to midwife an early political alliance between them in 1947, as a means of undermining the radical anticolonial nationalist movement that was demanding freedom and independence on their own terms. Mbonu Ojike – the radical nationalist intellectual was in fact to address Awo as a “British mole” in

Their list of those to be honored as makers of modern Nigeria reads mostly like a list of antinomes – the racist privateer Lugard, Abacha, the British Empire - and hardly acknowledges the fact of Nigeria’s authentic history.

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one of his columns in the West African Pilot, in 1948, much of course to Awo’s chagrin. Mbonu Ojike would know such matters. As Marika Sherwood, Nkrumah’s biographer, has quite clearly revealed in her essay, “There is no New Deal for the Blackman in San Francisco,” three radical African students, Mbonu Ojike, Nwafor Orizu, and K.O. Mbadiwe, were critical in lobbying for the adoption of the Atlantic charter under the new UN protocol at the meeting towards its founding in San Francisco in 1945. In other words, while Ojike, Orizu, and Mbadiwe were graduate students at the University of Columbia, New York and at the University of Chicago, respectively, at about the same time as Awo was a student in London, but they were busy lobbying and pushing hard for West African independence and freedom, while Awo was cavorting with the British Labour Party.

The three had been invited, as a result of their radical stances on decolonization, by Eleanor Roosevelt to the White

when I express the view that I miss the radicals like Late Fela Anikulapo, his brother Beko, Gani Fawehinmi, men who said it like it was, and damned the consequences! The leaders of thought that we have now can't seem to gather enough courage to say what needs saying; that reeks of compromise and calls to question their integrity. This same

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HE art of stargazing is a pleas ure confined to history, to easi er times when life wasn't running

at such a frantic pace. Most heads are so bowed by problems they don't ever look up at the sky, even if they caught brief glimpses, the sight of a glistening cosmos is blocked by pollution, giant buildings and artificial lights. To most people the stars are barely there, they don't shine like in the stories!! The reality is that stars have become shadowy, hidden and obscured. I pondered the state of the world and concluded that life is now lived in shadows, light has become obscured by darkness and we have all become less than the shining light we could and should be. When I say shadow I speak of the fear that is determined to change lives and destinies; we now all live under a suffocating blanket of fear and we can't seem to reach the light. Gross darkness certainly covers the face of the earth and evil gets more brazen daily. In Nigeria in particular day after day we see and hear of atrocities and abominations and the human mind is going numb with horror, no one is shocked anymore, we are all becoming numb to evil.

One of my favourite verses of scrip-

ture inspires my thoughts for this week and it is James 1:17 NKJV "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning". The verse became real to me a while back when I finally got its meaning. To my mind God is all good, all perfect and so are His works. We are all His works so we were created perfect. In all that God made there is no imperfection or variation, so everything that is contrary to perfection is a variation and not of God. I believe living in fear is turning the perfect plan of God on its head and we are all worse of for it. The sad reality is that fear is the new instrument of evil to turn out our lights and whether we agree or not we are all stars in decline.

Fear for ourselves from physical harm, fear for our livelihoods has kept us mute, so evil thrives. Nigeria as I see it is a star in decline and its people are now voluntarily living in shadows as if that will protect us. We are governed

by Godless men with no conscience, terrorised by our fellow citizens and the very fabric of unity that held us bound frays by the day.

I am bound to shock most people

,

The Declining Star

Today, I join many Nigerians to mourn the death of innocence, young lives of students, snuffed out! A dangerous game is being played with the destiny of what should be a great nation and I wonder if things will ever get back to normal

,

marauders in government seat next to religious leaders in places of worship and are not lambasted for the rape of an entire nation. Where are the elders in a nation engulfed in flames? I remember once saying that some atrocities committed by some politicians would have dire corporate consequences for all of us. At that time the then Justice minister Chief Bola Ige had been assassinated in cold blood and the Nigerian police had offered a paltry reward of less than $5000 for the capture of his killers. This was an elder statesman, the Chief Justice officer of the entire nation and his life counted

House, and through her doubtlessly convinced President Roosevelt on the necessity to press the Atlantic charter to cover the colonized nation, even though Churchill argued that the charter covered only European countries under Axis domination. When they reportedly met aboard the Augusta to discuss the Atlantic Charter, Churchill allegedly said to Roosevelt, “Mr. President, I believe you are trying to do away with the British Empire,” to which Roosevelt responded that the United States would not aid Britain “so that she will be able to continue to ride roughshod over colonial peoples.”

America’s post-war support for the anti-colonial movement was critical to the independence of the colonies, largely through the work done by Ojike, Nwafor-Orizu, and Mbadiwe by 1945, yet, the president’s list does not acknowledge them, nor does it honor Michael Imoudu, who actually went to jail, and Zikists like Raji Abdallah, Fred Anyiam, Smart Ebbi, or even the surviving Mbazulike Amechi, all of whom actually went to jail for Nigerian freedom.

Nothing was said of Kola Balogun, Adegoke “Penklemes” Adelabu, Olu Akinfosile, Michael Okpara, Denis Osadebe, Akanu Ibiam – missionary doctor and public servant – true heroes of Nigerian freedom. The most egregious of course was the left-handed honor to General Ironsi, who was murdered for his attempts to unify Nigeria.

He was just simply honored for being a pioneer, but not as an “outstanding promoter of unity and national development.” That list includes T.Y. Danjuma, who murdered Ironsi in Ibadan alongside Francis Fajuyi, who ought by the way to be honored for his sacrifice. Danjuma ought on the other hand to have suffered the fate of other coup plotters who failed and not be on the nation’s honor roll.

The killing of Ironsi led to Nigeria’s civil war, and it is ironic in fact that those who killed Ironsi for trying to create a “unitary state” now bear the ironic honor of “unifiers.” What a country – where two of its greatest poets – Okigbo and Okara – never had a chance at honors, nor some its greatest public servants: Sir Samuel Manuwa, Pius Okigbo, and Abdulaziz Attah. What an ignorant country indeed.

for nothing. Eventually the case against those in court disintegrated into a mockery as no one was held accountable. From what I recall, his wife slumped in the courtroom and died at the shock and till date no justice was ever done. I didn't know the late Chief Ige apart from the social studies in school and later from newspapers but my observation is that we are fast becoming a nation of cannibals who eat each other.

So today, I join many Nigerians to mourn the death of innocence, young lives of students, snuffed out! A dangerous game is being played with the destiny of what should be a great nation and I wonder if things will ever get back to normal. Is stepping away from politics keeping those of us who think we are upright safe or are we letting ourselves be driven by bloodthirsty lunatics in a carriage headed for hell.

Being aloof is helping no one, not us , not our children. What would the world remember us for? I wish for all my questions I had answers. What I have are prayers for God to give us courage individually and corporately to confront the shadows and chase fear out of our nation. That the father of light Himself would destroy every evil variant of His creation and chase away all shadows of turning so that we can once again shine in love, in unity. That the decline of Nigeria will stop so we can heal and rise again. Fear must not cower us even in the face of intimidation because it offers no protection or immunity. I end with another favourite verse of scripture, it is my fervent prayer for our great nation. (Isaiah 60:2 NKJV) "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you."

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 13

By OMOH GABRIEL

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he suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from office as Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sent shock waves into the financial market but did not damage the market as previously feared. The shock was short lived as the Federal Government quickly named his successor. The CBN Governornominee, Godwin Emefiele, is seen by local and international investors as a steady hand who will maintain tight monetary policy in the face of currency weakness and avoid his predecessor’s controversial foray into politics.

President Goodluck Jonathan swiftly nominated Emefiele as governordisignate after suspending Sanusi, who had become an increasingly vocal critic of the government’s record on corruption. His early departure caused a panic sell off in financial markets, although currency and stocks have now stabilised.

Emefiele, who, at 52, is the same age as Sanusi, boasts of more than 20 years experience in the banking sector. He is the Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Nigeria’s fastest growing new generation bank, where he has built a well-capitalised and stable institution, C M Y K

banking sources say.

“He’s done a solid job at Zenith and is likely to be a steady hand who will be calm, but markets are jittery right now. The Nigerian Stock Market had a reversed fortune on the back of the CBN Governor ’s suspension as the Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE; All Share Index lost 147 basis points to close at 38,816.19. In the same vein, the market capitalisation shrank by N186.6billion to close at N12.4trillion.

However, despite the shock, activity level, as measured by volume and value, surprisingly advanced 59.4 per cent and 27.7 per cent to close at 484million units and N4.9trillion respectively.

As expected, all sector indices declined with the exception of the NSE Industrial Index which advanced slightly by 0.2 per cent on account of gains in Dangote Cement 1.9 per cent.

“The NSE Banking Index lost a whopping 4.5 per cent as all banks closed in the red. This loss can be primarily attributed to losses in UBA 7.5 per cent, FCMB 7.1 per cent and ETI 6.2 per cent.

The oil and gas sector followed suit with a 2.7 per cent loss on the day of the suspension mainly attributable to Oando 6.4 per cent and Eterna Oil 4.9 per cent. Lastly, the Consumer Goods and Insurance Index lost 1.8 per cent

and 1.2 per cent a piece. These losses were driven by capital reversals on the back of the CBN Governor ’s suspension. The market breadth of 0.19x buttresses the negative market sentiments with only nine stocks advancing as against 46 decliners. Top gainers for the day were Oasis Insurance 8.6 per cent, Neimeth 5.8 per cent and PZ 5.0 per cent while top losers were UBA 7.5 per cent, Vitafoam 7.4 per cent and FCMB 7.1 per cent.

By Monday, however, the capital market had absorbed the shock as the NSE All Share Index started the week on a positive note with a 108basis points appreciation, to close at 38,707.14. This gain was attributed to Dangote Cement 1.0 per cent, Zenith Bank 3.3 per cent and First Bank 4.9 per cent. Similarly, market capitalization gained N132.0bn to close at N12.4tn.

But activity level, measured by volume and value, declined 34.9 per cent and 11.1 per cent to N337.0million and N3.1billion respectively. The Banking sector reversed its losing streak, rebounding 2.6 per cent driven by UBA 8.7 per cent, FBN 4.9 per cent and Diamond Bank 4.9 per cent. The oil & gas index followed suit losing 1.1% on the back of the gains in Oando 2.7 per cent; while the industrial index 0.6 per cent was driven by price appreciation in CCNN 3.1 per cent and Dangote Ce-

ment 1.0 per cent. The insurance index lost 1.4 per cent on the back of Wapic Insurance 5.6 per cent, AIICO Insurance 5.0 per cent and Continental Reinsurance 4.6 per cent

Sustained gains

2

8 stocks advanced against 18 de clined stocks tilting the market breadth to1.6x. Top gainers for that Monday were UBA 8.7 per cent, Dangote Sugar 7.9 per cent and FBN Holdings 4.9 per cent while top losers were WAPIC 5.6 per cent, AIICO Insurace 5.0 per cent and Cadbury 5.0 per cent.

On Tuesday, the NSE All Share Index sustained its gains with 117 basis points appreciation to close at 39,160.10. The Tuesday’s gains were driven mostly by tier one banks such as FBN Holdings 9.7 per cent, GTB 3.7 per cent and Zenith Bank 3.4 per cent.

Similarly, the market capitalization added N146.0bn to close at N12.6trn and activity level, measured by volume and value, appreciated 21.4% and 42.0% to close at N409.5m and N4.4bn respectively.

The consumer goods sector index was the lone sector decliner 0.3 per cent Continues on page 14

PAGE 14 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

Sanusi suspension storm!

Continued from page 13

The incoming Governor and the NaIra

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he biggest challenge for the incoming CBN Governor is protecting the Naira, which has come under pressure over the past year on concerns that reduced U.S. monetary stimulus fund inflows to emerging markets. The Naira slumped to a record low of N169.25 to the dollar in the wake of Sanusi’s suspension and was trading at around N163.5 to the dollar on Tuesday, outside the bank’s preferred N150-160/$ range.

Repeated intervention by the CBN to keep the Naira within the band has run down foreign exchange reserves, and liquid reserves have declined by about $2.2 billion or 5.2 percent from $42.46 billion at the start of 2014. That is about $45 million a day and raises the prospect that interest rates, which have been on hold at 12 percent since October 2011, may have to rise at some point this year to protect the currency.

“We expect he will maintain the current monetary policy tightening stance,” Vetiva Capital said in a research C M Y K

Drop in reserves

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•Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

note. In the short term, we believe the currency will remain under pressure which would require continuous monetary tightening - restraining loan growth within a high interest rate environment,” it added.

Investors and analysts expect the new Governor to be more discreet than Sanusi, who was often criticised by government officials for going far beyond his remit, happy to talk openly about anything from bloated government spending to the social problems which are feeding a bloody Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria.

Emefiele won’t delve into politics, given the manner of Sanusi’s exit, analysts say, and was described by several banking sources as a conservative figure who appears confident in public but gives little away.

Devaluation fear

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oreign investors hold around $7 billion in Nigerian fixed income assets, down from $9 billion in November, banking sources say.

This is likely to dwindle further in the coming months, heaping pressure on the naira. Bank of America Merrill

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driven by selling pressures in Unilever 5.0 per cent and PZ Cussons 2.9 per cent. The NSE banking index topped the sector 4.1 per cent, spurred by gains in Skye Bank 10.1 per cent, FBN Holdings 9.7 per cent and UBA 6.5 per cent.

Similarly, NSE insurance index advanced 1.8 per cent supported by gains in International Energy 5.0 per cent, Continental Reinsurance 4.8 per cent and NEM Insurance 4.0 per cent. The NSE industrial index and the oil & gas index also both gained 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent apiece.

Market breadth sustained its positive trend at 0.43x as 42 stocks advanced against 18 decliners. Top gainers at the end of the Tuesday session were Skye Bank 10.1 per cent, FBNH 9.7 per cent and UBA 6.5 per cent; whilst Unilever 5.0 per cent, Betaglass 5.1 per cent and Evans Medical 4.9 per cent led the losers table.

We expect a moderate increase in participation as investors weigh the potential to sustain this upside.

ternal reserves. She said that the apex bank does not plan or intend to devalue the Naira. It was gathered that most the participants expressed apprehension that the CBN might eventually devalue the Naira, given the continued decline in the nation’s external reserves.

Emefiele won’t delve into politics, given the manner of Sanusi’s exit, analysts say, and was described by several banking sources as a conservative figure who appears confident in public but gives little away

Lynch downgraded its rating on Nigeria’s external debt to underweight from market weight on Tuesday, adding that it expects the naira to weaken to N170 against the dollar this year, despite tight monetary policy. Yvonne Mhango, an economist at Renaissance Capital, expects forex reserves to fall to $35 billion by the end of this year and thinks Emefiele will be forced to devalue the midpoint in the Naira exchange band to 170/$ in July.

But the CBN, on Wednesday, conducted special foreign exchange sales, which halted the depreciation of the Naira

in the inter-bank market. The intervention arrested the inter-bank exchange rate which had risen to N167 per dollar by 1.30pm and forced it to decline to N163 per dollar. The Acting Governor of the CBN, Dr (Mrs) Sarah Alade, in a telephone conference with foreign investors and foreign exchange dealers reiterated the commitment of the apex bank to defending the Naira.

A senior foreign exchange analyst who participated in the conference said Alade told participants, which included global financial firms like J.P Morgan, that the CBN will defend the Naira with the ex-

ast week Nigeria’s exter nal reserves dropped by $740 million to $41.17 from $41.91 the previous week. Cumulatively the external reserves have declined by $2.44 billion from $43.61 billion at the beginning of last year. The Acting Governor, however, dismissed the concerns, saying devaluation is not on the table and will not be on the table of the apex bank. She said that decision on the CRR and monetary tightening will be based on the outcome of the review of economic development at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

The conference call was aimed at assuring foreign and local investors of the stability in Nigeria’s monetary policy as a result of the rising demand for foreign exchange, which is believed to be driven by speculations that apex bank might abandon its policy to defend the Naira.

While the official exchange rate was stable at N155.75, the inter-bank market rose sharply in the morning to reach N167 per dollar by 1.30 pm. Realising that the interbank rate might cross N170 per dollar before the end of the day, the apex bank intervened with special foreign exchange sale, which ranged from $1 million to $5 million per bank.

But the Naira depreciated further at the parallel market due to the scarcity of foreign exchange. From N170 per dollar, the parallel market exchange rate rose to N172 per dollar, indicating 200 kobo depreciation for the Naira.

According to BDC operators, there is scarcity of dollars because the banks are not selling.

From all indications, calm has returned to the financial market as local and foreign investors are convinced that the Cbn Governor-nomiee will maintain policy posture that will advance the cause of both markets and the economy. It is now left for the Senate to confirm the governor nominee to give complete assurance to both the local and foreign financial markets.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 15

The President versus the Governor of Governors

By DELE SOBOWALE

“Once to every man and nation comes the moment to; in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or the evil side” - James Russell Lowell. or all of us in Nigeria today, this is one of those rare moments when we must stand up and be counted; either for the truth or for falsehood. There can be no sitting on the fence on this one. And, difficult as it seems, I will register my own views – without fear or favour. For one thing, the suspension of the Governor of Central Bank by President Jonathan is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria and that of most countries of the world. It is quite possible that nobody alive today will witness another episode such as this.

Predictably it has divided the nation along all its main fault lines. It has set a good part of the North against the South; Muslims against Christians; PDP versus APC; Ijaw are now ready to battle Hausa/Fulani.

Even the lawmakers were at loggerheads on this issue.

While majority of senators were in support; the majority in the House of Representatives were against the measure. Positions were taken right from the minute the breaking news hit the air waves. Those in favour announced it was long overdue; those against regarded it as unconstitutional and the closest thing to a declaration of war. At the moment, it is almost impossible to find anybody who could be regarded as objective on this matter. That, to me, is perfectly understandable; because this is not a contest between absolute good and total evil. If it is, the matter will be quite easy to decide. Rather it appears like a battle between two parties each half good and half evil. And, anybody pretending

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Grave charges

The President charged the CBN Governor with several instances of financial recklessness as well as multiple cases of fraudulent practices; he also accused Sanusi and the apex bank of not maintaining proper book of accounts as prescribed by the International Financial Reporting Standards, (IFRS). All these charges were based on the 2012 audit report prepared by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) – whose existence is becoming known to millions of Nigerians and millions more worldwide for the first time. Stakeholders should be asking where this body was when the NNPC and the CBN were operating as if they were governments within a government. Nevertheless, what had emerged from the audit report of the FRCN are grave charges for which the CBN Governor, if found guilty, could be dismissed, forfeit all his entitlements and be prosecuted and jailed as well.

Based on these allegations, the President proceeded to suspend the CBN Governor from office and to forward the name of his successor to the Senate for confirmation – while at the same time appointing an Acting CBN Gov-

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that this is a white or black situation is a bloody liar. Let me quickly explain.

ernor.

Questions

The danger in that is that Sanusi might have been guilty of the crimes and misdemeanors listed but he will escape on technicalities because the President acted too previously and demonstrated his bias on the matter. That issue will eventually be decided by the courts onstrated his bias on the mat-

The very first question any objective person must raise is: “did the President follow the appropriate procedure based on the statute which established the CBN and the position of Governor? Failing to do that, or if the laws establishing the CBN were not explicit enough, did the President follow the procedure entrenched in the Civil Service? Obviously, if Jonathan had violated any of the laid down procedures for dealing with matters such as this, his action is not only illegal, it carries with it the taint of malice. The danger in that is that Sanusi might have been guilty of the crimes and misdemeanors listed but he will escape on technicalities because the President acted too previously and dem-

ter. That issue will eventually be decided by the courts. Certainly, this will go all the way to the Supreme Court irrespective of who wins in the lower court and Sanusi’s tenure would have ended by the time that happens. Unless a court restrains the Acting Governor from functioning, Sanusi, like retired Appeal Court Justice Salami, will not enjoy a send-off from the CBN. In fact, he will never return to his old office - except to evacuate his personal belongings. Perhaps that was the end Jonathan had in mind for somebody who had lately become a thorn in the flesh of his administration.

However, among the charges against Sanusi, one would, or should, not be decided by a court of law. This one is strictly for the court of public opinion

- where every person is the judge. That is the charge of “financial recklessness”. Profligacy, while reprehensible, is not a crime - especially when our laws have been so badly drawn up as to give an official such latitude as the CBN Governor and the fellows at the NNPC enjoy. If asked if I think Sanusi was financially reckless, my answer will be “definitely”. But, I will quickly add, “Once we created a situation under which a Pope or Sheik would be tempted to spend our money like a drunken sailor or shore leave, we must accept the consequences”.

Why, definitely? Because the mandates of the CBN remain the same as those of all central banks in the world: management of exchange rate; interest rates and, if possible, promotion of full employment.

All the activities of the CBN, including its budgets and expenditure, must aim to promote one or all those three objectives. It is not a charitable organization; neither is it established to rehabilitate refugees. Donating N100 million, or any amount to victims of violence, might be meritorious and humane, but, it is definitely outside the mandate of the bank. There should be no budget for that. The question to ask the CBN is: which of its Continues on page 16

PAGE 16— SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

The President versus the Governor of Governors Continued from page 15

core mandates does the donation to victims of religious violence promote? The answer, as we all know is NONE. Less important is the fact that the CBN has no way of knowing if the funds actually reached the victims or went into the wrong pockets. Donations are, however, not the only questionable expenditure – given the CBN mandate. Others are contained in the charge sheet Jonathan released and they need not delay us here. But, please remember, they are probably not fraudulent; just misguided and encouraged by the freedom given to our CBN Governors.

With almost total autonomy, every CBN Governor had become insulated within the virtually unlimited power that the position provided. The almost limitless powers of the CBN Governor, when exercised in a country where the National

•Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

Assembly and the Presidency had been extremely negligent in the discharge of their duties, had created the oppor-

tunity for the occupant of that office to operate without the checks and balances required to ensure that no public serv-

ant operates as if he owned the estate. Sanusi, like Soludo before him, could spend, and probably spent, billions of Naira without seeking the approval of anyone. Remember re-decimalisation and the attempt to re-introduce coins; both monumental failures which gulped billions of unexplained Naira. No Chief Executive of a quoted company, anywhere in the world, could have survived those calamities.

But, in Nigeria, it is just another minor episode.

In 2011, when the new Jonathan administration was still trying to find its bearings, I wrote a ten part series entitled, CBN ECONOMIC CZARISM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. It is impossible for me to repeat, fully, what was said in ten articles almost three years ago. But, let me summa-

rise everything in one sentence. THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, AS IT NOW OPERATES, ENCOURAGES FINANCIAL RECKLESSNESS, BY THE GOVERNOR, IN A WAY THAT WILL COME TO HAUNT US. Like all warnings issued to Nigerians and which were ignored at the time, we will soon find ourselves trying to bolt the farm gate after most of the cows have fled. Only God knows how many billions CBN Governors, not just Sanusi, have sent down the drain to our detriment.

The only thing not surprising about the reports coming through is that it had taken the President of Nigeria and all those overpaid slackers in the National Assembly so long to take notice.

To be continued...

CBN Governor’s Suspension: Heads must roll if…

BYATEDO PETERSIDE I don’t know if anything is true or false. What I do know is that in a presidential system, various aides and pressure groups try and pull the President towards the direction that they believe is best. Is that not why they even have lobbyists in Washington DC? One does not have to jump on the rooftops and sound populist every time in order to be branded “patriotic”. Sometimes the true patriots are those who apply pressure where it matters most - and sometimes on some issues, that might be in private.

The facts of the matter are clear and are all now in the public domain and I list some of them sequentially:1) On 07 June, 2013, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) wrote to the President. This was a damning and vitriolic attack where words like “fraud” and “misrepresentation” were used freely. They also recommended that strong action be taken against the CBN Gover-

C M Y K

nor and ALL the Deputy Governors. FRC attacked an entire institution (CBN) + its Board with reference to CBN’s 2012 accounts. Please note that the 07 June 2013 letter was issued

by FRC in response to CBN’s earlier response to its query; 2) About three months later, CBN wrote to Mr President drawing attention to revenue shortfalls and NNPC’s failure to credit the Federation Account with all the money that it was supposed to. If there is a shortfall, then there is a problem. Whether it is $49bn, $10bn or $20bn is not the issue. Even $1bn is a serious problem; 3) Item 2) above later became public knowledge before item 1), but both allegations subsist.

They were always both going to end up in the public space in whatever order because there are no secrets in Nigeria; 4) Like CBN did when queried by FRC, NNPC came up with supposed explanations of where the money went. NOI and others called for a forensic audit to determine whether NNPC’s claims/explanations can withstand proper scrutiny;

5) Last week, Mr President suspended the CBN Governor citing Item 1) above; 6) Conspiracy theorists have been at work from the first day.

FRC has given some of us, who are on the boards of companies that publish financial statements, sleepless nights because we are forced to comply with their cumbersome dictates. We have no choice because they are empowered by law as some kind of financial watch dog. FRC was also clearly giving CBN “hell”.

Why were they “after CBN”?

Conspiracy theorists have the “answers”. I don’t. Some conspiracy theorists argue that the CBN Governor was suspended because he blew the whistle on the NNPC, while others argue that CBN only blew the whistle on NNPC in order to distract attention from their own travails with FRC. I do not care about conspiracy theorists. At the end of the day, two things must happen:A) NNPC’s assertions must be subjected to a proper forensic audit; and B) CBN must provide satisfactory answers to FRC’s queries.

If CBN does (B) above suc-

•Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

cessfully, then they (FRC) must be made to tender a public apology to the CBN and its Board and “heads must roll” in FRC and the Governor should be recalled from suspension. That the CBN Governor said publicly that he will not go back is irrelevant.

If NNPC “fails” its forensic audit, then all relevant heads around there must also roll.

That is my position in private and in public.

I felt “liberated” to make this comment because the President has now named his nominee to replace Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi at the end of his tenure.

Accordingly, people can no longer say: ‘Atedo is saying all these because he wants to be CBN Governor’.

I speak because I want my country to improve. *Peterside was the Managing Director of former IBTC

SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014 , PAGE 17

2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Our concerns — United States As Nigeria prepares for the 2015 general elections, issues on electoral governance were the focus of the Nigeria/US Bi-national Commission which met for the first time this year

BY VICTORIA OJEME

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President Goodluck Jonathan who engages in such election chicanery should be held accountable. They are right.”

One of the safeguards against electoral vices, as often harped on by the INEC boss, Jega, is the setting up of an Electoral Offences Tribunal, which, in the view of Greenfield, will substantially address the concerns by many that people often get away with serious breaches of electoral laws.

On this, she passed the ball to the National Assembly, presently engaged in the processes of the amendment of the Constitution as well as the Electoral Act. The US envoy therefore called on the National Assembly, “to pass legislation enacting an Electoral Offences Tribunal—a legislation that President Jonathan himself proposed when he was Vice President”.

“We hope that our continued electoral assistance will give the utmost support to the Nigerian people because they deserve nothing less than elections that reflect their will”.

She also had a word for the citizenry largely perceived as most times being complicit in the afflictions and misfortunes of Nigeria’s electoral process, insisting, “Credible elections are the responsibility of every citizen, every voter. Your right to vote is yours to watch over”.

The envoy added, “The choice is yours to decide not to sell your vote, not to intimidate others, and not to engage in violence around elections. Selling your vote will put money in your pocket for only a day, but ultimately, you are selling your future and your children’s future right to freedom and prosperity. You must

Barrack Obama, US President

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he US delegation, led by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Linda ThomasGreenfield, met for two days with high ranking Nigerian officials led by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi.

The theme of the meeting, “Transparency, Good Governance and Democracy in Nigeria,” is apt reflection of the concerns of many, including Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike, on the implications of the on-going struggle amongst politicians for democratic succession, corruption, security and the economy.

This also explains why the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, was invited to make a presentation on the electoral body’s preparations for the 2015 general elections.

The US envoy, in her remarks, captured the concerns of her home government, saying, “We will be discussing ways we can partner to make Nigeria’s upcoming 2015 elections the most peaceful, free, fair and credible in its history. We will also exchange ideas on how we can arrest the malignancy of financial corruption that eats away at Nigeria’s democracy and economy”.

Greenfield further narrowed her government’s concerns with regard to the 2015 general elections to the imperative of a more substantive improvement on the 2011 general elections, locally and internationally adjudged to have been better than previous elections.

It was therefore not surprising that issues of electoral malfeasance, with the potential to make or mar the republic, dominated her speech.

The seeming over heating of the polity months away from the declared dates of the elections at the back of her mind, she said, “Nigeria’s future is full of promise and opportunity and cannot afford to have elections or general governance slide back in terms of peacefulness, fairness, transparency, or credibility.

“No matter how high the political stakes, we are dedicated to the proposition that the 2015 elections will be more transparent, more credible, and less violent than in 2011. We stand with Nigerians who say loudly that they will not accept crooked tactics, electoral tampering, overly heated rhetoric, vote selling or buying, or violence. I have heard my Nigerian friends say repeatedly that anyone

The US e n v o y therefore called on the National Assembly, “to pass legislation enacting an Electoral Offences Tribunal—a legislation that President Jonathan himself proposed when he was Vice President”

hold your politicians, your electoral commission, your judiciary, your media, your political parties, your security services, and each other accountable. You must vote according to your conscience. Anyone who witnesses fraud must peacefully report it to the INEC and the Nigerian judicial system for resolution. Nothing justifies violence. Most importantly, Nigerians should vote. The ballot is your means to select your leaders and determine your futures.”

Greenfield also had kind words for Nigeria’s security apparatus, particularly its showing in Anambra , during the governorship election, saying, “We applaud the Nigerian security services for faithfully executing their complex operational orders on Election Day to ensure the protection of voters and poll workers in the November 16 Anambra State elections. We have confidence that if the Nigerian police, military, and other security services are allowed to do their jobs as professionally as they did in Anambra, the elections can be held safely in Ekiti and Osun States and, in 2015, at every polling unit in Nigeria, including in the Delta, the Middle Belt, and the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.”

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Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

ONOLEMEMEN: Mending Nigerian roads!

