Get ready for hard times

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2—SATURDAY

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Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 3

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4—SATURDAY

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Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 5

Jonathan to workers: Get ready for hard times, be realistic with your demands

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to brace up for the harsh economic realities in the country occasioned by the recent fall in the price of oil at the international market, saying that industrial relationship can only be more cordial, if democracy was nurtured to grow.

The President, represented by the Minister of Labour, Sen. Joel Danlamilkenya, spoke while addressing workers during yesterday’s May Day celebrations.

Jonathan pointed out that the present harsh economic realities were so glaring that the workers cannot afford to ignore them in their engagements with government and advised them to be realistic with their demands.

“It is in this circumstance that the theme of this year’s Workers’ Day becomes more germane for positive engagement between government and labour. It is therefore proper to celebrate workers because of the critical role they play in the society. May Day confers us the opportunity to reflect on the inherent reality we are being confronted with due to scarce resources.

“The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, have a duty to play, charting a way forward for continued development and growth of Nigeria.’’

Jonathan then commended both the NLC and the TUC, for their various contributions in the sustenance of the nation’s development and democracy, describing them as the gateway to the nation’s development.

“The workers, apart from their immense contributions, have in no small ways, made contributions towards the achievement of democracy through the enhancement of the processes and participation. Over these years, the workers have deepened their voice and government had attended to them. There is a new initiative being championed by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity aimed at broadening industrial and labour harmony and trade unionism.

This development will no doubt engender the spirit of patriotism, national consciousness, occasioned by natural justice and

reasoning.

“For us, the labour movement is central to national productivity and development, and as such have a critical role to play in charting a way forward for continued development and productivity and in settling labour disputes.

“I have set a mechanism

work and participation of Nigerian workers. It is a joint effort. I look forward to seeing a strong and vibrant federation under the new leadership of labour. I urge them to ensure workers welfare and also, working constructively for the transformation of Nigeria.”

keeping with the obligation of the commitment of FCT to workers, the authority had in the course of its tenure allocated over 300 plots of land to long service award and deserving officers in the FCT and had gone ahead to institutionalise the award

The rowdy situation at a filling station in Ibadan Thursday. Pic by Dare Fasube in place to further deepen government and labour relations. Let us use this opportunity to make a commitment for national development and rebirth.

Attainment of national vision will not be possible without the commitment,

FCT allocates over 300 plots of land to workers – FCT Minister In his valedictory address, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, said that in

as overall incentive to deserving officers who have served the nation meritoriously.

According to him, the gesture was also in acknowledgment of the commitment of the President Jonathan’s

administration for workers welfare under the transformation agenda.

In addition to that, he said several policies had been approved to improve workers welfare and economy in general, noting that the nationwide housing scheme, which had commenced in Lugbe and various parts of the country remained the flagship of the present administration’s commitment to workers welfare.

The scheme, he said, was aimed at ensuring adequate housing for workers, not only in the FCT but across the federation.

According to him, the scheme is a collaborative venture between the Federal government, NLC and TUC, and designed for workers to become eventual owners of the houses through their rents.

On job creation, Mohammed said the present administration had in various ways opened job creation avenues through incentives such as the SURE-P and various infrastructural projects, which he said had generated employment for teeming youths.

As a worker friendly administration, he stated that his administration had constituted a workers welfare committee charged with the mandate of

NLC pushes for N90,000 minimum wage, condemns police action in Lagos •Cautions Buhari on freedom of press

BY KELECHI AZUBUIKE

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HE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday condemned the sealing of the National Stadium, Surulere to prevent workers from celebrating yesterday’s Workers’ Day, warning the new acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arise to learn from the misadventures of his predecessors by operating within the ambit of the law.

It also demanded N90, 000 as minimum wage for workers in the country, saying that the five year operational period of current N18,000 minimum wage would come to an end this year and must be reviewed.

The factional President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, made this known in his message to mark yesterday ’s

Workers’ Day, at the stadium in Lagos.

The NLC, also, cautioned the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, against attempts to abridge the freedom of the press as witnessed by the recent attempt to ban the African Independent Television, AIT, from the coverage of his activities just as it praised Buhari for distancing himself from the action of his aides on the issue.

Ajaero warned that workers in the country would always defend the rights of Nigerian citizens when ever such occasions arose. ‘’In this direction, we commend the President elect, General Buhari on his directive cautioning his aides over the AIT incident.

It is quite reassuring that the President-elect

recognizes the freedom of the press, because in a democratic setting, respect for the rights of citizens is given. However, let it be known that we will stand up at all times to defend the rights of workers and also be counted as defenders of the rights of citizens,’’ Ajaero said.

Invasion of Stadium On the sealing of the stadium, the NLC president said, ‘’We condemn the unprovoked siege by fully armed mobile police on the peaceful gathering of workers at the venue of this year’s workers day celebration. Early this morning, the National stadium was sealed, preventing thousands of workers that trooped to mark the 2015 May Day (from entering). ‘’We warn the IGP to learn from the misadventure of his

predecessors and ensure that he operates within the ambit of the law. We have a fundamental right to peaceful assembly and information. The IG should know that no one can intimidate us not to exercise our fundamental rights.

On the recent general elections in the country, Ajaero, also paid special tribute to both the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan and General Buhari for their patriotism as demonstrated during the last general elections.

According to him, the ‘’organized labour appreciated their mutual statesmanship and patriotism, avoidance of despair and unhelpful negative triumphalism after the historic free and fair 2015 Presidential Elections commendably conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

assuaging the pains and sufferings of workers engaged in hazardous activities.

His words: “Every nation that strives for greatness must give pride and dignity to workers. As we gather here today, I will like to commend the contributions of NLC, TUC to the stability of our nation by steering the leadership of the nation.’’

While promising to leave behind an arrears free administration, he assured that the administration would ensure the opening of alternative corridors like Abuja-Nyanya and Karishi-Apo roads to ease the suffering of residents before the end the current administration.

RATAWOA demands improved welfare Earlier, the Deputy National President of Radio and Television Workers Association, RATAWOA, Comrade Sunday Olujetro, had lamented the poor salary and welfare package for media workers across the country, describing it as injustice.

Olujetro said RATAWOA was determined to fight for the rights and interest of its members until the injustice being meted to them were addressed.

He wondered why the media workers would be paid so poorly compared to their counterparts in most of the public institutions like CBN, FIRS and NNPC, a trend he said was in the opposite in the 1970s.

“We feel very bad that we are so poorly paid today because we were told that before the Udoji’s report in 1975 that workers in CBN resigned their appointments and joined the media because the media paid higher than the CBN workers but today, the reverse is the case.“You will see workers in CBN, NNPC, FIRS earning more than our people but we have put our case in place with those in charge of salaries and wages in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Information.

Our salaries can’t take us home, and we can’t do anything with it. A lot of workers are on personal loans; as a result of this situation every pay day is a sad day for workers. “ The incoming President can’t talk about cutting salaries. We believe he was talking about political office holders not about the workers because right now, what the workers are taking cannot take them home.

So, he can’t do that, if he ventures do that, then we will be in separate lanes,” he said.

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

LABOUR IN LOUD NATIONWIDE OUTCRY

Lamentations in Benue, Plateau, Enugu, Bauchi, Kogi

By Our Reporters

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O R K E R S yesterday grumbled in some parts of the country over the inability of their out-going governors to pay arrears of salaries owed them, lamenting that the situation had compounded their problems.

In Benue and Plateau States, the workers who celebrated the May Day said that Governors Gabriel Suswam and David Jang respectively owed them six months arrears of salaries while their counterparts in Enugu regretted that Sullivan Chime failed to pay retired teachers gratuities throughout his eight years in office. The Enugu workers said that, altogether, primary school teachers were being owed 13 years arrears of gratuities from 2003.

They also said that apart from teachers, Chime was owing the staff of Water Corporation, Daily Star newspapers as well as ENTRACO workers among others several months of unpaid salaries and pensions. In Bauchi, the TUC and the Association of Seniour Civil Servants also decried non-payment teachers salaries and asked the government to address issues of promotion of other civil servants which was overdue.

In Kogi, the civil servants lamented over what they described as ‘’cut’’ in their salaries and asked Governor Idris Wada to review the oppressive system.

However, in all these states, only Governor, Suswam of Benue promised to pay all the

arrears of salaries before handing over power to his successor, Dr Samuel Ortom on May 29.

Plateau workers lament non-payment of six months salaries: The May Day was celebrated in low key in the state due to nonpayment of six months salaries even as workers lamented over their plight saying that there was nothing to celebrate.

Despite the situation, the Plateau State government, however, felicitated with workers on the occasion.

The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Jubrin Bancir lamented that their future had been “destroyed by a few people who saw the workers as enemies that should be left to survive under harsh conditions of service.”

Bancir appealed to the incoming administration of Simon Lalong to look into their plight and alleviate their sufferings by ensuring regular payment of salaries and emoluments as well as the outstanding arrears of minimum wage and promotion of staff.

“Our members have remained unshaken even in the face of deprivation by government; we endured poverty in the midst of plenty; we did not allow the pains to translate into violence as the government suppressed our reactions.

“We kept faith with democracy over the years for the unity of our great country Nigeria, unfortunately the Jang administration took advantage of this humility to punish us.

“Today we are supposed

to be very happy but because of the numerous things on the ground like non payment of staff salaries, lack of promotions; the workers in Plateau are denied this opportunity.”

Gov. Suswam promises to pay backlog of workers’ salaries before May 29

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has promised to pay all outstanding salaries owed workers in the state before the May 29, terminal date of his administration.

Suswam made the pledge yesterday while addressing workers at the May Day Workers’ rally held in Makurdi the state capital, which was poorly attended.

Represented by the state Head of Service, Mr. Terna Ahua, Suswam acknowledged the patience of the state’s its workforce over the delay in the payment of their salaries, adding that efforts were in top gear to ensure that the backlog was cleared.

“The government is making concerted efforts to ensure that outstanding salaries owed all categories of workers are paid.” Suswam said, noting that under his administration, workers in the state enjoyed series of salary increments. He blamed the current turn of events on the current global economic downturn which he said had created an impediment to the timely payment of salaries which his administration was known for.

Kogi NLC appeals to Wada over 40% salary cut

Civil Servants in Kogi

State yesterday appealed to Governor Idris Wada to reconsider his stand over 40 percent salary pay cut to ensure industrial peace.

The state Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Johnson Edoka Onu who spoke in Lokoja while addressing the workers at the May Day rally said the salary cut if continued would spell doom for the state government.

The state government had earlier in the week announced its decision to slash workers salary by 40 percent giving the dwindling nature of the federal allocations to the state as reason for the action.

Onu said the labour union decided to ignore the normal march past activities to protest government’s decision to slash salaries of other workers from Grade Level Seven and above, adding that the development had “demoralised” them.

He also urged the state government to as matter of urgency, overhaul the state Pensions Board.

“There are many unresolved issues which includes, but not limited to harmonisation and payment of pensions and gratuity.

“While we commend the government for the prompt payment of monthly pension to our retired colleagues, delay in payment of gratuities have remained worrisome. To this effect, we wish to inform the government that the monthly cash release to the state Pension Board is not properly utilised, as gratuities are paid to retirees on who you know basis. Many of our colleagues who retired over four years ago have

not received one Naira from the state government.”

Gov Dickson slashes Bayelsa workers’ PAYE tax by 20% GOVERNOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday in Yenagoa announced the reduction of the Pay As You Earn, PAYE, tax by civil servants in the state by 20 percent.

Dickson, who spoke during this year’s Workers Day celebrations at the Peace Park in Yenagoa, said the reduction which will be effective from June, would be implemented across board.

He also donated two official cars to TUC and NLC chairmen in the state and N10 million to affiliate unions who took part in the event, said the slash in PAYE was in appreciation of workers support to the present administration.

He maintained that at a time when most state were finding it difficult pay salaries, the state government had been meeting its obligations in terms of prompt payment of salaries and other welfare packages, and urged civil servants in the state not to allow themselves to be used by opposition politicians against the government.

“Labour movement is a not an opposition to government. Those who want to play opposition politics or want to advance any political agenda, which is legitimate, should do it on the platform of the opposition parties and not through labour or civil servants because they are part of government.

“Even within this short

difficult period in terms of our finances in this country we have not failed to honour our workers with prompt payment of salaries.

“This is a people’s government, for the first time our parents who are 70 years and above get allowance of N5,000 every month. We pay NECO, JAMB and WAEC fees for all children who enroll in Bayelsa state every year,” Dickson said.

The Vice Chairman of the NLC in the state, Williams Oweimo, who spoke on behalf of the organized labour, enumerated the challenges of civil servants in the state to include, non-payment of arrears of minimum wage, non-promotion since 2014, nonimplementation of promotion arrears, shortage of man power in the state civil service, high deduction under the Personal Income Tax Act, PITA, and non-payment of gratuities to retirees, among others.

I’ll set up anti-graft agency in Ebonyi— Umahi

EBONYI State Deputy Governor and governorelect, Mr Dave Umahi yesterday said that his administration would set up anti-graft agencies to fight corruption and boost the economy of the state.

According to him, when corrupt practices are eliminated from governance, the state would have sufficient funds to provide essential services for the people.

Umahi who stated this during May Day Celebration at the Abakaliki Township stadium insisted that some toes would be stepped on as the incoming administration worked towards achieving a corruption-free and stable economy for the betterment of the people.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 7

Senate Presidency/House Speakership:

Trouble looms for APC •Buhari, Oyegun committee backs down on zoning •N-East/S-West disagree •Tinubu dumps Akume, goes for Lawan •Lawan not yet our choice — N-East Senators •Governors, Senators to meet in Kaduna today

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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LL is still not well with the All Progressives Congress, APC, on its inability to resolve the impasse created by various yearnings of the geopolitical zones of the country to produce the senate president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

For two weeks running, members of the party have been inundated with intrigues and horse trading on the issue.

The National Working Committee, NWC, met twice penultimate week to resolve the issue but it was deadlocked.

Alternatively, a leadership meeting of the party was summoned on May 22 at Rivers State Governor ’s Lodge,

Asokoro, Abuja to reach a compromise but that was still far fetched.

The only ruse brokered by the party was on the Senate Presidency which was eventually zoned to the north central.

Vanguard investi-gations revealed that some verbal ‘fisticuffs’ ensued among party members present at the meeting when suddenly the south west vested interest in the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives which had earlier been conceded to the north east.

Sources privy to the meeting confided in Vanguard that the altercation reached a crescendo and forced the meeting to an abrupt end.

But not without the intervention of some stakeholders including the president-elect, General

Mohammadu Buhari who was present.

To further calm frayed nerves, the meeting asked Buhari and the national chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun to fathom ways of resolving which zone to cede the speakership to.

It was also learnt that the idea of including former interim national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande and the Vice President-elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo on the committee was rejected by most members who submitted that it would be crowded.

With that, the meeting ended and attention was later shifted to Buhari and Oyegun.

But one week after the subcommittee was formed, the president-elect and the national chairman are yet

•President-Elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (middle); flanked by Deputy Governor Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (right) and the General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, during a visit by the Vice president-elect to the Lagos Solar projects in GRA Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.

to come up with a solution.

A source revealed that Buhari’s disposition since APC’s electoral victory, has been to give free hand to the incoming federal lawmakers to choose their leaders without much recourse to zoning or external interferences.

It was also learnt that Buhari/Oyegun committee would never hold as it would be too dangerous to persuade any zone to drop its ambition having gone this far.

This means that the zones might be slugging it

out on the Inauguration Day. Tinubu/Akume’s tango on senate presidency Vanguard learnt that until last week, the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had invested heavy interest in the Senate minority leader, Mr. George Akume from Benue State to emerge as the next senate president.

But the insistence of the North east to produce the Speaker of the House as against the interest of South west from where

Senate Presidency: Northern Govs, Senators-elect meet in Kaduna today •Rally Round Lawan

By Henry Umoru

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HEAD of the inau guration of the 8th Senate and as fight for the senate presidency heightens, strong indications emerged yesterday that governors- elect and senators- elect from the north will meet today in Kaduna to forge a common purpose for who becomes the next number three from the north.

Baring any last minute change, the governors elect and Senators for the meeting will be drawn from the North East, North West and North East.

It was gathered that the arrow head of the meeting is a governor-elect from North West who is close friend of General Mohammadu Buhari, the president-elect.

The meeting, a source

said was initially slated for Wednesday but was shifted for this weekend because of the just concluded induction course for newly elected Senators and members of House of Representatives in Abuja.

Speaking to a select team of Journalists in confidence, an aide to the governor- elect disclosed that the meeting became imperative in view of the various dimensions the contest has taken in the last five days.

It would be recalled that with the All Progressives Congress, APC forming the majority in the National Assembly and since the party zoned the National Assembly leadership positions two weeks ago, the race for the senate presidency has been enveloped in intrigues

and power play.

The party zoned the senate presidency to the North central and speaker to the south west. But there were disagreements and their actions were deadlocked.

But forceful representations from the north east were said to have created a situation of uncertainty on the zoning just as the party recounted, saying no zoning formula has been agreed upon.

Senator Ahmad Lawan’s desire for the job was said to have been informed by the u-turn made by the APC even as other contestants, Senators Bukola Saraki and George Akume, all from the North central have remained strong in contention.

Speaking on the development, an APC chieftain who noted that the leadership of the party has subtly conceded to the request of a governor elect

that the North should meet to decide on one of the contenders against the backdrop that it has been agreed that it should come from there, said, “I think the issue of the senate presidency is merely being over flogged, there is nothing to worry about the matter any more because I can assure you that the three zones from the region will meet in Kaduna either today or tomorrow to take a stand on the issue.

Tinubu has positioned the outgoing Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has made Tinubu to rescind his decision to support Akume.

Tinubu’s u-turn, however, was remotely orchestrated by Buhari’s stance on working with people with healthy social life styles.

Enter Senator Bukola Saraki Another contestant of the senate number one seat is Bukola Saraki from Kawara State. At the moment, the pendulum is swinging to his side but again, it was gathered, the camp of the APC national leader is not comfortable with his candidacy.

One of the reasons being bandied around is that Saraki is “arrogant”. But many people feel his “arrogance” is likened to giving a dog a bad name to hang it.

In their perspective, Saraki has a mind of his own and may not be easily tossed around by Tinubu or even Buhari when elected Senate President.

But again, feelers say Buhari is not disposed to work with anyone who has pending issues with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Ahmad Lawan not our candidate — North-East Senators Say: We’re still consulting on who to choose

Tinubu dumps Akume, goes for Ahmed Lawan

Lawan, insisting that he was never at any point endorsed by them as their consensus candidate as had reported by some media.But the 20 APC senators from the North West, at a caucus meeting held Thursday night at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, endorsed the candidature of Ahmad Lawan for the position.

The North East senators, who were led by Senator Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central, at the briefing, vowed that they would not allow a candidate that is not their choice to be imposed on them. Goje, a former twoterm governor of Gombe State, who read a prepared

To stop the candidacy of Hon. Yakubu Dogari from Bauchi State who is gunning for the House Speakership, Tinubu has obviously deserted Akume and shopped alternative from north east.

His newest catch now is the Chairman, Senator Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan from Yobe State.

To the chagrin of many people, Senator Remi, Tinubu’s wife last week openly campaigned for Lawan on the floor of the senate, registering a general impression that the table has turned against Akume.

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke

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ENATORS from North East, yesterday, dissociated themselves from the purported endorsement of Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North, as their candidate for the position of Senate President in the 8th Senate, vowing that they will frustrate any attempt by any zone to foist a candidate on them.

The 10 out of the 13 senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the zone, at a press conference, in Abuja, disowned Senator Ahmad

text containing their position, said senators from the zone will decide the senator to be supported for the position, after the zone was given such privilege by the leadership of the APC, disclosing that at the moment, they were still pleading with party leadership to officially zone the position to them.

Goje hinted that the North East senators had held a caucus meeting Thursday night at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, with Senator Lawan in attendance, where they had resolved that the caucus should go ito consultation with the party ’s leadership to nominate a preferred candidate for the position.

Continues on Page 8

8 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

Fuel scarcity: Arik Air to suspend operations today

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

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UNDREDS of air passengers may be stranded at the various airports across the country as Nigeria major airline, Arik Air, plans to suspend flight operations today, due to the lingering aviation fuel scarcity in the country. Arik Air controls about sixty percent of the Nigerian aviation market.

The Managing Director, Arik Air, Mr Chris Ndulue made this disclosure yesterday at the airline corporate headquarters while addressing aviation reporters.

He said the airline has been operating 20% of its daily flights schedule due to scarcity of aviation fuel, particularly in Lagos, its major hub. The airline operates about 120 flights on its domestic routes daily.

According to Ndulue, “ This aviation fuel scarcity started last week Thursday. And since then, we have had to scale down our operations due to non-availability of fuel.

We have had to cancel and reschedule flights. We couldn’t depart for Dubai yesterday due to this scarcity. It is becoming impossible to continue. We will suspend flights

operation from tomorrow (Saturday), until when aviation fuel becomes available.”

Continuing, he said: “ It is the contingency arrangement for fuel during this scarcity that has taken us this far . We may not be able to continue. We have been losing revenue by cancelling flights and not operating at full capacity.

We require about 500,000 to 800,000 litres of fuel daily to power both our domestic and international routes. Our

international flights have had to go to Ghana, sometimes Cotonou and even Togo to get fuel before proceeding to London or United States.”

It will be recalled that last week, Arik Air raised the alarm about the negative impart of the current scarcity of fuel on its operations. According to an official of Arik, Chigozie Okereke, “There has been short supply of the product in Lagos and this has led to rationing by the petroleum product

marketers. Signs of the scarcity started manifesting on Thursday, April 23, 2015 when marketers were unable to meet the demands of the airlines, especially Arik Air, which by volume of its operations requires a daily supply of between 600,000 and 800,000 liters of aviation fuel.”

She added that the scarcity had impacted negatively on Arik Air’s operations as flights have had to be delayed or canceled in cases where the destination airport has no airfield lighting.

According to sources, the aim of the Tinubus is to dislodge Dogari who appears to be leading in the speakership contest, given the feeling that the north east cannot produce both the senate presidency and the speaker.

The impeding showdown An APC source told Vanguard on Friday that Tibunu’s insistence on Gbajabiamila would be roundly resisted by APC members.

But Should the idea eventually sail through, the source who craved anonymity said a Tambuwal scenario where the members jettisoned the then PDP’s preferred choice, Hon. Akande Adiola in 2011 and went for a more credible and acceptable candidate, Aminu Tambuwal, would be repeated.

Emergency of Legacy/Equity Groups Already, the seemingly unhealthy developments have thrown up divisions in the National Assembly.

Members are now forced to realign with their old blocs in the face

A

S the military on slaught to rid Sambisa forest of Boko Haram terrorists continue, another set of 234 women and children were rescued through the Kawuri and Konduga end of the forest on Thursday.

A statement from Defence headquarters said the women and children have been evacuated to join others at the screen-

•As police recover stolen car

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•From left: Mr Chidi Ajaegbu; ICAN President, Mrs Ify Nwanchukwu; Chairman, Aba and District Society of ICAN, Dr. Emmanuel Adaelu, Chairman of the occasion and Otunba Femi Deru, ICAN vice president at the commissioning of the Chidi Ajaegbu ICAN Centre in Aba yesterday.

of Tinubu’s unyielding disposition in the power sharing.

Groups have emerged.

While founding members of APC head for Legacy Group, the group of G5 Governors and G37 lawmakers also called New PDP, nPDP which defected from the PDP to APC have formed Equity Group.

Recall that APC was a product of legacy parties made up of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP, Congress for Progressives Change, CPC and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA involving Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

“For Instance, many have started thinking that the former ACN has produced the Vice President-Elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo who is Tinubu’s candidate.

Conceding the Senate Presidency to him using either Akume or Lawan and the House Speakership using Gbajabiamila would mean that ACN has got everything leaving almost nothing for other parties except CPC which has produced the presidentelect, General Buhari. So, what happens to ANPP and APGA?” A source asked.

Similarly, the Equity group which is populated by former members of PDP are now reaching out to their colleagues in the PDP for support.

“The is likely to be the scenario you will use. And I can tell you that with this arrangement, the PDP senators will queue behind Saraki and Dogari to spite Tinubu.

“Remember that it is just a difference of 11 Senators in the senate while in the House, you have 139 PDP members.

Besides, Section 50 of the constitution stipulates that members should elect their leaders. So, it is not for the party to dictate.

That was exactly how Tambuwal emerged. And I tell you that the scenario may repeat itself if care is not taken”, the source added.

According to the source, the mission is to save Nigeria from one man’s grip. He argued that allowing one man to produce the Vice President, senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives may spell doom for the country.

South east caucus of APC pleads Buhari for speaker/Deputy Meanwhile, the race for the speakership assumed

an interesting dimension when the south east caucus on Thursday indicated interest in the speakership of the House.

At a meeting with Buhari, the leader of the group, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha pleaded that with their 3 memberselect, the zone should be considered for speakers.

But where that fails, Okorocha said, they should be considered for the deputy speaker of the House.

At the moment, all the camps; Gbajabiamila, Dogari and Saraki, Lawan are seriously wooing their PDP counter-parts.

Vanguard can authoritatively report that meetings are being held at the Lagos Hall of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja where Saraki and Dogara are perfecting their plans.

But against this backdrop, a south west source who has sympathy for his people warned that if APC wants to end its rule at just one term of 4 years, it should shove the zone out of the speakership.

“If APC wants to end in 2019, let them give the north east the Speakership after giving the Senate President to North East or North central and see”, he said.

ing center.

“This set is in addition to the previous individuals earlier rescued during the ongoing operation in the area” it said.

“The assault on the forest is continuing from various fronts and efforts are concentrated on rescuing hostages of civilians and destroying all terrorists camps and facilities in the forest” DHQ said.

Irate mob lynch armed robbery suspect in Enugu

By Francis Igata

Senate Presidency/House Speakership: Trouble looms for APC Continued from Page 7

Sambisa: Another set of 234 women, children freed

N armed robbery suspect, Hillary Ugwuanyi from Ekoyi, IgboSouth Local Government Area of Enugu State has been lynched by an angry mob who pounced on him over a failed robbery attack on April 29.

The incident occurred at the robbery victim’s residence in Umuagama, Enugu-Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area where the suspect and his gang members now at large, went for operation.

Police spokesperson, Mr.Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the incident in a release to newsmen, adding that other fleeing members of the gang were being trailed by the operatives.

He said: “the gang members were armed with a locally made pistol. The wife made a distress call which attracted locals. They immediately chased the robbers and caught Hillary.

He was allegedly said to have been beaten to a pulp.

“The suspect was however taken to General Hospital, Ogurute for medical attention where he was confirmed dead by the doctor.

“Recovered from the deceased was a locally made pistol with one expended cartridge. Manhunt on the fleeing ones have been intensified.”

Meanwhile, operatives of the Ogui Division of Enugu state command, through the assistance of members of the public, have nabbed two armed robbery suspects that stormed No. 3 Nwosu Terrace, Ogui, Enugu.

The incident occurred in April 30 as the suspects failed in their bid to dispossess residents and passers-by of money and valuables.

An eyewitness revealed that the police arrived promptly and arrested one Jackson Jinfah and Chidiebere David.

AIT BAN: Forget hate campaigns, Group urges Buhari

By Festus Ahon, ASABA

L

EADERSHIP of Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy, VATLAD, yesterday, urged Nigeria’s President-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari (retd) to let go all the hate campaigns which did not succeed in motivating Nigerian voters against him.

VATLAD in a statement by its National President and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Igbini Emmanuel and Comrade Wilson Oba respectively, said; “We have carefully analysed the reason given by Presidentelect, General Mohammadu Buhari barring Africa Independent Television, AIT from covering his functions.

“While we agree that some of the paid documentaries aired by AIT during the election campaigns were laced with lots of misinformation, hates and falsehoods against the ethics of the journalism profession and violated some provisions of the Electoral

Act 2010 and Section 39 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended, we hasten to state that almost all the media Organizations (electronic and print) including those owned and managed by the Federal and State governments of Nigeria were also guilty of the same offence during the campaigns.

“It is also a fact that some leading electronic and print media organizations owned by top Chieftains and Associates of All Progressives Congress (APC) were also biased against President Jonathan and his PDP. It is also instructive to remind us that media organizations in United States of America and all over the world where Democracy has advanced, still display outright bias against or in favour of political parties and their candidates during election campaigns. Yet after the elections, such media houses are never punished by the new government.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 9

Keshi: Nobody can choose assistant coaches for me

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

R

ETURNEE Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has insisted that nobody can choose his assistant coaches, maintaining that only him will make that choice at the appropriate time.

Amidst growing tension over plot and counter-plot by some officials of the Nigeria Football Federation to handpick coaches for him, the 2013 AFCON Nations Cup winner told Saturday Vanguard Sports, that the NFF cannot ambush him in his choice of assistant coaches for the team.

Speaking through his manager and brother, Emmanuel Addo, Keshi said that he was only consulting with the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick and Chairman of the Technical Committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu on how best to achieve the aim of making the Eagles super again and how to correct the wrongs of the past, which saw him running into troubled waters with some of his policies and tactics on the field of play.

“On the issue of assistant coaches for the Super Eagles, Keshi wants to make it clear that he is the one who will decide who his assistant coaches will be.

Because it is a fresh start and he wants to do things differently, he is consulting with the NFF President and the Chairman of the Technical Committee, Anyansi-Agwu and even members of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria.

“Keshi is asking questions from all stakeholders because he wants to make the team great again. It is not the NFF that will decide who his assistant coaches will be because they are under him and are going

to work with him and nobody will force anybody on him”, said Keshi’s manager.

On the factors that will determine his choice, Addo said “Keshi said he wants assistant coaches who will

Dr Ikedife having a handshake with the President-elect while others watch during an Igbo leaders' private visit to Gen Buhari in Abuja recently.

Glo launches mobile health insurance G

LOBACOM, N i g e r i a ’ s National Carrier, has berthed the National Mobile Health Insurance product which would afford Nigerians the opportunity to have quality access to quality health care delivery system.

The company, which stated this in Abuja on Monday while unveiling the product, added that

subscribers on the Glo network using the product would be able to access basic information about Health Insurance Scheme at the touch of their phones.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, Globacom’s Regional Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Ashok Israni, said the package was developed in partnership with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to take health care delivery

Uboma youths back Imo lawmaker

Y

OUTHS in Ihitte/ Uboma L.G.A who recently stormed the country home of the newly elected Imo House of Assembly member, Dr. (Mrs) Uche Ejiogu have vowed to protect her from what they described as the charm of the older aristocracy and its evils.

Spokesman of the youths, Mr. Achi Chris Achi, an Architect, said that the former Commissioner for Education’s story has been an inspiring one that has always fired the zeal and determination of the young generation to take maximum advantage of the opportunity available to them to acquire good education.

C M Y K

tell him the truth and not play eye service and coaches who will work in harmony with him”.

Keshi will name his assistants before the 2017 AFCON qualifying match with Chad.

Achi disclosed that the youths effectively participated in the election of the first female legislator since the creation of the council area in 1989, and were happy over the glaring generational change expected to impact positively on the entire inhabitants of the area.

