Borno market bombed 50 killed, 68 injured

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62178

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Umaru Dikko dies at 78

Patients discharge selves, as doctors commence strike nationwide 8

Pgs.58-59

Borno market bombed; 50 killed, 68 injured

BY NDAHI MARAMA

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•As Boko Haram bombs market •Coming at Ramadan, it's barbaric, wicked — Shettima

AIDUGURI— MORE than 50 people, including 16 members of the Vigilante outfit, also known as Civilian JTF, were killed, yesterday when a Peugeot 505 saloon car Continues on page 5

COLUMNISTS:

Ekiti Verdict 2014: The Apotheosis of Adedibu •P.19

Fayose as •P.19 APC's nemesis

The second wife got the best of him •P.42

Mr & Mrs

THE BORNO MARKET BLAST—Governor Shettima visits victims of the Maiduguri bomb blast, as a trader stands at the scene of the blast. Photos: Ndahi Marama.

MUSLIM/MUSLIM TICKET: Tinubu's aide replies Aribisala 29

NFF: Keshi can go 64

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POCKET CARTOON

BOOK PRESENTATION—From left: Pascal Dozie, Chairman MTN Nigeria; Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibon State; Amb Arthur Mbanefo, Chairman of the occasion and Dr Udo Udo-Aka, Author at the Public Presentation of the autobiography of Dr Udo Udo-Aka at NIIA, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Akeem Salau.

Borno market bombed; 50 killed, 68 injured Continues from page 1 conveying charcoal and wired with Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, exploded in the busy Monday Market in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. About 68 others were seriously injured.

A conflicting report from residents and sources, however, said 20 people including Civilian JTF members died

in the blast, while more than 60 others sustained serious injuries. Other sources claimed that the number of those who died could be higher than 40 or 50 as many among the injured died before getting to Umaru Shehu and State Specialist Hospitals.

How it happened The explosion was said to have occurred at about 7 am at the Elkanemi

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

Malcolm Forbes said: ‘The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at what they enjoy.’ As a result, they simply endure their working lives instead of making the most of it.

They live for the weekends. They try to hang on until retirement. That’s a shame, because your chance of success is directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do.’

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us — Socrates When you’re truly at your edge, do not take unnecessary risks. You’re already at your edge so there is no need to compound it. As you approach the edge, pay attention to your body and mind. Are you going too far? Do you feel fatigued? Ask yourself if you’re really committed to this level of edginess. If you’re not, pull back. At this point, pushing yourself to keep going is just ego creation and is harmful to the self. Beware of artificial pride keeping you on the edge. Do you know you should pull back but you’re too proud to do so? Is fear keeping you frozen on the edge? Leave Out Expectations!

Likewise, make sure that going to your edge is not something you’re doing to feed your ego. You don’t go to your edge in order to get a certain outcome, because lots of time when we’re at the edge, the outcome isn’t what we expected.

Round -About, in the Monday Market, which is about 40 metres away from the office of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Maiduguri.

Mallam Umaru Jubrin, a wheel barrow pusher at the market, who also sustained an injury said: “The IEDs were concealed under bags of charcoal in a Peugeot 505 saloon car, which was parked by a suspected Boko Haram member in the busy area. Some people, who noticed the vehicle parked and abandoned in the area were suspicious and decided to alert some Civilian JTF men. Unfortunately, when about 20 of the Civilian JTF men approached the vehicle, it exploded, leaving about 16 of them dead as well as 30 innocent civilians.

68 people, including the Civilian JTF men were also seriously injured in the blast and were all rushed to various hospitals in Maiduguri for treatment.

“The people, who parked the vehicle knew that the area was a busy place for all kinds of traders as well as people who pass through the place on their way to their offices."

Traders and workers who witnessed the blast said many people were killed, while several vehicles went up in flames.

Another trader Mallam Hussaini Sani said: “We were here very early in

the morning and waited for the market to open.

While waiting, we were discussing and all of a sudden we heard an explosion. We ran towards the area and saw many people dead on the ground before the security men came and pursued everybody away.

But so many people died in the blast."

I lost my friends — Eye witness Another eye witness, who did not want his name mentioned in print said that most of the people killed were his friends. According to him, “the owner of the vehicle parked here (pointing at the place).

He later alighted from the vehicle and disappeared into the crowd.

When we realized that the vehicle was parked wrongly, we were suspicious and began to look for the owner but to no avail; we, therefore, asked some of us to volunteer and push it to a normal parking space along the road. When we realized that the owner had locked the two doors and wound up the glass we were left with no option than to leave it where it was. When I left the place and was about 200 metres away, I heard an explosion apparently from the vehicle which scattered everywhere with mangled bodies of human beings”.

He said it was only

God that saved many of them, adding that the explosion happened at the time when the market was not fully open and business was yet to commence.

The damage The explosion also destroyed shops, vehicles many tricycles and tubers of yam, groundnuts, fruits. other items destroyed were petty food items usually displayed along the main road by aged women, fresh fish sellers and yam dealers popularly known as Yandoya in Hausa.

When Vanguard visited one of the hospitals where the victims were conveyed to, especially the State Specialists Hospital, top management staff of the hospital, who pleaded anonymity said both government and security operatives had warned them not to give out information particularly to the press over the incident.

“We are not authorized to speak on the incident, but so many people lost their lives while a lot more were wounded”.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jibril told Vanguard on phone in Maiduguri: “Our officers and men are already at the scene of the explosion as evacuation of corpses is ongoing as such, I don’t have details yet until our men are back with detailed report."

However, another security source, who was at the scene said the situation was pathetic as security operatives have cordoned off the area to evacuate corpses and clear the area before people are allowed into busy areas of Maiduguri city centre.

Shettima visits Borno State Governor,

Kashim Shettima has since visited the scene of the explosion after leaving the State Specialist Hospital, Umaru Shehu General Hospital in Bulumkutu, where most of the victims were taken to.

He said government will be responsible for all the medical bills of the victims, while the families of those who lost their loved ones or relatives, particularly the Civilian JTF will be given N1 million each.

He, however, condemned the perpetrators of the heinous act, describing it as anti-Islamic, barbaric and wickedness against humanity.

He wondered why “in the period of Ramadan, which is a holy month for prayers and fasting and total submission to Allah, some miscreants should use the period to cause havoc to lives and property, which is very unfortunate”.

Although, the Chairman of the Civilian JTF attached to Sector 3, Mallam Iliya Saidu while briefing Governor Kashim Shettima said, his men were able to identify nine of their members, who died in the blast, but the Chairman of Monday Market Traders Association, Alhaji Bukar Jere, while giving the breakdown of the number of casualty to the Governor insisted that 16 Civilian JTF men were among the dozens of people killed.

Briefing, Governor Shettima, the Manager Maiduguri Monday market said: “16 civilian JTF members were among those killed in the blast, while 68 sustained serious injuries”.

He said four vehicles and four tricycles, popularly called ‘ KEKE NAPEP’ were burnt in the blast, adding that the incident also affected 49 shops and Wares displayed by the petty traders on the road side.

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

NSCDC nabs two over attempt to steal solar system

BY TINA AKANNAM

D

UTSE —THE Jigawa State Command of the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has arrested two men, Adamu Muhammad and Munatari Tijjani, for attempting to steal solar power system at Government School, Malam Madori. The men are 50 and 47 years old respectively.

The commandant of the corps, Dr Gidado, told Vanguard that the men were arrested while trying to brake the school fence with some tools.

He said the matter was still under investigation, adding that if they are found guilty, they will be charged to court.

Similarly, the command has apprehended one Murtala Ibrahim for allegedly stealing a goat in Yankwashi town.

According to the commandant, the suspect confessed to the crime, adding that he has been arraigned in a magistrate's court in Kazaure.

Gidado revealed that the man was convicted and sentenced to four months imprisonment with an option of N10,000 fine.

Man docked for killing 7-yr-old girl in auto crash

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA — A magis trate's court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, yesterday, docked a 23-year-old man, Akeem Sulaimon, for killing a seven-year-old girl, Marvellous Olaiya, with his vehicle.

The prosecutor, Augustine Ozimini, told the court that the accused killed the girl on June 15, 2014 at Papa-Maru, on Ogun Radio Road, Abeokuta with an unregistered vehicle.

Akeem was arraigned on a three -count charge of dangerous driving, killing and driving unlicenced and unregistered vehicle levelled against him.

The accused's counsel, Raheem Ayanbiyi, prayed the court to grant the accused bail in most liberal and perfect terms.

The presiding magistrate, Emmanuel Adekunte, who did not take the plea of the accused person due to the nature of the charge, however, granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in the like sum and adjourned the case till August 22, 2014 for mention.

Building collapses in Lagos Police barracks, 30 families homeless L

BY EVELYN USMAN & BOSE ADELAJA

AGOS — A BUILDING at Pedro Police Barracks, in Shomolu area of Lagos, collapsed Monday night, rendering at least 30 families homeless.

Although no casualty was recorded in the incident which occurred at about 8.15 p.m. but some occupants were said to have sustained minor injuries during the stampede caused by the collapse.

Eye witnesses said the building, which comprised 27 units of flats had signs of imminent danger, following cracks on the walls of some of the flats. However, some occupants told Vanguard yesterday that the cracks were only noticed on Sunday.

An eyewitness, who gave her name as Madam Justina, said: "All occupants were able to escape immediately the alarm was raised. Some of them had last Sunday noticed some cracks on their flats. This kept them on their toes. But they were unable to get alternative accommodation before the incident occurred."

Another eyewitness, who gave her name as Queen, said: "We are grateful to God because no casualty was recorded. This is due to the fact that the NigeriaBrazil match ended before then and people trooped out of their flats to analyse the match.

"Had the match been on, some people would have died, as there wouldn’t have been anyone to raise alarm."

Children, who were supposed to be in school, were sighted roaming about yesterday, with some of them apparently ignorant of what happened.

Their parents, on the other hand, were busy trying to salvage their belongings from the debris. Those who managed to salvage their belongings had some of them destroyed by the mid night heavy downpour.

One of them who could not con-

The collapsed building trol her emotions, lamented amidst tears: "What an unkind fate. No shelter to put our heads, no clothes except those worn before the incident and now, some property I managed to get from the wreckage have been destroyed by rain."

A representative of Pedro Police Barracks Association, Miss Osam Ebani, told Vanguard that most of the affected occupants had been turned to refugees.

I

BADAN — A 27-year-old man, identified as Wasiu Moshood, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment without an option of fine by an Ibadan magistrate's court for stealing a BlackBerry phone.

Moshood was said to have committed the offence during the commissioning of a branch of Shoprite in Ibadan on Friday, June 19, 2014.

At his first appearance before the Chief Magistrate, O. A. Amzat, the convict had pleaded guilty to the charges of stealing and was remanded in Agodi

student of Yaba College of Technology said, appealing to the appropriate authority to come to the aid of the affected families.

When contacted, the SouthWest Information Officer for the National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA, Ibrahin Farinloye, confirmed the incident but refused to give details.

He simply said: "The incident is true and the affected occupants have been evacuated."

Soldiers kill RCCG pastor, injure 2 others in Delta

BY EMMAAMAIZE & AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

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PURAJA —SOLDIERS have shot dead a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and injured about three others at the quiet Opuraja community in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

The pastor said to be in his 30s was married with four children.

A security source said the soldiers, led by a Captain, came in

Man, 27, jailed two years for stealing phone

BY OLA AJAYI

She said: "The incident is disheartening in the sense that the children cannot go to school. We are now refugees in our fatherland. We are stranded trying to attach ourselves to our neighbours whose apartments are already congested.

"We are trying to raise money for alternative accommodation for our affected parents whose stipends cannot afford good accommodation for now," the final year

Prison till the adjourned day.

Before remanding him, the Chief Magistrate Amzat said since he had pleaded guilty to the charges, he should be remanded at Agodi till June 30.

When the case was due for judgment, the magistrate tried endlessly to make the convict tell the court where he sold the phone but he claimed he could not.

The court then delivered its judgment.

The phone which is estimated at N45,000 belonged to a woman, Adekoya Falilat, who the convict reportedly beat to stupor for accusing him of theft.

two Hilux vans to conduct investigation in the community, but were allegedly mobbed by villagers, who misconstrued their motive, as they took away vigilante leader and community chairman.

The soldiers reportedly denied killing anybody, but admitted that they shot into the car when the villagers surged towards them.

The Orodje of Okpe kingdom, HRM, Mujakperuo Orhue 1, a retired army officer, was said to have waded into the matter to calm frayed nerves after the fracas.

He expressed his disappointment over the incident, saying the soldiers should not have fired at unarmed citizens.

The monarch, however, pleaded with the community leadership and Okpe Local Local Government Transition Committee chair, Chief James Augoye, to find ways of resolving the issues amicably.

Former Minister of Information, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, who is from the community, confirmed that one person was killed and some persons injured, but said details were sketchy, as the soldiers claimed they fired to scare the crowd.

A villager, who spoke to Vanguard said: "I saw the soldiers, they came to the community, asking for the chairman of the com-

munity and vigilante leader.

They told them that there was robbery incident on Warri/ Sapele expressway and asked them to reveal the identity of the person who owns the farm from which the bandits collected the wood they used to barricade the road.

"They told the soldiers that none of the community people owns farm there, but the military men accused them of not doing their job effectively.

"We saw the soldiers carry them away in their Hilux van and drove to the expressway, where they tied them against their vehicles until it was 6 a.m.

"The youths mobilised and went to the scene where the community leaders were tied and when the army saw the crowd approaching, they started shooting indiscriminately.

"A group of soldiers in another Hilux van apparently heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene, that was how the pastor, who was standing by was shot and he died immediately."

Opuraja community chairman, Mr Godwill Eyaguobor, said: “The youths in the community are not criminals, none has been caught robbing in the community or engaged in any act of violence.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 7

Court issues arrest warrant against Cross Country Motors boss L

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

AGOS — JUSTICE Lateef Lawal-Akapo of an Ikeja High Court, yesterday, issued a bench warrant for the production of the embattled chairman of Cross Country Motors, Chief Bube Okorodudu, over alleged involvement in the theft of N82.9 million.

The court’s order was sequel to an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after he (Okorodudu) allegedly failed to turn up to answer to charges levelled against him by the prosecution.

The judge directed the Police to arrest and produce Okorodudu before the court on July 8 for his arraignment.

The transporter and his two companies, Cross Country Limited and Car Link Limited, were charged to court by the EFCC on an eight-count charge of conspiracy, stealing, forgery and uttering.

They were accused of stealing the money which was the sales proceeds of 17 units of Volkswagen transporter buses belonging to AG Moeller Ltd between February 2008 and August 2009.

The anti-graft agency claimed the buses were fraudulently sold to GMT Nigeria Ltd, Multichoice Nigeria and Law Union and Rock/TFS Finance Ltd., and that Okorodudu allegedly forged a document to facilitate the alleged theft.

It contended that on several occasions, Okorodudu had failed to show up to take his plea on the charges filed against him.

To avoid his arraignment, the business man and his company had filed application and argued that the trial court lacks jurisdiction to sit over the case on the ground that the matter before the court border on business transaction between them and the complainant.

However, Justice Lawal-Akapo had fixed yesterday for the formal arraignment of Okorodudu and his company after it had on May 26 dismissed Okorodudu’s application to quash the charge on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction and had ordered the defendants to appear in court on July 1 for their arraignment.

At the resumption of proceedings, the EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, reminded the court of its order, noting that the absence of the defendants was a flagrant disobedience of the court’s order.

Chief Robert Clarke (SAN), who represented Okorodudu, explained his absence was as a result of an appeal filed against the ruling made by the court on May 26.

Counsel to Car Link and Cross

Country, Chief Ladi Williams (SAN), also urged the court not to issue the warrant on the same grounds.

In his ruling, the judge held that no cogent reason was given for Okorodudu’s absence.

Lawal-Akapo noted that there

was evidence that Okorodudu was at the registry of the Ikeja High Court on Tuesday morning to sign an affidavit.

Lawal-Akapo said: “It is abundantly clear that he is taking the court for a ride. The law is not a respecter of any per-

son. This matter is adjourned till July 8 and a bench warrant is hereby issued against the defendant.

“The defendant is to be arrested and produced before the court to take his plea.”

Flooded 2nd Rainbow bus stop on Oshodi-Mile 2 Expressway, Lagos after a downpour, yesterday. PHOTO: AKEEM SALAU.

.... Agidima Road, Festac Extension, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola

Prince, one other charged for stealing in Lagos

L

BY ONOZURE DANIA

AGOS — THE Police, yes terday, arraigned a 24year-old man, Ayinde Oniru and one other before a Lagos chief magistrate's court, sitting at Ebute Metta, for allegedly stealing from two women under the pretence of importing and delivering some goods to a Lagos Oba, His Royal Majesty, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi.

Oniru, who claimed to be from a royal family in Lagos, was charged alongside one Adekunle Usman.

The defendants are facing an eight-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and impersonation preferred against them by the Police.

The prosecutor, Feddy Asu, told the court that the self-acclaimed prince, his co-accused and his other accomplices, who are at large, had sometime in September 2013, in Surulere area of the state conspired to fraudulently obtain N470,000 from one Adeola Babatunde with the pretence that they would assist her to import some goods from abroad, which they failed to do.

He said the defendants fraudulently obtained some goods worth N3.5 million between March and May from one Princess Adeleke with the pretext that the goods would be delivered to a Lagos monarch, His Royal Majesty, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi.

Asu also stated that the items that were collected from the victims included some note books, one i-phone 5, one ipad tablet, assorted wrist watc hes, gold jewellery and cash sum of N250,000.

The duo were also said to have obtained N500,000 from one Jelli Elias with a promise that they would help him to buy a landed property at Lekki.

Lagos begins clampdown on illegal siren users

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

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AGOS — EMBAR RASSED by indiscriminate use of siren in Lagos State, the government yesterday directed law enforcement agencies to begin apprehension of offenders as well as their prosecution.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, in a statement warned the general public, especially drivers, against the use of siren and noisy devices indiscriminately within the state.

The use of siren and other

noisy devices in vehicles is prohibited under the Lagos State Road Traffic Law. According to the AG, it was only vehicles used for emergency purposes, such as ambulances, fire engines and law enforcement vehicles on urgent call that are exempted from the rule.

Ipaye added that apart from those listed, nobody is allowed to use siren or other noisy device in a vehicle within the territorial boundary of the state.

He said: “The use of siren and other noisy devices have caused unnecessary harassment to innocent road users

and resulted in many instances of traffic congestion, avoidable motor accidents, damage to property and personal injury.”

Section 24 (C ) of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law 2011, made it criminal offence to use or deploy siren or other noisy device in a vehicle within the state.

“By virtue of section 36(1) of the same law, convicted offenders may be fined up to N30,000 and/or imprisoned for up to three years,” he noted.

Ipaye said in addition to the above penalty, offenders would be held fully responsible for damage or injury

caused by his contravention and the offending vehicle is also liable to be forfeited to the state by virtue of Section 36(2) of the law.

“Law enforcement officers have been directed to ensure full compliance with the Lagos State Road Traffic Law for the purpose of ensuring the peace, safety and security of all residents and visitors on our roads,” Lagos AG added.

Ipaye, while thanking the law-abiding people of Lagos State for their continued partnership in making the state a model megacity, said anyone that contravened any section of the law should be prepared to face the full wrath of the law.

8—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

ABANDONED: ABOVE: The children ward of Agbowa Primary Health Centre, Ikorodu, Lagos, yesterday. INSET: A patient being taken away by relatives from Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba, yesterday. RIGHT: Patients waiting at the outpatient department of Alimosho General Hospital, Igando, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTOS: Bunmi Azeez, Kehinde Gbadamosi, Biodun Ogunleye.

Doctors' strike paralyses services nationwide

BY CHIOMA OBINNA, SUZAN EDEH, GBENGA ARIYIBI, GABRIEL OLAWALE, BOSEDE OYELOHUNNU, CHRIS OCHAYI & RACHAEL IZOKPU

I

T was a pathetic situation in all federal and state-owned hospitals across the country as services were shut down by medical doctors, leaving hundreds of patients, who turned up for appointments, hopeless.

Women, children and men who turned up at the hospitals, irrespective of their conditions, were left unattended to. The situation in the hospitals was so bad that in some, nurses and pharmacists took over the duty of the striking medical doctors.

In some hospitals, out of frustration and pity for the patients, medical directors were forced to take over the consulting rooms in a bid to ensure that patients who desperately needed medical attention had some form of treatments.

However, the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, yesterday took a swipe at Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, over its ongoing strike and advertorial it placed in the media advising Federal Government to stay action on its agreement with it, warning of imminent crisis in the nation’s health sector.

From the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH; Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Ebutte-Metta; Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH; Federal NeuroPsychiatric Hospital, Yaba; Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, to Federal Medical Centre, Bida, the situation was the same.

There was total shut down of services by the striking medical doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA. The strike which many patients described as unpopular was, however, effective against public

appeal.

LUTH

At LUTH, many patients suffered more humiliation, despite the condition of their health. New patients were rejected outright as not even a single doctor from the cadre of House Officers to Consultant was around to attend to patients.

Lamentations was the order of the day in the various wards; patients on admission continued to recount their woes.

Some of the patients who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, for fear of being victimised, said they were worried about their fate should the strike continue beyond a day, while others quickly discharged themselves and headed for private hospitals.

The beehive of activities the hospital’s Accident and Emergency, AE, is known for was absent. Departments, such as Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Surgery, Paediatrics, Medical OutPatients Clinics and Labour, were devoid of activities.

Other patients who spoke to Vanguard, lamented that strike was becoming too frequent at government-owned health facilities, noting that they (patients) were always at the receiving end.

For them, strike should not be experienced in a sensitive sector as health, contending that strike in public hospitals was usually to the detriment of the average Nigerian who could hardly afford to pay private hospital bills.

A victim’s tale

One of the patients, who simply identified himself as Mr. Kenny whose wife was admitted a day before commencement of the ongoing strike, said: “It is unfortunate that both the government and doctors are

z JOHESU flays NMA over strike taking our lives for granted.

“I brought my wife here yesterday (Monday), only to be told that doctors are on strike today. Her sickness is somehow different and cannot be left in the hands of a nurse or student doctor.

“The doctor that is supposed to see to her case is not even near the hospital. We have no choice than to consider a private hospital for to continue her treatment.”

At the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute- Metta, healthcare services were completely shut down. Patients on admission were asked to vacate their beds, while new patients were not admitted.

A staff of the hospital, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity, said they started discharging patients as early as 8a.m., since there were no doctors to attend to them.

He said: “Some patients left on their own in annoyance, while others who did not leave were forcefully referred to Military Hospital, Yaba. The hospital has also made arrangement to move some patients with a functional ambulance because the directive is that all patients must be evacuated.”

Igbobi

At Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, the message was clearly written as patients were turned back right from the hospital entrance gate. Inside the hospital, no patient was seen; only a few were sighted in the various wards.

However, Vanguard gathered that the hospital was planning to discharge all patients to avoid any casualty.

At LASUTH, where majority of the new patients who were turned back from the various Federal Government health institutions took their cases, they got the shock of their lives as

they were also told that doctors in the hospital had also joined the strike.

At the hospital, only nurses were seen attending to patients who refused to leave.

One of the patients who brought his son to the hospital told Vanguard that the same doctors who refused to attend to him in the hospital called him to come to his own private hospital.

The patent said: “We have already made payment but since they are on strike there is nothing I can do. I believe if I get there, he will show some level of understanding.”

One of the nurses who also spoke on condition anonymity said: “Some of these doctors have private hospitals so anytime they embark on strike, they are always happy because they will move patients to their various hospitals.

Yaba

At the Neuro-Psychiatric, Yaba, the scenario was completely different as the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Rahman Lawal, and two other doctors were on ground to attend to patients.

No patient was turned back when Vanguard visited the hospital. The out-patients department was in full session.

Vanguard gathered that the three doctors resumed work as early as 8a.m.

Some of the patients who spoke to Vanguard thanked God for the doctors. Mr. Kunle Ibitoye, who accompanied his wife, said they had been at the hospital as early as 8a.m. but were yet to be attended to due to the large number of patients.

Bauchi

In Bauchi, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, ATBTH, was partially grounded as only a few patients were

seen around the premises.

Many patients with minor ailments were discharged, while those in critical conditions were given medical attention by nurses.

Suleiman Abubakar, whose wife had typhoid fever, said he was moving her to a private hospital where she could receive treatment.

Acting Chief Medical Director, ATBTH, Dr.Yusuf Jibril, said the hospital was only attending to patients with critical conditions, adding that those with minor ailments had been discharged, in line with the directives of NMA.