BY JIDE AJANI

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hen you hear Mike Oziegbe Onolememen speak, you would immediately discern that this is an Edo man talking. An architect by profession, Onolememen, the honourable minister of works, remains an engaging personality. Whereas the Goodluck Jonathan administration suffers a major discount on account of perception, a perception that seems to reinforce the impression that nothing visible is being achieved, an interaction with Onolememen would give a lie to that.

Penultimate Wednesday, in his not so expansive office, Onolememen demonstrated that his choice as minister of works in a nation of over 170million Nigerians is not just ‘one of those appointments’.

Whatever informed President Jonathan’s choice of Onolememen as works minister (having once served as Minister of State for Defence), from all indications on ground, couldn’t have been any other but the product of sound judgment.

You may wonder why!

Onolememen’s impressive curriculum vitae (although many Nigerians in that same bracket possess better CVs) at once suggests that he is equipped to head the ministry. His qualifications: B. Sc (Hons) C M Y K

Architecture ; M.Sc. in Architecture; M. Sc. in Construction Management; and Ph. D in Public Policy & Administration (Completed coursework,and Ph.D dissertation ongoing). A member of Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA); Association of Consulting Architects in Nigeria (ACAN); Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM); and registered Architect by the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON). Top level management executive having combined post qualification experience of over 25 years in operations, middle management and top management levels in federal government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and private sector Companies all in Nigeria; track record of strategic implementation of federal government policies and proactive management of businesses in the Nigerian economy; specialization in public policies implementation, project conceptualization, project management and capacity building; vast in technical audit and due diligence work for new infrastructure projects and existing infrastructure; served as Minister of State, in the Ministry of Defence; Served as Head of the directorate of Project Management of the then Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF); managed the dredging of the lower river niger project at the conception, design and contract

documentation stages, under the national waterways development programme of the PTF, consisting of pre-dredging survey of the lower niger river; capital dredging works; construction of river ports at Baro, Lokoja, and Idah as well as the completion of Onitsha port; construction of river training works, maintenance dredging of the riverniger and the construction of the 18 km Gudu – Baro highway to provide access to the FCT, Abuja; managed the PTF national rural electrification programme, and the bulk power supply programme, as well as upgrade of existing electricity infrastructure in Nigeria; managed the PTF national rural telephone programme nationwide; managed the PTF national health & educational institutions rehabilitation programme nationwide; managed the national highways and urban road rehabilitation programme of the PTF; managed the rehabilitation of state house and Dodan barracks, Lagos under the PTF. We could go on and on.

But in most public service engagements in Nigeria, there is almost always this disconnect between professional capabilities of individuals and their service delivery once they get into government. If not, why is the Nigerian nation still regarded as an underdeveloped country with the plethora of professionals of global

standing and repute who have been appointed in decades past. While there are those who insist that the malaise of delivery deficit is systemic, there is another school of thought which charges that individuals have had their own proclivities before being appointed; and that whatever happens thereafter is just a reinforcement of such innate dispositions and not really a function of the systemic failure within which they operate.

Therefore, the massive disconnect between professionalism and service delivery as witnessed in decades past regarding government appointees and governance can be dumped at the door step of individualism. There may be a point here. There was once a Mamman Kontagora as minister of works whose delivery marked him out even under a military regime.

In the case of Onolememen, the delivery in his ministry is selfevident. For instance, whereas there was a 15% completion in the motorability of Nigerian roads by the time he took over as minister in 2011, today he boasts of a delivery of 70% - this in just some three years.

In this interview, Onolememen presents himself as an individual who knows the situation of Nigerian roads like the back of his hand. He speaks on what the Jonathan administration is doing to fix the roads and the challenges that go with it.

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Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014 2014,, 19

The politics of state and federal roads is dicey – Onolememe, Onolememen, Minister for Works

Says, from 15%, 70% of federal roads are now motorable ’Lagos-Ibadan Expressway rehabilitation to finish ahead of schedule’ On Shagamu-Benin Road, Second Niger Bridge: We will deliver

BY JIDE AJANI

M

inister of Works, Arch Mike Onolememe, knows the sit uation of Nigerian roads like the back of his hand as he demonstrates in this interview. Onolememe speaks on what the Jonathan administration is doing to fix the roads and the challenges that go with it.

Excerpts: Let’s start from the Benin-Shagamu Road. As far back as 1987, rehabilitation of the road started.

Almost 25 years down the line, we are still on the rehabilitation; the Ore-Benin axis is now so bad.

When will that road be delivered?

If a road were to be completed today, immediately, what we call routine maintenance on the road starts.

There are always a number of activities, even on a good road because that is international best practice.

But in the case of the Benin-Ore Road, at the time you mentioned, 1987, I was also living in Lagos, and I used the road quite often. There C M Y K

had been intermittent work on the road, and, from the outnset, those were just palliative repairs or, if you like, maintenance works at the time. But at about 2009, major rehabilitation contracts were awarded on that road and, because the Ministry of Works had very paltry budgetary provisions, the contracts were segmented. In other words, the ministry’s policy at the time was to target the most impacted parts of the road, so it was like an ad hoc approach.

It was not until 2011 when we came in that we decided to take a holistic look at the road and strategise to rehabilitate the entire stretch from Benin up to Shagamu, and that has been on-going. From time to time, we are also hampered, but one of the things we set out to do in 2011 when we came was to ensure that the subsisting contracts we inherited were quickly finished. The alignments you talked about from Benin to Ofosu were the sections we inherited, and we have since completed

that. We awarded another one from Ofosu to Ore, which has also been completed. Just before that was completed, as part of our desire to get the entire stretch rehabilitated, we awarded a third section of the road, which is from Ore to Ajebandele.

In fact, if you have travelled on that road in recent times, you would discover that work has been ongoing, and it is going on well. The final section of that road, which is Ajebandele to Shagamu, was put in our 2014 budget, which means the contract will certainly be awarded this year, and, by the time the third section is completed, we estimate that the Ogun section, which used to be the very good part of the road that has now deteriorated, will be okay.

Only this morning (Thursday February 20) the Managing Director of RCC, the contractor working on the road, was with me and we discussed how to go about it, particularly the way we can guarantee sustainable

funding of that last section, once the contract is awarded. I want to assure that government is determined.

Before now, paucity of funds was the problem. However, since 2012, that project has also benefited from enhanced funding as result of funds from the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P). As a result of the SURE-P funds and some other funds we are trying to access, I want assure you that the entire corridor would be rehabilitated.

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ou mentioned the issue of funding, but we know that it is one to have budgetary allocations, it is another to have the funds released; even with the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway reconstruction, there have been questions about how much exactly it is going to cost, and when the project be completed?

First of all, the issue of funding is germane. It is a major challenge because, often times, budget provisions are made, but in terms of re-

leases, the provisions are not matched. A point in case was last year when we had a budget of N141 billion for highway projects in the ministry, but, at the end of the day, we received only N65 billion.

Usually, that is the problem, but what we have done differently this time is that we have also been able to tap into non-budgetary sources of funds. One of the first things we did when we came on board in 2011 was to institute a road sector reform committee in order to take a holistic look at the sector and our road development programme, and look at how they could be properly funded in line with international best practice.

Although the recommendations of that committee, which include the setting up of a Roads Authority and the creation of a road fund that can help to fill the funding gap in road development projects and programme, we have since been implementing the recommendations by

Continues on page 20

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Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

‘From 15%, 70% of federal roads are now motorable’ Continued from page 19

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We have decided that it is only economical routes on which private sector resources have been deployed in completing those roads that we will reintroduce toll plazas, and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of them

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looking towards the private sector and other non-budgetary sources of finance for our road development projects.

We are looking at private finance initiatives, enhanced collaboration with multilateral and development agencies around the world. A case in point is the Federal Road Development Project which has been the World Bank putting down about $330 million and has led to the effective rehabilitation of the Nigerian-Cameroun transport corridor from Enugu through Abakaliki to Mbok, through Ogoja junction to Ikom and Mfam. That entire corridor was made possible by tapping the World Bank and Africa Development Bank funds. Also, last year, we were part of the President’s trip to China and we also hope that trip will yield another $285 million into our road development programme.

Beyond that, since 2012, we have been a recipient of enhancing funding from the SURE P, and, more importantly, we are also working with the private sector on some public private partnership scheme. The major one we are handling now in that respect is the Second Niger Bridge; the financial architecture has just been finalized, which is why we are preparing for the ground breaking for the bridge in a couple of weeks Looking at the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which you asked a pointed question on, that project is designed to cost N167 billion. If you recall, the project has been awarded to two contractors in two sections: Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd handling Section 1, from Lagos to Shagamu interchange, and RCC Nigeria Ltd handling Section 2, from Shagamu interchange to Ibadan. The financial architecture we designed for that project remains the same as approved by the Federal Executive Council at the material time. What we said was that the Federal Government was going to contribute about N50 billion into the common purse. From the 2014 budget alone, we are contributing N25 billion, and the final N25 billion, which will now form the total of the Federal Government commitment to the project will be part of the 2015 budget. But beyond that, the outstanding money, which is almost N120 billion is being raised through a private finance initiative. The private finance initiative involves our fund arranger, the Infrastructure Bank, and you have credible agencies including the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, who are also part of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for that. There are many private sector agencies, including financial institutions, that have indicated interest in putting this money down. We are finalizing on that. It is part of tapping into private sector resources to implement critical infrastructural projects of government that are germane to the running of our economy. If you look at the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, it is a major economic arterial route. For government, doing that road is not just a social service, it is also an economic service, and, because it is an economic route, it can benefit from private sector investment, and such investment can be recouped.

which has a total road network of 7,000km. But if you go to Zambia, you will find that they spend, on the average, about 1billion USD yearly on their roads. But here we are with about 35,000km, which is five times the road network of Zambia, and we are not able to spend 50 percent of what Zambians are spending on their roads. So if you look at that, it gives you a graphic picture of why we are where we are.

The Kano-Maiduguri Road you referred to was not awarded by the Sani Abacha administration. The dualisation was awarded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006. Unfortunately, if you look at the history, between 2006 and 2009, you will find out that there was no much progress on the road. In some sections, we couldn’t even pay compensation and the contractor did not have access to site. A case point in is the Kano to Wudil section. It was when we came on board that we paid compensation before we were able to open the right of way to the contractor to commence work. But for the SURE P enhanced funding, that road would have been still far from the level we have achieved.

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ith the PPP you talked about, does it mean you are introducing toll gates on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway?

We have decided that it is only economical routes on which private sector resources have been deployed in completing those roads that we will reintroduce toll plazas, and Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of them. Tolling is part of international best practice because when you borrow money from the private sector to do an infrastructural project, the project itself should pay back.

That is why we do the outline and final business case studies, which have all proved that Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is a viable road, and that, based on traffic flow on the road, investors would be able to recoup their investments. It is in line with international best practice, and one of the things we need to do in order to guarantee sustainable maintenance of our federal highways across the country. And this is not new in Nigeria; even in those days, when government had to use its funds to carry out major dual carriage way projects, at the end of the projects, they put in place toll plazas, at least to guarantee the main-

tenance of those roads, even if it was not geared towards recouping the investment.

Talking about the Feder al Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), there are some young Nigerian graduates who one would have expected to be engaged to do FERMA’s work. But the way I see FERMA now, it appears like an agency to create job for the boys, while our young men who are graduates in engineering wallow in joblessness…

FERMA has been in existence since about 2002 at first, and, in 2005, the law was revised. As we know it, FERMA has a direct labour unit component, where quite a number of Nigerians have been employed within the past one year, under SURE-P. In every local government, we have people who now work directly for FERMA for the maintenance of roads, and road shoulders.

However, these crews are not trained enough to embark on major maintenance works in terms of stretches of failed portions of federal roads where asphalt overlay is needed. But we intend to develop capacity in FERMA to such an extent that in the not too distant time, FERMA operatives would be able to do all of that. That is why are establishing asphalt plants for FERMA on zonal basis, and we

are also equipping them. Since we came on board, we have been able to buy about 42 FK Beckham Road Patchers for FERMA and staff are being trained, such that they can deploy to any part within their state to patch roads. This will help us do away with the practice of cutting roads and leaving them for weeks or months, a thing that has led to untimely deaths, through accidents in the past. Beyond this, President Jonathan, in late 2011, approved that 500 young Nigerian engineers should be employed in the Federal Ministry of Works. That has been fully complied with, and the engineers have been deployed to several departments of the ministry,particularly in the field offices, and they are being trained on the job.

On Kano-Kaduna and KanoMaiduguri roads, there is the need for effective culture of maintenance…

If you look at the design of KanoKaduna Road, it was to last for 25 years; after the 25 years, a major rehabilitation ought to have taken place. But what has happened in our system is that we have not had enough budgetary provision for us to maintain that road the way it ought to have been maintained because, at that point, we are supposed to remove the entire wearing course, stabilize the base course and do complete asphalt overlay.

We have not been able to do that because of the cost. Ask yourself, how much is budgeted for road works in Nigeria? For a road network of 35,000km, sometimes we receive as little N60 to N70 billion. For years, the military did not even budget up to N10 billion for those roads.

You can compare our situation with little countries like Zambia,

ou talked about the in creased capacity of FER MA, but the impact of that capacity has not been felt because, as we speak, some of the best federal roads, including the BeninAsaba Road are going bad, and nothing is being done to arrest the situation; shouldn’t we just toll all federal highways to generate money for their maintenance?

Federal Government cannot have such a policy to charge tolls on all federal roads for very obvious reasons. Government itself has a social responsibility to the people. A road network serves two purposes, first as an artery to support economic activities, like hauling tons of cement, iron billets, bitumen and other different articles. These are strictly economic activities; a road is expected to also serve social activities, that is for social and national integration among different sections of the country, so government has that responsibility, and as such cannot toll every road. However, we also believe that what government is doing by establishing tolls on all roads on which private sector funds have been expended is a good way of arresting some of these problems. I say so because if we are able to get the arterial routes right, and they are now able to fend for themselves and pay for their own maintenance, government resources will be freer to handle those other road projects that have social impacts in terms of national integration.

The issue of state and federal roads has been a sore point in the relationship between states and the Federal Government. In Lagos for instance, you will be passing through a road that is so bad, and the state would say it is so because it is a federal road; what is the level of collaboration, especially in the cities?

In terms of relationship between states and the Federal Government, the example of Lagos you gave is not typical. Don’t forget that Lagos was the capital of Nigeria for many years, and that is the state where the Federal Government has the highest number of roads. Remove federal roads from Lagos, what is left? Is it the Ikorodu Expressway, the Third Mainland Bridge, the Oworoshoki-Apapa Road, Hebert Macaulay Road or Marina Road? All these are federal

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Continues from page 20

We will deliver on ShagamuBenin Road, Second Niger Bridge ---- Onolememen In November last year, about N8billion was paid out to a number of state governments as refund for roads repairs under this regime. So it is an ongoing thing, but this is for state governments that comply with the guidelines.

If you investigate, many of the states crying foul in the request for money are people who just did streets, urban alignments that have no bearing with the interstate traffic. These are the challenges; we are looking into the matter by engaging with the states, and we believe that we should be able to work together, once due process is followed based on the guidelines. n terms of priorities in the 2014 budget, what projects would the ministry be focusing on?

Again, because of the kind of funds we have, we are being mindful that we should put our funds on very critical projects that we want to bring either to completion or achieve substantial progress on. First on the list is the local Oweto Bridge which was a bridge we started a little over one year ago and we have already reached about 36 percent completion. It connects Loko in Nasarawa State to Oweto in Benue; that project, when completed, will reduce travel time from Abuja to the South-east by more than two and a half hours. So it is a very critical project, which will be an alternative for people going to the South because, sometimes, when

I

Benin-Ore Shagamu Road is also a priority, and, of course, LagosIbadan is a major priority. We want to drive the completion to a substantial level this year

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roads, so you now find out that many of the major federal roads in Lagos have over the years been maintained.

I give it to the Lagos State government; they also do their bit because it serves their people. When we had the Council of Works meeting in Lagos in 2012, one of our resolutions at that meeting is that we now want to create a radiusaround state capital or cities where federal roads traverse. Federal roads basically ought to connect one state to another, so we are now experimenting with the issue of creating by-passes so that we are not brought into the issue of urban alignment because it is not Federal Government’s responsibility to provide urban alignment that would provide access to building and businesses. The Federal Government doesn’t collect taxes from those people. So it is the state government that collects those taxes, so they should be able to fix those roads.

And if you look at the politics of state and federal roads, you will find out that particularly during the military regime, most of these roads were surrendered by state governments to the Federal Government.

So the Federal Government reluctantly assumed ownership of some of them, and we know these roads in question. If you go into the Federal Highways Act, you will see the real federal roads because they are there.

Legally speaking, any road that has not been gazetted as a federal road cannot really claim to be such because every federal road has a route number, and all the federal roads with route numbers are contained as appendixes in the schedule under the Federal Highways Act of 1971.

During the regime of the late President Yar’Adua, the Federal Government in its wisdom approved the guidelines for intervention by state governments on federal roads. And these guidelines are very clear; if you are a state government, you must write to the Federal Government, in fact to the President telling him that you want to carry out repair of so and so road. Or you could write to the Minister of Works, who will, in turn, inform the President. The request is evaluated, and if the road is of economic significance, and it truly connects one state to the other, more often than not, it is recommended that the President gives approval for intervention by the state government.

Once such approval is granted, all the procurement processes must be in line with the Public Procurement Act at the federal level. After award of the contract, staff of the Federal Ministry of Works domiciled in that state must be part of the supervision of the project. Once a state meets these guidelines, we, as federal take responsibility for refund.

But what you see is that, most times, some state governors just wake up, and they give contracts without our knowledge and without following the guidelines. They then go to the media to say the Federal Government owes them so much billions of naira. It is akin to having a house which you gave to a tenant; one day you travelled and returned and the tenant slams you with a hefty bill that he has done renovation in the house, and he wants you to refund N15 billion. How will you react? Without your consent as the landlord, a tenant should not go into that kind of thing. We at the federal level also have a budget, and we need to plan for our road development.

And if such a project is part of our plan, why not? There have been a number of state governments we have refunded money to in the past, like Ekiti State Government.

we have problems on Lokoja Bridge over the Niger, it is like the whole country is shut down. So this project is strategic because, once completed, it will reduce the traffic on the Abuja-Lokoja Road. The second, I mentioned earlier that in a few weeks, we will be breaking the ground for the Second Niger Bridge.

It is also a priority project we are pursuing this year because good enough for that project, the Federal Government is just expected to contribute about 30 percent of the sum, while the Julius Berger Consortium will be responsible for the provision of 70 percent. At the end of it, they will toll the bridge in order to recoup their funds, just like Lagos Ibadan Expressway. So tolling will not be limited to Lagos-Ibadan. Also, by the time we apply the funds from the China Exim Bank on the dualisation of the KeffiMakurdi to Nightmar in Enugu, we are also going to toll it to be able to recoup the funds and repay China Exim Bank because that is the new template. Then, of course, we are going to complete Abuja-Lokoja Road, which is a priority.

Benin-Ore Shagamu Road is also a

priority, and, of course, LagosIbadan is a major priority. We want to drive the completion to a substantial level this year. Added to these, we will be ramping up work on the Kano-Maiduguri Expressway, the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, and the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

In fact, we are going to concentrate on our major arterial routes; the one running from Sokoto to Tambuwal-Jega through Kebbi, and Kotangora in Niger State will be ramped up.

The road from Mokwa to Bida, which we awarded last through our collaboration with the World Bank, we will strive towards finishing it.

Also there is Akure-Ilesha on which we are also going to be ramping up work. The roads are so many, but, out of over 200, we have been able to prioritise, we have not more than 20 critical roads we want to focus our lean resources on. till on the disagreements between the federal and state governments over refund for repairs of federal roads, would you advocate a review of the ownership structure of federal

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roads in states bearing in mind that if you do that you will also have to review the revenue allocation formula to give them more money to do the work?

Already, the National Council on Works has resolved that roads within 5km radius of most cities would be offloaded to the state governments because they are urban roads, not interstate roads. It will interest you to note that the National Council on Works is made up of the Minister of Works, all the state commissioners for works in the 36 states and the FCT, as well as other critical stakeholders like the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

We all reached that joint resolution as a way of dealing with this issue.

Apart from those that fall within those categories, the Federal Government certainly intends to keep its mandate of providing roads that traverse different states of the country. More than 80 percent of vehicular traffic in Nigeria are on federal roads, irrespective of the state they transverse, so we the federal truly bear the brunt of carrying economic activities on our roads. I repeat, no state government comes near to that. Today, we have about 60,000km of roads paved in bitumen; 35,000km of those belong to the Federal Government, and these account for about 80 percent of economic activities in the country.

Whereas the states jointly own about 30,000km, most of them are not arterial roads. These state roads lead to hinterlands, and they are not really Grade A roads.

Is your ministry involved in any holistic approach to infrastructure like rail, and water transport to reduce the over reliance on roads?

Clearly, the ministry is involved in this holistic approach; in fact, during the preparation of the national integrated infrastructure master plan, I chaired the committee on transportation, and we talked about inter-modal transportation because that holds the key to dealing with the issue of maintenance and reducing the cost of maintenance. Like the government is doing now, if our rail transportation is brought back and fully stabilized, most of the heavy loads will be off the road.

And if those categories of haulage items are off our roads, the roads will last longer. Before now, our roads were designed to last for 25 years, but the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway we are constructing now, we have tinkered with some of the materials and the pavement design that will guarantee the road lasts for up to 50 years. For instance we have introduced the use of improved bitumen on the road, that is polymer bitumen to which certain additives are added before putting the asphalt. And that is to eliminate instances of rotten (destruction of the asphalt layer on the road.

The quality of asphalt we are using now is not bad, but it is designed to carry axle load of not more than 40 tons. So if we are able to check excessive axle loading, the road will last for a minimum of 25 years. But, today, what do we have? 60 to 80 ton trucks on our roads, and, when they pass, they leave a permanent mark, which is called rotting. Recently we did a joint experiment involving Julius Berger and RCC in a German laboratory, and we found that with the new pavement design and improved bitumen we are using, even when you have 2,000 of those heavy trucks going through the road, it does not leave permanent marks. That was why we specified that material for the LagosIbadan Expressway.

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY VANGUARD,MARCH 2, 2014

My problem with APC,

by Senator Owie Continued from last week In this concluding part of the former Senate Chief Whip, Senator Rowland Stephen Owie’s interview, he speaks on his problem with All Progressives Congress, APC, and expresses optimism that the PDP will take over after Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s tenure in Edo State, in 2016. Excerpts: Instead of waiting for 24 years to solve a problem, why not use four years, 2015-2019, to solve it, let Jonathan run and rotation continues thereafter. I appeal to our northern colleagues to allow peace to reign and stop the killings in the North.

They should know that the Southsouth has always supported; so they must reciprocate that gesture now.

Defections

But you decamped from the PDP to ANPP to run for governorship in Edo State and you did not lose your seat.

At that time, the provision of leaving your seat and declaring it vacant was not there, which is now there. It was amended in 2011, the amended 1999 Constitution.

But don’t you have the fear that the APC will kick the PDP out in 2015 with its growing popularity?

With due respect to my good friends in the APC, I recall when a journalist asked for my view on Ngige running for governorship on the platform of the APC in Anambra, I told him that Ngige was a good candidate but on a bad platform. The truth is that there is no way APC will not scatter. I want to see Buhari and Tinubu locked up in one room for a meeting for 24 hours and see which of them will come out alive. Bola is a democrat, Buhari came to power and was jailing Nigerians for 400 years, how many years do people stay on earth that you jail them for 400

• Senator Owie

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During our time, the amended Constitution was not there, so you could leave your party and still retain your seat. But with the amended Constitution, you decamp in the Senate or House of Reps, you lose your seat.

But the fact is that you do not need to leave your party before you say the truth about it. When we were in the Senate, three quarters of the National Assembly members in the PDP virtually stood as opposition to the Obasanjo government, while the opposition was wining and dining with Obasanjo. His bill on NDDC, we overruled his veto. A PDP President with over whelming majority in the National Assembly, but we taught him some bitter lessons.

That tells you the maturity that we showed. But one thing is clear, let no senator mince words, any one that decamps must lose his seat. I like the way Senate President, David Mark, is handling the issue, he is not giving room to our colleagues to misbehave. The court has ruled that there was no division in PDP.

I appeal to our northern colleagues to allow peace to reign and stop the killings in the North.

They should know that the South-south has always supported; so they must reciprocate that gesture now

years? Buhari has no respect for democracy and he wants to benefit from democracy. Buhari cannot campaign in a Christian community, Buhari will comfortably rule a Muslim country not Nigeria.

I don’t see Bola Tinubu in his clear conscience voting for Buhari. I assure you between now and the end of June, PDP will re-engineer itself and stand firm. PDP will win the presidential election hands down; before the elec-

tion, half of the APC members would have returned to PDP. What you see today is anger because governors and National Assembly members fight each other. The governors see the lawmakers as a threat because many governors want to go to the Senate. APC honeymoon will soon be over. I wish them luck but that luck does not mean they will win elections.

Your party, the PDP, in Edo has suffered several defeats in the hands of the APC. What are the chances of the PDP in 2015 in the state?

I agree that we have suffered defeats but I can assure you that things will soon change. One, Governor Oshiomhole, many people now in the PDP were part of the manure that grew him up and so, in his second coming, it was difficult for very many of them to fight a war of attrition. Now that Oshiomhole is on his way out, there is nothing again to consider by many people. Remove Oshiomhole from the APC today and there is nobody except a few people with good heads. Oshiomhole is the unifying force. The moment a number of people now know that he is not returning as governor after his eight years, people will say let him finish the work he is doing and go.

After him, APC in Edo will not win election any longer, PDP will win.

Perpetual governorship aspirants I left PDP on August 15, 2002, I

went to ANPP to run for the governorship of Edo when the masters of PDP said no vacancy in Government House.

It was from ANPP that we formed MDD, MRDD, ACD, ACN with people like Charles Idahosa. At that point, PDP members who were deregistered and a Rev. Father came to join us. We shared the positions, the PDP group brought the Chairman in the person of Omoaghe, the ANPP brought Amegor as Secretary. There was no election that we did not share positions peacefully. But problem started in ACN from perpetual governorship aspirants and those same people are fighting Oshiomhole today in the APC. When Oshiomhole was at the tribunal, some top Binis even asked us to withdraw the case, that four years is small. But we went on.

Today, those who said we should withdraw from the tribunal are the ones enjoying Oshiomhole’s government.

When I left PDP, I never knew that the bees in the PDP were still coming through the deregistered PDP into ACN. They started again to bite me.

The first thing they did was to hold a meeting on how to replace Oshiomhole while the man was just coming out of the tribunal. The second thing they did was to call a meeting that Oshiomhole should appoint a Bini person as Secretary to Government.

But I told them at the meeting that it was not right, that since the inception of the civilian government in the fourth republic, the SSG has come from the same senatorial district with the governor.

Three SSGs that Igbinedion appointed for eight years were Binis including Pastor Ize-Iyamu. When Osunbor came, he appointed Akhigbe who is from Iruekpen with him. I told them they must allow Oshiomhole to pick some body from his area, but some of these people started attacking me because I told the truth. Oshiomhole now appointed Pally Iriase as SSG, very far from his area, while others were appointing their own brothers and inlaws.

The same thing happened during the appointment of the Chairman of Local Government Service Commission. I told them where there is no justice there can’t be peace. I told them second republic Gov. Ambrose Ali came and appointed his brother as Chairman, when Oyegun came, he appointed P.A Agho as Chairman, when Igbinedion came, he appointed S.I Ekhator; so I told Oshiomhole that the Chairman must come from his senatorial district but if he wanted to dash us we will take. This permanent governorship aspirant in the PDP and now in APC said Senator Owie was spoiling their chances to control Oshiomhole. I heard now he is running again for governorship and wants to take the APC structure away from Oshiomhole.

Anywhere they go they want to destroy because they want to control but we are watching events very keenly.

IBB said he did not know who will be President after him but he knew those who will not. I don’t know who will be governor of Edo in 2016 but I know those who will not.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 23

08112662589

Men who became ‘surrogate’ dads to their married ex!

I

was recently in the office of an old schoolmate when the arrival of a girlfriend of his was announced by his secretary. “Let her come in,” he instructed immediately. Akin and I were fierce rivals in our literature class studying for our ‘A’ levels all those years ago. He’d done fantastically well for himself since he graduated and we’d remained firm friends over the years.

When the woman was shown in, she looked in her mid-thirties and was a bit embarrassed to find me in the office. After a decent interval, Akin reached into a drawer of his desk and passed a bulging manila envelope to the woman. A tall very pretty lady with a glowing skin, she thanked her obvious ‘benefactor’ with a kiss and a hug, slipping a slim envelope on his desk as she left, I was curious.

Akin extracted two photographs from the envelope, looked at them interestingly for a while, then passed them to me with an arrogant smirk, they were photographs of a very cute infant, “My son,” he informed me proudly. I didn’t know what to make of this revelation. I knew Akin’s wife, was aware he had been married for almost

twenty years and had three lovely children.

Had he fallen into the trap of the second wife syndrome?

“Not a chance,” he laughed. Iyabo (his lady friend) is married, he told me she was married for over five years without ever even getting pregnant. “When her husband and in-laws became too anxious about her childlessness, she came crying to me” he continued with his interesting story.

“She is an old girlfriend you see. When she was getting married, I encouraged it — I told her I wasn’t a two-wives material and I supported her financially through all the ceremonies of the marriage. She did have a few ‘accidents’ when we ere together, so I knew she was fertile. In spite of that, I supported her when she had fertility investigation and the gynaecologist said she was ok. It was then the husband’s turn to be tested but Iyabo told the gynaecologist she would rather the husband didn’t know about the investigation as she didn’t want to make him feel inadequate. So the gynaecologist arranged for her to come to his clinic any time they both had daytime sex so her

husband’s sperm-count could be checked for potency. It was when his sperm was examined that it was discovered his sperm count was very low. Iyabo confessed she kind of suspected that could be the problem when she didn’t get pregnant before and after they got married. If she did involve her husband in any investigation, springing a pregnancy on him could be very risky. It was then it dawned on me that she wanted me to father her child. In other words, she did plan everything long before she sought my consent.