Describing Dr. Ejiogu as a beacon of hope and woman of outstanding intellectual substance, Achi said her representation will undoubtedly open a new vista in the political and economic horizon of the area.

Going down memory lane, Achi, a former Imo State University Students

Unionist said that some of Dr (Mrs) Ejiogu track records of performance while serving as chairperson of State Primary Education Board, showed that she repositioned the education sector not just by providing infrastructure but also introduced innovations that redefined education in the State.

We have therefore, unequivocally resolved to stand by her throughout her tenure to ensure that the ‘’hawks” do not derail her. She is visionary and her election was divine.

We strongly believe that our constituency will benefit from her wealth of experience and knowledge.”

to millions of Nigerians through telephone handsets.

“There are millions of Nigerians yet to tap into the immense benefits of health insurance. This initiative will open a viable avenue for some of these people to come under the health insurance coverage, enabling them to sign up for one of the many Health M a n a g e m e n t Organisations accommodated in the scheme,” said Israni.

According to him, Glo subscribers are required to dial *616# on their mobile phones and be instantly admitted to the Glo Health platform, where they can follow a simple registration process. Once they subscribe, Globacom customers will be able to use their mobile phones for pre-defined medical treatment for which affordable premiums are remitted through the subscribers’ mobile phone.

The platform, according to him, also guarantees Globacom customers and other Nigerians free medical consultation and medication in over 8,000 hospitals in the country.

Israni said Globacom’s package comes with supply of drugs free of charge from NHIS accredited operators across the country for subscribers who are consistent in the payment of their premiums.

Three-month-old baby roasts to death, 57 yr-old suffers burns in house inferno

By Bose Adelaja

T

RAGEDY struck in two separate incidents in Lagos, y e s t e r d a y, w h e n a three-month-old infant, Abiodun Alabi was roasted to death while 57-year-old Mr. Edwin Nwosu also suffered burnt.

Both incidents occured overnight in Badagry and LASUOjo area of Lagos during two separate fire outbreaks.

The Badagry incident occur red at Wazobia J u n c t i o n , Ta ko 1 1 , when a nursing m o t h e r, w h o i s a n occupant of a self contained apartment, went for a vigil, leaving the infant, a female, in custody of her 10-year-old son.

She was alleged to have carelessly lit a candle in the apartment.

It was learnt that her husband rarely comes home being a transporter.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e boy left both his younger one and the candle at home and headed for a neighbour ’s apartment to watch television and eventually passed the night with them.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the candle however burnt out completely and escalated, which led to the outbreak that consumed the entire apartment and roasted the infant to death before help could come.

The LASU-Ojo incident where the 57years-old suffered burns occurred in a storey building at No. 10 Mayegun Street, Franklas Busstop, LASU-Ojo Road when the victim was fuelling a generating set which suddenly went up in flames.

The inferno affected his thighs and limbs but response promptly came from the Lagos State Fire Services.

Confirming both incidents, Director of the state fire services, Razaq Fadipe condemned the use of candles for domestic use.

He advised people to go for rechargeable lamps in place of candles: “There are rechargeable lamps which are bright and affordable. We should go for these instead of endangering our lives by burning candles.”

Buhari, Tinubu, architects of modern democracy — Emerhor BY ONOJA INNOCENT

N

IGERIA’s President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been described as great architects of modern democracy in Nigeria.

The duo, according to Delta APC candidate in the just concluded gubernatorial elections, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor worked so hard to rescue Nigeria from the stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which crumbled the socio-economic super structures of the country for 16 years.

Emerhor, in a statement signed by his Director of Media & Political Communication, Dr. Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe,

said it was obvious now that there will be a great light at the end of the tunnel for Nigerians who have been fasting and praying for “Change” occasioned by the reckless corruption in high places in government, adding that the misrule of the PDP provoked, Gen Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and other progressives to deploy time, resources and talents towards the rescue of the Nigerian nation from the unprogressive cabal.

Oghenesivbe quoted Emerhor as saying that “Gen Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu have finally etched their names in global political hall of fame through consistent and absolute commitment towards the entrenchment of political structures that produced the paradigm shift in our democratic experience as a nation.

10—SATURDAY

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Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—11

ELECTIVE POSITIONS:

Why Nigeria records more women losers WOMEN REPRESENT ATION IN 11999, 999, 2003 AND 20 11 GENERAL ELECTIONS REPRESENTA 201 S/No

No of available No of women elected in 1999 seats

No of women elected & % in 2003

No of women elected & % in 2007

No of women elected & % in 2011

1

PRESIDENCY

1

0%

0%

0%

0%

2

SENATE

109

3(2.75)

4 (3.7%)

8(7.33%)

7(6.4%)

3

HOUSE OF REP

360

12(3.33%)

21(5.83%)

23(6.38%)

26(7.2%)

4

GOVERNORSHIP

36

0%

0%

0%

5

DEP GOVERNORSHIP

36

0%

2(5.55%)

1(6.6%)

0.09%)

6

STATE HOUSE OF ASS 990

12 (1.21%)

38 (3.84%)

54 (5.45%)

68 (6.9%)

( Source of graphics: Eme, O.I. et al (2008), “Marginalization of Women in Decision-making and Leadership Positions in Nigeria: Focus on the Enugu State Legislature”, African Journal of Education and Development)***

By CHIOMA GABRIEL

T

he gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Taraba state Aisha Jumai Alhassan would have made history in the last gubernatorial election in the state as the first woman to scale the hurdles of electioneering campaign and break the jinx that has befuddled Nigerian women over the years from emerging successful at the polls as governors. Mama Taraba as she was fondly called almost made it but then, the near-success syndrome that has been the lot of many Nigerian women in politics cut short her joy. Before the elemental forces played tricks on C M Y

her, expectations were high that she would emerge successful considering the bent of results being reeled out by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC. But suddenly, the elements beat a retreat that first led to the results of the election being declared inconclusive and then, a re-run that finally dashed her hopes as she finally lost the race to the People’s Democratic Party’s candidate, Darius Dickson Ishaku.

Ab initio, Aisha Al-Hassan was coming up strong in the race and was almost thought to have won before the table turned. At a point during collation of votes, Al-Hassan had polled 262, 381 votes from all 16 local

government areas in the state and was leading and overtook her main challenger, Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Nigerian women would have recorded a rare feat in elective politics had she succeeded in emerging the first elected female governor in Nigeria.

Al-Hassan, a lawyer had defected from the PDP and joined the opposition party after she was elected senator for the Taraba North constituency in 2011. She was the Taraba State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice as well as the Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.

She had polled a large number of votes from the Gasol local government area as vote counting

entered its second day in Taraba, allowing her to surpass the PDP’s candidate. But as the final results from all 16 local government areas in the state trickled in, Ishaku regained the lead by nearly 64,000 votes and hopes of making history sunk. The re-run turned out worse for her. But Alhassan has rejected the result and headed for the elections petitions tribunal.

Addressing a press conference in Jalingo shortly after the announcement of the results, Alhassan described the entire elections process as a “daylight robbery” and said the party would challenge the results in the elections petitions tribunal.

“The combined governorship

Continues on page 12

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

There is no cons titutional pr or the of constitutional proovision ffor offfice of the ffiririrsst lady

Continues from page 11 elections in Taraba were characterised by violence, massive rigging, ballot snatching and abuse of the card readers in substantial parts of the state by the PDP and their allies,” she said. She contended that results ascribed to Wukari, Donga, Takum, Sardauna, Zing, Yorro, Kurmi and some parts of Ussa, Karim-Lamido, Bali, Ardo-Kola and Lau local government areas were not acceptable as they did not reflect the true results of the election in Taraba.

She alleged all the complaints on the irregularities and abuse of the election guidelines were promptly reported to INEC, but that no action was taken.

Who knows, the elections petitions tribunal could turn things around for her.

Peculiar traits Over the years, Nigerian women have continued to record very poor performances in elective political offices. This is largely due to the sentimental attachment on feminine gender.

Although they have been playing crucial role in political life of the country, this has not yielded results in terms of their performances when it comes to elective offices.

Although women are currently participating more actively in politics than ever before, they are besieged with challenges of which discrimination is more rife.

The psyche of the Nigerian man is often predominated by a chauvinistic disposition that decision making is exclusively for the menfolk while women are to be instructed on what to do. The preoccupation that women play the number two role at homes is playing itself out in their political life.

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•Stella Obasanjo With her 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 local government areas, Nigeria is believed to have over 800 women who enjoy positions of eminence as ‘first among equals’. Although there is no constitutional provision for the office of the first lady, Nigeria has paraded several First Ladies and many amongst them played roles that made them so prominent. For instance, at Nigeria’s independence, Mrs. Flora Azikiwe was known as Nigeria’s First Lady and she frequently attended state functions with her husband.

After her, there were a few First Ladies that became prominent despite the relative short time they spent in the State house.

One of them was Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi whose stay was short but she was very visible.

She was succeeded by Victoria Gowon who stayed in the State House for eight years but her presence was equally felt in several public appearances.

When democracy returned in 1999, Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo transformed the public view of her “office”. She actually became prominent before she became the First Lady, when she started several activism campaigns for release of her husband who was imprisoned in 1995 for allegedly taking part in a coup to overthrow the government. Her activities spurred females to be strong and independent, and as such gathered wide support.

She once commented that even though her husband had made a commitment to improving living conditions in Nigeria, “things will continue to deteriorate in the country unless more women are allowed to participate in governance.”

•Maryam Babangida In the years of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida as Nigeria President, there was a turning point in the history of women struggle in Nigeria, when Maryam Babangida institutionalized the office of the first lady in 1987. She became the first working First Lady and launched the “Better Life for Rural Women” programme. Ever since, other women have followed suit.

Currently, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is holding sway as Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance. Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili also laid a land mark in the history of Nigeria politics.

The late Prof. Dora Akunyili, the NAFDAC boss and former Information Minister left her footprints in the sand of time, performing credibly and leading the fight against adulterated pharmaceutical drugs. There have been myriads of women in politics even presently that have done very well and are still performing excellently well.

But in elective positions, women have not performed well in compliance with the efforts they put in electioneering campaigns.

In her view over the poor performance of women in elective offices, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, an activist has made a case for a systemic approach to elective positions.

According to her, “There is a need for us to have a common agenda as women, and behind this agenda there is also the need to have the will to move beyond mere discussion. Look at the national conference for example; there were 92 women out of the entire 492 delegates and women are supposed to comprise over half of Nigeria’s population!

“We have had round-table

discussions, open discussions, and I think it is high time we engaged in a more systematic way to be better represented in governance. We need to engage political parties and government because even the National Gender Policy declared 35% affirmative action”.

,

•Mrs. Flora Azikiwe

There have been myriads of women in politics even presently that have done very well and are still performing excellently well

,

Poor history In the past general elections in Nigeria, female candidates consistently performed badly.

In 2011 for instance, only 32 women were elected to the national assembly out of 469 members, which is barely 8% representation. Out of the 109 Senators who emerged winners at the 2011 polls, only 7 (6.4%) were women.

The successful candidates were Nkechi J. Nwaogu, Mrs. Helen U. Esuene, Nenadi Usman and Aisha Jummai, all of PDP. Others include Christiana N.O. Anyanwu , Joy Emordi both of APGA and lastly, Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu.

The casualties of the 2011 national assembly elections included Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, Senator Daisy Danjuma and Kema Chikwe. The decrease in the percentage of female candidates that won at the polls is disturbing given the increase in the number of women who contested and the figure dropped significantly when compared to the performance of women in previous elections.

In the 2007 general elections, 9 (8.25%) female candidates won the senatorial seats. They were Gbemisola

Continues on page 13

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—13

Continues from page 12

Important gains The 2011 election in Nigeria saw some important gains in women’s political participation. President Goodluck Jonathan appointed 33% of cabinet positions to women (up from 10% in the last government), including the ministerial portfolios of finance and education. This is in keeping with Nigeria’s commitments to gender equality, encapsulated in the National Gender Policy , which sets the benchmark for women’s seats in Parliament at 35% - 5% higher than the international standard.

From 1999-2007 there were marginal but steady increases in political participation of women through election or appointment.

Yet in 2011 women gained no more seats than at the 2007 election (and they lost many at the Federal level). This was a huge disappointment given that in each past election, there has been approximately a 2% increase in numbers of women elected . In the 2011 elections, after the political primaries, women candidates constituted just over 9% of the total number of candidates contesting the polls.

No doubt, the nature of Nigerian politics also discourages women’s participation. Political meetings are often held late at night on an ad hoc basis, making attendance difficult for women, who face greater personal risk in travelling alone at night and often have to arrange for assistance to care for families. Women who do attend such meetings have, according to numerous anonymised sources, been labelled as women of easy virtues. More generally, politics is considered to be a ‘dangerous’ pursuit in Nigeria and female politicians are frequently considered of dubious moral character, given their desire to be involved in this profession.

In the just-concluded 2015 general elections, only 14 women emerged members of the House of Representatives-elect according to data provided in INEC website.

The exact number of female C M Y K

•Aisha Jumai Alhassan

•Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili

•Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

There is no female governor in Nigeria senators are 7 and those that emerged winners included Binta Masi Garba, Uche Ekwunife, Stella Oduah, Rose Oko, Fatimat Raji-Rasaki, Oluremi Tinubu and Monsurat Sunmonu. The results of some elections held across states in Nigeria have been inconclusive.

Looking back, Oby Nwankwo, thinks a time has come for quota system to be applied in the scheme of things.

“In the 29 states where governorship elections held in 2011, the representation of women seeking the office of governor and deputy governor stood at 87 (22.9 percent) out of the 380 candidates running for the positions. That pathetic percentage was made up of candidates from less known political parties, amounting to no significant increase in women’s representation.

“In the contest for Senatorial seats, 122 women out of 747 candidates, representing 16 percent, were cleared by INEC to run. However, only eight of them eventually won elections to the upper chamber. That makes it 101 men against eight women in the Senate.

“In the lower chamber of parliament, the situation was not any better as 267 women, out of a total of 1,774 candidates, ran for seats at the House of Representatives. This is just 15 percent. For the womenfolk, this is heartbreaking as the 2011 elections robbed them of the many gains of 2007.

“Nigeria must adopt quota system if the affirmative action must be implemented. The Justice Uwais report recommended a proportional representation but that was unfortunately ignored. In Cross River State however, twinning system is being proposed to

ensure that if, for example, the governorship candidate is a male, the deputy is a female. That way, more women will come on board.

It’s sad to hear that out of 360 seats at the lower house in the National Assembly, we have only 24 women! Out of a Senate House of 109, we also have only four women! This is in spite of the 2006 National Gender Policy raising the affirmative action to 35% which we still do not have!”

Indeed, It has not been smooth for the Nigerian women in terms of representation in top public offices.

At present, in the Senate, none of the principal officers is a woman, and only eight of the 109 Senators are women.

The House of Representatives has only one female principal officer. However, only 24 (7 per cent) of the 362 members are women.

The figures of women in Nigerian politics are in contrast with the situation in countries such as Rwanda, where women make up 61 of 106 parliamentarians (58 per cent), and Senegal where women occupy 65 of the 150 parliamentary seats (43 per cent).

In Nigeria’s 36 states, there is no female governor, and the country does not appear ready to have a woman as president.

All of these realities exist despite the National Gender Policy’s promise to support women to occupy 35 per cent of elective positions in Nigeria.

Remi Sonaiya, KOWA’s presidential candidate, at the twitter conference said, “Women should begin to seek elective positions more; not just appointments. With each woman that rises beyond those limitations, many more get encouraged.”

Amy Oyekunle, the Executive Director of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), said that for women to remain relevant in

parties, there is need to “advocate for greater representation at the party levels, support women through actively identifying, training and building capacity to lead, contest, and advocate for issues, and also create affirmative action like quotas to enable them contest”

,

Saraki-Fowora (Kwara State), Christiana Anyanwu (Imo State), Zainab Kure(Niger State), Grace Bent (Adamawa State), Joy Emodi (Anambra State), Eme Ufot Ekaete (Akwa Ibom State), Patricia Akwashiki (Nasarawa State), Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello (Ogun State) and Nkechi Justina Nwaogu (Abia State).

In the 2003 elections, there were 4 (3.67%) female senators. Out of the 360 available seats in the Federal House of Representatives, women won only 19 (5.27%).

From records, few women emerged members of House of Assembly across the polity and members of the National Assembly.

In states like Adamawa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara, no woman was elected as member of the State House of Assembly.

In states where women were elected as members, they were very few.

In Nigeria’s 36 states, there is no female governor, and the country does not appear ready to have a woman as president.

,

In the beginning...

Before the early 21st century, the role and status of women in Nigeria have continuously evolved.

In the precolonial period, women played a major role in social and economic activities. Division of labour was along gender lines, and women controlled such occupations as food processing, mat weaving, pottery making, and cooking.

Moreover, land was communally owned, and women had access to it through their husbands or parents.

Although a man was the head of the household in a patrilineal system, older women had control of the labour of younger family members.

Outside the home, women were seen but not heard. In the public, power was generally dominated by men, but titles were given to women in specific areas. Yoruba and Hausa legends describe periods when women were either the actual kings or heroines. Such women as Moremi of Ile-Ife and Amina of Zaria are notable legendary figures, as are the powerful queens in the Ondo and Daura histories.

Formal education has been the most powerful agency of change for the modern woman, from which a large number of elite women have emerged. Intelligent, educated, and confident, the modern woman can be found in all leading occupations; they now challenge many aspects of patriarchy and are gradually organizing to ensure that

Continues on page 14

14 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

The costs of running an electoral campaign are high

Continues from page 13 the political arena expands sufficiently to accommodate them.

Enter the modern woman The transformation undergone by the Nigerian woman over the years as a result of education became manifest in democratic regimes. Since 1999, Nigerian women have been active in politics.

Their participation in the ongoing Fourth Republic has produced prominent women like Dr Okonjo Iweala, who currently serves as Minister of Finance and Coordinating minister for the Nigerian economy).

Women have even run for top political offices, for instance, the case of Sarah Jibril and Prof.

Oluremi Sonaiya of Kowa party who contested for the office of President with Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 and 2015 respectively; and Hon. Mulikat and who strongly vied for the seat of Speaker House of Representative.

As it were, women are said to constitute over 60% of the Nigerian electorate. The 2006 census puts Nigerian women at about half the population of the entire country.

But despite this numerical advantage and the massive participation in voting, less than 20% of political offices are held by women.

But despite the difficulties faced by women in politics, they have continued with their political ambition, contributing enormously to the political and national development in their own way.

Before independence, a couple of women political activists such as, Mrs. Margaret Ekpo, Mrs. C M Y K

•Gbemisola Saraki Janet Mokelu and Ms. Young were members of the Eastern House of Assembly. The late Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, though not a full-fledged politician, was a very strong force to reckon with in the politics of the Western Region.

And Hajia Gambo Sawaba waged a fierce battle for the political and cultural emancipation of women in the North.

As democracy matures, there has been an increase in the number of male governorship candidates that had women as their deputies. Political parties in Lagos State often choose women to contest as deputy governors.

In 1999, only Lagos State had an elected female Deputy Governor in the person of Mrs Kofoworola AkereleBucknor although she was later removed and replaced by Femi Pedro, a man, as a result of party intrigues.

In 2003, the number of deputy female governors increased to 2 (5.5%), in 2007 it increased to 6 (16.6%). The 2011 general elections produced only a female deputy governor in the person of Mrs Adejoke Orelope Adefulire of Lagos State who contested under the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN).

Some of the female candidates contested against male political heavy weights. A case in point is Plateau State where Paullen Tallen (Labour Party) once contested against political heavyweights such as Joshua Dariye who was governor from 1999-2006.

Senator Gbemisola SarakiFowora (ACPN) who contested for the governor’s seat in Kwara State had ethical and religious issues to contend with in addition to contesting against

•Mrs Kofoworola Akerele-Bucknor the PDP’s candidate which also pitched her against her brother who was the incumbent governor of the State.

Quite a number of women in past dispensations won their parties’ primary ticket for the National Assembly and the various States’ Houses of Assembly. In Lagos State, all the female candidates from ACN won at the polls in the election into the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly. Women contested for only 7(17.5%) seats out of the 40 seats at the Lagos State House of Assembly. Adamawa State which had 23 women vying for political offices managed to produce only three female winners, they include Hajiya Aishatu, Mrs Wale Fwa and Mrs Wilbina Jackson.

Financial challenge Perhaps , the greatest challenge women face in getting elected in Nigeria relates to financial constraints. The costs of running an electoral campaign are high – even more so in the context of Nigeria where politics is highly monetised. Aside from paying for the campaign itself and the materials and coverage that go along with this, many candidates also dispense ‘patronage’, in the form of cash handouts, to voters.

Women are at a disadvantage in this regard as they consistently earn less than their male counterparts and are usually not in charge of household finances, limiting their ability to make independent decisions. While many candidates receive donations from patrons, there are few patrons willing to risk their money on female candidates, given the low likelihood of them being elected.

As a result, women’s campaigning is frequently smaller-scale, with less coverage than that of men.

•Mrs Adejoke Orelope Adefulire

,

•Sarah Jibril

The Nigerian government should therefore, work towards achieving gender equality in democratic governance, increase women participation and access to politics

,

This helps to explain the lower success rate of women at the Federal, as opposed to State level. But as Nigerian Senator Patricia Akwashiki says, ‘how can 9 women senators or less represent 54 million women in Nigeria?’

In every ramification, the Nigerian woman has come a long way despite her dismal performance in the field of politics. There is no doubt that women have some potentials and rights to contribute meaningfully to the development of their country. The Nigerian government should therefore, work towards achieving gender equality in democratic governance, increase women participation and access to politics.

Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin thinks internal democracy is very necessary in political parties as efforts to get more women in elective positions have not yielded very good results.

“There is no internal democracy in the political parties and this has continued to prevent women from having equal political opportunity. Though the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has tried to improve on appointive positions for women, it is yet to meet the 35% affirmative action. This was why women delegates at the national conference identified the urgent need for gender mainstreaming and full implementation of the 35% affirmative action. There are, however, efforts going on right now at different levels, engaging political platforms and demanding that political spaces be opened up for the inclusion of more.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 15

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16—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

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SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—17

2015: Were the polls really credible, free and fair?

•Tribunals get 140 petitions so far

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & CHARLES KUMOLU ‘’THE 28 March 2015 elections mark an important step forward for democracy in Africa’s most populous country and a key member of the Commonwealth.

Notwithstanding the organisational and technical deficiencies, the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections were generally peaceful and transparent.’’

This was how the Commonwealth Observer Group captured the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, in its interim report signed

by Dr Bakili Muluzi, its chairperson.

Many other observers including Local, ECOWAS, African Union and European Union said the polls, in spite of deficiencies, met acceptable standards for credible polls.

But are the polls really transparent, free and fair?

This is the knotty question that election tribunals across the 36 states of the country including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja have started answering.

Already, about 140 petitions have been filed at these tribunals and the figure is expected to increase at the end of the deadline for filing petitions.

Section 134 of the Electoral Act provides that all petitions must be filed within 21 days of the declaration of the result of an election. For the Presidential and bulk of the National Assembly election, the deadline lapsed last week. For the other elections held on April 11 and April 25, aggrieved candidates have up to May 4 and May 17 to approach the election tribunals.

Among Nigerians, notwithstanding the assessment of the observers, opinions are divided on whether or not the elections were free and fair. While most of those who lost elections and their supporters deem the polls to be massively rigged, those who won and their backers think otherwise. Indeed, while some parties consider the exercise to be fair in places they won, they cry blue murder in areas that they lost.

How the polls were rigged Candidates challenging the outcome of the polls in various parts of the country have enumerated the various ways the elections were manipulated.

These include non-conduct of the polls in some polling units and blatant writing of election results, wrong compilation and computation of results, snatching of ballot papers and boxes, preventing people from voting, denying would-be voters the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), under-age voting, and inflation of election results among others.

President-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), penultimate week picked holes in the figures that were recorded in the South-East and South-South geo-political zones as well as the number of votes recorded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, saying that he would prosecute election riggers when he takes over.

Under-age voting In many states in the North, allegations of under-age voting were widespread.

States where the incidents were alleged to have happened included Kano, Jigawa,

Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi.

It was alleged that in these states, under-age people were allowed to vote in clear contravention of the Electoral Act, even as voting allegedly took place late in the night.

Tribunals begin work Inaugurating about 242 chairmen and members of Election Petition Tribunal for the 36 states and Abuja recently, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed warned the members to ensure that justice is done.

“You must shun acts such as the acceptance of gifts or favours from counsel and politicians, and the exchange of illicit communications with parties, which acts will erode the integrity of the Tribunal irretrievably,” Justice Mohammed said.

He also reminded the chairmen and members of the tribunals that Section 285 of the 1999 constitution and Section 134 (2) of the EA 2010 are clear that all petitions must be heard and judgements rendered in writing and delivered in the open court within 180 days of the filing of the petition.

Is 2015 better than previous

You must shun acts such as the acceptance of gifts or favours from counsel and politicians, and the exchange of illicit communications with parties, which acts will erode the integrity of the Tribunal irretrievably,” Justice Mohammed said

polls?

Despite the mixed views of Nigerians on the credibility of the 2015 election, it appears to be better than four previous elections. Although more petitions are still expected, the 140 received so far is a huge improvement over the 400 received in 2011; 1250 got in 2007 and 560 filed in 2003.

No petition against Buhari The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which was originally scheduled to conduct its proceedings at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal will soon wind up because it did not receive any case against Buhari.

The 21 days deadline for filing of petition expired last week, with none of the 13 losing parties moving to challenge Buhari’s victory at the tribunal.

It is the first time since the1999 return of civil rule that the outcome of the presidential election is going unchallenged at the tribunal. Chief Olu Falae, who flew the Alliance for Democracy/ All Peoples Party joint ticket challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s victory in 1999. Buhari and other candidates challenged the victories of Obasanjo, late Umaru Musa

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18—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

Continues from page 17 Yar ’Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan in 2003, 2007 and 2011 respectively.

Complaints in the states The scenario is different in the states where already, some of the tribunals have commenced sitting and the rest will begin sitting next week. The Akwa Ibom Tribunal started sitting on Wednesday; Bayelsa, Tuesday; Plateau, April 27; Kwara, April 27 while that of Lagos will begin on May 5.

The Borno, Adamawa, Rivers and Yobe tribunals will sit in Abuja because of security concerns.

Among the states, Lagos and Rivers have the highest number of election petitions with 17, followed by Enugu, 15; Cross River, 13; Oyo, 12 and Taraba and Abia, 11.

Others include: Nasarawa (8), Bayelsa (6), Benue (6), Bauchi (2), Edo (2), Ebonyi (6) and FCT (2).

The number of petitions filed in states where the polls were highly contentious like Anambra, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, etc were not ready as of press time.

Zamfara In Zamfara, the Governorship Candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi has filed a petition challenging the April 11 results of the governorship election in the state.

Kwara In Kwara, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial Candidate for Kwara Central, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq is challenging the election of the APC candidate, Senator Bukola Saraki citing ‘’corrupt practices or noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act,” adding that the election was characterized by abnormalities, manipulation and irregularities.

Kogi In Kogi, Senator Smart Adeyemi of the PDP wants the election of Dino Melaye of the APC for Kogi West overturned claiming that “Melaye was declared the winner of the election because of wrong and/or incorrect computation of lawful votes cast and intentional omission of collating results of the polling units won by the petitioners and counting of spoilt ballots in his favour.”

Akwa Ibom Allegations of widespread rigging have continued to trail the outcome of the elections in Akwa Ibom State.

The main opposition APC said the April 28 presidential and National Assembly polls and the March 11 governorship elections were marred by

'Tribunals get 140 petitions so far'

high-wire manipluation.

The party pointed out that there were cases of ballot box snatching, organised violence, withholding of sensitive materials among other anomalies.

Condemning the election, the APC candidate, Chief Umana Okon Umana said: ‘’This went beyond elections, it was an organised crime against the people of my state. This was state terrorism. We did not have elections in Akwa Ibom State and the perpetrators of these crime should face justice in the International Criminal Court.

This was not about elections.

The example in Akwa Ibom is that the only way you can become a governor is that you must have a private army to terrorize people on Election Day,’’ It is against this backdrop that Umana filed petition against the election of the PDP candidate, Mr. Udom Emmanuel as the governor of the state at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo. Lagos: In spite of claims by the APC that the elections were free and fair in Lagos State, the state chapter of the PDP thinks otherwise. Aside the PDP, some sections of the public also accused the APC of manipulating the process in the state. Instructively, the non and late arrival of sensitive materials in areas considered as PDP strongholds was described as deliberate.

Allegations of multiple voting, use of manual accreditation in Ikate, Ibeju Lekki, Badagry and Mainland local councils were also rife.

There were also incidents of disenfranchisement of eligible voters in the state, especially

concluded last Saturday.

Imo The REC in Imo State Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, in a manner that could be described as corroborating claims of rigging in the state, cited complaints of irregularities that emanated from several polling booths across the 305 wards of the state as being responsible for the stalemated election in the state.

Ibidapo-Obe had cancelled 144,715 votes in various polling booths in about 23 local government areas. Consequently, elections were repeated in 23 of the 27 local council areas of the state.

The victory of Governor Rochas Okorocha at the polls, has been disputed by the PDP candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, who claimed the exercise was characterised by irregularities.

Rivers: Several cases of infraction of the electoral law were reported to have happened in Rivers where 16 people were reportedly killed.

During the governorship polls, heavy shooting was reported in Ozuoba and Rumuolumeni in Obio Akpor Local Council.

Soldiers moved into Buguma in Asari Toru Local Council where two persons were feared dead amid heavy shooting allegedly by political thugs.

A police patrol vehicle, the house of the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Joeba West, and INEC polling centre in Kalabari National College in the town were razed by unknown arsonists.

It was learned that about 80 per cent of the card readers deployed in Okrika did not work.

during the presidential election.

Enugu The REC in Enugu, Professor Chukwuemeka Onukaogu was accused of handing over result sheets to the PDP candidates in all the senatorial zones.

Same manner of complaints are

also trailing the outcome of the governorship election where the APC is calling for the cancellation of the entire result.

A PDP House of Representatives candidate Dr. Chukwuemeka Ujam who contested for Nkanu East/West constituency was reportedly caught by the military with 4000 PVCs at Ozalla, Nkanu East Local Government.

A former governor of the state Senator Chimaroke Nnamani also complained of massive electoral fraud in Enugu East Senatorial District where the incumbent, Senator Gilbert Nnaji was returned as winner.

Abia The decision to reverse the cancellation of three local governments results by the Returning Officer, Prof.

Benjamin Ozumba was also considered as manipulative.

Ozumba had announced the cancellation of results from Osisioma, Obingwa and Isiala Ngwa North local councils on the grounds of “incontrovertible evidence of violence” and reports from international observers.

The returning officer reversed

the decision after Governor Theodore Orji-led chieftains of PDP consulted with the Resident Electoral Officer, REC, Prof. Selina Oko and Ozumba.