Niger

In Minna, Niger State, doctors in the state complied with the directive of NMA. When our correspondent visited Minna General Hospital, no doctor was found on duty, except for nurses who were taking care of patients.

Chairman of NMA, Niger State chapter, Dr. Isah Alhaji, told our correspondent that the strike was total across the state.

The situation was not different in Ekiti, Abuja.

The issues

NMA had gone on strike following the expiration of the two-week ultimatum given to the Federal Government to address their 24-point demands. Their grievances are pegged on increase in allowances, appointment titles and positions, skipping of grade level and 21 other demands.

Others are contained in a statement by the national body of NMA: “The position of Chief Medical Director/Medical Director must continue to be occupied by a Medical Doctor as contained in the Act establishing the tertiary hospitals. This position remains sacrosanct and untouchable.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—9

NYANYA BLAST:

Ogwuche for arraignment July 9

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

VISIT: From left— Warman Ogoriba, Chairman, House Committee on the Niger Delta; Marcel Hochet, President and CEO of Schneider Electric English West Africa; James Manager, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Niger Delta and Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, during a visit by the joint committees of the National Assembly on the Niger Delta to Isaac Boro Energy Training College at Grenoble, France.

EX-US ASST SECRETARY OF STATE TO FG:

Take a stand against Boko Haram

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME & MICHAEL EBOH

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ORT HARCOURT— THE Federal Government has been advised to take a decisive stand to end terrorist activities of the Boko Haram insurgents in the country.

Speaking, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State at an Energy Environment and Investment forum organised by the Rivers State Government, former United State’s Assistant Secretary of States, Mr. James Rubin, said there was urgent need for the government to take a firm position on the ugly situation.

He said Nigeria was going through what he dubbed the “second generation of terrorism in the world,” stressing that steps should be taken to wipe it out if the country was to enjoy investors confidence.

He said the government had been flirting with different approaches on how to tackle the challenge, noting that it was high time it decided on what to do.

He said: “Either the government or another one makes a decision to confront the situation. One day it is amnesty, another day it is military operation. Then you talk about assistance from outside.

“I say this as a friend. What you are going through is the second generation of terrorism in the world. Most countries have gone through it. Please do not wait for the next level. I say this as a friend.”

Former Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Zapatero on

his part, called for collective effort to make democracy succeed in African continent, adding that no culture or religion should be seen as superior to the other.

Condemning acts of terrorism in the continent, he said the rule of law and respect for rights was the needed instruments for a healthy democratic setting.

The former Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Zapatero also expressed hope that Nigeria had the capacity of being among top economies in the world by 2020, stressing that only in a democracy would there be peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic setting.

He said: “Only in a democracy can there be peaceful living among the various ethnic groups.

Democracy and political equality is the instrument to unite people.”

Former President of Poland, Mr. Lech Walesa enjoined Nigeria to use its vast human and capital resources to its advantages, noting that steps should be taken to evolve global solutions to challenges.

Former Prime Minister of France, Francois Fillon called for credible elections in African continent, noting that prolongation of mandates had often threatened the political space in the continent.

Former President of Ghana, Mr. John Koffuor, who gave the keynote address on Sustainable Energy the Key to Africa’s investment, called on Africa countries to invest in technology that would end gas flaring in the continent.

He charged African leaders to promote rule of law, respect for constitutional rights and also fight against corruption, while urging

governments in the region to pursue solar energy development.

“Africa should follow China and Americans in the area of energy development,” he said.

The host, Governor Rotimi Amaechi earlier in his welcome address, spoke extensively on the effort of his administration in the development of the power sector, describing energy as the bond between development in the different spheres of society.

Amaechi said; “Energy is the bond that connects economic, social, and e n v i r o n m e n t a l development.

“It is a launching pad for economic growth and plays a pivotal role in any attempt to achieve sustainable development. No country can successfully reduce poverty without adequately addressing its energy needs.”

Ikeja DISCO shuts sub-station over vandalism, harassment

BY MICHAEL EBOH

R

ESIDENTS of Mafoluku, Oshodi and environs have been plunged into darkness as Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC, yesterday shut down the Mafoluku Injection Substation in protest against the incessant harassment of its staff and vandalisation of its facilities by residents within the area

of the substation.

According to a statement by Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs, IKEDC, the decision will also enable it protect the lives of its staff and safeguard the ultra modern equipment in the station from vandalism by residents of Mafoluku, who besieged the station under the guise of protest.

He disclosed that the power plant will remain shut

until the community can guarantee the safety of the lives of staff and the multi million naira investments that have been made to drive improved power supply.

He blamed the low power situation in the community on the inadequate power it is getting from the national grid, saying that IKEDC currently gets an average of 35 percent to 40 percent of its maximum demand on daily basis from the grid.

BUJA—JUSTICE Ademola Adeniyi of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, fixed July 9 for the Federal Government to arraign the alleged mastermind of the April 14 bomb explosion that killed over 75 persons at a motor park in Nyanya Abuja, Aminu Ogwuche.

The court fixed the date after the three-count criminal charge that was entered against the accused person came up for mention yesterday.

The charge, which was filed before the high court by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, was signed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Oloye Torugbene.

Meanwhile, it was not revealed whether or not the accused, who had been in the custody of the Interpol in Sudan, has been released to the Nigerian government.

Ndume, too

Similarly, the High Court, yesterday, fixed the same date to resume the trial of Senator Mohammed Ndume, who is also facing trial over the allegation that he furnished the sect with information that aided their operations in Nigeria.

Ndume, who is currently representing Borno South Federal Constituency in the Senate, was said to have supplied the sect with the telephone numbers of top government officials.

An alleged accomplice of the lawmaker and a self confessed spokesman of the sect, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, had since been jailed for three years after he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges filed against him by the government.

Konduga was said to be the middleman between the sect and Ndume.

A Nokia E7 phone with which Ndume allegedly used in communicating with Konduga and another Nokia 2700 that belonged to the convict, were admitted in evidence by trial Justice Kolawole.

10—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Lagos introduces ‘life animals trucks' to move cattle

BY MONSUR OLOOOPEJO

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AGOS—GOVER NOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, said plans had been concluded to introduce ‘Life Animal Trucks’, aimed at transporting life animals especially cattle within the state.

Fashola announced this after inspecting the Oko - Oba Abattoir, Agege Local Government Area.

He said the new strategy would improve the quality of the cattle before they are slaughtered for consumption, saying, “When a cattle walks long distance before it is slaughtered, its value depreciates. The new trucks will be deployed to transport cattle and it will help the cattle traders to stop from moving their animals on foot at night.”

To kick-start this initiative, the governor said the state sponsored about 39 butchers to Kenyan and Botswana, to learn mechanised process of slaughtering and processing cattle in the state.

According to him; “Since they returned, they demanded for change. We have allowed them to lead the reform. All these are geared towards improving the hygiene of the meat before getting to consumers. The machines that were provided by the Sir, Micheal Otedola’s administration have been revived and they are ready to commence operation.

“Also, the state government will be reconstructing their trailer parks to modern standard. We will also build a camp that will serve as temporary accommodation for cattle traders from other states and others to have place to sleep, wash, eat and support their business.

“One of the things we will be doing urgently is to construct fence for the abattoir. We want to improve the capacity of the abattoir in order to keep existing jobs and to provide employment for more people. But it cannot do this if it is not organised.”

SERAP sues FG for withdrawing charges against Abacha

BY ONOZURE DANIA

L

AGOS—SOCIO-ECO NOMIC Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has dragged the Federal Government to court, over the withdrawal of corruption charges against the son of the former late Nigerian military head of state, General Sani Abacha, Muhammed Abacha.

The defendants, in a suit

no. FHC/ L/CS/1007/2014, are President Goodluck Jonathan and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mohammed Adoke, The suit was filed before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni and Oyindamola Musa on behalf of the organisation.

SERAP argued that sec-

tion 15 (5) of the 1999 constitution stated that “The state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power. This means that the respondents are to prevent the exploitation of Nigerian’s human and natural resources for any reasons other than for the good of the community. It also means that in cases of corruption, the defendants will ensure diligent

MEETING: From left—Chairman, Epe Local Government, Hon. Segun Agbaje; wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola and the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris during the town hall meeting on maternal and child mortality reduction programme at Epe local government secretariat.

and effective prosecution of suspected perpetrators.”

“The philosophical foundation for the inclusion of the fundamental objectives in the Constitution is that government’s powers are not exercised to disregard the very institution and citizens they ought to protect.”

The plaintiff urged the court to declare that the withdrawal by the respondents of the N446.3billion corruption charges against Muhammed Abacha, was illegal and unconstitutional, having cited section 174 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, which provided that the second defendant in the exercise of his power to undertake criminal proceedings shall have regard to the public interest, interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.

The court was also urged to issue an order directing the defendants to reinstate the corruption charges/ suit against Muhammed Abacha forthwith, saying “The good faith of the obligations assumed by Nigeria under UN convention does not grant discretion to the defendants to refuse to prosecute, recover stolen assets and end the impunity of perpetrators. ''It is submitted that there are no exceptional circumstances warranting the withdrawal of the corruption charges/suit against Muhammed Abacha by the defendants''.

However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

WOLE SOYINKA PRIZE GRAND FINALE: Literary icons to mentor students

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OME pupils of second ary schools in Nigeria who have interest in literary arts will have opportunity to meet and interact with literary icons attending the grand finale of the fifth edition of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

The award is sponsored by the national telecommunication carrier, Globacom.

Literary icons such as the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and a renowned Ghanaian author, who was also a former Ghanaian Education Minister, Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, among other distinguished writers, will be available to speak with the students at the event slated for July 5 at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Some of the schools penciled to bring select pupils are Unique Heights Senior and Junior School, Halifield College, First Harvard School, Dowen College, Victoria Island Senior Secondary School, and Kuramo Senior Secondary School, all in Lagos.

In a joint statement by Globacom, the main sponsor of the Prize and Lumina Foundation, the organisers of the award, it was stated that the idea of inviting students to the grand finale is to enable the students meet their literary idols so that their imagination can be fired and they can be inspired to seek and attain greatness.

In contention for the $20,000 Grand Prize are three authors: Othuke Ominibohs, Akin Bello and Toyin Abiodun. The three finalists will also be available to interact with the students.

The finalists were selected from a longlist of 10 African authors including, Soji Cole, Comfort Adesuwa Ero, Isaac Attah Ogezi, Moshood Oba, Mayowa Saja, Wumi Raji and Akin Adejumo. They were drawn from a total of 163 entries submitted from 17 African countries in the genre of Drama, which is the focus of the 2014 edition.

All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship aspirant in Lagos, Mr Akinwumi Ambode presenting his book 'The art of Selfless Service' to the publisher of Ovation magazine, Chief Dele Momodu, when he visited Ambode at his Ikoyi, Lagos home.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014 —11

Explosion rocks Ile-Ife

Ajimobi constitutes boards of 46 parastatals

I

BY GBENGA OLARI-

NOYE

O

SOGBO—THERE was pandemonium in the early hours of yesterday in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State following an explosion suspected to be Improvised Explosive Device, IED, that rocked the city.

It was gathered that two explosive devices planted in two strategic locations at Agbedegbede Compound of the town exploded at 3.15 am, leaving residents in shock and apprehension.

Deep inside Ife, in one of the abandoned buildings, another explosive was found and detonated.

Although no life was lost and no suspect arrested in the explosion, it was gathered that property which cost, were yet-to-be determined at the time of this report, were destroyed.

Commissioner of Police, Mr Ibrahim Maishanu, who confirmed the incident, said “the explosion was a minor one and not a major explosion.”

He said the state Police command would reinforce security in all parts of the state, assuring all residents of the state to continue with their activities peacefully.

Meanwhile, Osun State government has condemned the explosion that rocked Ile-Ife, describing it as unfortunate.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere urged the people of the state to remain calm, saying the government would not allow any threat to the peace of the state.

VISIT: From left; Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola, Lisa of Ile-Oluji, High Chief Akin Fagbamiye, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Kola Ademujimi and the Head of Service, Toyin Akinkuotu, during a ‘thank you’ visit by leaders of Ile-Oluji to the Governor’s Office, in Akure, over the siting of a Federal Polytechnic in their town.

Oyinlola visits Jonathan, says he remains PDP scribe

BY BEN AGANDE

A

BUJA—FORMER Na tional Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olagunsoye Oyinlola has said he remains the authentic secretary of the party known to the law.

Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, Prince Oyinlola said anybody occu-

pying the position now was a mere pretender.

An Abuja high court had ruled that Oyinlola remains the Secretary of the Peoples Democratic. Party, PDP “All I am saying is that Oyinlola, in the face of the law, remains the authentic secretary of the PDP anybody in that office for now, is a pretender,” he said.

Although he declined to give reasons for his meeting with

Proposed Ekiti LCDA H/Qtr sparks protest

BY GBENGAARIYIBI

A

DO EKITI—THE crea tion of additional 18 local government development areas by the regime of the outgoing Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has sparked

off a fresh crisis as the people of Erinmope Ekiti in Moba Local Government area, have kicked against the siting of the new Ero Local Government headquarters in Igogo Ekiti.

Speaking with the newsmen in Ado Ekiti yesterday, the national

It’s an insult to reduce governance to ‘Amala politics’ — AMOSUN

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA—GOVER NOR Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, yesterday, said it was an insult to the people and the forefathers of the state to reduce governance to distribution of rice and money otherwise called ‘amala politics ‘ to curry the favour of the people for his second term in office.

The Governor spoke at the Obas Complex, Oke-Mosan Abeokuta, during the inauguration of Akarigbo and paramount ruler of Remoland, Oba Micheal Adeniyi Sonariwo, as the new Chairman of the Ogun State

the president, it may not be unconnected with the forthcoming elections in Osun state where the PDP is squaring up against the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC. The recent victory of the PDP candidate in Ekiti state, Ayo Fayose has raised hope that there could be a spill over effect on the Osun election and all aggrieved parties in the PDP in the states are being wooed back to the party.

Council of Obas.

Amosun while inaugurating the new Chairman of the traditional council in the state, said he had been receiving series of calls since June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State won by the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in the state.

The governor however, vowed that he would not succumb to the pressure by some people he called concerned party members and leaders to embark on governance of rice distribution.

He said he would instead put infrastructures in place to subsequently create wealth among the citizens.

According to him, “After the Ekiti experience, people called and suggested that we should stop all projects we are executing and start distributing rice and money. It is an insult to our people, it is an insult to our forefathers. We cannot reduce governance to ‘amala’ politics in Ogun. ''It will be a disservice to the people of the state. One of my exco members was also suggesting the idea of amala politics.”

In his acceptance speech, the new Chairman of the Ogun State Council of Obas, Akarigbo of Remoland, expressed gratitude to God, the Governor and his cabinet members for the trust repose in him.

President of Erinmope Development Union, Alhaji Lasisi Salami, claimed Igogo Ekiti was lesser in population and in hierarchy than their community.

Speaking on behalf of the paramount ruler of the town, Oba James Aina, he described the government’s action as a big slap on their community.

Salami said the decision was a bitter pill for them to swallow, because the committee set up by government on the matter had found Erinmope suitable to host the headquarters.

The community leader insisted that the town would rather be on its own than be subdued under the authority of a junior community.

According to him “The Obaleo of Erinmope -Ekiti is a first class Oba and appointed a Permanent member of Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers via Ref No: PXE/ CH/ 92/TÍ/6 of 26th April, 2000.

Obaleo of Erinmope is the only First Class Oba in the seven (7) towns and villages that make up the proposed Ero LCDA,” the statement reads in part.

BADAN—GOVER NOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has approved the constitution of boards of 46 parastatals in the state, which comprise 500 chairmen and members.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Ibadan by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.

According to the statement, the State Universal Basic Education Board has as its chairman Dr. Busari Adebisi, while the State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards (Christian and Muslim Wings) are headed by Rev. Father Theophilus Fadeyi and Alhaji Taofeek Akewugbagold respectively.

Other Board Chairmen are: Chief Lasisi Ayankojo, Local Government Service Commission; Chief Y. A. Akande, Oyo State Pension Board; Prince Bayo Sanda, Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS); Engr. Adebisi Adesina, Solid Waste Management Authority); Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi, Teaching Service Commission; Ogundijo Ogundiran, State Sports Council; Alhaji Olayide Abass, Hospitals Management Board (state headquarters) and Engr.

Tunji Adeegbe, Trans-City Transport Corporation.

Others include Prof.

Akinlolu Adeyemo, State Library Board; Barrister Mojisola Okediji-Abimbola, Hospitals Management Board (Oyo/Ogbomoso Zone); Hon. Felix Ige, Hospitals Management Board (Oke Ogun Zone I); Hon. Akin Ajekiigbe, Hospitals Management Board, Oke Ogun Zone II); Alhaji Abass Oloko, Hospitals Management Board (Ibadan/ Ibarapa Zone); Hon. J. A. Adeleke, Zonal Hospital Management Board, Oke-Ogun); and others.

12—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Oshiomhole to Ize-Iyamu: You failed Edo people

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has challenged Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, former Secretary to the State Government in the administration of Mr. Lucky Igbinedion, to render his account of stewardship as SSG, noting that he failed to use his office to impact on the people.

Oshiomhole threw the challenge when he received over 2,000 market women from the 18 local government areas of the state who paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House, Benin City.

He said: “I defeated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in all the Wards and Local Governments in the last governorship election and that was due to the massive support from you market women. After the defeat, a man who claims to be a pastor, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, insisted on being imposed on Edo people as the governor. I refused and said to him, as former Chief of Staff to the State Government, what did you do?

“What effort did you make in bringing development to Edo people? Did you give your peo-

ple electricity? Did you give them water? Did you give them good roads? How did you influence the government in bringing development to even your constituencies? Did you bring hospital to the people?

“Even as Secretary to the State Government, I requested to know from him how he impacted on the government. All the money that came from Abuja during his ten-

ure as SSG, he was the first to receive. What did he do with it? How many markets did he build with it? Which erosion did he assist in controlling even at a time when erosion was a threat to the people of the state?

“Everywhere I go, people ask me, why did you always allow this man to be with you?

Like you the market women

have said in the morning, you see them as PDP, at night they become All Progressives Congress, APC, and how can you commit the resources of the state to such people?"

Oshiomhole regretted that some people were in politics and parade themselves as servants of God to deceive the people.

SOLIDARITY VISIT: Governor Adams Oshiomhole (left) addresses market women from across the state, led by Madam Blacky Omoregie, who were on a solidarity visit to the governor at Government House, yesterday.

INYC urges FG to stop payment of Itsekiri ex-militants' stipends through Tonwe

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

W

ARRI—CONFUSION over alleged irregularities in the distribution of Itsekiri benefits in the Federal Government's Amnesty programme for Niger Delta continued, yesterday, with the Itsekiri National Youth Council, INYC, led by Mr. Esimaje Awani, calling for stoppage of further payment of Itsekiri beneficiaries’ monthly stipends through the David Tonwe’s faction of INYC. Awani, in a statement in Warri, Delta State, said: “We have written to the Presidential Adviser on Amnesty, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, to stop all payments to this group of persons. They do not have the authority to operate in that capacity.

“The name, Itsekiri Native Youth Council being used to collect the Itsekiri amnesty payments is unknown to Itsekiri youths. No one knows what they are doing. We are talking about 500 slots of N65,000 monthly to skills acquiring trainees as well as $700 and $900 to overseas graduates and postgraduates scholarship beneficiaries respectively. It cannot be business as usual.”

Esimaje stressed that Itsekiri youths do not feel the impact of the amnesty programme on their lives, urging the Amnesty

Office to stop the Itsekiri payments to the supervising Tonwe group pending the resolution of the said irreg-

ularities and allegations of mismanagement against the group before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Delta 2015: Omo-Agege gets royal blessing

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—AHEAD of the 2015 gubernatorial election, the Odion of Oleh Kingdom, Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, Chief Smith Evivie, has blessed the gubernatorial ambition of Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, describing him as a man of integrity with genuine passion to add value to the governance of the state.

Speaking when Omo-Agege paid him a consultation visit at his residence in Oleh in continuation of his consultation with stakeholders in pursuance of his gubernatorial ambition, Evivie said that the governorship aspirant was out to give qualitative service to the state and commended the sincerity of purpose with which Omo-Agege has been pursuing the gubernatorial aspiration since 2007.

He said: “Omo-Agege was in the governorship race in 2007.

He was in the race in 2011, and now he is in the race for 2015. I admire your passion to serve the

people and making job creation the agenda of your administration. I am convinced that you are up to something good for all Deltans.”

Decrying the unemployment rate in the country, Evivie prayed God to grant Omo-Agege the opportunity to govern the state in 2015, so as to further address the challenges of joblessness. “I advise you to spread your developmental programmes across all senatorial districts and ethnic nationalities when given the mandate,” he added.

Speaking earlier, OmoAgege blamed security challenges in the country on unemployment and insisted that job creation would be top priority of his administration if elected.

“Our youths graduate from universities and other institutions of learning and for years, sometimes up to eight or 10 years, and can’t find employment. Even some who

are lucky to find jobs, are engaged in jobs meant for school certificate or OND holders," he said.

Uduaghan assures youth corps members of safety in Delta

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, yesterday, assured that every part of the state was safe and secured for National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members, saying: “I do hope that youth corps members will be sent to every part of the state because it is an experience that will be useful throughout their life time.”

He gave the assurance when the new Director of NYSC posted to the state, Mrs. Olive Etukudo, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House in Asaba.

He decried the insurgency in some parts of the country and the negative effects it was having on the country, noting that a situation where parents and guardians now want to decide which states their children and wards could be deployed to for the NYSC service year because of security challenges was regrettable.

“As a state, we will do the best we can to make sure that corps members are comfortable both at the camp and during their service year.

"We keep telling those who are master-minding the crisis to have a rethink because the effects of the crisis are numerous."

Itsekiri students on back to school campaign

W

ARRI—AS part of moves to re-awaken the educational consciousness of Itsekiri youths, the National Association of Itsekiri Students, NAIS, is to embark on a 10-day back to school campaign in 54 primary and secondary schools in Delta State.

The campaign, billed to commence July 7 at Obodo Primary School, Obodo, in Warri South Local Government Area of the state, is to complement the Delta State Government's efforts at developing education across the state, particularly in Itsekiri communities.

NAIS National President, Mr. Leleji Augustine, in a statement, said that the association’s educational aids, such as It-

sekiri text books, sandals, uniforms, writing materials, bags, notebooks, mathematical sets and other instruments, valued at N16 million, will be distributed to Itsekiri students and pupils of the benefitting schools during the campaign.

He noted that with the help of Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Otumara, who is financing 28 tertiary education scholarships and the member representing Warri Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Mr. Daniel Reyeniju, the association has secured scholarships for 30 Itsekiri indigent students in institutions of higher learning in the country to encourage Itsekiri indigenes to embrace education. .

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—13

Delta Poly student bags 14 years jail for kidnapping female nurse

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—A DELTA State High Court sitting in Asaba, yesterday, sentenced a 22-year old student of Delta State Polytechnic, OgwashiUku, Ndudi Ogwu, to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour for kidnapping a female nurse while on her way back home.

Sentenced along with him is a businessman, one Chukwudi Ifemeni.

The convicts were found guilty on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping. The court said it was satisfied that prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the convicts to 10 years imprisonment each for kidnapping and four years each for conspiracy.

Prosecution had told the court that Ndudi Ogwu and Chukwudi Ifemeni, with two others now at large, kidnapped one Mrs. Kate Okogu, wife of one Mr Paul Okogu, in front of her house while she was returning home

C M Y K

on September 13, 2012 in Ughelli, Delta State.

The kidnappers numbering about four, according to prosecution, had taken the nurse to a forest on Isoko-Patani Road, where she was unlawfully held captive, but was however, res-

cued unhurt by a team of soldiers the next day.

Ndudi Ogwu was arrested by a patrol team of the Joint Task Force, JTF, where the kidnapped victim was held captive as the one detailed to watch over her

while the second accused was arrested through Ndudi's confessional statement. They both admitted in their confessional statements to have committed the offence upon their arrest, but later denied the charge during trial.

New Amananaowei of Bomadi sworn in

B

OMADI—A NEW Amananaowei for the Bomadi Traditional Amananaowei stool has ascended the throne to pilot the affairs of the traditional institution for the next four years.

The new Amananaowei of Bomadi Urban Federated Communities, Chief Godspower Oporomo, was sworn in by the Amaokosuowei (eldest man) of Bomadi community, Pa Bofede Komani, at the palace of the Amaokosuowei in Bomadi after emerging un-opposed.