“The husband is a very decent chap with a good

job. He loves Iyabo and she couldn’t have settled for a more considerate man. I wrestled with my conscience for weeks. In the end, I relented. If I couldn’t marry her after all she had meant to me, I would do the next best thing. Luckily, her husband is dark just like me and look at the wonderful son they now have!

The man was over the moon when the baby arrived, and their marriage is rock solid. With her inlaws off her back, she can concentrate on building a strong home.

And the money he slipped her, was it conscience money? “Don’t be silly,” he scoffed, I give her financial support

from time to time — just as I did before she got married. I am sure a lot of you girls go back to your exes to touch them for cash whenever you are short! In spite of the socalled financial independence of most women, a lot of them are not as independent as to leave an infertile husband and embrace motherhood alone. I learnt some men, knowing they are infertile, have encouraged wives to play the field with the hope of their getting pregnant and a few wives who went abroad to be artificially inseminated with donor sperms have ended up producing as quirky a result as mulatto children!

Not too long ago, some well known names were publicly linked with paternity disputes. With the reckless dimension sex is hurtling, no man can really beat his chest that all his children are his. “And have you noticed that some of these hybrid children actually have a striking resemblance to their dads?” sneered Lilian when a few of us had our usual chinwags in her house. We’d called to wish her a happy birthday she refused to celebrate because her 15year-old daughter just flunked her mock exams and might not be recom-

mended for the WAEC. “Take my uncle Billy for instance. We had a family get-together recently and he brought his nineyear old son. The old man is in his mid 70s and the wife, his third.

He only had a child to his name from a fling he had in his school days, and with all the gangrapes going on in their days, only heavens knows who that one’s real dad was! Anyway, he came with his wife and new son and it was as if the little boy was a crown jewel! My uncle followed him all over the place, confessing he was so attached to the boy that, God forbid the boy should peg off before him — he would simply commit suicide! In the mean time, the boyfriend whom his loving wife had had for ages, had been telling anyone who cared to listen that but for him, my uncle wouldn’t have had an heir as the first child, now married is female. What could the family do about this embarrassment? All you have to do is compare the boy’s looks with the braggart and see a striking resemblance. My uncle’s saving grace is that he is fair too, but not as chubby cheeked as his so-called son.”

08052201867(Text Only)

The anti-dote to rapid ageing

I

T’S normal in this age to expect scientific proof of anything and everything.

If science has a standpoint on something we want to know it. We are encouraged to do or not to do.

This means we live our day to day lives with a lot more confidence. We do not have to tread too gingerly as if in total darkness.

One of the things we should all know by now, if we don’t already is the proven fact that exercise can reverse the hand of the clock. Exercise can make you feel younger and live life fuller.

Try and introduce a daily exercise discipline into your life. Early morning is best for some. Well, temperaments differ. In this case suit yourself. What time you exercise should not matter much. The practice is the thing.

For me the total lack of need for any tool is what I find most appealing about yoga.

Once you’ve picked up the techniques to performing a few of them all what you’ll C M Y K

ever need for practice is just a little space and enthusiasm hinged to the knowledge that you’re doing yourself a great favour.

Don’t dwell on the negative thoughts of what happens to those who fail to exercise.

You should think thoughts that say you’re improving physically, emotionally and mentally.

There are times when we

The Camel

feel very low in spirits and in the body. The practice of the postures will restore your sense of aliveness. It will help put back the joy into your life.

The Asians or postures are definite antidepressants.

If you have been unduly assailed by

too much excitement you can practise the relaxation technique to quieten you down.

In fact a daily practice of say twenty minutes of relaxation is good for everyone. More so if you are hypertensive. Remember

Head to knee Posture

there’s proof that with the practice of meditation high blood pressure can be reduced to levels only possible before with medication.

The body must go through one hell of a house-cleaning to do that. Remember the body is self-healing. You only need to take away the obstacles and presto!

Let’s see how you get by with the following two postures: The Camel Technique: Sitting on the legs and toes out stretched put the palms of the hands float down just behind the toes. Now lean on the hand and throw the head back.

Take a deep breath and slowly lift the heels and thrust forward the lower part of the body and humping up the chest which means your spine being arched. Retain the posture for a while and return to sitting on the heels with the head held high and breathe out. Rest and repeat.

Benefits: The camel posture affects the go-nards and thyroid glands. The spine regains elasticity. It is also a great help against

constipation and gas.

Head to knee posture (standing) Technique: Stand with feet together. Raise your hands straight over head.

Breathe in as you do so.

Now bend your upper body down dropping your hands. Keep your breathe out.

Keep the palms down and your forehead brought into contact with your knees. And stay in this position for a while and as you inhale return to standing position. You may repeat a couple more times.

This posture maintains elasticity of both spine and hamstrings. Those into sports will do well to practise this very posture. It’s a great insurance against pulling hamstrings - a common happening at athletic meetings and soccer games. This posture massages deeply the regions of the abdomen and pelvis. Women folk who suffer painful periods should practice this before the onset of their periods.

With it they get relief.

Yoga Yoga classes classes STARTED STARTED at at 32 32 Adetokunbo Adetokunbo Ademola, Ademola, Victoria Victoria Island, Island, Lagos, Lagos, 9.10am 9.10am on on Saturdays Saturdays

P AGE 24— SUND AY Vanguard , MARCH 2 , 2014 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Proof sugar could be very dangerous to your health!

R

ENOWNED doc tors and academ ics are warning food giants all over the world to cut the amount of sugar they use because sugar has become the ‘new tobacco’. They say levels of sugar must be reduced by up to 30 per cent to halt a wave of disease and death. According to Simon Capewell, a professor of clinical epidemiology: “Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health. The obesity epidemic is generating a huge burden of disease and deaths.”

The professor is part of a new US-UK campaign group - Action on Sugar - that says asking firms to make voluntary changes has failed. With the average consumer consuming an average of 12 teaspoons of sugar, the maximum intake recommended by the World Health Organisation is ten although this guideline is likely to be halved. The UN says there is ‘overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption’ being linked to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Action of Sugar said food firms should be able to reduce the amount of sugar they add to products by 20 to 30 per cent within three to five years, taking 100 calories a day out of the typical diet. This would be enough to halt or even reverse rising levels of obesity and associated ill-health, it claimed. , Graham MacGregor, a professor at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and chairman of Action on

correlation between sugar and diabetes.

Raised sugar or glucose in the bloodstream triggers the production of insulin, which carries sugar out of the blood and stores it in the liver and muscles. Over time, the body can become less responsive to insulin. Eventually the cells stop responding at all, resulting in the Type 2 diabetes.

Would Jesus Have Used Twitter To Spread The Gospel?

Sugar said: “ we must now tackle the obesity epidemic both in the UK and worldwide. We must start a coherent and structured plan to slowly reduce the amount of calories people consume by slowly taking out added sugar from foods and soft drinks. This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry, and must be adopted by relevant authorities to reduce the completely unnecessary and very large amounts of sugar the food and soft drink industry is adding to our foods.

“Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever, and causes 0 feeling of satiety. Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver. We must particularly protect children from this public health hazard and the food industry needs to immediately reduce the

amount of sugar that they are adding, particularly to children’s foods, and stop targeting children with massive advertising for high calorie snacks and soft drinks.”

S

ugar manufactur ers have however rejected the claims of the health experts, saying they were not supported by the consensus of scientific evidence. Sugar Nutrition UK said the World Health Organisation published a review last year that found that any link between diabetes and body weight was due to over consumption of calories and was not specific to sugar. It said: •There have also been numerous studies, which have investigated potential links between sugar and diabetes, with experts from the British Diabetic Association, European Food Safety Authority, and Institute of Medicine being very clear that diabetes is not caused by eating sugar.

Respected expert committees have reviewed the evidence over many years and all have concluded that the balance of available evidence does not implicate sugar in any of the so-called life-style diseases.

• ugars, or any other nutrients for that matter, consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet are not a cause of obesity, to which there is no simple or single solution.” But Professor Shrinath Reddy, a Cardiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and a member of the WHO panel of experts, disputed this conclusion. He said there was ‘overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption links to obesity, diabetes and even cardiovascular disease. He believes sugar needed to become an occasional treat rather than a regular ‘crutch’. ‘;

S

you need to do is just love me the way I do. I love you very much.

Omorville Omorville@gmail.com, 08062486549

Test of true love,

Y

OUR column to express your loving thoughts in words to your sweetheart. Don’t be shy. Let it flow and let him or her know how dearly you feel.

Write now in not more than 75 words to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E.mail: sunlovenotes@yahoo.com Please mark your envelope: “LOVE NOTES"

My Honorable Lady,

They say loving someone is a choice. I choose to love you, I choose to dream about you, I choose to make love to you, I choose to be yours forever....all

A girl had really talked about her guy to her female peepz. How rich,caring,generous and handsome her guy is,and that he will be coming to visit her this evening. Hmmm, expectations from everyone around was so high. The guy actually came, as he promised but with a loaf of local baked bread "agege" as a Valentine gift/engagement to his girl.

The girl was so annoyed and disappointed. She threw the bread at the guy and insulted him in the presence of her female peers around. Embittered,the guy humbly picked up agege bread then sliced it into two and behold,a car key and engagement ring fell out of the bread,......Lesson, my questions is, if you are the girl what will you do? or f you are to be the

Does Sugar Really Cause Diabetes?

T

he idea that sugar, rather than fat, causes both obesity and diabetes is starting to gain traction. As a result, an increasing number of people are adopting weight loss regimes that concentrate on cutting out foods containing added sugar. This has been fuelled by best-selling books such as: I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson, who has become a campaigner on the issue.

She thinks her old sugar addiction caused her to develop mood disorders, sleep problems and an overactive thyroid.

A US study published last year found that for every extra 50 calories of sugar people had access to everyday, the prevalence of diabetes in the country ’s population rose by one per cent. The research, conducted by a team from the University of California was the first to show an apparent’

Would Jesus have joined Twitter? That is the intriguing question being debated on the pages of the weekly political magazine The Spectator.

Earlier last month, author James Bartholomew wrote that serious writers ‘lose dignity by condensing their great thoughts into the meagre 140 characters of a Twitter feed.

Imagine•h, he wrote, if “Jesus has been required by his Father to tweet. It just wouldn’t have been the same. ‘Might be a bit short on loaves and fishes on the Mt. today. Take a miracle to feed everyone!• In the letters page the following week, reader Bridget Mayes Wittily pointed out that the King James Bible boiled down rather neatly into Twitter format. The line from Luke’s Gospel: ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than the kingdom of heaven’ is a neat and succinct 111 characters.

While •gcome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give; you rest’ from Matthew’s Gospel is only 79 characters. She concluded that with these pithy statements, Christ would have been right at home on Twitter: “Ahead of the time rather than behind ours, I think.”

embittered guy will you forgive her?

Chris Onunaku 08032988826/08184844015.

All I wanted

All I ever wanted was to love you As when I saw you first from far away.

But then it was my sweet mistake to have you Too young to hold the demons long at bay.

For years I hated you, for only hate Could cauterize the wounds that would not heal, And gorged myself on fantasies to sate A hunger I could neither suage nor feel.

Eventually, we both found other loves And settled into other lives. And yet The past like some unquiet ghost still moves Within, too fraught with longing to forget.

We have moved on, as is mature and wise.

But love, though long abandoned, never dies.

Emma Mine Delta State.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 25

COMMUNAL WAR

Farmer caught in crossfire battles for life T

wo communities -Othape and Igbede-in Akoko South-east area of Ondo State have since 2009 after a court verdict been at war.

A dispute over land has seen them using dangerous weapons against ‘trespassers,’ so to say, on the land.

The latest victim, 32-year old farmer, Oyeyemi Omobolade, nearly lost his life after he left his house located in Othape to farm on the disputed land.

Oyeyemi was attacked with machetes by his assailants and left to die. Timely rescue by security agents saved him.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the genesis of the attack could be traced to an age-long disputed land between the two communities.

The people of Othape said a court adjudicated on the land in their favour and have petitioned Ondo State police commissioner through their solicitor Steve Adebowale.

The legal practitioner said in the petition, “The Igbede community is seeking to expand the frontiers of the initial grant even though the land they occupied, which was measured, was granted to their ancestors by the Othape community. ” C M Y K

,,

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

We are presently living in perpetual fear as the Igbede community is not only bent on robbing us of our land, but exterminating us because of their numerical strength and influence

Adebowale explained that the Othape community initiated steps to bring the said dispute within the confines of court while the case was struck out because of the failure of igbede community who is the plaintiff failed to show up at the court.

According to the lawyer, Omobolade and two of his friends headed to farm not knowing that some people from Igbede had laid an ambush for them. He added that Omobolade’s friends were lucky to escape unhurt while the victim was attacked with machetes and left to die.

“Our client Oyeyemi Omobolade was brutalised and is currently hospitalised. He has

been referred from Ipe Akoko General Hospital to the state Specialist Hospital in Akure and was further referred to a private medical consultant.

The doctors are currently battling to save his life.”

The solicitor said the petition became imperative in order to forestall crisis in Ipe-Akoko.

He warned, “If no action is taken, Othape community dwellers may be attacked to the point of starting a reprisal action in order to prevent Igbede from exterminating them.”

Also, the head of Othape, who is also the Olosan of Ipe Akoko, Chief Ajiwojuoluwa Omobolade, has petitioned the inspector General of Police,

Mr. M.D. Abubakar over the issue and called for an unbiased investigation into the matter.

He said Othape gave Igbede forebearers land to settle in.

According to him, with time, Igbede started trespassing beyond what was given to their forebears and claiming to be the rightful owner of the land.

He said further that Othape was dragged to court over the issue but when the representatives of Igbede saw the hand writing on the wall, they tactically withdrew from the case.

The petitioner stated that the attack on Oyeyemi was reported to the police in the area with a petition forwarded to Ondo State commissioner of police but said none of the attackers has been arrested.

“We are presently living in perpetual fear as the Igbede community is not only bent on robbing us of our land, but exterminating us because of their numerical strength and influence”.

But a spokesman for Igbede, Chief Adebola Adeleye, punctured the allegation that the people of his community are the aggressors.

Adeleye said the court case on the land dispute is still pending and has not been

thrown out as alleged.

According to him, there was a clash in which people from both communities were seriously injured.

He said the person that was challenged was trespassing on the land and, when challenged, mobilised people from his community and a clash ensued leaving many wounded from both sides.

Meanwhile, while palpable tension enveloped the communities, police detectives have picked up some of those allegedly behind the land dispute.

Police image maker in Ondo State, Wole Ogodo, confirmed the arrest of the suspects, adding that some persons were seriously injured in the dispute.

Ogodo added that after Oyeyemi was attacked by some people from the other community on the disputed land, his community people retaliated by attacking some people in Igbede.

The police spokesman said they had not been able to obtain statement from Oyeyemi because he was still on admission in hospital.

Ogodo denied that some prominent sons of Igbede are trying to frustrate the arrest of the sponsors of the crisis.

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

Q

uestions are being asked about what could have prompted a 22-year-old university drop- out, simply identified as Jerry, to want to rape Mrs Eunice Ajayi Omoniyi, 57, wife of a pastor, in Akure, Ondo State capital.

The incident happened on February 20 at Peace-land Road, along IlesaAkure Expressway at about 5pm.

The suspect, now on the run and has been declared wanted by the state Police Command, allegedly hacked his victim to death with a digger for rejecting the ungodly act.

The husband of the deceased, Pastor Omoniyi, was attacked when he tried to rescue his wife and is critically ill at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH) Ile- Ife, Osun State where he was referred to from the state Specialist Hospital, Akure.

The deceased, a mother of two, was the Headmistress of St Peter’s Anglican Primary School, Ijare while Jerry, the suspect, was said to have been rusticated from two institutions for being a member of secret cult.

The suspect was said to have attacked the woman with a digger and shovel he found in the pastor ’s apartment while he str uggled to rape her.

He was said to have torn the dress of his victim and had successfully removed her pants down to her knee but the deceased with her last breathe did not cave in.

This reportedly infuriated the suspect and must have decided that if he would not have his way, the woman would not live to tell the stor y.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the husband was only some distance away reading his Bible.

Earlier, Jerry, said to be known to the couple, asked the pastor the whereabouts of the wife when he arrived their house.

It was gathered that the pastor informed the suspected killer where to find his wife unknown to him that he was an agent of death on the prowl.

After about 20 minutes, Pastor Omoniyi, while trying to retire to his room, met his wife on the bed, half dead and in a pool of blood.

The killer was still trying to rape the deceased when the husband came into the room and he too was attacked.

The shout for help, from the pastor attracted neighbours who rushed to the room to meet the couple lying on the floor wriggling in pains.

The wife, according to reports, died before she got to hospital while the husband was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at the Specialist Hospital, Akure for treatment from the head injuries inflicted on him.

While the neighbours were busy trying to save the lives of the couple, the suspect reportedly escaped and attempt by some students residing in the area to apprehend him failed.

Speaking on the incident, a cousin to the slain woman, Mr Komolafe, said the pastor, who spoke with him on his sick bed, narrated how Jerry came to the house and asked after his wife who C M Y K

MAN OF GOD’S HELL!

‘How rapist fatally injured pastor after hacking wife to death’ was in the bedroom.

Komolafe pointed out that he was informed that the suspected killer attacked the couple with a digger and shovel. ”When Jerry left the house, he went into a Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, students apartment, broke into it, removed his blood stained clothes and changed before

disappearing into thin air.

He appealed to security operatives to help fish out the suspected killer.

Police authorities in Ondo State have launched a manhunt for Jer ry.

Spokesman of the Command, Wole Ogodo, vowed that the suspect would be arrested and made to face the full weight of the law. ”We discovered that the suspect at-

tempted to rape the deceased because her pants were half removed by the suspect. ”Our men have visited the house of Jerry but he was not found there. So we are yet to not make any arrest on the matter,” Ogodo said.

He disclosed that the police have commenced investigation into the matter. The police spokesperson said that the remains of the deceased had been deposited at the mortuary of the state Specialist Hospital, Akure while her husband who sustained serious injuries from the attack was in hospital.

Protest over Lagos pastor accused of sexually abusing children

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

T

he peace of Akute, Ogun State was disrupted by aggrieved non-governmental organiza tions, NGOs, and women protesting the relocation of an orphanage allegedly being run by a pastor standing trial on a four-count charge of sexual abuse.

The protesters, led by Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, Executive Director, Project Alert, and Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, founder, Women Arise, were, mostly, lawyers, child right and women activists. They stormed Akute-Ijoko Road at about 12 noon displaying placards with inscriptions: “Say no to child abuse”, “This pastor is a pedophile”,

“Orphanage or child abuse center”, “Justice for sexually-abused children”, among others. The protesters lamented that the founder of the orphanage had gone ahead to relocate it when he had not been cleared of the case of sexual abuse hanging on his head.

The protest was prompted by a text message about the relocation of the orphanage allegedly sent by the pastor. The text message read: “RELOCATION OF ORPHANAGE – Beloved, come rejoice with us as we celebrate God’s faithfulness in thanksgiving and dedication of the new place God appointed us at Akute-Ijoko Road on Saturday February 22, 2014, at 11am. Please pray and plan to attend. God bless

Continues on page 27

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 27

BY EMMANUEL UNA

W

ORRIED by the dwindling number of farmers and the continued sticking to traditional farming practices by those still in the ‘field’, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, Senate Leader, demonstrated his passion for farming by organising an outreach for famers in his senatorial district.

The outreach engaged agricultural experts from the University of Calabar to educate the teeming crowd of farmers on how to acquire modern farming techniques and also guide them through processes for accessing loans and grants from finance houses and the Ministry of Agriculture to ease the stress associated with old farming practices and maximise their productivity.

The farmers, with rapt attention, listened to the resource persons, led

by Professor Ndifon, a lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Calabar, as they were taken on a step-by-step approach on how to apply farm inputs like organic and inorganic fertlisers, pesticides and herbicides which make farming less strenuous yet guarantees good harvest.

Born and bred in Akparabong, a cocoa producing community in Ikom, Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, where farming is the predominant occupation, Ndoma-Egba, even as his father rode to become an Appeal Court judge, was a farm boy who actively engaged in the age old trade by joining his siblings in the farm settlement and this passion has remained in him.

The outreach assembled farmers from the six local government areas of the district: Obubra, Boki, Etung, Yakkur, Abi and Ikom. In addition to inculcat-

NDOMA – EGBA

The senator as the ‘farm boy’

ing in them modern farming knowledge, they were given farm inputs like rice and yam seedlings as well as herbicides and pesticides free

During the outreach, the Senate Leader also donated agricultural inputs and improved seedlings for onward distribution to thousands of oth-

er farmers in the six local government areas of his senatorial district.

The items worth several millions of naira, Ndoma Egba told Sunday Vanguard are for the first phase of the farmers empowerment which would be a continuous exercise to enable the farmers build capacity to produce more food to boost their income. “The Central Senatorial District is a multi-purpose farming zone with quite a good number of agricultural products produced here and to make the farmers produce more we have to strengthen their effort”, he stated.

The Senate Leader expressed satisfaction with the result achieved by the programme, especially the enthusiasm shown by farmers who turned up in their thousands at the Ikom Council Hall and remained seated for several hours to receive the knowledge in order to imbibe new farming skills.

Ndoma-Egba assured that the exercise was a pilot project whose frequency will be increased with more agricultural inputs and seedlings distributed to the farmers.

Expressing immense gratitude to the Senate Leader, the Chairman of Ikom Local Government Council, Mr Ayiba Ayiba Ojong, said the farmers outreach programme and the items distributed to the farmers will go a long way ensuring that the farmers plant more crops this planting season and boost their harvest.

The Paramount Ruler of Iko m , Ntulem Peter Njul Eku, appealed to Ndoma-Egba and Cross River State governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, to assist farmers in the senatorial district by establishing rice and cocoa processing mills to enable farmers add value to their produce before taking them to the market to ensure adequate pricing.

Protest over Lagos pastor accused of sexually abusing children Continued from page 26 you.” The protesters alleged that the orphanage is a killer and “the people of this vicinity must know because we can’t keep allowing these abuses to go on”. They went on: “This place must be closed down. We will not keep quiet and allow a pedophile to truncate the future of our children. All the children in this center are the future of Nigeria and if they are being raped by the pastor, it means that Nigeria has no future. We are also calling on the government of Ogun State and the people of Nigeria to make sure that he is brought to book. Every responsible Nigerian must ensure that the pastor is brought to book.”

They questioned Ogun State government on why the orphanage remained in operation and why the pastor was becoming more courageous to the extent of opening another orphanage under the watch of the C M Y K

state. “Ogun State has not shut down the orphanage in spite of the fact that the founder has a four- count charge of sexual abuse still hanging over his head. Until the law takes it’s course, until he is acquitted and the court of law declares him innocent, this orphanage should be closed down.”

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peaking during the protest, Okei-Odumakin noted that the pastor was relocating his orphanage from Akute because he is running away from the negative publicity he got as a result of the alleged sexual abuse of the girls at the orphanage.

“Investigations revealed that despite the fact that the Ogun State Ministry of Women Affairs instructed the pastor to stay away from the orphanage, he still frequents the orphanage. What

system did Ogun State put in place to monitor and ensure that the pastor does not go to that orphanage?”

Josphine Effah- Chukwuma, Executive Director, Project Alert, said that Ogun State Government and the Ministry of Women Affairs have returned the two girls that cried out that the pastor was sexually abusing them to the orphanage. “Does it take a wizard or a blind person to know that you don’t return victims of a crime to crime site? Imagine those two underaged girls returned to the orphanage on the grounds that they signed an undertaking that they wanted to go back. According to the laws in Nigeria, as long as they are under 18, you are not an adult, you don’t have the right to decide for yourself.”

The protesters demanded that the orphanage be closed until the suspect is acquitted by the court of law.

Although the pastor was not around, a jeep, reportedly owned by him, was

parked inside the compound. Building work was apparently on- going at the site while hired chairs, a cake for the event and visitors trooped in for the event.

Not sealed According to one of the invited guests, one Mrs Olagbemi, “I received a text message through my phone that the orphanage was relocating. I have known the pastor for about eight years now. Because I run a Bible club and children Evangelism Ministry, I usually visit the orphanage to give them what we have for the children.

And we have been doing this for seven years. I am not aware that the first home was sealed by government because of alleged sexual abuse of children.”

Further investigation also revealed that the orphanage at Akute remained in operation with more than 26 children.

PAGE 28—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

japhdave@yahoo.com 08056402376

Harvest of colours, dance at Iresi cultural festival I

CULTURE

RESI, a serene town in Boluwaduro local govern ment Area of Osun State literally erupted in frenzy of cultural performances recently when they celebrated Iresi Socio-Cultural Festival.

Acrobatic displays, sports activities, mountaineering, hilarious age group reunion held in the historical town for three days in commemoration of the yearly Oyeladeniran Foundation for Community Development (OFCOD) which came to a grand closure at the palace of traditional ruler of the town, Oba Sikiru Adeseun Ibiloye, was a remarkable spectacle.

The festival which began with the unveiling of the festival programme in Lagos had a lot of festivity. As in the previous years, there were contests in football match displays, inter-lineal cultural competition, mountaineering, art exhibition among others.

Activities for the last day of the festival however began around 2pm at the palace of His Royal Majesty, Oba Sikiru Adeseun Ibiloye the Oluresi of Iresiland, with several age groups cultural procession and other thrills. It was also a day for arts and local cuisines exhibition activities. Later in the evening, guest and visitors were treated to the various cultural rite and display of the popular Orebe traditional dance. Apart from the various cultural displays, the event had earlier featured a football match where the young men of the town slugged it out, marathon race contest which saw the emergence of one of the most distance runner in the town as the winner. he festival activities came to a climax with in an evening tagged Night out.

It was a night of dance performances marked by a verity of thrilling dance performances, colourful and intricate costumes as well as acrobatic displays.

The royal ruler of Iresi, Oba Sikiru Adeseun in his speech underscored the significance of the yearly festival which is now in its third season. He informed that Iresi Socio-Cultural Festival is celebrated yearly in the land as a memorial of Pa Adeniran and Madam Oyeladun, who lived

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a worthy life during their lifetimes. According to the royal father, the festival is also aimed at helping youths imbibe the virtues of the departed couples which are hard work and honesty. The monarch therefore used the occasion to call on the Governor of the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola, to help the town develop its tourism potential which abounds in the town.

During the event, the mountaineering race was a huge

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By JAPHET ALAKAM

•Orebe traditional dance group entertaining the audience Miss Bolarinwa Kafayat. There were also winners in other events.

A lecture titled Reawakening

The festival is aimed at helping the youths to imbibe the virtues of the departed couple which are hard work and honesty

success without hitches as young athletes from the town moved from Orita Igbajo to Oke OdoIresi. Mr Akinrinade Micheal, won the first prize and the female champion was

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Traditional Industry in the context of Community Development was delivered by an erudite scholar of Anthropology and Sociology, Prof. Tunde Olawuyi, who lectured the en-

tire gathering on how to develop meaningful trade within the available resource of a typical traditional society.

He said, “Iresi is a Yoruba community of antiquated memory and one that has benefited, thanks to century of migratory movements, from the presence of several subethnic yoruba groupings that have brought in their own subcultures, now within a totalistic frame of the town. eanwhile, promoter of the festival Debo Adeniran expressed his joy for

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Music and I are practically inseparable — Lolo

By PRISCA SAM-DURU INTERVIEW

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oloipirma Eremie simply known as Lolo, is a talented singer-songwriter, poet, playwright and would-be filmmaker, whose progress in the art industry has remained astounding. The multitalented creative artiste has also, made great impact in the country as an Advertising (APCON), Marketing (NIMN) and Public Relations (NIPR) practitioner.

The Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, born Foreign Languages and Literatures graduate of the University of Port-Harcourt, is the author and voice behind the famous MTN Classic tune “Y’hello, Yello Christmas’.

In this interview, lolo who is dubbed the ‘Hostess with the mostest’, and one of the few ladies running the circuit on the Nigerian underground/live music scene, has more about her job and experience. Read on Bogobiri ambiance, lodging, Bogobiri experience? food and decor remain an The Bogobiri Open Mic amazing experience to firstNight is best described as an timers and regulars. There underground, art-movement. are also talks of expansion It’s a great hub for creative across several cities and artists (amateurs and profescountries in future by the sionals), talented people and Management. Personally, I enthusiasts alike. We all get can’t wait, because I think it’s together weekly to sing live about time the world had a music with a band accompataste of the Bogobiri Culture. niment, perform poetry or What kind of artiste do you spoken word as now comfeature? monly referred and network The list of artistes is endin general. The rules are: less and as for the kind, just ‘there are no rules’. As long last week we featured as its fun and also promotes Ajebutter 22 and Poe. We peace and harmony. usually have an influx of Well, for one we’re live permainstream artists every now formers so you get to interact and then, from the likes of with us firsthand, plus every Asa to Keziah Jones, Jeffery now and then we have perDaniels, Paul Play, Durella, cussionists and basic African Bez, Moses (Idols Nigeria), instruments so you experiPraiz, AYO (Project Fame), ence the beat of the African Timi Dakolo, Eric Arubayi, live drums. Also, the

•Loloipirma Eremie aka Lolo Ochuko (Project Fame), Victoria Kimani, Kenneth Okolie, Gideon Okeke, Nneka, Capital F.E.M.I, alongside veterans like Jimi Solanke, Duro Ikujenyo etc Other involvement?

As a performing act, I perform at corporate and private functions as lead singer of a live group called ‘Lolo & the Bogo Band’. I also host shows and events with some interesting content in the pipeline for the internet and television.

the festival. According to Adeniran, “ The event is all about celebrating aspect of rich Yoruba culture. Adeniran blamed some of the ills in the society as a result of youths not being brought in line with culture. He said the reason why the foundation was set is to fill that vacuum by instilling good morals to the youths. He challenged those propagating Western religion as against African culture to have a rethink as according to him, the foundation of every people is dependent on their cultural heritage.

In 2013,1 literally exercised my rights as a free-moral agent, having ended an 8year long stint with a reputable telecoms firm here in Nigeria. Now, when I’m not recording in the studio, performing at live events or hosting Open Mic at the Bogobiri House, I run a busy schedule managing my private practice as an Advertising, PR & Marketing Consultant with my firm, Lodein Entertainment Ltd.