The APGA Candidate, Alex Otti is challenging the outcome of the governorship polls that was

In spite of claims by the APC that the elections were free and fair in Lagos State, the state chapter of the PDP thinks otherwise.

Aside the PDP, some sections of the public also accused the APC of manipulating the process in the state

Accordingly, INEC was accused of colluding with security operatives to compromise the integrity of the electoral process in virtually all the 23 local councils of the state.

Electoral officers in almost all the local government areas were said to have withheld the unit, ward and local government result sheets and handed over ballot papers to the PDP thugs allegedly guarded by armed soldiers, police and Department State Service operatives.

Taraba The grievances in Taraba were that soldiers deployed during the March 28 elections frightened and intimidated voters and allowed room for malpractices.

It was said that the army, rather than help make the elections fraud-free, were used to rig the elections in favour of the PDP. Incidents where voters were openly threatened by trigger happy soldiers deployed in Wukari, Takum and other communities were also cited.

At the end of the supplementary election in the state, the APC also claimed that the process was fraught with violence, massive rigging, ballot snatching and abuse of the card readers in substantial parts of the state by the PDP. Are all these claims and allegations true? The tribunals will supply the answers six months from now.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—19

2015: As Buhari's victory covers INEC flaws...

SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

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he postulation by Alexander Herzen, (1812-1870) became manifest during the last set of elections in Nigeria.

The Russian reformist had written in one of his famous essays “that the men who proclaimed the Republic became the assassins of freedom”.

Herzen submitted that those who claimed to be pure revolutionists in Russia had in a way abandoned the real struggle to secure true liberty for all, and that though they had broken the chains they inadvertently left the prison walls standing, making them assassins of freedom. The manipulations and high level intrigues that characterised the just concluded general elections in Nigeria can be likened to a coup of some sort by those who claim to be Nigeria’s most liberal politicians. They proclaimed to the world that they wanted a free, peaceful and credible election but they connived with many forces to rob Nigerians of the chance to freely elect their leaders and deliberately

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arm twisted the electoral umpire, Prof Attahiru Jega’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to short change Nigerians voters.

No doubt the elections have come and gone, producing winners and losers but the ripples generated have left many Nigerians with sour taste because of the conspiracy of high-ranking politicians, who worked hard to subvert the will of Nigerians just to maintain their electoral status-quo and keep smiling to the bank.

Nonetheless, while the winners are in high spirit, working round the clock to fix themselves on the reins of power, the losers continue to gnash their teeth, wondering what might have hit them like a volcano. In a way, the justconcluded polls, made history, broke the jinx of incumbency and wrote a new chapter in the Nigerian polity. Surprisingly, although the changes introduced

by INEC to add credibility to the elections, succeeded in certain ways to checkmate mass figures of electoral victory usually associated with Nigerian elections, it failed in many ways to checkmate electoral fraud and violence, effectively defeating the goals of the innovations factored into the polls.

It appears that once majority of Nigerians achieved the change they longed for in the Presidential

elections they overlooked many flaws that marked the Presidential election and actually floored the governorship elections in some states.

Smart Card Readers and Permanent Voter Cards: The good, the bad The vision of those who contemplated the use of the card readers and permanent voter cards for the 2015 elections shows a clear evidence of thoughtfulness and readiness to part with the ugly past of Nigerian elections. In the recent past, Nigerian leaders with an eye for rigging, simply engaged in mass thumb-printing according to the earmarked or ascribed voter population in their respective domains because there was no means of ascertaining who reported for voting or not. But with the introduction of the SCR the PVC, it became clear to election riggers that it would be difficult to continue with the dubious business as usual. The SCR simply put a ceiling to what governors, lawmakers and their parties could declare in the just-concluded polls.

In fact, a clear pattern simply emerged as the results of the 2015 elections began to roll in: Out of the 36 states and Abuja, none of them was able to declare up to 50 percent score of the votes when juxtaposed with the number of the voter population claimed by the

The vision of those who contemplated the use of the card readers and permanent voter cards for the 2015 elections shows a clear evidence of thoughtfulness and readiness to part with the ugly past of Nigerian elections

states and the FCT, leaving political pundits to wonder what might have happened to the remaining ‘voters’.

In the recent past, Kano, and Lagos, which emerged with the highest voter population figures of about 5 million, would have accordingly returned something close to that figure without the use of the card readers, which automatically pegged the number which any state could declare at the end of voting. But because of the application of the technology, Kano which registered close to five million voters and was actually issued with over four million PVCs, could only return two million votes while Lagos which had about four million voters with PVCs was only able to turn in about 1.4 million at the end of the day. Thus, in a way the SMR worked to some extent.

INEC’s dilemma and limitation in SMR usage It is obvious that the success of the card readers in the last election depended to a large extent to the cooperation of key political actors with the electoral umpire. It was curious that in most PDP states, particularly in the Southern part of the country, where the governors had frontally opposed the use of the technology on the grounds that it would disenfranchise their citizens, the card readers, accordingly ‘refused

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20—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

hat Anglican church, that was my church in the late 70s and 80s had prayer sessions on Wednesday mornings.

And the congregation more than once, had to do more than praying.

Shrills and wails of the “mother of the parish” were familiar to some and when they pierced the serenity of the sanctuary , even fervent prayers had to be aborted. Out of the sanctuary and mumbling disgust at failure of the priest to handle his affairs more tidily , elderly parishioners would shoo away children and hurry in the direction of the screams to save the vicar ’s wife from further savagery . And she would be retrieved from a torrent of blows and kicks. And a panting and menacing priest will direct some scowls and threats at the interlopers who had the impudence to abandon prayers , to pry into his running of his home.

A handsome, well spoken, seemingly urbane vicar whose sense of piety tolerated chasing his wife around the church premises in full glare of congregants to effect priestly moral chastisement. He would conduct services the next Sunday dove-like , like that Wednesday never happened. The priest was brutal , the society and church were complicit. The priest received rapid promotions and has been a top ranking archbishop for many years.

Domestic violence against women may be rampant in many parts of the world but it is , in addition , socially tolerated in many parts of Nigeria. Victim surveys show that about 50% of women of all categories suffer repeated physical, sexual and psychological abuse in the hands of their men and other men.

Beyonce says girls run the world . Perhaps they do all the chores.

The world constructed by patriarchy where women are told, and believe, they were created for men is an unjust world. Women, helpmeets, ostensibly exist to help men meet their loneliness. But because men are literally pulsating bags of sex hormones then women must further be objectified for maximum sexual benefits of the male collectivity. So women, pawns, are socialized into roles that are seemingly objectively neutral but that are patently slavish.

And since they are by nature beautiful , men are groomed cynically to think that women are beautiful because they are men’s ornamental pieces. The icing on the cake of their earthly existence.

Their beauty is for the viewing pleasure of men, yes. Men deny them autonomy and urge them to concentrate on cosmetic trivialities and being beautiful, in the service of their sexual imaginings. Dolls.

And women spend their lives preoccupied with their sexiness.

And women , only women , flaunt naked bodies and revel in things tight and skimpy.

Culturally , they are positioned to live on the magnanimity of men . The society pauperizes women because dependence on men glorifies men -prancing bags of ego. Independence perhaps detracts from the sex appeal furnished by dominion.

Across the cultures in Nigeria, women were almost in some ways were seen as sub-human. The female child was always considered inferior to the male child. Patriarchy meant that the cultures and traditions were merely the wishes of men. And societal leadership was the exclusive preserve of men. And the inferior women whose roles were to gather wood, cook and be married off to breed children had little real value.

And a man who died without a male child -heir, lived a wasted life. And the cultures gave women to men as wives in the likeness of properties. And since women were seen by men as superficial , C M Y K

Nigeria: A nation of wife-beaters?

•Wife-beater mawkishly sentimental and lacking in sobriety , maturity and intelligence, they were generally considered as marginally more rational than children. And the husbands were required by the cultures and traditions to continue from where the fathers stopped because the character molding of the female must be superintended by men . Women, they say, “spoil easily”.

And they all had to be closely monitored because the society perceived that women weren’t just vulnerable and perishable but that also they possessed in their biology all that was needed to thoroughly ‘corrupt’ generations . And since they are supposed to be naturally gullible and loving of ‘sweet things’, they could, if unchecked, let loose and imperil the society. A spoilt female, they presumed, could damage the morality of a thousand men! The lecherousness of men is always permissively read as the work of nature.

Lasciviousness and promiscuity are bred by sluts - women.

Women globally have clawed back few rights but so much remains. Women couldn’t vote in many places until the 20th century.

And couldn’t act as sureties for bail in Nigeria until a couple of years ago. Successes recorded in the enactment of legislation that prohibit discrimination based on sex , that promotes equality of the sexes have not translated into significant dismantling of barriers and systemic disadvantages that manacle women.

Men fashion cultures and interpret religious texts and allocate to themselves the position next to God. And they say it is not male chauvinism. Th e woman is not only of lower intellectual capacity, she is also an inferior spiritual being, they think. And the elderly women school the younger women in the art of worship of men.

And the subjugation is perpetuated. A godly woman is submissive to her man whom she needs to be a ‘complete’ woman. And being perpetually female and single is pathetic failure . An unmarried mature woman is an abject failure. And many women display wedding rings like trophies and loudly brag about being “happily married” albeit to brutes. And these immoral

presuppositions are espoused even by women. Cultures, traditions and laws are always seemingly objective and neutral.

Tools of domination.

A decadent and impoverished Nigerian society, unfortunately, can no longer maintain a steady stream of matured capable eligible bachelors in an increasingly monogamous setting. So many unpaired ready women languish emotionally. The society insists they marry but the society lacks sufficient quality men. Many marry and submit to poorly groomed and conceited nitwits to escape the social handicap of remaining unmarried. Lagos landlords would not even let apartments to unmarried ladies.

So all kinds of marriages are now contrived to satisfy different needs and fears. In many of these contraptions, women shackle themselves with crippling yokes and their hopes and self esteem are squashed . The men are lords of their manors and the women are essentially glorified domestic helps.

And the standards are now so low that marital love is assumed to exist if couples manage a steady stream of bland courteous interactions. And if men show wives sporadic affections in tokens and gratuities for sex , for house chores, and for bearing and looking after their children, they expect adulation.

The woman would endure endemic sexual harassment in workplaces and yet come home to spaces where the man, enfant terrible, must be feared because he can unilaterally deny everyone peace by throwing tantrums. The incidence of domestic violence has been on the rise in Nigeria. And wives are serially physically and sexually abused. Some husbands are so out of touch with decency that they batter their wives even publicly. And some who, as children, suffered severe psychological dents when their mothers were battered, pay no heed to the sanity of their own children when they batter and denigrate their spouses. And if you are as unlucky as a cousin of mine who had the misfortune of a hefty tempestuous husband who had a second wife in alcohol, you will be battered at night and on his temporary return to sanity in the morning , the brute will ask you how you came by so many bruises.

Amongst many who claim sophistication are men who torture their wives verbally and psychologically.

Threats of divorce are casually dangled because bullies consider themselves indispensable benefactors of the women.

The husband becomes the maverick. He enthrones an air of unpredictability and lives out his whims, caprices and sadistic

Domestic violence against women may be rampant in many parts of the world but it is , in addition , socially tolerated in many parts of Nigeria

fancies. “You will pack out of this house” . “I will send you back to your father’s house”. Daily squirts of scorn, contempt and derision. Many Nigerian men treat wives like low level employees.

In a society where men are allowed to punish erring women and where family matters aren’t supposed to become police cases until perhaps someone has been knocked into coma, the men get away with horrendous crimes of domestic violence and the women burn silently.

And even when families and friends are brought in to settle disputes , the general counsel is always for the woman to find some way and manage the madness of her husband. Wife beaters judging another wife beater.

And the victim’s helplessness is exacerbated by a certain faithful acceptance of the notion that marriage is somehow “for better, for worse”. Divorce is condemned. The female divorcee easily earns public contempt. So the woman takes in the scorn and brutality of her husband and remains “happily married”.

Aren’t they always happily married?

Wives are essentially personal acquisitions. Mandatory dowries, which are often exorbitant, do not help to curb the sense of ownership that many husbands associate with marriage. And since the Yoruba wife refers to the husband as ‘ Olowo ori mi’- my owner, the man does not need the woman’s express consent for sex.

The woman’s rights belong to her husband. Sex must be given on demand and to refuse the man sex is to commit an act of gross insubordination which could even be construed as an act of infidelity. And any hint of infidelity by the woman is an abomination weighty enough to make her an eternal outcast.

Marital infidelity by the man is understandable. The man is viewed as inherently polygamous and when he chooses monogamy for any reason he must be rewarded and encouraged by a little license to ‘respectable’ and ‘guarded’ compensatory extramarital liaisons.

And many tout themselves as good husbands because they shower their wives with visible gifts . Amongst them are exhibitionists for whom wives display objects through which the egotistical self can aspire to vainglory.

So the wife can have the most expensive of luxury cars but would be accorded the disdain due a pest inside the home. And even a careless yawn might attract the sternest of rebukes!

The agony many glamourized wives of the rich live.

Relevant statistics in Nigeria are non existent . Domestic violence cases are rarely reported to the police who are always reluctant to press charges. The society ’s stigma and lack of confidence in the police by victims ensure most raped and battered wives grieve in silence.

The law here still says you can’t be guilty of raping a wife.

Barbarism. A criminal justice system populated overwhelmingly by men cannot understand the pain of domestic and sexual violence on female victims.

The laws and customs in Nigeria cede the homes and everything else to the men. They are founded on utterly sexist assumptions bordering on misogyny. The presuppositions must be dismantled by raising of consciousness. Religious texts must be interpreted hermeneutically. The criminal justice system must be fine tuned. A wife-beater is a criminal.

Ladies , “shine your eyes!”

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 2, 2015—21

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till not convinced, she argued “but his contemporaries and even those junior to him are sending their children abroad. How are they doing it?” It was difficult to tell a 16-year old that what she saw as foolishness or stupidity or even stinginess from her father was actually uprightness and what she thought was a shining example of generosity and care from her father ’s contemporaries was actually a tainted example. Related to this, was the story of a single mother whose playful son was about to sit for JAMB. She went ahead to secure the co-operation of a couple of JAMB officials who promised her the computers would generate a good result for her son. She then went to talk to some professors from the university she had attended to get him a good professional course. Again, it would be difficult to tell this 16-yearold boy that what her mother did was not only fraudulent, it was not in his best interests. If his goal in life was to be successful, he had to learn to apply himself.

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Our societal values need overhauling Many years ago, I was trying to raise money for a project and talked to some high net worth individuals as prospective investors. I had a tidy sum at some point which I warehoused in a friendly bank since the money was not yet enough for the project. A senior bank executive who was a friend approached me and advised on how to turn the funds around and make a neat sum for myself. I could then use whatever money I made to increase my shareholding. He was surprised when I said I was not interested because that was not the condition under which I secured the funds. ‘Suppose something goes wrong?’ I asked. He

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et me start by relating experiences I have had in the past ten years or so as examples of the values we now see as the norm and try to connect the dots.

A young girl had just finished her JAMB but didn’t fancy her chances of getting a good grade so expected her father to whisk her abroad like some of her mates for her tertiary education.

She was irritated and annoyed when her father told her he could not afford it. Her irritation turned to consternation when she saw that her petulance wasn’t going to make her father change his mind. This was when she turned to me. I was to make her dad see reason. When I told her that her father probably could not afford a UK education given the costs in tuition, accommodation and allowances, she looked at me and stated incredulously “But he is the MD of a multinational company”. “He is still a salary earner with many responsibilities,” I retorted.

figures were too good too soon and might get the investors to be more interested in the goings on within the company. The best way to get them off his back was to declare a pittance as dividend while complaining about the harsh operating environment. It was a cynical advice from someone who understood the dubious nature of Nigerian businessmen.

A few years ago, an acquaintance wanted to give his daughter out in marriage and decided to pull out the stops. Along the way, he sold a good plot of land in Ikeja to help finance the wedding. A few short months after the wedding, he happened to pass

This is a society where the moral institutions—the church, family and community—have taken sides with the rich

scoffed at my fears and asked derisively ‘How do you think promoters pay for their part of the equity? This is one of the games they play’. He left wondering at my stupidity and refusal to be ‘smart’. A related story was that of an entrepreneur who got some friends and associates to invest in his dream. After two years of hard work, he was proud of the success he had made of the project and got an accountant from a reputable firm to take a look at his company’s statement of affairs. To his shock, the accountant said he was courting trouble as the

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where the land was situated and was surprised to find that the shabby fence and gate he had erected before had been pulled down and replaced with an imposing one. This was when he had his twinge of regret. For a few hours of revelry, he had sacrificed a good investment. A related story was that of a man who sold his land to buy a jeep because that was what his friends were using. Or a daughter who wanted a destination wedding in Jamaica to be followed by a honeymoon cruise and expected her father to foot the bill.These were all

stories of people who wanted to make an impression in a society that puts a premium on the trappings of wealth however acquired.

On the other side of the spectrum was the story of a poor widow of two adolescent children. Although a Muslim, she took shelter in a church and was eventually rescued by a church member who gave her a room in his boy’s quarters. The older son soon finished his senior secondary school and started loitering around the neighbourhood. Their benefactor worked in an oil company and was able to offer him a job as a petrol attendant but the boy was extremely reluctant to take up the job. The man was to learn later from his driver that that boy said the station was too close to his school and his school mates would make fun of him.This was a boy who was homeless three short years ago and whose mother could use every penny, worrying about peer impression.

These examples might seem disparate but if we care to connect the dots, we will find a society without enduring values. A society that believes more in façade than substance.

A society that believes in cutting corners and in bribery. A society which defines duplicity as smart. A society with very weak institutions where the operators openly connive with outside perpetrators without any fear of consequences. A society where the only punishment for a deal gone wrong is a mere loss of ‘invested’ money. This is a society where the moral institutions—the church, family and community—have taken sides with the rich. Unfortunately, our kids have grown up to see public officers as rich; disregard for due process as smart and ‘man know man’ as the way to go.

The irony is that we all crave the rule of law; we all want an orderly society.

But we are unwilling to subject ourselves to the discipline of hard work, merit and due process. Our societal values need a total overhaul.

Who will bell the cat?

praise, I came to the meeting with a od is a God of purpose. very heavy heart. The previous night, Everything He says has a I could not sleep but spent many hours meaning and He performs all in tears. I managed to attend the that He says. God is who He says He meeting. I was so glad when pastor is and will do what He says He will mentioned my case and said that do. before the next Women of Praise Some people think that when they meeting, I will celebrate. God, indeed are asked to praise God, all they need has honored my praises for He has to do is to sing and dance. This is good made a way for me, my daughter and but not good enough. Just singing and entire family. To crown it all, my niece dancing is not the real purpose of who has been in hospital for months praise. Until you and I have a good with threatened pregnancy finally understanding of praise, we cannot delivered a bouncing baby boy without reap its full benefits. complications. It is a good thing to In Amos 9: 11-12, the bible says “In praise the Lord. See you at the next From the above text above, we can destroy and to disinherit. that day will I raise up the tabernacle God’s purpose for praise is for the Women of Praise meeting where God’s of David that is fallen and close up the see that the tabernacle of David was a breaches thereof: and I will raise up place of praise. Inside the tabernacle church to drive out and destroy the glory comes upon His daughters. Sis his ruins and I will build it as in the was the ark of covenant and before the works of darkness and disinherit the V.O Have you given your life to Jesus? If days of old: that they may possess the ark the priests gave continual praise devil and occupy the earth. Satan would not voluntarily give you back not, please pray this prayer. Father, I remnant of Edom and of all the and worship.

One hundred years after the removal what he has stolen from you. To possess come to you as I am. I invite Jesus into heathen which are called by my name, of David’s tabernacle, Amos wrote that what belongs to you, you have to enter my life to be my personal Lord and saith the Lord that does this”.

From the text above, prophet Amos, a day is coming when God will restore into spiritual warfare and take up your Saviour. Wash me cleanse with the by the Spirit of God, prophesied about David’s tabernacle (a place of praise) weapon of praise. As you rise up in blood of Jesus and empower me with praise, you begin to possess. Just as the power of your Holy Spirit. Thank a time when God would restore again and build it as original.

God is therefore restoring the place the walls of Jericho collapsed through you Father for saving my soul and the tabernacle of David.

What then is the tabernacle of David? of praise. If you have noticed, gospel praise, so shall all your enemies making me your child.

Let’s see 1 Chron.16:1, 4-6. It says “so musicians are today, in the limelight. collapse as you give God quality they brought the ark of God and set it They are being sought after. Please praise.

A M S T E R D A M S E N in the midst of the tent that David had know that God is restoring the place of I see total restoration and praise in His church not just to praise E I A N T D B pitched for it: and they offered burnt possession happening in your sacrifices and peace offerings before Him but that you might possess. (Amos life from now as you stay in E M I R Y A Y I A O God and He appointed certain of the 9: 12). continual praises from your Possess in Hebrew word is Yaresh. It heart. God bless you mightily. levites to minister before the ark of the A R A G A R U M Lord and to record and to thank and means, occupy by driving out the TESTIMONY: A A D E Y I L E K A praise the Lord God of Israel. Asaph, previous tenants, to cast, to consume, During one of the women of the chief and next to him V M K T E M N E T Zechariah, Jeiel and For more details, contact us at Christ Reality Church, beside Gossard R E M E K A A G O Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Hotel, opposite First Bank Sports Ground, Community Road, Satellite Town Mattithiah and Eliab and or P.O.Box, 3196, Yaba Lagos. Tel: 08023062635 08168955932; 08033378769. E-mail: B L A C K J R K B Benaiah and Obededom: and Johnson_crm@yahoo.com. Website: www.christrealityministries.org.

O K I T I P U P A A Jeiel with psalteries and with Our account details are Pastor Johnson Omomadia, Guaranty Trust harps but Asaph made a sound Bank, A/C Nos. 0005171407; Christ Reality Ministries, Zenith Bank A/C T H E T A S U A with cymbals; Benanaih also 1011711622.

E T F I J I P O L O and Jhaziel, the priests, with Worship with us on Sundays, 1st Service: 745am-9:15am; 2nd Service 9:15trumpets continually before 11:30am. Wednesdays Word Revelation 6pm. Counseling days Tuesdays, O Y O G P L L the ark of the covenant of Thursdays and Fridays. 11am-5pm daily or by appointment. Showers of blessing every 2nd - 4th Sat. of each month, 6 a.m - 7.15 am.

E A R N E T A N Y A H U God”.

God’s Prophetic Purpose for Praise

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22—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

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SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 23

What a lady once told me about my wedding ring – Seyi Shalom S

eyi Shalom is a budding gospel artiste who believes music should be used as a tool for transformation.

The bubbly crooner who also doubles as a professional in the juju music genre, opens up on the reasons he can’t feature a secular artiste in his song; how his music helped a woman in the operating room; and the reasons why he quit his job to do music full-time: Do you think gospel music is doing well enough as far as the music industry is concerned?

The truth is that we have tried to set a standard for ourselves just because we have a guide which is the word of God. At a particular time, I had to ask myself: “What is the difference between gospel artistes and secular artistes?” I came to the conclusion that we are not the same. What drives a secular artiste is different from what drives a gospel artiste. We have different missions.

Does that mean you can’t feature a secular artiste in your songs?

I still pondered this recently. I said to myself: “What message will the song pass that will go in line with my song? Can the artiste support the message that I am trying to pass across in the song?” It’s much better for them to stick to their music, while I stick to mine.

Would you say doing music full time has been lucrative?

Yes. When I was in the corporate world, I had a particular amount I was being paid. I was being paid in the range of 40,000 but now I earn up to 200,000 per show. I should be sincere with you, If I am C M Y K

earning that, why should I get a regular job? I work with a 12man band that I pay.

How did you come about the name ‘Shalom’?

Shalom is my stage name. It’s also the name I gave to my band. It means peace. My real name is Oluwaseyi Adetona.

People call me Seyi Shalom because that is what I chose as my stage name.

Could you tell us about your journey into music?

I started music by playing musical instrument in the church. I started singing at about 1998 and I had to acquaint myself with someone in order to get a bit of training. I did that for about four years before I gained admission into the polytechnic. I studied computer science. I had the opportunity to express my music abilities when I gained admission. I was made the leader of some gospel music groups.

In 2004, I came back to Lagos and set up my own band. After my OND programme, I gained admission

,,

By Kehinde Ajose

London. She said while she was about being pushed to the theater ward, she was hearing me sing all through the operation. She said It was my voice she heard singing praises to God. To the glory

What drives a secular artiste is different from what drives a gospel artiste.

We have different missions

into UNILAG to study Business Administration.

During this period, I learnt

how to balance my education with my music, to make sure they don’t clash.

What message do you want to pass across through your music?

Whenever I sing, I want whoever is listening to have an attitude of thanksgiving. In addition, I also want to be able to preach peace with my music. I know people seem to be concerned more with groovy aspect of music but what matters to me is to leave a message that will touch their lives.

What is the greatest testimony you have ever heard about your music?

The greatest testimony I have heard about my song is about a woman who went for an operation in

of God, she had a safe delivery. Whenever I am ministering,I pray that God should use my songs to touch lives How long have you been married?

This is my third year.

How have you been able to balance your family life and your music?

I thank God for my wife.

She is an understanding person. She has her own job and my kids are not giving me headache. The fact that my wife is an understanding person doesn’t mean I take her for granted. Whenever I have money on me I let her know and if I don’t have, she knows. I am always open with her.

Does your wife have issues with your female fans

getting close to you?

My wife is more of an indoor person. She is my opposite. She doesn’t accompany me to shows.

Even when I perform during family events, she doesn’t even look at me, she just believes I am doing my job. She has never complained about that and I try to respect myself too. I have experienced situations where some ladies stare at me wantonly when performing. I once sang in a church and after my ministration, a lady was already waiting for me, and when she saw me she asked for my phone number. I actually thought she wanted to invite me for a show, but it was another thing. I have seen cases where ladies have fought over me. It happened recently at an event, two ladies where fighting over the issue of having a conversation with me How do you handle issues like that?

What I do is that I maintain my stand and also flaunt my ring.

The moment they see it, they get the message. But it doesn’t always work out as some remain stubborn. A lady once told me It’s just a wedding ring, that it’s just for fashion and asked if that is where my love is. Nonetheless, I still stood my ground. Its good to maintain your stand and also be careful not to lose them as fans.

They might be the key to your biggest music breakthrough What is your opinion about artistes campaigning for politicians?

I don’t want to say much about it. When you are up there many offers will come. When you are at the peak, many offers will come. Politicians will not come and pick someone that people don’t know. I once heard the story of a gospel artiste whom a politician sent money.

24—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 25

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26 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

With FLORENCE AMAGIYA 08061644307 email: daise4000@yahoo.com

Seye Kehinde:

The rising tale of a magazine mogul!

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he owner of City People Magazine, Dr. Seye Kehinde, needs no introduction in the entertainment industry and to many Nigerians. His magazine, ‘City People’ is one of the most consistent magazines in Nigeria since 1996. Dr Seye’s career as a journalist began in the university and hasn’t stopped till date. Today, he is one of the major players behind the success stories of many reputable entertainers in Nigeria and in the diaspora. Recently, on his 50th birthday celebration held on Friday, 24th April 2015, many celebrities including politicians of repute were present. In this edition, I present to you, an icon, a journalist, the father of three children, and the publisher of City People Magazine.

Read on… ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

I

am from Ogun state, but was born and bred in Ibadan. Then Ibadan was the capital of the old western state. I grew up with my parents who were civil servants. My childhood was an exciting one. I attended a Catholic school, Mary Hill Convent school. Then I had my secondary education at Remo Grammar School in Sagamu, Ogun state. I did my A-Levels at Ogun state Polytechnic before I gained admission to study History and Political science at the University of Ile Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

While studying, I worked as a freelance reporter for Herald Newspaper.

From that time, the seed of journalism was planted in me. I served at Kwara state Polytechnic Ilorin. During my service year, I shuttled between teaching History and writing articles for Newswatch Magazine. I didn’t have to look for a job after youth service because I had worked for renowned newspaper houses in Nigeria already.

The Guardian and Tribune were some of the newspapers I worked with. I also worked with big names likes the late Dele Giwa and so many others.

I could also have easily chosen to stay back at Kwara state Polytechnic and become a Lecturer or a reporter at Herald Newspaper but I decided to

C M Y K

move to Lagos state to write my own story.

The Birth of City People Magazine

I

was part of the team that founded The News Magazine and Tell which were the two existing weekly magazines as at then. l also worked with Newswatch. But I had a dream to be my own boss some day. So one day, I called a few of my colleagues and told them that it was time l moved on. But l was careful enough to discuss my fears with them and that I may return if things doesn’t work as planned.

Through their support and prayers in November 1996, ‘City People Magazine” was born.

The best period of this job came ten years ago when we started gaining grounds and stability. Initially, when we started off in 1996, it was during the military era. There was a lack of civilian democracy; the media was under strict supervision from the government so we could not write just any news. But when the civilian

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Childhood and journey so far

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Dr. Seye Kehinde

•Dr. Seye Kehinde and Gov. Raji Fashola of Lagos State

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 27

Dr. Seye Kehinde and Ibinabo

Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Dr Seye Kehinde

Sen. Aikuyomi, Chief Dele Momodu and Dr. Seye Kehinde

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There was no particular breakthrough but the fact that we stayed fervent and hardworking made it a wonderful journey

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At Seye's 50th Birthday celebration government came in, we returned to a good level of stability and the economy became pleasant.

I would say the big break came from the fact that we remained consistent, I put everything I had into it.

Thankful to goodhearted people, word went round that there was a new Magazine in town and supporters came out.

Looking back, there was no particular breakthrough but the fact that we stayed fervent and hardworking made it a wonderful journey.

When I started, City People Magazine was located only in Lagos state but along the line, a few of my colleagues advised me to take it to the next level by cutting

across other big cities in the country. As it was, we started sending copies to regions like the South West, and then expanded to Delta, Abuja and Port-Ha court. The response was massive and now we are one of the best.

CHALLENGES

T

he resources were not always available but I was hopeful on the little money I was able to make.

From the starting point, it was not rosy at all because the biggest challenge was funding. I am grateful to God that I had a few friends who were very supportive so we had to be diligent. Now the establishment is a success story.

50th Birthday Celebration

I

was so happy that people find me worthy of being associated with. It was a

Abba Folawiyo and Dr. Seye Kehinde working day and I was honored that they could grace my ceremony with their presence, most of them stayed practically for the whole day.

GIVE-BACK SOCIETY

O

TO

ur focus is to make sure that something goes back to the society. Being into showbiz, we realized there was a setback in the industry.

There are many talented artistes and entertainers who

want to showcase their talent to the world and be appreciated but have no means or opportunity to do so due to numerous reasons. The platform is what we have, so we can afford to collaborate with whoever comes our way for publicity and support. So far so good, we have helped a lot of people achieve their dreams by helping with album launches, movie premiere, and advice on management.

28—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

By KEHINDE AJOSE By 08024212530 AYO ONIKOYI, 08052201215

The music Trek T begins for Star again in 2015

he STAR Music Trek begins today in Calabar but the preparation, packing of bags and setting-to-go all started with a sign-on party in Lagos penultimate Friday at the Federal Palace Hotel amidst fanfare and wild partying which saw many celebrities rubbing minds and shoulders with their fans.