Administering the oath of office, the Amaokosuowei, who is an octogenarian, charged the new Amananaowei to put the interest of the community above personal interest and use the stool to foster mutual co-existence and sustain the existing peace in the community.

“The institution of Amananaowei should be used as a tool to promote the welfare of the people,” he said.

Briefing journalists at his palace in Bomadi, the new Amananaowei assured his subjects of peaceful reign in his tenure as the head of the traditional stool, noting that his emergence as Amananaowei un-opposed reflects wide acceptability and the legitimacy his reign will enjoy from the people of Bomadi community.

The Amananaowei, who said that his interest in ascending the stool was motivated by a desire to serve his people, added that he believed in the Bomadi project, just as he told the people that he will commit his resources to the service of the

community.

“I have contributed to the growth and development of Bomadi community in my capacity as an individual. Becoming the Amananaowei will strengthen me and spur me to create an enabling environment for the people to realise their aspirations and yearnings,” he said.

Oporomor, who said that the palace which has remained a unifying institution will be used as a vehicle to attract positive development to the people, added that his palace chiefs will imbibe the ethics of rulership of the traditional council to ensure separation of power between the Amananaowei council, the Olou congress, and the office of the community chairman.

DESOPADEC empowers youths

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—THE Commissioner representing Ughelli South, Udu, Uvwie Local Government Areas, Delta State and the Urhobos in Warri South on the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Mr. Festus Utuama, has empowered the people of the areas with laptops, 57 desktop computers, 20 hair dressing machines, 11 welding machines, 13 mechanic machines, electrical materials, drilling machines, 20 web design materials, tool boxes and printers worth millions of naira as part of the commission’s effort towards alleviating the sufferings of the people.

Speaking at the presentation of the items in Ughelli South council, Utuama said the commission was committed to the welfare of the people.

14 — Vanguard , WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

ALLEGED POLICE SHOOTING: Doctors battle to save Malaysia returnee's life

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

WERRI—A team of medical doctors are said to be working round the clock to save the life of a Malaysian returnee, who was allegedly shot Sunday afternoon in his private part by a trigger happy policeman in Owerri.

Our reporter was told that the police allegedly shot and wounded the returnee’s companion in his shoulder.

The two unfortunate victims, identified as natives of Umundugba, Isu local council area of Imo State, went to drop one of their wives at a Warribound bus station along Douglas Road, Owerri, when the incident occurred.

An eye witness told journalists that “when the bus was ready to leave the park, one of the staff appealed to the owner of the Toyota Venza car to clear the way for the vehicle to move.”

It was also gathered that in the process of moving the Toyota Venza car, it inadvertently blocked a police patrol van along Douglas Road.

“The policemen accosted the driver and demanded his drivers licence, which he readily gave them. When the

policemen wanted to leave the scene without returning the drivers licence, the owner sought to know why,” the eye witness recounted.

Continuing, the man said “the policemen became incensed by the alleged effrontery of the driver to ask for his driving licence and gave him the

beating of his life before one of them shot him point blank, hitting his scrotum in the process”.

It was also gathered that the rampaging policemen promptly arrested the relation of the dying man when he asked why they were brutalising the citizen, and took

him to Owerri Urban Police Division, where he was allegedly shot on his shoulder.

“When the chips were down and the victims told their story at the police station, the police not only promised to treat them but finally took them to the Federal Medical Centre for treatment, as two different hospitals had earlier rejected the patients,” the relations told newsmen.

VISIT: From left: Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman, Mallam Adamu Mua'zu, Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar and former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, during a visit by the former governor to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

Enugu govt appeals court verdict on ex-SUBEB boss

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

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NUGU—ENUGU State government has appealed against the judgement of Justice C.I. Nwobodo of Enugu State High Court which, on June 18, 2014, declared the removal of Nebo-Ezeabasili as chairperson of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board, ENSUBEB, over alleged fraud illegal, null and void.

Apart from declaring Ezeabasili’s removal illegal, Nwobodo also awarded N10 million cost against the state government.

However, in its notice of appeal filed before the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu, the state Attorney-General

and Commissioner for Justice, Anthony Ani, SAN, faulted the judgment in its entirety, saying there were obvious loopholes which the trial judge ignored.

The former ENSUBEB chairperson was removed from office in November 2012 for alleged gross misconducts, including alleged fraud of N230,245,000 belonging to ENSUBEB. The police had also investigated the complaint of gross misconduct, even as she was currently standing trial in charge number E/21C/2014 for stealing the said money.

Though Mrs. NeboEzeabasili has reportedly continued to evade all attempts to serve her with the

ASPAMDA tasked on fair election

BY JACOB AJOM

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AGOS—A concerned member of Aspamda Spare Parts Market located at the International Trade Fair Complex, Ojo, Lagos, Obojiofor Obinna, has called on the President of ASPAMDA Market Union, Chief Anthony Ughagwu, to provide a levelplaying field for all contestants in next month’s union elections.

Speaking in an exclusive chat with Vanguard in Lagos, Obinna called on the president of the union to allow the will of the people to prevail as a lot of members had shown interest in the unfolding democratic process.

“What we are asking the sit-in President to do is to transit with a clean record. He should organise a freeandfairelection andallowthepeople to choose who they want to lead them,” he said.

notice of trial, her surety had been served with the court papers in order to bring her to court. Ezeabasili had said that she decided to stay away from Enugu because of the alleged attempt on her life.

One of the grounds of the appeal by the government was that the learned trial Justice Nwobodo erred in law by failing to resolve the fundamental issue of jurisdiction before going into the substantive case.

The government also contended that the first and second defendants (Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo as Chief of

Staff to Governor Sullivan Chime and Amaechi Okolo, Secretary to the State Government) sued in their official capacities by NeboEzeabasili before the High Court were entitled to three months pre-action notice which was not given to them before instituting the action.

According to Ani, “the learned trial judge erred in law when she held that the appellants (Nwobodo and Okolo) being political appointees are not entitled to the pre-action notice mandatorily provided for public officers under the state Proceedings Law.”

Ita-Giwa eulogises Umaru Dikko

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

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AGOS—FORMER Special Adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has described the late former Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Umaru Dikko, as a colorful politician and great leader who blended with all generations, irrespective of his age.

In a statement, yesterday, Ita-Giwa, who is also the

Chairman, Confab Committee on Environment, said Dikko was a great man and a political colossus that will be greatly missed.

The statement read in part: ’’I join in mourning the exit of a colourful politician, Alhali Umaru Dikko, aged 78. He was a civilized politician, a great leader who blended with all irrespective of age difference. I will miss him a lot but I take solace in the fact that he lived a fulfilled life."

Jonathan signs Pension Reform bill into law

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BY BEN AGANDE

B U J A — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has signed the 2014 Pension Reform bill into law, which prescribes upward review of penalties and sanctions to pension defaulters.

Highlights of the new amendments include upward review of the penalties and sanctions.

The sanctions provided under the Pension Reform Act 2004, were no longer sufficient deterrents against infractions of the law.

Furthermore, there are currently more sophisticated mode of diversion of pension assets, such as diversion and/or non-disclosure of interests and commissions accruable to pension fund assets, which were not addressed by the PRA 2004.

Patricia Echemunor for burial

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RS. PATRICIA A N W U L I Echemunor of Umutei Quarters, Illah, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, is dead, aged 60 years.

There will be a service of songs/wake keep on Thursday, July 3, at Chief CY Echemunor’s compound, Idumuje Unor, Aniocha North LGA, Delta State.

The requiem mass will hold the following day, at St. Matthews Catholic Church, Idumuje Unor, while interment follows immediately at the family’s compound. She is survived by the widower, children and many relations, including Uche Ikediuba.

Late Anwuli Echemunor

Vanguard , WEDNESDAY,JULY 2, 2014 — 15

Why Agro Input centres remain moribund —NANTS

BY CALEB AYANSINA

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SWEARING IN: From left: Kwara State Deputy Governor, Elder Peter Kisra, newly sworn in Grand Khadi, Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Saliu Muhammed, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, newly sworn-in Khadi, Justice Abdulrahim Ibrahim and Kwara State Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kamaldeen Ajibade, after the swearing-in ceremony, at Government House, Ilorin, yesterday.

Jonathan's rating drops by one point —Survey A

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

BUJA—THE latest governance poll results conducted by NOIPolls Limited for the month of June revealed that 57 per cent of adult Nigerians approved of the performance of the President over the past month; a slight onepoint decline in his job approval rating from May when it stood at 58 per cent.

The firm explained that similar to results obtained in the month of May, the President’s current rating was greatly impacted by the remarkably high approval rating in the South East which stood at 91 per cent in June 2014.

According to the poll, “additional findings from the June governance poll revealed that the President maintained an average ranking for his performance on sectors such as the Economy, Education, Health, Agriculture & Food security, Transportation and Foreign Policy & Diplomacy.

“However, he maintained a very poor ranking for his performance on Job Creation, Power and Security.

Furthermore, slightly more than half of the respondents' 52 per cent indicated power supply to their households over the past month was either bad and/or it had gone worse; a seven-point increase from May 2014.

“Ironically, while the South East zone experienced the worst supply of power to households, 61 per cent, the zone remains responsible for the president’s

high job approval rating. These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in week of June 23, 2014.

“These results represent the sixth in the 2014 monthly series of governance polls conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians

regarding the approval rating of the President, the performance of the President on key elements of his transformation agenda, and the state of power supply in the country.”

Further findings, according to NOIPolls, revealed that “the majority of 45 per cent of respondents approve of the

performance of the President, while 17 per cent disapprove of his performance. 15 per cent of the respondents remained neutral as they neither approve nor disapprove,12 per cent of respondents strongly approve of his performance, while 11 per cent strongly disapprove of his performance."

Reps move to establish constituencies' devt fund

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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BUJA—THE House of Representatives has moved for the establishment of Nigeria’s Constituencies Development Fund, as a Bill to that effect passed second reading yesterday.

If established, the Fund would ensure even development of the country’s 360 Federal Constituencies at

the same pace.

It would also ensure an annual budgetary allocation in Nigeria’s appropriation Act. Promoter of the proposed legislation, Ben Nwankwo, while leading debate on its general principles, argued that over 70 per cent of Nigerians lived in rural communities which the existing Federal

Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature holds in Lagos

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A G O S — S O M E students of secondary schools in Nigeria who have interest in literary arts will have a golden opportunity to meet and interact with literary icons attending the grand finale of the fifth edition of Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

The award is sponsored by the Nigerian national telecommunication carrier,

Globacom.

Literary icons such as the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, and a renowned Ghanaian author who was also a former Ghanaian Education Minister, Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, among other distinguished writers, will be available to speak with the students at the event slated for July 5, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Constituencies covered but were hardly feeling the presence of government.

According to him, the establishment of the Fund will address a lot of imbalances as provided for through the annual national budget, by ensuring that specific projects and programmes are designed to meet the people’s specific needs.

BUJA—THE N a t i o n a l Association of Nigeria Traders, NANTS, has said that the ‘One Stop Agro Input Centre’ established by the federal government has remained moribund because the government failed to provide requisite amenities that will make it functional.

The centres, created to provide inputs such as fertilizer, agrochemicals, tractor services, microfinance, insurance and business development, are no doubt critical factors for agro-based employment generation.

Unfortunately, both the pilot project as the one at Dafara in Kuje Local Area Council of the FCT and the 80 additional centres created across the country are still moribund or operating below capacity with only fertilizer being sold there.

President of NANTS, Mr. Ken Ukaoha, who disclosed this during a s t a k e h o l d e r s ’ consultative workshop on ‘One Stop Agro Input Centre’, organised by the association in Abuja, also said the centres were established without the knowledge of farmers, the main people that will make use of it.

Ukaoha, who decried the lack of infrastructure at the centre, noted that farmers themselves could not access the place, let alone private bodies that will make available services at the centre.

16— Vanguard , WEDNEESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

AMCON dismisses Intangis claims over Mainstreet Bank

BY BABAJIDE

KOMOLAFE AGOS—ASSET Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, has dismissed as frivolous the claims made

by Intangis Holdings on Mainstreet Bank.

Intangis Holdings is an American financial and investment company that specialises in Emerging Markets, On Monday the company issued a statement threatening to institute legal action against AMCON over the proposed sale of Mainstreet Bank. “Having referred the Mainstreet Bank (formerly Afribank) case to the International Court of Arbitration, ICC, in Paris, Intangis, Holdings is contemplating legal action against AMCON”, the company said.

But in statement issued yesterday, AMCON described the claims made

by Intangis as frivolous.

The Corporation said,

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“The background to the issue is that Intangis Holdings Limited (Intangis) recently wrote to AMCON’s advisers on the ongoing divestment by AMCON of its equity in Mainstreet Bank Limited (Mainstreet), stating that AMCON is procuring a breach of Intangis’ rights under a Confidentiality and Non-Circumvention Agreement, CNCA, dated 2 November 2009 between Afribank Plc (“Afribank”) and Intangis.

“Intangis is claiming in a current proceeding at the International Court of Arbitration that Afribank contravened the provisions of the CNCA as follows: Not to enter into discussions, or negotiations with any potential investor in relation to acquisition of a portfolio of non-performing loans of Afribank; and The acquisition of a minority stake in the share capital of Afribank.

“Intangis is further claiming that the CNCA was breached on at least two occasions by Afribank. It is clear from the above that Intangis is pursuing a frivolous claim because; AMCON is not a party to any agreement with Intangis; and Mainstreet did not even exist at the time Intangis signed the CNCA with Afribank.

“Mainstreet was established following a ‘special’ audit of the Nigerian Banking sector in which Afribank was found to be in a grave situation along with 9 other banks.

Afribank’s Board and Management was then replaced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, with a view to, cleaning up the bank and repositioning it by September 2011."

However, when it became apparent that Afribank lacked the capacity and ability to recapitalize before the September 2011 deadline,CBNrevokedAfribank’s license.

Ndigbo raise alarm over infiltration of S-East by Boko Haram

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AGOS— NDIGBO Lagos, the umbrella body of Igbo organisations in Lagos has raised the alarm over the infiltration of the Eastern part of the country by Boko H’aram.

The organisation, in a statement said there was a subtle but deliberate push by the sect to penetrate Igbo land through the remote frontier villages of Enugu and Ebonyi States.

The statement said that the people of Ezeagu Local Government in Enugu state had cried out over the infiltration of their villages by Fulani herdsmen in recent time.

The organisation said that the Igbo nation had in the past suffered the most, through a reprehensible genocide and a military/Political diarchic conspiracy that has left them with little or no federal infrastructure presence in a country that has spent tens of trillions Naira over the past 40 years.

“There is presently no doubt about the intention of Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen to plunge this nation into darkness including the invasion of the South

Eastern region. We call on the Nigerian government to unequivocally deploy all its military might in crushing this vermin called Boko Haram before it consumes the nation,” the statememt said.

The organisation while saluting the gallantry of the men of

the Nigerian Army for the interception of the 486 Boko Haram suspects being conveyed to Abia State in 33 Toyota buses, also commended the vigilance of the worshippers at Winners Chapel for the discovery of time-bombs at the Port –Harcourt road branch, Owerri of the church.

....As CAN offers solution to tackle menace

BY CALEB AYANSINA

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BUJA – PRESIDENT of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, yesterday, reechoed that the only antidote to ongoing insurgency in the country is for people who are closer to the sect to speak the truth, saying the entire killing is driven by ideology.

Oritsejafor was speaking at the 2014 National Conference on ‘Voices Against Violence’ organized by Christian Elders Forum of Northern States, NOSCEF, in Abuja.

NOSCEF used the conference to launch a charter known as ‘Voice Against Violence’ to galvanise support

against the ongoing brutalities in the northern part of the country.

The CAN President said he was not against dialogue with Boko Haram members, but people who are closer to their ideology should tell them the truth.

He said: "If we want to end Boko Haram insurgence we as Nigerians must speak the truth. That is the major factor. Boko Haram has an ideology Muslim leaders should engage them and tell them the truth.

“I am not against dialogue, but the people that must dialogue are the Muslims religious leaders, traditional leaders, Muslims political leaders. They must come together and speak the truth."

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 17

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18— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 TODAY, the House of Representatives will hold a public hearing on the bill for an Act to “regulate the acceptance and utilisation of financial/material contribution of donor agencies for voluntary organisations”.

Whereas the legislature is meant to make laws for the good governance of the people, this is one law that would make our people poorer and freeze their constitutionally awarded liberties.

Should operations involving foreign financial and material donations to voluntary organisations be regulated? Yes, in fact various laws already do. They are probably not enforced. A new law does not guarantee improved enforcement.

We praise the House of Representatives for not falling into the temptation of proposing a new body for the law. At least, it listened to the public outcry against mounting costs of maintaining multiple bureaucracies that duplicate functions. They are new wastes that ensure almost 70 per cent of annual national budgets is spent on re-current expenditure – salaries, furniture and a new favourite, maintenance of computers.

Section 2 of the bill proposes that voluntary organisations would be restricted from accepting any foreign financial and material contri-

La w TTo o Mak e Law Make Nigerians Poorer bution except with the permission of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. The Section would create a new centre of corruption in ICPC, which is groaning under constraints of staffing and funding. ICPC gives these as reasons for its lethargic results.

The law would shackle flow of foreign remittances by families to groups like town unions, churches, mosques, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, foundations, charities, schools, and homes for the less privileged.

Where branches or partners of these organisations abroad make the remittances, the funds

cannot be accepted without the permission of ICPC. What are the implications? g for organisations like Red Cross, Red Crescent, or foundations that have led the fight against river blindness and guinea worm eradication. By the proposed law, ICPC would approve their operations. In case of emergencies like the 2012 flooding that ravaged parts of Nigeria, foreign organisations that intend to assist, would be hindered.

The promoters of the bill hardly know Nigeria. For more than a decade, foreign medical intervention teams, involving massive movement of resources, have saved Nigerian lives. Yearly, Nigerians in diaspora, with their partners set up these teams to carry out surgeries and other interventions, mostly free.

What alternatives would the House of Representatives provide for these?

Disclosure of sources of the funds is important. The Terrorism Prevention Act, the Companies and Allied Matters Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act cover this.

The bill, if passed, would hamper remittances and contributions from Nigerians abroad to Nigeria. Nobody needs a law that would make Nigerians poorer.

OPINION Dasuki: Power of apology and constructive engagement

BY LABARAN SALEH

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T a recent private engagement with the media, a prince of the Sokoto caliphate, former aide de camp to former President Ibrahim Babangida and current National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) lamented that terrorists have succeeded in changing the way Nigerians see and relate with each other but observed the only way to defeat them is for all of us to remain united in constructive engagements and mutual dialogues and confront their threat as one united nation under God. The Office of the National Security Adviser is empowered to advise the President on matters concerning intelligence activities of the national security agencies. The NSA is therefore, responsible for distilling the collective material amassed by the various agencies and bringing them to the attention of the President. He also makes recommendations in relation to the activities of the intelligence and security agencies to the President as contingencies may warrant.

This influential role is limited to the fact that it doesn’t allow the NSA to place boots on the ground as relevant agencies are mandated to do the execution.

While past occupiers of that office were outspoken on various national issues, Dasuki would rather delegate or allow respective and relevant officers and agencies do the talking and take the action.

Rather than engage in unnecessarily political bickering, the man has taken a gentlemanly path of humility and perseverance. A clear example was the recent

apology he tendered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal who was allegedly harassed by security personnel while attending a programme organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser in Kaduna.

He hardly addresses the press in media chats, press conferences or interviews. He nevertheless occasionally engages media practitioners in private discussion on current realities from the right and factual perspectives.

It is in view of this, for instance, that he facilitates existence of some structures for regular interface with the media towards better understanding of national security, including the Forum of Spokespersons on Security and Response Agencies, FOSSRA, chaired by Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade and National Information Centre, under the leadership of Director General of National Orientation Agency, NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri.

Some of these platforms have reduced repercussions from inter-agency rivalries to the barest minimum.

A believer in constructive and sometimes intellectual engagements, Dasuki has continued to promote dialogues through conferences and summit towards proffering solutions to lingering security crises in the country while ensuring that security agencies remain focused in maintaining law and order.

The Office has been quite busy in recent times organising workshops and seminars, all aimed at restoring the elusive peace and tranquillity to the country generally and

the North in particular.

In an effort to address the growing fear of cyberspace and online engagement, Sambo Dasuki recently gathered critical stakeholders to the First National Cybersecurity Forum in Lagos to harness their input into the policy framework on cybersecurity. The participants from the public and private sectors, including NGOs and the media, build a national consensus on National Cybersecurity Roadmap and facilitated a unified e-security foundation for Digital Nigeria through a coordinated effort.

The event was deliberately planned to secure the cooperation, understanding and the support of other critical government agencies and stakeholders, which will help to prevent disjointed policy document, as well as achieving a coherent and allinclusive strategy in which all other similar cybersecurity efforts previously undertaken in the country will be infused into the overall framework of the National Cybersecurity Policy.

His office also hosted an international conference on security and development challenges in West and Central Africa due to activities of Fulani nomads. The event, which was held in Kaduna with the theme “The Role of Pastoralists in Preventing Insurgency and Conflicts for enhanced National Security,” drew critical stakeholders, top representatives of Fulani nomads, farmers along grazing reserves and scholars to a roundtable where they identified key challenges facing communities affected by pastoralists and

their consequences on national security. The forum provided a medium in achieving synergy among stakeholders and security agencies to tackle the menace of terrorism, insurgency, cattle rustling, command clashes and threat to national security.

Concerned about allegations of human rights abuses and proportionality of military response to crises situations, the Office organised international seminar on the Imperatives of the Observance of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Norms in Internal Security Operations for military, law enforcement officers and legal practitioners.

This was borne out of a conviction that frequent sensitisation will go a long way to encourage the armed forces to imbibe these norms and promote voluntary compliance to the observance of appropriate rules of engagement which has been institutionalised in the training of members of the armed forces.

Again, because of a concern that vulnerable children and youths are coerced into criminal activities and insurgency, the National Security Adviser proposed the SoftApproach Against Insurgency. The counter radicalisation approach seeks to institute community engagement and resilience through building creating trust, creating awareness and resilience by partnering with faith based organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders to deliver counter radicalisation programs at community levels. *Mr. Saleh, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014— —19

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HEN a couple of months ago the PDP came up with Ayodele Fayose as its candidate for the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State, the desperation that must have motivated their choice was not lost on informed observers. The PDP finally settled for Fayose when its hopes of regaining the governorship it lost when Fayose was all but stampeded out of office eight years before seemed up in flames. The party had become in Ekiti, as elsewhere in the South West, a spent force that didn't seem able to summon the momentum that had brought Fayose his four-year tenancy in the government house in Ado-Ekiti.

After eight years in the political wilderness during which his modest achievement as governor had been virtually wiped off the records, Fayose was the most unlikely person the PDP would be expected to present as their candidate in an election in which he was standing against an incumbent that still seemed to enjoy popular acclaim. The victory of the APC candidate, Kayode Fayemi, was a foregone conclusion that was at this point obvious to everyone but the

willfully blind. Which made the choice of Fayose all the more confounding for any right thinking person.

Anyone can now claim after the fact of the election that was won

by Fayose that they were certain of the PDP candidate's victory.

But not even the most starryeyed PDP stalwart, perhaps with the possible exception of Fayose himself, could have been confident of their candidate winning that election. Fayose's entry into the political fray that looked until the eve of his emergence like a two-horse race between Fayemi and his estranged comrade and former party mate, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, gradually but steadily changed the political equation. Opeyemi Bamidele had resigned his membership of the APC in a huff to join the Labour Party. The PDP had no credible candidate that could honestly give the APC a run for their money as at the time Fayose picked the gauntlet on their behalf. Indeed the participation of the PDP in the election was more or less a nonstarter, a mere ceremonial act that was not expected to achieve anything

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more than its nuisance value. But Fayose changed all of that in a space of two months even if not as dramatically as the final result would seem to suggest. had no doubt in my mind given the assisted manner of his emergence that the PDP never expected to win the Ekiti election when it picked Fayose as its candidate. What the party wanted was a candidate who could, just maybe, pick some credible number of votes along the way as could be expected of a former governor believed to have some diehard supporters of his own.

What the PDP wanted was just a modest showing that could give it a fighting chance in the event of any unforeseen circumstances rather than being seen as having no say at all in the matter or being lost entirely in the fray. But more than all of this, the PDP wanted a candidate who, in my view, had the clout to withstand the rough and tumble of the election, one who could truly muddy the waters and make life difficult for the APC if matters came to it.