Expectations this year?

2014 already has me veering off into Artist & Repertoire (A&R) and Film-making with my first movie in tow titled ‘Guyn Man’.

The film will be starring: Okey Uzoeshi, Yvonne Okoro, Bryan Okwara, Bimbo Akintola, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Omoye ‘Brownie’ Uzamere, Fred Amata, Ijeoma Aniebo and Adesua Etomi to mention a few.

When did you begin your music career?

More like music is in me (laughter)... I’ve always been into music and we’re practically inseparable. Iam glad though that I’ve found my niche as a live performer. You don’t feel the electricity as much over my audio recordings (laughter) but catch me live first... Aha!. I see music as not just a form of entertainment but a tool for social reform and I try to convey key messages via this medium. My kind of music is a very subtle fusion of Afro Jazz vibes, Soul and uptempo R&B.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 29 japhdave@yahoo.com 08056402376

From Okikiro, comes message of hope for a better Nigeria

The unfinished business of Nigeria

By GODWIN NZEAAH REVIEW

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•A scene from the play

DRAMA

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overs of theatre and art were treated to what can be described as a real treat last weekend when Entertainment Bus-Stop led by celebrated Nigerian playwright, Eki Faith Eboigbe’s opened their 2014 thaetre season with a splendid performance of Okikiro, the love of country at the Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan.

It was indeed a theatrical performance that tells a serious story as the audience were held spell bound for the 100 minutes the play lasted.

Featuring seasoned actors and actresses and combining all the elements of drama, a well designed set, good cast, costume to suit, good music and dancers, the well scripted drama which portrays some of the activities of wicked people in the society is one of the things that the country requires at this critical time when the country is engulfed with the security challenges of Boko Haram.

Filled with strong emotional conflicts, suspense, and personal understanding, Okikiro, a satiric play with a social-cultural, moral theme with lots of messages though written in 2007 captures the present trend in Nigeria where some disgruntled elements are unleashing harm on the society.

The playwright through the play exposed the secret activities of evil men and the doggedness of the youth in fighting them, thereby making a clarion call to Nigerian youths to play their part in restoring glory and honour to their Motherland. It also seeks to reignite a sense of responsibil-

ity, unity, national pride and moral fortitude in the Nigerian youths.

Okikiro portrays the conflict that breaks out in the once peaceful land of Okikiro. After the tussle for the kingship stool was won by Barney Obi Abiezue, the King, there was crisis but this was soon resolved but Martins Iwuagwu, Firoro who lost out vowed to make the community ungovernable and in his bid to actualise that he recruited youths who sabotaged all developmental efforts, looted, killed and chased away

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By JAPHET ALAKAM

the eyes of all Nigerians.

There are lessons from the play which we have learnt and we are going home resolved that Nigeria will survive.” The royal father who is also a plywright promised to take the drama to Abeokuta.

The creative director/ CEO of Entertainment Bus-Stop, Eki Faith Eboigbe,who confessed that she conceived the idea during her stormy period said that the drama is to motivate and inspire people to passionately love the

The playwright through the play exposed the secret activities of evil men and the doggedness of the youth in fighting them

investors. This was the situation until the youths of the land applied wisdom and tackled the seemingly many-headed monster to proffer a peaceful resolution, restoring peace to their land and justice to the culprits.

It is an ideal forum to illustrate ways to bridge the widening gap between youths and the values of our society.

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peaking about the drama, the royal father of the day, Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, Olowu of Owu Kingdom said, “we must not give up, evil will not overide good. The righteous must continue to exist and prosper. We must not join the evil ones because shame is going to be their lot. He said that Eki, the playwright has struck the right note to the ears and shown the brightest light to

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country. “We have the capabilities to make change in the world.” he play which kick-started the 2014 new season of a theatre outfit, Entertainment Bus Stop Ltd, was written by Eki Faith Eboigbe and directed by Veteran Actor and Theatre Arts Lecturer, Tunji Sotimirin.

The re-staging of the play which was first performed at the National Theatre, Iganmu in July, 2010 and in Abeokuta in celebration of Nigeria’s 50th anniversary, October 1 and 2, 2010 is timely and essential as it explores the effects of a society in which there are laws but no values and its effects on the ethical beliefs of the upcoming generation.

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the author as a foresighted igeria: The Unfinished and right thinking patriot.

Business is a selection of Kanu believes that Nigeria Kanu’s speeches over the years, will continue facing forward encompassing his activities as while moving backward..not a NADECO chieftain, even a government of anOhanaeze leader, former gov- gels can run the country if ernor of Imo and Lagos States, it remains faulty in terms of member of the Armed Forces unitary centre. Although the Ruling Council, etc. Written in price of the book is not flowing prose, Nigeria: The stated, based on economic Unfinished Business contains realities of today, it certainly 21 speeches spread over 260 will cost some fortune to obpages in bold type which, tain. I had the privilege of alongside the author’s choice of reading the original publitopics or issues, makes the work cation as a pamphlet of 20 a reading pleasure. Apart from pages which I likened to the avoidable crisis foisted on Karl Marx’s Communist Ohanaeze Ndigbo the apex Manifesto – a booklet apIgbo socio-cultural body during pearing in 1848 which, the heady Obasanjo era which given its relevance to the isthe author was mandated to re- sues of the moment in Eusolve and which he handled rope then could not but oversuccessfully, the book is an en- shadow other publications semble of other fascinating top- of bigger and more elaborate ics such as the “June 12” crisis, volumes like J. S. Mill’s sovereign national conference, Principles of political the nature of restitution Nigeria economy. has to make, agenda for effecIn its original format, tive administration of federal- against the backdrop of the ism in Nigeria and Ofo na Ogu impending National Conferand the Igbo ethos. ence, Nigeria: The UnfinAs a former Governor of Imo ished Business obviously and Lagos states, Kanu cap- would have been more aftures the challenges he faced in those two states as well as his legacies in flowing language within 31 pages under two titles: Imo State; the Beginning and the challenges, and the challenges of a growing city, respectively. Reading Kanu’s speech (page 221) on the occasion of the unveiling of Olatunji Dare’s book: Diary of a Debacle, is as interesting and revealing as his 2007 interaction with the Ovim Students Union, the National Association of Abia Students and his home community of Isuikwuato. All these accurately show the author not only as a man of the people but also a respected human rights activist.

As a retired naval officer, the author is into seafaring to which his modest enterprise RANGK LIMITED is dedicated. The book contains two chapters on Nigeria: The Unfinished RANGK operations but in line Business, selected speeches of with his humble and self-effac- Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu; PP. ing lifestyle, Kanu reserves 260 those speeches for the last fordable to all and sundry at chapters of the book perhaps a reduced price. All the same believing in the Shakespearean even in its present volume, dictum: “that which concerns us nothing suggests that it is must be last served.” not within the reach of the But all said and done, for average Nigerian. Nothing every Nigerian who loves “Niportrays the author as a real geria as it ought to be and not patriot and concerned citias it is today” the meat of the zen than the fact that he debook is to be found on page 126 votes one-third of the book through 147. Entitled Nigeria: to issues bordering on naThe Unfinished Business, it is the central theme of the whole tional questions, nation work, being the topic of his building, national survival speech on the occasion of the and unity. Being the book of 2004 edition of the Wole the moment as it were it may Soyinka Annual Lecture series. well turn out to be the handIn addition to his controverbook for everyone genuinely sial if logical arguments on Sovinterested in the proposed ereign National Conference, national dialogue not only True Federalism, June 12 etc, based on the author ’s forethis immortal speech delivered sight, insight, and courage ten years ago viewed in the light but also the profundity and of President Jonathan’s decilucidity of his arguments and sion to allow a National Conlogic which he backs with coference in spite of his initial pious quotations from scholmisgivings on the matter shows ars, and political figures.

PAGE 30, SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 31

Email: vanguardwoman@gmail.com

and furniture making, production of stove, thread & insecticide, refrigerator & air conditioner maintenance/ repair, photography, to mention but few.

My encounter with street boys inspired vocational centres

Entrepreneurial education

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n 2009, we saw the need to include entrepreneurial studies in the curriculum to enable beneficiaries manage their business properly. Hence, we established a microfinance programme for training students in all our centres to be good entrepreneurs.

All these we do free of charge.

What’s basically required for enrolment is tax clearance, passport photographs and means of identification. We are ready to do more but cannot do it alone. Hence, we implore corporate bodies to partner with us by assisting these youths with internship slots and employment in their various organizations.

— Adejoke Adefulire, Lagos Deputy Governor

…recounts how dad’s land was used for first centre

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

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er foray into govern ment marked the beginning of poverty alleviation amongst women and youths in Lagos State when she spearheaded the establishment of a skill acquisition and vocational centre while serving as Commissioner for Women Affairs in 2003. Eleven years after, still manning that office and doubling as the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Hon.Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire recounts how she led the state into

bouillon van came into the scene. In those days, we had lots of street girls getting pregnant. 18 months later, I found myself in government, representing Alimosho Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly between 1991 and 1993. Then, I wrote on different occasions to the state Ministry for Youths and Sports for intervention in the lives of youths but got no feedback. In 2003, I eventually got appointed the Commissioner for Women Affairs and that sort of paved way for my passionrescuing street boys and

,,

We began with girl-child education and it took me more than five months to secure approval for the first centre. I later ended up using one of my father’s lands

poverty alleviation with 18 skills acquisition centres now spread across the state and churning out not less than 7,000 beneficiaries each year. She spoke passionately without any manuscript last week in Lagos while commissioning an ultra-modern Training Kitchen donated by the Sahara Group to one of the centres in Surulere, Lagos.

Excerpts:

Ordeal with street boys

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n the late 1990s when Lagos was notorious for being a haven for street boys and girls, I was once attacked somewhere around the Mainland but was able to escape by chance when a C M Y K

girls. It was however tough.

Launching out

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e began with girl-child education and it took me more than five months to secure approval for the first centre. I later ended up using one of my father’s lands when all efforts at getting the Ministry of Land Bureau to grant us a land proved futile. The government then was unenthusiastic about issues pertaining to women because it felt the Ministry for Women Affairs was only supposed to be a platform for women to clap and dance. So, with my father’s land, I built a block of ten classrooms. When eventually the then gover-

Hon. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire nor, Asiwaju Bola-Ahmed Tinubu, came to commission the project, he was taken aback. That was when he understood and began to believe in the idea of youths and women empowerment.

Right there, he gave approval for more of such projects and within a year, we built six skill acquisition and vocational centres. This Surulere Centre which has just got an ultra-modern Training Kitchen through the support of Sahara Group was the 11th built. It was actually the first project commissioned in 2007 by Governor Babatunde Fashola when he came into office.

Hope to the hopeless What we try to do is give hope to the hopeless because we know most of these youths may have been victims of abuse to have left home. From my interaction

with them, I garnered that most of them really do not want to be on the streets.

They want to be doctors, lawyers, etc. Till date, we have 18 centres up and running, each turning out about 7,000 beneficiaries each year. Since inception, we’ve trained about 32,000 people across the state, all from different parts of the country and the skills taught at the various centres include adult literacy, shoe & leather works, aluminium fabrication, screen/transfer printing technology, bead stringing & hat making, tile laying/pave lock making, catering & hotel management, vulcanizing/wheel balancing & alignment, computer studies, textile design, fashion design & dress making, welding fabrication, hair dressing/ barbing & cosmetology, wood

Hon. Joke sharing the vocational centre story while Executive Director, Sahara Group, Tonye Cole, watches during the commissioning of an ultramodern Training Kitchen donated by Sahara Foundation to the Surulere Skill Acquisition Centre in Lagos.

Varsity graduates not left out

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ight now, we have about 4,000 graduates of universities and polytechnics across our centres and this is because technology is gradually taking away a lot of employment opportunities and white collar jobs are becoming scarcer by the day.

We need everyone’s support and partnership to make Lagos a place of pride for us all even as more people migrate into the state on a daily basis. I feel fulfilled because graduates of our programmes are now competing favourably with their counterparts within and outside Nigeria. With these, we hope that soon, unemployment will be a thing of the past in Lagos because the government is bent on seeing that every individual that desires to be empowered gets empowered.

Boys on training in one of the centres

PAGE 32—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Boko Haram after Nigeria, not Jonathan — Olaiya Phillips, NOSCEF boss

*Elder Olaiya Phillips is the chairman of the Northern States Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF). In this interview with SAM EYOBOKA, he speaks on the efforts of the forum to help in the face of the continuing threat of insurgency in the North.

Excerpts:

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ince your assumption of office as the chair man of NOSCEF, you appear to have concentrated your efforts on events in the North. Why the choice of the North alone?

If you observe closely, you will note that NOSCEF’s comments have always affirmed our belief in the Nigerian project. As a body, we seek to reflect the views and interests of Northern Christians but we do not believe those views are in anyway inconsistent with the interests of Nigeria as a whole. It is not a zero-sum game.

If you were to situate the crisis in the North, would you say it is religious, or political, or a combination of both?

One must be weary of simple explanations for complex circumstances and the crisis in the North is full of complexities. I think the crisis in the North, like Nigeria’s other challenges, is a combination of religious, political, social, economic, ethnic and other challenges. They will inevitably have a particular face, depending on who the principal protagonists are.

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ome are quick to say that Nigerians never agreed to live together as one entity.

Do you share this thought?

One hundred years ago at the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria, there were no Nigerians to ask. A colonial power was in place and the idea of popular consultation was never considered. I am not so familiar with constitutional law, but the history is well known and acknowledged. The fact that Nigerians were not consulted then does not in and of itself invalidate a century of evolution as a nation-state. It should not as a result be seen as reason not to work towards a more perfect union. All national aggregations continuously seek a more perfect union and Nigeria should be no different.

Despite the appointment of new service chiefs, the killing orchestrated by members of the Boko Haram sect is on the rise. Why is this so?

The appointment of new service chiefs is vitally important because we cannot afford a vacuum at the pinnacle of our armed forces. How Boko Haram is curtailed and eventually conquered, however, will be the result of well-articulated and executed policies that are faithfully pursued. As we have consistently asserted, we need C M Y K

Northern Christian community, we raise voices against the violence.

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o you think that the pro posed national conference will solve the crisis in the North?

The conference is an important opportunity to raise the issues that are most important to Northern Christians and advocate for their rights to be protected. Whether or not that opportunity metamorphosises into real change (including positive change in the North) is only partly in the hands of ordinary Nigerians. It is the country’s leaders who have to show real determination now. I have no doubt that most of the issues that need to be aired will be aired. Whether we will be able to secure consensus or a 75 per cent majority view on most of these issues is a moot point. I have my reservations.

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*Elder Olaiya Phillips, NOSCEF Chairman tough security measures to fight the terrorism and protect both Christians and Muslims, but also political steps to engage the militants in dialogue and persuade them to end the violence. We expect more from the military, and the President has also made that clear. It’s time to see delivery. We are not convinced that robust security measures have been rendered in so consistent a manner as to assure the terrorists that they cannot change our society by violence. They must come to realize that the state alone has the right and monopoly of the organized application of force; that message must be delivered in an unerring and sys-

The conference is an important opportunity to raise the issues that are most important to Northern Christians

tematic manner.

Since January 1, many lives have been lost to Islamic fundamentalism and some foremost Muslim clerics and traditional rulers have said very little. Do you believe that there is a subtle approval by these Islamic traditional rulers?

No! I don't. The cowardice of some should not be mistaken for the view of the majority; but I obviously do not know why the Islamic traditional rulers have chosen to keep their own counsel. What I do know is that those that ride on the back of a tiger normally end up in its stomach. Islamic leaders must see their role as that of the voice of reason and reasonableness in the midst of the fervour of religious extremities.

What efforts is NOSCEF making to arrest the crisis in that region?

A lot of NOSCEF's work is done outside the glare of publicity. We offer practical support to Christian victims of violence and persecution and provide a voice for those whose voices would otherwise be drowned out. We are well positioned to aggregate and articulate the views and interests of Northern Christians and we do so at every turn in a variety of forums, ensuring their rights are respected and their safety protected. By speaking out for the

lections are around the corner and accusations and counter-accusations are pointing towards more violence before and after the election. What are your fears?

Next year general election is likely to be contentious. The bipolarity introduced into the polity by the merger of some of the stronger opposition elements into the All Progressives Congress will serve to magnify the adversarial nature of politics. While on the one hand, a credible opposition will provide greater choice for the electorate and aid democracy, one of my greatest fears is that the polarisation of Nigerian politics will be manifested along, ethnic, regional and religious divides. As we have seen in the past, this will only escalate conflict and suffering rather than diminish it.

Speaking of foreign assistance in the war against terrorism in Nigeria, isn't it ironical that some countries are benefiting from the crisis?

I’m not sure which countries you refer to when you suggest some countries are benefiting from the crisis. As far as I am aware, the murder of innocent Nigerians by what the international community considers being a terrorist organization provides no benefit. Indeed it threatens the security of many of our neighbours. It was only last month that fighting crossed the border into Cameroon with the murder of a Cameroonian citizen. Furthermore, the ongoing insurgency has led to thousands of Nigerian refugees crossing our neighbours’ borders as they seek safety. I do not see how this has been of benefit to our neighbours.

Some people have argued that the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 would further worsen the crisis in the North. What is your take on this?

I do not agree that the President’s possible re-election bid will worsen the crisis in the North. Or let me put that differently. The terrorists will find reason to pursue their ignominious activities regardless of whoever is in Aso Rock. When President Jonathan appointed a new National Security Adviser, many felt that because the new NSA was a northerner, the ferocity of the attacks would abate; nothing was further from the truth. The attacks continued to be feral. Boko Haram is not attacking President Jonathan. It is attacking the idea of Nigeria and we in NOSCEF are firm in our resolve to oppose and overcome it.

Qua Iboe ends 7 great Sundays

By ETOP EKANEM

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HE congregational pastor of Qua Iboe Church (UEC), Lagos, Rev. Message Aquaowo, has said the current security challenges in the country will soon be a thing of the past, saying no condition is permanent.

Rev. Aquaowo who spoke during the church service to mark the end of 7 Great Sundays with a theme: “Spiritual Supernatural uplifting,” said: “The insecurity in the country, one day, it will be a thing of the past. Nothing stays forever.

It is only God and His Word that stay forever.”

On the programme, Aquaowo said it was meant to prepare members for the challenges of the year, adding: “actually, the number seven, was chosen because of the spiritual significance. Seven is a number of perfection. So the programme is meant to prepare people for the year for spiritual and physical uplifting.”

He said the theme was spiritually and prayerfully chosen because “we have seen that many people have been downcast, struggling in one way or the other. So, we beContinued on Page 33

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 33

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T started out as a Sunday morning service like every other one in a Lekki, Lagos parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).

One of the church workers was at the podium briefing the congregation on the upcoming events of the week. Nobody thought anything was unusual when the pastor’s wife came to the pulpit and asked to address the church. Nobody thought that to be out of the ordinary, until she started speaking.

“Brothers and sisters in Christ,” she began, “please ask your pastor where he spent the night yesterday. Please ask him, he is seated right there.”

There was shock and disbelief all around.

Quickly, someone went up to appeal to her not to continue in that line of inquiry. She offered little resistance when he took the microphone from her and led her off the pulpit. But the damage had been done. By the end of the service, the pastor had tendered his resignation. By the end of the week, he had eloped with his young mistress to address unknown. He disappeared, taking with him among other things, the rent paid to him as estate agent for my brother’s house.

The Good Pastor Jesus says: “I am the good pastor; and I know my sheep, and am known by my own.” (John 10: 14). He says furthermore: “All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did

WHY PASTORS DON’T GO TO HEAVEN (3) not hear them.” (John 10: 8). What about those who come after him? It is the same. They are also thieves and robbers. Going by his statement, Jesus is the only possible Good Pastor; all other pastors must be bad.

This is because Jesus uses two yardsticks to differentiate the Good Pastor from bad pastors. In the first place, he says the Good Pastor knows his sheep and his sheep know him. This immediately disqualifies all pastors across the ages from being qualified to be good pastors. Not even the pastor of the smallest of churches can claim to know the members of his congregation in the way Jesus is talking about here; and no churchmember really knows a pastor. Neither knows the other’s burdens of sin or sickness.

Berverly Miller, my wife’s aunt, thought she knew her pastor. He was a very personable man, well-regarded by members of his church. But one day, some photographs surfaced of him at a wedding in which he was getting married to another man. The pastor was dressed as a woman, resplendent in a white wedding gown. They were sent to the church by the groom in the pictures who had since become disgruntled as a

All those who still call themselves pastors today are not disciples of Jesus result of the break-up of their “marriage.”

One needs hardly point out that this kind of shocker is out of the question with Jesus.

Unlike other pastors, Jesus is intrinsically good and sinless. (I Peter 2:22).

While they are ignorant; Jesus knows all things.

(John 16:30). Moreover, those privileged to have of his Spirit grow daily in the knowledge of him.

(John 14:26).

Jesus also points out that the Good Pastor lays down his life for his congregation. (John 10:11).

This is hardly the job-description of today’s pastors. Rather than lay down their lives for others, the modern pastor requires his church-members to lay down their lives for him so he can maintain comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyles.

Impostors Once God revealed the Good Pastor, all impostors should have disappeared. Jesus prayed for the unity of the church. (John 17:21-23). This can only happen if we have the one and the same pastor for all Christians in every age. Only Jesus can be pastor yesterday and to-

day and forever. Therefore, for anyone else to claim to be a pastor today is to arrogate to himself a position that can only belong to Jesus, who is not limited by time and space.

With Jesus as sole pastor, there would be no grounds for denominationalism. We would have fellowships in different places, but the one called Christ Embassy would not need to be at loggerheads with the one called Household of God. Churches would not be the personal empires of different self-seeking men as we have them today. The Jesus of one church would not be different from that of another. There would be no special category of Christians deceiving men into buying them jet-planes on spurious evangelical grounds.

However, today’s pastors militate against these tendencies as they strive to exercise maximum control over their churches.

Evangelism has become the bringing of men into the kingdoms of particular pastors who, as Jesus observes, institute manmade regulations; preferring the traditions of men to the commands of God.

Daystar produces 397 young entrepreneurs

H

AVING been trained and equipped in

11 different vocations, 397 young Nigerians on Friday, February 14

Qua Iboe ends 7 great Sundays Continued from page 32 lieve with the programme, people would be motivated and encouraged to be hopeful on what is going to happen. The significance of the programme is to lift people spiritually and physically and to prepare them. You can't begin anything without God and expect to succeed.”

Also speaking, the church committee chairman, Elder Samuel

Bassey, said: “We have seen the goodness of God upon the church and our lives. Within the past seven weeks, a lot of amazing things have been happening to justify the need to take care of the spiritual ahead of the physical.

“When you come together to pray, the result seems to be instantaneous. So 7 Great Sunday have been a great period of renewing our spirit with God.”

graduated from the Daystar Skill Acquisition Programme.

Keeping to its vision of raising role models in the society, Daystar Christian Centre held a memorable graduation ceremony for the 13th set of the skill acquisition programme (DSAP) at the church’s auditorium on Ikosi Road, Oregun, Lagos.

It was a joy-filled day as the graduands expressed happiness for the empowerment in different crafts including make-up, photography, web-design, graphics, sewing, generator repairs, shoe-making, beads-making, cakemaking, pastries among

others.

Addressing the graduands, senior pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Sam Adeyemi, ably represented by the church’s chief operating officer, Pastor Kenny Folarin charged them to make the best of their newly acquired skills towards adding great value to the Nigerian society and the world in general.

“The skills you have learnt can take you to places you never expected if put to good use. The money you are looking for is in meeting people’s needs and it is skill acquisition that helps us to solve

(Mark 7:7-8). Thus, Isaiah observes that: “They are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are pastors who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory.” (Isaiah 56: 11).

the Holy Spirit only testifies of Jesus. (John 15: 26).

Accordingly, John also affirms that the Lord, and him alone, must now be our pastor and teacher.

He says: “The anointing which you have received from him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in him. (I John 2:27).

Jesus killers

The in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer is the fulfilment of God’s promise that: “I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (Jeremiah 31:3334). This makes human pastors anachronisms today.

Jesus confirms this. He says: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” (John 6:45). Correspondingly, every man who hears and learns from bad pastors is driven away from Jesus to men.

The centrality of every teaching must be of God and by God. This is why

All this is certainly bad news for today’s fake pastors. If Jesus were to be acknowledged as sole pastor, they would lose their strangulating hold over Christians, as well as their highfalutin position in the churches.

Christians would seek to know God personally and not just attend church.

Jesus says: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).

The truth of Jesus sets us free from the bondage and lies of pastors, among other things.

Inevitably, Jesus’ doctrine is extremely dangerous for pastors. Therefore, wittingly or unwittingly, pastors become “Jesus killers.” By its very essence, the office of the pastor today is designed to nullify the ministry and teachings of Jesus. This then is the word of Jesus for these pastors: “tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.” (Matthew 21: 31).

people’s problems,” he said.

Pastor Folarin also challenged the participants to strive to be the best.

“Please don’t underestimate the skills you’ve acquired as there are millionaires all over the world who became rich through what you’ve learnt,” he noted.

He appreciated the entire DSAP team and facilitators as led by Pastor Bolutife Aje and Mrs. Toyin Olusola, for investing their time in building people.

Sharing her DSAP experience, Bukola Oyedokun, one of the make-up class graduands, said impact of the training was

beyond her expectations.

“Although I’m not a member of Daystar, I came around to learn make-up because of my love for it, and I was literally blown away at what I was able to learn and do within two weeks. It’s been an empowering experience and may God continue to bless this church,” she prayed.

DSAP is one of the initiatives of Daystar Christian Centre geared towards empowering people with practical trainings and skills to build lasting brands and maximize their potentials in God. DSAP has trained over 4,000 entrepreneurs since its inception.

New dispensation

PAGE 34 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Something must give - Gen. Alani Akinrinade •Speaks on Awolowo, the Yoruba agenda

BY HUGO ODIOGOR

L

t General Alani Ipoola Akirinade is not a man of many words and his contributions to securing the peace and unity of Nigeria have been well documented.

The officer and gentleman, in every sense of the word, took great risks to his life when he joined the battle for restoration of democracy as a member of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) at a time the late General Sani Abacha was up in arms against anybody who stood on his way.

Akinrinade stood his ground and perhaps General Abacha could not mess with this war hero out of respect for his wartime credentials and contributions to securing Nigeria’s unity.

He shunned politics because he could not see himself joining the band of deceitful men and women, who see it as an avenue to promote greed and hypocrisy for selfaggrandizement and vainglory.

The opportunity to encounter the former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDs) and later Minister of Agriculture and Industry in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State at the annual Ijaw National Congress and his disposition to the National Conference was enthralling but his nomination by his state as a delegate to the conference must warn any body that thinks that the gathering would be mere talk show. ”I do not wish to leave Nigeria as a country where my grand children are not certain of their future”, he told Sunday Vanguard. His advice to President Goodluck Jonathan, the convener of the National Conference, is equally poignant.

His words: “President Jonathan must rise above playing politics with the hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people who see him as instrument of divine will to forge the traumatised nation anew.

“By agreeing to convoke a National Conference, it would seem that President has been eventually persuaded that something is structurally wrong with the current political and the structural configuration of the nation”.

One of the benefits of having Akinrinade at this National Conference is his neutral political disposition but, more importantly his total support for the owners of Nigerian land

•Lt General Alani Ipoola Akirinade and resources and the minorities who have for long clamoured for true and fiscal federalism.. Said Akinrinade: “It is my fervent hope that President Jonathan would not be the first Ijaw President and the last President of Nigeria”.

Apart from supporting the agenda of the Yoruba, Akinrinade was unequivocal that the unity of Nigeria is negotiable. He said, “In September this year, after over 700 years of Rule Britannia, the people of Scotland will be voting on whether to remain part of or become independent from the rest of the UK.” Akinrinade would therefore be a rallying point for such ethnic nationalities such as Igala, Tiv, Itsekiri, Isoko, Urhobo, Birom, Efik, Ibibio, Anioma, Jukun, among others, who would look up to him to bring the progressive view of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as enunciated in his books entitled: Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution and Path to Nigerian Federation, to guide deliberations at the National Conference.

Akinrinade said deliberations at the conference would be hot, negotiations would be nerve wracking because the North would not easily give up the advantage which the 1914 amalgamation conferred on it,

By agreeing to convoke a National Conference, it would seem that President has been eventually persuaded that something is structurally wrong with the current political and the structural configuration of the nation in the same way other regions have woken up to realise that the master / servant relationship that was the product of Lord Luggard finding a wealthy bride for a not endowed groom would not endure. As far as Akinrinade is concerned, “Something must give at this conference, whether we like it or not, Nigeria would not be the same after this conference; it is only a stupid man that would hear that his house is on fire and he would be fiddling like Emperor Nero.”

He said the time has come for Nigeria to discuss issues pertinent to the various regions and to correct the past mistakes as part of the process of our nation- building instead of shying away from them”.

On Jonathan’s disposition to the National Conference The former CDs said the conference represents a historic opportunity to redeem what is wrong since what is famously referred to as the mistake of 1914. “We must all plan to take advantage of the National Conference, as limited in scope and presentation as it might be, to make the case for fiscal and· political autonomy for the states.. We must not go to the conference to lobby or campaign for’ any presidential candidate, because that is to forfeit a good opportunity to redeem Nigeria”, he said. “If President Jonathan, an Ijaw man, has been in government for about six years and has not been able to change the revenue mobilization and

distribution system, nor has he been able to implement the clear United Nations report on cleaning up the environmental mess in Ogoni land which costs a mere one billion dollars, it is clear that the issue is not who is in government but the structure of the Federal Government. It is the structure that needs to be re-designed.

The forthcoming National Conference, may have fallen far short of what was expected by many and there may by issues with the modalities set for it, but I believe it is still a golden opportunity for Nigerians of diverse cultures, political beliefs and religious orientation to rub minds on the state of the nation and come upwith an acceptable template for moving forward.

“The National Conference is also important because, for the first time in the political history of the country, we have a member of one of the minority groups serving as President of the nation.