The gig, which kicked off at about 8pm, lasted till late in the night and had great performances from Skales, Oritse Femi, Black Magic, Lil Kesh, Sound Sultan and General Pype. This was preceded by the unveiling of cities as well as headliners for this year’s edition of the trek.

Among those revealed to perform include pop icon, 2face Idibia, BET Awards winner, Davido, Wizkid, Chocolate City rapper, MI and Seyi Shay. Other artistes are, Timaya, Wande Coal, Burna Boy, Naeto C, Mr. Raw, Yemi Alade, Oritse Femi, Faze, Runtown, Cynthia Morgan, Banky W, Sean Tizzle, Pasuma, Sound Sultan and Black Magic.

The DJs on board are DJXclusive, DJ Snoop Damaja, DJ Switch, Tony Blaze and DJ Big N. Hosts are Lafup, Gbenga Adeyinka and Do2dtun.

The trek kicks off today, May 2, 2015 in Calabar, Cross Rivers State at the Calabar Municipal Garden and will span eight weeks. Other cities to be visited include Awka, Abakaliki, Makurdi, Sapele, Auchi, Ibadan and Lagos.

•2face

•Burna Boy

•Wizkid

•Davido

Cynthia Morgan, Se yi Sha Seyi Shayy over whelmed erwhelmed with emotions

•Seyi Shay

D

ancehall queen Cynthia Morgan can barely contain her excitement about being selected as one of the artistes to feature on this year’s Star Music Trek. Same could be said of Seyi Shay who could barely speak He Heyy mumm mummyy, when she was unveiled as one of the look your baby artistes to join the trek.

•Lil Kesh But who could blame the two beauties? It is on the TTrek rek rek,, is a mark of seal on their careers that they cries Cynthia have arrived as artistes. At least, Morgan Corporate Affairs Adviser, NB Plc Kufre Ekanem, said that much in his address •Cynthia when he stated that their choice of acts Morgan was “based on the artistes’ dedication to their musical careers, an attitude the Star brand seeks to celebrate.”

Soon after the unveiling Cynthia Morgan took to Instagram to pour out her emotion.

“Hey mummy look your baby is on the Trek. #StarMusic…coming to a city near you. #CMNation Rocks! We did it! Stargyal on the Trek!

Hard work pays guys! Keep doing you! Shout out to my team. We made it!” he atmosphere at th e Fe de ra l Pa lace Hotel was as electrifying set it all ablaze w as it was exhilarating but Lil Kesh ith pe rformance of street anthem ‘Sho ki’, a dance-song thhis floor-filling on its head. at turned 2014 Lil Kesh brought house-shaking ch the crowd to near-frenzy with a entire audience orus Gbese re o! which made the particularly takenlose control. MTV VJ Ehiz w as with the Gbese fe him onstage, danc ver as he joined hree undergraduates an to Etighi to the ing to every style from Shoki delight of the teem been selected to tour somd a Youth Corps member have The night also sa ing audience. e cities on the 2015 Star Trek alongside artistes Music Skales, Oritsefem w stellar performances from Al ad e an d Wizkid an such as Davido, 2Face, Yemi an d Sound Sulta i, Black Magic, General Pype d ma ny others Ha lim at Ab ub ak ar, out to party. In atte n as dozens of celebrities came Opeyemi Kareem were Jim i Fa lus i, Pa me la Be llo an d C , Fa ze , M r. ndance on the night were Naeto join the Trek after sharingthe lucky four who were chosen to Morgan, Yaw, FaRa w , Se yi Sh ay , C yn th ia de the hashtag #MySuperS their superstar stories online using Grey C, Yung L, En Ogunro, Maria Okan, Yung dia an d MI. revealed at the Star Mu tarStory. Th e luc ky quartet were sic Trek Artiste Sign On Party.

Lil Kesh stole the show with Shoki

T

Three undergraduates, Youth Corps member got lucky T

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I’m so glad I’m par partt of this year’s train, Seyi Shay says

A

n excited Seyi Shay had this to say shortly after the announcement ‘Star Music Trek is the longest music tour in Nigeria and I’m so glad I’m part of this year ’s train’.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—29

By KEHINDE AJOSE 08024212530

Asa shows off L a g o s in new video

N

igerian inte ational artiste the video ofrn ,Asa has relea E y sed songs off her o. This song is one of th the Meji Alabcurrent album Bed of stoe hit ne. i dir captured ta in g a walk throeucted video, Asa was In the camera k g h the reets of L a os as around her.lens focuses on the activst ities happengin g As she treads the streets of L some captiva ng outfits that agos, she can be seen in the colourful ti blends e v id of views and co eo. The video is fast gffeortlessly with ne mments on so cial media. rating a lot

•Black Magic

Why I am called

Black Magic •Asa

Ben Efe sings of life and lo o melody lovve in Bad no notte tto I

•Ben Efe

n a time when every artiste wants to blend in and do the predictable ‘club banger’ kind of music,Ben Efe has chosen a different path, which is very much like soul of old and he captures the whole essence in his debut album Bad note to melody.

Each song in his eleven-track album is laden with message and yet has a prophetic feel to it. When you listen the first impression that comes on is that you are listening to a gospel music, with a heart and soul of a soul music of the 80s but it is much more than that. He might not be gifted with the melodious voice of 2face or the sonorous pitch of Waje, he makes up for all these with the depth of his lyrics and the

as Black Magic has told Showtime why he decided to pick the name ‘Black Magic as his stage name.

Without mincing words, he explained: “The reason you asked this question is the reason why I came up with that name. I did that to make people ask questions. As Africans, the only magic we know how to do is kill somebody or steal somebody’s destiny or future. I believe that as an African, you can determine what you want to do with your ‘magic’. I use my own magic to make the people happy by giving them good music.

He also took time out to explain why he loves to dress with an Afrocentric style: “Its part of the brand and it’s a signature.

Black Magic is Afrocentric. I will always put on Afro ‘Adire’ pants. It’s my way of showing off my Nigerian culture.

Whenever I appear on the red carpets, I want to represent Africa .I don’t need a foreigner to make me realize that our ‘Adire’ is cool.”

returns as a waitress in Sugar rush

—D —DJJ Lambo

ot many know her as Olawunmi N Okerayi,but the name DJ Lambogini rings a bell in entertainment

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agic is an occurrence that the M human mind cannot comprehend.

Afropop artiste, Efemena Mukoro known

Tonto Dikeh

Expect greatness fr om m from myy album circles. The DJ who started her career as an OAP in Ray Power 100.5FM has said that greatness should be expected from her forthcoming album.

“My album will be coming out early next year and I will be releasing a single next month. You can expect greatness from it. You can expect all the hits that will come out from the country this year and early next year”. When asked what she regards as the high point of her career, she had this to say: “I don’t want to mention one and leave out the other. I have been on the Star Trek tour for like two years now. This is going to be my third year. The Star Trek tour is always a great experience. It’s always a packed stadium.

There are always fans hungry for the music. Its always a great experience to be there”

sound quality of his songs. Apart from the general soul underbelly of his style, there is to be found in them traces of funk, soft rock and RnB with an inspirational pitch. Songs like I will be gone, Fly and Glory have a tendency to make a sparkling impression on the listener According to him:”Life is sweet but time is a thief. We have hopes and dreams which we pursue with the aim of finding our place in life. Through the hardship, through the pain, in times of sorrow, the delight of knowing that God is working with you, compensates for all that the circle of life has and can throw at you. These songs are a reflection of all that trek through life and I thank God for all the wonderful testimonies in my life”

— Black Magic

onto Dikeh, the self-s T shrugged off all the cotyled Poko Lee has ntroversies that seem to be wh

•DJ Lambo

irling und her to take her career to the next levaro el. has hit back with rel The actress/singer se of the visuals of her song Sugar rush.eaTh Dbanj with guest appe e song features arances from her label mates Deeveelee beautiful role interpret and 2Kriss.The acting skills as she plaer leverages on her ys the role of a waitress who does every power to get the atten thing within her tion of her crush.

Sugar rush is a love son g reminiscent of Dbanj’s Fa love, made in the days ll in of Mohits.The video is dir ected

by Mr. Moe Musa.

•Tonto Dikeh

30—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

•Femi and Seun acknowledging cheers from the crowd

Day Femi and Seun invoked ghost of Fela on stage!

E

motion ran high as expected on Friday, April 24. And everyone who thronged the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, venue of the “2Kings” concert featuring scions of Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti readily went home with the feeling that the legend lives on.

The Kuti brothers literally brought back the evergreen memories of the late Afrobeat king on stage. Mounting the stage after the supporting artistes including Adekunle Gold, Museba (cameroun), Simi, Ayoola, Ruby, Niniola, Rayce, Lil Kesh, Black Magic, Oritsefemi, Jesse Jagz, Jagadot, Seyi Shay, DJ Caise and DJ Jimmy Jatt had all taken turns to perform, Seun took the audience on a musical voyage, dancing, playing the piano and the saxophone as well as singing.

He started with “Opposite People’’ an original number by Fela, which he said he usually did at all his concerts as a sign of respect to his late father. But wild excitement filled the hall, when Femi came on stage and rendered some of his old numbers. Having shown strong commitments to socio-political causes, Femi delivered a very energetic performance, accompanied with a non-stop puff on his saxophone that lasted beyond 10-minutes. His performance literally brought the roof down.

But the audience went wild, clapping and cheering when Seun joined Femi on stage to do some dance steps and sing alongside him.

He prostrated before Femi, his elder brother to C M Y K

•Seun: Like father, like son...

emphasize that he (Femi) was the reigning "King" of Afrobeat music. They performed together their late father's evergreen song, "Water No get Enemy" which held the audience spellbound as they kept standing and shouting until the performance ended. The performance was the highpoint of the night. The duo invoked the ghost of Fela on stage.

"I have to do some clearing on the title of this concert. I don't know why it is titled so. But how can we say, two kings? It is like comparing the big Oba of Ife with one Oba somewhere in a remote Agbado Ijaiye", Seun had said.

To some of the audience, it was a happy reunion for the Kuti brothers who have been locked on supremacy wars over the years. Before now, Femi and Seun have never been spotted gracing the same stage. But last Friday's outing made the difference in their careers.

Recall that after the exit of the Afrobeat king, Seun as the youngest son of Fela inherited his late father's former band 'Egypt 80,' while his elder brother, Femi who started playing the saxophone at age 15 and eventually became a member of his father's band created his own band Positive Force in the late 1980s with Dele Sosimi (Gbedu Resurrection), former keyboard player of Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Though they had their differences in the past, they are the two commercially successful musical offsprings of the late Afrobeat king.

Reuniting on stage marked a turning point in the existing relationship between Femi and his younger brother Seun.

•Seun prostrating before Femi on stage

•Dancers at the event

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 31

‘I am the real Alobam, no yno’ nott Ph Phyno’

W

ho is the real “Alobam” in the country ’s entertainment scene?

This is a question that is bound to generate a lot of controversy in the industry any moment from now. But before you give up to rapper Azubuike Chibuzo Nelson a.k.a Phyno,actor Diamond Okechi has declared himself as the real 'Alobam.'

Diamond, in a recent chat with HVP, in Asaba, declares that he’s the real Alobam, insisting that Phyno was not the orginator of the name. Alobam, according to the actor, was a slag in Onitsha. The Onitsha people, he said calls it “Arubam”, meaning “my main guy.”

Explaining how I got the nickname, Diamond, who was on the set of Iyke Odife’s Igbo langauge film, “The Primitive” said, “I featured in a film, which is currently making waves in the market. After starring in that film, people started calling me Alobam nwa Aguleri. I played the lead role in the film. In fact, I was the Alobam in the film.”

“Everybody calls me Alobam within and outside the industry.

Phyno is called Alabam too. But the names came the same way. Phyno dropped a hit song, Alobam last year, while my film was released the same time last year. Between me and Phyno, I don’t know who is the

Actress Christy Ijele turns bricklayer

•Alobam

•Chairman of AVRS, Mr. Mahmood Ali-Balogun

Asaba, Benin film marketers back AVRS T

he recent public outcry against movie piracy may have triggered a resurgence of interest in the protection of intellectual property among film makers across the country who turned out in exceptionally large numbers at the stakeholders’ sensitization fora recently organized by Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria,AVRS, respectively in Asaba, Delta State capital, and the ancient city of Benin, Edo State.

It would be recalled that following its approval by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in November 2014 as the nation’s sole Collective Management Organization for audio-visual works, AVRS had kick-started its enlightenment campaign activities in February 2015 with Stakeholders’ Forum in Lagos to enlighten stakeholders in the film industry on the purpose, nature and operations of AVRS, as well as their rights and obligations to the Society, with a view to establishing cordial working relationships with various stakeholders in the film industry.

C M Y K

real Alobam because I acted it.

To me, I am the real Alabam,” he declares.

Diamond who joined Nollywood, in 2007, hit the limelight in 2010, after starring in the film, “Lost of Friends” and Nwoke na Ife.” He has since featured in other films such as Evil Money, Blind Hunter and Fifty Days with Christ among others. On his own, Phyno is one of Nigeria’s finest rappers who is renowned for rapping in the Igbo language. His debut studio album, No Guts No Glory, was released in 2014. It produced the singles “Ghost Mode”, “Man of the Year ”, “Parcel” and “O Set”.

Chosen for their reputation as active movie production hubs in the South East and South-South axis, the Asaba Forum attracted film makers from Enugu, Onitsha, Owerri, Umuahia and Aba, while Benin had participants from Agbor, Warri, Ekpoma and Port Harcourt in attendance.

Addressing the forum at the prestigious Orchid Hotel, Asaba, Chairman of AVRS, Mr. Mahmood AliBalogun traced the long and painstaking process of the formation of AVRS and various activities leading to its approval on November 20, 2014 by the Nigerian Copyright Commission.

The Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Richard Mofe Damijo who graced the event, expressed happiness that despite the initial delays in registration and approval, AVRS had finally commenced operations. He described the Society as “an idea whose time has come and the beginning of a new journey towards a greater tomorrow in the audio-visual industry”.

A director of AVRS and erstwhile

president of Film and Video Producers and Marketers Association of Nigeria (FVPMAN), Mr. Emmanuel Isikaku bemoaned the apathetic disposition of some stakeholders towards embracing new ideas. He made it clear that AVRS had become, in its short period of operations, the rallying point for stakeholders in the fight against movie piracy, and enjoined everyone to support the Society to achieve her objectives.

In his own remarks, Onitsha based film producer and marketer and director of AVRS, Chief Osita Okeke (Ossy Afasson) reminded his colleagues from the SouthEast that their failure over the years to come out and participate fully in the activities of the movie industry had given their counterparts in Lagos an edge, making the industry appear more like a Lagos affair.

He appealed to them to have a change of attitude or lose their benefits, as their laidback posture would not stop initiatives like AVRS from thriving. Other directors of AVRS who spoke in similar manner were Mr. Andy Amenechi and Mr. Patrick Doyle who anchored the event.

•Christy Ozioma Ijele on a movie set

R

ising On Air Personalityturned burgeoning actress, Christy Ozioma Ijele is charting a new course for herself in her chosen career as she turns a bricklayer to show the world her other side.

When photos of the dark-skinned actress trended early this week on the social media, Christy received accolades from her fans, even as many would not be fooled, believing that the photos were taken while she was on a movie location.

The photos which had the actress assisting bricklayers at a building site as a labourer generated a lot of controversy. Is it possible that the curvy actress would stoop so low to do menial job in order to make ends meet? But while the buzz lasted, the Enugu-based actress has since cleared the air when she wrote on her Twitter account, “Most of us in the make-believe industry would not do this menial job.When things have not advanced, we all went our ways to work, not minding the kind of job it was, at least to make ends meet.”

“I didn’t see it as anything, because I needed the money. When I tried it, it worked for me and I continued. In fact, I didn’t see it as anything, as many would make an issue out of it, " she said.

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIES AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP!

32— SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

My marria made me – Steph

*Talks about her and crisis

You have been away for a while. W happened?

I have been everywhere. I only reduced numbers of films I featured in a concentrated more on soap operas. And t was for two years. I have also been work on my talk show that would soon hit televis screen.

Can we say this is as a result of produc patronising younger actresses?

Not at all. Many scripts come my wa only accept to feature in quality a challenging films. The industry is big enou to accommodate every good actor and actr Every age has its role in movies. If I c take the role of a school girl, then I can tak role of a housewife. I have featured in films this year which will soon be in market.

What do you think has changed betw when you left the scene and now?

There was no time I left entertainm because I was writing scripts and doing ot things that were entertainment related. I o took a break from acting. Many things h changed. We now have better product better market, good technicality, well writ scripts and so on, unlike in 2011 when m film marketers almost went bankrupt. That gave room for the influx of poor productio We can still be better if we reduce the int of non professionals into the industry.

*Steph Nora

By ADERONKE ADEYERI Steph Nora Okere has always hugged the limelight, not only for her talent, which is top draw, but also for her readiness to pick roles some of her colleagues wouldn’t dare. Her roles in ‘Indecent Girl’, “Angels Forever’, ‘Lagos Babes’, ‘Sharon Stone’, to mention a few, shows how well this Nollywood beauty performs.

The Imo State-born actress who started acting in the 90s is wrongly perceived by many to have dropped out of sight but how wrong they are! she is ever present, working behind the scenes and looking to break into public glare again in a big way.

In this encounter, the newly elected Vice President, Screenwriters Guild of Nigeria, talks about the crisis rocking the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, her crashed marriage, her romance with Jim Iyke and lots more: C M Y K

Can we also trace the incessant crisi Actors Guild of Nigeria AGN to this?

Crisis in AGN is quite embarrassing disheartening. Actors are supposed understand human psychology better. Ac serve as mirror to the society but we finding it difficult to maintain peace am ourselves. During my tenure as the v president of the guild, myself and ot executives worked tirelessly to build industry. We made the welfare of our memb our priority. Things took another turn w artists began to get money from government and politicians. In a nutsh AGN crisis began when money was pla over artists’ welfare.

What’s your take on the present crisi AGN? There are two sides to this issue, legal artistic. I have heard many versions of side, one person won a particular election another group conducted another electi

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 33

age would have e a sad woman h Nora Okere

new television talk show s in Actors Guild

d the and that king sion

cers

ay. I and ugh ress. an’t ke a two the

een

ment ther only have ion, tten any also ons. take

s in

and d to ctors are ong vice ther the bers hen the hell, aced

s in

and this and on.

C M Y K

I can’t really place which is correct. I can only beg the court to be fair. On the other hand, crisis in AGN is a derailment on the part of the artists. We shouldn’t allow our personal interest rob the industry of its exalted reputation. Any one can be the president as long as he or she sees to the development of the industry.

AGN is not a political party. I am not taking sides but Ibinabo Fiberesima has been doing a great job. Dragging her in and out of court is like dragging the entire industry in and out of court. AGN crisis is stunting the growth of our industry generally known as Nollywood.

What would you recommend as preventive measures to avert future crisis in the industry?

All parties involved should come together and settle out of court. Let’s be honest to ourselves in the industry.

What was your first time on set like?

It’s was a new terrain for me and that was in 1994. I was already in a soap “Beyond our dreams” before then. But because I was used to acting on stage, I had to cut my gesticulation and some other things. But it was a good swap.

You joined the industry as a spinster.

,

What

You hardly can differentiate between a man who truly wants you as a woman because he feels for you , or one who wants to be seen with a known actress

,

Would you say this affected your love life?

I joined the industry when I was 21 and a graduate. Perhaps it did but I didn’t just notice. It’s possible a suitor was somewhere eying me but didn’t show up because of my profession. I was too engrossed in my career that I didn’t encounter one but there would have been someone like that.

After separating from Jim Iyke, you said you still loved him. Is it still the same till date? (smiles) Is it possible to live my life away from Jim Iyke? He wasn’t the first person I dated in life. (cuts in) The first in Nollywood?

So what? I want to be mute regarding this issue. He has never talked about me anywhere. We have an understanding and I don’t want to break it again.

Do you still have crush on him?

I don’t hate him.

Your marriage to Lanre Falana did not last. Why? I was never married but I was involved in a marriage process which got truncated along the line. Marriage begins with paying the woman’s dowry, traditional and white wedding. All these did not take place. My family didn’t support marrying a man who kept one woman in one place and plans keeping another one in another place. I attend Catholic church and the marriage process in Catholic, begins with the intended couples tendering a marriage certificate issued by a court to the church. This was the main reason we were in court in the first place.

Was it cultural differences that led to the break up?

Not at all. It was based on personal conduct and irreconcilable differences .

We were not living together. We had the court marriage in July and he went abroad September. Only for him to come back like a year and half later.

You said in an interview that you had no regret about your ‘’truncated marriage process.’’

That is because I am not a party to pretense. That marriage would have made

me a sad woman. I have learnt not to judge a book by its cover.

Any plans of marrying again?

It has not been easy. You hardly can differentiate between a man who truly wants you as a woman because he feels for you , or one who wants to be seen with a known actress.

Some men can go as far as taking a bet over you because you are a known actress. But when a good man comes around, I will settle with him.

However, my Bible has not told me I can not make heaven as a single woman.

Do you feel lonely as a single woman?

How? Because I am not married?

Why should I feel lonely? I have my family. I have brothers, sisters, friends and neighbours.

You seems not to be aging. What’s your secret?

I stay stress free by dealing with issues as they come.

Do you engage in other things apart from acting?

I am a playwright and a screenwriter. I package events for companies and individuals. I am also a film maker and producer. I am also

into artist management and production consultancy. At a time, I dropped a single which was aired on some radio stations.

So what style of music do you sing?

It is called soul music.

When will that hit the market?

Soon, but I have other things taking my time, like my television talk show, “The Lounge”.

What is it about?

I am working on my talk show called ‘The Lounge with Steph Nora’. The show is designed to celebrate icons that are doing things to project Africans to the world. The major target is to create positive role models for the youths.

What was growing up like?

I grew up in Lagos. I schooled at St Paul’s School, Ebute Metta. Later to Jubril Martins Memorial School. I had to relocate to complete my secondary school in Akwakuma Secondary School, Owerri I am from Ngor-Okpala, Owerri. My parents come from a little community called Imerienwe. I was just in class three when my father picked up an appointment with Imo College of Agriculture and we had to move to Owerri. That was why I moved to Akwakuma. From there I moved to Obafemi Awolowo Universty OAU Ife.

34—SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

V

ACCINATION of food handlers and food vendors is one of the requirements in the food industry essentially to ensure protection of public health. Health officials say it is mandatory for all food handlers to get properly screened and routinely vaccinated in this regard.

The reason is obvious. For instance, if a food handler is sick with a food borne disease such as cholera, typhoid or hepatitis A, the food prepared by such handler could be contaminated and thousands of people could become infected.

Although public health experts say old-fashioned hygiene especially hand washing with soap and water, is the best defence, the World Health Organisation, WHO, recommends that vaccines are available to protect more than 26 infectious diseases including food borne and water borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

The principle of food hygiene implies that there should be minimal handling of food items. Food handlers are thus expected to observe proper hygiene and sanitation methods as the chances of food contamination largely depend on their health status and hygiene practices.

Basically, a food handler is a person that handles unpackaged foods or beverages and is involved in preparing, manufacturing, serving, inspecting, or

Food hygiene: Eat right, eat safe

Listeria: Raw fruits, vegetables & unpasteurized milk Listeria bacteria can contaminate fresh as well as processed foods including yogurt and soft cheeses. Listeria can live at colder temperatures, so simply refrigerating these foods won’t kill the bacteria.

Symptoms of infection include fever, muscle aches, upset stomach, or diarrhoea, occurring two days to two months after exposure.

Safety: Scrub raw produce and dry before cutting. Store in fridge below 40 F. Clean everything in contact with a whole melon. Check the label. Make sure it’s clearly marked “pasteurized.”

Salmonella: Poultry, eggs, raw meat Salmonella bacteria can taint any food, although there’s a greater risk from animal products because of contact with animal faeces. In chickens, it can infect eggs before the shell forms, so even clean, fresh eggs may not be safe. Outbreaks have been traced to tomatoes, hot peppers, salad greens, and papayas. Vegetables grown in warm, humid conditions and often eaten raw or lightly cooked are risky. Infections can be severe or even fatal in people at higher risk.

C M Y K

•Securing optimal hygienic food handling practices

Safety: Thoroughly wash and dry produce, and store in the fridge at 40° F. Never eat raw or lightly cooked eggs. Cook poultry to 165 F. Keep raw poultry separate from cooked poultry and other foods. Wash hands, cutting boards, utensils, and countertops after handling.

E. coli: Ground beef, raw juice & milk E. coli lives in the intestines of cattle and can contaminate beef during the slaughtering process.

Ground beef is especially risky, because the bacteria can spread when meat is ground up.

Symptoms of E. coli infection include severe abdominal cramps, watery diarrhoea, and vomiting.

The illness typically develops several days after exposure and can be severe in vulnerable people. It lasts about a week.

Unpasteurized juices and ciders can harbour E. coli. The bacteria can also get into raw.

Safety: Buy only products that have been pasteurized. Cook meat thoroughly (160 F, no pink in the centre). Wash utensils, including the meat thermometer, with warm, soapy water.

Guidelines to prevent food poisoning

·Make sure that food from animal sources (meat, dairy, eggs)

is cooked thoroughly or pasteurised. ·Avoid eating raw or spoiled meats and eggs. Check expiration dates on meats and eggs before purchasing and again before preparing. ·Carefully select and prepare fish and other seafood to ensure quality and freshness. ·If you are served an undercooked meat or egg product in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking. ·Don’t let juices or drippings from raw meat, poultry, shellfish, or eggs contaminate other foods.

,

even packaging of food and beverage items. All food handlers are required to use proper hygiene and sanitation methods when working with food.

But food itself can pose a health threat, a problem that is due to difficulties in securing optimal hygienic food handling practices. The public health objective of food hygiene and safety is the prevention of illness attributable to consumption of food.

milk. ·Do not thaw foods at room temperature. Thaw foods in the refrigerator and use them promptly.

Do not refreeze foods once they have been completely thawed. ·Keep the refrigerator at 40 degrees Farenheit or lower, and the freezer at 0 degree Farenheit or lower. ·Wash raw vegetables and fruits thoroughly before eating, especially those that will not be cooked. Avoid eating alfalfa sprouts until their safety can be assured. Methods to decontaminate alfalfa seeds and sprouts are being investigated. ·Drink only pasteurized juice or milk. Commercial juice with an extended shelf life that is sold at room temperature (juice in cardboard boxes, vacuum sealed juice in glass containers) has been pasteurized, although this is generally not indicated on the label. Juice concentrates are also heated sufficiently to kill bacteria. ·If you are ill with diarrhoea or vomiting, do not prepare food for others, especially infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems, because they are more vulnerable to infection. ·Cook foods until they are steaming hot, especially leftover foods or ready-to-eat foods, such as hot dogs.

The illness typically develops several days after exposure and can be severe in vulnerable people

·Do not leave eggs, meats, poultry, seafood, or milk for extended periods of time at room temperature. Promptly refrigerate leftovers and food prepared in advance. ·Wash your hands, cutting boards, and knives with antibacterial soap and warm to hot water after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs. Wooden cutting boards are not recommended, because they can be harder to clean. ·Avoid unpasteurized milk or foods made from unpasteurized

,

SATURDAY

Vanguard,MAY 2, 2015—35

Breast feed more, risk breast cancer less I

t’s no secret that breastfeeding benefits babies. There is huge evidence that breastfeeding helps improve healthier immune systems and fewer breathing difficulties.

Breastfeeding is also protects the mothers’ health.

The longer the duration of breastfeeding, the lower the chances of developing breast cancer. Most women who breastfeed their babies and stop after several months, or breastfeed less frequently as they start to supplement with formula and baby food may not be as protected.

Studies that have found that breastfeeding lowers breast cancer risk have also found that protection builds up over time (that is, duration of breastfeeding) and number of children that are breastfed. Women who

have many children and breastfeed each baby for a long time seem to be at somewhat lower risk of breast cancer than women who have smaller families and breastfeed for a shorter time.

Women who breast-feed their babies and later develop breast cancer are less likely to have the cancer return or to die from it than women who do not breast-feed, new research shows.

T

hey are more likely to get the luminal A subtype of breast cancer, which is less aggressive, and breastfeeding may set up a molecular environment that makes the tumor more responsive to antioestrogen therapy. The

SEXUAL ISSUES & SOLUTIONS SEXUAL ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS PREMATURE EJACULATION (I)

P

REMATURE ejaculation occurs when a man ejaculates sooner during sexual intercourse than he or his partner would like Or could also be defined as an uncontrolled ejaculation either before or shortly after sexual penetration, with minimal sexual stimulation and before the person wishes. The man ejaculates before he or his partner would like (prematurely). This may range from before penetration to a point just after penetration and may leave the couple feeling unsatisfied Early ejaculation is the most common sexual problem facing men under 40. Estimates vary, but as many as 1 out of 3 men say they experience this problem at some time. As long as it happens infrequently, it’s not cause for concern.

You may meet the diagnostic criteria for premature ejaculation if you: -Always or nearly always ejaculate within one to two minute of penetration - You are unable to delay ejaculation during intercourse all or nearly all of the time - Feel distressed and frustrated, anxious and tends to avoid sexual intimacy as a result.

Hello, Viewden, I got a product called Prosolution from you some months back to help handle early ejaculation and it work like magic as it totally corrected my early ejaculation and since then I last longer on my woman and even go for more than one round when I want. I introduced it to a friend of mine and we have called your office several times but Prosolution wasn’t available, please when will it be available? Bayo Mr Bayo, Thank you for the comments on Prosolution and we are glad you got the perfect result you wanted.

Prosolution is now available and you can place your order at any time. But do let your friend know that Prosolution should be taken daily for two months to correct premature ejaculation and enable him go more than one round if and when he wants. Just like you know, Prosolution is herbal and safe for use without any side effects either now or later in the future.

My erection is very weak, and I’m slightly diabetic, please what can I take to enhance my erection as it is causing a setback in my marriage? Chief Udensi C M Y K

Being a diabetic man, it might take time before you get a suitable herbal enhancer that will suit your body and work for you based on the diabetic drugs you are taking which are having their toll on your erectile system. But the ones that we know has worked for men like you over the years are: Sevxoltz, Plant–Vigra, Libigrow to mention but a few gives strong erection on demand; but if you want to correct weak erection ultimately, I’d advice you take Vimax daily for two months. For best result, take any of the above with Cleanshield drink and the Gingko tea to give you a perfect result and also reduce your diabetes.

My sperm is watery and my semen is very small with low count and a friend of mine introduced Volume pills to me. Can it correct my condition? And can I get it from you? IK Hello IK, Volume pills is available and yes, it increase the volume of semen, improves the sperm count and motility; but it has to be used for about 2 to 3 months after which you go for test to analyze your sperm sample to see if you are improving and if you also masturbate, you have to stop, as it contributes to your semen’s quantity and quality.