What the PDP anticipated with its choice of Fayose in my reading

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Ekiti Verdict 2014: The Apotheosis of Adedibu

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OT that when Lamidi Adedibu lived he lacked honour and veneration but that it was tainted adulation.

Only his kind, those who do not subscribe to any code of civilised behaviour, could sing his praises as the godfather of “amala politics.”He had only one goal in politics: to take, by crook or hook, fire or thunder as much of what belonged to the public as he wanted. He raised a standing army of thugs to rig elections and install his minions as governors of Oyo State or intimidate any who came to office in spite of his best efforts. With Lam Adeshina, however, he was confronted by a governor who would not take the state’s treasury to him at his lair in Molete so he would take his portion and give back the balance to the people. Consequently, he ordered his army of thugs to wreak mayhem and render Oyo State ungovernable.

To the bitter end, Adedibu denied that he was actuated by greed. In that perverse logic peculiar to him as “the strongman of Ibadan politics”, he explained that all he had wanted was just 30% of the state’s security vote. Besides, he used what he seized to keep the pots and pans boiling round the clock to feed the endless throng that besieged his home. He was a Robin Hood robbing the rich Oyo State government to give to the poor people.

The difference in this odious political philosophy between Adedibu’s Oyo State and Ayodele Fayose’s Ekiti State lies entirely in form. The Ekitis enjoy the reputation of being a well-read people. Chances are, they boast that in every household is to be found a Ph.D, perhaps a professor. So for the plain “amala politics” which was all the barely literate Adedibu could manage, the C M Y K

sophisticated Ekitis have given us “stomach infrastructure”.

Since Dr Kayode Kayemi lost his office by a large margin to Fayose, an impeached former governor, the stunning upset has been the hottest topic in the land, even managing to displace #BringBackOurGirls to a distant second.

Several reasons have been adduced for the convincing defeat of a sitting governor who, it is generally agreed, performed creditably and was not tainted by any act of corruption. Fayemi’s cardinal sin, his triumphant detractors say, is that he was elitist and failed to connect with the people.A prime example of his elitism is the project of bringing Ekiti State into the digital 21st Century through the installation of fibre optics cables. Another was his goal of retraining teachers to make them reliable transmitters of knowledge in a world now transformed beyond imagining by the new information and human sciences technology revolutions, such that yesterday’s confident teacher can become overnight a baffled ignoramus. eing the one in touch with his people, Fayose knew that what the Ekiti people want has nothing to do with such an enemy of the stomach as industrialisation. Thus, his priority, he says in his victory speech, is to “take good care of the people by awarding contracts to them”. Obviously, Mama Risikat and Baba Moyo must still be dancing in the streets in anticipation of the coming contract award letters. The days of hunger under the elitist Fayemi are gone, never mind that he instituted a social welfare programme for old people living in penury.

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was at best some kind of stalemate in the aftermath of accusations and counter- accusations that might follow the election.

Somebody like Fayose who has a healthy disdain for people who cross swords with him could be trusted not to flinch in the face of such post-electoral battle. That the PDP in neighbouring Osun State settled for no other person than Iyiola Omisore who promptly bludgeoned Isiaka Adeleke out of the PDP race reinforced my perception of what the party planned for both Ekiti and Osun, two stronghold states of the APC, and the South West in general in the 2014 elections. If Goodluck Jonathan's ambition of staying on in office after 2015 is to have any meaning in the face of persistent opposition from the North, then it must find a way of sharing in the votes that will come from the South West or anywhere votes could come from.

But Fayose whose emergence as the PDP candidate must have seemed to him like a return from the dead seized the opportunity with both hands. It was his best opportunity to make a comeback.

And what a time it was?! Fayose put his very soul into the contest.

His zeal was no doubt infectious for the PDP leadership in Abuja and as he gradually shifted the ground so did the party leadership gradually saw an opportunity they could key into to make their way back into the South West where the APC in its present and previous incarnations has dominated in the last eight years. The ruling APC, at least the South West part of it, has done enough to alienate the mass of the Yoruba people. The fact of this alienation would have remained an academic issue at best but for the opportunity

provided by the PDP when in desperation it turned to Fayose.

The loss of Ekiti is not just a matter of the elitism of the Fayemi administration, but his style of governance which the ordinary Ekiti people are said not to comprehend. It was far more of an expression of deep-seated displeasure with the Yoruba leadership of the APC whose socalled progressive credentials are no more than mere parrot formulas whose life span is not only limited to the lip but is in fact disempowering. Like the AD did between 1999 and 2003 and paid for it with its loss of the South West states aided by Obasanjo, the Yoruba leadership of the APC has become alienated from the very people that supported it. It has taken its control of the region for granted, banking on the people's fascination and obsession with the welfarist governance of Obafemi Awolowo. ll the APC leaders do is to mouth the name of Awolowo for their own greedy and criminal ends. Their determination (especially of their governors) to worship at the feet of Bola Tinubu as if he was the be-all and end-all of Yoruba politics will cost them more than the governance of the South West states. Ultimately, the people will be the better for it for what is the point in following a leadership that takes care of none but itself? What they appear to give with the right hand they take more than with the left. The propensity of some of the party leaders for primitive acquisition while imposing multiple taxes on the people beggars belief. These gods that cannot bring relief to the people should not be too eager to compound their woes.

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For Adedibu’s amala, Fayose substituted cupfuls of raw rice distributed to the voters, including aggrieved students of the state’suniversity who had been resisting a rise in tuition fees. Rice triumphed over fibre optics, but one must wonder who is to be pitied: Fayemi or the people of Ekiti? A friend with whom I discussed the sad

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Fayose as APC's nemesis

The loss of Ekiti is not just a matter of the elitism of the Fayemi administration, but his style of governance which the ordinary Ekiti people are said not to comprehend

The fight to liberate our deformed polity must pay equal attention to the urgent task of reviving the numbed psyche of the governed as much as reforming or shaming contract-crazed politicians

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event of a people voting against their best interest said: “The people have been pulverized and rendered useless.”

He did not mean the Ekiti people only but the Nigerian masses at large. “The thief as hero! That is the cultural and political conjuncture that haunts our democratic aspirations,” he added.

I agree. The fight to liberate our deformed polity must pay equal attention to the urgent task of reviving the numbed psyche of the governed as

much as reforming or shaming contract-crazed politicians. The parallel may be overdrawn, but I can’t stop thinking of the scene in Palestine, over two thousand years ago, when the people asked Pontius Pilate to release Barabbas the murderer to them and crucify Jesus. As the book of Mark tells the story, it was the envious “chief priests” who “moved the people” to that barbaric act. I suspect that a similar role was played by “the chief priests of the parties,” aka party chieftains. And it is my hope that as we move beyond arm-chair pontification to sober reflection on the Ekiti Verdict 2014, both the impoverished and easily misled people, on the one hand, and the party officials that serve as crucial arbiters of our values-free democracy, on the other hand, must be examined.

For unlike the great German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, counselled tongue-in-cheek in his poem “The Solution” in another context, we cannot “dissolve the people” and “elect another ” because they have forfeited our confidence.To retain his mandate, a governor shouldn’t ever have to resort to distributing cupfuls of raw rice to the voters instead of laying fibre optics cables to expand the horizon of knowledge and industry.

20 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Rumpus in Papa’s land •As Awka people protest govt acquisition

BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

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WKA people were elated when their town was named the state capital for the new Anambra State created in 1991, but happenings over land usage in the area have shown that the people may not be happy with their leaders after all. The alleged stunted growth of the state capital, despite efforts of the various administrations in the state, was indeed attributed to the reluctance of the people to give up their ancestral land for the development of the city.

On many occasions, youths had to take to the The abandoned abattoir at the cattle market at Aguaba layout in Awka streets to protest against their leaders, who they accuse of shortchanging them on the said they had plotted the land and ment chairman, he started developissue of land, claiming that such allocated to the various families, ing it in 1997 under the United Naleaders connive with government some of who had sold theirs to oth- tions Development Programme, officials to acquire their land force- er people for between N1.5 to N3 UNDP, –assisted project. fully without paying the necessary million per plot.

According to him, everything was compensation.

Ilo however told Vanguard in place before he left office, includThe latest protest took place last Metro, VM, that those who hired ing the slaughter house, a police post, week when hundreds of people, in- some people to embark on a pro- an industrial borehole, among othcluding aged men and women, test were only out to cause confu- ers, adding that it was good that the trouped to the large expanse of com- sion, warning that they would be present local government chairman munal land at the Aguaba layout held responsible for any break- has decided to resuscitate the project in the state capital, alleging that an down of law and order in the state which would help to de-congest the indigene of the area was trying to capital. state capital. He denied using the usurp their only remaining land He said: “Sometime last month, local government chairman to acquire already plotted for the original fam- I visited the present slaughter the said land, adding that his only ily members who owned it. house and abattoir at Kwata area interest is to assist in the development A visit to the said land showed of Awka and following the unhy- of Awka as a model state capital. that the local government adminis- gienic nature of the area and its Following the claims and counter tration in the area decided to put to small size, I decided that the abat- claims, Vanguard Metro decided to use the 118 hectares of land ear- toir should be relocated. I had al- find out the government position and ready made this found out that gazette No29 dated There is so much tension in the known to the 2nd August, 1990 described the governor, Chief 118.66 hectares of land as a private state because of this development Obiano, property. and the earlier the governor inter- Willie It was apparently based on the stawho is favourvenes, the better for everybody ably disposed to tus of the land as a private property that the Anambra State ministry of the relocation. marked for a cattle market 17 years Ilo said the market would be reland, survey and town planning, in ago. In fact, work on the project constructed as soon as possible so a letter dated March 12, 2013 and began in 1997 with the constructhat cattle dealers occupying the signed by the then commissioner, Mr. tion of a large abattoir, a police post, Amansea end of the Enugu-OnitOkoli Akirika, revalidated it for the a grazing area and access road. sha expressway would relocate to owners. Okoli Akirika’s letter said the Cattle dealers had already the new and more spacious marimport of the revalidation was to show moved into the area, but following ket.

The local government chairman that Aguaba layout situates outside a disagreement among the cattle also spoke on the claim by some state government acquisition. dealers after an election, most of people in Awka that the state govChief Dilim Okafor, who was the them decided to relocate to nearby ernment never acquired the land chairman of Land Management ComUgwuoba in Enugu State. This defor any project saying: “If they claim mittee for the community said: “We velopment led to the abandonment that government released the land have made enquiries and found out of the Awka cattle market until the to them for personal use, they that Governor Obiano did not know recent decision to resuscitate the should provide such evidence.” what the local government chairman project by the Azubuike Ilo –led Also, Chief Ndigwe, who was is doing.

We are making efforts to Awka South local government. accused of confiscating the said calm down the youths and the womHowever, the people of Umuike land for personal use, urged the en so that they would not do anything who are the original owners, are crying foul and pointing accusing state government to order security that could lead to breakdown of law fingers at one of their own, Chief operatives to arrest those who, he and order. There is so much tension Austin Ndigwe, who was a former said, were deceiving the people in the state capital because of this development and the earlier the state local government chairman in the that the land belonged to them.

The land, he said, was acquired governor intervenes, the better for area and currently a chieftain of the by the Anambra State government everybody”.

All Progressives Grand Alliance, in 1996 and as the local governAPGA. Umuike family members

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C M Y K

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We are not yet ready to tackle Boko Haram

BY EBELE ORAKPO

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NTIL the military hierarchy is purged completely of all the Boko Haram apologists and members, the war against the hydra-headed monster will continue to meet setbacks,” said Ephraim this Tuesday morning as the Mile Two-bound commuter bus crawled through the gridlock along the ApapaOshodi Expressway.

“O boy, this hold-up wear suit oo ! God have mercy!

When will Lagosians stop spending half of their lives in traffic? It’s getting worse by the day,” said Oge. “Abeg stop complaining,” chided John. “You should be used to this traffic by now; it’s a daily routine, so adjust and stop whining. Let’s talk about more pressing issues like the infiltration of Boko guys in the military. It seems they now delight in wearing military uniforms and I believe, as the Yorubas say, the weevil eating the grain is in the grain. So those frustrating the efforts of the military in bringing insurgency to an end are in the military. Period!”

Replied Kunle: “You are not far from the truth. Some soldiers have talked about how their bosses are frustrating the fight. First, when they get information that the bad guys are going to attack Point A, they send the soldiers in the opposite direction. I heard that a soldier was forced to resign his appointment because he dared to ask the Commander why they were not given good weapons for battle.”

“But why would a commander send his men into battle without equipping them well? That is wickedness if it actually happened. You know rumours are just flying around left, right and centre,” stated Ken. Said Iyke: “But going by reports and the pattern we have been seeing in this war whereby soldiers will be at a particular location and before you know it, the commander will ask them to move to another location and a few hours after they leave, Boko Haram guys attack the place. They have free reign of terror for hours and people keep wondering where the soldiers who should be guarding the place had gone to.”

Guarding the place “ Their ogas should answer that question. Just look at the ones that mutinied because their boss practically sacrificed their colleagues to the bad guys,” said Oge. “Hmm , things are happening. So when you give them weapons that have not been used nor serviced for a very long time, what do you think will happen when they come face to face with the Bokos with superior fire power? Of course, before the soldier cocks his gun, the bad guys would have mowed him down.

I think the Armed Forces need serious re-organisation. The President should get a few officers he can absolutely trust and let them report directly to him and him alone. If not, this sabotage will continue because as information flows, you may never know who is who,” counseled Iyke.

“Just look at the Bauchi attack, the perpetrators were in military uniform; so the people thought they were in safe hands, not knowing they were agents from hell,” noted Ephraim.

“But that does not mean they were military men.

They could have gotten the uniforms from the market,” said John.

“Remember also in Borno where a village was attacked but the people repelled them. In the morning, their leaders went to a military formation to report the attack and were assured that a unit would be drafted to the town to protect them. The ‘military’ guys went to the village and told them that they had come to assess the security situation. When the people gathered to hear them, the ‘soldiers’ who were in armoured personnel carriers and Army uniform, opened fire on them, killing over 250 people. Those who tried to run were pursued and killed.

“I think the villagers should be equipped to defend themselves. Since Bokos are carrying arms, allow the people carry arms too,” noted Ephraim.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 21

AfDB, Nomura plan food security bond

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From left: Mr. Bismark J.Rewane, Managing Director/CEO, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, presenting award of Most Innovative Bank Product of the year to Mr. Shina Atilola, Group Head Strategy and Communications Sterling Bank Plc (right), while Mr Gbenga Adegoke,Group Head Retail Product, Sterling Bank (centre), looks on, at the 2014 Businessday Annual Banking Awards in Lagos.

he African Development Bank (AfDB) and Nomura, Asia’s global investment bank, have finalized the terms of secondary distribution of AfDB’s food security bonds to Japanese retail investors. The bonds are denominated in Brazilian Real and have a three-year tenor. This is the first transaction the two organizations have collaborated on in this field. Food security bonds issued by AfDB are underwritten by Nomura and distributed through Nomura’s nationwide domestic franchise.

AfDB has placed a special emphasis in agriculture and food security as a way of assisting regional member countries to achieve the objectives of poverty reduction and economic growth. Enhancing agriculture productivity and promoting food security leads to

FG goes tougher on enforcement of date-markings on products T

he Federal Government yesterday said it has renewed its crusade against the existence of sub-standard products in the country as it embarked on a fresh onslaught on the enforcement of date-markings on products.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga made the government’s position known while launching the “Check the BB (Best Before) Date” campaign of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) in Abuja, just as the Council has given a six-month ultimatum to product dealers to stop indiscriminate storing, which could undermine the quality of products.

In a keynote address read on his behalf by a Director in the ministry, Mr. Jonathan Juma, the minister declared that government is more determined to move against industry operators compromising the interest of Nigerian consumers with their activities or products, asserting that “it was observed that some industries engage in the sale of expired products or products with improper date markings, while others have been implicated in the alteration of Best Before dates in order to maximise profit”.

According to him, government, in view of the

hazards posed to consumers by this situation and other forms of consumer abuse, “ will give every support to CPC in its ongoing efforts to step up its inspection and enforcement activities, with a view to detecting, exposing and prosecuting dubious

businesses that profiteer at the expense of consumers.“In a country like Nigeria, where many consumers live in rural areas and are illiterate, they are susceptible to exploitation by unscrupulous businesses.

I understand that the

programme being launched today is an intensive and aggressive campaign by CPC to adequately educate consumers across the country on the importance of checking the Best Before date and allied consumer issues”, he stated.

Fish farmers clamour for investment in production of feeds

By EBELE ORAKPO

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atfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), has called for investment in the production of fish feeds in the country, saying that four million metric tonnes of fish feed are required for sufficiency in fish production.

CFAN President, Chief Tayo Akingbolagun made this call in Lagos at the official launching of Vital Fish Feeds by Grand Cereals Limited.

Members of the Catfish Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), at the weekend in Lagos officially endorsed Vital Fish Feeds from the stables of Grand Cereals Limited.

He said the Vital Fish Feed was the outcome of collaboration between CFAN and Grand Cereals Limited. He said, “CFAN and Grand Cereals have worked together for almost two years, perfecting production of this high quality fish feed.

We conducted the necessary tests and both local and international reputable laboratories are satisfied with the results.

We decided to honour Vital Fish Feed with our endorsement and this confirms that we are partners in progress to grow the aquaculture subsector.” He thanked the Minister of Agriculture whom he described as the farmers’ minister, for his decision to gear Nigeria towards selfsufficiency in fish production in the next four years by reducing fish importation by 35 per cent annually.

“Our endorsement is to augment your decision and encourage investors to take full benefit of the opportunities that the industry presents. Our focus should be to determine the roadmap to selfsufficiency in fish feed production in the next five years. Let us stop exporting our jobs through feed importation,” he said. He noted that the potential demand for fish in Nigeria is about four million metric tons annually. “In an efficient aquaculture system, the feed commercial ratio (FCR) should be 1:1, all things being equal.

improvements in the lives of people living in African rural areas. By continuing to invest in rural infrastructure (such as rural roads, irrigation, electricity, storage facilities, access to markets, conservation systems and supply networks), the AfDB will help countries increase agricultural productivity and competitiveness.

AfDB will use its best efforts to direct an amount equal to the net proceeds of the issue of these bonds to lending projects within the field of food security, subject to and in accordance with the Bank’s lending standards.

Nomura has been promoting financial products for sustainable growth, which are intended not only to generate a return on investment but also to address social and environmental problems.

Through the sale of AfDB’s food security bonds, Nomura serves as a bridge to investors who wish to contribute to society through their investments and support food security projects.

Nomura is an Asia-based financial services group with an integrated global network spanning over 30 countries.

By connecting markets East & West, Nomura services the needs of individuals, institutions, corporate and governments through its three business divisions: Retail, Asset Management, and Wholesale (Global Markets and Investment Banking). Founded in 1925, the firm is built on a tradition of disciplined entrepreneurship, serving clients with creative solutions and considered thought leadership.

172.75

2.3

3,153.00

+98.00

16.63

-0.22

CURRENCY BUYING DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

154.73 263.7063 211.2374 173.7173 1.5261 0.3023 238.1545 24.9395 41.2547 28.3295 239.1971

112.48

-0.82

105.41

-0.33

CENTRAL SELLING 155.23 264.5585 211.92 174.2787 1.531 0.3123 238.9241 25.0205 41.388 28.421 239.9701

155.73 65.4106 212. 6026 174.84 1.536 0.3223 239.6937 25.1015 41.5214 28.5126 240.743

CBN Exchange rate as at 01/07/2014

22 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Portland Cement

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Berger Paints pretax profit grows by 25%

By PETER EGWUATU

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ERGER Paints Nigeria Plc has announced that its pretax profit for the financial year ended December 31, 2013, grew by 25 per cent to N356million, compared to N284million recorded in the corresponding period of 2012.

Profit after tax equally increased by 30.9 per cent to N251million, from N192 million in December 2012. Top line revenue rose by 7.75 per cent to N2.7billion, against the N2.5billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2012.

Berger Paints Nigeria Plc is one of the leading manufacturer and distributor of paints and coatings in Nigeria. The company manufactures decorative, industrial, auto refinishes, wood preservers and finishes as well as marine and protective coatings to meet the need of its industrial, commercial and retail end users in the Nigerian market.

Commenting on the result, Tor Nygard, Managing Director of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, said the result is indicative of continuing improvements in the company ’s operations, characterized by huge investments in product innovation and a state of art paints and coatings manufacturing machinery. “In spite of the local infrastructure challenges affecting real sector performance, especially power, we are delighted by the significant year-on-year growth of 7.75 per cent and 30.9 per cent achieved in our revenues and profitability respectively. Remarkably, our shareholders’ funds also grew by 37.29 per cent to N2.43billion from N1.77billion

in the corresponding period of 2012.”

He added: “This performance is as a result of our continued commitment to providing customers with high value brand of paints and coatings for homes, auto refinishes, and wood care as well as marine and protective coatings at very competitive rates. As we continue to push forward towards best-in-class products by investing in ultra modern machinery which will be installed soon, we are also boosting our distribution and sales footprint across the country to bring these high value brands within the reach

of our customers across segments by opening up more distribution channels as we have done with the opening of the Lekki Colour World recently. This is because we can only achieve our corporate goal of becoming the leading paints and c o a t i n g s manufacturing company in Nigeria by providing total c u s t o m e r satisfaction.”

GTBank appoints Oyinlola non-executive director

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uaranty Trust Bank, GTBANK Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Hezekiah Sola Oyinlola as a Non- Executive Director.

Mr. Oyinlola is a seasoned professional with over thirty years of experience in the Oil and Gas industry, having worked at Schlumberger Group since 1984. He has held multiple senior roles on the management team and was the first Nigerian Managing Director of Schlumberger Group in Nigeria. In 2011 Mr. Oyinlola was appointed to his current position as Chairman of Africa Schlumberger Group.

According to the Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr. Segun Agbaje “We are pleased to have appointed Mr. Oyinlola; a seasoned professional with a proven track record to this position. All of us at Guaranty Trust Bank wish him the very best in his new position.” Mr. Oyinlola’s appointment has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria in compliance with the highest level of corporate governance standards.

Guaranty Trust Bank was established in 1990 and has within the last 24 years come to be recognized as one of the most innovative and service focused banks in the Nigerian financial market space. The Bank operates from over 230 business locations in Nigeria and banking subsidiaries in Cote D’Ivoire Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

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From left: Zonal Business Manager, Airtel Nigeria, Lagos, Olawale Alao; MD/ CEO, Easy & Quiet Limited, Mohammed Mutiu Anthony; Manager, Lagos Showrooms, Grace Henshaw and Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, Femi Oshinlaja at the launch of the Airtel Express Shop at Festac, Lagos.

e have in the two previous weeks looked at Portland cement, its pricing and its proper application in construction. The manufacture of Portland cement clinker requires large amounts of energy. Considerations of the environmental impact of the manufacturing process have brought about the situation in which for the cement sold in the market, there has been a reduction in the amount of clinker whilst other materials such as limestone and pulverised fly ash are added to make up for the clinker that has been removed. The reduction in the amount of clinker has been done whilst maintaining the high performance of concrete made with the resulting composite cements. For example, the

We have indicated previously that the strength of a cement is determined from the 28-day strength of concrete made with the cement

concrete made with the cement.

Thus cement strength class 32.5 can give 28-day compressive strength of concrete between 32.5N/mm2 and 52.5N/ mm2, cement strength class 42.5 can give 28-day compressive strength of concrete between 42.5N/mm2 and 62.5N/mm2, while cement strength class 52.5 can give 28-day compressive strength of concrete above 52.5N/ mm2. Thus, it is apparent that cement strength class 32.5 can serve the same purpose as cement strength class 42.5 where strength requirements do not exceed 52.5N/mm2.

We should at this juncture take a look at the place of cement in the Nigerian economy. My estimates are that in each year we currently use three 50kg bags of cement per person. Thus, total quantity of cement used is 480million bags and at N1800 per bag, this would give a total expenditure of N864 billion per year. The revenues of the cement manufacturers are currently about N500 billion per year and if we allow a differential in price between the manufacturers and the retailers, we would require cement imports to meet our needs. Also, if our various governments are providing building and civil infrastructure at an appropriate level, we should be using about 6 bags per year per person. Thus the cement manufacturers continue to announce expansion plans because there is a demand to be met.

Engineering standards with respect to a subject are established on the basis of the current state of scientific knowledge and engineering practice of the subject. The announcement by the SON of the use to which the various cement strength classes could be put throws up several puzzles.

For example, what is the state of scientific knowledge about Portland limestone cement available in Nigeria and designated as 42.5 strength class and how should it be applied to make concrete with 28-day compressive strengths of 20N/ mm2 and 25N/mm2 which are the strengths in use for building construction? What is the role of the limestone in the Portland limestone cement?