“Although regarded by many as less than perfect, the election that brought Dr. Jonathan to power is a historic landmark for the nation and its various constituent nationalities. Chief Awolowo, under more auspicious

Continues on page 35

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 35

Continued from page 34 conditions, must have moved in his grave, that his wish;, which he expressed in 1983, ‘that he wanted to see an Ijaw man as President and a Birom as deputy in Nigeria’ is partially fulfilled. I know that it would seem that, initially, President Jonathan did not see anything wrong with the status quo, but fate has miraculously intervened again to make him realise that there is something wrong with the structure that hinders the realisation of the hopes and aspiration of Nigerian and the minority groups in particular. By agreeing to convoke a National Conference, it would seem that Jonathan has been eventually persuaded that something is structurally amiss with the current political and structural configuration of the nation.

Having now seen the light, Jonathan must rise above playing politics with the hope and aspirations of the Nigerian people and see himself as an instrument of divine will to forge this traumatized nation anew. This is the only honour and respect he can pay to all those Ijaw heroes and heroines who have fallen in the struggle to redeem the nation.

“This is the first time in the history of the nation that an ethnic minority would emerge as the President of the Federal Republic. The ethnic minorities have never had it so good in the history of the nation. They have both the yam and the knife as they say. Fate and human political engineering have miraculously and providentially intervened to place the destiny of the nation in the hands of an Ijaw man. Without any exaggeration, this is an opportunity in a millennium. It may never come again, or at least for a long time. Although the Ijaw people, as we have seen, have been in the forefront of the quest for a true federalism in Nigeria, although they have sacrificed in terms of blood, sweat and tears, this is the time to truly walk their talk.”

The Awo reminiscences Akinrinade recalled that the patron saint of true federalism in Nigeria was Awolowo.” From the forties, Awolowo has championed the cause of true and authentic federation in Nigeria. In his book, Path to Nigerian Freedom, the late sage argued that Nigeria was not a nation in the real sense of the word but an unwieldy conglomeration of ethnic nationalities,” the Osun State nominee to the National Conference said.

“According to him, the future and survival of the mutually contending nationalities lay in a true and authentic federal arrangement in which the constituent units had a great measure of authentic fiscal and political autonomy within a federal umbrella.

This will banish the fear of the domination of the minorities by the majorities. The resulting healthy competition and rivalry would accentuate and accelerate economic growth for the whole nation.

Let us hear him in The People’s Republic(1968) ,’Since these principles were first publicly enunciated in Thoughts on Nigerian Constitution about two years ago, several events happened which, rather than weaken, have tremendously strengthened their validity.

‘In Britain the Scottish Nationalists are ground fast; and the likelihood is greater now than ever before that the Scottish people may have an autonomous Government of their own under a federal or quasi-federal Constitution of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

‘If the Scottish Nationalists succeed in their aspirations, the Welsh will certainly

not be left behind. In Belgium, the language feud between the Flemings and the Walloons has assumed alarming and frightful proportion.

‘It has threatened the continued existence of the five- centuries-old University of Louvain; and it has brought down one Belgian Government. There are now strong movements in Belgium for the partition of the country into Flemish- and Frenchspeaking Sovereign States, and for the union of the two linguistic groups in a Belgian federation. In Spain, the minority ethnic groups there have begun what appears to be a determined and concerted agitation for regional autonomy within a Spanish federation.

‘Right here in Africa, those who advocate federalism for Sudan have emerged, in recent elections, as the strongest political party in the southern part of the country. Sudanese leaders who hold contrary views will only succeed in delaying, but will certainly fail in preventing the ultimate evolution of Sudan as a federation of the various ethnic and linguistic units which inhabit the country.

‘I realize that many multi-lingual and multi-national countries continue to be governed and administered with a great measure of stability under a unitary form of constitution. But I am of the opinion

•Lt General Alani Ipoola Akirinade

‘Nigeria will not be the same...’ that the stability enjoyed by these countries with inappropriate constitutions is false and an illusion; and that such stability is possible, mainly because there is, temporarily and for reasons which can be ascertained and demonstrated, an absence of national consciousness and ferment among the ethnic units which compose these countries. ‘And since time and the forces of dialectical progression are not on the side of any fundamentally defective system, I predict that every multi-lingual or multi-national country with a unitary constitution must either eventually have a federal constitution based on the principles which I have enunciated, or disintegrate, or be perennially afflicted with disharmony and instability.”

Belgium today Akinrinade said has one of the most radical federal constitutions in the world with the following four articles as its openings: “Article 1: Belgium is a Federal State made up of communities and regions.

Article. 2: Belgium is made up of three communities: The French Community, the Flemish Community and the German Community.

Article. 3: Belgium is made up of three regions: The Walloon region, the Flemish region and the Brussels region.

Article 4: Belgium has four linguistic regions: The French-speaking region, the Dutch-speaking region, the bilingual region of Brussels Capital and the German-speaking region.

Each commune of the Kingdom is part of one of these linguistic regions.”

The former NADECO chief went on: 9 July 2011, after one of the longest civil wars in Africa’s history, which started in 1955, South Sudan became independent from Sudan.

“Had he been alive, I am sure Chief Awolowo would have appreciated how much he was proved wrong, namely that in all the cases he mentioned, the

The new design is to make the zones or regions or by whatever name called to be the federating units, going back to the parliamentary system in place until 1966 outcome had been more extreme than he predicted. No doubt the old man is smiling in his grave and probably wishing Nigeria, as presently structured, well.

“I am not aware that he predicted the emergence of Czech and Slovakia, nor the balkanization of Yugoslavia with the attendant human misery nor what became of the mighty USSR or that Eritrea will separate from Ethiopia “Awolowo walked his talk when he became the premier of the old Western region. He was a militant advocate of the restructuring of Nigeria on states based on linguistic compatibility and cultural continuum.

“He championed the cause of the COR states. It will be recalled that Awolowo did not oppose the creation of the MidWest region even against the argument of hard-headed pragmatists in his own party who considered this a politically obtuse surrender of initiatives to hostile federal authorities. Awolowo had initially withheld his support based on the argument that the new region might

not be economically viable.

But upon becoming premier, his access to hitherto classified papers convinced him of the viability of the new region. He was never to look back even when the new region went to the rival NCNC as predicted by his internal opponents.

Views on the Yoruba Agenda Akinrinade acknowledged that the Yoruba are asking for a new design of the federation.

“The new design is to make the zones or regions or by whatever name called to be the federating units, going back to the parliamentary system in place until 1966; transferring the power to tax to the federating units; changing the system of public order and law enforcement to ensure all tiers of government have the ability to enforce the laws they make, adjudicate and administer punishment within their jurisdiction, make education a residual matter or must the Yoruba watch egalitarianism washed away by jettisoning the teaching of history and embracing such backward ideas like nomadic education and Almajiri schools in the name of unity? Creating a constitution court to adjudicate on all constitutional matters and disputes between states; allowing each state or federating unit to have a judicial system on non-federal crimes that go all the way to their own Supreme Court and terminates there.” The former CDs stated,: “Will it not minimize conflict if there is clear provision in the Constitution for sections that feel severely aggrieved to elect to opt out of the federation at any time instead of resorting to arms?

“Some countries with federal Constitution have this clause, but they seldom use it, but it is there to warn against any form of bullying”.

PAGE 36 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Confab will help to restructure Nigeria – Ugbomah Hon Omordi George Ugbomah, a political scientist, has been consistently involved in the services of Delta State, holding different strategic positions over the years. He is presently the political Adviser (Delta North) to the governor, who visited Vanguard's corporate office at Kirikiri Canal, Apapa, Lagos, believed the forthcoming National Conference will help to correct the anomalies in the polity. He also commended his principal’s three -point agenda saying it is visionary. Excerpts:

BY DAPO AKINREFON

W

HAT Is your take on the forth coming National Dialogue?

It is a welcome, visionary and positive step taken by President Goodluck Jonathan at this time in the history of our country. Besides the seeming resentment in some quarters, I am happy that the vast majority of Nigerians are embracing it and willing to participate.

There have been defections to and from the PDP and the APC. What does this imply for our polity and the conduct of the civil political class generally?

It shows the dynamic nature of human beings as political animals, but my concern about these defections is that they are not based on ideology and, to an extent, not for the general good of our people, but more often based on personal interest or sentiments.

The multi-party system which Nigeria operates is said to be far from the ideal, especially in a multi-cultural society as ours. What is your take on this?

The multi-party system is not far from ideal because of the multi-cultural nature of our society and more importantly given the historical experiences of our formation as a country; and the attendant political consciousness it has generated and continues to generate.

On a critical and fundamental examination, our numerous political parties

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

W

HAT is your view on the forthcoming National Confer-

ence?

It is a good development. There is nothing wrong in dialoguing especially in democracy, but my fear is that some of the delegates going to the conference may not see themselves as federalists. I want to urge them to see themselves as federalists and not as regional leaders or militants who want to get things they want 100 per cent. If you are looking for 100 per cent and you are able to get 20 or 30 percent, I think such a person should move forward because, even in the most democratic countries, we still have internal crises.

Some issues are very germane to the continuous survival of this country. For instance, the issue of religion has been recurring in our society even before the amalgamation of the country in 1914.

Also, the issue of resource control is a major concern. My advice is that people should go in there as federalist and propose things that can move the nation forward.

Some civil society groups are condemning their non-involvement in the conference. As a civil society coordinator, what is your take on this?

We have hundreds of civil society groups in this country; out of them, how many can be selected as delegates? Mr. President asked the stakeholders in the civil society groups to submit names. It is very easy for the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, or the Guild of Editors to forward their names to the Presidency, but the reverse is the case with the civil society groups. What I discovered is that when the Presidency asked us to submit names, more than 300 non-governmental organisations, NGOs, applied and about 550 people were selected from the NGOs and, from this number, you are only going to select 24 delegates.

Before you can come to the National

exist in the context of the above statement save for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which, to a large extent, cuts across ethnic and cultural consideration. It is my sincere hope that our political parties will, in no distant time, exist and operate based on ideological orientation.

Some persons have held that the Option A4 can serve Nigeria better. Do you think so?

Option A4 was tested once and it was never applied again in our polity. As at the time it was applied, it seemed to have made a positive difference in our expression of choice of elected leaders. However, I do believe that if it was applied again, it would have exposed its inadequacies considering the level of our political development. I will love to submit that the process of secret balloting as practised in most polity or political arrangements, if perfected, will create more confidence and serve Nigerians better.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan recently assented to the Anti-gay Marriage Bill which generated reactions and threats of economic sanctions from some western countries. What is your take on this?

I am in full support of the action of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. I am also happy that almost all Nigerians are in support as well. Marriage is defined by the scripture and our traditions as a sexually legalized union between a man and a woman. Anything on the contrary is not

Ugbomah marriage and cannot be called marriage.

Possibly those who advocate or practice legalized gay relationship should look for another word for it, but not marriage.

Strictly speaking, gay sexual relationship is a diseased condition of the practitioners in a psychiatric dimension. It is antinature, sinful and anti-God’s arrangement for human beings.

Rather than threaten Nigeria with sanctions, those western powers should believe in God and engage their time and resources through research that will provide positive solutions to the disease of gay relationship.

On a comparative note, Nigeria has much to gain with the law than succumb to such threats. I congratulate the President and the National Assembly for that godly law.

As a key player in Governor Uduaghan’s administration, how has the three- point agenda of the government accelerated development in Delta State?

The three- point agenda is visionary and

a very good model for practical and sustainable development, not just for Delta State but for universal application. I seriously recommend it for anybody who will take over the reign of government from the present administration in Delta State.

The three concepts are inter-related and all embracing. For example, peace and security have created enabling environment to develop infrastructure which in turn has also given us room to develop human capital.

Looking at it the other way, the human capital that is developed has also given room for the meaningful engagement of the youths and reduced insecurity, thereby providing the basis for the enhancement of our infrastructural development.

It is a tripartite phenomenon that exists in reality with each one depending on, and reinforcing the other for the accelerated development that we have been witnessing in Delta State. The overall development that we have been witnessing is as a result of the three- point agenda and their workability as efficiently presided and directed by Governor Uduaghan.

Details of our achievements cannot be given right now, but it is on record that a lot of things have been done in multiple dimensions such as schools, roads, health facilities, agriculture, commerce and industry, just to mention a few.

Which areas of development do you suggest the administration should focus on in the 2014 fiscal year?

To consolidate on the gains of the past and ensure that all on-going projects are completed within the life-span of this administration which I am sure the governor will achieve given his antecedents and determination to finish strong.

How would you assess the overall performance of the Uduaghan administration?

The governor has done very well. In fact the overall performance is excellent particularly for those who understand the complex nature of governance and more so in dealing with a state as Delta with multi-dimensional social system.

If National Conference delegates are not nationalistic, the problems will remain — Aduwo Comrade Olufemi Aduwo is the National Coordinator of Rights Monitoring Group, RMG. He was one of the civil society members accredited to monitor the last gubernatorial election in Anambra State. He speaks, in this interview, on the forthcoming National Conference, the suspension of the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, among other issues. Excerpts.

Conference as a civil society member, your expertise and relevance must be considered and I think this is part of the issues the Presidency will consider before nominating anyone to attend the conference on its behalf.

What is your opinion on Mr. President appointing most of the delegates?

I don’t think that statement is totally correct. Each governor is appointing three delegates which makes it over a hundred while the Presidency is appointing about 71 out of the over 400 members. So, it is neither here nor there. If you look at it critically, other professional bodies like the NUJ, Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and National Association of Nigerian Students, among others, are the ones going to elect their own representatives. If Mr. President appoints even all the delegates and they are credible Nigerians, so be it.

We will still get there, but if Nigerians themselves select criminals, we will still get the same answer.

President Jonathan has been visiting the emirs, obas and several other people to seek for support for 2015. Don’t you think this is too early especially when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has not given the nod for political campaigns?

Campaigns, rallies and visits not the same thing. Mr. President visited the Emir of Kano, Ooni of Ife, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba of Lagos and many others on security issues. None of them will tell you that Mr. President sought his support for 2015 and, even if he has done that, I think Mr. Pres-

Comrade Olufemi Aduwo ident is entitled to it.

Several governors do this with impunity and violate the electoral Act disguising by organizing rallies to welcome their political godfathers. Politicians do this because the punishment is minor. The fine is just N500,000. which any of them can easily pay, but in fairness to Mr. President, what he has just done was to consult the elders and rulers in the country who are directly connected to the people. We can’t deny the obvious fact that we have challenges in this country especially security issue.

What is your comment on the suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, barely a week after the allegation of missing $20bn from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC? At the beginning, Sanusi told the whole world that $49bn was missing from the

NNPC account, but when they met at the Senate, he said it was $10.8bn and, suddenly, the money became $20bn. The question people should ask him is that at what point did he get to know about the missing money? Was it yesterday, last week or even last year? Why is he raising the alarm now? Why these variations?

As the chief monetary officer of the federation, Mallam Sanusi has showed to the whole world that he is not a part of this government and, over the years, he has always presented himself as a Mr. Saint.

The easiest way for anybody to become acceptable to the people overnight is to call the government names. How can the CBN governor spend N150bn of the people’s money on charity? And the major sum of the money is for a section of the country. Right from the outset, Sanusi knew he won’t be reappointed. What we should ask Sanusi is that, with all his reforms, what is the state of the banking industry in the country? You are cannot be in a government and rock the boat.

In 2015, Nigeria INEC will conduct elections into various positions in the country. Following the Anambra election debacle, do you have confidence in the ability of the electoral body to conduct acceptable elections?

In 2010, I served as a board member on Anambra State election; that was the first time election in this country was not conducted by INEC. Section 160 of the Constitution empowers Mr. President and INEC Chairman to approve a board to conduct election on behalf of INEC and the former INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, put in place electoral board in that year in which I was made a member.

Then, some politicians accused me of working for a particular political party and candidate.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 37

Are Benson Okonkwo and Queeneth Hilbert dating?

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enson Okonkwo is a fastrising upcoming actor, who seems to thrive on controversies but Queeneth Hilbet, seems a quiet one, a rookie too, but definitely, moving into the big time. They are friends, colleagues but a word stalking them right now is that they have gotten a little bit more than friends. Maybe a statement

by Queeneth in a recent interview with me set the ball rolling, where she said the only friend she has in Nollywood is Benson.

Hear her: “Benson, I will say, is one of the few people in Nollywood that likes me for who I am. He’s real and because he is a guy, it works for me. The girls, girls thing doesn’t cut with me.

Most of the girls are fake. It is not like I have issues with anyone. I just found out very few of them like me”. - And some pictures of both of them leaked on the internet, were rather suggestive and did give rise to suspicions. When I asked Benson if he and Queeneth are going out,

the handsome dude was somewhat cagey, making me all the more suspicious. All he said is that I should ask Queeneth.

There and then, I must have stepped on a live wire because Queeneth went all ballistic on me. “Please, that must be a wicked rumour that could put me in a bad way with my man.

Please, my man should not hear this. I am not dating

Romantic scenes are no nott se sexx scenes

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– Ella Mensah

lla Mensah is a Ghanaian actress who does films in Nollywood every now and then. She is beautiful, sexy and she is particularly known for her sexy backside which Ella doesn’t pretend to flaunt at every turn. She is explosive and not given to covering most of her God-given gifts.

In a recent interview with Sunday Vanguard, Ella, said she wouldn’t mind showing off some parts of her body, saying going totally nude in a film is totally out of t h e question for her. But seeing some of the posts she made on her Facebook page recently, there is a deep impression Ella might be shifting ground on her not going nude for a movie role. The pictures she posted on Facebook and Instagram some days ago were very raunchy, seductive and some of them gives an idea the woman could appear in her birthday suit with the blow of the wind. But when I got chatting with her on Facebook, she maintained her stand and tacitly said she would not go nude in a film. “I may do romantic scenes and don’t confuse romantic scenes for sex scenes”.

I know Nollywood is toying with more sensual films but what you see mostly are romantic scenes. What we do on set is what couples do but not without our clothes.

Sex sells. I can go on showing some parts of my body in a sensual way but that is as mush as you would ever see of me” she told me.

Making lo e lovve is lik like food tto o me — Maheeda

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

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he’s bold, beautiful and a bombastic specimen who has never ceased to either over-awe or confound people’s imagination. Her stock in trade is music, gospel music and her own ingenious way of selling it to the people is to enshroud it in her sexuality. Yes, to Maheeda, sex isn’t something covert, it is a way of life and to her mind’s eye the Heavenly Father doesn’t see anything wrong in it even if she has to go all naked, singing His praise. But in a recent chat with one of our reporters, Caroline Sam or Maheeda, admitted that her seeming obsession with sex isn’t just only a ploy to drive attention to her music, she said she is addicted to it.“I’m addicted to sex and I have to have sex every day, at least once every day, and if there’s no guy around me , I will help myself

Bleaching allegation: I have never been dark complexioned – Foluke Daramola

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ver since Nollywood actress, Foluke Daramola met her heart-throb, Kayode Salako, whom she married last year, a lot of things have changed about the busty and beautiful actress. Many people have said there is a glow and aura about Foluke now that seem to radiate not only a happy inner self but a personality completely at peace with life. Of course, love, they say is a wonderful thing, as Foluke has told anyone who cares to listen “he has made me a contented and complete woman” but people are quick to point out that it is not only her demeanour that has changed they allege that the actress has been bleaching her skin to maintain her beauty to remain attractive to her activist husband.

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When I asked Foluke if there is any truth in the allegation that she has been bleaching her skin to remain attractive to the husband. Hear her: “I don’t know where that is coming from, I have never been a dark complexioned person from time and also, I would never do anything that would be detrimental to my health for anything. Besides, I am a very beautiful woman from time, so I don’t know what bleaching would add to me. If I send my graduation picture that I took 13 years ago when I graduated from Ife to you and the one I took when I graduated from UNILAG four years ago, it’s still my same fair self, so maybe photoshop is doing something to the minds and sight of the people talking.

PAGE 38 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Crossfire!

Sexual harassment in Nollywood O ne of the standard questions that pops up in an interview with a Nollywood actress, is the sordid question of whether what is called sexual harassment exists in the industry or not. For the actresses, it is different strokes for different folks.

While some would tell you they have never heard of it, some would concur they have heard of it but have never experienced it.

Yet , there are those who are willing to swear under oaths that for any ball to get played for any beginner in the business, the beginner

must have agreed to certain rules of the game where ‘sexual harassment’ may be the first commandment of the rule. Here are two Nollywood damsels who have different opinions of how the game is played between the greenhorns who are looking for a shot at fame and the men, who have all the aces in the game and how the game is to be played.

Pr oducer Producer oducerss se xually harass sexually actresses

No, actresses sexually harass the producers — Mercy Macjoe

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ercy Macjoe came into the industry in 2011 and between then and now she has done so many movies . In fact her first role was a major role where she took the lead.

To her, people crying that there is sexual harassment in the industry are only looking for excuses to cover their own shady deals with marketers. She didn’t mince words and she spilled it all out to me.

Hear her: “To be sincere with you, I don’t know why some girls go around saying this. Presently it is even the girls that go out of their ways to harass the producers. The girls go to them and ask for roles with a promise that they are ready to give the producers or directors whatever they want. Most of these girls have nothing to offer, talent wise, and they harass the producers. In fact their slangs to them now is ‘bed or bank’, meaning they would either send money to the producer’s bank account or go to bed with him”.

— Collete Orji

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olette Orji has come a long way in the industry and she hasn’t achieved the success she enjoys today without having the talent to pay for her passage. Her first film was in 2010 and she had to wait another four years to have a shot at her first major film.

Colette told me it isn’t easy and blew the whistle on the atrocities going on in the industry. “If somebody tells you they have never faced sexual harassment in the industry, it is either they are lying or they don’t want to open up to the press because you guys may blow it out of proportion. You just can’t go through the industry without being sexually harassed” she said. “What is happening now is that marketers don’t even pay them any more.

What you have to do now is probably go and screw some rich guys to get money to come and pay the marketer to feature you in their films. During that time, you feed yourself, pay your own hotel bills and even costume yourself” she added

Kcee on fire: Ebube thinks

I’m behind the rumours me,crying, telling me to let her impopo crooner, Kcee, isn’t a daughter be. They think I’m the one pleasant customer to run into, L right now. The singer is as much in sponsoring all the rumours, but why a foul mood as a bear with a boil.

Ever since the rumour went viral that his old flame, Nollywood actress, Ebube Nwagbo had moved into his Lekki residence, he has been looking forward to having a word with someone and our encounter on Thursday was anything but friendly. ‘’Personally, I don’t have anything to lose by these rumours. I just feel for Ebube.

She keeps crying, telling people that I’m the one spoiling her name, because she believes I’m behind the rumours. But it’s not me, I don’t have to spoil anyone’s name. Her mother even called C M Y K

should I do that? I know someone is behind all this. All these things they say are false, it’s not nice. In fact, I just spoke with my wife, she just left the country last week. She’s not based in Nigeria”. He revealed that he never moved into any home at Chevron Estate, Lekki, with Ebube Nwagbo. “Now they’ve said Ebube moved into my house at Lekki. But here I am at Omole, thank God you met me here. So it’s not fair, journalists and bloggers should stop destroying people’s images with the kind of stories they write” he thundered angrily.

ANITA JOSEPH is one of the big names in Nollywood. She has many movies to her credit and only recently delved into music, with some measure of success. She recently said she regretted her tattoos and confessed she is now a ‘Born Again’ Christian. She is my photo of the week.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 39

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SEME Eyiboh, a former member of the House of Representatives, in this interview with Charles Kumolu, describes the gale of defections in the National Assembly as an infection on Nigeria’s democracy. Eyiboh, quick to add that the development spurred the Peoples Democratic into a self reinventing mission, says the failed attempt by the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, senators to decamp was outside the ambit of the law. He also speaks on other issues.

You were in the House of Representatives where you left a mark in the last dispensation. Today the gale of defections among lawmakers appears to be having a negative impact on legislative business in same House. Can we know what this augurs for the polity?

It is a very interesting time in the nation and the National Assembly. As a former spokesperson of the House of Representatives who had the privilege of being exposed to the welter of forces within that clime,

I can say that on one side the development portends a positive impact for the country and governance and, on the other side, it has a preponderance of negative impact. PDP consistently has been the ruling party since 1999. And some members even boasted that the party will be in power for more than 60 years. That was because of the level of success but the management of the party did not take into cognizance the need for reputation and management of success that the political party had recorded since 1999. They decided to engage in backslapping instead of restrategising, going into public communication, instead of creating a nexus between the people and government. A political party is supposed to be closer to the people. They failed to bring government and the people together. And that has now reverberated into what is happening in the legislature. Why it is obvious in the legislature is that the difference between democracy and military government is the legislature. Military government has the executive and the judiciary. But democracy has the legislature which makes democracy inclusive. So it is not out of context to see the backslash of whatever that is manifesting in a democracy, in the legislature. That is why it is so bad for the country now.

But you also emerged from the same process Our electoral process is absolutely clear and proactive.

Unfortunately the management of political parties have not handled the issue of internal democracy properly.

They have not allowed internal democracy to be sustained. So instead of the government of the people by the people and for the people, we are now having a government of the monarch and by the monarch. I am talking about the political monarchs in this respect. We had a situation where a group of people will hijack a political party to the extent of even acting in breach of the law. They now resort to the courts and the courts will now say that it is the political party that will decide on its candidate. In some cases, they say it is the internal affairs of the party leaving the aggrieved with the option of leaving the party or suffering the injustice while he remains in the party. And the court is supposed to be the last resort. If there is an injustice which is a constitutional matter, the court should be able to act as the temple of justice. But the courts are unable to do that.

This is why some decided to live with the injustice but there is a limit to human patience and tolerance. And the

How the Presidency became vulnerable — Eyiboh, Ex-House of Reps spokesman

* Defecting lawmakers are wrong’

By CHARLES KUMOLU outcome of this tolerance is what we are seeing today.

People describe what is happening in the National Assembly as a gale of defections, but I will say that it is an infection on our democracy.

When you see people leaving in droves out of personal interest rather than conviction, there is a problem. If you follow the trend of defection, you will know that they are doing that out of godfatherism and

blind followership. They are not leaving because the PDP has not been able to leave up to its manifesto. They are concerned about their individaul interests. That is why I can tell you that we will have a new APC soon. Having seen that, you will know that there is a problem with our leadership recruitment process. While they are defecting, our democracy is being infested.

Some have also argued that the defection is within the ambit of the law. Does that not contravene your argu-

ment?

Defection, as contemplated by the law, would have been very healthy for our democracy. It is healthy because, it will now make the PDP to reinvent itself, it will also make the party to know how to manage its affairs. It will also made the party to rise up to its social contract with the people because without that some party members would have been boasting about how long the party will rule the country. They would have also remained in their cozy homes,

waiting for the next elections with, hope on the number of states where the party will have a landslide. It is against the backdrop of this development that the party brought out a brand manager in the pedigree of Alhaji Adamu Muazu to help reinvent the

party. Managing a political party is like managing a business, because the person in charge must be able to stoop low to conquer. PDP needs a manager who understands

Continues on page 40 C M Y K

PAGE 40, SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

and put myself in a proper leadership mould and know where I have to go from here.

I personally know that I am going to be fit and proper to solicit for support from any of the electoral constituencies. I know I am going to do that as a matter of conviction. I am not going to do that by imposition, I am going to go round and talk to various stakeholders.

That will enable me to take a proper decision. Whatever decision I am going to take will be a decision earned.

Continued from page 39 how to mange public communication and reputation management. You must be able to network So, Muazu’s emergence, though belated, portends well for the PDP. So those dismissing his emergence, like the opposition, are wrong. We need to even ask ourselves if we really have opposition in this country. What we have is a group of people who came together from legacy parties with the aim of turning Nigeria into a franchise.

If they are proclaiming to be opposition, they should be able to give us the template on what they want to achieve for this country. That template should be more impacting on the people than what the PDP is offering. But we are not seeing that. What we see every day is a political party of press releases and a party that waits for the ruling party to initiate policies so they could criticise. The opposition should be able to have a conceptualized alternative to what the PDP offers today. It shows that the opposition doesn’t understand want Nigeria needs. But they have not been able to do so. We are seeing people of monstrous proportion coming together with ulterior motives.

Do you now share the assumption, within and outside the PDP, that the party created the seemingly Frankenstein monster that turned around to consume it?

Even though the party did, it was not with the intention to destroy the party. It was an error of judgment for someone who knows little or nothing about party management to be brought in to manage the party. When we talk about managing a political party, we should focus on people who are flexible and also people who see their responsibility as a burden.

The PDP went into an error democratic structure enviof judgment by bringing a sioned by the founding fathers National Chairman who saw of the PDP. He should also his responsibility as a gift. It take the Presidency as a prodis unfortunate that the party uct of a political party, because became a behemoth of mon- Bamanga Tukur saw the Presstrous proportion. So people idency as a shopping mall. left in droves because they I expect Muazu to set up a did not want to be affected by department that will always that situation. However, we liaise with the Presidency. are happy with the emergence That department should act as of Muazu which has brought a mirror regarding the relaback a lot of people who were tionship of the party and the dissatisfied with the party. I Presidency. The department am talking to you today be- should also work with the ofcause of my belief that Mua- fice of the Special Adviser to zu will reposition the party. the President on Political MatTherefore with Muazu at the ters because, sometimes, top, I can procrastinate that statements, which are injurithere is no political party in ous to the sensibility of Nigethe country that has the abil- rians, are made. I also sugity to manage its affairs prop- gest that the department erly. He has the character and should liaise with the commuthe colour and the pedigree nication department of the to carry out the on-going re- Presidency because somebranding of the PDP. So I am times the Presidency is taken glad that we have a manager to the streets, and that is not who understands what brand- supposed to happen. I such department existed, some of ing is all about. the things that happened espite brandishing an would not have been witimpeccable pedigree, nessed. The Presidency of many, who have not forgot- this country is not just about ten how Muazu’s predeces- Goodluck Jonathan, it is about sors left their positions con- the nation. We should be able troversially, are of the opin- to open up these channels of ion that he might sooner or communication. With these, I later step on banana peels believe that the party will be like his predecessors. On the able to create a nexus bestrength of this, what will be tween the various organs of your advice to him? government.