Thank you Viewden, I use to snore heavily and it was so terrible, but since I got the massage pillow from you ,it has completely stopped and for serious pains in my waist , back and leg that I complained to you and you gave me the Vitamin soft capsule, Oligisacharide and the Cleanshield which I have been using for about three weeks now , the pains has drastically reduced, though I still feel slight pains sometimes but im sure if I complete the treatment for three months ,I won’t feel the pains again.

Thank you so very much and God bless you for helping people like me. Barr Omede You are always welcome Barrister. I ‘ll advice you use the Massage pillow for a longer period of time so as to totally eradicate the snoring issue from you and just like you rightly said, you have to complete the treatment by using the Cleanshield, Oligosacharide and Vitamin soft capsule for three months and im sure by then, you wont feel any pains again.

These are all we can take for this week. Adults who needs any of these aphrodisiacs can cal 08034666358, 07059294782 or place your order at www.viewden.com. For further enquiries,send an email to us at: vieweden@yahoo.com, viewden@ymail.com. Kemi Fawole (MD )

protective association was seen with any prior length of breastfeeding, though six months or more led to a slightly larger benefit.

The study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that in over 1,600 women with breast cancer, those who previously breast-fed had a 30 percent overall decreased risk of their breast cancer recurring. It was also found that those who previously breast-fed had a 28 percent reduced risk of dying from their breast cancer.

If a woman breast-feeds, she reduces her risk of developing breast cancer by about 5 percent to 10 percent, although other factors come into play, such as the number of children she has had. It is one of the first studies to examine the role of breast-feeding and breast cancer outcomes— prognosis and survival.

Overall, breast feeding is not only good for the baby. But has potential health benefits for the mother.

A

36—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 glamour model who showcases her curves in glossy magazines around the world has a new thrill-inducing hobby - freestyle skydiving.

Anais Zanotti, 30, who lives in Miami, first became interested in the high-flying sport when a friend recommended it to her.

Now the brunette, who has modelled for Playboy, GQ, Esquire and Maxim and has 35 cover shoots under her belt, is a pro who teaches other adrenaline junkies how to jump from a plane, thousands of feet in the air. The French-born model, who has skydived more than 1,350 times, said: ‘I love the freedom once you leave the plane - your brain stops thinking.

‘If I am having a bad day at work I just forget about it when I open my parachute. ‘I am so happy I scream - it’s such a thrill.

‘I have always loved extreme sports and when I was in France I had a motorcycle.

‘One of my friends suggested I try skydiving and when ten of us went I was the only one who said I was coming back, I became obsessed. ‘I watched videos, bought a suit, had a dream about it and when I woke up I called for lessons to learn to skydive properly.’ Her passion for jumping out of planes has transformed her social life too.

She said: ‘In the past I used to go out on evenings and spend the weekend at the beach - now I get up early and go skydiving.’

Anais, from Saint-Tropez, France, started modelling aged 16 when a photographer for a local magazine spotted her and asked for a shoot. From there her career boomed and she left for the US eight years ago to follow her dream of becoming an international model.

08 116759 759 081 6759759

From Playboy to parachutes!

Woman who hit Venezuela leader with mango A woman who bashed President Nicolas Maduro on the head with a mango has been promised a new house for her troubles in a surreal tropical tale that has gone viral in Venezuela.

The 52-year-old president was driving a bus through a crowd last weekend in the central state of Aragua when someone in the crowd tossed the fruit at him.

“It says: ‘If you can, call me’,” the former bus driver said later during the week, as he displayed the fruit with a name and phone number scrawled on it on television.

“Marleny Olivo had a problem with her house.

(Officials) called her. She

was scared. She couldn’t believe it was true. ... I’ve approved an apartment for you, Marleny, as part of the ‘Grand Venezuelan Housing Mission’,” he

Feast your eyes on this

T

hese pictures show Sufi Muslim holy men performing bizarre acts of self-torture at a festival to mark the death of a saint.

The annual Urs Festival sees thousands of followers of the branch of mystic Islam take to the streets to commemorate the founder of Sufi, Moinuddin Chishti.

To show devotion to their

C M Y K

faith, the holy men put swords in their eyeballs, pierce their cheeks and drive skewers into their backs.

The pictures, taken in Amjer in Rajasthan, India, show Sufis meeting for the six-day festival.

People can be seen taking photographs on camera phones as the men push knives into their own eyes.

Other parts of the festival include night-long singing by worshippers and the symbolic firing of cannons.

Unlike other branches of Islam, Sufis devote themselves to particular saints - a

added, vowing to eat the mango.

Venezuela’s ever ebullient cybersphere did not miss a beat, with the president’s populist gesture drawing concept other strands of Islam do not recognise. The Urs Festival celebrates saint Moinuddin Chishti, who established the religion around 800 years ago.

The march, which will see men self-flagellate with sharp blades, ends 75 miles away at a shrine in Bhadiyad. Sufism is a branch of Islam that traces its principles from the prophet Muhammad through his cousin and sonin-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Sufis believe that they are practising ihsan (perfection of worship) as revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad: ‘Worship and serve Allah as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you’.

Sufis consider themselves as the original true proponents of this pure original form of Islam.

admiration and derision, plus plenty of jokes.

“If for a mango they give you apartments, then you know what to do: throw him a pineapple!” chef had to be A talked down from an electricity pylon after

threatening to commit suicide because a colleague complained that his meal was too salty.

The cook, named Gang, climbed up the highvoltage pylon in a fit of despair after claiming he was scolded for more than 20 minutes for making a bad dish in Zhengzhou, China.

Firefighters inflated a

quipped Dolar Today, a website that quotes the black market for dollars and is hated by Maduro.

Like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, who died in

2013, Maduro collects heaps of petitions during trips, although most are scribbled on paper rather than hurled at him on fruit.

In a habit that delights many poor supporters but irritates critics, Maduro like Chavez - often personally gives away homes, appliances or pensions to low-income Venezuelans.

However, lacking Chavez’s charm and good fortune with high oil prices, Maduro’s popularity has plummeted since he took office.

“A mango shortage is coming, let’s line up to throw them at Maduro and get a new house!” one Twitter user joked

The bitter end huge crash mat under the pylon, while the restaurant called Gang’s wife to come to the scene. She tried to call his mobile in an effort to persuade him down, but he threw his phone to the ground.

It was only when the restaurant arranged for Gang’s colleague, Fang, to apologise for making the complaint that he finally

agreed to come down.

Firefighters used a ladder to bring him down after more than two hours up the pylon. Gang said: ‘He (Fang) brought a table of friends and I kindheartedly cooked them dishes. ‘But Fang scolded me for more than 20 minutes in public for making a dish too salty.’

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015—37

Mak e the cchange hange that Make will count in spor ts sports

...Moniedafe tasks Buhari in open letter

By JOHN EGBOKHAN

T

op ranking female tennis player in the country, Christy Agugbon has admitted that she feels like an endangered specie given the dwindling state of the game. Excerpts: How have you been faring since the last time you played a major tournament in the country?

It has not been easy at all because we do not have enough tournaments in the country. Most of us are idle, doing nothing, which is not good for a our careers. A times, I wonder if tennis is a sport in this country because the players are not seeing the gains of playing it.

we get to this point?

I am talking about my own era, which is nothing to write home about. It is not encouraging. It calls for serious action from all stakeholders and the companies in the private sector. They should come to our aid because we need their help. Government should look into other sports and stop the overconcentration on football because other sports like tennis are suffering and becoming irrelevant. This is not fair because we are are one.

Government should not put all their eggs in one basket because what happens if football fails and they now turn to other sports which they neglected?

There are plans to start the NCC Tennis Cup, which will run for more than 20 weeks.

Don’t you think this will change the face of the game, in some way?

It is a good development because tournaments are what we need to survive.

Without tournaments, we are dead. It is like fish living without water. We didn’t have enough tournament last year, which made most of us to suffer a lot but I believe that the introduction of the NCC Cup will help us stay alive.

As a senor player, how worried are you with the state of inactivity?

Tennis is not a known sport like foot\ball and athletics in Nigeria. Footballers are highly regarded in this country. I heard that in the past tennis players were the pride of the nation but when you look at the situation now, you will realize that things have certainly gone bad.

As the number one female player in the country, nobody notices me when I walk on the streets of Lagos. If Perpetual Nkwocha walks on the streets of Lagos people will be shouting her name, while others will run to shake her hands.

You can just imagine the kind of reception that Austin Okocha will get if we are to walk on the streets of Lagos. The other day when I went to the market, some hawkers pushed me out of the way without saying sorry.

That is my fate in Nigeria and I have accepted the reality of being a tennis player in Nigeria. We are facing extinction.

But it was not like that in the ’70s and ’80s, so how did C M Y K

•Agugbon

How are you preparing for African Games in September?

I am looking forward to the games but we have not started preparations.

Government only remembers us during the All Africa Games. My objective is to do my best and I have started training in my own little way The wind of change is blowing in the country,, so don’t you think tennis is overdue for its own change in leadership?

It is difficult to answer that question because what the officials are saying is that there is no money to finance us. I think what they need to change is their drive for sponsorship for tennis because they have not done enough to raise sponsorship for the game. If they put in more efforts, we will have more tournaments than we have now . I played about four tournaments last year,, so how can somebody say we are serious about tennis deveo lpment?

So I guess that you may not have any international ranking point?

Two years ago, I was out of the country and missed the Governor’s Cup in Lagos. Last year, the Governors Cup that was organised was a closed one without any point attached to it. That is why I am without a ranking point.

Tennis players facing extinction —Agugbon, No. 1 female tennis player

•Buhari

E

x-international and former Bendel Insurance star, Francis Moniedafe, who resides in U.S.A, in this open letter, sets the sports template for President-Elect Mohammadu Buhari, who he tasks to lay a strong sports legacy for the generation yet unborn.

His Excellency, Your election as Nigeria’s President on March 28, 2015 was both welcoming and re-assuring. We, the ex-Nigerian sportsmen, had hoped for a long awaited change not only in the management of sports but also in the management of the country’s affairs. We dreamed of it, longed for it, and during the campaigns we began to think that at last our dreams would come true. In spite of the initial postponement from February 14 to March 28, the elections came and it became a major victory for change.

Mr. President, I know you have an agenda for change as you have reiterated your plans during the campaign weeks and months and you have remained unwavering. I will focus my attention on the sports sector. It is a sector where your first coming as Nigeria’s Head of State back in 1983 brought Nigeria its first global trophy two years after. That was in August 1985 when our U16 football team won the inaugural U16 FIFA World Cup in China. That win appeared as a signal of your leadership. Here we are, exactly 30 years later, you have arrived again to lead Nigeria and an opportunity to signal a major change in Nigeria’s sport. As a close follower of Nigerian sports, you are aware that the sector has floundered time after time. You have voiced a need for change and opportunity beckons.

As you know, our floundering is not because there are no talents in Nigeria’s sports. Nigeria is an unending conveyor belt of talents in any sport, both individual and team sports. We have proven this intermittently and there is no reason why we should not do so in a more consistent and sustained basis. The change is a goal to achieve sports excellence in a more consistent and sustained basis. It can be done.

However, to achieve this is to make one conscious decision.

You must appoint a knowledgeable and ex-sports person at the helm of sports in Nigeria. We cannot afford another Sports Minister who has little or no knowledge of sports. A person who has not played sports at the top level, has not lived it, and has not sweated it may not help our sports. There are several Nigerian men and women who have played sports and who are highly educated. They are are highly qualified, and are committed to putting Nigerian sports in the position to achieve consistently.

These men and women can be found in both Nigeria and overseas.

Let me add that sports should not be considered as an afterthought as it has been construed in the past. Often, it was considered a place where political appointees who ordinarily are not fit for other portfolios may be sequestered. Sport is a field that has been critical to our nation’s unity, development of its youth, and to national pride. As you know, there are few things that bring Nigerians together as watching the country participate at the Olympics. Sport is a big tool for our national development in the schools and the competitive arena. Additionally, remember how proud all of us were to be identified as Nigerians after winning the soccer gold at the 1996 Olympics! Thus, sports is an important endeavor and one in which the appointment of who heads it must be well thought.

As you step into office late on May 29, 2015 remember that you begin a legacy that we hope will be long remembered after your tenure. The decisions you take will go a long way in determining that legacy. It is in that light that I have written this open letter to urge you to make the change that will count in sports. I trust that you will not disappoint. May God Bless you.

Sincerely, Francis Moniedafe Ex-Green Eagles and Bendel Insurance FC

38—SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE T once happened to our own Daniel Amokachi.

Voodoo men performed some magic and Amokachi believed them.

I

How Amokachi was charmed, conned He had been injured while still playing in Europe. It was such a bad injury that playing football again seemed difficult. It was at this time, shortly after the 1998 World cup in France, that the Voodoo men asked Amokachi to place an egg in a white handkerchief and crush it. He did and pieces of metal emerged from this action. The Voodoo men told Amokachi that what he had in his hand were the replica of what were in his knee and that detractors conjured them into his body. And they told him that sacrifices would have to be made to heal his knee so that he can begin to play football again.

The sacrifices included parting with money and cars which would be used to appease some gods. He was also to buy goats and fowls for more fetish injunctions.

And so began the swindling that cost Amokachi, the Bull of Nigerian football, hundreds of thousands of dollars he earned playing top class football in Europe. It was a sad chapter in his life.

“It can happen to anybody,” Daniel retorted when asked in an interview with Vanguard how he could be so tricked with his tremendous exposure at home and abroad.

“I bought the egg and handkerchief and they just asked me to crush it and when I did, pieces of metal appeared on my palm. It was difficult not to believe them,” he explained, repeating “it can happen to anybody if you knew how magical they were.”

Well, Amokachi lost so much money and materials but God has helped him recover mentally and otherwise from the con men.

And if Amokachi knows what Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayo is going through at the moment he would be praying for him to first escape from the hostage of his sorcerer before the question of recovery can even arise. ...Adebayo too, The big news from the British media a few months ago was that of Adebayo ostracising his mother, Alice, and accusing her of some kind of witchcraft that has affected his scoring prowess. The world was shocked but it was no shame to this man who has played for Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and now Tottenham and who, going by his age, should naturally be waning in his marksmanship. But the con men made him believe his mother was responsible. And he accused her publicly.

He had netted two goals in 12 outings for Tottenham before he went gaga with his accusation.

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•Adebayor

EMMA •Emmanuel Adebayor and

ADEB ...

... AND HIS SH JUJU STORY

My brother has been brainwashed – Kola Adebayo Last November, his elder brother, Kola, 42, a truck driver in Germany had to address the media in Europe to regret that Emmanuel had been brainwashed by “Muslim alfas who told him that our mother was behind his inability to score goals.”

Kola said that it was shocking that Emmanuel believed them. And rather than Adebayo struggling to return to shape he allowed himself to be overwhelmed by an imaginary fear of

witchcraft. Adebayo has not even been playing, what more scoring goals. He is more busy fighting imaginary spirits than struggling to return to shape and take up his place. And the fight against the said spirits is costing him money.

How helpful it could be for an Amokachi to reach out to this player who, in his own right (apology Atahiru Jega) should be one of the soccer ambassadors from Africa.

Later Adebayo said that his sister, Maggie had also joined the mother in hurting him spiritually.

The Muslim alphas (spiritual men), Kola said, convinced Adebayo that

Maggie and their mother “were using juju on him.”

The Adebayos are of Yoruba ethnic group in Togo. Alice who is in her 60s has remained heartbroken.

“Everyday she is crying,” Kola told the Sun on Sunday. Adebayo doesn’t give a hoot and was said to have sent her mother packing from the house in Togo. He has a mansion in Accra, Ghana, too and spends more time there than in Togo during holidays. He was to tell Peace FM, a radio station in Ghana, his second home “they say I sacked my mother from the house but

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015—39 it’s not true. She decided to leave. How am I going to be in touch with my mother if she is the one telling everybody that my work will not go forward? So, I’ll just be on my own and do my thing. They (his mum and sister) should stop talking and they should stop doing juju on me. They should leave me alone.”

Fans stunned Fans in Togo and Ghana are stunned.

Even in UK officials are embarrassed.

Even his club manager appears to be avoiding him. Which manager, in these modern times, would field a player who would blame witchcraft for his inability to score goals rather than his own performance? Adebayo is simply losing it. And he appears to be getting every foot wrong. Elections will soon hold in Togo and the clamour for change is high. Emmanuel Adebayo has been campaigning for the incumbent President and very blunt about it, insisting that President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe must win.

Gnassingbe became President in 2005.

He took over from his father, President Gnassimgbe Eyadema after he served as minister for two years.

In Togo, the feelers indicate that there may be a change if the elections are free and fair. Again, Adebayo doesn’t give a hoot. He is now more in the news for controversial things than the football the former African Footballer of the Year is known for.

AN U E L Mum

Unrepentant Adebayo Months after the Juju episode broke

BAYO: HO OCKING Stunn

ing details of his fetis h beliefs and h o con men ha w v e held him h ostage C M Y K

out in Europe and in Togo, Adebayo has not changed. We sought sources to feed us with more on this African star and were lucky. A family friend of Adebayo told us more about the outrage from Togo. It is a stunning account of a drowning player who needs help if not to revive his football at least to live and enjoy his hard earned money before the swindler appropriates all and renders him a wreck.

Inside account from a family source “It’s amazing that Adebayo could think that her mother who prayed and protected him till he became a man and star would work against him. It’s amazing that when age was on his side and he was a super star, banging in goals, he did not think that his mother could harm him. Why must it be now that he is ageing? What would a mother gain by harming her own son?

Adebayo is unbelievable. The mother rides on Okada (bike) but he bought a car for a comedian in Ghana. The mother is suffering and he doesn’t care.

She is poverty-stricken. He doesn’t help anybody in his family. The voodoo man told him that any money he spends on his family would be used against him.

He believed this nonsense. When Peter, his brother fell sick they needed financial help. Adebayo did not send a penny, not even when they needed about $100 or $200 dollars to carry out tests. The boy eventually died and when Adebayo wanted to attend the funeral the whole family refused. They didn’t want him to attend. Outsiders begged and he was allowed to attend. ‘’He came there and watched as if it was a football match. He never contributed a dime. They told him any money he spent would haunt him and he just came to watch and leave. It was unbelievable. He has declared war on his family. It is sickening. His younger brother Rotimi plays for a third division here in Togo and begs to do laundry job at the club to survive. And that’s the brother of a man who earns thousands of pounds a week. ‘’The voodoo man has completely changed his mentality. He is under a spell. And the voodoo man boasts about his control of the so called super star. He once boasted that he could command Adebayo to stay in one place and when people doubted him he lured Adebayo to visit him. He did and he asked him to stay in one room and never to step out. After long hours Adebayo was begging that he was hungry and needed to go fetch some food. People around were amazed that it was the same Adebayo that they see on television as a super star that was being so easily manipulated. ‘’Once, the voodoo man kept a live snake in one corner of Adebayo’s house and informed Adebayo that the spirits told him that his mother had sent a snake to his house as an act of witchcraft. The man took Adebayo to the corner and when they truly saw a snake there, Adebayo believed that it was his mum that sent the snake after him. The juju man had actually confided in one

•Adebayo in his Campaign poster for Togo President

man on what he did. ‘’His house help had to leave because he was seeing many fetish things in the house. He was afraid. So Adebayo is in trouble and needs help. But he does not want to believe that he is being swindled. How can his mother be against his progress? ‘’ It is even by the grace of God that the woman is still alive. The humiliation from her own child is enough to end her life but God is keeping her and she is praying to God to rescue her child. The voodoo man also uses intimidation. He once threatened Adebayo that if he went against his orders he would become a cripple. Adebayo cringed.

That is the story of Adebayo, the African superstar who has told the world that his mother’s witchcraft was responsible for his dwindling performance. A poor innocent woman hopes that someday her son will change and escape from the grip of those who have held him hostage.”

Family affair Foussena Djagba is in charge of Adebayo’s domestic matters in Togo and in Ghana. She has never commented on the saga and our contact was asked to reach her for comments.

Foussena said the Adebayo affair was a family matter that was being addressed at that level. She bluntly refused to make further comments. She also said that she was no longer Adebayo’s publicist.

Adebayo under Keshi When my contact in Togo first told me about the agony of Adebayo, I was disappointed but not surprised that the young man would be this vulnerable to men who claim to possess power through extra ordinary ways.

During the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup I travelled to Togo to cover their match with Senegal. Current Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, was Togo’s coach and had guided them well in the qualifiers. Togo made it to Germany but Keshi who piloted their affairs was surprisingly disengaged and he did not eventually take Togo to the World Cup. The home match against Senegal was one of his great moments. They won 4-2 in a dramatic match.

The story on Adebayo was while I was in Togo was interesting. Once, he broke camp rule, left camp on the eve of the match and returned late in the night, well beyond midnight. Keshi had made up his mind to decamp his captain and was planning how to call a press conference to tell the media what Adebayo did and why he would not play. Adebayo was said to have pleaded with Keshi and informed that his night outing was for the interest of the team and that Keshi should show great understanding. The night outing was not for any social matter. Adebayo exuded confidence in telling Keshi that “I went to guarantee my goals and they assured me that I would score two goals.”

Keshi was momentarily speechless and when he gathered himself together he excused him and dropped the sanction.

Interestingly, Adebayo scored two goals in that match. Keshi was stunned and would never forget that incident. Adebayo scoring two goals could have been coincidental and not by the power of voodoo and Keshi tried to stay away from their “ways” and concentrated on his coaching. But that incident during the 2006 World Cup qualifying games has never escaped my memory. It showed how Adebayo could be swayed by fetish exercises. Many years on I couldn’t, therefore, be surprised that he is being consumed by the powers that he assumed brought him fame more than his God-given talents.

Pity!

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 — 41

C M Y K

42 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

MAY DAY CELEBRATION IN PIX

•From right: Comrade David Ofoeyeno, chairman, NLC, Delta State; Mr. Mike Okeme, Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour and Industrial Relations; and Comrade Myke Arinze, TUC Chairman, Delta State.

Photo: Nath Onojake

•From Left: Speaker Suraj Adekunbi, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, Comrade Ogundipe, Special Adviser on Labour Matter to Governor Amosun, and Mrs. Modupe Adekunle, Head of Service in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Photo: Wumi Akinola

•From left: Comrade Idowu Adelakun, Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] Lagos State; Hon. Omowuni Olatunji-Edet, member, Lagos State House of Assembly; Mrs. Folashade Jaji, Head of Service; Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; and Mrs. Florence Oguntuwase, Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions at Onikan Stadium, Lagos Island.

Photo: Bunmi Azeez

•L-R: Chairman, NLC Rivers State Council, Mrs. Beatrice Itubo; Representative of Rivers State Governor, Head of Service, Rivers State, Mr. Samuel Long-John; and Chairman, TUC, Rivers State Council, Mr. Chika Onuegbu yesterday at Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke

L-R: Minister of Labour, Senator Joel Ikenya; President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba; and President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

•Dignitaries at the 2015 May Day Lecture organized by Silver Knights, Ibadan with the topic: ‘’Leadership, Institutions and Development: Disjunctions in the Nigeria Experience,’’ delivered by Prof. Oladipo Adamolekun.

•Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Kaduna State Council, along Nnamdi Azikwe Road, Kaduna. Photo: Olu Ajayi

•From Left: Comrade Emmanuel Ademokun, Chairman, NLC, Edo State Council, and Dr. Pius Odubu, Deputy Governor of Edo State. Photo: Barnabas Uzosike

•Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (right) acknowledging cheers from the workers, during the march past.

OLU OF WARRI CORONATION ANNIVERSARY

•President of the Christian Association of Nigeria CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, and the Olu of Warri, HRM •The Olu of Warri, HRM Ogiame Atuwatse II. Ogiame Atuwatse II.

•Chief (Mrs.) Rita Lori Ogbebor and Itsekiri women dancing.

C M Y K

•A cross section of some members of Eguoritse Social Club, Warri.

•A cross section of Itsekiri chiefs

•The Chaplain of the Palace of the Olu of Warri, Chief (Dr.) Mark Erumi (right) in a chat with the Senior Pastor of Four Square Gospel Church, Aghofen, Warri.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—43

ESCAPE:

Sights of Jigawa I arrived Dutse to meet a pleasant surprise. Well tarred roads, modern state secretariat, newly built high court, an airport and more. It was a city in haste to develop. Things no doubt, have changed around here and the current governor, Sule Lamido has seen to that.

The last time I was here was over two decades ago. I took time to go round the city and to talk with the Director of Press. This is the gist I came back with. Enjoy it.

Sawaba monument A major landmark in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, is the Mallam Aminu Triangle named after the very revered, late politician, Mallam Aminu Kano. The Mallam Aminu Triangle is like the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos where major political gatherings or labour rallies take place. At first glance, that is what it seems-just a place for rallies.

But located in the middle of the Triangle is a more significant monument known as the Sawaba Monument. It formed part of the 2010 Democracy Day celebration in Jigawa State. The monument runs deep with history.

The monument came as a result of a meeting of eight people on August 8, 1948. They were Babajiya Mainaja, Garba Dida, Mudi Sipikin, Abdulquadri Danjaji, Abba Mekauru, Bello Ijimu, Musa Kaula and Magaji Dambata. These eight people came up with what is now regarded as the Sawaba Declaration.

Sawaba by the way, means light in the Hausa language. The declaration seeks to establish an end to injustice, abuse of human rights, cheating and the oppression of the common man.

This declaration later transformed into the first radical political party in the north known as Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU). The Sawaba Monument is painted symbolically in the colours of NEPU which are green, red, black. The names of the eight men are written in the yellow line on the monument.

In order that generations to come will not forget the contributions of these leaders, the currrent governor of the state, who himself a keen disciple of Mallam Aminu Kano built this Triangle in their honour.

White Tricycle In Lagos it is called Keke Mauwa, in Abuja and some other towns it is called Keke NAPEP, yet in some other states, it is simply called, keke. But in Jigawa State, it is called Keke Mai kafa uku (bicycle with three legs) an improved version of the keke found in other parts

of the country.

During a town hall meeting with the Talakawa (less privileged members of the society), a woman pleaded with the governor for help for pregnant women who often had to take the risk of riding to the nearest health Centre during labour on a bike or what they call Acaba. The government’s response to this plea birthed this tricycle. They are dotted all over Dutse gliding down streets like beautiful swans.

•Sawaba Monument

Dutse International Airport Nestling beautifully in the middle of a vast expanse of land is the newly built Aminu Kano International Airport in Dutse. Laced with all the trappings of a modern airport, the project was built at a cost of N15 billion, a relatively cost effective budget when compared with some other airports built in recent times at more than twice this cost. For a state that had to depend on Kano State for aviation services for decades, the commissioning of this edifice is a thing of pride to the people.

The first plane landed on the airport on 5th October 2013.

Gawo Tree Dotted round the landscape of Dutse is this leafy tree called Gawo. Gawo is not like any other tree, call it the queen of trees and you won’t be wrong. This unusual plant I was told, blooms and sheds its leaf at different times with all other existing trees. For instance, when the Gawo tree blossoms, all other trees around shed their leaves; living the Gawo tree standing like a beautiful gazelle. And when the Gawo tree sheds its leaves, that is when other trees grow and blossom.

Now amongst the locals, a common question is usually asked. Natives often wonder where the seasons go to, where does raining season go when the hamattern begins and where does hammattern go when the raining season begins. And the answer is ‘go to the top of the Gawo tree, you will find it there’.

,

By Jemi Ekunkunbor

The Sawaba Monument is painted symbolically in the colours of NEPU which are green, red, black. The names of the eight men are written in the yellow line on the monument.

,

Rocky formation Like the city of Abeokuta in the south west named after the rocky nature of the place, Dutse, the Jigawa State capital is also named after the rocky nature of the city. In fact Dutse translated in Hausa means rock. These rocks are beautifully scattered around the city. The delicate way the rocks sit on each other is awesome and are •Rocky formations like little wonders all over the town.

They add to the aesthetics of the city.

The unnamed estate This estate is yet to be named. We found it however a beautiful place still unfolding. Home owners in this estate we gathered are leaders of Jigawa origin irrespective of political affiliations. As part of efforts to unite indigenes and to encourage them to own homes in their native homeland, the current, governor Sule Lamido, allotted this vast land to eminent leaders of the state and encouraged them to come build their houses there.

This initiative was well embraced and the result is this emerging estate with neat rows of houses artfully constructed. The beauty of this vast estate has also added to the aesthetics of the environment. The houses are modern and form what the new emerging Dutse will be. Call it an estate or a layout, with time, the name will be revealed. Whatever it will be called will just be good enough for this environmental beauty.

*Dutse International Airport

44—SA TURD AY Vanguard, MA Y 2, 2 015 44—SATURD TURDA MAY

Vict oria A dande dazzles @ 60 Victoria Adande

W

hen it comes to style Victoria Adande, former customer service advisor to British Airways certainly knows a thing or two and even at 60 the mother of three didn’t disappoint as she treated her guests to a superlative afternoon of fun and refreshment to mark her th 60 birthday. Many notable society heavyweights graced the occasion. Photos

by Diran Oshe

Denis Hotel marks 10th anniv er sar anniver ersar saryy in style

T

he management team of Denis Hotel, Abuja, led by the chairman,th Chief Euriel Chukwudum on Friday, April 17 hosted their associates and customers to a deluxe cocktail to mark the 10th anniversary of the hospitality outfit. It was a funfilled occasion that had guests frolicking in an atmosphere of conviviality. Photos by Abayomi Adesida.

Mrs Victoria Adande, celebrant, surrounded by her sons, Sola Adabde (l) Mr Victor Adande (2nd r) and Mr Laja Adande (r).

Chairman Denis Hotel, Chief Euriel Chukwudum; (r) with some guests drinking to a toast during a cocktail to mark the 10th Anniverssary of Denis Hotel, Abuja

L- R: Mrs Victoria Adande, celebrant, with Chief & Mrs Bolu Akin-Olugbade

L-R: Mr Moses Akeke, Mrs Victoria Adande, celebrant, Arc. Biobun Fari- Arole and Prince Adetutu Alagbe

Peterside Idah, wife bag doct orat e degrees doctorat orate L-R:Mr Kelly Jordan, Mrs Doyin FemiJohnson, chairperson of ceremony and Folashade Adesuyi

P

astor Peterside Idah, former Super Eagles goalkeeper, and wife bag the doctorate degrees of Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Divinity respectively from the th Theological Institute of South Africa on April 19 .

L-R: General Manager Denis Hotel, Mr. George Blankson; Abuja Advert Manager, Vanguard Media Limited, Mrs. Ethel Igboeche and the Public Relations Manager, Ms. Obiageli Ifeakandu

L- R: Chief Fasina- Thomas with Mr & Mrs Wole Odubanjo.

L- R:Mrs Idowu Anuka, Mrs Folake Lapite, Mrs Funsho Taiwo & Ms Enitan Akerele

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L-R: Chairman, Denis Hotel, Chief Euriel Chukwudum; MD Gefez Integrated Consulting, Dr. Ike Eziakor and the Sales Executive, Denis Hotel, Ms. Ngozi Okanmalu.