Also, Portland limestone cement is available in strength class 32.5. Why can we not use this cement to make concrete with 28-day compressive strengths of 20N/mm2 and 25N/ mm2?

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Burj Khalifa in Dubai was built with concrete made from Portland fly ash cement and locally sourced aggregates giving a 28-day cube strength in the range 60 Newtons per square millimeter, N/mm2, and 80N/mm2.

Portland limestone cement is the composite cement available from local manufacturers.

The limestone content could be between 6% and 35% whilst the clinker content could be between 65% and 94%. The lower energy costs in making Portland limestone cement should be passed on to the consumer in lower prices of the 50kg bag of cement in the market place.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, placed a newspaper advertisement indicating the uses to which cement strength classes 32.5, 42.5 and 52.5 could be put. We have indicated previously that the strength of a cement is determined from the 28-day strength of

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 —23

Telecoms sector not included in GDP rebasing, says Nigerian-British chambers

BY NAOMI UZOR

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HE Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, has said that following the rebasing of the Nigeria’s GDP figures, the telecommunication sector, which has grown exponentially in the past 10 years and one of the fastest growing in the world, was not included in the country’s GDP. In his welcome remark at the opening ceremony of the 2014 NBCC trade mission to the UK, at the London Chamber of Commerce, President of NBCC, Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, recalled on the 6th of April, the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics announced a rebasing of the Nigeria’s GDP figures.

“The justification for the exercise was the need to give a more realistic value to an undervalued economy, adding that, until now, the telecommunication sector which has grown exponentially in the past 10 years and must be one of the fastest growing in the world, and the service sector, were not included in the coun-

Mr. Hassan Ahdab, Vice President, Starwood International(right) signing a contractual agreement on behalf of Starwood Hotels & Resorts for management of Four-Point by Sheraton Hotel in Ikot Ekpene; Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem (left) signed on behalf of Akwa Ibom State Government while the state Attorney General, Mr. Ekpenyong Ntekim watches.

try’s GDP. “The rebasing put the value for 2013 at $490billion as against the World Bank’s GDP figure of $263billion for Nigeria and $384billion for South

Africa for the same period. In effect, rebasing will enable better planning for the Nigerian economy and give its trade partners and investors a more realistic picture of the

strength, depth and weakness of the nation’s economy. Rebasing has made the Nigerian economy the largest in Africa and the 26th in the world” he stated. According to him,

Customs agent drags bank to court over excessive charges

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

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CUSTOMS agent, Ray mond Onyimba, has dragged a commercial bank (name withheld) to court over unusual increase of interest charged on loan collected from the bank.

Onyimba, through his company, Ojaz Nig. Ltd, had gone to the Federal High Court, Enugu in a suit No FHC/EN/CS/5/12 to challenge the alleged N15 million interest on a loan of N3.4 million, despite the fact that the loan was paid as at when due. On the insistence of the plaintiff, the loan account was thoroughly audited by a renowned auditing firm and the result of that exercise, threw up an actual interest that is stated as N1.023 million that was promptly paid by the plaintiff.

Meanwhile, despite the court judgment the plaintiff is being accused of collecting a loan from the bank and refusing to repay same, following his decision to enter into politics.

To this end, a group under the aegis of Concerned Customs Brokers, CCB, has frowned at attack on its member, Raymond Onyimba, by a faceless body for his effrontery in partaking in the local government elections in Enugu State. The group noted that the alleged claim that Onyimba collected bank loan and refused

to repay is untrue. The group in a statement signed by Osita Mbonu and made available to Vanguard, explained that the bank had falsified the interest on the loan taken by their member to purchase plots of land in Egunu and

had to head to the law court to seek help. The court then got an auditor to look at the account and the actual interest on the loan was agreed on which their member promptly paid, the group pointed out.

The group noted that the attack of Onyinba is not unconnected wiht his decision to vie for the position of Chairmanship of Ogwu Local Government Council of Enugu State in 2009.

Poor power supply threatens economy —Company executive

BY NAOMI UZOR

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L GRAIN noodles Ltd, has lamented on the poor power supply in the country, saying, that it is unfavourable to the manufacturing industries and poses a threat to the economy.

In a parley with pressmen in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O), Al Grain Foods Nigeria Ltd, Chief Anthony Obidulu, said government at all levels should encourage investors in the manufacturing sector by improving on the power supply, as it serves as the engine room to manufacturing, adding that, in doing this the country will be gradually industrlized. ”The manufacturing /industry sector, presently in Nigeria, is still groaning under the pressure of huge and unbearable

energy cost as most firms now rely fully on their power generation for production. So far, we have tried to hold our heads above water in tackling the power situation by relaying majorly on our own power generation with the usage of generators, which has also not been cost friendly. The unstable poor power situation poses a threat to the economy at large” he said.

He said he applauds the steps taken by the federal government on the privatization of the power sector, but appeal that both the government and the new investors, should, as a matter of urgency, improve on the supply of power generation in the country so as to save the manufacturing/ industry sector in the country from total collapse due to the burden of energy cost that has be-

come agonizing.

“I urge government at all levels, to encourage manufacturers/industrialist in the country by providing infrastructural amenities, so as to help improve on the employment rate in Nigeria, boost production for manufacturers by providing adequate power supply, infrastructures such as good roads, rail transportation and zero import duty on machineries and equipments for manufacturing and agricultural sectors, as this will help in promoting exportation of goods manufactured in Nigeria to other countries” he stated.

He noted that Al Grain noodles is already making waves in the Nigerian market and is competing favourably with other noodles, adding that, they are not relenting in the production and quality of the products.

this year alone, working with the British High Commission, they have welcomed a number of inward trade and other missions from the UK and expect more this year and their present mission is the first of two outward trade missions this year.

“In October we plan to have another mission of exporters of Nigerian goods and products with the support of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. It will be the first time that 2 outward trade missions will be sponsored by the NBCC. The trade between our two countries is dominated by oil and gas. It hardly touches the daily lives of the people of both countries. We are determined to see Nigerian pineapples, banana, flowers, yams, clothes, industrial goods etc in daily supply to the departmental and corner shops in the UK and British machinery and goods in increasing proportion in the Nigerian market. Our duty in NBCC is to present the best of both countries to the other. We sell Nigeria to Britain and Britain to Nigeria. We encourage the inflow of UK capital, goods and expertise into Nigeria just as we encourage Nigerian investment in the UK.

Accenture launches product to enhance manufacturing

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

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CCENTURE has announced the launch of “Accenture Product Lifecycle Services” (APLS), aimed at helping manufacturing clients better organise, develop and manage products and services, from idea to retirement.

APLS combines capabilities from Accenture’s strategy, digital, technology and operations growth platforms, with industryspecific services across manufacturing and engineering, all supported by established alliances with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) vendors.

Senior Managing Director, Accenture, Mr. Eric Schaffer, said, “ This unique combination will help manufacturers increase revenues and reduce costs and time to market for new products as breakthroughs in digital technology continue to transform the value chain for industries, including airline, automotive, industrial equipment, and public transportation.

24—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Gum disease, bane of dental health in Nigeria

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

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UM disease has been identified as one of the largest causes of tooth loss in adult population in Nigeria.

According to a UK-based Dentist, Dr. Uchenna Okoye, one in every two Nigerian adults has suffered from one form of gum disease or the other.

Gum disease also known as periodontal is an infection of the gums that can spread to the bones that hold your teeth in place. It is one of the most common reasons people lose teeth.

Okoye who is a cosmetic dental surgeon with London Smiling Dental Clinic in the United Kingdom, UK, said explained that gum disease can develop when plaque bacteria accumulate and release toxic substances leading to bad breath; increased sensitivity and even increasing the likelihood of getting cavities.

She noted that high burden of the diseases could be confirmed throughout her years in practice as a dentist.

A study by O.O. Sofola from the department of Community dentistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, on the ‘Implications of low oral health awareness in Nigeria” showed that chronic periodontal diseases have been found to be highly prevalent among Nigerians right from the 1960s to date and studies have shown that over 75 percent of Nigerians need scaling and polishing and plaque control.

According to the American Academy of Periodontology, if you have

periodontal (gum) disease, the chances of suffering from heart disease is multiplied by two. This is because the bacteria in dental plaque can also escape from your teeth into your bloodstream, move up your arteries and cause blood clots which can lead to serious heart attacks.

Continuing, Okoye who spoke at the 2014 Nigerian Dental Association’s, NDA, annual conference/ launch of OralB’s Premium Gum protection in Lagos, further warned that “if you consume toothpastes without Stannous Complex, which fundamentally should help fight

against gum disease, you are exposing yourself to great oral discomfort.”

Stannous is a powerful ingredient whose potential benefits to oral health have been known for decades. It gives an individual comprehensive protection across all the areas dentist check most.

However, the greatest challenge scientists faced was to stabilise the stannous,while maintaining its effectiveness. This made it impossible to provide retailers and end consumers with the full benefits of a stannous toothpaste formula.

Toothpaste formula

•Gum disease is an infection of the gums that can spread to the bones that hold the teeth.

Okoye identified various causes of bad oral hygiene to among other things to low quality toothpastes.

Endorsing the new toothpaste with 70 percent increase in Stannous Complex content, she explained that it inhibits bacteria in the mouth, leaving the mouth fresh, with strong gums and anti-plaque benefits.

Lamenting the challenges of oral health in Nigeria, the Brand Communications Manager for Oral-B, Mr. Ayotomiwa Ajewole explained, “Stannous complex in Oral B is clinically proven to prevent tooth sensitivity, provide protection from tooth holes, limit bacterial build up, prevent tartar build up and reduce gum problems.

It also whitens the teeth and aids fresh breath.” The Pro-Flex toothbrush, Ajewole stated, has specially designed angles scientifically proven to effectively get rid of plaque causing bacteria; it has been proven to significantly reduce plaque along the gum line.

Ball and booze — Alcohol and the World Cup A N article in the British Medical Journal caught my attention recently. The subject was on alcohol, Fifa and the World Cup. Some points raised by the writers deserve to be shared with the Nigerian public.

First, a few reminders about what continuous use of alcohol and binge drinking can lead to over a long time: Unintentional injuries like car crash, falls, burns, drowning, Intentional injuries like firearm injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence, increased on-the-job injuries and loss of productivity Increased family problems, broken relationships, alcohol poisoning, High blood pressure, stroke liver disease, nerve damage, sexual problems, permanent damage to the brain, Vitamin B1 deficiency, which can lead to a disorder characterized by amnesia, apathy and disorientation Ulcers, Gastritis (inflammation of stomach walls) and malnutrition Of course the reason people drink alcohol is for the immediate, short term effects of loss of

inhibition, and its (mis)perceived excitatory effects. However, alcohol is a psychoactive substance with strong dependence-producing properties.

The World Health Organization says there is a causal relationship between harmful use of alcohol and a range of mental and behavioural disorders, other non communicable conditions as well as injuries.

The latest causal relationships have been established between harmful drinking and incidence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis as well as the course of HIV/AIDS. 5.9 percent of all deaths worldwide is alcohol related.

In the age group 20 – 39 years approximately 25 percent of the total deaths are alcoholattributable. In men 7.6 percent, and in women, 4.0 percent of all global deaths are attributable to alcohol. In 2010 among male and female drinkers worldwide, the total alcohol per capita consumption averaged 21.2 litres for males and 8.9 litres of pure alcohol for females. A variety of

factors have been identified at the individual and the societal level, which affect the levels and patterns of alcohol consumption and the magnitude of alcoholrelated problems in populations.

Now let’s look at alcohol and the World Cup. According to the BMJ: In the UK football and alcohol are inextricably linked. Of the 20 clubs in the Premier League, only two- Hull and Cardiff- are not sponsored by drinks companies.

Manchester United (my own Man U) has no fewer than three alcohol backers, one from the beer, wine and spirits sectors.

FIFA imposes extreme conditions on governments around the world, as it champions the financial interests of its major sponsors in the alcohol industry.

Example; a host country must waive tax on profits made by FIFA’s commercial partners during a World Cup...this will deprive Brazil 312m pounds that will go to a well known beer company, according to InspirAction, the Spanish partner of Christian Aid. Apparently South Africa bent backwards in

doctor@lagospainclinic.com 2010 and such demands were made on the Dutch in their failed bid for the 2018 competition.

South Africa was 2bn pounds out of pocket after the 2010 event.

Public health suffers a setback during the World Cup as well. A 2013 study concluded that, during the 2010 tournament, emergency attendances of alcohol-related assaults increased by 37.5 percent on England’s match days, similar to a 2006 Welsh study of international rugby and football games.

In Brazil, public health experts fear an increase in alcohol fueled violence after the Government, allegedly because of FIFA demands, abandoned its longstanding ban on alcohol in stadiums.

It is predicted that in the UK, with new change to the 2003 Licensing Act ( a change pushed by a strong alcohol industry lobby), about 20m pounds will be

pumped into the pub trade between the start of the World Cup on June 12 to the final on July 13.

It is quite clear that sports, especially football, is vital to the health of the drinks industry.

The WHO recommend 10 areas of interventions: leadership, awareness and commitment, health services’ response, community action, drink–driving policies and countermeasures, availability of alcohol, marketing of alcoholic beverages, pricing policies, reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol intoxication, reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol, monitoring and surveillance.

So as the goals pour in, and the alcohol pours down, be careful, you are holding a powerful substance in your glass.

Cheers.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 25

take to make sure their organizations are using genuine, properly licensed software.”

Another concern for Nigerian businesses is accidental piracy. “As methods to manufacture and sell counterfeit software become more sophisticated, there is an urgent need for greater awareness of this critical problem. “ Unsuspecting companies are at risk of downloading or purchasing counterfeit software that can expose them to spyware, malware and viruses that can lead to identity theft, loss of data, and system failures,” Haman said.

DIARY z World

congress on computational intelligence

International Convention Center Beijing,China

06 Jul - 11 Jul 2014

z Cisco Connect Sun City, South Africa Nov. 2 - 4, 2014

New inventions shaping life and living

2013: ‘81% of software in Nigerians’ computers fake’ •Pirated software hits $287m

A

TEAM of engineers has developed what they are claiming is the world's smallest wireless earbud. In creating Earin, the vision of the team, led by mechanical and design engineer Olle Lindén, was to produce earbuds that not only did away with the messy wires and cables, but fit unobtrusively in the ear to provide a high quality listening experience.

The Earin buds weigh 5 g (0.17 oz) and feature a plastic casing with a silicon tip on the end that is designed to create a snug, noise-isolating fit inside the ear. Measuring 14 mm (0.55 in) in diameter and 20 mm (0.78 in) in length, they are a similar size to your typical earbuds and use Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0 to wirelessly stream audio from a paired device.

I N S I D E C M Y K

BY EMEKA AGINAM

D

ESPITE regulations, software piracy has continued to grow in geometric progression across the globe, causing more economic harm than good.

Recently, a new study by the Business Software Alliance, BSA, the leading advocate for the global software industry has revealed that the commercial value of unlicensed software in Nigeria exceeded $287 million in 2013.

This is an indication that eighty one percent of the software installed on personal computers, PCs, in Nigeria in 2013 were not properly licensed.

Similarly, in the Middle East and Africa, the commercial value of un-

Wireless bars that change sound

licensed software , according to the new study, was over $4.3 billion in 2013.

Globally, according to the study, unlicensed software use continues to be a major problem with 43 percent of the software installed on PCs around the world not properly licensed.

Emerging markets Emerging markets now account for 56 percent of all PCs in use globally and nearly threequarters of all are unlicensed software installations (73 percent). That trend is likely to continue.

Among the other findings in BSA’s global software survey, is the com-

mercial value of unlicensed PC software installations totaled $62.7 billion globally in 2013, a slight decrease from $63.5 billion in 2011.

The survey further reported that computer users cite the risk of security threats from malware as the top reason not to use unlicensed software.

Among their specific concerns are intrusions by hackers and loss of data.

Yet in the enterprise, only 35 percent of companies have written policies in place requiring use of properly licensed software.

“The study clearly shows how much work still has to be done,” said Marius Haman, Corporate Attorney, Digital Crimes Unit at Microsoft, one of BSA’s member com-

Matthew Willsher confirmed as Etisalat CEO

panies,'' adding that , “Reducing unlicensed software use will help to stimulate Nigeria’s economy, enhance businesses productivity and better avoid security risks. Security is especially important in

,

Preview

Unscrupulous resellers According to him, “Local law enforcement is taking action to tackle unscrupulous resellers and computer shops. An effective partnership between the public and private sector is crucial to reducing unlicensed software use in Nigeria.”

One of the alarming trends revealed in the study was the significant gap between workers’ and IT managers’ awareness of company software policies.

A full 42 percent of workers say their companies either do not have a policy on licensed software use or they don’t know, while 86 percent of

This is an indication that 81per cent of the software installed on personal computers (PCs) in Nigeria in 2013 was not properly licenced light of the growing threat of cybercrime.”

“Most people don’t know what is installed on their systems. That needs to change,” BSA President and CEO Victoria Espinel, said.

According to Espinel, “There are commonsense steps managers and administrators can

Nigeria’s app market has huge potentials

,

IT managers claim that their companies have either a written policy or an informal one. It is no surprise then, that less than half of IT managers surveyed are very confident that their company ’s software is properly licensed.

Among the risks associated with unlicensed software, 64 per cent of users cited unauthorised access by hackers as a top concern and 59 percent cited loss of data.

The Middle East and Africa has the third highest regional rate of unlicensed software tied with Latin America at 59 percent. Asia-Pacific has Continues on page 26

26 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Inlaks showcases at Temenos forum, maximises market penetration

Wireless bars that change sound

By PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

I

N recent years, the media has reported tournaments taking on “audio trademarks”- sound reflective of the ‘vuvuzela’ horn sound of 2010 World Cup tournament in South Africa. A sound described as ubiquitous that filled the rooms in homes, bars and public places with the feeling of being at a party.

Apparently adapting on that local technology LG elecI t commutronics recently nicates introduced •So wirelessund NB3530A Bar ly which is sound bar. convenient The device has as you don’t its own separate subhave to go woofer which does not through any require a physical con- complicated pairing pronection to the sound bar.

2013: ‘81% of software in Nigerians’ computers fake’

•Tips Nigerian banks to rule digital economy cess to get the 2 components working with each other.

This means that you can freely mount the sound bar to the wall without worrying about where to place the subwoofer. In fact, the sound bar looks great on the wall especially if the TV is mounted to the wall as well.

Another convenient feature of the NB3530A Soundbar is the built-in Bluetooth which can be paired with the usual Bluetooth-enabled devices like smartphones, tablets, portable media players and laptops.

All of these devices are capable of playing music and many of the streaming apps compatible with these devices have Bluetooth streaming support as well.

The Sound Sync feature enable users beam

sound from an LG TV to the sound bar wirelessly. Also, LG CM9940 known as X-Boom pro is innovatively fitted with state-of-the-art console for sizzling DJ Skills. It is specifically designed for music lovers who are passionate about becoming DJs in their homes.

LG XBOOM Pro has unique and blazing features which enable users enjoy music with ideal blowout mood.

It also boasts of beatboxes voice samples and DJ effects which could be controlled with the touch of a button, allows easy control and automation in mixing music using sound effects such as flanger, phaser, chorus and delay while also creating beats with backspin, crossfade and beatbox or using scratch and voice sampling.

UN ranks Nigeria high in e-government devt index

BY EMEKA AGINAM

Continues from page 25

the highest rate in the world (62 percent) followed by Central and Eastern Europe (61 percent).

Although there is a gradual shift occurring in the delivery of software functionality to the cloud, it is not likely to lower the rate of unlicensed software installations anytime soon.

According to the survey, 52 percent of respondents said they shared log-in credentials, up from 42 percent in 2011.

The BSA Global Software Survey, conducted in partnership with IDC, estimates the volume and value of unlicensed software installed on personal computers in 2013 across more than 110 national and regional economies.

It also reveals key social attitudes and behaviors related to software licensing, intellectual property, and emerging technologies based on a global survey of more than 24,000 respondents.

E

FFORT of the country to become a digital economy has started yielding the expected results as the latest United Nations egovernment development ranking showed an upward improvement by 21 points.

Nigeria rose to 141 out of 193 countries rated in the UN Global e-government Development Index for 2014.

Similarly, the country was also ranked 97 in the e-Participation index, an improvement of 22 points up from 75 in 2012. It would be recalled that Nigeria was ranked 162 in 2012.

The upward movement of Nigeria in the 2014 ranking is a welcome development, an indication that shows that progress is being made in the efforts of the Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Communication Technology to enable it promote e-governance in Nigeria The Ministry has embarked on initiatives to deploy ICT to drive transparency and efficiency in governance and public service delivery.

To enable internal effi-

ciency in government, the Ministry is promoting ICT in Government-by facilitating e-government, which enhances transparency, efficiency, productivity and citizen engagement.

The ’Getting Government Online’ initiative, the Ministry is facilitating is geared at ensuring that government deploys technology as a mechanism to transform the way government operates and enhance the effectiveness of government service delivery for the benefit of its citizens.

This has led to the implementation of two flagship projects, namely the Government Service Portal (GSP) and Government Contact Centre (GCC).

The Government Service Portal (GSP) provides a single window technology

access by citizens and other stakeholders to government services being provided by various Ministries Departments and Agencies MDAs. It is multi-featured and includes collaborative channels that deliver core content management capabilities.

The primary objectives of deploying GSP are to create a single point of entry to Federal Government services, enhance accountability and improve the delivery and quality of public services through technology-enabled civic engagement (mobile technology, Facebook, Twitter, Interactive Mapping, Blogs, Wiki etc), transform government processes to increase public administration efficiency, increase end-user produc-

M

ANAGINGDirec tor/Chief Executive Officer, Inlaks computers, Mr. Femi Adeoti, has said that Nigerian banks have the potential to succeed in the digital age based on their existing assets which include a huge customer base, access to elaborate transactional data and the ability to offer integrated/ multi-channels financial services.

Speaking at this year’s Temenos Community Forum, TCF, in Rome, Adeoti said, “Digitization is fundamentally changing the dynamics of the banking industry and it is simultaneously giving more power to customers while opening up the industry to new non-traditional competitors”.

Traditional competitors TCF is a Temenos annual global landmark; the largest, high flyer financial services conference that attracts customers, partners, investors as well as other industry shapers around the world.

Adeoti said the banking industry had undergone a massive global transformation as a result of the changes that internet had brought to banking operations in recent times. He observed that today, banking had become ubiquitous with the internet alone changing how banks operate in the past.

Temenos is the developer of TEMENOS T24TM,

the world acclaimed leading Core Banking Application that ranks high amongst the world’s leading financial institutions across USA, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and with growing number of deployed users.

This year’s theme, “Succeeding through the Digital Revolution,” focussed on how digitisation is bringing about innovation, with cloud computing thereby lowering the cost of doing business; dynamics in mobile technology and making banking far more accessible.

It also focused on the need for big data, making it possible for firms to draw major insights into customers’ lives; and social media thus providing the opportunity to inject a social context into banking services.

TEMENOS T24TM according to the International Banking Systems Sales League Table, has consistently ranked as either the first or second best-selling core banking software platform worldwide for the past 14 years. It was developed using a complete serviceoriented architecture that’s modular so banks can deploy and integrate the required functionality alongside the needs of their business.

Running 24/7 and in real-time, it equips the banks with innovative technology for market challenges of today and tomorrow.

Glo introduces electronic recharge in Benin Republic

G

LOBACOM’s subscribers in Benin Republic can now get their airtime recharged anytime and anywhere without the use of recharge cards.

This is as the company introduces E-top up service to its teeming subscribers in the country.

According to the Head of Glomobile Benin, Mr. Femi Ogunlusi, subscribers wishing to use the electronic airtime recharge option should simply dial *152#. A secret code is subsequently sent to the subscriber’s phone.

With this code, the subscriber can top up his credit without disclosing his phone number to the vendor. The anonymity

of the subscriber ’s number and recharge code is one of the advantages of the new E-Top up service in the Benin Republic telecoms market. Ogunlusi said.

According to him, “... the average Beninois is very security-conscious, the privacy of his personal identity, phone number and secrecy of his recharge code is of high importance to him.The Glo E-Top Up is therefore special to him because he can recharge electronically with anonymity,”.