I am very confident of his ecently, attempt by judgment at all times. But I APC senators to forwill rather remind him to al- mally decamp on the floor of ways remember the welter of the Senate was prevented by forces that may impair the Senate President David

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‘Defecting lawmakers are wrong’

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Mark, who cited legal grounds. Can we know the implication of this?

Section 168 of the Constitution empowers the National Assembly to establish its own internal rules and, in such rules, we also have the issue of privileges. What defecting Senator Saraki should have done was to have talked about himself and not all the APC senators, because he is representing his constituency. He should not have got up to announce that himself and others were defecting. That is absurd in

of his power as the presiding officer of the Senate, did not allow the defection, let it be.

What is required is for a defecting member to write a letter disclosing what he intends to do. The Senate president did not just do that because of Saraki’s group. It also happened in Uzamere’s case. It was not an issue of different strokes for different folks. He only did what was specified by the law and the Senate rules.

You were very prominent in your capacity as the House spokesperson in the last dis-

What we have is a group of people who came together from legacy parties with the aim of turning Nigeria into a franchise the face of the law. Section 15 of the rule also gives the presiding officer the stipulation not to discuss any matter that is in court. We all talk of the rule of law; so we should respect the law. Section 4 of the Constitution gives the National Assembly the power to make law, just as another arm of government is empowered to interpret the law. So if the Senate president within the exercise

pensation, but much has not been heard of you since you left the House. One would have expected you to be loud in this era even though you are no longer in the House?

What I have done so far was to go through a process of selfappraisal. I am not looking back on what happened in the past or what is going to happen in future. I did the appraisal to be able to put myself in the right frame of mind

he issue of zoning is also contentious in your state, Akwa Ibom, ahead of the 2015 gubernatorial election. Can we know your position on that?

In the Nigerian situation, another name for zoning is federal character. Zoning was introduced to correct perceived injustice and imbalance in the system. When there is threat to justice in the country, there is the need to introduce a mechanism that will address that. So if people from a particular zone have enjoyed a period in office, then there is need for power to move to another zone not minding the constitutional provision that allowed everyone the right to vote and be voted for. The Constitution also in Section 13, 2, A and B says the primary purpose of government is the security of the state. It goes further to make case for participation.

So, I believe in zoning but it should not be practised at the expense of merit. That does not mean that a citizen should be denied his constitutional right to be voted for. People should know that what is not included in the law does not mean that it is excluded.

Nigeria has a President who is being criticized from many fronts and some even described him as a weak leader. Do you think these criticisms are in good faith?

I have been the Vice Chairman of the South-south caucus in the National Assembly.

Jonathan has a problem. And that problem is not about Jonathan as a person but as a president. As much as he is performing, he is not informing. He needs people who have capacity to step out there and do proper reputation management. A lot of people who are there are economic choristers. They are only singing songs that will lead them to bank vaults. Since 1960s, we have never had it good like this. For instance, in agriculture, the President has distinguished himself, because the ministry of agriculture has performed creditably well.

Very soon, we are going to see the groundnut pyramid and cocoa boom return. Unfortunately, no one is talking about that. The opposition are only criticizing through press releases without coming up with alternative ideas. And the PDP was not doing what it was supposed to do under Tukur.

SUNDAY, Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 41

Nuptial bliss ffor or TTolu olu and W ale Wale

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he love story between Olaseni Adewale and Oluwatosin Tolulope was rewritten in full glory last Saturday as the lovebirds were joined as man and wife.

They took their oaths at the Hoare’s Memorial

Methodist Cathedral , Yaba, where top society personalities came calling to usher them into matrimony. Photos Kehinde Gbadamosi

From left; Pastor Segun Babatope, Mrs Olubukunola Babatope, parent's bride, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, and Mrs Eunice Fawole.

From right; Mrs Olubukunola Babatope, Pastor Segun Babatope, bride’s parents, with Mrs Olayinka Osho and Engr. Oluseye Osho, groom’s parents.

From left; Mr Kayode Komolafe, Mr Kunle Oyatomi, and Mr Dimgba Igwe.

From Right; Mr Folu Olamiti, and Mr Felix Adenaike, former M.D, Nigerian Tribune

The new couple, Mr Olaseni Adewale and Oluwatosin Tolulope Osho.

From left; Hon. (Mrs) Yinka Babatope Oyedele, Mrs Toyin Babatope Oyedele, and Mrs Funmi Adeniyi.

Bosun Oladejo’s mother in-law’s burial

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anguard’s Production Manager, Mr Bosun Oladejo was recently joined by his colleagues, in Ibadan for the final burial ceremony of Late Alhaja Muinat Odee GaniyuIbrahim, his wife’s mother. The wife, Mrs Temitope Olamide Oladejo was also joined by her colleagues from Ajeromi General Hospital Lagos.

It was a befitting farewell to the Late woman and there was enough to eat and drink and even to take away as souvenirs. Photos by Biodun Ogunleye

L-R: Matron Ayo Ojugbele, Matron Olubunmi Ogunsanya, Dr (Mrs) Gbeminiyi Adesiyan, Mrs Temitope Olamide Oladejo and Dr Faith Mbuluko, all of Anaesthetics Dept. of Ajeromi General Hospital, Lagos.

L-R: Mr Olatunbosun Oladejo, Production Manager and Mr Sunday Awevia, Operations Manager, both of Vanguard .

L-R: Mr Olatunbosun Oladejo, Mr Kamorudeen Folorunso Ibrahim and Mrs Temitope Olamide Oladejo, withn thier kids Mariam and Zainab.

The celebran, Mrs Temitope Olamide Oladejo (centre) with co-Staff of Ajeromi General Hospital, Lagos.

Celebrant, Mr & Mrs Olatunbosun Oladejo with Vanguard Staff

PAGE 42, SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

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SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014 , PAGE 43

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PAGE 44—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

YOBE SERIAL SCHOOL SHOOTINGS

By Bala Ajiya

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bout 137 students may have been killed in four separate attacks on schools in Yobe State between June 2013 and February 2014, Abuja Bulletin findings showed. The latest attack recorded the highest number of deaths which stood at 59. In June 2013, the Boko Haram sect invaded Government Secondary School, Damaturu, the state capital and killed

4 attacks, 137 students deaths! eight students and one teacher at a time the students were taking dinner.

The out-cry that followed the gruesome killing had hardly died down when, in July of the same year, insurgents struck at another Govern-

ment Secondary School, this time in Mamudo, Potiskum local government area, about 90km from Damaturu.

29 students were slaughtered in the mid night attack as the community slept and nobody came to the rescue

of the hapless students. The Boko Haram onslaught continued when the Islamist group stormed the College of Agriculture in Gujba local government area. They had a field day, shooting and killing about 40 students also

in the midnight. The three previous attacks have left many wondering why the fourth and the latest assault was not prevented. It will be recalled that all schools were closed, last year, in Yobe as a result of serial attacks on schools and students, but reopened when the military gave assurance it would protect lives and property, particularly students. A day to the attack, the JTF was alleged to have withdrawn soldiers from Buni-yadi, thus making it easier for the insurgents to invade and operate for almost five hours that the massacre took place.

COUNTERING INSURGENT BOKO HARAM :

Desired results may take a while — Olaoye

BY OLAYINKA AJAYI

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ollowing the serial massacres in Borno, Yobe and Admamawa States by the Boko Haram sect, a security analyst and managing director of Halogen Security, Mr.Wale Olaoye, bares his mind on the lingering insurgency in the North. Excerpts of interview:

Olaoye

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What is your view concerning attacks by the Boko-Haram group rocking the North?

The continuous killing of innocent lives in the North is so unfortunate and very disheartening. The government at this critical stage should not allow the shedding of innocent blood not to mention the magnitude of the losses recorded.

What is your view about the state of emergency adopted by the federal government?

Under this circumstance, it would be difficult to fault the imposition of state of emergency. Other rounded measures should have followed. But you must understand it takes quite a lot to make rounded and holistic risk management plans midstream, especially without solid foundational in-

telligence. So adjustments and desired results in curtailing the menace of insurgency may take a while.

What other security measures do you think the government can employ as a security expert to curtail the insurgency?

Several measures we learnt have been taken by the government to curtail the insurgency rocking the North but uncompromised commitment to good governance and the love for one Nigeria, investment in unifying of command and cooperation of all government and private security agen-

Continues on page 45

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Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014 45

Isaiah Balat:

The hero of Southern Kaduna goes home!

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he remains of the late Senator Isaiah Balat were, last Wednesday, buried after a funeral service attended by a record crowd from the area. Vice President Namadi Sambo, members of the National Assembly and Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State took turns to eulogise the man seen as an important political figure in Southern Kaduna.

He was indeed one of the most colourful, charismatic princes of Nigeria politics; a shrewd business man, and the most towering sociopolitical symbol of the people of Southern Kaduna.

At the age of 27, Balat had already jumped from a little known entrepreneur in Kaduna to become an important figure in the second republic, as Kaduna State Chairman of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), under the leadership of the Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe.

As the Chairman of the party, he was among those who brokered the arrangement with the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) that saw Alhaji Balarabe Musa elected as the first civilian governor of Kaduna state. At the national level, he was also key in the loose coalition that made Edwin Ume Ezeoke of the Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and John Wash Pam, also of the NPP, the Deputy Senate President under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)-led government.

He was also instrumental to getting some other key appointees for the party, such as making the then

Professor Ishaya Audu – a minority Christian from Wusasa Zaria – the Minister of External Affairs under the President Shehu Shagari-led government of the NPN. Since then, he had remained a very important figure in business and politics as attested to by those who came out to speak at his funeral.

The body of Balat was carried in a grey Cadillac escorted by over one kilometre long motorcade in a three-hour journey from Kaduna to Gora Bafai, in

,,

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

As the Chairman of the party, he was among those who brokered the arrangement with the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) that saw Alhaji Balarabe Musa elected as the first civilian governor of Kaduna state Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

A crowd waited as the corpse arrived at an open rectangular ground the size of a football field, covered with canopies by 11am for the funeral service.

His two wives, five sons and in-laws, clad in white, sat in the front row alongside Nigeria’s number two, three

and four citizens.

Speaking after the homily, the Vice President said Balat “ was a brother, a colleague, and a confidant”.

Sambo went on: “He was a great mobiliser of people, an astute politician, a humanitarian, a humanist and a great asset to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“From a humble background, he converted challenges to his advantage and became an icon of his time. His death has created a huge vacuum which cannot be filled now”.

Senate President David Mark asked Senator Solomon Ewuga to speak on behalf of the National Assembly, in which Balat served as senator representing Southern Kaduna, from 2003 to 2007.

Said Ewuga: “I am cold with grief standing here to speak on behalf of the National Assembly. I have known Balat for quite some time, and I have visited this village several times to hold discussions with him on several issues. He was a hardworking, discipline man who believed in getting things done correctly. We shall all miss him”.

Professor Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information, who served at the same time Balat was Minister of State for Works, said of Balat: “He was a very courageous politician. He was one of us in the G18 and G34 who formed the PDP. He was a

Late Senator Isaiah Balat

principled person, and believed in justice and fair play to all”.

Governor Mukhtar Ramalan, in his speech, said that he would miss the invaluable advice he received from the late Balat.

“He was one of the people that I always consulted on how to ensure everlasting peace and security in he state. He was loved both by his people and outside his state. The PDP has lost a great leader ”, he said.

He promised to complete a community secondary school which the late senator had started in Gora Baffai. He also informed the gathering that Kaduna and Plateau State will hold a meeting of their security chiefs to see how to curtail the violence in their border areas around Southern Kaduna.

The National President of SOKAPU, Dr. Ephraim Goje, in his remarks, said that though Southern Kaduna had always been the cash cow of the PDP, it had no any federal institution to show for it.

“For the ruling party to truly honour our brother, who was one of its major financiers, it should convert the Kaduna State University (KASU), Kafanchan Campus into a Federal University of Technology and also ensure the creation of Gurara State, for the people of Southern Kaduna”, he said.

He also pointed out that the Sambo, who was the governor of Kaduna State from 2009 to 2010, only visited the place in December 2012 during the burial of the late Sir Ibrahim Yakowa.

“We would want to see you visit us during the time of joy, also”, he told the VP. Speaking on behalf of the family, Balat’s son, Adamu, an engineer, paid tribute to his father.

After the service, the body of Balat was taken to his compound - an immaculate white mansion of red roof about a kilometer away, where he was interred in a private ceremony attended by family members.

Desired results may take a while — Olaoye Continues frompage 44

cies and, of course, coordinated and rounded intelligence between all the agencies would make a serious impact in curtailing the problem.

Some people are of the opinion that the Federal Government should reopen negotiation with the terrorist group. What is your view?

I am a firm believer in dialogue, but the issues to

illicit dialogue must be on the table. I am not sure something is on the table for this one or are you aware of any? I seriously pray we can get to that point Is Nigeria mature enough to combat insurgency pro-actively?

I am persuaded that lessons have been learnt about the essence of proactive and effective risk

management as a nation. Which is the point we have been making about the need to be ahead in intelligence before mitigating plans are crafted. Risk management is about proactive measures and not reacting to the after effects of the insurgency. We as one united Nigerians have to roundly overcome our challenges, as no one can love Nigeria more than Nigerians. We will get there.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Ex-Gov Goje has hijacked Gombe APC — Hon. Mailantariki H

on. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantariki represents Gombe/Kwami/ Funakaye Federal constituency in the House of Representatives. He was, against all odds, elected under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011 before the party joined the merger that gave birth to All Progressive Congress (APC). In this interview, he bares his mind on issues surrounding the party vis-a-vis his problem with the state Leader of the party, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, saying Goje should be called to order by the party’s national leadership. Excerpts:

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU How is APC doing in Gombe State?

APC is doing great to some extent but we have some challenges which, if care is not taken, the desired result will not be achieved. You are aware that former Governor Danjuma Goje has joined us and as he was joining, we gave him all the support because we built this party from CPC, ANPP and ACN to what it is today. At that time, he was the governor of Gombe State and it is on record that we fought him tirelessly. We faced a lot of challenges to even defeat him as a sitting governor to have the seats that we have today in the emerging parties in the state and National Assemblies. We have three members in the state House of Assembly.

Goje did all he could using his power as a governor to frustrate us. But because the people of Gombe especially my constituency are very comfortable with us, they elected us with a very wide margin. And now, considering the situation he found himself in the PDP, we thought we were giving him a home where he could come to add to what we have to help us build a stronger APC. But based on what is going practically now, it is clear that he has not come to build this party but to take revenge over the defeat that he suffered in 2011 which,of course, our followers will never accept.

They are all crying.

our leader but the action he took from the beginning by selecting members of nPDP over those of the merging parties shows it is old PDP versus nPDP. For us in the opposition who built APC, we sacrificed our individual parties’ certificates, our offices to make APC what it is today, but we are getting nothing.

What happening now is that Goje has hijacked

,,

We all supported him to be

— Hon. Mailantariki

At the grassroots, Goje does not have followers.

All the people that were following him in PDP stayed back when he defected to the APC

everything with a few of his boys. It is clear now that they have an agenda to destroy our reputation first, that is why you see them all over the media attacking us.

Sponsor For example I sponsored CPC from the day I joined in 2010 till date. I paid for all the offices. During LGA elections I bought forms for all our contestants across the state. I printed posters for all of them with their councilors across the state, gave them financial support, branded vehicles for campaigns, provided 26 motorized boreholes that cost me N7million each, some areas hand pump boreholes, solar streetlights, scholarship.

More than 25,000 constituents benefited from me directly, but non of these achievements could be heard from either Goje or his men to boost this party.

Instead they concentrated on trying to dent my image because they have hidden agenda. But the people know all these and the appreciate my efforts. That is why they are with me all the time. They constitute the APC crowd in Gombe and now they are crying for justice. This is causing a lot of problems in Gombe.

No followers At the grassroots, Goje does not have followers. All the people that were following him in PDP stayed back when he defected to

the APC. The only people on the ground now are our supporters who were in the opposition for over a decade.

Goje still has the attitude of the PDP where they don’t go in line with the rules. They don’t follow the rules and regulations.

These things started from the beginning. He went and constituted the interim management committee and took four of the five seats that were supposed to be shared among the legacy parties.

We started complaining and the APC NEC came to our rescue.

They said it should be reviewed to go in line with the guidelines of the party; to carry along members. But he worked with the some national leadership members to ensure they didn’t review the Gombe situation whereas they have done that of Adamawa.

Subsequently, he came in with something we are not familiar with: that there is a need to constitute an interim management committee at the local government level which is not in line with the party guidelines. But before you knew it, he single handedly nominated people

known to be our political enemies especially to those of us that were elected. He picked them to be our chairmen at the local governments. That is what is happening now. His own is not to take this party to victory but to revenge because he still thinks that we defeated in 2011.

Isn’t Goje the APC leader in Gombe State?

Yes, we supported him to be. We have no problem with him leading us if he is going to lead us right but with his kind of leadership, I don’t think any of us or our supporters is okay. In fact, that is the main challenge we have in Gombe State now because a lot of political stakeholders, our elders, responsible leaders, none of them wants to associate with APC simply because of Goje’s presence. He style of leadership is dictatorial. A lot of people want to join the party. They are with us but they are questioning his presence. So, his position as the leader is not good for the party but, as a member, no problem because a lot of people are running away from us.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 47

Railway: The return of the economic live wire!

BY OLUMIDE ISRAEL

F

OR many years, rail way transportation in the country was dead.

Almost buried! But it is obvious from the recent achievements of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) that some revival has taken place. And rail transportation is breathing again.

Rightly so, the NRC used to be a strong social and economic live-wire for all the sections of the country in terms of commuter traffic and volume of cargo from the regions to the ports. The role of railway transportation in the development of the country was pervasive.

Indeed, the catalytic role of the corporation was so significant and integral to national development and growth that it served a pivotal role in the struggle of Nigeria for self-determination.

The importance of rail transportation peaked in 1964. But shortly after, the NRC entered a long period of decline, inept management, and, eventually, a complete lack of maintenance of rail and locomotive assets until NRC declared bankruptcy in 1988.

Attempts to restore the corporation to its pride of place as a driver of social and economic development?were epileptic and hampered by what its one time acting managing director, Mazi Jetson Nwakwo, described as lack of political will by a succession of leaders.

By 2002, passenger service was discontinued completely and cargo service shrank to insignificance.

When the NRC became comatose, the impact on the road network and the increased presence of articulated vehicles were far reaching in terms of maintenance cost and hazard to lives and properties. All the major roads between the ports and business hubs in Nigeria fell into disrepair.

Increased dependence on roads to transport heavy goods saw trailers, tankers and heavy trucks competing with commuter traffic everywhere, resulting in fatal accidents, infrastructural damages and insupportable cost of road rehabilitation.

Perhaps the most televised and reported of the wreck of social economic assets was the Lagos-Benin Expressway which became a nightmare until its redemption recently.

Wagons Also the NRC, which was at one time the employer of first choice, engaged about 45,000 people between 1954 and 1975, but employment plunged to only 6,516 in later years.

In an attempt to revive the corporation, some wagons

Railway line were bought in 1993, but the effort was fruitless because most of the existing wagons were old; some dated back to 1948 and the track conditions limited trains to a speed of 35 km/h. Consequently, no serious economic activity could rely on the corporation as a service of first choice. NRC was literally abandoned as dead.

In 2006, the idea of rebuilding the entire existing 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) network to standard gauge was mooted but the missing political will observed by Mazi Nwakwo came decisively “ with the transformation agenda of 2011”.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Thus the railway system has been undergoing a steady and confident restoration process.

According to latest figures from the NRC: * About 90% of existing narrow gauge rail lines are being rehabilitated across Nigeria. * Abuja - Kaduna & Ajaokuta - Warri standard gauge lines are nearing completion. *The 1,124km Lagos - Kano Western Line rehabilitation completed. * The 1,657km Port Harcourt - Maiduguri Eastern Line rehabilitation near completion. * Rehabilitation of the Mainline from Ebute Metta Junction to Apapa Local Station by Nigeria Railway Corporation has been completed. * Operation of 6 weekly express passenger train trips on Lagos -Kano and Offa - Kano. * 40 new oil tank wagons already lifting petroleum products. * The Eastern line, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, 1,657km is nearly completed. Passengers and cargo services will be flagged off soon.

The rehabilitation of the narrow gauge lines is the first segment of the 25- year railway strategic plan, while the second segment is the modernization programme.

The Lagos – Kano Line is being executed in six seg-

Rail transportation : Are the good old days back to stay?

Commuters are looking to NRC for safe, comfortable rides and our network of roads will eventually be rid of heightened hazard and rapid degradation ments on standalone basis in order to effectively? fund the projects. The segments are as follows: * Abuja (Idu) - Kaduna (187km) * Lagos - Ibadan (181km) * Ibadan - Ilorin (200km) * Ilorin – Minna (270km) * Minna – Abuja (145km) * Minna – Kano (360km) Also, the construction of Lagos - Ibadan standard gauge line (double track) (180Km x 2) has commenced.

Feasibility studies on proposed standard gauge lines in various locations across Nigeria are nearing completion.

Post marks In further modernisation of the railway system, the corporation has procured 25 new locomotives , 40 oil tank wagons from General Electric and refurbished 366 coaches and wagons.

It has also taken delivery of

two sets of Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) with 540- passenger capacity each and six modern air-conditioner 68seater coaches. Also purchased are 4 new CNR locomotives.

Today, the railway is a song worth singing, one of the post marks of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda. The following are some of the immediate benefits of the railway revival process: * Movement of wheat owned

by Flour Mills Ltd from Apapa to Kaduna and Kano. * Freight haulage for Connect Rail Limited (A freight Logistics Company) * Weekly movement of 1,500 tons (equivalent to 50 trailer loads) of cement for Lafarge Cement Plc? from Ewekoro to Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ilorin, Minna and Kano. * Movement of laterite from Otukpo – Makurdi covering

100,000 tons (3,333 trailer load equivalent) for Messrs SCC Nigeria Limited. * Weekly movement of petroleum products equivalent to 30 tankers from Lagos up to Kano. * Haulage of Heavy Materials for NRC Contractors: Lagos – Kafanchan and Various Destinations.

In total, from 2011 to date, about 561,883 metric tons of cargo have been conveyed by rail.

Also millions of commuters have availed themselves of the following NRC passenger services. * Lagos -Kano Express Train Services, once per week. * Offa – Kano Express service, once per week. * Lagos – Ibadan – IlorinLagos Train (thrice per week, moving an average of 6,188 passengers weekly) * Minna – Kaduna – Minna Train (thrice per week, moving an average of 3,450 passengers per week) * Kano – Nguru – Kano Train (twice per week, moving an average of 850 passengers per week.)

• Excursion Train: Highly patronised during festivities. E.g. Osun State utilised it during Easter.

• Intra –city Mass Transit such as the Lagos Mass Transit Train (16 Trains per day- an average of 16,000 passengers per day); and the Kaduna Intra-city Mass Transit Train (10 Trains Per Day- an average of 10,000 passengers per day).

Upgrading To ensure the sustainability of the transformation agenda with regards to the railway revival, an investment Incentive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between General Electric (Transportation) and the Federal Government was signed to accommodate the upgrading and development of a multi modal Locomotives Assembly Facility in Nigeria to handle an initial target Assembly of 200 Locomotives over 10 years under a Special Country to Company Relationship.

According to the NRC, these are strategic gains that do not exclude similar other companies taking advantage of the resolute revival of a once iconic national network.

Commuters are looking to NRC for safe comfortable rides and our network of road will eventually be rid of heightened hazard and rapid degradation. The reversal of 50 years of undermined capacity is on course. And it is expected that the strong momentum the nation is witnessing will be sustained.

The world over, railways and roadways are complementary means of transport over the land. The advantage of railways over roads is that they can carry large number of passengers and large and heavy loads to long distances. A vast country like Nigeria cannot do without an effective railway system. *Israel, a public affairs commentator, lives in Ilorin

PAGE 48— SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

Multichoice is strategically positioning African movie stars – John Ugbe John Ugbe, Managing Director of Multichoice Nigeria, in this interview, speaks on the African entertainment company’s passion for the African film industry.

We believe it is about positioning. When our African stars are strategically positioned, they also gain international recognition, become more versatile, command a higher premium and their careers in direct correlation, gain more traction

T

HE maiden edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards was considerably successful. What should be expected from the second edition that is almost here?

The success we recorded in the maiden edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ ChoiceAwards was, to a large extent, due to the support from our viewers.

There was a lot of enthusiasm and awareness before the awards as Africa voted for their favourite stars. We have also had a lot of support from our sponsor, AMSTEL Malta, as well as from movie industry regulators. The success story of the maiden edition is not complete without acknowledging the tireless efforts of our Africa Magic team. The impact of their hard work has had long term effects.

It is due to the success of the first season that we contemplate a second one.

This second edition is not any different. Our viewers have once again championed our awareness drive. They have been instrumental to ensuring their favourite stars receive adequate votes from them. Celebrating the winners from last year has also added to the anticipation for this year. The awards have gotten so much bigger and the range of participation has increased. We have almost 70 of the more than 100 nominees coming from Nigeria. It is certainly a great opportunity for us to channel the appropriate visibility for Nollywood. Altogether, our hopes for our African movie stars are that their art gain the sort of recognition that they so rightly deserve.

Why is MultiChoice the chief sponsor of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards?

We believe in the talent of our actors and actresses and the film industry in Nigeria and across Africa. Sponsoring AMVCA is our way of paying tribute to these stars.

We are also passionate about promoting original African content and programming across both DStv and GOtv. This is done through the MNET and AfricaMagic channels. The goal is to showcase the best African content across the continent. Quite notably, the AfricaMagic channels have grown to eight channels, offering programmes that appeal to a variety of ethnic groups across Nigeria. Although the programmes are presented in different languages, they have been subtitled in English and this makes them accessible to a wider variety of audiences across Africa.

With Nigerians dominating the nominations and the awards holding in Nigeria for the second consecutive year, are you not bothered that the event could be tagged a Nigerian awards ceremony?

It is true that Nigerians have dominated the nominations for the second consecutive year. We however also have a lot of par-

Mr. John Ugbe ticipation from other countries, but not just as many as we do in Nigeria. This can be attributed to Nigeria having been involved in the movie production industry for far longer than any other country in Africa, resulting in the coined word, ‘Nollywood’. The vibrancy of Nollywood has contributed to the number of players we have for Nigeria. This reality should not however deter participation from other African countries; in fact it is our wish that the Nigeria situation serves as encouragement to emerging movie industries across Africa.We are committed

to promoting African content, and hope that with increased participation, AMVCA grows to attain the stature of the Oscars across Africa.

How do awards like the AMVCA’s grow the movie industry in Nigeria and across Africa?

AMVCA is a platform for recognizing African talent. We are at the cusp of breaking new ground with AMVCA. We believe that by supporting this initiative, we are contributing to improving the socio-economic landscape of the countries that are growing their movie industries.

As with the United States Os-

cars, the value of an actor or actress increases by leaps and bounds upon even simply receiving an Oscar nomination. We believe it is about positioning. When our African stars are strategically positioned, they also gain international recognition, become more versatile, command a higher premium and their careers in direct correlation, gain more traction. For us, AMVCA is an instrument of growth for our African stars. We aim to place them on the international map.

Beyond awards like this one, in which other ways does MultiChoice impact on the creative industry in Africa and across the continent?

Last year, MultiChoice Nigeria celebrated 20 years of operations. It has been two decades of investing in digital entertainment technology across

Nigeria, and through a multichannel strategy. We pioneered creative digital entertainment in Africa and we take this role very seriously. Being at the forefront of innovative entertainment also means proactively anticipating the needs of our viewers.

Very soon, we will launch Box Office as a feature on our Explora decoder. With Box Office, you can rent a movie with just a few clicks on your remote control, right in your living room.

It is like operating your own personal movie theatre. Aside from the convenience this brings to our viewers, they can legally view new, never before seen moviesthrough Box Office. There will also be a Nollywood window in addition to an international oneon Box Office. The variety this brings ensures there is something for everyone.

In our own little way, we are joining the fight against piracy with the launch of Box Office. We hope that when viewers can access new movies legally on their televisions, they will refrain from buying the pirated movies being peddled on the streets.

Beyond swelling the ranks of awards for movie productions and professionals, what would you say is the essence of AMVCA? The very essence of most awards is to recognize and reward talent. We share the same objective for AMVCA at MultiChoice. Through AMVCA, we hope to promote creativity and versatility. It has often been said that competition is a good driver for improvement, so yes AMVCA might ultimately lead to improved movie production standards across Africa. With higher stakes comes the need to do better and continuously improve on previous performance. We aim to rank our African stars alongside international stars.

‘How Sanusi got it wrong’

BY UDEME CLEMENT

N

IGERIANS and experts in the financial sector of the economy have been called upon to view the suspension of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, objectively and allow investigation into the matter to be concluded before casting aspersion on President Goodluck Jonathan.

A public analyst and entrepreneur, Mr. Robert Umoette, made this known in a chat with Sunday Vanguard in Lagos, stressing that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must probe the allegations of financials misappropriation against Sanusi for Nigerians to know the truth.

He said, “Following the report from Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Sanusi was suspended to allow a thorough investigations of the weighty allegations levelled against him while in office. This means that, if he is not found guilty, he would be cleared and returned to office, that is, if everything is concluded before June, 2014, when his tenure expires. If he is found guilty, he should be tried accordingly before an appropriate court. The President has not removed Sanusi from office as alleged, especially as he does not have such powers without the backing of

Mr. Robert Umoette two third members of the Senate.

Mr. President may not have considered approaching the Senate, as the investigation on the said report leading to that suspension has not been concluded”.

He went on, “A lot of people linked the suspension to his whistle-blowing activities in recent times especially to non-remittance of funds to the Federation Account by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC).

Whether this is true or not, let us look at this particular whistle blowing activities, which the first attempt was proved to be far below the amount claimed holistically and with all sense of neutrality. For billions of dollars to be missing or unaccounted for in NNPC means the money was stolen, and part of these funds alleged to be missing, are said to

have been applied to subsidy payments for kerosene, which late President, Umaru Yar ’Adua, stopped. If the kerosene subsidy payments had been done without a presidential cancellation of earlier order of 2009, it means the payments were not appropriated for in the budget. As such, it was illegal and all parties involved ought to resign honourably or be sacked and thereafter, face appropriate charges by EFCC in the law court.