Pastor Peterside Idah and wife

Chairman Denis Hotel, Chief Euriel Chukwudum; (r) with some guests drinking to a toast

SATURDAY

D

ivorce is incredibly expensive, especially in other climes. Check out the figures. Harold Hamm, shale oil billionaire, paid his ex- wife, Sue Ann Arnall, about $975 million in divorce settlement. Anna Torv, second wife of media mogul, Rubert Murdoff, won $1.7 billion in assets and $100 million in cash in divorce settlement. American Basketball legend, Michael Jordan, paid his ex-wife, Juanita Jordan, $168m. Golfer Tiger Woods paid his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, $100m. British singer and songwriter Paul McCartney was a little luckier. He paid only 25 million pounds to his ex-wife, Heather Mills. These figures are humongous.

Beyond alimony, studies show “that divorce and family fragmentation cost American taxpayers more than $112 billion every year. The legal process of of these detrimental traits assume their divorce itself can cost thousands of spouses will change after marriage. dollars, not to mention additional legal Divorce does come with a trailer-load costs to enforce the divorce settlement of baggage. Beyond the financial agreement in some situations. implications, “studies suggest that Furthermore, both men and women divorced men in most developed suffer financially after a divorce.”But the countries have twice the premature financial cost of divorce does not seem mortality rate of married men, and to deter married people, especially divorced women are also more likely Americans, who have the highest divorce to die at an early age than married rate of over 50 per cent in the world, women.” A US research, though from getting entangled in it. There are inconclusive, also suggests that no available statistics on the rate of divorcees are more likely to have a divorce in Nigeria, but court records heart attack than their peers who stay seem to suggest that it is on the increase. married.

Divorces are caused mainly by It is also on record that divorced breakdown in, or lack of, communication couples often have homicidal between spouses, infidelity, (especially tendencies (with the ex or their spouse in Europe and America. Nigerian as the likely victims), or suicidal women scarcely divorce their husbands tendencies. Children from divorced because of infidelity, although Nigerian parents might experience depression, men are less tolerant of unfaithful personality disorder and divided wives), incompatibility and loyalty, among others. We do not have “irreconcilable” differences, unrealistic much database here in Nigeria, but expectations, immaturity, money from newspaper reports, the matters, religious differences, drug and confessions of many armed robbery alcohol addiction, spousal abuses suspects show they are from broken (physical, emotional, psychological and homes or parental care during verbal),drastic change in life style, formative stages was inadequate. We sexual problems, family and parental have also read reports of stepmothers interference. Ordinarily, some of these maltreating their stepchildren and in issues should have been resolved during some cases reducing them to housecourtship, but most times would-be helps. couples focus on temporary pleasures The Nigeria society has not quite and gloss over fundamental issues. The accepted divorce, so divorce is still a reality only dawns on them after saying “taboo” and a last option for many “I do.” Sometimes those who are aware

Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015 —45

Divorce is incredibly expensive couples. Some couples stick together even when the marriage has broken down because of the children, family and what people will say. I would rather they found the will and resurrected their marriages rather than cling to a dead horse.

Sometimes, marriage is a hot and stuffy kitchen, but you have to hang in there and look after your food (all that you have laboured for) or it will get burnt. Open the windows, install air conditioners; look for ways to reduce the heat (explore ways to make your marriage work). The truth is no marriage will survive in the absence of forgiveness, patience, tolerance, perseverance and sacrifice. or Christians, from the beginning the F Bible sets the tone on divorce: “a man leaves his father and mother and clings

to his wife and the two of them become one body” (Genesis 2:24). Jesus Christ then added: “ what God has joined, man must not put asunder ” (Matthew 19:6).

St. Paul amplifies further in 1Corinthians 7: 10-11: “To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.”

Marriage is tricky, so it is difficult to understand fully what goes on in the other person’s abode (uwevwirohwofabeno). So you cannot really “judge” people, but some of the reasons people give for asking

for a divorce look very flimsy on the surface. For instance, a wife asks for divorce because the husband is a spendthrift.

How is she sure her next husband will not only be a spendthrift, but a chronic debtor, drunkard and womanizer? Hang in there and help your husband curb his excessive spending, instead.

From every angle—financial, emotional, religious, etc.— divorce is an incredibly expensive business and the opportunity cost is usually enormous. In spite of all the negatives, there are a few sticking points. For example, what happens when you want to continue with your marriage, but your spouse wants out? I, certainly, will not advise anybody to force himself/herself on an unwilling spouse. One of the challenges of marriage is that only one party cannot make it work.

I will not also advise anybody to hang around in a marriage if his/her life is at risk.

Marriage is a sacred union, not a death sentence. My advice is that if it’s a Christian marriage, it should be annulled, that is, it is assumed it never took place because it is built on faulty foundations.

Some people also come out of miserable marriages and live much happier post marriage lives.

Notwithstanding the challenges, I still believe that like diamonds marriage is forever. Diamonds get finer through chipping and filing, so also with marriages. Every marital breakup diminishes the Body of Christ.

The Cobra:Tone the spine,abdominal,back muscles the upper part of the body. Draw the head far back feeling the vertebrae bend one by one, ie prone on the ground with your until the body from the navel downwards forehand touching the ground. Place the alone touches the floor. palms down, on the floor below the shoulders.

Feel that the entire weight of the body is Keep the elbows lose to the body. Keep the resting on the legs and hip (rear end of the knees together. Extend the toes back, spine). No weight of the body should be on pointing them to the rear. Pressing the palms the palms. Retain the pose as long as hard against the floor, inhale and slowly raise possible (from 20 to 30 seconds).

Concentrate on the abdomen and the rear end of the spine.

Slowly lower the body and exhale. Release the entire body to rest on the floor and relax with deep breathing.

Repeat the posture three times.

Technique:

L

•The cobra

C M Y K

Benefits: This Asana tones up the spine and expands the chest.

It also helps to set right minor spinal disorders. The abdominal and back muscles get themselves well stretched, thereby effecting proper circulation of blood into the regions of the spinal column, stomach and back. It helps to increase the bodyheat, promotes good appetite, removes constipation and increases the digestive power.

This Asana specially renders

the spine supple and elastic.

This provides good health, vitality and juvenility to the individual.

This Asana is particularly helpful for ladies in toning up the ovaries and uterus.

Main Benefits: The cobra is always practised as the first in a

•The cobra

series of backward bending movements. Its effect is to arch the spine back gently, promoting flexibility of the lower back in particular. The gentle pressure that the pose brings to bear on the abdomen also has a beneficial massaging effect on the internal organs.

Yoga Classes @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos. 9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

46—SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015 Aunty Julie, I’m a young man in the University and very good-looking. Eight months ago, I started dating a woman I met in the same University but she is married to an abusive husband. A little over a year ago, she and her two young children finally left her abusive marriage and she moved back in with her parents so that she could finish her degree, which will take just about another year. From the moment we started dating, her parents have made our relationship a nightmare. They are extremely controlling of the relationship, abusive of her and her children, and generally make it almost impossible for us to be together. I have a very hard time “just accepting” this behaviour for the next year. I don’t understand a situation where this lady after being abused by her erstwhile husband

juliecoker100@yahoo.com

I’m dating a married woman will start suffering a fresh one from her parents and what makes them think they can control us. How do I deal with this very volatile situation? Simon, Kaduna

Hello Simon, She has left the care of her husband to go under the care of her

parents and she is not financially independent. As a student, she is still under the care of somebody and in this case, her parents. I believe the reality here is that her parents are not going to change.

She obviously learned how to live with abuse by living with her parents. And you must realise that living at her parents house under such conditions is not good for her or her kids.

The question is, what are you going to do about this? And how will you support her in dealing with this situation? You have two choices: encourage and support her in finding the resources and solutions to her financial and housing problems, and help her move out or to put up with the situation, and eventually walk away because the situation is unbearable.

We don’t discuss our future together Dear Julie, I met this guy over a year ago and we have been in a monogamous and committed relationship. It is a very one-day-at-a-time kind of relationship and we never talk about our future together. We are very compatible spiritually which was the key reason for the development of the relationship. We did not have sex for the first five months of the relationship which has turned out to be one of the best things that has happened in a

relationship for me. We built intimacy based on who we are together and getting to know who we are.

My question is: I want to talk about future stuff how do I do that or should I even do that? I have subtly let him know what I want but it has never turned into a discussion about it... so I am wondering if you can help me through this dilemma? Do I bring up the subject or not? I want to live together eventually... does he?

Thank you.

Vicky, Abuja

choices if you want to continue to have a great relationship it’s really nothing more than manipulation.

If you do decide to initiate a conversation, here is some language that should make it pretty palatable to your guy: “You know, we never talk about our future, and I have been starting to feel like I want to.

What do you see/want for us in the future?” Good luck to you.

Dear Vicky, It seems you are ahead of your partner and ready for something he is not. You have two choices do nothing and wait for him to catch up with you or initiate a conversation. There is no way to know which choice is the better one. Listen to your gut on this one. Subtly letting him know what you want is not one of the

The past haunts him Dear Julie, I was going through a divorce and met a guy. He’s 37 and I’m 29. We dated a few times, knew we liked each other, but decided not to see each other until the divorce was final for the obvious reasons. Divorce is final and we have been hanging out together and getting closer. However, he seems to be haunted by his past.

He had a serious relationship with another woman (not the mother of his

child) for five years. She ended it and he was terribly hurt. Some times things between us are so perfect. But when we get close/ intimate, he seems scared and brings up the past. Its almost like he’s cheating on her or something. This guy is everything I want in a man but I’m worried (the gut feeling) that she still has a power over him.

Should I give this relationship

more time or just “see the light” and move on? Thanks for your opinion.

Ella, Benin City

Dear Ella, I am not sure there is a “light” to be seen here, at least not yet. It is pretty normal for a new relationship to bring up feelings from an old one. Now, you have to watch what your guy does with these feelings. He will do one of two things. He may confuse the present

with the past, and only allow the two of you to get just so close. If this happens to be the case, perhaps you should move on.

Alternatively, he may realize that a relationship with you is not the same as the relationship in his past, and share his feelings and fears instead of acting them out. If this is the case, you are on your way to building a solid, wonderful relationship.

C O C K - T A L E S The natural Look The other night, my wife and I were going out.

She sat there and put on eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, eyeliner, eyelashes, mascara, toner, blush and lipstick, then turned to me and enquired, ‘Does this look natural?

Friends and neighbours Emma and Bryan were staying at ‘The Red Lion’ pub near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District for a few nights. In the bar, during the evening, they became friendly with the hotel’s odd job man, Ian, and told him how much they had grown to love the area.

After several pints of beer and a couple of games of darts Ian turned to the couple and said, ‘My neighbour has a nice little cottage for sale, on the edge of the village, in case you’re interested.’

Emma and Bryan were excited and visited the cottage the next day and despite its run-down

appearance, they were smitten with the place and bought it straightaway, “as seen.”

Two weeks later, they moved in and naturally Ian came to see how they were settling in.

‘You got a good buy,’ Ian told them, ‘but the cottage needs some work though. Roof leaks, plumbing’s shot and the whole place needs rewiring.’

Rather taken aback, Bryan scowled angrily and asked, ‘Why didn’t you tell us that before we bought the flippin’ place?’

‘We weren’t neighbours then,’ Ian smartly retorted.

Marriage and the child Lorna Irwin was striding down O’Connell Street in Dublin, and coming in the opposite direction was Father O’Mara.

‘Hello,’ uttered the Father, ‘and how is Mrs Irwin this fine day? Didn’t I marry you two years ago?’

Lorna replied, ‘That you did Father.’

The priest inquired, ‘And are there any little ones yet?’

‘No, not yet Father,’ murmured Lorna Irwin.

‘Well, now, I’m going to Rome next week, and I’ll light a candle for you.’

‘Thank you, Father.’

A few years later they met again.

‘Well, now, Mrs Irwin,” said Father O’Mara, ‘and how are you?’

‘Oh, very well,’ responded Lorna.

‘And tell me,’ said the Reverend Father, ‘have you any little ones yet?’

‘Oh yes, Father O’Mara,’ answered Lorna Irwin, ‘I’ve had three sets of twins, and four singles: ten in all.’

‘Now isn’t that wonderful,’ rejoined Father O’Mara, ‘And how is your lovely husband?’

‘Oh, Basil,’ she replied, ‘now he’s gone to Rome.

To blow out the damn candle!’

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—47

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Money and power are strong H aphrodisiacs!

AVE you ever wondered how those girls with no particular good jobs and no comfortable mummy and daddy live as well as they do? How they managed to buy every expensive ‘aso-ebi’ going?

How they run to posh SUVs, and buy real jewelry, including diamo a craze?

But then, look at the man sitting behind a huge office desk, looking money-no-object one. But was his possession as much as bored as he writes yet another fat we did love each other for the bed in the room. He then cheque as one of such girls, prattles the first three years or had sex in spite of the fact I on. He is always just that bit too old/ so—at least, I thought we didn’t want to and tried to fat/foreign for the lovely creature in did. That was when I was fight him off. front of him to fool anyone that this rather naive and very “It was then I realized I is true love. But he’s got the money, dependent on him—1 was didn’t have any autonomy in she’s got the looks—and they both hardly earning anything the relationship. I think he want a little of what the other can at the time. He liked thought of me as a desirable, give. being the omnipotent and useful pet. He still I ran into Somi a couple of provider. It made him feel wanted me—to the point of weekends ago. She’s the eldest big. And I felt secured obsession. That’s not my idea daughter of a very dear friend and and cared for. of love. Love is for equals. We runs a thriving consultancy firm. I’d ”But when I landed a didn’t part as friends, and to seen her with a friend of hers a plum job in the this day it still hurts that I was couple of times and they were always advertising department of such a bad judge of character. nicely turned out. But I knew as of a telecoms company and “If someone thinks, rightly fact that the friend didn’t have a was earning a respectable or wrongly, that a woman is high-salaried job, but her life style amount, he didn’t like it only with them for the money, belied this. “She’s an actress you at all.

I think he felt— they’re not likely to treat them you enter into a “Women like rich men,” know,” Somi now said after I’d wrongly as it happens well,” continues Sandra. But observed Sandra a voiced my opinion. Really? You could contract then you that money was the only many men who lavish their have to pay. She was psychologist, “and it’s not have fooled me! l didn’t think the hold he had over me.

He money on women are really nasty to him but always because they can roles she’d played could fetch that tried everything to stop unwilling to admit this is the he had a good ‘shock’ provide for us what we much money. I told her. Then she me working, he even main source of their attraction. can’t provide for ourselves. opened up on the story of her friend, absorber! bought me an expensive As a male colleague, who’s “I became her It’s because money and Rita, and Martin, the man who car as a bribe for me to very successful puts it: ‘Just power are strong shoulder to cry on. He opened the door of wealth for her. give it up.

But mostly, he because a woman might get was besotted with her aphrodisiacs, and the “She met him on location,” she was just incredibly nasty some material benefits from strength of personality but didn’t realize that said. “A friend of the producer,he’d and I’m sure it was to being with a particular man, it if you try to buy a needed in the first place to dropped by out of curiosity. He was undermine my doesn’t mean to say that’s all obtain them is very person, they didn’t in his mid-50s, tending to fat and confidence.

I began to see she wants. She must actually think they’re getting appealing to some women”. balding ,but he was into oil and gas that he hadn’t got where like him. Surely? I don’t think Well, this may be so to start true love—they think (aren’t they all these days!) and had he was by being a nice money is that important. with at least. From when man.

He was utterly Not for him maybe. But she turned 25 to age 30, selfish and ruthless.

I when you haven’t got it, it can Ego, who works in think he genuinely assume an importance out of advertising lived with a believed that love and all proportion.

And women wealthy divorcee. “I’d business could be treated who are lucky enough to be always convinced myself in the same way. If you blessed with physical beauty that I didn’t find just the want something, buy it. are encouraged to capitalise money attractive, but then I “One night, after a on it. Good looks are a few houses in very choice you’re just buying their wouldn’t find someone particularly heated recognised as a passport out areas in Lagos. Within a few looks. Rita felt she was attractive in the first place argument, I went to the of a humdrum world. One months, he started taking her being used. So it didn’t if they didn’t have it in spare room to sleep.

He feels a sense of injustice when on trips abroad and they’d them to make it —drive, matter if she behaved simply came in, picked a lovely woman is too poor to stay in the very best hotels. badly because she was and ambition was the turn me up, and put me in the make the best of herself and He bought her designer on for me.

I certainly liked being treated like a double bed saying he’d grab the good life...” clothes and she was always whore, she would act the lifestyle, it was a spent so much on me I dripping with jewellery. Her like one...” new apartment was furnished by a reputable interior decorator and she didn’t ll this interest in exercising all need that much persuasion to that age, have a check-up every year shape. The object of exercise is to the time to be healthy and on give her actor boyfriend the even if the exercise doesn’t cause get your pulse up to between 75 and top of the world is very well, just as kick. you problems.

85 per cent of its capacity. A doctor long as you eager-beavers don’t “After three years, Rita said Thirty minutes exercise as well as can tell you what this rate is for you overdo it! According to a heart she realised she didn’t fit into checking weight and blood pressure after an examination. Build up your specialist, common sense jogging, Martin’s world.It was are important. The good news is that exercise rate slowly. If you’re going and exercise, are completely safe obvious she didn’t fancy him exercise helps dissolve the to jog, start by walking briskly and and beneficial to any reasonably either—she always cholesterol clogging up your arteries. gradually introduce short spells of healthy person. He however advises It can also help you keep your maintained she deserved an running. Don’t push your body joggers and other potential award for her performance weight and blood pressure under beyond what is comfortable. Don’t be exercisers to follow these ‘vital rules control. Jogging is not the only way whenever they spent time in too big a hurry to get it. to make their work-outs fun and together. There was no to exercise. Swimming and cycling Exercise alone isn’t the key to good healthy: common ground between are both very good, and are less health.

It is also important to reduce If you feel pain, stop. This is the them. She felt bad and out harmful to leg joints, muscles and cholesterol strain on your body. main danger of vigorous exercise – of place in his company and ligaments than jogging.

Exercise cannot cure or prevent you try to fight on after your body was embarrassed about it all.

Be careful of hot road and weather heart disease, heart problems can be starts sending you the warning pain She started drinking heavily conditions when you’re out treated only by a doctor. But a signals.

Ignore these signals at your from the well-stock bar exercising. healthy body can stop heart peril. Having a regular medical Martin provided. She began Running on the edge of the roads problems from developing. check-up is a must, especially if you to think she needed a can hurt your feet and angles and Exercising should keep you in tune start exercising at an older age. If boyfriend of her own exercising on extremely hot days can with your body and common sense you are healthy and younger than age.They’d have tremendous put extra strain on your ankles. should tell you when to seek medical 35, it is generally safe to start rows about it, but I believe Exercising three or four times a help exercising without a check-up. After that if you take things and week is enough to keep you in

Love is for equals

,

,

Ex er cise – when ttoo oo muc h of it could be harmful!

Exer ercise much A

C M Y K

48—SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

YETUNDE AREBI

It's all about grace

W

e call it fate, destiny or God’s wish whenever something happens to us, either good or bad. Often times when it is good, we attribute it to our hard work, long suffering and perseverance.

Or our excellent sense of judgment and choices we made while the religious attribute it to God’s grace and mercy. Misfortune has no brother and is associated with bad luck, ungodly attitude, bad decisions and choices, influenced by evil spirit and even ancestral curses. But these are extreme cases. Some people are in fact, of the opinion that this position is defeatist and implies that such a person has surrendered to the vagaries of external forces and influences without making enough effort to turn around their fortunes. There are also those who believe that events and circumstances of our life determine what we become or what achievements or misfortune come our way, while some others believe that it is the choices we make or fail to make that are responsible for these situations. It is also believed that by intuition, premonition or simple common sense, we can determine or predict future occurrences. For example, if you study hard, you will get good grades, otherwise you fail.

However, marriage and its success or failure hardly ever seem to follow these patterns. That you fall madly in love with each other before marriage is no guarantee that you will have a happily ever after, loving, blissful marriage, just as it doesn’t mean that strangers coming together in an arranged union will not succeed. Oftentimes, against all odds, great things do happen and make the success story sweeter to tell.

Marriage is said to be the only institution you get into after first obtaining the certificate of excellence before going through the courses. It is only after being certificated that one begins to learn and understand all that one needs to do to succeed in it. This is perhaps why it is considered a very serious and important institution that must be approached with utmost caution being a lifelong journey which may make or mar. It is because of this, that parents, especially older family members of intending couples tend to tread with trepidation when young couples step forward to announce their C M Y K

intentions of marriage. Families take it upon themselves to scrutinize their ward’s partner to ensure that they have not made a wrong choice and also to ensure that they have struck the best deal available for their children. So, they conduct their own research on the intending spouse and his/her family background, some even going spiritual in their bid. Unfortunately, it is not in all cases that these permutations work. A picture of a perfect couple may just be that, a picture and nothing more, while the most complex of circumstances and coupling can produce a most successful relationship.

According to Aunty Bisi, one of my sisterfriends whose daughter got caught in a very complex relationship some years back, “when my second daughter turned up pregnant, we were all surprised. Until the sudden development, no one had seen her with a guy.

She used to dismiss even the slightest insinuations of the idea of marriage, insisting that she was not ready. So no one thought she had a boyfriend, not to think of a sexually intimate one. But she was ripe enough for marriage having completed her Higher National Diploma in Catering and Hotel management and was running a confectionery shop of her own at 28 years. Since she was pregnant and the man responsible was ready to marry her, we had no choice but to accept her wishes and allow the wedding preparations to commence. This was when the problem began.

The boyfriend turned out to be a man double her age who was already married. You can imagine the shock. I felt dejected. There was no way she would have a proper wedding in the church. Besides, how do we face other members of the family and our friends that our young daughter was crawling into polygamy and we were helpless about it. What does she know about polygamy and how would she relate with the woman and her children? We were convinced that she was walking into a deadly landmine that she would live to regret.

She would have to live the rest of her life, watching her back. No mother would wish this for her daughter and as for me, I did not know anywhere to go for spiritual consultation and I was not prepared to start at that stage of my life to indulge in such things. So, we were all against the wedding. But when she told us that the man’s wife had not yet been blessed with a

child after several years of marriage, it was only natural that we changed our position.

There was no way we would deprive a family of their joy at that point. So we insisted that she would have the child and give it to the father to raise and she can find a young man of her own. But she refused. The man and his wife too did not help matters, insisting that there would be absolutely no problems and that my daughter was in safe hands. We eventually agreed, not knowing that there were still many twists and turns to the whole story.

My daughter had always been a quiet and secretive child, but I never suspected she could get as low as that level in my wildest dream. A few days to the wedding, she told me she had something very important to share with me about her husband and that she would not forgive herself if she did not inform me before the wedding. My daughter said she was not going to be the man’s second wife as we had all been made to believe but his third wife! The first wife had divorced him and taken their four children away to America several years ago. He married the other woman who had no children after that. So, why had she kept this until now? So, her child would not be the man’s first and her children, his only children? They would have siblings, much older than them to defer to. Ah! This girl has finally killed me, I wailed”. On hearing this, my older daughter who was already married insisted that she would not be attending such a wedding and called her younger sister a greedy home breaker who wanted to reap where she did not sow. Everyone except for my husband insisted that the wedding should be called off to save her from the obviously impending doom. She was young, hardworking and could start afresh. But her father insisted that since it was her wish, we could only support her with our prayers. I warned her that any child who refuses the counsel of the parents has only dug his or her own grave. She had laid for herself a bed of roses and must learn to lie with the thorns in them. When her marriage fails as it was bound to, she should look at the four walls of this house and know that she has no place in it. I felt hurt and helpless. I wanted something else, something better for her but there was no way I could make it happen if she was so hell bent on killing herself.

The marriage has survived over 13 years now and is blessed with three children aged 13, 11 and seven years and she couldn’t have had it better even with a younger man.

The man dotes on her and the children and has been a good son -in-law to us too. Like every couple, they have their challenges, but have never given us cause for worry. More than ever before, marriage is now a very delicate and complicated institution. It takes more than boy meets girl, they look good together, they have similar backgrounds and religion, so they are perfect for each other.

Therefore, parents can fold their hands and go to sleep. For marriages to survive, it takes the grace of God and the determination of the couple (two people, not one) to make it work. So, when our children turn up with their choices, even though we may have our reservations, we can only advise them. Point out areas where they need to improve on to make life better for them. Then pray for them. We must accept the fact that everyone will each make mistakes and grow from there”. Do have a wonderful weekend!

LATEST COUPLE This is to wish Tega and Danladi Andeyaba a very happy and successful married life as they are joined together today in holy matrimony. May the good Lord shine his countenance upon you and make your marriage a fruitful and blessed one. Do have fun guys!

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—49

Trader survives Boko Haram, loses life to armed robbers •Tension mounts as residents raise alarm over incessant attacks

BY CHINENYEH OZOR, Nsukka

A

24-year-old trader, Chinedu Eneje, who fled from the Northern part of the country in order to save his life from the onslaught of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, has, unfortunately, been killed by armed robbers.

He was killed a few days after returning to the warm embrace of members of his family by bandits who laid siege to the Adani/Nsukka Expressway in Enugu State.

The development has raised tension in the area following complaints of constant attacks by armed robbers on the expressway which is now like a deathtrap to all the residents of the area and travellers.

The unending robbery operations along the road have resulted in the deaths of no fewer than ten people in the last three months.

The bandits unleash mayhem on travellers at ease, without let or hindrance by security operatives or members of vigilante groups.

Investigations showed that just a week before the killing of the young man, a commuter bus conveying passengers from Adani to Nsukka was attacked and one of the passengers on board was shot dead while the driver sustained gunshot injuries on the left hand.

How the robbers attacked Narrating how the latest incident took place, the driver of the commuter bus, who gave his name as Ifeanyi Ogba, told Crime Guard that the attack was his third experience along the road, adding that the robbers blocked the road along a sharp bend near Ikwuoka, emerged from the bush, ordered everybody to lie flat on the ground and robbed them one after the other. They also took their luggage and dashed into the bush.

“The robbers fired their guns immediately we were stopped, shot me in my left hand while a stray bullet pierced and killed the passenger seated beside me in front of the bus. He died before we could reach Bishop Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka where his corpse was deposited,” he recounted.

Investigations revealed that armed robbers carry out incessant raids on the expressway. It was gathered that during such raids, they rape, maim and harass passengers and inhabitants of the area without checks by either the local vigilante or Adani Police Division that normally claim they were on top of the situation each time there was a robbery incident along the road.

Vigilante failure Furthermore, the Chairman of UzoUwani Local Government Council, which the expressway traverses, Cornell Onwubuya, had reportedly, C M Y K

•IGP ARASE at a town hall meeting of the council last year, inaugurated Police Assisted Neighbourhood Watch to join hands with the Police in patrolling the road.

The initiative lasted only for some months as the vigilante group were allegedly not mobilized.

Based on this, armed robbers cashed in on the near-complete lack of security to continue maiming and killing unsuspecting travellers and inhabitants of the area.

Following this development, a veteran journalist and the traditional ruler of Ukpabi/Nimbo, Igwe John Akor, has called on the Acting InspectorGeneral of Police, Solomon Arase, to urgently address the rising spate of deaths being recorded on the expressway with a view to saving lives and stopping permanently, the harassment and dehumanization of farmers in the area.

According to him, “Our people are known to be great farmers and we are the food basket of Enugu state and beyond. In spite of our consistent cries for the rehabilitation of the highway which was last tarred by the Obasanjo regime, we are still being subjected daily to the menace of dare-devil armed robbers. Bandits have been unleashing terror constantly on the expressway and no concrete steps have been taken to stop this ugly development. The in-coming government of Buhari should give this issue the urgent attention it rightly deserves; else they may succeed in killing all of us.”

Call for security, road repairs

•Gov-Sullivan-Chime In the same vein, a human rights activist and information and communication officer of the Legal Aid And Self-Development Initiative, LASDI, Hon, Simon Okechukwu, also called for urgent attention to be focused on the road by not only providing adequate security to man all strategic points but carrying out a total rehabilitation of the very important road that leads to food producing towns in the state.

“This will be one of the first bold and commendable steps to be taken by the Buhari regime because he assured us that he will lay emphasis on food production. Obasanjo did not waste time during his tenure in tarring the road but it has gotten so bad that a journey of barely an hour now takes up to three hours and robbers capitalize on this to operate freely there.

“At the peak of Christmas celebrations last year, bandits took over the road on the 24th and ended up killing one of our daughters coming home from Lagos. I gathered that the skeletal security we notice there is by the grace of the Police Area Command, Nsukka who, at intervals, send men to patrol the road. Even during last Monday’s robbery incident in which Chinedu Eneje was shot dead, it was still the Area Commander’s team that was sighted running round to deposit the corpse at the mortuary and to ensure treatment of the wounded driver,” he stated.

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SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015—53

hen Guinness W N i g e r i a launched Orijin in

August 2013, many were skeptical about how well the brand would perform in the ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage category in Nigeria. Interestingly however, Orijin, a blend of African fruits and herbs mixed with alcohol came through as the toast of consumers who appreciate efforts put into producing such an iconic brand.

However, analysts believe Orijin may face a formidable competition with the introduction of Ace Roots from the stable of Nigerian breweries.

Other bitters brand such as Alomo and Agya Bitters have also stepped up their game for what is now turning into an interesting brand war.

In this chat, the Marketing and Innovation Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Gavin Pike, explained what has been responsible for the success of Orijin and steps taken by the company to ensure the brand maintains top quality and its status as the consumers’ choice.

Excerpts Market analysts still marvel at the continued acceptance of Orijin by consumers in Nigeria despite competition, what would you attribute the success to?

Orijin, a bittersweet alcoholic blend is made of 100% natural herbs and fruits. Orijin celebrates the vibrancy of African culture and consumers now see Orijin as the traditional drink for modern Nigerian men. Orijin has exceeded our expectations, people are incredibly keen to spread the word and encourage others to try it. Herbs are a really important part of Nigerian’s lives, Orijin has provided herbs which fits into different consumption occasions.

Innovation has been a major part of Guinness’ business, what has been your driving force? And beyond

Extensive research, devt secret of Orijin success----Pik e ----Pike Orijin, what more should consumers expect from Guinness Nigeria in the near future?

Any new innovation from Guinness Nigeria only gets to the market after extensive research and development has taken place to determine what the consumer really wants. Orijin is no exception. The drink meets the needs of Nigerians who want to enjoy the benefits of contemporary lifestyle without necessarily compromising on their African traditions. We will continue to innovate to meet the needs of our consumers.

Interestingly, the word “original” is now synonymous with the Orijin brand in Nigeria, what is your opinion on such a unique synergy?

We have seen great adoption of Orijin from consumers, many of whom have dubbed themselves “Orijinals”.

Any one of them will tell you that ‘If e no be Orijin e no be Orijinal’, and we respect that position by remaining true to our promise.

Due to its successes, many have expressed fears on the possible adulteration of their preferred Orijin brand. What have you done to mitigate the possibilities of this occurrence?