In addition, the Glo ETop Up is a “most convenient, stress-free and hassle-free recharging platform for Glo subscribers anytime.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 27

Rural integration of technology, innovation'll push Nigeria’s economic standing

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

T

HE 13th meeting of the National Council on Science and Technology, NCST, ended in Minna, the Niger State capital at the weekend, with stakeholders saying that Nigeria must begin to adopt Science, Technology and Innovation at grass-root level, to be able to transform the economy into one of the top 20 economies by year 2020.

Speaker after speaker at the annual conference unanimously agreed that the adoption of ST&I is neither an option nor a luxury for Nigeria at this critical time but a necessity that would drive the economy to its full potentials.

The theme of the conference is: “Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: Prospects and Challenges of its Implementation at the Grassroots."

According to them, Nigeria will sink further down in development, if it fails to develop its ST&I system, since global trends showed that countries with strong STI systems had progressed, using ST&I as basis for industrialization and sustainable development.

They therefore stressed the need for a holistic adoption of ST&I to transform Nigeria into one of the top 20 economies by the year 2020.

In her keynote speech, the Supervising Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, said, innovation in science and technology has become a measure of the progress that the country is making to improve the quality of life of her citizens, which informed the de-

cision of the Ministry to implement the new ST&I policy in a way and manner that benefits the ‘grassroots.

The Minister, underscored the significance of ST&I in an emerging economy, saying that a country ’s ability to innovate has now become an indicator of the progress it is making towards improving the quality of life of her citizens and described innovation as lifeblood of economic growth and development, which according to her had become indispensible element in the ongoing Transformation Agenda of the present administration.

Inclusion of innovation

The National Science Technology and Innovation Policy, it will be recalled, was launched in 2012, which was the first time in Nigeria, innovation was incorporated in the Science and Technology policy.

To further butress the import of the inclusion of innovation on the Science and Technology policy, Johnson noted that lower income countries are no longer passive adopters of technology, and the technological gap between middle and high income countries has narrowed, adding that innovatio-driven growth has ceased to be the prerogative of high income countries but all.

For effective implementation of Policy, she said the Ministry had taken strategic steps which include: creating awareness, developing monitoring indicators, garnering state level cooperation/collaboration, and ensuring critical stakeholder participation.

For her, it is extremely apt that Nigeria as an emerging/ developing economy has innovation at the front and centre of its Science and Technology policy.

While emphasizing the importance of coordination in the implementation of ST&I policy, she said there is need to galvanize all the efforts and establish a vibrant collaboration between the states and federal systems, private sector, academia and industry among public.

Supervising Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson

Matthew Willsher confirmed as Etisalat CEO

BY PRINCE OSUAGWU

T

HE Board of Directors of Etisalat Nigeria last week, announced the appointment of Matthew Charles Willsher as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Willsher has held the position of Chief Commercial Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer since August 2013 after replacing previous CEO, Steven Evans.

Under a year of his leadership, Etisalat stakeholders said that Wilsher has led the company to record over 20% growth in customer base, even as spend per customer and strengthening of margins, have all increased.

Matthew Willsher, a physics graduate from the prestigious

Why we support Nollywood – NCC

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

E

XECUTIVE Vice Chair man of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah has explained that the huge investment the commission was making into the Nigerian movie industry, was to oil its potent force in the projection of positive image of the country.

Juwah spoke at the third edition of Friends of Nollywood Award, Abuja chapter organized in honour of theNCC and others who have contributed to the growth of the industry.

The EVC said the commission’s attraction to Nollywood

became more intense when it realized that it can leverage ICT opportunities to promote, and project the industry to greater digital heights for the benefit of the practitioners, and the socio-economic progress of the nation.

He said the relationship with Nollywood was actually consummated through a wellarticulated partnership with NCC’s ICT training institute, the Digital Bridge, DBI, the Harvard University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech.

He said: “Many of you may be wondering how the telecoms regulator has become an active enthusiast of Nollywood.

"We have been showing interest in Nollywood because of its popularity, and its potent force in the projection of the positive image of our dear nation.

“Our relationship with Nollywood was actually consummated through a wellarticulated partnership with our ICT training institute, the Digital Bridge, DBI, the Harvard University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech.”

This partnership, according to him, had led to several workshops, experimentation and movie productions, both in the USA and Lagos Campus of the DBI.

Matthew Charles Willsher

Oxford University with a Masters in Management from McGill, started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble.

He joined Etisalat Nigeria with over 20 years in telecommunications. Prior to Etisalat Nigeria, he was Executive Vice President, Marketing at Etisalat Group from 2011 to 2013. He also served as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of the Consumer Business from 2008 to 2011 at Maxis, the leading telecommunications operator in Malaysia, an innovative operator that overtook the incumbent operator in Malaysia to become number one.

From to 2005 to 2008, he was Chief Operating Officer in CSL Limited, the largest mobile operator in Hong Kong; and before this, he spent 4 years at Telstra Australia where he occupied a number of leadership positions. Willsher’s blue-chip career also includes managing a range of consumer products for BT in the UK, leading marketing for BT’s mobile operator joint venture with LG Telecom in South Korea.

Mr. Hakeem Bello-Osagie, Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria said, “Matthew’s creativity and deep understanding of emerging markets has played a pivotal role in Etisalat’s strengthened market position in the highly competitive telecommunications industry.

He brings with him the vision, passion and years of experience from diverse environments which have sustained the execution of our priorities providing superior customer experience, sustained network quality and increase in our operational excellence. We look forward to the continued leadership that he has brought to the company”.

Operational efficiency Since joining the company in 2013 as acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria’s market position has been reinforced with an increased focus on sales channels, customer service, segment marketing and new self service-channels increasing operational efficiency.

Willsher ’s leadership has also realised a wide variety of innovative programmes including the first loyalty proposition in the Nigerian telecommunication industry, Etisalat GEM; the first of its kind educational tool in the youth market, Cliqlite; as well as the launch of the new state of the art gold series flagship experience centres, a revolutionary retail experience driven by the essence of the Etisalat brand.

28 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Nigeria’s app market has huge potentials —Toks Ogun, Ericsson App award winner

BY PRINCE OSUAGWU

A

MONG top priority professions for Nigerians today, apps development may not be high up on the list. What led you down the path of App developing?

I began studying Jazz Performance at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia, United States. During my third year in school, I visited Nigeria and after reviewing the market, I realised that there would be limited opportunities for me as a Jazz musician. So I ultimately changed my course to Accounting. Studying accounting was much different from what accountants do from a day-to-day basis. In a nutshell, I didn’t enjoy working as an accountant like I did studying accounting. I found that there was less problem solving in actual accounting whereas I was more interested in the problem solving aspect. I needed a change! After discussing with a friend who was into website development, I got interested in it. That was where it all began for me.

For Marvel Web, we started by developing websites and once we were established in a certain market we decided to swim upstream to a more lucrative part of the business. Actually, we initially only focused on developing websites until our clients started to request that we build some applications into the website. They desired to be able to capture data in their website, and so we started creating web applications and later began developing mobile

Accelerating growth

applications.

We have heard that the erratic, epileptic electricity situation in Nigeria motivated development of your app that monitors electricity. Can you tell us the name of this winning app? How does the app work?

We were trying to secure an office space and checked out a number of properties. Now, when you are searching for a house , you hardly get the right information about the property from the landlord. You actually just take a chance and hope that you have not made a wrong decision.

There was a particular property we had our eyes on and every time we visited prior to moving in, there was always light.

Information about area or property Curiously, from the day we moved in, there was no light for three consecutive days. We began to think of different ways to get more information about a certain area and property. We wondered how we could have gotten more information about the light situation in that area. The idea kicked in. We started off with a prototype, and then expanded it to something that could be commercially viable because we imagined that quite a number of people will like to have this information at any given time. For instance, if you are at work, you may like to know if there is light at home before setting out.

The app is called SOP Notify.

We have smart sensors in different parts of Lagos and Abuja that sends data to our SOP cloud.

Once we get the data, we dis-

tribute it in any way the end user will like it. Some of our users prefer email while others SMS; so it depends on what the customer wants. We also use crowd sourced information which means that people can send specific information about a particular area which we then broadcast to people who may be interested in that region. Anybody can send a text to a short code with the information or if you have downloaded the app on your mobile, you can send the information across through the app. All you need to do is download the app on your phone and then select areas you are interested in.

Thereafter, you will begin to get notifications on the power situation in those areas.

Can you tell us the other apps you have under your belt and how did you get the inspiration for developing these apps?

Right now, we have the SOP Notify and the DINO Swap which helps people seamlessly migrate from blackberry devices to Android and iOS devices.

There are a lot of people moving from one phone to another and they have difficulty moving contacts without having to either do it manually or speaking with a mobile provider to transfer contacts. But if you download the DINO Swap app on your blackberry and click send, all your contacts will be forwarded to the DINO cloud. Then after downloading the app on your new desired handset, click install and it will bring back all your contacts. All with just one click.

Generally, we get inspiration from personal experiences. There are lots of problems we may have

experienced, and we have thought that there must be better ways to handle the situation.

Sometimes, we realise that there are no solutions to some particular needs that we may have. We just hit the drawing board and begin to think of what solutions we would like to put in place that will speak to one problem or the other, something that can serve a lot of people.

In participating in the Ericsson App Awards, what would you say were the highpoints of

,

RECENTLY a team of Nigerian app developers, Marvel Web, hoisted Nigeria’s flag in Sweden by emerging winners in a world app contest instituted by renowned telecom equipment manufacturers, Ericsson.

Hi-Tech, recently cornered one of the leaders of the team Mr Toks Ogun, who gave us insight into the preparatory and eventual capture of the contest’s top prize. His account was quite interesting. Excerpts:

•Toks Ogun

off to Sweden. It was actually a pleasant surprise.

There were about 300 applications submitted for the Ericsson App Awards. Did you at any point imagine that your app was worth 25,000 Euros?

A friend had sent the Ericsson App competition to us saying that this is something we may be interested in. So we looked at it and thought, well, it will probably take about 20 minutes to complete the form, do the video and submit. We did not expect to hear from Ericsson.

The prize money is a lot of cash especially in Nigeria. How do you plan to maximise the rare opportunity and cash prize at your disposal now?

We already had a timeline and product roadmap of things we hope to achieve with the app.

What the win helps us do is that it will help to shorten the time required. So, rather than having a 12 month span, we can actually look at six-seven months because we now have funds to accelerate our growth.

The fact that it has become a little bit of a news story helps create a buzz around the application and people are now more aware of the application which should help us secure the buyin of more users. Those are the benefits of winning, compressing the timeline and getting people to be more aware of the application.It feels great to win because it is something that came unexpectedly.

Nigeria is a unique market and some would say a difficult market for SMEs to thrive. Is your experience different from the regular difficulty start-ups encounter?

Right now, we have the SOP Notify and the DINO Swap which help people seamlessly migrate from blackberry devices to Android and iOS devices

your preparation and what made you submit this particular app for the contest Really , it was not so hectic because the submission process was very simple. There was a one-page form, then attach a video with a link to your application. We were already in the process of building a prototype and discussing how we would launch it into the market by speaking with different stakeholders to see how they could use the solution.

When we submitted the app, we had not given it much thought.

We were shocked when we started getting some positive feedback saying we were shortlisted.

In fact, we actually missed the first mail saying we were shortlisted; seems it went to our junk mail. It was when we got a second mail congratulating us for moving to yet another stage that we realised that our app had been selected. And then we were

,

Nigerian market is very fragmented in that you have those who can afford a certain service and those who can’t. It really pays to first know your target market before venturing into the market.

You need to ask questions like what is the relevance of the service I am providing, who do I think will be interested in the service, how prepared am I to take up the market?

Do you plan to commercialise the app?

Definitely I plan to commercialise this app. Our potential clients include the general user, those who want to know more about the power situation in their homes or businesses. The way the app works, our customers can receive notifications about the power situation, including whether or not there is light, how long there has been light and even the number of hours they may have had light in a week.

V anguard anguard,, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 , 2014 —29

Re: A Muslim/Muslim Presidential Disaster for the APC, By Femi Aribisala Femi Aribisala sounds like Nigeria’s Salman Rushdie. It seems Mr Aribisala is having endless sleepless nights over the person of Bola Tinubu and indeed the emergence of APC as another big political party in Nigeria. I believe that by standing on the side of the voiceless since 1999 till date, the duo of Buhari, Tinubu and other leaders of APC deserve the accolade of well-meaning Nigerians —George Kalu Tinubu. For the records, he was RIGHT OF REPL Y the last progressive politician REPLY standing, when the rigging maBY SUNDAY DARE chinery of the PDP bulldozed its NE of the beauties of de way through the South-West geomocracy is the latitude it political zone, claiming in its provides the citizens to freely ex- dusty wake the states of Ogun, press their views on any subject Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti durunder the sun. Such opinions are, ing the heady days of the Chief however, expected to be factual, Olusegun Obasanjo-led PDP. informative, rich and robust to Back then, when Tinubu and raise the stake on political re-en- his allies met at the residence of gineering. late Pa Adesanya in Apapa, They should be thought-pro- Lagos to review the rather crude voking; to ask the right questions onslaught of the anti-democratic and make valuable suggestions PDP, only Tinubu stood his in order to proffer likely solutions ground; maintaining that it was to current social and economic not in the best interest of the Alchallenges. That, combined with liance for Democracy, AD or Nithe active participation of the cit- geria not to contest the outcome izenry as the main stakeholder of the fraudulent elections. in governance would serve to deepen the democratic culture. Fraudulent But when opinions are taken to elections ridiculous heights of over fixation on pull-them-down synThe PDP-led government had drome, especially those whose ensured that the governorship patriotic efforts have brought to elections were the first to be conbear the fruits of such democra- ducted, with the obnoxious aim cy, it calls for urgent concern. to use it ostensibly to influence In the light of this, therefore, the outcome of subsequent elecone cannot but question both the tions. And of course, to whip the motive and morale of one Mr. so called ‘dissidents’ into line.

Femi Aribsala who has chosen Asiwaju it was who saw through to cast aspersions and castigate the smokescreen and stood his every patriotic move Asiwaju Bola ground, against the formidable Ahmed Tinubu has made to sal- reactionary forces. vage the hole-riddled ship of With his unwavering moral state from sinking under. The support, candidates on the platother day, it was Aribisala and form of AD who contested for the his tactless tirade over: What does posts in the Senate, House of Bola Tinubu really want? Now, Representatives and various it is another self-serving vituper- state House of Assembly in the ation over the unduly orchestrat- South-West were able to clinch ed Muslim-Muslim presidential the desired victory and return to ticket for the All Progressives the hallowed chambers to disCongress, APC. So sad, Aribisa- charge their duty to their people.

O

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If Tinubu was a selfish politician, as Aribisala imputes in his highly opinionated essay he would not have embarked on that messianic mission la and those behind beating the drums for him, think as if the people’s wishes and electoral value count for nothing.

Let us consider this, from Aribisala’s jaundiced viewpoint.

“The prospect of a ticket with Tinubu as vice-president is already ensuring that the APC is badly in need of aspirin. An APC vice-president that is not Tinubu poses grave political danger to Tinubu. It means Tinubu has been sowing for somebody else to reap. If that person happens to be Yoruba, he or she could quickly become a contender for Tinubu’s much-vaunted position as the Asiwaju of South-West politics in Nigeria.”

If for anything else, by this statement alone Aribisala has exposed his vain and vacuous understanding of the political ideology, motivation and persona of the famed tactician and political strategist called Ahmed C M Y K

,

Furthermore, Tinubu served again as the catalyst who galvanized the progressives to reclaim the lost states, such as Osun and Ekiti, even including Ondo that was saved from the clutches of the PDP and went to the Labour Party.

If Tinubu was a selfish politician, as Aribisala imputes in his highly opinionated essay, he would not have embarked on that messianic mission. All he wanted, and still pursues with unrelenting vigour is to ensure that indeed, the people’s votes count.

That their wishes hold sway.

That their choices are validated on the veritable platform of credible elections, as against foisting the wishes of a few greedy and self-serving politicians on the majority.

It, therefore, amounts to a grave insult to insinuate that Tinubu does not want another person to reap from where he has sowed.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu...tactician He knows he is not God, who has the power to determine who benefits from what. That is pettiness from a warped mindset. Perhaps, if Aribisala has an inkling of those whose lives God has used theAsiwaju to touch outside of politics he would not descend to the low level of thinking that all there is to life is money; or sowing and reaping. Until Nigerians stop thinking of politics as an avenue for self-aggrandizement instead of selfless service to the state we would not make meaningful progress.

And that also underscores the penchant of progressive parties for identifying the best of candidates not just from the South-West geo-political zone but across the Nigerian political spectrum for public service. Unknown to the likes of Aribisala, that clearly explains why Tinubu threw his weight behind the candidature of Aminu Tambuwal for the exalted position of Speaker, House of Representatives as against Mulikat Akande.

Tinubu saw in Tambuwal what was missing in Akande, who would be a quisling in the hand of PDP. That they share the same geo-political heritage was immaterial and mere base sentiment.

The Yoruba race, well-known for political sophistication would always project their best of brains to the limelight.

Democratic norms Now, Aribisala should ask himself in good conscience what he would have done if he was in Asiwaju’s shoes and there is an open threat to democratic norms and values. Especially with Dimeji Bankole, then the Speaker House of Assembly promising Ekiti people that the military would be used to win election in that state during the controversial re-run governorship election in 2009. Would he have stood aloof, arms folded to allow the monster of impunity to plunder the land? The answer is his .

And that brings us to Aribisala’s gross misunderstanding and

misrepresentation of the wellacclaimed victory of John Oyegun as against his man, Tom Ikimi. Said he: “ Tinubu needed to ensure that the APC chairman is not his new arch-enemy, Tom Ikimi, a known Atiku Abubakar man. So he shopped for a more malleable alternative. He finally settled on John Odigie-Oyegun, former governor of Edo State. But when the permutations were done, Odigie-Oyegun could not be assured of victory in a democratic poll. The answer, therefore, in typical Asiwaju fashion, was to truncate democracy in APC.”

Perception of political issues Reading through this cheap assessment of a credible election that had even the PDP congratulating the APC makes mockery of Aribisala’s perception of political issues. Firstly, he has insulted the collective intelligence of other APC stalwarts by claiming they are dummies who could not choose between two candidates with clearly well-defined antecedents and opposite character traits. Secondly, and this is instructive, he has inadvertently given Tinubu the power of a demi-god before who others could never say “no”. That scenario cannot play itself out under a democratic dispensation, more so that of Nigeria’s vibrant polity in the 21st Century.

May we remind Aribisala that Tom Ikimi was never a democrat and even as an adept political chameleon cannot metamorphose into one overnight. What role did he play during the dark days of the NADECO struggle to emancipate the Nigerian nation and its good people from the iron grip of military despotism?

That of an ignoble anti-democrat who chose to turn his back on the people and became deaf to their cries of anguish by dining with Abacha.

He, Ikimi it was again who practiced bolekaja diplomacy in the face of a clear injustice that triggered global outrage, when

he openly supported Abacha’s death sentence on Ken SaroWiwa, acclaimed human rights activist and internationally recognized environmentalist, and the Ogoni-Four. No democrat would have justified and defended that type of brutal, barbaric and bestial murder of his people’s conscience and voice.

For Ikimi to have assumed that Nigerians have so short a memory and would embrace his foray into party politics without questions betrays his understanding of the word, ‘democracy. And even Aribisala has the moral burden of acting as a megaphone to such a person.

‘Show me your friend and I would tell you who you are.’Perhaps, Ikimi’s people understand him far more than Aribisala does. For that reason they elected Chief John Oyegun, as against Ikimi’s candidate, Lucky Igbinedion, as their first-ever democratically chosen state governor. And why not? Oyegun has over the years remained a consistent and committed democrat unlike Ikimi who, more like an unprincipled politician pitches his tent wherever he feels the grass is greener and romances any government in power? Such a person does not have any moral authority to put himself forward for any elective post in the first instance. Leadership goes far beyond that.

It is mixed milieu of one who has vision in quantum; one with the capacity to feel the pulse and the pains of his people; one who has the courage to do right and the boldness to say ‘no’ to evil in all its shade; one with the compassion to right the wrongs bedeviling his people. Fortunately, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is blessed with all these character traits.

Qualitative leadership And as amply demonstrated during his struggles for democracy, his eight years qualitative leadership as the Lagos State governor, against all odds he is eminently qualified to lead this nation to greater heights. That he is from the South-West or a Muslim should not matter, should it?

Of course not. What the citizens need at this critical moment of our troubled history are men and women who would frontally tackle the monsters of corruption, mass youth unemployment, insecurity, and the insidious culture of impunity to deliver the dividends of democracy at their doorstep.

As George Kalu rightly admonished: "Let Aribisala stop wasting his precious wisdom in producing such acidic and derogatory articles. We already know why he hates Tinubu with such passion and why he derides APC”.What should matter most to Nigerians now is quality leadership that understands their pains; that has a sense of direction and would salvage them from the clouds of cluelessness and storms of selfishness to the habour of our collective hope, for a better Nigeria.

•Sunday Dare is the Special Adviser on Media to Tinubu

30 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

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32 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 58

Psychology of penalty shootouts

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Vincent Enyeama (top) defends his goal during a Round of 16 football match between France and Nigeria at Mane Garrincha National Stadium.

Cameroon probe match-fixing claims

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HE former Fifa security chief Chris Eaton has called for a “swift and strong” international investigation into allegations of match-fixing by Cameroon players that strike at the heart of the integrity of the World Cup. While international friendly matches have been proved to have been rigged as the scale

of match-fixing activity by gangs operating in eastern Europe and east Asia became clear, this is the first credible claim that a World Cup match has been fixed for money.

Fifa’s president, Sepp Blatter, said he was aware of the allegations made by the convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal, who correctly predicted Cameroon’s 4-

0 defeat to Croatia and the fact a player would be sent off in a Facebook conversation with a Der Spiegel jounalist.

Alex Song was dismissed before halftime for a needless elbow in the back of Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic near the halfway line.

The Cameroon FA said it had launched its own investigation into “allegations of fraud” around its group stage matches and the claim that there were “seven bad apples” in the team.

Fifa refused to confirm whether it had launched its own investigation but the world game’s ruling body is highly likely to have done so.

We must keep Eagles intact —TAN

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ESPITE Coach Stephen Keshi’s resignation, the Tr a n s f o r m a t i o n Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) has called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure that top players remain in the Super Eagles.

Former International, Waidi Akanni, who coordinates sports for TAN, noted that the team should be kept together with few inclusions made to beef up the squad. He said the team showed resilience in the face of serious opposition at the World Cup and predicted a better future for most of the players that took part in the tournament.

He also praised President Goodluck Jonathan for wading into

the appearance few dispute that put the players at loggerhead with the NFF. “I must say that President Jonathan did well by nipping the appearance fee crisis in the bud. It shows that he is a leader who listens to the people.

“Keshi has achieved a lot with the team. He is the first indigenous coach to win the Nations Cup, which he also won as a player in 1994. He is also the first African coach to take a team to the second round of the World Cup. While wishing that Keshi would continue coaching the team, Akanni, however said that life does no provide for vacuum and called on the NFF to look for a suitable replacement for the top coach.

HERE is probably no event in sports more mentally paralysing than football’s penalty shootout.

The long walk from the centre to the spot have been described by many as the longest of their lives.

No penalty is made equal: The bigger the stage and the more valuable the prize, the greater the pressure and anxiety.

But what is it about shootouts that strikes overwhelming fear in the hearts of players?

Danny Dichio, head coach at Toronto’s TFC Academy and a former player in the English and Italian leagues, shared with Al Jazeera his agony during one of the finest promotion play-off finals. His team Sunderland was playing against Charlton Athletic at Wembley in 1998. The game went to a penalty shootout after it was still tied 4-4 at the end of extra-time.

“I didn’t think I was even going to make the walk up to the penalty, yet alone take the penalty,” Dichio said. “I was so nervous about the whole situation of getting the team up, the club up, so much money on the line. We had a brand new stadium too and there was so much riding on it.”

Compounding the situation was the earlier miss in extra-time, where he felt he should have headed his chance in but tried to bicycle kick it instead.

“I was still thinking about that, the price that miss could be. So stepping up to take a penalty kick, a double whammy was not in my mind at that moment in time.”

While Dichio luckily escaped his turn, he’s certain if he had stepped up and missed that it would have been the end of his career at Sunderland, as he had only joined the club a few months prior.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 —33

— 58

BLOCKED... Super Eagles forward, Emmanuel Emenike tries to beat two France defenders

Mikel:

We have nothing to be ashamed of S

uper Eagles midfielder John Mikel Obi says that the Super Eagles have nothing to be ashamed of after being knocked out of the 2014 World Cup by France.