“If after the independent audit of NNPC is done through the Ministry of Finance, and the extra sum said to have been applied for kerosene subsidy is proved to be missing, then more heads should roll in NNPC and its subsidiaries, because the funds would have contributed greatly to the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government. If Jonathan had not reversed the stoppage of kerosene subsidy and it continued to cause the country losses of huge revenue, which could have improved the nation’s economy, and if the independent audit proves other missing funds to be true, then the erstwhile CBN Governor, would have uncovered a huge scam.

“Looking at the matter holistically and with neutrality, Sanusi did well in about four years. He was there alongside the coordinating Minister of the economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, work-

ing tirelessly towards turning around the economy from depression to progression. He reduced inflation rate to a single digit of 7 per cent, repositioned the banking sector and strengthened deposit banks by making them focus on core banking responsibilities. He stabilised and repositioned the Stock Exchange, amongst others. However, in his last months as CBN’s governor, if Jonathan, who is not only the President but also the chief executive officer of Nigeria’s economy, did not come up with the suspension option, Sanusi would have brought down the economy due to his alarm and accusations. His outbursts sent wrong signals to foreign investors and the international community. There are better ways to address sensitive issues bordering on the nation’s economy, than bringing potentially damaging reports to the public “Nigerians should know that the real issue in the political circle must be how to improve the economy, in order to increase per capita income of the average Nigerian, which constitutes about 70 per cent of the population living below $2 per day, rather than trying to politicise every single issue or act of the Presidency. Holding public office is a call to service to the people and all public office holders need to focus on doing just that”.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 49

2015

We will put to shame those prophesying crisis in APC – Senator Lanlehin *Says no rift between him and Gov. Ajimobi

By DAPO AKINREFON Senator Femi Lanlehin represents Oyo South in the Senate. In this interview, Lanlehin dismisses the claim of a stormy relationship between him and Governor Abiola Ajimobi. He also denies nursing governorship ambition while speaking on the chances of his party, All Progressive Congress, in the 2015 polls and National Conference.

Excerpts: HY is your party, the APC, against National Conference in the first place because many Nigerians are not happy with this decision?

For you to get any thing right, the process and the substance must be right. If the process is right and the substance is wrong, you will get the wrong answer, you will get the wrong goal. If the process is right and the substance is wrong, you will not get something good. So, if you must get everything right, the process and substance must be right.

So, what the party is saying is that the whole process is right.

The goal is laudable and fundamentally in demand by all and sundry especially by all genuine democrats in the country, who believe it will determine our future and the kind of democracy we want to participate in, but the powers that be, all the long, have not been sincere. But having said that, I think we should give the dialogue a benefit of the doubt, in order not to be appear to be seen as against something that might augur well for the country.

But there is no doubt that the whole process is suspect.

But since the advent of the fourth republic, leaders and elders from the South-west region, especially Awoists, have been in the forefront for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference but now that the opportunity has come, there seems to be division.

There is really no division because everybody believes that there is need for all the ethnic nationalities, all the stakeholders to sit down and talk about our togetherness.

To that extent, that means we must talk and come to an agreeable conclusion on the way forward. But of course, since we are all human beings and there are many shades of opinion, in respect of this process, people may not agree to the whole process as to how to bring this about.

But I am yet to see anybody, in Yoruba land or even in Nigeria, who does not think there is the need to tinker with the present system that is called Nigeria.

Are you saying that Nigeria’s unity can be negotiated?

W

Senator Femi Lanlehin There is no doubt that we have all agreed and we still agree that we should stay together as a country. But there is no doubt that we have various interests, various approaches, various priorities, various methodologies, various socio-cultural beliefs and backgrounds.

We are not homogenous, we are heterogenous and that is why we have to sit down and agree on how best we can live together.

What we are saying is that since

motion without movement, there must be fundamentally wrong, which we must find a way of doing something about it. There must be something we are fundamentally not doing right.

What steps, do you think, should be taken to ensure we correct the anomalies in the polity?

First of all, I believe we have too much of a centralized unit.

The 1999 Constitution does not take into consideration our

For now, I am totally committed to fulfilling the mandate that has been given to me by the people of Oyo South to represent them in the Senate. I am trying to do that to the best of my ability. What I do next is dependent on what happens at the end of my tenure

1914, that we have been together, we could have gone further than we are now.

When we operated the regional government, each region developed at its own pace and that is why the bulk of the development that we have in Nigeria today was done during the existence of those regions.

We have to see where we have gone wrong because from 1966 till now, we seem to have lost it, we seem to be groping in the dark.

Having discovered that it is all

socio-political background. We are a diverse country and, to that extent, we must allow each ethnic group or unit to expand or to fly as high as they want to go without any constraint, in as much as it is done within the constitution of the land.

In my own opinion, I believe the best thing for us to do is to go back to the parliamentary system of government of course with some modifications. We must sit down and look back at our

experience from 1914 and see how best we can put together a constitution that best suites us.

But if we want to have a system of government that recognises individual growth and effort, then we must not restrain the units from exercising their right.

The presidential system of government is too restraining, there is too much powers concentrated in the centre and this makes it worse because the source of income in this country, lies in the centre.

The spokesman for the Senate has hinted that the body will ensure the conference is funded...

The National Assembly has a central role to play in the outcome of the proceeding of the National Dialogue depending on whatever process they want to adopt. In order to bring forth a new Constitution, you should lay down the laws by which to arrive at the new system.

So, the National Assembly is key to the outcome of the dialogue. There must be a law that brings into life the new system we are craving for.

Does that mean the National Assembly will give the conference the needed legal backing?

Yes. It is either they give it a proactive legal backing or they let them do whatsoever is to be done and then it is brought to the National Assembly and then it is passed into law in order not to give room for friction. There must be certainty in the procedure and in the laws that we are expecting, so that from day one, everybody knows what to do and how to do it and when to do it.

Some people have predicted that your party, the APC, will implode considering the crisis threatening some of the state chapters.

The APC will not explode.

But don’t you see the tussle for leadership threatening to tear the party apart?

The things that are happening now are things that are normal.

These are ordinary things that happen when two or three people gather particularly when there is struggle for political relevance or power. These things are bound to happen particularly when you have a merger of parties.

But so far, I think it has been good, although, there are occasional embarrassing situations. How well it is contained will determine how far the party will go. I have no doubt whatsoever that most of the things that are happening, if it is handled well by the leadership, at the end of the day, it will be well.

Are you not worried that if, at the end of the day, the crisis is not handled well, it might lead to aggrieved members jumping ship?

Anything can happen. If it is not handled well, obviously, you might find pockets of such forces all over. But that will be a local thing. The two parties, by and large in my opinion, have come to stay. APC has come to stay and I think it is good for the polity because a situation where you have one large dominant political party, does not augur well for the country.

How true is it that things are falling apart in APC in Oyo State?

Nothing is falling apart.

Everything that is happening are natural things that happen when people are looking for political relevance. There must be bickering but at the end of the day, some people win, while some people lose but life goes on.

It was gathered also that you and Governor Ajimobi are not in good terms over the 2015 elections.

That is not true. He is the governor of the state and I am a senator, we are all trying to work for and in the interest of our state.

There is nothing of such.

How true is it that you are nursing governorship ambition in 2015?

For now, I am totally committed to fulfilling the mandate that has been given to me by the people of Oyo South to represent them in the Senate.

I am trying to do that to the best of my ability. What I do next is dependent on what happens at the end of my tenure. For now, I am not even thinking of gubernatorial ambition.

Tomorrow will determine what happens.

Do you think INEC is prepared to conduct credible elections in Osun, Ekiti later this year and across the country in 2015?

I think the bane of our underdevelopment is the lack of freeness and fairness of our elections. INEC should improve upon what they did in 2011. I hope they have learned their lessons in Anambra State election and do better in Osun and Ekiti states.

Constituency projects With my own resources, I have sunk over 15 solar power boreholes for members of my senatorial district because water is very essential. I have also helped some communities in my district with transformers, electrical installations; ditto the construction and renovation of classroom blocks with boreholes to go with it. There have been some intervention programmes where I have done some empowerment programmes wherein members of my constituency have been empowered to enable them stand on their own.

It is spread across members of my party and voters in my senatorial district.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

BY CHIDI UDENZE

F

OR the Nigerian politician, anything can become a weapon, as politics has often been taken as war; as, in a war, everything is fair. That dictum seems to have found a clear expression in today’s politics of Enugu State in the run up to 2015. And as a way of refreshing the minds of those who might not have been following the internal politics of the state from very close quarters, it might be necessary to do a rehash.

Sometime last year, stakeholders in the state agreed that lasting peace would be guaranteed when and if elective positions were made to rotate around the different political zones of the state, as well as amongst different qualified sons and daughters in the state. In the thinking of the stakeholders, the sense of belonging of all the sections and citizens so achieved would conduce to the peaceful atmosphere that would ensure the steady development that the state has become associated with, especially during the current tenure of Governor Sullivan Chime.

This fair play doctrine by the PDP government was unanimously applauded, especially the aspect that zoned the governorship slot to Nsukka zone which has not tasted it since the current dispensation. Also applauded was the decision that those who had occupied positions at the federal and state legislative houses for two terms or more should cede positions to other worthy

ENUGU: How not to play politics sons and daughters of the state.

Over time, some privileged citizens who felt that these widely acclaimed decisions would affect them by frustrating their desire to dominate the politics of the state started to kick and their actions have started to overheat the erstwhile placid political waters of the state. Armed with a surfeit of cash garnered over several years in office, these politicians, widely derided as Abuja politicians, have been recruiting or, better still, purchasing supporters to cause problems for the status quo, hence the order of things in the government and the party. And they have been employing many tactics, effectively using the media to market their ploys, especially as the government of the day seems very media shy.

A key component of the antiChime group has been that of trying to psychologically destabilize the governor either by attacking those who are close and loyal to him and by trying to fish in troubled waters around him, such as using the media to highlight and blow his family challenges out of proportion.

They have also tried very hard to embarrass and harass those around him, like his hard working Chief of Staff, Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, who, as they know, is a key component of the govern-

•Governor Sullivan Chime ment’s consistency and successes.

As they had noticed that they could not ruffle the governor, they had to pick on the Chief of Staff, in the obvious belief that, as a woman, she would be very vulnerable to the heavy dirty propaganda being channelled against her.

Every manner of accusation has been levelled against her, even those that have made her appear more powerful than the governor.

In her current fire-fighting roles for the government and the people of Enugu State, destabilising the young hard-working mother is tantamount, in their belief, to weakening the governor and the machinery of governance.

The most recent onslaught against her was the tale that she instigated the removal of the poultry farm from the official residence of the deputy governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, instead of owning up to the shame of running a poultry farm in the Government House premises in clear contravention of an extant law of the state which forbids such a practice.

Many observers who read the deputy governor complaining to journalists about the removal of a poultry farm he was running at his official residence at the seat of government, on the instruction of the Chief of Staff, were shocked that the second citizen could even admit to such an anomaly in public, not to talk of shedding tears that someone was sane enough to save the government of the shameful situation at all.

Yet there have been ample evidence other ordinary citizens have been prevented from running poultry farms near their residences by the environmental laws of the same government, as it has been widely canvassed that poultry farms are injurious when they are stationed close to areas of human habitation as they have been aid to be harbingers of severe pulmonary and eye diseases. It is, therefore, surprising that instead of apologising to the people that he could so flagrantly

contravene such a law from his privileged position, many citizens were scandalized that rather let the cleaning up of the poultry from his residence by the ministry of environment and Enugu municipal authorities go unnoticed, he brought the fact out into the public domain.

However, those who understand the developing ugly underbelly of Enugu politics are alleging that the deputy governor, who is said to be a sympathizer of the opposition said to be marshalled by those close to the deputy Senate president, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, and former governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, might be indulging in the recent outburst as a way of dramatizing his opposition to the governor and his doctrines on the shape of politics in 2015.

It has also been alleged that Mr. Onyebuchi has been attending secret meetings at Agbani, the home of the former governor, where plans are being made to topple the new representative doctrine of the PDP stakeholders in the state. How far they can go, in the face of the massive following and popularity of Chime, is yet to be seen, especially when the average Enugu State voter is said to be bewildered by such trite politics lie using chickens as pawns. * Udenze, a university teacher, lives in Enugu.

LAGOS 2015: The religious card in the search for Fashola’s successor

BY KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

A

S the 2015 governorship election in Lagos State

approaches, the question of who succeeds the incumbent, Mr. Raji Fashola, has ignited political intrigues and permutations.

The matter is gaining momentum following the strategic nature of Lagos as a melting pot for ethnic nationalities in the country.

For residents, ethnicity, which had been a determinant factor about who governs Lagos, does not really matter given that it has become normal for the number one citizen to be of Yoruba extraction. What has remained contentious is the religious dimension which the issue had assumed lately.

For instance, the Director of Civic and Political Affairs of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland of the Anglican Communion, Venerable Folarin Shobo, in July 2013, urged Lagos residents to vote in a Christian as governor in 2015.

Shobo reportedly said Lagos residents could not afford to continue with the present political arrangement whereby political officers were largely people of a particular faith.

While noting that Governor Raji Fashola has done well in improving on the infrastructure of the state, he said, “It is time for power to shift in the state. It is time for us to have people who will

continue to rule with the fear of God and respect for the rule of law. There is a strong need for genuine internal democracy among the parties that will produce a credible candidate come 2015.”

Since then, religious leaders, especially those of the Christian faith, have beating the religious drum for a Christian governor come 2015.

This development does not seem to go down well with many analysts, who argued that Lagos is too cosmopolitan to be dragged into religious politics.

Speaking on the matter, a concerned resident, Mr. Alphonso Ibekwe, told Sunday Vanguard that Lagos is peculiar because of its cosmopolitan nature.

He said, ‘’This is a state that puts religious, ethnic considerations at the background and it has been paying off since. But to now change from this ideal consideration to the primitive selection of candidate on the platform of religion or place of birth may be counter-productive.’’

I

nvestigations showed that another lingering issue is indigeneship.

Though non-Yoruba speaking residents are not in contention with their Yoruba counterparts, this angle to the search has been described as disturbing.

Commenting on it, the President of Congress for Equity and Justice, CEAJ, Chief Bernard

Edobor, said: ‘’Going by CEAJ’s position, what every patriotic political or religious leader in Lagos, including residents, should be looking for is who is the best among the candidates that may vie for the office? Their concern is, who can meet the needs and aspirations of the people? Except one wants to be sentimental, religion or indigene ship are not mentioned as one of the qualities of a leader. It is only in the church, mosque or shrine that a leader can be chosen on the basis of religion.’’

Continuing, he argued: ‘’The pertinent question one needs to ask on the issue of indigene is, who are actually Lagosians?

Without insulting our sensibilities, is it not yet an appropriate time to put away sentiment and do what is right? Lagos is known for its cosmopolitan nature, while residents/indigenes care the less where one comes from as long as there needs are being meet.’’

B

acking his postulations with contemporary exam ples, Edobor said, ‘’In the United States of America, Britain or Canada, which our countrymen regard as paradise and pray, fast and seek divine intervention, including traditional means to get their visa, indigeneship, religion and other primordial considerations take the back-seat. ‘’If Barack Obama were to be a

dier-General Buba Marwa, who is not a Yoruba, not to talk of being a Lagosian.There is no doubt that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Nothing precludes a Christian, even, traditional religious adherent to occupy the coveted seat of governor of Lagos.’’

H

Governor Raji Fashola Nigerian, he would never have been US president. The father of the current interim President of Central Africa Republic, Mrs. Catherine Samba Panza, is a Cameroonian, while her mother is said to be from Chad, but the parents lived in CAR where the president was born”.

T

he Edo State born archi tect went on, ‘’ Many names have been bandied around as possible successor to Governor Fashola, but it would be calamitous to bring in anybody simply because he/she was born in Isale Eko or Oke Eko. If one would go by history, apart from Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, no governor performed better than Briga-

e posed a question, ‘’One question that is germane is, were the above mentioned past governors elected or appointed (in the case of military administration) on the basis of religion or simply as political expediency their times dictated?’’

He added, ‘’Right from the time of the first military governor of Lagos State, Brigadier-General Mobolaji Johnson, till date, historians and political watchers would testify to the fact that religion has never been considered as a factor to appoint or elect the governor in Lagos.

“But looking at the elected governors, starting from Alhaji Lateef Jakande, he was NOT elected on the basis of his faith, rather, on the basis of what his party, the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), had to offer. No issue of religion at all. The majority of the electorate voted for Alhaji Jakande even in 1983 before the military forcefully took over from politicians.’’

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 51

Delta 2015: Anioma in search of a credible candidate

BY HENRY UMORU

A

HEAD of 2015 general elections, political intrigues, manoeuvring, scheming have begun in Anioma, Delta North senatorial district of Delta State.

Delta North comprises the Igbo-speaking part of the state: Aniocha North; Aniocha South; Ika North-East; Ika South; Ndokwa East; Ndokwa West; Oshimili North; Oshimili South and Ukwuani Local government areas. A debate is on-going in the area as to whom the cap fits as candidate from the senatorial district if Delta Central and South decide to concede the governorship to the North after Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s tenure.

Delta State was carved out of the old Bendel State on August 27, 1991 by former military President Ibrahim Babangida. Since then, it has been governed by three democratically elected governors; Senator Felix Ibru, Chief James Ibori and Uduaghan.

The first two governors are from Urhobo ethnic nationality. The Ibru regime was truncated by the military administration of Gen. Sani Abacha. Ibori, from Delta Central, was elected and did eight years from May 29, 1999. Uduaghan, an Itsekiri, is from Delta South.

In the beginning The South and Central, having had their times as governor, for equity, ahead of 2015, some political observers are of the view that the North be considered, even though there is no agreement. In fact, some stakeholders from the state, like former Federal Commissioner for Information and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, have called for the zoning of the governorship to Delta North.

In line with that understanding, many aspirants for the 2015 race are from the North, just as there are some aspirants from the South and Central like the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, former Minister of State, Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, Senator James Manager, Chief Great Ogboru, Mr. Festus Keyamo, Hon. Ned Nwoko, among others.

As part of the moves to get a credible candidate, it is being rumoured that Clark plans to put in place a referendum in his Ijaws area to decide whether they want the Presidency or governorship. With the strong stance of Clark, it appears that Orubebe’s bid has died.

In the North, given the high number of aspirants, Anioma elders, led by the Asagba of Asaba, Professor Joseph Chike Edozien, and, under the auspices of the Anioma Congress, set up a committee headed by the Pro- Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Novena University, Chuks Ochonogor, to establish the criteria for the selection of an Anioma indigene who can represent the state creditably. The view is that if the Anioma should produce a governorship candidate, he or she must be a person of unquestionable integrity.

Ochonogor ’s committee set out seven criteria. They include that anyone who must be the next governor of Delta State must have the support of the present governor; the President must also be comfortable with the person in view of Mr. President’s recent experience with Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF; the candidate must be acceptable to other key stakeholders in and outside the state such as Clark, traditional rulers and relevant groups; the person must be sellable, must not be some-

body of questionable character which means that anybody who has a case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent and the Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, will not be considered.

Other conditions are that the selection committee will not accept any known contractor whose operating base is Delta State which will constitute conflict of interests; a prospective nominee must show evidence of capacity, determined by education, training and work history and, finally, a prospective nominee will have to show evidence of what he has done and can do to take the state to the next level.

Against the backdrop of these criteria, how do the aspirants stand? Some of the notable aspirants for the position from Delta North are Senator Ifeanyi Okowa ; the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Projects Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye; member, Federal House of Representatives, representing Oshimili/ Aniocha federal constituency, Hon. Ndidi Elumelu; the Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ochei; the Chief of Staff to Uduaghan, Dr Festus Okunbor; Dr. Ngozi Olojeme and Mr. Godswill Obielum.

How they stand Okowa, from Owa Alero, is a medical doctor, a former local government council chairman and presently the senator representing Delta North where he is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Heath.

Okowa is rich, but he may not be able to force himself on President Goodluck Jonathan. Being a grassroots mobilizer, this may work for him. During his days as Commissioner and Secretary to the State Government, Okowa, called Ekwueme by his supporters, demonstrated a lot of goodwill which today makes him outstanding in the state.

In Delta, it is not known whether he is still enjoying the confidence of the governor because it was rumoured that Uduaghan supported his senatorial bid.

Elumelu is a second term member of the House of Reps representing Oshimili and Aniocha federal constituency, having

The South and Central, having had their times as governor, for equity, ahead of 2015, some political observers are of the view that the North be considered, even though there is no agreement been elected in 2007. He is a vibrant and young politician; he is well known everywhere, but doubtful if Uduaghan will hand over to somebody he may not trust. One does not know his relationship with Clark.

Monye, from Onicha- Ugbo, Aniocha Local Government Area Council, is Special Adviser to the President on Performance, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation. A financial guru, he looks fit for the job. He was Secretary, National Planning Commission, for five years. He was also Secretary, National Economic Council, for five years; he has the grasp of Nigeria’s economy. Monye is academically bril-

•Senator Ifeanyi Okowa

•Hon. Ndidi Elumelu

•Prof. Sylvester Monye

•Hon. Victor Ochei

liant, a thorough-bred technocrat.

His political antecedents are not well known in Delta State, but he was the Secretary of the defunct National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, Abroad for three years during the campaign against the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship. He is said to enjoy the confidence of the governor who is rumoured to have given tacit support for his gubernatorial bid. This was clearly seen when Uduaghan led a delegation of Delta PDP members to Wadata Plaza National Secretariat of the PDP where Muazu recognised him.

He is generally well respected and liked by traditional rulers, the academia, corporate Nigerians where his primary support base seems to be coming from. It is to his credit that a cargo terminal was approved for Asaba International Airport.

He is also a promoter of the Africa Institute for Public Policy in Delta State.

As an Aso Rock man, he enjoys the confidence of Mr. President. It is also not a secret that he enjoys the confidence of Clark and his group and, above all, he has no known political enemy in Delta State.

His affiliation to the Presidency might be an advantage to the actualization of his 2015 dream.

Ochei is from Onicha-Olona, in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. He is an engineer by training and currently serving his third term as member representing Aniocha North in the state assembly. He is a fearless young man who emerged Speaker in 2011. He is bold and courageous and he is known to take no orders from Uduaghan.

He led his colleagues in Delta House to overrule the governor’s veto on death penalty for kidnappers. The youthful and vibrant Ochei is one of the politicians in the state who many Deltans believe has good working relationship with the governor. Since he assumed office as Speaker, he has been working round the clock to become governor in 2015.

Although he is still rated average among the political class in terms of his experience, many still believe that he has all it takes to move Delta State forward, hence, he should be given the chance in 2015.

But he is alleged to have handled a number of contracts through his companies.

Clark is said to have sworn that he will not be governor of Delta State. He is also not known to be an Abuja player.

Olejeme is the Chairman, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, and a member of SURE-P at the national level.

At the moment, she is the only female aspirant for the Delta State governorship seat. A political enigma, she has taken Delta State by storm. She is a philanthropist to the core judging by the way she has assisted the less privileged people particularly widows.She is a native of Asaba, and may be counting on the Asagba of Asaba for support, but traditional rulers are apolitical as fathers to all.

Olejeme is not substantially known in the state. She, however, might pull a surprise because of her relationship with some Aso Rock Villa officials.

Obielum, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, is from Kwale, Ndokwa/ Ukwuani federal constituency and came into limelight in 2006 when he contested for governorship in Delta State. He is known to have enjoyed the confidence of former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, and it was the fear of Odili’s incursion into Delta State that made Ibori’s group to resist him successfully. He is back in the contest, but not much is known about his movement. Although he was supported by the then PDP National Chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, and his wife, Maryam, many people do not know how much support he has now. His chances in 2015 are not certain as he has lost many of his supporters.

Okunbor was Director of Protocol under Ibori, state Secretary, GDM, one time local government chairman and currently Chief of Staff to Uduaghan . He is a fine gentleman, a medical doctor and he is known to enjoy the confidence of the governor. Nonetheless, it is not known whether he enjoys the support of the Presidency and other relevant stakeholders like Clark. Whatever the case may be, he is a man to watch.

Nwoko is a former federal lawmaker who represented Aniocha/Oshimili in the House of Representatives. He contested the Delta State governorship election under the platform of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2003 but lost to Ibori.

He was also the candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in the 2011 Delta North senatorial election when he lost to Okowa. Nwoko is not only a rich politician, he is also a vibrant lawyer He is very popular in Delta North and a philanthropist. He is no doubt one of the political gladiators to watch in the 2015 governorship election.

PAGE 52—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014

Multichoice Promo: The facts of the matter

BY CAROLINE OGHUMA

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Clarifications on promotional activity

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P

ROMOTIONS, almost always, get us excited.

Their rich offers of prizes, oftentimes, for parting with a token get our juices flowing.

Announcements of the outcomes of promotions, unsurprisingly, are awaited like cup finals. Unlike cup finals, though, there are no favourites, as the process is random. Not winning is not treated as a tragedy.

But winning, expectedly, is giddying, especially in bumper promotions like the DSTv 20th anniversary promotions, which had, among its prizes, trips to the United States to watch the last Grammy Awards ceremony.

The awards, widely followed

by Nigerian music buffs, offered a once in a lifetime opportunity for any of the winners of the promised trip.

One of them was Mr. Emmanuel Igoche. He emerged a winner at the anniversary draws witnessed by top-tier verification outfit, Alexander Forbes Consulting, and the Consumer Protection Council.

Igoche was thrilled at his emergence and on 11 October last year, he formally received the evidence of his prize in the shape of a model return ticket to the 2014 Grammy Awards

ceremony. This was followed by the purchase of actual return ticket and the booking of hotel accommodation by the organisers, MultiChoice Nigeria, for Igoche.

MultiChoice’s efforts at kicking off the travel plans were, however, not matched by Igoche’s. A major requirement was the obtaining of entry US visa among other relevant travel papers. Igoche had no valid US visa and this was unknown to MultiChoice until it presented Igoche with the ticket and the hotel reservation on 22 January 2014. With only four days to the event and having not submitted a visa request to the US Embassy in Nigeria, despite having sufficient time to do so, Igoche realised that his dream of watching the Grammys was evaporating. The development provoked disappointment and eventually anger, with Igoche accusing MultiChoice of wrongdoing, specifically arguing that it was the responsibility of the organisation to ensure that he obtained a US visa. MultiChoice explained that it could only provide a letter of introduction to support Igoche’s visa application, but was in no position to offer a guarantee that it would be granted. The explanation did nothing to reduce the disappointment.

Weeks before, when MultiChoice gleaned that Igoche, like the other winners of the promo, might face a difficulty getting the almighty US visa, the company offered Igoche and other winners alternatives to the Grammys

,

VIEWPOINT

All efforts were made to ensure that the Igoches went to the Grammys and when they couldn’t, all effort was also made to compensate them with other trips abroad

,

trip. First was an offer to watch the NBA finals in the US at a latter date, providing him with enough time to seek the visa.

This was flatly rejected with a reply that he does not watch basketball. Next was a trip to Abu Dhabi later in the year to watch the Formula One race there. This was also rejected with a claim of feeling unsafe in the Middle East. Yet another offer was made.

This offer was met with the same response as the previous two.

While Multichoice was still engaging with Igoche and other winners on how to ensure that the promised experience was enjoyed even if delayed, Igoche went public. In addition, he wrote a petition to the Managing Director of Multichoice and copied every official in the Federal Government including the Minister of Communication.

Igoche also went to an NGO,

CSR In Action, to help tarnish the image of Multichoice. All of thes while all efforts were on to make good the failed Grammy Awards trip for which Multichoice really has no blame.

MultiChoice maintains that it kept its own end of the bargain with the winners of the promotion. A perusal of the copy of the terms and agreements guiding each promotion supports MultiChoice’s claim of having fulfilled its obligations. For instance, Clause 15 explicitly states that a winner “must possess whatever documents and permissions that may be required in order to accept and use a prize, including as regards international travel, a valid passport and all necessary visa and travel documentation, which documents and permissions is your responsibility to obtain at your own cost, and which documents and permissions must remain valid in such minimum form and for such minimum period after the prize date, as may be required by the relevant authorities”.

Also, Clause 20 of the same rules states the rights/ obligations of the organisation as well as those of promo participants. “We and our third party suppliers, as the case may be, reserve the right to vary, postpone, suspend or cancel the competition and any prizes, or any aspect thereof, without notice at any time, for any reason, which we deem necessary. In the event of such variation, postponement,

Dynamics of Delta 2015 guber election

BY JESUTEGA ONOKPASA

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The factors that will shape poll

T

HE 2015 elections may still be more than a year away but, in Delta State, some of the gubernatorial contenders are already at one another’s throats in what is fast deteriorating into a rat race to Government House. My projection is that the desperation with which contenders are trying to actualize their ambitions may end up framing the elections in crisis, bad blood and, most unfortunately, ethnic hatred.

I am however more interested here in interrogating what is now a clear attempt, on the part of some of his competitors, at ganging up against Hon. Victor Ochei, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly.

While Ochei has emerged as the frontrunner on account of his stunning achievements as

Speaker, the storm of attacks from a multiplicity of directions over a race he has not even officially declared for can only serve to make Deltans more sympathetic to his person. The latest of such attacks is a laughable attempt to dress him in the toga of a neophyte and an inordinately ambitious youngster. In the first place, Ochei is a middle-aged man.

He is in his forties and by no means a youngster. Indeed, it cannot possibly be said that the best performing Speaker in the history of Delta State is unqualified to become governor.

More disgusting is the infantile preoccupation with interpreting Ochei as an outsider on account of his Delta North origin. The people of Delta North are bona fide Deltans, equal stakeholders in the state, and our brothers and sisters. They are as entitled as anyone from Delta Central and Delta South to aspire to the governorship of our state.

Anyone holding a contrary opinion may justifiably be written off as an apostle of ethnic hatred.