We have not come across any case of adulteration of the brand but we will encourage anyone who has concerns to look out for the Guinness Nigeria mark of quality on the packaging – like I said earlier, ‘If e no be Orijin e no be ‘Orijinal’. In addition, we have a robust

brand assurance process that handles any counterfeit related issue should it arrive.

On the suggestions that NAFDAC should tighten its regulation on bitters production and sales in Nigeria do you think the regulation, as it is presently is adequate for the market?

A while ago, the Director General of NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) Dr. Paul Orhi visited our facilities; particularly the Orijin site and he commended us on the level of quality of the plant and the products being produced

by Guinness Nigeria Plc. We align with the steps of the government and its agencies and as a r e s p o n s i b l e organization, we will do all we can to ensure the safety of our esteemed consumers.

The use of Aspartame by some brands as artificial sweeteners has been a big concern, what

Gavin Pike

do you think of this?

Orijin has no artificial sweeteners.

Orijin contains a safe level of

sugar, a natural sweetener, which has endorsement of relevant regulatory agencies in Nigeria.

CSR as IDL ’s impe tus ffor or business IDL’s impetus gr owth growth

By Princewill Ekwujuru

C

Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Kayode Opeifa, flanked on the left by ANCO President, Mr. Siyanbola Oladapo , and other ANCO members, during a courtesy visit to the commissioner’s office, Alausa, Lagos, presenting a plaque to him in recognition of his stewardship well rendered to the state.

God Owned Business FForum orum inaugurated I

n order to promote business growth and development among member companies as well as open channels for fair trade and investment within the country and in diaspora, God Owned Business Forum has been inaugurated to mitigate business challenges.

God owned business forum is an association of companies and businesses managed by God’s people.

According to the founding President, Prof. Chris Onalo, we serve as official business networking association for all companies owned and managed by Bible practicing christians whose live styles truly reflect the words and ways of God, whose business success and strength is derived from the practice of faith in the word of God. He said further that, “we seek to inspire our members to conduct their businesses, and their business lives in the context of

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God’s glory and purpose. We seek to contribute to godly business practices in Nigeria and the world. We service as a clearing and facilitating house for all our members in good standing on matters relating to access to credit or loanable funds for business financing but without being a surety.”

Onalo, in addition said, we seek to play advocacy role by opposing or supporting economic, business, social and political matters, policies or legislations that affect business and the interest of our members and their businesses.

“We seek to promote, motivate and grow our member ’s businesses and foster business relationships through constant networking events, programmes and multimedia communications via the institution of relevant programmes capable of growing our members business as regularly as annual, monthly or weekly.”

orporate social responsibility, CSR, as a rapidly developing key business issue is a concept that has attracted worldwide attention. Due to the demands for enhanced transparency and corporate citizenship, CSR embraced social, ethical, as well as environmental challenges.

Today, companies are aware of the social and environmental impacts of CSR agenda. This agenda has a close relationship with community development, CSR within multinational companies is seen as a vehicle through which larger, well known companies can contribute to the well being of communities by operating responsibly in terms of social and environmental issues.

Global brands like Coke, Nike, KFC, Guinness, Shell, Mobil, are often under intense pressure from the public. Much of those pressures are due to their unethical behavior in developing countries.

Today, some companies in Nigeria are aware of the unethical behavior of some of these global brands, thus have deviated from their ways, and Intercontinental Distillers Limited, IDL is one .

However, the 21st century has seen much advancement in the issue of CSR, and there has been particular interest in the impact CSR have globally.

That was why IDL producers of Veleta, Action Bitters, when approached by His Royal Majesty, Oba Samuel Ojugbele, the Onilogbo of Ilogbo, the company did not hesitate to jump on the opportunity to construct a block of four classrooms and two offices for Ilogbo Asowo Community High School. Ilogbo, Ota, in Ogun state, aside other projects it has carried out within the area.

However, the congestive and deplorable state of the sitting arrangement of the students drew the pity of the company, who promised to make additional donation to cushion the effect of the congestion. Before now, the students sit about 100 in a classrom.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Managing Director/CEO of IDL, Chief Peter

Anegbe, said; “it is our most sincere belief that this project will go a long way in contributing to the growth and improvement in the standard of education in “our society.”

A good and conducive environment is a prerequisite for effective learning and quality education, quality education offers our children the best opportunity in life to realize their dreams and become the leaders of tomorrow.

The Onilogbo on his part who clocked 72 year s on the day of the commissioning, noted that he had made a passionate appeal to the company to provide more classrooms and offices for the school to cater for the ever increasing population of the school.

His words, “I am happy that this block of classrooms is commissioned today as a special birthday gift to me, he however prayed for the continued growth of the company. This gesture will go a long way to ameliorate the problems of the students.”

He stated.

Principal of the school, Pastor Femi Awosode, said the gesture by IDL was a way of contributing their quota to the to the development of education, ‘’not only in this community or state alone, but to the national level, because this have a way of cascading to the projection of what we expect as an ideal environment for teaching, learning to take place.”

“We will welcome other organizations, IDL has taken the lead, we want others to follow, as you can see we expect more buildings to accommodate the number of students we have, so that we can create very conducive learning environment for our students.”

A student, Olowolafe Abimbola, an SS1 student, said he is happy to witness the completion of the classrooms.For Afolabi Samuel, a JS2 student, this is the best building in the school compound, no one has ever thought of it, if not for the Oba, he however prayed that IDL grows in strength.

54—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

BY LAJU IREN 07017860213 ELLEJAYMEDIA@YAHOO.CO.UK

•e-learning centre

BY LAJU IREN

1

0.5 million Nigerian children are out of school; this is the highest number in the world. For the ones who are in school, the story is not entirely better. According to a recent report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, Nigeria is one of the countries wasting money on education because many of the children in school are not learning. The situation is not much better at the tertiary level; while employers complain that many graduates of Nigerian institutions are half baked, there are thousands more that cannot make it through the admission bottleneck.

Two words seem to sum up a significant proportion of the challenges that the Nigerian education system is faced with: access and quality. Though these challenges seem insurmountable, experts are now turning to Information and Communication Technology, ICT for a solution. Leading this call last weekend was the Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof. Charles Ayo. According to Ayo, ICT is the panacea for development problems, education inclusive.

Expounding on the paper: Eeducation: Critical impacts on learning and human intelligence, at The Hayford Alile Foundation annual lecture, the Professor of Computer Science said: “There is definitely a need for more universities, so the intervention of private universities is timely.

However, with the issue of inadequate manpower, do you think more universities is the answer? We must look for a solution in Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCS. The Asian tigers started like that.

The National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, for instance, has about 300,000 students.

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Can e-learning reduce education’s greatest burdens?

That is a good start and we can improve on that. Although the students meet physically one in a while, this is much more than any single University can take at once. We may not be switch online totally, so an integrated approach is necessary. Government should be able to sit down, think through, and come up with the best approach for our country.’

The rationale behind e-learning is such that individuals within disparate remote locations can acquire education through the use of ICT. Digital content, capacity building in training and research, technology and network infrastructure, local capacity and community support are all important features to be considered for this to work effectively. Apostle Hayford Alile, in whose honour the lecture was held, had this to say: The quality of education in Nigeria is currently very low. If we want to improve on it, it will cost a lot. That is why we decided that today’s paper will focus on eeducation that the only way to cut the cost of quality education. Through Public-Private Partnership, Policies should be put in place to make this possible.

Online education is becoming popular as a way of offering massification of education, but the responsibility for e-education does not fall on government alone. Stakeholders at the lecture spoke on the need for Public-Private Partnership to get things done. This is especially important to accomplish the CU-VC’s vision of a

National e- Education Portal.

‘Multiple interfaces of the national e-education portal include Mobile devices, web/ internet, video/teleconferencing, SMS, TV/Radio. The goal of a national education portal is to deliver information, curriculum and support materials to the Nigerian schooling community, particularly at the primary and secondary school levels in order to raise the intellectual capacity of the citizenry through multimedia learning. The portal will offer support for both formal and informal education using a variety of multimedia learning paradigms via several ICT platforms such as the internet, mobile devices, television and radio’ said Ayo. Although this has been done in order climes such as India and South Africa, accomplishing it in Nigeria will be no walk in the park. The same issues of access and quality which the education sector is faced with can also be said of ICT, albeit on a smaller scale. The 10.5 million children who do not have access to school are less likely to have access to the internet. There is also the challenge of constant supply which ICTs need to succeed. In response to these, Ayo not only calls on government to live up to their responsibilities of providing

infrastructure, but hammers on private individuals and organizations to join hands as well. He also reiterates the need to go the mobile way, hence the term m-education. In a world of about 7.3 bn people, there are currently about 6.9 bn mobile lines; although the specifications are still worked out by experts, some learning can take place with those.

SCHOOL CRACKS A student comes to a young professor ’s office hours. She glances down the hall, closes his door, and kneels pleadingly.”I would do anything to pass this exam,” she says.She leans closer to him, flips back her hair, and gazes meaningfully into his eyes.

“I mean,” she whispers, “I would do anything...”He returns her gaze, “Anything?””Anything.”His voice softens, “Anything?””Anything,” she repeats again. His voice turns to a whisper. “Would you ... study?”

A student burst into his professor ’s office and says; “Professor, I don’t believe I deserve this F you’ve given me.”

To which the Professor replied, “I agree, but unfortunately it is the lowest grade the University will allow me to award.” culled from www.ajokeaday.com

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—55

Continues from page 19 to work’ on election days. It ‘failed woefully’ during the Presidential and National Assembly polls in most PDP states until Jega was compelled to authorise manual accreditation when no such mass failure rate was reported in the opposition controlled states particularly in the northern part of the country. Two extreme cases in Daura, Katsina State where Muhammadu Buhari reported for voting and Otuoke in Bayelsa State where President Goodluck Jonathan and Dame Patience Jonathan were slated to vote, would suffice. In Daura, the SCR seamlessly accepted GMB’s and Aisha’s fingerprints within seconds and they went home while in the latter, the ‘sensitive machines’ stubbornly refused to accept the fingerprints of the president and Mama Peace, leaving them standing on the sun as common citizens for close to half an hour.

The scenario was simply frustrating, confusing and provocative to the president’s minders and those who watched the disappointment on their faces. But most disappointing was the INEC official, who appeared as if he was handling a Rocket Science apparatus that could easily explode to consume him: he was helpless.

As at today, nobody knows what happened to the machines in Otuoke and other PDP states.

Were they jammed by malevolent elements to embarrass the first family or was it just an innocent coincidence that nobody had envisaged? A Correspondent of one of the leading Tv stations in Nigeria, attached to the Presidential Villa almost gave an inkling of what was to happen during the accreditation during a live transmission of the event, when he warned his anchor man, not to disconnect from the location but to ‘just stay on and watch and see what is going to happen”. It was a warning loaded with meanings,

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When euphoria of Buhari 's victory covered INEC flaws which most people did not take seriously until the ‘failure’ occurred, to the chagrin of all.

Where is the SCR magic?

For all the benefits and promises which INEC said the SCR would contribute to making rigging impossible in the last election, the cards simply could not significantly stall mass rigging in most states where the governors had already connived with compromised security agents, INEC officials and thugs to deliver a premeditated results to prove that they were in charge or were working for ’our son’.

Those governors simply made a ship wreck of the card readers and still rolled out impossible figures for INEC to announce at the end of the day. They slapped Jega on the face with their actions. After failing to browbeat Jega to abandon the smart card, the governors gladly sought and obtained the support of security agents to back their well-trained thugs and party agents to make a mockery of the cards. In most states, the government-backed thugs merely waited for INEC officials to conclude accreditation using the cards for them to snatch both the result sheets, number of accredited voters and the card readers and move to their fortified locations

to compute the ‘result’ before handing over to the INEC officials to announce with fanfare. In these states, those masterminding the rigging were fully aware that they could not win in a free and fair contest, given the fact that some of them insisted on certain candidates not minding the feelings of the electorate.

One of the media coordinators for one Southern governor said in a chat with this reporter that they had to resort to hijacking of sensitive election materials and writing the results by themselves so as to avoid being defeated in a free contest with the opposition, which was very strong.

“We knew that without using our boys backed by the security that we would lose to the opposition governorship candidate,” the source explained, adding “we have put the opposition in a tight corner with our electoral ‘massive victory’; it is their duty to prove whether we rigged or not but that is none of our business.”

Eclipse of the security agencies or electoral fraud accomplices?

For all the promises to help ensure free, fair and credible polls in Nigeria, can the Nigerian security agencies say boldly that they helped in a significant way to advance credible election or acted

as a spoke in the wheel of progress? The answer is yes and no. Although the police high command and other security agencies gave the world the impression that their officers and men would provide a level playing field for a credible and peaceful election, the reverse was the case when the interest of the two leading partiesAPC and PDP was factored in.

Most of the security men wanted to ‘deliver victory’ at all cost for those who paid them and by extension protect their jobs while a handful insisted on doing the job dispassionately and in the overall interest of Nigeria. But the ‘big bosses’ would not allow that to happen, hence the resort to ‘obey the last order’ and comply with the ‘order from above’, a situation which manifested in most security agents aiding and abetting electoral fraud and violence just to maintain the status quo in many cases.

The elections cost Suleiman Abba his job as Inspector General of Police. Some suspect that Abba was being difficult to the ruling party. He was accused of ‘not being sensitive enough’ by posting a police officer suspected to have sympathy for APC in Rivers State.

The PDP insisted on having a Hosea Karma to conduct the election since he understands the riverine state more than any other police officer in Nigeria. The attempt by Abba to ‘foist’ Ogunshakin on the state to conduct the election alongside three other AIGs and 2800 police men merely infuriated the powers that be and quickened his ouster from the force. While Ogunhakin was forced to flee Port Harcourt for Calabar in the early hours of the election day, the other police officers and men, never dared to set their feet on the Garden City throughout the duration of the election. At least, it will teach those who contested for power that ‘what a man is afraid to do, a courageous woman can accomplish that with audacity and damn the consequences. Security men were used to rig these elections.

What worked and what didn’t work Perhaps, the electoral umpire will be ready to return to the drawing board to work out more

The electoral umpire will be ready to return to the drawing board to work out more strategies to advance the Nigerian electoral system

strategies to advance the Nigerian electoral system. It should be able to demonstrate to us that the card readers have the capacity to transmit how many people were accredited in all the polling units and indicate clearly where cards readers were not used at or deliberately manipulated for electoral fraud. Without that, it may not make any sense using it in future elections.

But the best way out is to launch Nigeria into a full scale electronic voting to eliminate intimidation, killings and snatching of electoral materials. The earlier this is done, the more likely the hope that the votes of Nigerians will begin to count. Again, that is the only way that those who spearheaded our democracy will not turn round to oppose reforms that will bring about sanity in the system and become ‘’assassins of freedom” like Herzen said .

56—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

BYLEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

T

he competition was so tough that the winner would naturally roll out drums to celebrate the victory.

And that was what Dr Okejie Ikpeazu and his people did when he emerged the winner of the governorship election in Abia. It is the first time an Ngwa man will be governor in Abia State. Like the Bende and Umuahia people from Abia North and Abia Central respectively, the Ukwa/people of Abia South in Abia State have never had an opportunity to produce the governor of the State since its creation, not even in the old Imo State. The best they have always got is the deputy governor.

Thus, in the current democratic dispensation, people such as Senator Enyinanny Abaribe, late Dr. Chima Nwafor, Mr. Acho Nwakanma and the present deputy governor, Chief Emeka Ananaba have had opportunities to be second-in-command at one time or another. But for the governorship, no one had smelt it.

And so, on the basis of fairness, justice and equity, the outgoing Governor, T.A. Orji saw the need to support the candidacy of an Ngwa man for governorship. The choice for the office eventually became Dr. Okojie Ikpeazu, from Obingwa local government area.

Anyone who monitored the elections that had crowned now Ikpeazu the governor-elect would admit the toughness. Apart from the campaigns that were extremely competitive in all facets, energysapping and time consuming, the elections were also not concluded on the first day of the general governorship elections which held on April 11.

On that day, Ikpeazu’s ran against his closest rival, Dr. Alex Oti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA who was also former member of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Though there were other candidate like Dr. Anyim Nyerere of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the election was narrowed to Ikpeazu and Oti. Ikpeazu was able to poll a total of 248, 459, while Dr. Alex Otti of APGA got 165, 406 votes, leaving APGA trailing by 83,053 on the first day of the election. But the election was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and a rerun was scheduled on April 25. INEC cited irregularities in some polling units of 9 local government areas and eventually fixed a supplementary election in those areas.

The local government areas included: Aba North, Aba South,Ikwuano, Ohafia, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia South, Umuahia North and Umunneochi.

April 25 supplementary polls In the opinion of the candidates, the last Saturday’s rerun was not necessary. The two of them from PDP and APGA laid claim to victory of the first election on April 11 with their APC counter-part calling for general cancellation of the results.

His own reason was that the first election was a rigging competition C M Y K

ABIA: The making of first Ngwa Governor between PDP and APGA. But INEC ignored the claims and went ahead with the supplementary. At the completion of the exercise, Ikpeazu polled polled a total number of 261,059 votes while APGA’s Otii got 184,536 votes. With the difference, Ikpeazu defeated Oti and was declared the winner of the elections.

Details of results of where the supplementary election showed that in Aba North where PDP got 754 while APGA polled 857, Ikwuano PDP 1,748, APGA 2179, in Ohafia, PDP polled 2,479 while APGA got 326. At Isiala Ngwa North, PDP 60, APGA 60, in Aba South, PDP 722 while APGA got 2536, at Ogwunagbo, PDP got 1893 while APGA polled 1289.

Also, in Umuahia North, PDP polled 1377 while APGA got 4184 and in Umuahia North, PDP got 1,899 and APGA polled 2,376. The last was Osisioma where APGA polled 5,322 and PDP got 1668.

Obingwa, Isialangwa north, Isialangwa south, Aba South, Aba North, Osisioma Ngwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East and Ukwa west. By this, they are the largest clan in the State.

Since the creation of Nigeria, the people have not produced governor of Abia State and so the chance of producing one in 2015 marshalled out an unusual enthusiasm in them which prompted them to come out enmasse to vote for their kinsman.

For instance, the highest votes in the elections came from Obingwa, Ikpeazu’s local government area. He got 82, 240 votes while Otti scred 1,952.

Another factor that helped to catapult Ikpeazu

Why Ikpeazu won One fact that has, perhaps, remained hidden which was really a pointer in Ikpeazu’s election was that for the first time, Ukwa/Ngwa people were unprecedentedly united to champio n the Ngwa course. Notably also, the Ukwa/Ngwa community in Abia spans across 9 out of the 17 local government areas of the state.

They are

•Okejie Ikpeazu

to victory was that the Senator representing Abia South with 6 local government areas, Enyinnaya Abaribe hails from the same local government area with him. So, it was a swing vote for him in those areas.

The man Ikpeazu Little was heard of him outside the political enclave of Abia until about one year ago. But the governor-elect was not before then a complete green horn in the political thresholds.

Ikpeazu is a Doctor of Philosophy, Ph.D. A renowned biochemist, he was born on October 18, 1964, to the family of late Pa Ishmael and Deaconess Bessie Ikpeazu of Umuebere in Umuobiakwa village, Isialaukwu Mbato Autonomous Community in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria.

He attended Amaise Central Primary School, Umuobiakwa. In 1973, while in primary five, he gained admission into Eziama High School, Aba and later moved to Ihie High School, Isiala Ngwa, where he took his School Certificate Examination in 1979. In 1980, at the age of 16, he gained admission into the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) to study Clinical Biochemistry and graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons.) Second Class Upper Division in August, 1984.

From August 1984 to August 1985, Dr. Ikpeazu served as a c l i n i c a l biochemist in

the medical laboratory of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) Port Harcourt, for his national youth service. He returned to the University of Maiduguri for an M.Sc degree in Biochemical Toxicology and graduated in 1990.

In 1994, at the age of 30, he obtained a doctorate degree, Ph.D, in Biochemical Pharmacology from the University of Calabar.

Career/public service Ikpeazu served as a GraduateAssistant in the Department of Science Laboratory Technology, University of Maiduguri, from 1986 to 1987 while studying for his M.Sc degree. He also taught at the Calabar Polytechnic from 1990 to 1992 during his Ph.D programme.

Between 1994 and 1996, he served as Administrative Manager with Cash Bond Investments and Credits Ltd, Lagos. In 1998, Dr. Ikpeazu joined the services of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) as Lecturer 1 in the Department of Applied Biochemistry, Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences, and rose to Head of Department by 2001. He was also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, Ebonyi State University College of Basic Medical Sciences, between 2000 and 2002. Between 2003 and 2004, he was a Masters’ Degree External Examiner, to the Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria.

In 2002, Ikpeazu served as the Transition Committee (TC) Chairman for Obingwa Local Government Area. This marked his entry into politics. He also served as Special Adviser to the Governor of Abia State. He was appointed General Manger, Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest and Safety Scheme (ASPIMSS) from 2007 to 2009. Within the period, he turned around the fortunes of ASPIMSS, and made it a revenue yielding agency of government.

In 2010, he was appointed Chairman, Governing Council of Abia State College of Health Technology, Aba. During his tenure, he facilitated the accreditation of three critical courses in the institution by the NBTE. In 2011, he was reappointed General Manager, Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest and Safety Scheme (ASPIMSS), a position he held till 2013. In June 2013, he was appointed the first Deputy General Manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) Aba and Environs; an assignment he creditably discharged to the admiration of not only the Aba populace, but also the entire Abia State and was there until October 2014 when he resigned.

He is a member of Biochemical Society of Nigeria, the Nigeria Environmental Society and Rotary Club of Eziukwu Aba. He is a Trustee and the President, Eastern Ngwa Country Sports Club of Nigeria. He is happily married to Mrs. Nkechi Okezie Ikpeazu, and the marriage is blessed with four children.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—57

Enugu Gov Poll: Ezea’s lone voice in the wilderness

BY FRANCIS IGATA

T

he Peoples Democratic

Party,PDP,governorship candidate,Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s victory at the April 11 poll was a testament to his blistering popularity. It also showed how strong PDP is in Enugu.

His victory was so clear and was predicted. And that’s apparently why there’s condemnation of calls from the All Progressive Congress,APC,candidate,Okey Ezea, seeking cancellation of the poll adjudged by international observers as free, fair and credible.

The electorate in Enugu State had trooped out in large numbers to demonstrate their choice which was shown in the outcome of the poll where PDP got 482,277 votes against his main challenger,Ezea who secured a mere 43,839 votes.

Ezea, a fourth time contender to the seat had waited in the wings for PDP missteps which apparently was why APC did not campaign enough to woo voters for the election in Enugu State.

It only showed its presence barely ten days to election following Gen Muhammed Buhari,retd, victory at the presidential election. Enugu voted massively for the PDP in the Presidential election and did same for the gubernatorial. It had been a traditional PDP state and one of the states the opposition stood no chance.

Lashing out to Ezea’s call for cancellation,a group,under the umbrella of Enugu-042 Peoples Assembly,EPA, dismissed calls from Ezea seeking the cancellation of the April 11 poll alleging that PDP, and

we painstakingly monitored.

“EPA therefore describes the allegations by Ezea as not only mischievous, but also another fruitless attempt by him to overheat the polity, misrepresent facts and discredit INEC and the process of the elections which had been widely acclaimed as transparent, credible and peaceful.”

Again,the Christian Association of Nigeria,CAN, Enugu State chapter had while reacting to Ezea’s agitation said,”God answered our prayers in Ugwuanyi.”

CAN had earlier prayed for Ugwuanyi’s victory asking God to give Enugu State a leader that will have a listening ear which it saw in the governor-elect.

Addressing newsmen at the Enugu State Governor-elect residence on •CAN Chairman,Enugu State chapter,Christian Obiefuna,Enugu State Governorbehalf of the christian community in elect,Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,his Deputy,Cecilia Ezeillo during CAN's visit to Ugwuanyi's the state,CAN, Chairman Enugu residence.

State,Christian Obiefuna said,”All the christian denominations in Enugu State converged at Michael Okpara Independent National Electoral in the company of Square and prayed, asking God to bestow Commission,INEC, colluded to international Ugwuanyi on us for he will address the ensure Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s observers,media and infrastructural challenges plaguing the state. victory. security agencies are “We are here to thank God and appreciate him EPA stand followed outburst by uncalled for. and also ask God to continue working in him that Ezea attacking PDP,INEC and “His allegation of Enugu State may have a godly face in his reign.” security agencies for allegedly ‘collusion and On the conduct of the poll, the clerics eulogized manipulating the process in favour manipulation’ is most the Independent National Electoral of the PDP candidate. unfortunate at a time losers Commission,INEC, and security agencies for the In statement jointly signed by congratulate the winners in professional manner the April 11 election was EPA Chairman and Secretary good faith. His latest attack conducted in a free,fair and credible atmosphere. respectively,Oliver Nweke and on INEC, security agencies He however assured the people of Enugu State Innocent Ozoemena, respectively, and the PDP is capable of that the incoming administration will lead with the group said,”it is baseless and misleading the public and the fear of God in the midst of daunting unfounded. Calls by Ezea seeking undermining the credibility challenges. In almost all parts of Enugu the the cancellation of a free,fair and of the entire electoral celebration of Ugwuanyi’s emergence has credible poll which we monitored exercise in the state, which continued.

UGWUANYI: An encounter with simplicity

BY LOUIS ONYEBUCHI

J

ust recently, the Amube Ohum Orba polling centre of the Governor-Elect of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi played host to various media houses, INEC officials, security agencies as well as local and international observers who monitored the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections in the area.

The exercise created an ample opportunity for most of the journalists to interact with the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), now Governor-elect and have a deeper understanding of his person. It also provided a platform for them to understand what he stands for in the eyes of nature and why he is loved by the masses, including the high and the low in the society. To the pressmen and other observers, the visit was a natural experience and an encounter with a good man whose integrity, simplicity, humility and kindness resonate with enduring testimonials.

He has held many exalted positions in his 12 years sojourn in the House of Representatives including chairmanship of the House Committee on Marine Transport, yet his humble spirit and down-to- earth instinct in dealing with issues tell the story more.

At exactly 11.35am, on the day of the Governorship election, here came a cheerful looking man in a plain light brown kaftan with a cap to match, waving at his admirers mostly voters in company of a cream of journalists and few aides, as he trekked towards his

Amube Ohum Orba polling centre located adjacent to the popular Orba main market in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State. On getting to the venue, the calm looking Ugwuanyi, unlike most political bigwigs in the country who would want to be attended to immediately, turned down all the efforts made by those on duty to extend some preferential treatment to him for the accreditation, and decided to identify with his people who have been standing in the queue under the sun waiting for their turn to be accredited.

When approached by one of his worried-looking supporters who asked him to come to the front for his accreditation, Ugwuanyi smiled and replied,

“Don’t worry, I am ok here. There are people who have been here before me. I will just sit down and allow them to be attended to first and wait for my turn.

They are the reason why we are here and I appreciate your concern, thanks.”

He remained seated exchanging pleasantries with his people, old and the young, rich and the poor including the disabled. Efforts by his aides to allow him some distance from the people consistently met brick walls, as he would calmly ask them to allow the enthusiastic admirers come to him. His accreditation later took place smoothly and he returned back to his residence, and came back by 2.45pm to cast his vote.

Few seconds, after casting his votes at about 3.05pm, he had a brief chat with the media, where he stated his satisfaction with the electoral process on the ground and expressed optimism that his party will emerge victorious at the polls.

For the journalists to feel at home and have an experience intrinsically laced up with his character, he requested the pressmen to accompany him back to his house which was about half kilometer from the polling centre, probably for brief refreshment. But to the surprise of many, he made this humble appeal “Sorry, you people will have to trek back home with me, because as you can see I had to trek from my house to this place to vote. The electoral act forbids people coming into the polling centres with vehicles, so I had to comply and that’s why I’ m here to exercise my franchise without any vehicle conveying me to this polling centre. Please, bear with me”.

As he tried to move through the crowd

who were mostly voters, Ugwuanyi did not relent in his natural instinct of exchanging pleasantries with his people of all classes as they cheered him up shouting “Gburugburu!

Gburugburu!!

Gburugburu!!! Carry Go!”.

The atmosphere was further charged with a nostalgic experience which ensued when he stopped on the way to appreciate a handful of excited neighboring children who were around to chant victory songs for him, in anticipation of the outcome of the election.

Ugwuanyi did not stop at that, he took group photographs with the village children in appreciation of their support and solidarity and assured them of brighter future under his administration. On approaching his residence, it was another gale of celebrations, as more children, and other villagers who had returned from their respective polling units after casting their votes quickly gathered in large numbers at his entrance gate waiting for his return. Right from his entrance gate stood a warm atmosphere that represents an overwhelming victory for the incoming Governor.

•Onyebuchi, a political analyst writes from G.R.A, Enugu

58—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

Stop this massacre, Agatu Community begs NSA, IG T

he people of Ologba Community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State have cried out to the National Security Adviser, NSA, and the Inspector-General of the Police, IGP, to rescue them from the ongoing massacre in the village.

In a petition dated April 28, 2015, appealed to the federal authorities to save their clan from being wiped out by Egba, a neighbouring clan which they claimed has carried a series of attacks against the community since 2008.

The petition was signed by Messrs James Oloje and Ojepa Stephen, Chairman and Secretary of the Ologba Community Development Association, respectively. ” We write this petition on behalf of our clan, our people, our posterity, requesting that you save our heritage from extinction and enforce our right to life and communal existence, as we are currently under siege in our land.”, they said.

The Widely reported April 17, 2015 massacre, in which 28 people were killed was the last in the attacks the Ologba community has suffered, they said.

According to the petition, although there has been a dispute over Ologba’s fishing ponds which

the Egba community wanted to take over, not even in their wildest imagination could they have expected the dastardly attack in which defenceless women , children and the elderly were gruesomely hacked to death in cold blood, while able bodied people were on their farms and out on other business activities of the day.

The attack which was allegedly carried out by gunmen from Egba, a neighbouring community was unprecedented as defenceless women, children and the elderly were hacked to death,

,

EMMA UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief

The militia shot defenceless women, killing several instantly. Others with machetes went for a group of teenagers under a tree, hacking them down as they try to escape. As innocent people ran, they were spread with bullets

,

while their able bodied men were out on their farms and for other activities of the day.

Painting horror picture of the attack, the Ologba clan members, “It was 9 am. Suddenly, there were sporadic gun shots as heavily armed men invaded the community, shooting anyone within range of their deadly weapons as people ran for safety.

“The militia shot defenceless women, killing several instantly. Others with machetes went for a group of teenagers under a tree, hacking them down as they try to escape. As innocent people ran, they were spread with bullets.

A middle aged woman, Hajara Odoba, a middle-aged housewife and her five children were captured before they could make it out of their compound. She was made to watch each child slaughtered before before her throat was slit. She was laid down and the children placed on her corpse.

“At the end of the carnage, 28 lay dead with many of their heads cut off and several people mortality wounded. “ The Ologba people said that their people have become internally displaced and currently scattered across the Agatu Local Area and elsewhere as they take refuge with their relations in other villages.