France beat Nigeria 20 in Brasilia on Monday evening in their Round of 16 match. The goals coming in the 79th minute via a Paul Pogba header and an injury time Joseph Yobo owngoal.

Mikel said: “Honestly, I don“t think that we should be feeling bad right now.

“We“ve had a great tournament and today we showed the whole

world just what we“ re capable of, even when up against a great team.

“I think that we played really well from the start, right up until we conceded the opening goal.“ Mikel admits however that after the first goal things went downhill.

“From that moment on, I“ll admit that we let our heads drop a bit.

“We couldn“t drag ourselves back into it, but none of that should take the shine off our performance.“ The midfielder said that his team were more than a match for France but believes that key mistakes in defence cost

them.

“We were very wellorganised. We knew exactly what we needed to do in defence against a strong team like France and, on top of that, whenever we had the ball we weren“t afraid to attack.

France goal hero Pogba ‘lost for words

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aul Pogba said he was living a World Cup dream after heading France into the quarterfinals on Monday. The Juventus star ’s 79th minute header and

Joseph Yobo’s injury time own goal gave France a 2-0 win over the African champions and a last eight date with either Germany or Algeria.

“I’m lost for words,”

Police arrest 31 at rowdy Costa Rica World Cup party hirty-one rowdy fans were arrested in Costa Rica during street celebrations T that erupted after the country won its first-

ever trip to the World Cup quarter-finals, police said Monday.

Most of the arrests were for brawls or public disorder, police said in a statement on their 20-hour operation around the team’s match against Greece on Sunday, which Costa Rica won on penalty kicks after a nail-biting 1-1 draw, despite playing one man down. Police also

seized two guns, a knife and drugs, they said.

Traffic police for their part stopped 27 people for drunk driving.

In all, police said they had received 486 reports of domestic violence, 602 of public disorder and 411 of assaults or street fights.

The Central American country partied long into the night after their team’s victory in the northeast Brazilian city of Recife.

said Pogba. “We know all the country is behind us, supporting us. Scoring that goal freed us all.

I’mso happy for the team, for all of France.”

The midfielder added: “To score a goal for your country in such an important game, to make it to the World Cup quarter-finals which was my dream - it’s one of the biggest moments of my life.” Coach Didier Deschamps, the 1998 World Cup winning captain who has masterminded France’s revival from the nadir of their 2010 campaign in South Africa, said: “I am very proud of what we have achieved.”

34—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Implications of sham marriages abroad

BY VERA SAMUEL ANYAGAFU

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T is sad to know that getting involved in fake marriages abroad, has, to a large extent, contributed to deportation of hundreds of African immigrants, who in the bid to get lawful permanent residency, expose themselves to the immigration authorities of countries they reside in. Most often, a large number of young men and women especially from African continent, have unfortunately, faced deportation as a result of fraudulent marriages in their different countries of abode.

A bad side of the modus operandi of the sham marriages is that most countries’ laws require the partners to declare joint accounts and in the process, many women have been defrauded of their hard earned money by men who engage in the practice as their only source of survival abroad. According to Mary, victim of a sham marriage syndicate abroad, it is dangerous to think about entering into any form of sham marriage abroad, because you may at the end, loose all you had ever worked for and worse still, face deportation.

She said that considering a fake marriage as a means of getting any countries’ lawful permanent residence is dangerous and illegal and like a time bomb waiting to explode. She also pointed out that the US Immigration Authorities usually expect applicants to prove that they share their lives together, by way of providing copies of documents such as rental agreements, bank account statements, and children’s birth certificates, in a case whereby they both have children together.

Condition for procurement Mary also stated that many women have been duped by these unscrupulous men, when they find themselves in such a tight condition for procurement of a residence permit in countries they reside in, disclosing that in many occasions, governments of countries further test the validity of the marriages by talking to the applicant and his or her spouse on every suspected marriagebased application for residency. .

She said, “I was involved in such a sham marriage in the US just to get around the US

Immigration law and the supposed partner did not make things easy. He subjected me into doing things against my wish.

Things like having sex with him randomly, in addition to making me part with huge sums of money.”

Mary also told Vanguard Consular Advisory that the more she and her partner (names withheld for security reasons) tried to make the marriage look real the more it pulls apart and just few days to their interview for residency permit, otherwise known as ‘Green Card’, her partner was arrested by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and everything quickly went bleak.

“I was totally devastated. I lost my honor, money and good health and to crown it all I was picked up, detained and deported. I felt like it is the end of the world but thank God I have found my feet back here in my country, Nigeria,” she concluded.

Fake marriages in the US: It is imperative for intending marriage sham applicants to note that the United States Immigration officials are trained and equipped well enough that they quickly discover

fake marriages. This they do, through examining things that look like insignificant details of people’s lives, and to ferret out these lies around the marriages, they have learned to cross-check dates and facts within the application forms and between the application forms and people’s

testimony.

Also note that applicants who enter into sham marriages most often complicate issues by being inconsistent in the information they give to authorities while trying to get through the standard process. Although, USCIS cannot read your minds or spend all the time peeking into your closets, they end up catching a lot of people who engage in sham marriages as the only means of obtaining the Green Card.

US restates commitment on abducted schoolgirls

BY VICTORIA OJEME

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HE United States government has said that it will not give up until the abducted Chibok girls are rescued. The US Chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organisations, Christopher Smith, gave the commitment, during a press briefing held at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.

He said that the missing girls would be rescued, while urging Nigerians to continue to keep hope alive. “There is a great deal of hope that they will be found.

And frankly, I am not going to talk about any specifics, I have been briefed, but it will be wrong to disclose any of that. But I know that we are working hand in glove with the French, the UK and of course Nigeria in trying to

discover the whereabouts and find some means of securing the girls’ release. I always believe, especially in a situation with terrorist environment, that we all have to manage our expectations.

This is Boko Haram, they have grown in capability, in weapons and ability to evade detection. The effort will be protracted and we would not give up until the girls are released. The US is very sincere as our friends from France and UK; to be as hopeful as possible as we can.”

Responding on whether the fight against Boko Haram is yielding positive result, he said: “I think it is in process, it is too soon to know.” He explained that though Nigeria takes the lead in the rescue effort, the US government would not relent in its training and intelligence sharing towards a positive result.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 35

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BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

IT’S amazing how dreams come true. From earn ing N4,000 per month while working as a hairdresser in 2007 and later squatting in other salons where she had to pay N300 to their owners to fix her clients’ hair, Precious Ezeugwu has today become one of the hairstylists making a fortune from crowning women with their dream looks in Abuja. Owner of Precious Beauty Salon in Kubwa, Abuja, Precious is living her dream of owning one of the biggest and posh salons, a dream nursed right from the day she set out to work as a hairdresser.

In this interview, she says she goes for training on a regular basis to update herself on the latest in the hair beauty profession, adding that she cannot afford to rest on her laurels while running such a business.

My dream is to own salons in London, South Africa

Seems like you’ve done quite well for yourself as a hair stylist…

(Smiles) Thanks for the commendation. I started the business in 2007 because I love to make people look good. I was motivated by people who encouraged me through patronage even before I got a paid job. Now, my customers come from far and near. My goal for the business is to offer quality services and enhance customer satisfaction and retention. I am proud of my business because I like what I do and it helps me earn an income.

You said you started in 2007; was that when you set up your own salon?

No. I started at a small salon in 2007 where I was receiving N4,000 a month before I started moving from one salon to another for enhanced pay until I got a salon that was paying me N35,000 per month.

Prayer to set up saloon Through all that, I kept praying to God and saving to establish my own salon and I became more passionate when I got a job in a salon in Kubwa.

It was big and posh; it fitted into my kind of salon. I worked there for I5 months before I left in 2010.

What were you doing when you left?

Within the time I left work, in order to plan my own salon, I used to pay N300 to salons to allow me fix my customers’ hairs in their shops just to ensure my customers were comfortable while fixing their hairs. I knew God was taking me somewhere.

I was fixing a customer’s hair one day and she said to me, “Precious, I see you owning your salon before Christmas. I see you going to your own shop” and I replied, “My own shop when I don’t have up to N50,000 in my account?” She said she didn’t know how God would do it but that the vision was sure. And I keyed into it.

How did that vision later become reality?

I was able to raise the money to rent a shop but couldn’t

— Abuja hairstylist, Precious Ezeugwu

•Started out earning N4,000 monthly •Now pays N500,000 on rent afford a generating set. One day, a customer came to make her hair and saw there was no light in my shop. She was sweating and I tried to make her understand that l intended to buy a generator once l gathered the money for it. She then asked how much it would cost to get one and I told her N45,000. I didn’t know when she brought out her cheque book until she handed me a cheque for N45,000 to buy the generator. I was amazed.

What impact did that have on your business?

Within eight months, I had customers trooping to my shop and the shop became too small to contain my customers who had to queue to take their turns with little ventilation.

Then l extended to the next shop and the landlord

became greedy. She increased my rent over and above every other tenant.

Didn’t you think God wanted to grow you beyond that petite salon space?

I sure did and began to look out for a bigger space. Then one day, a friend of mine told me about her husband’s plans to build spacious shops. I got interested and saved towards it. As God would have it, when the shops were ready, they turned out to be the kind of space I needed.

You mean you could raise such costly price for a salon space?

God did it. The landlord even wanted two-year rent. I told him to give me three months to raise the balance which he accepted.

Jewellery shop Within three months like I promised, I made the N500,000 and gave him another year as agreed. And here I am, going to three years now in my own salon.

It is obvious the business is flourishing because I could see you’ve expanded to jewelries…

Yes. My husband used to run a jewelry shop before we got married and he still loves to continue with it. Hence we

Within eight months, I had customers trooping to my shop and the shop became too small to contain my customers who had to queue to take their turns with little ventilation decided to expand to jewelries from profits from the salon. We’re also opening a weave on shop soon.

What do you hope for in the next five years?

I want my salon to be bigger than Eden Salon. I hope to have a salon strictly for children. Also, I’m aiming at having a salon in London and South Africa.

38—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

• Chief Great Ogboru (middle), DPP state Chair, Chief Tony Ezeagu, Chief Fred Obey and other leaders at Ozoro

Ogboru rises from political death •Says LP is new vehicle to Promised Land

BY EMMA AMAIZE

Plan that went awry HE permutations by the All Progressives Congress, APC, was that the party would win the senatorial bye election held in Delta Central senatorial district , Delta state on October 12 , 2013, if Chief Great Ogboru joined forces with it to battle the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Late Senator Pius Ewherido, whose untimely death created the opening that necessitated the byeelection in the first instance, secured the respected seat on the platform of Democratic People’s Party, DPP, which Chief Ogboru, two-time governorship candidate on its platform was the leader.

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Strategists calculation APC did everything to make Chief Ogboru abandon at the eleventh hour the DPP candidate, Chief Ede Dafinone, who its strategists calculated did not have the political weight to halt PDP’s plan to consecrate the former managing director of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Emmanuel Aguarivwodo.

They wanted Ogboru to switch his support in favour of APC’s candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, but Ogboru

refused to see reason.

Aguariavwodo won.

APC leaders, including the national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had stormed Delta state to discuss the possibilities with Ogboru.

It was, however, speculated that the failure of the APC

negotiators to come straight on what is in the bargain for the leader in 2015 in the event of his agreeing to dance to the pendulum ruined the game plan.

An informed source, hinted, on the other hand, that Ogboru was committed to his

party ’s candidate, and therefore, his hands were tied as far as APC’s deal to swap Emerhor for Dafinone was concerned.

APC tacticians had erroneously thought that Ogboru would fall for its coded plan without unambiguously stating the terms. The thinking was that given the political equation at the time, it would aggregate to digging his political grave if he rejected the offer to team up with APC. DPP as a faulty vehicle With the overpowering of Dafinone in the bye-election, many, indeed, agree that any attempt by Ogboru to contest the governorship race again in the state would end in a more devastating note because it had become manifestly evident that DPP, as a political vehicle might not be able to carry him to Government House, Asaba.

Bolt from the blue The ‘people’s general’ as Ogboru is called by his admirers, was becoming a passing sensation in the gubernatorial calculations in the state ahead 2015 on account of lack of viable platform, when he sprung a surprise, weekend, in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area, the political territory of the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ovuozorie Macaulay.

Apparently reading the mind of the people, Ogboru, who had been holding series of consultations lately, particularly after the newest Supreme Court verdict on his election case with incumbent

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, publicly announced the extinction of DPP at the country home of former Special Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Security and Isoko youth leader, Chief Fred Obey.

Ogboru, who was in company of the former state chairman of the DPP, Chief Tony Ezeagu, Chief Emmanuel Ogboru and other leaders, said the party was merging with the Labour Party, LP. DPP is dead “The slogan of the DPP is now dead, it is now Labour Party,” he declared in the presence of supporters, who thronged Obey’s home.

Promised Land Ogboru pontificated that LP is the platform through which Deltans will be taken to the Promised Land, saying, “Do not despair, do not shed tears, and do not have any regret because with God, all things are possible.”

The former DPP leader said his political journey to be governor of the state had been very long, just like the Israelite journey.

He disclosed that any moment from now, membership registration would commence and that there were enough cards for all members.

Delta needs change- Obey O b e y, who described Ogboru as the most nononsense governorship aspirant he had ever met, asserted that the people of Delta state had suffered for too long under bad leadership, and stressed the need for change.

Critics’re jealous of Orji’s achievements in Abia — MR. Charles Ajunwa, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, in this interview speaks on the efforts of the state government to transform the state and challenged critics of the governor for a debate on TA Orji’s laudable achievements.

Excerpts:

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

W

HAT is your take to critics’ comments that Governor Orji has performed below par?

The governor is not averse to criticisms especially if they are constructive. In fact he welcomes them and uses them to improve on his giant strides. But what we have observed is that some individuals out of hatred are bent on discrediting all that the governor is doing.

They are not doing it with honesty or pointing out any alternative. They are bereft of ideas but just want to make noise to attract attention. Abians see them as nuisance and of course in democracy you have to tolerate their nuisance value. They have sworn to destroy through propaganda, all that the governor has put in place that has positively changed the face of Abia.

But I can tell you the governor is not bordered and has never lost focus on what he wants to achieve and where he wants to leave Abia by the time his tenure expires.

What has the governor done to change the face of Abia?

The governor’s record of achievement is intimidating and that is what is driving his detractors crazy. In which sector can anybody fault the governor’s performance by way of infrastructure provisions or otherwise?

If you come to Abia State and sample the opinion of people they will tell you that they have not had it so good as they are witnessing now. There is no sector that is neglected and I stand to •Ajunwa be challenged. Every sector is receiving priority attention. Abia is now a safe haven political peace and harmony in Abia as all for investors as you can now sleep with your Abia political stakeholders are now speaking two eyes closed. with one voice to ensure that the state takes Of course everybody knew the history of its pride of place. The truth is that the the state in terms of insecurity, kidnapping, governor has raised the leadership bar and armed robbery, etc. It took the courage, his successor will have a great challenge to wisdom, tenacity and strategy of Governor sustain it. to stamp out these vices.

The governor met nothing on ground when You don’t need to be told that there is he assumed office. He started from the scratch

t o a b n h d t b D s p g p

w s s t f s n g

A t a s a i

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—39

Why Wukari people must shun violence — Kente, Taraba Speaker SPEAKER of Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon. Josiah Sabo Kente, who represents Wukari I constituency, in this interview, bares his mind on the Wukari crisis and the way out.

W

HAT are your views over the recent crises that engulfed Southern Taraba state ranging from communal to religious crises?

Honestly speaking, I am very sad in view of the renewed crisis in my area, not once, not twice, not even thrice; this is the fourth time that this crisis has taken place defying all efforts been put by the state government to put a stop to it.

It is also very sad that the people who are brothers and sisters who have lived together for very long have decided to carry arms against one another in the name of religion and tribe. It is very unfortunate that in this 21st century people still behave this way taking lives of human beings like chickens.

Wukari has enjoyed so many projects and establishments that ordinarily would have turned the town into a centre of economic activities in Taraba State but unfortunately because of the renewed clashes in the area, most of these economic

centres have been affected.

Education activities and programmes are being tampered with people living in fear. We have a lot of orphans here and there and this is very unfortunate because Wukari is a viable area in terms of economy and it is also the political nerve centre of Taraba State.

What do you think is responsible for the recurring clashes?

If I tell you that these are the immediate or remote causes of the Wukari crises I will not be telling you the truth because one will look at the issues from a lot of angles which you may not understand.

Political element Is it political? What is the political element in the crisis?

Is it tribal? What is the tribal element in the crisis? Is it economic? What is the economic element in the crisis?

Is it religion? What is the religious element in the crisis?

In the same family you find

— Ajunwa

to build the state that we are all proud of today and Abia state is described as a construction site. It is now that he built a befitting state secretariat, it is now that he is building the government house, international conference centre, dialysis hospitals of best standards. At the last count, the committee headed by the Commissioner of Information, Dr Eze Chikamnayo took inventory of some of the projects and over 10,000 projects were identified and the governor has continued to commission projects as if he started yesterday.

There is no part of the state that you will not see newly constructed roads, schools, rural electrification. Our critics say nothing is happening in Aba but the Osisioma depot that was moribund for years has been revived and is on stream today. You cannot imagine the number of our youths that have been gainfully employed there.

Today we have accessible roads in Aba and the town has become one of the cleanest cities in Nigeria. In the area of health, we have the Abia state specialist and diagnostic center with all the state of the art equipment which is among the best in our clime. There

is the Amachara specialist hospital where we also have a chest specialist centre, we have the 100-bed hospitals in all the zones within the state, we have over 200 health centres, well equipped scattered all over the state, this is apart from the health clinics in every community and villages Ochendo has left landmarks that are visible and verifiable in all sectors. We are ready to challenge critics anywhere, on radio, on television through any debate to showcase what this government has done as well as projects waiting for commissioning in the areas of agriculture, tourism, youth and women empowerment, housing, etc.

As I speak almost 3000 buses and cars apart from tricycles have been distributed to our youths to empower them in transportation business not to talk of other direct employment initiatives. The governor is not alone in all this, his amiable wife has done so much for the women, building houses for some indigent ones but above all her centre where skills are acquired has received great commendation both nationally and internationally.

Christians and Muslims and people belonging to different parties but they live together.

So I find it very difficult to explain, but no matter what the causes are it very important and very necessary that we must put aside our differences and continue to live in peace with one another.

That is the only basis we can experience any development in that area.

Acting Governor Garba Umar recently initiated a peace agreement between the warring parties in Wukari and you were a signatory to the peace agreement. Can we say the state government failed in its responsibility?

No! In fairness to the state government, it has done its best in the implementation of the peace agreement signed in Wukari. One of the conditions in the peace agreement is the state government was going to assist those who suffer loses during the crisis.

Peace committee To the best of my knowledge, the state government has set up not only the peace committee but also a subcommittee that will cater for the return of those who fled their homes as a result of the crisis.

As the sub-committee was set up, the central peace committee has been monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement and part of the agreement was fulfilled to ensure that those whose families were affected are engaged. The infrastructure that was destroyed are been replaced. So the state government virtually honoured the peace agreement.

The Wukari crisis is more of family against family as you just mentioned. What would you say should be done to ensure lasting peace among the people?

We observed that youths are the most useful tools in terms of violence and have seriously been used in these crises.

Therefore, the state government said use the local

•Kente government SURE-P programme to arrest the youths through employment and it was introduced. So I will say the implementation of the local government SUREP programme was a serious means to stop youths’ restiveness.

So if you ask what step do I think should be taken to address the issue and restore peace, I will say if we as human beings accept to tolerate one another, learn to live in peace with one another, I respect your opinion you also respect mine that is the only way peace would return.

Secondly, let our leaders exert their powers. What continue to bother me are the

,

BY JOHN MKOM

proof that this person has a hand in the crisis.

How did the recent Wukari crisis start?

I was in the church for Sunday service when someone called me and told me that Wukari was on fire again and up till now as we are talking nobody can tell me that this was the reason behind the crisis.

I am devastated and very sad that this thing is happening in my own area after all the efforts by the state government and stakeholders from the area. I cannot quantify the efforts and sacrifices I personally put in place to make sure that peace reign supreme in that area but unfortunately all the efforts by

We had situations where we held security or peace meetings in the afternoon and in the evening the same people that participated in the meetings go and carry out the crisis

sources of arms used each time such crisis erupts. A control mechanism should be put in place to check the inflow of these fire arms otherwise it will be very difficult to control the situation.

There have been constant investigations over the causes of this crisis. Who do you think is fuelling the crisis?

To be honest with you nothing of that nature has come to my knowledge but you know during such occasions you will hear so many rumours and propaganda from many people. There will be a lot of suspicions that this or that person is behind the crisis. A lot of stories are being told but honestly nobody has ever come to me with a genuine

,

the state government, religious bodies and individuals have not yielded any positive result.

We will reach an agreement today the next day the problem will continue.

We had situations where we held security or peace meetings in the afternoon and in the evening the same people that participated in the meetings go and carry out the crisis. This shows that we must display a high sense of responsibility to end the crisis.

I want to plead with my people that for God’s sake let them lay down their arms to give peace a chance. I was looking at Wukari that in the next five years, we should be the economic centre of the state but that can happen only when there is peace.

40 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Loans, Alhaji Abubakar Duchi, agreed that the non-replacement of the notes withdrawn by the CBN is responsible for the dearth of the lower notes.

Replacement of withdrawn lower notes: To him, what the bank did by removing bad Naira notes was in line with its statutory responsibilities, but he is angry that replacement has become a problem. ‘’I am not faulting the CBN for doing their job. What they did was right, but why have they not provided new notes to avoid what is happening now in the country. It is expected that the new notes will be injected into the system. That should be done because those in the informal sector are groaning, the elites may not experience it, but the man on the street is affected,” he told VF.

Cashless policy

No ‘change’ threatens the informal sector

By CHARLES KUMOLU& AUGUSTINA ANYAEGBU

D

ESPITE being born and bred in Malumfashi, Katsina State, Iliyasu Danhassan is so much in love with Lagos that he professes this affection for the city to whoever cares to listen.

He is not bothered that the boisterous nature of the town is a sharp contrast to the tranquility obtainable in his agrarian community in the Northern part of Nigeria, where he had spent the first 24 years of his life.

To the 34-year-old petty trader who hawks onions and tubers of yam, coming to Lagos in 2004 was an escape from the grinding poverty he was used to back home.

Challenges encountered So, the thought of going back to his homeland does not occur to him, since his petty trading flourishes unhindered.

He told Vanguard Features, VF, that but for the officers of the Lagos State Kick Against Indiscipline,KAI, a unit of the state Ministry of Environment, who usually arrest them for street trading and hawking, he had hardly encountered challenges that might make him consider quitting the business.

Recently, that job satisfaction seems to have evaporated into thin air. The father of four is now

experiencing an all-time low sales following the scarcity of lower denominations of the Naira.

This development, he laments, has reduced his profit margin, leading to general drop in sales. ‘’This is so strange in Lagos.

Though my brothers in the North also complain about it, but I am sure that what we have here is more frustrating. We started experiencing it two years ago but it became worse last year. We hardly get enough lower currency denomination to carry out our sales.

Absence of the lower currency notes This makes buyers to buy elsewhere. Some don’t even buy because of the absence of the lower currency notes,’’ he noted.

Still lamenting his plight, Danhassan said: ‘’I turn down buyers because what I get from them is N1000, N500 notes and I will not have the change to give them. This is frustrating.‘’ This Hausa trader who hawks his commodities in Festac Town is not the only one complaining about the scarcity of lower Naira notes. Checks by VF showed that the shortage is very common among bus conductors, petty traders, hawkers, and other informal businesses.

So agonising is the situation that traders and commuters are now forced to abandon their

balance after purchase or exchange of services when the sellers could not raise the necessary balance to complete the transaction.

Why the scarcity: Though complaints about the inadequacy of the lower notes made the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to come up with measures at addressing the matter in 2013, the problem has persisted.The apex bank had ordered its branches in the country to increase the supply of the bank notes to Deposit Money Banks, DMBs. With the obvious failure of the intervention, Nigerians are asking what informed the scarcity and why it has defied solutions?

Controller of Ilorin branch of CBN, Mr. Monday Olotewo, attributed the dearth of the smaller notes to the withdrawal of bad Naira notes from the system by the CBN. “We are very much aware of the problems being encountered by people on account of shortage of lower denominations of the Naira, and we have made a request for new notes at the head office in Abuja. We are optimistic that there will be balancing soon; injection of adequate lower denominations of the Naira. Some of the notes were badly handled by members of the public, thereby rendering it useless for transaction,” he noted.