The stakeholders currently pressing Ochei to run have admirably been engaged in building a broad based coalition across the state by unveiling his enviable credentials as a detribalized Deltan and a unifying factor

,

VIEWPOINT

Ironically, the unfair concentration on Ochei will only induce the good people of Delta to be even more favourably disposed to his emergence as their governor

,

with much to offer rather than a gubernatorial hopeful merely banking on power shift. Ochei does not need to run on the excuse of power shift. He has performed to the admiration of

Deltans and it is his performance that has catapulted him to the status of the frontrunner for the governorship race.

Unfortunately for those who have ganged up against Ochei, they frittered away all the years they have been in positions of authority, leaving nothing behind for which Deltans would be proud to remember them by. Ochei, amongst other achievements, has delivered what is now the best House of Assembly chambers in Nigeria, with public affairs commentators setting his accomplishments as the minimum standard for someone aspiring to the governorship of Delta. It is certainly not his fault that his rabble-rousing rivals have little or nothing to show for their stewardship in governance. Had they been more forthright persons, they would have been minded to recommend themselves to Deltans on the basis of genuine achievements to the benefit of the citizens of the state. Having failed to make any positive impact in

suspension or cancellation, you agree to waive any rights, interests, expectations that you may have in terms of this completion and acknowledge that you will have no recourse against us, our affiliates and third party suppliers,” states the clause.

Given what the terms and conditions stipulate, MultiChoice is not legally obliged to offer alternative trips.

It, however, did for Igoche, who rejected them, and Major Baban Mallam, another major winner. Baban Mallam, however, accepted and confirmed in writing the offer for himself and his wife to visit Sun City, widely called Africa’s Kingdom of Pleasure, in South Africa. It was an offer that was also made to Igoche, who subsequently gave MultiChoice and its representatives a wide berth, totally ignoring the fact that he had failed to read and fully understand the conditions guiding all promotions and what the obligations of winners are.

Igoche and CSR In Action’s attempt to portray Multichoice as unwilling to treat its promo winners well goes against all the facts of the issue. All efforts were made to ensure that the Igoches went to the Grammys and when they couldn’t, all effort was also made to compensate them with other trips abroad. They refused where as the other promo winners accepted.

While Multichoice can bring world class entertainment to homes across Africa, it does not issue US visas and it has never claimed to. *Oghuma is a staffer of the Multichoice PR Unit.

government, they are now prepared to resort even to the most dastardly expedients as a shortcut to power.

Ironically, the unfair concentration on Ochei will only induce the good people of Delta to be even more favourably disposed to his emergence as their governor.

It would appear that some of our politicians, having become arrogant and ignorant upon the intoxication of power and the euphoria of high office, see their becoming the governor of Delta as a do- or-die affair.

Unfortunately for them, Deltans will choose their governor from the ranks of performing leaders with verifiable achievements.

Needless to say, the last sort of politicians they will allow into Government House, come 2015 are those whose only claim to distinction is that they have been this or that in the politics of Delta. As for Victor Akpomedaye Ochei, I make bold to say that he came, he saw and he delivered.

*ONOKPASA, a lawyer, operates from Suite 28, Platinum Plaza, 316 Sapele/ Warri Road, Sapele, Delta State.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 53

BY MICHAEL TIDI VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The interests of an ethnic nationality after the next election

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HAT becomes of the Itsekiri post-2015 remains an issue that continues to bother the minds of many of my fellow Itsekiris. Since Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State is an Itsekiri, it is felt in certain quarters that the fortunes of the Itsekiri will plummet come 2015 when he bows out and preferably proceeds to the Senate as many of us would like. It is not necessarily only Itsekiri who feel this way, as quite a few persons from other ethnic nationalities have equally expressed similar fears. Certain more ethnically biased persons even look forward to 2015 as payback time for whatever imagined infractions they blame on the Itsekiri. Whether anyone admits it or not, what 2015 bodes for the Itsekiri is increasingly an issue of extreme significance.

On my part, I certainly take 2015 quite seriously, both in terms of what it holds for my people and what a year of transition will bring to Nigerians in general. I do not however share an undue fear for the fortunes of the Itsekiri post-2015. I believe such fears are either overblown or not realistic in the first place. The Itsekiri evolved long ago and, by the grace of God,

The Itsekiri Beyond 2015 permanently became part and parcel of the Niger Delta and it will last till the end of time. We have been through many challenges, trials, tribulations and traumas and we are still here.

There is absolutely no reason we will not overcome anymore challenges thrown our way. It is very easy to dwell on challenges and end up with a fear of the future. Historical challenges are, of course, very important for the purpose of learning from history and planning for the future. Nevertheless, historical successes are arguably even more important as they comprise a record of the past well-being of a people and constitute a basis for being hopeful for the future.

Before Nigeria was created, the Itsekiri were already on the world map, to the extent of exchanging ambassadors with Portugal, then a world power. After Nigeria was created, the Itsekiri remained a force to be reckoned with in the colonial era. The Itsekiri were such a factor in Nigerian history that the defeat of Nana Olomu, a Niger Deltan potentate, became one of the highpoints of the British conquest of Nigeria. When independence dawned in 1960, one of the iconic faces of the new nation and probably Nigeria’s most colorful politician till date was an Itsekiri man in the person of the unforgettable Chief

ICPC and System Review

BY REMI OYEYEMI VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF A new approach to fighting corruption

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HE hydra-headed monster called corruption seems to be waxing strong. It does not seem to be affected in any manner despite the conscious efforts to bring it to its knees. As a debased moral value, it is amazing how its apostles are arrogant and shameless in their scandalous behaviours, its foot soldiers stomping like a terminal disease through the system and across the land. Shrouded in moral paralysis, corrupt elements demonstrate a brazen bravery, unabashed in their hope of never having to retreat in the war to further entrench corruption.

Perceptively and evidentially, this remains a paradox in a society achingly seeking systemic integrity.

Consequently, the Chairman of the Independent Corrup Practices Commission, ICPC, Mr Ekpo Nta seems to posit that he has answer to this issue of systemic incubation of corruption. He is espousing the view that the system is twisted as far as the fight against corruption is concerned.

He insists that for the fight against corruption to be meaningful, the system that preserves that culture has to be frontally and fruitfully engaged.

He appears to have concluded that rather than engage in endless battles against the symptoms of the systemic derangement, it is the systems itself with its embedded causal variables that have to be confronted and annihilated.

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VIEWPOINT

Designing a new and effective approach to the fight against corruption seems to be the starting point for the present leadership of the ICPC

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As I found out, the mantra for Nta’s approach is “prevention is better than cure.” Designing a new and effective approach to the fight against corruption seems to be the starting point for the present leadership of the ICPC. It presupposes that for the antigraft commission to gain some credibility in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities, it must tap on its past experiences, both good and ugly, to make good its mandate by evolving this new approach.

The ICPC thus seems to have consummated conscious and relentless efforts to take the ICPC and the fight against corruption to the next level, starting with institution of preventive mechanism, anchored largely on effective monitoring of the Nigerian systems with a view to blocking the loopholes exploited by public officers

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VIEWPOINT

There is absolutely no reason we will not overcome anymore challenges thrown our way. It is very easy to dwell on challenges and end up with a fear of the future

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Festus Okotie-Eboh. Today, we can all be proud of the fact that we have an Olu in the person of Ogiame, Atuwatse II, one of the most illustrious monarchs in Nigeria.

Coming to recent developments in Delta since 1999, it cannot be truly said that, politically, the Itsekiri have ever been underdogs. Whereas, much progress has been made since 2007 when Uduaghan came on board, the Governor James Ibori years were not necessarily detrimental to Itsekiri interests. In fact, most of the Itsekiri stakeholders that are still politically relevant till date were products of the Ibori years. While it is still fashionable amongst certain people to promote the to perpetrate corruption. It is examining, reviewing and enforcing the correction of corruption prone systems and procedures of public bodies.

Instituting System Review is first on the list of such preventive mechanism.

For instance, the ICPC conducted system study and review on the 2012 budgetary allocation and expenditure profile on personnel cost of 234 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

In the process, it recovered a total of N24.8 billion.

The ICPC also conducted System Review on universities. It did so in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC). In the process, it discovered a gamut of absurdities in the operations of many of the tertiary institutions.

When the ICPC conducted System Review on pension funds, it succeeded in “closing down illegal bank accounts used in siphoning pension funds through 40 banks, with lodgements of N23 billion. The ICPC also discovered N469, 325, 25 accrued interests in the pension accounts, and had since remitted that to the sub treasury of the federation.

The Nta-led ICPC also launched a Corruption Risk Assessment initiative in collaboration with TUGAR, UNDP and Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). ” In 2013, the assessors conducted Corruption Risk Assessment in the Nigerian Ports with a view to discovering old and new avenues for perpetration of acts of corruption, while plugging them completely in the process.

The new leadership has also inspired the cleaning up of the abuses in the processing of visa applications in different embassies in Nigeria by agents and desperate intending travelers. In 2013, it arrested 33 people

idea that we were completely in the dark then, we must remember that for a period during that era, the Minister from Delta State was an Itsekiri man in the person of Dr. Rowland Oritsejafor, a nominee of Ibori, an Urhobo man. As for the Uduaghan era, we can all be proud of a governor who has uncommonly transformed our dear state in a most unprecedented manner with numerous unparalleled achievements to boast of.

I believe that rather than dwell on unfounded or overblown fears for our lot post-2015, we would do better to concentrate on deepening already existing ties with our fellow Deltans while building new bridges to those we may not necessarily be very close to as of now. While fiercely and unyieldingly protecting Itsekiri interests, we must remain committed to fostering interethnic harmony in Warri and environs where it has pleased God to make us neighbors of our Urhobo, Ijaw and Isoko brothers and sisters as we all forge ahead for the collective progress of our Niger Deltan region in a Nigeria of equity and justice. I have no fears for the future of my ethnic nationality.

I am proud to be an Itsekiri man and if I die and return to this world – even if it is one thousand years from now – I would still want to be an Itsekiri man, confident that even that far into the future, there will still be a thriving Itsekiri nation for me to belong to.

*Tidi, a national commentator, lives in Warri

in connection with visa scams.

ICPC is also educating and enlightening the public on and against corruption and related offences with a view to “enlisting and fostering public support for the fight against corruption”. It has placed jingles on radio stations across the 36 state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Similar jingles are also in 12 television stations across the federation.

Added to the above is the ICPC grassroots programme that has given birth to a coordinated volunteerism.

Founding and nurturing the National Anti Corruption Volunteers Corps (NAVC) across the 36 states of the federation has served the objectives of the ICPC very well as members of the corps had assisted severally in bursting corruption related crimes in different organisations leading to the arrest of culprits.

ICPC staff across the federation are well enlightened, having been exposed to training and re-training programmes. While collaborating with international organisations such as UNDP, UNODC, DFID, J4A to improve and bring its work process to international best practices, “the commission is convinced that before long, the rest of Nigeria will fully align with the initiatives it had put in place for taming the incubus of corruption in the country.”

It is reassuring that the ICPC is recognizing that fighting corruption is not only a war that requires depth of understanding, anatomical analysis, comprehensive accost and gradual but also unhindered annihilation of the insidious debased moral value, its prowling apostles and its cavernously ensconced soldiers.

*Oyeyemi lives in Abuja.

PAGE 54 —SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

When a girl falls in love...

By Yetunde Arebi

H

i Last Sunday, we dis cussed about things that can tell a woman that her guy is in love with her. Over the week, I received several messages from readers that the article was partial and did not discuss anything about a woman’s behaviour when she falls in love So, today, I am looking at the other foot and will try to analyse the behavioural pattern of a woman in love.

Women are not particularly vocal about their feelings early on in relationships as men are. This is because they usually don’t want to put themselves out there too early and risk “scaring off ” a man, or appearing too “cheap or e a s y ” .

However, just as it is with the woman, it can get pretty uncomfortable for a guy too if he has to keep guessing if the woman he loves feels the same way about him. It’s a gut feeling that can tear you up inside. Every day, your doubt will grow and if it does not, it seesaws back and forth or merry-go-round. Quite frustrating it can be! Because love is different for every couple, there is no owner ’s manual that you can check to figure out if the person you love, loves you back. Physical chemistry is the first thing many people look for or iden-

tify in a relationship. Though being physically attracted to each other is important, this can vanish with a poof, if the relationship is not based on other subtle, and not so subtle, qualities as well. If you want to solve the mystery of love and put your doubt to rest that your girl

girl communicates with you is very important. It is an indication that she wants to be open and forthcoming with you. When you ask about her plans, either for the day, week, holidays, career, or future, she does not hedge you off. She will call you often to know what you are doing and

When a girl falls in love, she may not find it easy to keep it to herself, Love is a beautiful feeling that radiates all around you and all over you when you find it, for many of us girls, it is not very easy to keep it a secret loves you, here are some behaviors that may assist you in your findings. Keep in mind that these are in general, and this information assumes that your girl is not; addicted, abusive, married, living with someone else, or an outrageous flirt. Once you are clear about those facts, even if she does not sum up her feelings into the three precious words, her actions can speak louder than words.

Communication: This has been identified as one of the important keys to a successful relationship. How your

LOVE ZONE

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she will want to share her day with you too. She will be upfront with her answers.

Honesty between you two will help to build trust in a long term relationship.

No conflicting message: When there are conflicting messages in a relationship, it can drive one crazy. You will feel like the rubber ball attached to the paddle by a slim rubber string, batted back and forth. She does not profess her love for you and desire to be with you, then in another breath begin to fantasize about the things she used to do with an ex. loving guy 4 a lasting relationship.

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09036510131 •Chioma, 25, from Anambra state, needs a loving and caring man, for a serious relationship.08066914981 •A lady, 26, 5.8ft tall, fair in complexion, educated, employed and from South- South, needs an educated, responsible and employed man, aged 29 and above, for a serious

DISCLAIMER! Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636 C M Y K

The real message that is being sent is “come here.....and go away, you can’t win”.

A lady who is in love with you will not dish out conflicting messages to you. Her language will be plain and simple. She will make you her one and only love interest.

Her words and thoughts are straight forward and you will not feel batted around.

She wants to know: If a woman is attracted to you, then she would likely ask a lot of questions. When she asks you questions about your past, your desires, (not just sexual), your needs, how you feel inspired, what you love or anything about you that relates to your thoughts intimately as an individual, you can be sure that she wants what is best for you. She would also demand further explanation if she feels that your answers do not satisfy her curiosity. However, it is important to keep in your mind that you should always be honest with your answers.

Don’t lie just to impress her, as it has bad impact in the long run.

You become a part of her other relationships: When a girl falls in love, she may not find it easy to keep it to herself. Love is a beautiful feeling that radiates all around you and all over you when you find it. For many of us girls, it is not very easy to keep it a secret. Our friends are usually the first to know that we have struck gold.

A girl who is in love with you will want to share her discovery with her friends and family. She will make plans to introduce you to them.

When you meet them, you will realise they already know a lot about you because she has obviously talked about you.

They are already familiar with your job, your hobbies and even some of the little inrelationship, that will lead to marriage.08086808854, 080778 06859 •Joy, fair in complexion, busty and homely, needs a matured man, aged 40 and above, for a serious relationship.

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08129465177, 08033470393 •Lawrence, 48, a businessman, resides in Lagos, needs an humble and God fearing lady,

timate things you do together.

This may be linked closely with the next point, affirming.

She is affirming: Whether privately or publicly, your girl will often speak of how she is proud of you. She thinks the work you do is the most important thing in the world and loves for you to tell her about what you accomplished during the day. She is happy to help you with your work in any way she can. A woman in love will not “stab and run,” making little negative comments that name the things about you she would like to see “fixed.”.

Once you know this, you will not have to worry about what she might say to your friend, mother or boss about you!

Gifts: Love is usually present even in the little gestures we make. When a woman is in love with you, she will notice all the details about you, what you like, read or admire and her gifts will reflect her observation. The quality of her gift will show the level of her perception about what you like. Her gifts do not have to be expensive or match those you have given her, after all, you are not in a competition.

If she is not rich and sends you pricey gifts, then there is a problem and you guys need to talk. As I have mentioned earlier, there is no love manual and all relationships are different from each other.

If you love a woman and sense that she loves you but is not saying it, make her feel comfortable. Sometimes, it might take just a few days to have her singing your name to the high heavens, other times, it might take months or even years. The bottom line here is what she truly feels about you and how you are able to interpret it. Love does not usually come easy, just as it does not always end up in “happy ever after ”. So, embrace it when you find it. aged 30-40, from either Anambra, Delta or Yoruba, who is educated, beautiful and employed, for marriage.

08077886308 •Blessed, from Edo state, needs a lady, for a serious relationship, aged 18- 40. 08104929661 •Joe, 45, peaceful , fair in complexion, average height and a very intelligent extrovert, Ibo by tribe, needs a God fearing, extra neat woman in and outside the body, from any tribe, aged 30-35, who is into a legal international business but single, for a relationship. 08098116648 •Austin, from Delta state, needs a clean and kind hearted, God fearing and responsible girl for a serious date. 07064969111 •Mike, 34, handsome and needs a nice lady, for a serious relationship, aged 20-40. 08135872624 •Michael, 25, tall, slim and resides in Lagos, needs a lady, aged 18-25, for a serious relationship.07084971020 •Favour, 29 and resides in Warri, needs an understanding lady, aged 35-70, for a romantic relationship. 07030628814 •Ben, 45, needs a lady, who is honest, caring, loving and stable, aged 50- 60, for a serious relationship.08054857675, 07065895195 •Obinna, 30, from Abia State, needs a God fearing, rich lady, aged 33, for marriage.

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SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014, PAGE 55

Customs, FAAN frustrate Osaze’s jersey gift to Insurance FC *Associate forced to pay N.1m

By Patrick Omorodion

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uper Eagles and Stoke City of England forward Osaze Odemwingie’s gesture of supporting Insurance Football Club of Benin was almost thwarted by corrupt officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) who threatened to seize the football kits he donated to the club during the week.

According to Austin Uabor, Odemwingie’s friend who cleared the kits, 100 pairs of jerseys (for home and away matches), bibs, hoses and coaches wears, the Customs asked for N120,000, claiming it was meant for fines on excess luggage for the bags of kits before they would allow him take them through the airport.

“Even when I told them the items were donations made to Insurance Football Club by Osaze, they claimed they don’t know Osaze and insisted I must pay the money or they would confiscate the items. It was sad because here is somebody trying to help a club and the Customs are making it difficult for him,”Uabor said.

He stressed that even if they wanted to charge him for excess

T

L-R: Nomsa Mazibuko, Marketing Director SuperSport; Felix Awogu, General Manager, Strategy, West Africa, SuperSport; Chioma Afe, Marketing Manager, DStv, MultiChoice Nigeria and Andre Venter, Head of Africa, SuperSport during the SuperSport Editors Networking Session held in Lagos at the weekend. luggage, it shouldn’t be more than N15,000 per bag and wondered why they should demand N25,000, “When I threatened to film the lady, T.A. Awoyemi with Batch Number 32104, she said I should do anything I want to do but must pay the N120,000 which I eventually paid but never got a receipt for.”

The ridiculous however, happened after paying

N120,000 to the Customs as Uabor was stopped from leaving the airport by another group of FAAN officials claiming they must be paid N6,000 or the bags of jerseys would be confiscated.

“It was really embarrassing to some foreigners who watched as the drama was going on. One of them said that if he was the one, such action would discourage him

Open Letter to President Jonathan

M

Y dear President, ordinarily I wouldn’t have written you this letter because it would be termed that I want to join the band wagon of open letter writers which began from your benefactor, former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Many other letters have followed including the bad belle one written by an aggrieved daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello to her father either to pour out her bottled up anger over his neglect or in support of you.

I am just writing as a concerned citizen and lover of sports in our great country. Like you know and confessed after Nigeria’s home Eagles rallied from 0-3 to beat Morocco 4-3 in the African Nations Championships in South Africa, football is a unifying force in Nigeria and if every citizen could display the same spirit

Mohammed commends CBN for tennis sponsorship

exhibited by those players in their every day endeavour, Nigeria would be a great nation.

It is pertinent at this point to state that the never-saydie spirit the footballers displayed exist in all Nigerian sports men and women irrespective of the sport they are engaged in and that is why I write to let you know that if recognition is given to other sports men and women like the footballers get, the sky will be the limit for our athletes.

As President of our great country, you are a father to all our sports men and women but all other athletes outside footballers will be feeling sore right now because they are being treated like orphans. No recognition is given to them even when they go out and do the country proud.

For your information sir, all other sports are told to fend for themselves while football, the only sport capable of fending for itself

if allowed to, given the right leadership, is spoon fed by the same government.

It is on record that of all the 26 or so sports federations, only football get direct funding. That is, it gets money approved for it from the National Assembly because it is regarded as a parastatal.

Other sports get subvention from the National Sports Commission, NSC after getting them to submit an annual budget which is built into the commission’s budget.

The NSC in itself is handicapped as its total budget, both for capital and recurrent expenditure is a pittance compared to the allocation for some government agencies. At times, the NSC dips hands into the capital budget to augment its recurrent expenses owing mostly to over bloated staff. Little wonder most infrastruc-ture scattered around the

from helping. I was delayed for almost fours by these FAAN officials who blocked my way but I had to pay the money when someone whispered to me that if I leave the bags to make any trouble they could put something in the bag to set me up,” he said.

country are in sorry states.

Apart from extending reward packages to other sports whose athletes bring honour to the country, they are equally asking that they be given money, which must be adequate and timely, as football gets, to prepare for competitions, whether within the continent or at the world stage.

Some of the other sports federation presidents have one time or the other pleaded that if the government could give them one tenth of the money given to football, they will hit the sky and bring more glory to the country. Some of these sports are not like football which fights for one gold

he National junior Tennis Coach Ubale Mohammed has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the sponsorship of the on- going annual Juniors Tennis tournament holding at the Lagos Lawn Tennis club, Tafawa Balewa square, Race course Lagos.

Ubale who relocated to Lagos from his Kaduna base since the tournament started, said he is pleased with the skill being exhibited by the Junior players especially in the U-10, U-12, and U-14 categories of the championship.

Ubale who is here on a scouting mission for the Nigerian Tennis Federation Junior national team, said he has already discovered some talents that would be invited to the national team.

Coach Ubale equally gave kudos to the management of the Central Bank Nigeria whose continuous sponsorship of the programme provided the platform for the discovery.

He therefore pleaded with other corporate organizations and well meaning individuals to help in developing tennis in the country by emulating the good gestures of the CBN in sponsoring the game.

medal in competitions.

Mr President sir, it is on record that sport does more image boosting for Nigeria than all the politicians and foreign envoys put together and so any money put into sports is not wasted. What should be done for now, since the bulk of sports funding still comes from government, is to ensure that the NSC monitors the spending to see that it is judiciously used.

Again you showed recently that you are passionate about sports and want its progresses by doling out the sum of N50 million to assist the Nigeria Football Suppo-rters Club travel to Brazil to boost the Super Eagles chances at the World Cup this summer.

It is commendable but should not be limited to football.

Yes, football is the number one sport in the country but it is not the only sport that Nigerian youths are engaged in.

No one is saying that the so-called lesser sports should share equal support from the government, but a situation where football is begged to submit its budget for government funding and other sports are told to fend for themselves is not fair at all. Something should be done about it sir because the lesser sports athletes are Nigerians like the footballers.

NFF and Sylvanus Okpalla

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HE sack of Super Eagles Assistant Coach, Sylvanus Okpalla has again been brought to the fore as the issue of his former boss, Stephen Keshi needing ‘help’ from within or abroad made headlines in the past three weeks.

The NFF has been talking from both sides of the mouth on whether it wants Keshi to be assisted for the World Cup assignment or not. Keshi is reported to have insisted that if an assistant

must join him, then it must be his sacked colleague, Okpalla.

This, NFF boss Aminu Maigari is said to have sworn that it would be over his dead body for Okpalla to return just as Paul Bassey, a member of the NFF technical Committee said Okpalla’s issue cannot be revisited as he was eased out for indiscipline.

The same NFF forgot that it told Nigerians it was reducing the backroom staff of

the Eagles because of lack of money. It however recalled others sacked with Okpalla but is now citing indiscipline for its action.

From grapevine, it is understood that it has to do with the budget of the Eagles at the 2013 Nations Cup which a top NFF official failed to disclose to other Board members until it was let out of the bag by a top official of the NSC who Okpalla is close to. The last has not been heard on the Okpalla saga, you can trust.

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 2, 2014

RESULTS Everton Fulham Hull City Stoke City S’hampton

1 1 1 1 0

West Ham Chelsea Newcastle Arsenal Liverpool

TODAY’S MATCHES 0 3 4 0 3

Aston Villa v Norwich 5.30 pm Swansea

v Crystal

5.30 pm

Tottenham v Cardiff 5.30 pm

Chelsea open 4-points lead as Eagles door Arsenal slump at Stoke still open – Amokachi

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17-minute hat-trick from Andre Schurrle saw Chelsea move four points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Fulham just as a late penalty from Stoke City forward Jonathan Walters consigned Arsenal to a 1-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium yesterday, leaving them four points adrift of leaders Chelsea Schurrle notched his second hat-trick of the season, having achieved the feat for Germany against Sweden in October, and doubled his Chelsea tally to six league goals in 2013-14 following his second-half treble at Craven Cottage yesterday.

Hosts Fulham had the better chances in the opening period but failed to take them and were made to pay as the visitors moved up through the gears after the break.

Schurrle, ably assisted by Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres, finished all three efforts clinically as Chelsea extended their unbeaten run to 13 league games, despite John Heitinga’s late consolation.

The victory, combined with Arsenal’s defeat against Stoke, sees Chelsea open up

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THE CHASE... Chelsea’s German striker Andre Schurrle (L) chases Fulham’s English defender Dan Burn (R) during their Premier League encounter at Craven Cottage in London yesterday. Schurrrle scored all three Chelsea goals in the 3-1 win. Photo: AFP a gap at the top of the table, while Fulham remain rooted to the bottom after an eighth league game without a win.

Following their midweek Champions League trip to Turkey, Chelsea took their

time to settle into the game and were lucky not to be behind in the third minute as Clint Dempsey wasted a great chance.

With the Britannia Stadium tie heading towards a goalless

draw, Laurent Koscielny was adjudged to have handled Walters’ flick inside the box, and the Republic of Ireland international stepped up to dispatch the penalty and dent the Gunners’ title hopes.

Confed Cup: Warri Wolves stun Union Douala W

ARRI Wolves made a bright start to their continental campaign yesterday, when they beat Union Douala 3-2 in the first leg of the round of 16 CAF Confederation Cup clash at the Reunification Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.

Flying Eagles invitee Oghenekaro Etebo opened scoring in the 12 th minute and a stunned Union Douala side fought back almost immediately as Patrick Ngoula Ngoula equalised in the 15th minute.

Both sides fought hard to take control of the game and in the 30 th minute Wolves keeper, Okiemute Odah punctured the confidence of the Cameroonians when he made a penalty save from Moundi Djengue Gustave in the 30th minute.

Etebo made the Cameroonians pay in the the 35th minute when he scored his second goal of day. At the break Union Douala stepped up their game and in the 80th minute substitute Mengap-

tone Ivan headed into the net from a corner kick.

But Warri Wolves were not yet done; Ibenegbu Ikechukwu who joined from Heartland FC last month nailed the Douala team with a 30 yard bullet which flew into the net in the 83rd minute. And Wolves defence led by ThankGod Ike fought tooth and nail to keep the Cameroonians away. The second leg will be decided on March 7 in at the Warri Township Stadium.

Only on Friday, Bayelsa held Kondzo of Congo Brazzaville to a goalless draw in Brazzaville.

Meanwhile in the CAF Champions League, Enyimba plan an emphatic win over AS Real Bamako of Mali in a first round, first leg CAF Champions League clash today in Aba. In the preliminary round of the competition, Enyimba eliminated Anges de Notse of Togo and Real Bamako

brushed aside FAR Rabat of Morocco.

‘The Peoples Elephant’s’ first-choice goalkeeper Femi Thomson said they are look-

ing forward to winning the game comprehensively to make the return leg a mere formality.

UPER Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi has confirmed that the door on invitation of players to the senior national team isn’t shut yet on any player. Amokachi disclosed to brilafm.net that the national team is very wide open to any player who is doing well in his club side irrespective of status.

Amokachi stated that the technical crew will be ready to offer any good player a level playing ground as the team gets set for the 2014 World cup in Brazil while also revealing that the head coach has got scouts working round the clock for him to unearth players. ”Every day we find a Nigerian who is doing well in Europe, and if there is a good possibility he’s healthy, why not. We need all the best players that we can get, it’s the world cup we’re going for and if we find a player here in Nigeria who is doing well, a player in his club who is doing well, why not”. ”As far as he is a Nigerian with a Nigerian passport even if he hasn’t play for Nigeria before, it will be good for us to have a good look at him and my boss is doing that and he has a lot of people scouting for him to find such kind of players.” Amokachi stated.

Who needs help, NFF or Keshi? NFF reacts next week

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1.Nigerian state (5) 3.African river (7) 7.Near-extinct animal (5) 8.Roof part (5) 9.Greek alphabet (3) 10.Supplement (3) 12.Widespread (4) 14.Replies (7) 17.Let (5) 19.Limb (3) 20.Donkey (3) 21.Cots (4) 24.Pitcher (4) 26.Reverential fear (3) 27.Goal (3) 28.Peruses (5) 30. Sure (7) 34.Eleven (4) 35.Flying mammal (3) 37.Unwell (3) 38.Hausa boy’s name (5) 39.Possessor (5) 40.Wearing away (7) 41.Commonplace (5)

DOWN 1.Prevents (6) 2.Church part (4) 3.Queen Amina’s old city (5) 4.Anchors (5) 5.Bird of prey (5) 6.Notions (5) 11.Niger-Delta tribe (8) 13.Zealous (5) 15.Nigerian state (8) 16.Bar (3) 18.Vital liquid (5) 21.Animal (5) 22.Therefore (2) 23.Exist (2) 25.Misery (3) 29.Polluted (6) 30.Wireless (5) 32.Excuse (5) 33.Synthetic fabric (5) 36.Pie (4)

SOLUTION on page 5

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