They alleged that their village

was under attacks for four consecutive days between April 17 and 20 without the intervention of any law enforcement agency and that they people could still not return to their village for fear of further attacks.

“As shocking and horrid as the above dastardly and criminal acts are , having been informed, the police at the Divisional and State Headquarters have made no arrests and there is nothing to show that they appreciate the genocidal dimension of this bloodbath and the ripple effects it is capable of generating within the area if justice is not done”, they noted.

Contacted the Benue State Police Commissioner , Mr. Hyacinth Dagala, said that the name of a prominent Egba man had been thrown up and that a discreet investigation was ongoing with a view to arresting all those who were involved in the attacks.

He said that the attacks were done mainly at odd hours which made it difficult for police operations but that he had deployed additional mobile policemen to join the unit at Agatu Local Government Area with a view to restoring law and order in the area.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—59

BOGORO: An eye on Tetfund opinion

BY ABDULFATAI IBRAHIM

W

e have antecedent in this country that when edu cation is given premium, it will yield dividends”, so says Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro, the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETfund).

It is worthy of note to profess that tertiary education in Nigeria has gone through turbulent times and it is against this backdrop that the activities of TETfund come to the fore.

Needless to mention that tertiary education in Nigeria is bedeviled by a lot of pitfalls i.e, lack of infrastructure, infrastructural facilities, to the absence of human capacity, just to mention but a few.

All these notwithstanding, I have come to realize that the fund is poised to keep tertiary institutions on the path of academic excellence and competitive standards in the form given the template already being implemented by the leadership.

The fund has spent much on lecturers’ capacity building to facilitate academic staff programmes. It is believed that these programmes would shore up intellectual capacities of the academicians, particularly for those who have gone rustic.

Again, the move to acquire library books and e – resources by TETfund is another welcome development. Besides the fact that this acquisition would go a long way to reignite the use of libraries for reading purposes, this move would also deepen our institutions focus on academic content, quality and excellence.

It is the firm belief of the managers of the fund that the acquisition of these libraries and e – resources would encourage research activities which in the long run would impact positively on the nation.

It is imperative to state here that the developed nations of the West hinge their economic growth and development on research and developmental studies.

Abigail Adams ones said, “Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence”. When educating the minds of our youth, we

•Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro

This would not only facilitate teaching and learning but also, reduce the usual congestion of our lecture hall, thereby improving quality education

must not forget to educate their hearts as well. The consolidation on schools’ infrastructure nationwide under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Prof.

Bogoro is another step in a right direction.

This would not only facilitate teaching and learning but also, reduce the usual congestion of our lecture hall, thereby improving quality education.

Health is wealth. So goes the popular maxim. The release of funds by TETfund to the National Open University

of Nigeria (NOUN) to commence the building of a specialist hospital for the University’s school of health sciences is worthy of emulation. This hospital to a great extent will not only serve as a hospital for the general public to access Medicare but in addition, it will serve as practical laboratories for medical students.

Furthermore, this would also enhance the training of medical personnels with modern equipment provided. Diagnostic procedures would improve especially for non- communicable disease like cancers among others.

The provision of surgical equipments would enhance treatment especially when surgery is involved. This would boost the competence of Nigerian’s healthcare on its people and reduce expenditure on overseas trips for medical treatments.

Telemedicine which is part of modern medicine would be available to potentiate treatment among others.

As TEFfund ventures transition to knowledge economy and seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial studies in our tertiary institutions of learning across the country, the task ahead remains onus, yet attainable. Moreover, the intention of Prof. Bogoro and his management in setting up TETfund Zonal offices in the six geo- political zones of the country for administrative convenience is highly commendable and legendary. This would further be and opportunity of providing employments for our teaming youths.

On a lighter note I hereby crave the indulgence of the Executive Secretary TETfund, Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro to keep the flag flying, with his consistent ways of monitoring the funds disbursed to schools for priority projects, geared towards taking our educational system to the Eldorado as well as achieving the desired goals of setting up the agency.

To end this piece, I would therefore entreat the executive Secretary to continue to carry all stakeholders along, as he delivers this noble task. As Henry Ford puts it, “working together is success”. From what has been done so far, it is clear that the goal of the fund is closer than many think. The management only needs to stay focused and keep its eyes on the prize and follow its heart as Ricardo Honsham once admonished.

•Abdulfatai Ibrahim, a Public Affairs Analyst wrote from Ilorin, Nigeria.

60—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

Tribute

BY AKINBODE OLUWAFEMI

M

y last Lunch with Oronto was February 22, 2015.

Venue was his hotel room on the 9th floor of Eko Hotels, Lagos. President Goodluck Jonathan was just few kilometres away, making frantic consultations on his presidential campaign. Oronto had visited the President briefly in the morning, came back and went straight for a quick nap.

Unlike before, I had planned not to discuss anything relating to the elections; we were all worried about his health. That day he was billed to travel in the evening to California to keep an appointment with his doctors.

For the lunch, my wife had prepared amala with ewedu and gbegiri soups; those were his favourites. With very deep Egba connections, amala, ewedu and gbegiri with orisirisi (assorted meat) and ahon menu was the routine anytime Oronto was in town since mid last year. As we finished setting up the table, Oronto insisted that the four of us in the room that day lunch together.

He resisted my protestations that I had eaten earlier and was full. We all sat down to eat. He took just very little and we began what was our longest chat ever over lunch.

He poked fun at me first about how my body frame projected “false sense of affluence” and that when he returned, we have to “deflate” my protruding tummy. We all laughed. I gave him a few punches too. I spoke about how he was detained at an airport in Europe for traveling without any money, and how he and former Honourable Uche Onyeagucha were almost beaten up by Ijaw youths on allegation that he was impersonating Oronto Douglas; the youths could not reconcile his gentle look with the name and fame. We also talked about how we were arrested in Abeokuta on our way to attend the burial of Reuben Abati’s mum. We all laughed again. We ended up on a long debate about whether I am a mere “media strategist” or if I can also double as a “political strategist.” His final word was that it was time I changed my mindset from the current “conventional activism” to “governmental activism” just like he did a few years back.

By the time I checked my watch, we had spent over three hours at the lunch table. It was very unusual. As I drove back late evening that day, some surreal feelings enveloped me.

It was as if the long chat and banters were a premonition of something about to happen.

Yes, I did see Oronto very often, but we never sat down for that long to chat since about a year that his health nose-dived. Not only that, I have always been part of very close associates who monitored his engagements so that he doesn’t overstretch himself. This time we had over three hours at the table merely chatting and exchanging punches; it was strange.

Anyway, Oronto left that night for California and few days after, we got very disturbing reports from the hospital. He had asked his wife and

my brother. Your friendship is most cherished my brother.”

I went back to his house by evening of Tuesday April 7, it was very brief. “How is madam and the kids? I need to release you quickly, “ he said. Little did I know it was going to be our last. By 5.40 am on Thursday 9th , I got calls from Simon and his aide, Ipi Gamsi almost simultaneously on my two phones. Ipi cried: “We have lost Oga.” It was heart-rending.

I first met Oronto sometime in 1998 at the Maryland home of another activist, Wale Adeoye. I had just crossed from the defunct Today’s News Today (TNT) to The Guardian. He introduced himself as Abayomi Omowale. He spoke flawless Yoruba. He wore sneakers, jeans, face cap and sun shades like a yuppie just back from a foreign country. He was actually at that time one of the most wanted activists by the then military junta.

While they searched for him in the creeks, Oronto was walking freely in Lagos. We had talked for close to half an hour before he revealed his true identity.

Oronto with another brother and great friend, Doifie Ola practically pulled me from The Guardian into ERA/FoEN in 1999. I have since journeyed with Oronto through the creeks of Niger Delta, through the days of Chikoko Movement till his last job at the Presidency, a journey that makes me, a Yoruba, an observer during Ijaw Youth Council congresses when Ijaws and Ilajes were at each other’s throats.

As an activist Oronto remained a shining hero for human rights and social justice. He was celebrated internationally and loved by his community folks in Okoroba.

Oronto was a brother, friend, boss, a mentor and many more. Oronto cared too much about the welfare of others. Back in the days, Oronto will give out all his money to a stranger and come back to borrow transport money from us, his junior colleagues at ERA. He had a large heart and was generous to a fault.

As a boss, he helped you discover your inner abilities. He never accepted that any assignment cannot be accomplished.

No. “Mr Oluwafemi, Listen,” Oronto will say, you just have to get the message to push the limits. That has helped many of us who worked with him at one point or the other to break frontiers. I have been opportuned over the past four years, to supervise the Community Defence Law Foundation (CDLF) which he formed. With the foundation, Oronto had single-handedly built modern libraries in close to 20 communities. Obafemi Awolowo Community Library in Irele-Ekiti, my village, was the last we completed and many more are at various stages of completion. me to sit by his side. “Bode, you are Oronto’s heart for charity was the first person I am asking to come legendary. He loved education. Oronto among all our Lagos friends because romanticized books and will do of the trust I have in you. You have whatever it takes to lay a book on been more than a brother to me. I just people’s hands. He read voraciously. want you to know that from now I will I leant a lot from Oronto. He will be no longer be as active…..” By this greatly missed. He was an Akanda time a stream of tears ran down my Omoluabi. He was a man of eyes. He went on to talk about his uncommon courage. Throughout his charity projects I have helped over battle with cancer, he remained the years to supervise and several strong. I believe Oronto has fulfilled other issues. I got his message very his mission on earth. He touched clearly, yet I refused to accept. Oronto many lives for good. It is very hard was too dear to us. We just didn’t that he has left us. want him to go. No. Something will Though very heartbroken, for us happen, he will survive it. He had remaining, we owe Oronto a duty of always survived such. keeping his dreams alive.

Now I know we cannot dictate to Adieu OND! God. Rest in the bosom of the Lord.

Before I got to the airport, he sent another SMS: Thanks for coming”. I -Akinbode is Director, Corporate replied that he should remain strong Accountability Campaigns, for which he responded “Thank you Environmental Rights Action / Friends of the Earth , Nigeria

Oronto Natei

Douglas:

A Man of Uncommon Courage a very close friend to join him in California. Then I became very agitated.

While on his return trip back from California another common friend of ours, Simon Kolawole who met him at Heathrow Airport, London where he had a stopover, called me and said we needed to intensify prayers.

Then on Sunday March 25, I got this terse SMS from him: “ Can we see on Monday? Very Warm regards. Come straight to the house on arrival so that you can go back immediately.”

I eventually entered his Abuja home at about noon on Monday 26th. Immediately I saw him on the settee I couldn’t hold back tears; I wept uncontrollably. This was not the same man we lunched with February 22. Simon was right after all.

He asked an aide to give me a napkin to wipe my tears “Don’t you have faith again in God? My health is now in the Hands of God”, he said.” He then asked

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015—61

10 Pakistan men jailed over Malala attack

A

ccording to agency report, 10 Pakistan men have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the attack on Nobel peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Malala who was shot and critically wounded in a targeted attack, which also affected 2 schoolmates on October 9, 2012, report disclosed was keen on ensuring that the girl child was given a right to education. Her advocacy angered some scrupulous individuals, thus she was shot in the head on board her school bus in the Swat valley in attack that shocked the world.

Following the continuous search for the attackers, a court in north-west Pakistan has convicted and sentenced 10 men for life for the attack on the education activist.

•Malala Yousafzai

Amin Kundi, a judge at the anti-terrorism court in Malala’s native Mingora, reportedly disclosed names of the convicted men as Bilal, Shaukat, Salman, Zafar Iqbal, Israr-ul-Rehman, Zafar Ali, Irfan, Izharullah, Adnan and Ikram.

The men are said to come from different parts of the Swat Valley, and also belong to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Meanwhile, observatories on ground also stated that the Pakistani military disclosed that the first man to be arrested was Israr-ur-Rehman, who was one of the two men who fired the shots on Malala Yousafzai.

Investigations also revealed that the Pakistani military that arrested the men received the orders directly from Mullah Fazlullah, the chief of the TTP and had also recovered the weapons used in the attack from the now convicted men.

Of the 3 wounded girls, Malala Yousafzai suffered the most serious injuries. She was rushed first to a Pakistani military hospital and then to the UK for further treatment.

She has since made a full recovery, launching the Malala Fund, a global NGO, which invests in education projects around the universe.

Kenya ‘ignored Garissa university raid intelligence’

K

Investigation under way into Freddie Gray’s death

S

everal hundred people turned out in protests taking place in several US cities over Garissa University College whose death from injuries sustained in police custody has stoked unrest in Baltimore.

However, investigation is still under way into the death of the 25 year old Freddie, who died in hospital from spinal injuries a week after police took him into custody.

According to agency report, several hundred people have gathered in New York’s Union Square, where police arrested at least 60 people, and the US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the death of Gray, who suffered fatal spinal injuries when arrested by police.

Gray’s death has prompted widespread rioting, arson and looting in many cities in the and since then a curfew has been in place on the streets of Baltimore.

In New York, where protesters began demonstrating in solidarity with the people of Baltimore, they chanted ‘no justice, no peace’, and the New York police made a number of arrests C M Y K

However, the reason behind Gray ’s injuries remains unclear, but observatories on ground disclosed that 2 men in yellow uniforms with ‘Baltimore Police’ labels were captured pinning the black man to the ground, while a

•Freddie Gray

court document declared that the young man had fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence.

The document also stated that Gray was arrested without force or incident, and that he was caught with a knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket.

Spy scandal turns tables on German government ...as German BND spy agency help US target France

R

eport disclosed that Germany ’s national intelligence agency, the BND, spied on top French officials and the EU’s headquarters on behalf of US intelligence.

According to report, the leaks from a secret BND report suggest that its monitoring station at Bad Aibling, spied on France’s presidential palace and foreign ministry, and the European Commission.

Vanguard gathered from those familiar with the case that the BND collected information on European firms at Washington’s behest to check if they were breaking trade embargos.

However, the BND reportedly did not target

German or US officials in the surveillance, as they are protected by a BND-NSA agreement signed in 2002.

Notably, it has emerged that the German government knew about NSA spying on European arms businesses as early as 2008, and the government noticed some shortcomings in the BND’s operations.

Investigations also revealed that there is outrage in Germany that victims of American espionage may have helped US spies to target other Europeans and pressure is building on the government to reveal how much it knew.

In same development, the former minister in charge of the chancellery, Mr. Thomas de Maiziere who was directly responsible for Germany ’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, in 2008 claimed the BND first told the chancellery that its agents were now helping the NSA to spy on European aviation, aerospace and defence companies.

enya’s interior minister has said security officers ignored intelligence reports prior to the attack on Garissa University College earlier this month.

Investigations revealed that most of those who died in the siege were undergraduates, and that the interior minister has admitted that intelligence was ignored and the security response botched regarding the Islamist massacre of nearly 150 people at Garissa university.

According to officer in charge of security, Joseph Nkaisserry, who also admitted that the response was poorly co-ordinated, militants from the Somali-based Islamist al-Shabab group killed 148 people during the day-long siege at the campus in the north-eastern town.

It was pointed out that most of those who were killed in the raid were students and the attackers singled out Christians to be killed and spared Muslims.

However, there has been much public criticism over the alleged security failings across the country, following which about 7 top police officers were suspended in an initial inquiry into the security failings.

The situation however, prompted Universities to posting memos warning students of possible violence and the principal of Garissa University College request for additional security at the campus, but was never granted.

It was gathered that the security force’s delay in responding to the university attack was caused by poor co-ordination, just as the structural design of the campus had also hampered the rescue mission as the accommodation hostels were like cells.

Observatories on ground stated that the university raid started at dawn, disclosing that it was worst attack to date in Kenya by alShabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda.

•Garissa University College

62— SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015

T

he biggest day in boxing is here, as the fight of the century goes down tonight in Las Vegas (3am on Sunday in Nigeria). Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight is about to happen, with Mayweather walking away with a record sum of $120m as against the Filipino’s share of $80m.

It is the welterweight unification title fight that the world has been waiting for in about five and half years.

After all the hypes, two questions need answers: 1) What can we expect from tonight? 2) How are you going to fill the time/stay awake before the fight starts at 3am on Sunday?

Both boxers are getting ready to hit the stage, as the main event is about to begin, with Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter saying the “interest in this fight is good for the sport as a whole”.

Pacquiao has told the media that “the killer instinct is back. I feel so ready and I have that feeling again that I had 10 years ago. I’m the one who really wanted this fight ... more than him”.

But Mayweather, fired back saying that the “fight is more about me and I will prove that I will remain the best ever even after May2” The main stage, the MGN Grand, is waiting for the arrival of the main men, to begin the rumble that promises to be an explosive round of unprecedented boxing slugfest.

Pacquiao has been talking of how he came from “sleeping in the streets” to where he is now, which is “beyond his imagination”.

But Mayweather has had his share of life on the streets and has stayed rooted to the cause ever since making big bucks from boxing. But this is not just any fight, it’s the fight of the century, taking place in Las Vegas, noted for its big casinos, where the rich gather to have fun.

Millions have descended on the city for one night of fight fun and gambling by the way.

How Mayweather can undefeated against P

Mayweather,

Pacquiao

rumble in Sin City

… …Fi ghtt of Figh of th thee Ce Cent ntur uryy ho hold ldss Su Sund ndaayy m mor orni ning ng Las Vegas, in the words of Tom Wolfe’s 1964 essay on the place, takes a basic bombardment of the senses and “magnifies it, foliates it, embellishes it into an institution”. It is forever redrawing the very boundaries of kitsch that it helped to set.

You are starting to see, perhaps, why a man like Floyd Mayweather fits right in.

Mayweather’s fight with Pacquiao will gross an estimated £388 million, more money than even the most minted casinos could make in three months.

The MGM Grand, a colossal 30-storey structure sealed on every side by tinted blue windows to heighten the Aladdin’s Cave effect has hosted big fights in the past but none comes near to the one happening tonight in terms of money and hype.

Mayweather knows this place like the back of his hand as it is just about a five-mile commute from his super-sized man

cave in Las Vegas’ eastern suburbs.

While arriving the venue on Wednesday for a conference, Mayweather, resplendent, head to toe, in his ‘The Money Team’ paraphernalia, drove into the arena in a black Mercedes van. He then moved through the adoring masses like a man expecting flowers to be scattered at his feet. saying “I make a lot of money, but I want to give back to the American people,” he declared, pompously.

•Pacquiao

•Mayweather vs C M Y K

F

loyd “Money” M among the mos for the last deca essentially has consis Mayweather Sr. (his with Sugar Ray Leon Mayweather (his unc champion.

The 38-year-old 11spends a majority of t his left shoulder, whi the matador of boxin cannot be hit — his d been instrumental in record intact.

Mayweather owns in the sport and can d instantaneously wea only flusters power-p Shane Mosley, Migu Hoya — who rely on proficiency against ba a skill lost on many fi from the equation an they, the knockout-se hasn’t lost since his s Serafim Todorov at th Atlanta, has had 40 w knockout or unanimo officially been knock turned professional. H gone all 12 rounds w fight over the last six fourth-round knocko In Marcos Maidana’ Mayweather, in May landed 221 punches had ever been hit in Although Mayweath decision, boxing pun blueprint for defeatin mind-boggling 858 p context, that total is 1 Mayweather threw c against Maidana.

It’s understood that to throw fewer punch form of defensive box combination or two, w receding. He has thr punches in his four fi May 2012.

Although he likely anywhere near the ca it’s worth looking at h against southpaw fig If Mayweather can direction of the fight, can beat him. He’s to and defensively mind fighters the chance to However, by putting Maidana did at time Pacquiao may have a percentage of power Saturday an interesti isn’t cut off, Maywea expand the paramete boxing greatness: A f time picking you apa scraps in the ring.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 2, 2015 — 63

can remain How Pacquiao can st Pacquiao beat Mayweather

Money” Mayweather Jr. has been the most prominent faces of boxing last decade. His entire life as consisted of the sport: Floyd r Sr. (his father) went toe-to-toe Ray Leonard and Roger r (his uncle) is a former world

anny Pacquiao made a humorous commercial over the “He’s Going to Fight Me?” theme, though landing real jabs on Floyd Mayweather may prove more difficult than verbal ones.

Here are five keys for Pacquiao to make sure the fight doesn’t turn into a careful-what-you-wish-for moment:

ar-old 11-time world champion ajority of the fight dancing behind lder, which protects his chin; he’s of boxing, the one who seemingly t — his defensive prowess has mental in leaving his unblemished . her owns the quickest counterpunch and can duck, dance and usly weave out of corners. This not power-punchers like Saul Alvarez, ey, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La o rely on the ropes to leverage their against back-to-the-ropes protection, n many fighters — but also removes uation an area of the ring where ockout-seekers, excel. Mayweather nce his semifinal bout against orov at the 1996 Olympics in had 40 wins come by way of unanimous decision and has n knocked down once since he ssional. However, opponents have ounds with Mayweather in every e last six years, save for his divisive d knockout of Victor Ortiz in 2011.

Maidana’s first fight with r, in May 2014, the Argentine punches — the most Mayweather en hit in a professional fight. ayweather won by majority xing pundits thought they found a defeating him. Maidana threw a ing 858 punches in that fight; for total is 102 punches more than r threw combined in both fights dana. tood that Mayweather often elects er punches, opting for a stouter nsive boxing — rattling off a n or two, winning the round and e has thrown an average of 433 his four fights since he beat Cotto in

1 Work 36 minutes The longer Pacquiao can maintain an aggressive stance offensively and not be turned into Mayweather’s yo-yo, the better his chances of winning the fight, both by decision and knockout. The longer he is on the lead and forces Mayweather to react, the better his chances of putting rounds in the bag and perhaps landing something big. Pacquiao has turned more boxer-puncher in recent years, and he definitely has to fight smart or Mayweather will walk him into something, but he wants to press the pace in a fight with high-volume punching and make the pound-for-pound king work. He’ll have to eat some counters to do it, but for Pacquiao to win the fight, there must be a take-some-to-give-some element at play. Pacquiao’s worstcase scenario is standing mid-ring in a tactical match-up against Mayweather. That’s a losing proposition.

he likely hasn’t fought a fighter ear the caliber of Manny Pacquiao, oking at how Mayweather has fared hpaw fighters. ather can control the pace and the fight, there’s no one alive who m. He’s too technically proficient vely minded to allow opposing chance to dictate the fight. y putting him against the ropes, like d at times in their first fight, ay have a shot at landing a high of power shots and making interesting fight. But if the ring Mayweather will continue to parameters by which we appreciate tness: A fighter who will take his g you apart until you’re a heap of e ring.

M

2 Changing planes Three of Pacquiao’s strengths are feints, angles and head movement. He has to use them all, and he has to change them up. Mayweather will get him timed eventually. But if Pacquiao makes adjustments himself against the adjustment king, he can change his own angles and feints as Mayweather starts to recognize them. The longer Pacquiao keeps the favored fighter guessing, and reacting to his impetus, the better chance he has. And the best way to do that is by changing the stimuli. A 98-mph fastball thrown to the same spot becomes easy to hit.

So does tackling a great running back who always hits the same gap. Some of what Pacquiao does well to set up his offense involves deception. Keeping that trickiness working for 12 rounds requires tweaking the attack regularly against the smartest fighter in boxing. Pacquiao can’t win a chess match but he doesn’t want to be Mayweather’s strategic pawn, either.

This fight will be won between the ears, no matter who wins it.

3 Force a firefight Just as there will be times when the fight is at mid-ring, where Mayweather excels, there also will be times when both men decide to stand down and let fly. The more moments like that, the better Pacquiao figures to like it. He wants to initiate exchanges at times when Mayweather wants to rest, and the longer he can keep those exchanges continuing, the better chance he has of landing something clean on the tail end.

Mayweather doesn’t want a fight in which he and Pacquiao are exchanging three-punch and four-punch combinations. That’s when his technical superiority becomes easier to nullify and he becomes more vulnerable to being caught out of position himself. That’s exactly what Pacquiao wants.

4 Left-leaning politician The Fighting Congressman from Sarangani Province has to lead left, even if he doesn’t lean that way. And he has to score points with the voters. It’s not really that difficult is it? The same things that apply to a conventional fighter reversing a few traditional weapons against southpaws also applies to southpaws in reverse; the only difference is that left-handers see a lot more conventional opponents than vice versa.

Pacquiao won’t find his right jab particularly effective against Mayweather — and if he does, the pound-for-pound king has gotten old before our eyes and this thing could get lopsided en route to 47-1. But the left lead is a weapon he has to land. And the more fire he brings behind it, the better for him.

5 Balance and control This may be the most difficult challenge of all. Pacquiao’s own tendency to lunge out of position as a natural by-product of his own aggression surely was a constant focus in training camp, but there’s only so much you can do. Pacquiao has brilliant footwork in many ways, maybe even better than Mayweather. But Mayweather has vastly superior balance and control. He is almost always on point, always ready to strike, at the first sign of positional vulnerability by his opponent.

Pacquiao gets out of position — a lot. His power, and the threat of it, allows him to get away with it in most cases. If he lunges much against Mayweather, he’ll eventually have to pick himself up off the canvas, with the only variable being whether the referee counts 10 over him first.

SPORTSVANGUARD PREDICTIONS Tony Ubani,

Sports Editor roots for Mayweather

F

LOYD Mayweather Jnr is unbeaten in 47 fights, has 10 world titles and five divisional crowns. Awesome record!

He is born into a boxing family with his trainer father, Mayweather snr boasting of boxing record 28–6–1 (18 Kos). The father’s younger brother Roger was WBC Super featherweight and super lightweight champion. The youngest brother, Jeff, held the IBO Super featherweight title. You can see that boxing runs in the blood of the Mayweathers. And what has accounted for the indefatigable nature of Floyd is his rich corner made up of the clan of the Mayweathers. Besides that, Floyd inherited his father’s defense and still jab tactic as well as his electric combination of his left and right.

Against a southpaw Pacquiao, Floyd with his exceptional athletic foot-work will overwhelm him. Full respect to Pacquiao but whoever fixed this richest fight in history in May, must have Mayweather in mind as the winner.

Jacob Ajom

Prediction: Pacquiao anny Pacquiao: He remains one of the most dangerous south paw in history. He is fast, precise and decisive. He may have had some problems in his last few fights because he was always caught between boxing and playing politics, a fact which affected his training schedules.

For this fight, Pacquiao has been focused, trained hard and rediscovered his fast stinging punches. Above all and beyond the money, the Philippino sees this fight as a battle of supremacy; ego, prestige and crave for history are the motivating force that will propel him against the vocal Mayweather. He is ready to end the mystery behind Floyd Mayweather Jnr’s invincibility.

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Ben Efe tips Mayweather

B

en Efe... Floyd Mayweather is flamboyant and has got class. He is a good fighter. He is very calculative and this is where he has the edge over Manny Pacquio.

Going into this fight Mayweather seems to be the underdog. But with the crowd likely to be behind him, he should be able to overcome Pacman.

John Egbokhan

throws the dice for Mayweather y heart roots for Pacquiao but in this game of box ing, sentiments don’t count. This is a fight that the Filipino Congressman has been angling for in the last five and half years to cement his name as the best pound for pound fighter of all time but against a focused Mayweather, the Filipino faces a boxer whose greatest asset is his ability to turn an offensive shot into another attack.

Even though I am a fan of Pacquiao and would remain so after May 2, I think Mayweather has got the reach to stem the tirades of his opponent and extend his unbeaten run to 48 fights out of a possible 48

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Solomon Nwoke

My money on Pacman – Solomon Nwoke y mind is on Manny Pacquiao. The ‘Pac Man’ is still at his physical peak and hasn’t lost a step. Pacman is the people’s man. When Pacquiao walks into the ring on May 2, he carries with him the story of a Filipino. Age is on his side while his opponent Floyd Mayweather is so loud he has lost many fans. Pacman is a fearsome puncher and I can’t wait to see the Pacman resurrect his killer punches. I put my money on Pacman

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Onochie Anibeze

- My money is on Mayweather iggest fight of all time?

Fight of the century.

No problem.

With $380m down the line no one will argue about the status of this fight. But if the Thriller in Manila of Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazie and Rumble In The Jungle of Ali and George Foreman all in the 1970s held today they would probably be adjudged higher than this Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio fight.

The younger ones may argue but the older ones will bear me out. And history will also support this position. Pele is still adjudged the all time BEST. Ali remains the all time BEST in boxing. But it’s now the time of Mayweather, the money and flamboyant boxer and Pacquaio, the street boy who “came from nothing to be something.” Based on what I have seen of the two fighters, I rate Paquaio a stronger fighter but Mayweather a better fighter. So who wins? The man with more wits, with more options in terms of style will have advantage. And that’s Mayweather. My money is on him. But age counts a lot in sports and he is two years older than hisopponet, who lives a more disciplined life. Truly, it could go to Paquaio but my money is on Mayweather.

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SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 2, 2015

KESHI:

Nobody can choose >>9 assistant coaches for me

Mayweather, Pacquiao rumble in Sin City

>>62,63

…Fight yy Century …Fight of of the the Centur Centur Century holds yy morning Sunday holds Sunda Sunda morning Sunday

Today’s Matches EPL Leicester Aston Villa Liverpool Sunderland Swansea West Ham Man Utd

v Newcastle 12:45pm v Everton 3pm v QPR 3pm v Southampton 3pm v Stoke 3pm v Burnley 3pm v West Brom 5:30pm

LA LIGA Cordoba v Barcelona 3pm Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao 5pm Sevilla v Real Madrid 7pm Deportivo v Villarreal 9pm SERIE A Sampdoria Sassuolo

v v

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Cologne 2:30pm B Dortmund 2:30pm Paderborn 2:30pm Stuttgart 2:30pm Frankfurt 2:30pm Hannover 2:30pm Bayern Munich5:30pm

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4pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm 7pm

EMMANUEL ADEBAYO: ... AND HIS SHOCKING ... AND HIS SHOCKING JUJU STORY >>38,39 CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1)Netherlands Capital City (9) 5)Japanese Currency (3) 7)Insect (3) 8)Traditional Ruler of Katsina (4) 10)Benin Republic President, Mr. Boni_(4) 11)L.G.A in Kano State (5) 12)Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Benedict_(9) 16)Ethnic Group in Sierra Leone (5) 18)Former Minister of Transport, 19)Colour (5) 20)L.G.A in Ondo State (9) 24)Greek Alphabet (5) 26)Country in Asia (4) 27)Water Sport (4) 29)State in Nigeria known as “The Pace Setter State”? (3) 30)Organ of Hearing (3) 31)Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin_(9) DOWN 1)Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo_(3) 2)Chelsea Full-Back, John_(5)

3)Saudi Arabian Currency (5) 4)L.G.A in Jigawa State (9) 5)Constellation (4) 6)Senate Majority Leader, Hon. Victor_(5,4) 9)Frenzied (3) 12)General Manager, Public Affairs Department, Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), 13)France “Les Bleus”LeftBack, Patrice_(4) 14)L.G.A in Ogun State (5,4) 15)Former Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Chief Patrick_(5) 17)Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran_(4) 21)Former Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Maharazu_(5) 22)Young Dog (5) 23)Friend (3) 25)Flying Eagles (U-20) Striker, Daniel_(4) 28)Traditional Ruler of Warri (3)

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