Further investigations by VF corroborated the bank’s position.

President Sadon Savings and

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LOWER NAIRA NOTES:

While some Nigerians attributed the development to the CBN’s cashless policy, others said the failed plan to introduce N5,000 note in 2012 is responsible. ‘’I doubt if the cashless policy is responsible; we have a situation where the CBN failed to print and inject new notes into the system. That is why we are here.

The bank knows that we don’t have the prerequisite infrastructure for a full blown cashless policy, so I believe that has nothing to do with the shortage of Naira notes, ‘’ he added.

Chairman/ Chief Executive Officer Lambeth Trust and Investment, Mr. David Adoni, does not also see the cashless policy as responsible. But he does not know what informed the dearth.

He noted that had the CBN printed the polymer notes as it planned, the situation would not have been this obvious.

economy thus: ‘’It has a negative impact on the efficiency of the country’s payment system. So if it is short in supply, it reduces the efficiency of the exchange system. It affects the functions of the exchange system. I don’t know why it has occurred, but if the monetary agency says that it is because of the migration to cashless economy, they must understand that it is a gradual process.’’

Asked the way out, he said: ‘’In this circumstance, coins are actually more ideal because of the durability and ability to withstand rough usage. Although I know that Nigerians find it difficult to accept coins. But if we must continue with cash economy , coins are needed because they are more efficient and effective.’’

Adoni is not alone in the call for reintroduction of coins as alternative means of transaction.

The founder of Optimum Finance & Securities, Chief Bode Banwo, re-echoed the demands. ‘’When coins were in circulation in the glorious past, Nigerians did not go through what they experience now.

Non usage of coins We are aware that the CBN is not culpable for the non-usage of coins because Nigerians for whatever reasons rejected them when they were recently introduced. But it behoves the CBN to ensure that people get use to using them,” he argued.

Continuing, he said: ‘’If developed countries could use coins, I still find it difficult to know why our people are rejecting it here.

We still should not forget that currency reform of 1991 which phased out two kobo and five kobo coins contributed to the dearth of coins as a means of exchange in Nigeria. Coins are durable and are not affected by

It is expected that new notes be injected into the system because those in the informal sector are groaning; the elites may not experience it, but the man on the street is affected

‘’The migration requires a lot of infrastructure which are regrettably not efficient in the country. There are regular instances of ATM machines not functioning. And ATM is so vital in the migration to a cashless economy. With that it becomes very clear that the transition should be gradual. There was a time the CBN talked about printing new notes to support the existing polymer notes. But I have not seen the new notes till now. Perhaps the velocity of the printing requirement is responsible for that, ‘’ he noted.

Need for coins He, however, highlighted the implications of the scarcity on the

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wear and tear like paper notes.

So, the CBN should print the Naira notes they promised’’.

Traders react: At the popular Boundary market in Ajegunle, a trader, Mrs Inocentia Okoye summed up the problems they are encountering as a result of the dearth of lower Naira notes. ‘’Change has been a very difficult to come by. Customers always come with N1000 and N500 notes to purchase an item worth N50. I find it very difficult giving out the only change I have to such people because I don’t have enough. I don’t even look at those seeking for change when they come to me because I can’t give what I don’t have”.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

— 41

BOMB ATTACK:

Survivors’ tales of pain

BY SUZAN EDEH, BAUCHI

R

ESIDENTS of Bauchi, the Bauchi State capital are still in shock over the horror of last Friday’s bomb attack which claimed 13 lives and left 34 others injured. This is even as some of the survivors have been recounting their ordeal and painful experiences.

For most of the hospitalised victims of the People’s Hotel in Bayaran Gari, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis who had a close shave with death, the memory is one that will haunt them for *Military operatives inspecting the scene of explosion a long time.

Indeed they had the opportunity to recount their experiences and thank God for sparing their lives when Vanguard Features VF visited the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Hospital where many of them are currently receiving treatment.

At the female surgical ward, Blessing Lazarus, a 28-yearold indigene of Benue State residing in Bayan Gari, narrated how she narrowly escaped death during the bomb incident at the hotel.

“That fateful evening, I was not feeling so well, so my boyfriend called me and said I should wait for him at the People’s Hotel where he normally relaxes after a hard day’s job.

I then went to the hotel to wait *...Another lucky survivor *A survivor of the bomb explosion on his hospital bed for him in one of the rooms. It was while I was there that I sion, I quickly laid flat on the gunshots and people scream- mortuary,” Shehu said. heard a loud explosion; then ground. I was afraid that if I ing and running for safety.

The police boss urged memsomething pierced and shat- stood up, another one may The shattered beer bottles bers of the public to always be tered my left hand. I managed explode or I might even be hit pierced my skin and that is security conscious within to escape from the scene of by a stray bullet. I lost con- why you can see all this their environment by paying the incident,”she recalled. sciousness and did not know wounds on my body. But I am attention to persons and obShe thanked God for spar- what happened to me. The getting better,”he said. jects, particularly at motor ing her life and called on the next thing I knew was that I Meanwhile, the Bauchi parks, market places, schools, State Police Commissioner places of worship, shopping All of a sudden, we heard an explosion Malam Lawal Shehu con- malls, eateries and hotels. firmed the death of 11 persons He said: “The police has put that almost deafened me; I lost conin the blast. Similarly, 28 oth- in place a lot of strategies to sciousness and did not know what hapers were injured. He said that fight insurgency in the state one suspect was arrested in by intensifying surveillance, pened to me; the next thing I knew is that connection with the incident intelligence gathering and I saw myself in the hospital and efforts are being intensi- working in collaboration with fied to arrest the other flee- other sister security agents to State Government and secu- saw myself in the hospital,” ing suspects. secure the protection of lives rity agents to take steps to he recounted. and properties”.

Giving his own account, Investigations ensure the protection of lives The Bauchi State CommisBabaji Ahmed a student at the conducted and property. sioner of Health, Dr Sani At the male ward, Bala Abubakar Tatari Polytechnic in Malami told newsmen that 34 Adullahi, also told VF that he Bauchi said he arrived the “From the investigation con- injured persons were brought was lucky to survive the bomb People’s Hotel to watch a foot- ducted by the Police, some to the hospital in the late attack. According to him, he ball match, only to be wel- suspected hoodlums were hours of Friday, adding: only sustained a head injury comed by the blast. seen loitering at the premises “There are 17 others with “On that day, I left my of the brothel and the next varying degree of injuries and minor bruises on his face.

“I started going to People’s house at the New GRA for my thing that happened was an who are still on admission, but Hotel since the World Cup friend’s place in Fadamada to explosion. The entire sur- we are hoping that many of tournament started because I collect a practical workbook. rounding of the area has been them would be discharged like watching the matches in On the way, I decided to visit cordoned off and the scene today. the midst of my friends. The the People’s Hotel briefly to secured by Police Explosive A few will have to go to the evening of that attack, we watch the football match. I Ordinance Disposal Unit theatre because of the were all watching the match had barely sat down for five EOD. The victims were seriousness of their injuries. with excitement when all of minutes, when the bomb went rushed to Abubakar Tafawa Unfortunately, 13 people were a sudden we heard a loud ex- off. I could not move because Balewa Teaching Hospital so far confirmed dead. Ten plosion that almost deafened my body was badly injured. ATBU for treatment and dead bodies were brought to me. When I heard the explo- As I lay there, I heard corpses were evacuated to the the hospital and three more

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victims died in the hospital,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Management of the People’ s Hotel has decided to relocate the hotel to another state.

Speaking to VF, the Director of People’ s Hotel, Mr Ifeanyi Ezesi said that operating his hotel business in the state was no longer safe.

Hotel business “I think the time has come for me to relocate from the state because of the continued attack on my hotel business by Boko Haram. They have already passed the message to me that my presence is not needed in the state, so I just have to leave for the security of my family. This is the second time they are attacking this hotel. The first attack was in 2012. The second attack now in 2014. I think it is high time we left,” he said.

Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, has directed that all the injured victims of the Friday bomb blast be treated free of charge. He sympathized with the families of those who were killed in the unfortunate incidence.

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42— VANGU ARD, ANGUARD,

WEDNESD AY, JUL Y 2, 2014 WEDNESDA JULY

Why is the dress-sense of today’s girls so appalling?

Dear Bunmi, About seven years ago, my husband took a second wife and that nearly tore the family to shreds. I felt betrayed and moved out of the home to my own flat. My husband moved in his new wife though my children stayed with their father. Over the years, the children have settled in with their stepmother and they have nothing but praises for her.

As a result, my hostility towards my husband thawed and he started coming to visit. He used to be quite randy and it was a shock to discover that he seldom wants to make love. He is in his mid-fifties and I will be 50 soon. Why has he changed so much in just seven years?

Alero, by e-mail.

Dear Alero, A sudden loss of libido can indicate the onset of a medical problem. Try and discuss this with your husband and encourage him to see a doctor. However, the poor man’s declining interest in love making must probably reflect no more than his advance in age. Like you, your man is simply getting older and the balance of his hormone is

changing.

Your desire for love making might be a yearning for confirmation that you’re still as attractive to him as before in spite of his other wife.

Be patient with him and don’t expect any fireworks.

Rebuilding your broken relationship should be the priority here. Your love making should improve with time.

She said love making with me was just for fun!

Dear Bunmi, I am happily married with children. Early in the year, this lovely lady joined the company I worked for. She is a computer analyst and is sexy, witty and intelligent. We are good friends and I know her fiance.

A couple of months ago, she had a party in her house and I stayed behind to help her clear up as her man was out of town. One thing led to another and we made love. It was fantastic and I instantly fell in love with her.

She, however, made it clear that it was a one-night stand and that she is very much in love with her fiance.

My problem now is that I just can’t stop thinking about her and our love making.

I long to touch her. I‘m not really the promiscuous type and I thought what I had with my wife was good. But it was

magic with this girl. Although she says it’s over, I cannot bear the thought that I’ll never make love to her again.

Donatus, by e-mail.

Dear Donatus, It is a fact that we are all programmed by nature to fancy a variety of potential lovers but you are now married and your oats-sowing days are over. As much as you’re infatuated with this girl, you must let her go to make her commitment to her fiance work. Don’t deceive yourself that she is the love of your life.

You’ve had your fling, now put it behind you.

She is not romantically interested in you and the earlier you faced this fact, the better for your peace of mind.

Cherish the friendship you have by all means, but accept the fact that she no longer wants you, and move on.

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The second wife got the best of him

Dear Bunmi, My youngest child is just over 20 and is in the university. All of a sudden, she’s wearing so much make-up, it makes her look like a tramp.

She has really nice eyeballs but you can hardly see them because of the heavy mascara she wears. She wears a lot of weird lipsticks and her hairstyle is out of this world. She’s done so much colouring and heaven-knows what else to it that I fear she might go bald.

I’ve tried talking to her but she told me that’s the way her friends behave. We are a decent Christian family and I don’t want her to be out of control. My husband tells me to ignore her, as she would change only if she wants to.

I’ve seen people stare at her and make nasty remarks, especially about the skimpy clothes she wears. It is sad to see a decent daughter turn into a rebel.

Fadekemi, by e-mail.

Dear Fadekemi, Your husband is right, though. Once a girl starts down the road of cosmetic alteration, she may find it hard to turn back. Without her armour of make-up and skimpy wears, your daughter might be tagged an out-cast by the peers she’s emulating. She sees herself as a glamour puss and finds comfort in the attention she’s getting. If you want her to change why not talk her into both of you having a make-over? There are loads of girls of her age doing this and if it is a professional showing her what to wear and how to wear them, she just might listen to her instead of you. You’re worried because her looking like a tart seems a reflection on how badly you’ve brought her up.

But this is not so. Believe me, she is doing her thing and this phase will definitely pass.

At 18, you shouldn’t be so eager to rush into a relationship with a man simply because he says he loves you; you have your whole life in front of you to settle with someone you’re in tune with

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Memories of his dead wife are all over Is love making all he wants? his house

Dear Chinyere,

You moved into a ready made environment created by your husband and his dead wife and I’m not surprised you feel as if you don’t belong there. You admitted he’s been living in the same house for years, so you have to introduce him to the rewards of change without making him believe you want to blot out the memory of his first wife.

Instead of criticizing and showing disapproval, I will advise you sit him down and talk to him. You should be prepared to make compromises

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Dear Bunmi, My husband was a widower when I met him and we got married six years ago. Normally, I expected that, with time, the house would reflect the two of us. I was wrong.

My husband was reluctant to change anything. His dead wife’s photographs still adorn the sitting room alongside mine. It is really spooky.

I work from home, so I’m surrounded by her ‘presence’ most of the time. My husband buys things for the house without asking how I feel. It is really depressing living with him. I used to have my own flat which I rented out to be with him. I’ve never felt his house is my home; it’s as if I’m living in his house with his dead wife. He’s been living in the house for over 25 years. If things don’t improve, I’m thinking of moving back to my flat. We have two children and he had six from his dead wife.

Chinyere, by e-mail.

too. His wife might be dead, but they were together for years and had six children between them.

Decide on how many of her photographs should be displayed in the living room, the type of furniture you’ll like in the house, especially your bedroom, and show the family you’re not intent on getting rid of the first wife’s memory.

The children too would have to be taken into consideration when you are doing these changes. Drastic changes need a lot of patience but you will make them in time.

Instead of criticizing and showing disapproval, I will advise you sit him down and talk to him; You should be prepared to make compromises too

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Dear Bunmi, I lost my virginity this year to a friend of my brother after he told me he was in love with me. We are both 18 and we get on very well and I thought the love making would cement our relationship. You can therefore imagine how gutted I was when I learnt he already had a girlfriend. I was so disappointed that I tried to call the whole thing off, but he assured me I was the one he loved and should give him time to finish with his girlfriend. I’ve slept with him again because, I really love him. Should I believe him?

Margie by e-mail.

Dear Margie, I don’t think you should. He wants to have his cake and eat it, and while you’re willing enough for him to make love to you, he has no incentive to finish with this other girl. Who knows, he might be making love to her too. At 18, you shouldn’t be so eager to rush into a relationship with a man simply because he says he loves you. You have your whole life in front of you to settle with someone you’re in tune with. Tell your current lad you won’t have anything to do with him now until he dumps his girlfriend and see how he takes it!

Share your problems and release your burden. Write now to Dear Bunmi, Vanguard Newspapers, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos. or bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—43

Women cries out over abducted husband

FOUNDATION: From left— Mr. Ude Okochukwu, Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly; Sir Emeka Ananaba, Deputy Governor; G o v e r n o r Theodore Orji of Abia State; Lady Mercy, wife of the governor, and Engr. Ndubuisi Mbaka, M/D, Trademore Investments, at the laying of foundation stone of the event centre in Umuahia.

Reps endorse report on Prisons Act

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

A

BUJA—MEMBERS of the House of Representatives, yesterday, endorsed a harmonised report by both legislative chambers on a bill for an Act to repeal the Prisons Act, 2004.

The prisons Act, Cap P29 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, when fully operational, would, among others, make comprehensive provisions for the administration of prisons in Nigeria.

The motion, entitled Receipt and Adoption of Conference Report on a Bill for an Act, Cap P29 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and to make Comprehensive Provisions for the Administration of Prisons in Nigeria, was sponsored by Umar Bature (PDP, Sokoto) .

Bature explained to the House that “in view of the importance of the bill to the administration of the criminal justice, development of and efficient management of the prisons service in Nigeria, the prisons bill, 2011 was passed by the House on Thursday, 27 June 2013.

“The prisons bill was passed by the Senate with some differences and the two chambers met on Tuesday 15, October 2013 and endorsed the version.”

When the motion was put to a voice vote, it was unanimously endorsed by the lawmakers.

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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‘Education sector's problem is implementation, not allocation’

BY ENYIM ENYIM

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NITSHA—THE Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Anambra State wing, said yesterday that the problem in the education sector was not the appropriation of certain amount of money to the sector in the annual budget but the implementation of such allocation.

Speaking with Vanguard on the issue, chairman of the union, Mr. Ifeanyi Ofodile said it was very unfortunate that such allocation had been without implementation.

He said: “What the National Conference has recommended for the education sector is not new.

It has always been there but the problem has been implementation. So even if we get 20 percent and it is fully implemented, it would be better than allocating 26 percent without implementation.”

Though Anambra State government has recently recruited new teachers, Ofodile said there was need for more teachers to be recruited for effective teaching and qualitative education.

He said: “The recent recruitment of teachers became obvious because we lacked teachers in the area of computer, civic studies among others, but the number we have at present is still not enough. We need more teachers.”

Following the Chibok experience, Ofodile called on the state government to provide security in the schools in the state.

He equally appealed to the state government to provide adequate fund for the training and retraining of teachers to enable them to be properly equipped.

2015: No imposition of candidate in Abia, says Gov Orji

BY ANAYO OKOLI

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MUAHIA— ABIA State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, yesterday, promised that he will not impose anybody on the people in 2015, but insists, however, that he would ensure that the best person is chosen for the state.

Governor Orji, who insisted on rotating the office of the governor of the state, said without rotation he would not have been governor.

Orji spoke while swearing-in two new commissioners and 17 transition committee chairmen of the 17 Local Government areas of the state with a warning that they should not operate from hotels, but to be in their offices to attend to the people’s needs.

According to him, he and the political stakeholders

would not impose anybody on the people ahead of 2015, but must ensure that the best person takes over from him because “Abia deserves the best”.

He said: “I believe in rotation because I am a product of rotation. If there is no rotation, I may not be governor today. Being a product of rotation, I must continue with rotation.

“It is incumbent on me to

do that because failure to do that will be a great disservice to me.

“My party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, believes in rotation.

President Jonathan is a product of rotation. Rotation is the in-thing now.

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State is a product of rotation. In Enugu, in Akwa Ibom and in Cross Rivers, it is also the in-thing.”

AGOS—A nursing mother, Stella Omhenimhen, whose husband Obazee Omhenimhen, was abducted by unknown gunmen on June 18, has cried out to the Police and other security agencies to rescue her husband.

Narrating her ordeal to Vanguard on phone, Omhenimhen said on the said day, at their 7, Coker Estate residence in Alakuko area of the state, some armed men knocked on their door and immediately went for her husband and whisked him away.

She said at first, she thought they were armed robbers, but that they did not steal anything, except abducting her husband and since, she has been unable to reach him, since his phones are in the house.

Stella, who had to leave their house for fear of being attacked, added that she and her family members have searched everywhere for him without success.

The victim’s wife, a mother of three, said her husband, a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Benin, left the last child, given birth to few weeks ago, behind.

According to Stella, her husband had been reporting activities of cultists, robbers and gang shootings in the area, which had led to the arrest of some of the kingpins.

She said: “My husband, has escaped from the house several times, whenever they came looking for him.”

Telecom professionals tasked on innovation

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BUJA—NIGERIAN t e c h n o l o g y professionals have been urged to be very innovative, creative and proactive to effectively tackle and manage the demands and challenges of the highly competitive rapidly evolving global technology space.

The Chief Executive Officer of Phase 3 Telecom, Mr.

Stanley Jegede made the call at the Africa ICT Professionals Conference 2014, organised by Association of Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Professional of Nigeria, ATPN, in collaboration with African Telecommunications Union, ATD. He noted that one of the quickest ways the world will

consistently recognise and appreciate the professionalism of ICT experts, whether in the area of content or infrastructure, especially on the African continent, would be through the consistent delivery of top notch and unrivalled inventions and solutions that are relevant to the reality of present times.

44—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

GSK's Mum and Me campaign targets school children

9 institutions get N180m from Delta govt, World Bank, EU

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BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG ELTA State Government is to inject N180 million in the building of infrastructures, technical and economic live-line for

O further increase children’s awareness of good oral hygiene and nutrition culture, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Consumer Nigeria Plc, manufacturers of Macleans Milk Teeth and Scott’s Cod-Liver Multivitamin, has sustained its Mum and Me school activation campaign for more than a year.

According to the firm’s Head of Marketing, Mr. Winston Ailemoh, “the Mum and Me school activation is an important initiative focused at teaching kids about health in an atmosphere of fun for kids, mums, caregivers and teachers.

“Our ultimate aim in this year’s activation is to raise a new generation of children with good oral hygiene and health awareness culture. We believe there is a need to ingrain this habit in young Nigerians from the early stages of their lives.”

six technical colleges and three skill acquisition centres in the state.

The state plans to do this through a tripartite partnership with the World Bank and European Union, EU, under the State

No apologies for loyalty to Oshiomhole— DEP GOV

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—DEPUTY Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, yesterday, said he has no apology for being loyal to his boss, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, saying those against his loyalty were against the development of the state.

Odubu, who will clock 57 today, told newsmen that he had no reason to fight the governor, whom he described as God-sent to the people of the state, adding that those who accuse his boss of being a dictator were people whom the governor failed to meet their greedy request.

He was reacting to

allegations by some All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders who recently joined Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Odubu said: “If I subscribe to a course, I go all the way to ensure that I succeed. I am even fortunate to work with Oshiomhole.

“Oshiomhole is not a dictator. Where you have a man or woman doing all that you expected, and perhaps more, do you fight such a person because you want to assert yourself?

“Let me use this opportunity to repeat this again: whatever policy decision that this government has made, whatever policy that we are implementing, it is the collective responsibility of the stakeholders of this government.”

FUTA don identifies bane of industrialisation

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NSECURITY and taste for foreign goods have been identified as major obstacles to industrialisation which also impede development. Olubode Ajayi, a Professor of Chemistry at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA, made the observation while delivering the 66th inaugural lecture of the university.

Ajayi, who spoke on Effective Utilisation of Raw Materials: A

Catalyst for Industrialisation in Nigeria, said: “The problem of insecurity is a major hindrance to industrialisation. Armed insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery and other anti-social behaviours d i s c o u r a g e industrialisation and foreign investment. For rapid development and industrialisation, this

problem must be effectively tackled.”

Lamenting the overdependence of Nigeria’s economy on oil, the don advocated exploitation and exploration of other raw materials and minerals that are abundantly available in the country, adding that “exploitation of minerals like bitumen holds promise for the nation.”

Employment and Expenditure for Results, SEEFOR, platform.

This is coming barely eight months after a similar exercise in which the Agbor Technical College, Issele-Uku Technical College, Ofagbe Technical College, Ogor Technical College, UtagbeOgbe Technical College and Sapele Technical College received N20 million grant each through same tripartite partnership.

The current grant is witnessing an expansion following the inclusion of three skill acquisition centres drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state.

Speaking in Asaba during a two-day training workshop for Project Implementation and Centre-Based Management Committees of Youth Vocational Centres in the state, the state Project Coordinator of SEEFOR, Mr. Benson Ojoko, said the effort was aimed at instilling improved skills and entrepreneurial development among youths in the state.

He said: “Last year, six technical colleges in the state received grants from the World Bank, and EU partnership with the state government. This year, they are going to receive another grant of N20 million each, including three skills acquisition centres in the state, which have been incorporated through a preparation module called Centre Improvement Plan, CIP.” Other benefits, Ojoko stated were enhanced achievements of National Accreditation of selected Technical and Vocational Agricultural Training, TVAT, courses; increased number of students completing and achieving commendable

Guber aspirant canvasses support for Uduaghan

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governorship aspirant in Delta State, Chief Gabriel Oyibode has applauded the developmental efforts of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan across the state, assuring Deltans that he will consolidate on the achievements come 2015 if elected as the next governor of the state.

Chief Oyibode asked Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, past local government chairmen in the 25 councils of the state and Deltans to support Uduaghan so he can finish well.

He said as a servant of God, his mission in the state come 2015 was to salvage Deltans from poverty, deprivation in the midst of affluence, bring hope and succour to the downtrodden and empower past and present leaders of the party across the state.

By Bartholomew Madukwe

PEOPLE SPEAK

08102479985

grades during their study years and increase in enrollments of students into TVAT institutions in the state.

He enjoined the benefiting schools and skill acquisition centres to ensure that the funds were used for the approved purposes, stressing that the state government would not hesitate to blacklist any school or centre that worked contrary to the approved details.

(nwamad@yahoo.com)

On Ekiti guber polls

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HAT the incumbent governor did was the right step. The socalled aggrieved APC big players should have for once used this strategic gesture to reposition themselves and gain possible attention for future elections.— Mr. Enemugha Albert, Worker.

I

am not surprised.

However, it is highly unfortunate. If APC continues like this it may soon meet its Waterloo— very soon. I am from Ekiti State and I know that the average Ekiti man is a man of integrity.— Mr. Itamakinde Akinyele, Worker.

S

HOULD it be for Fayemi to create more new local governments? Some people have been on that governor ’s seat for almost four years without creating a village, how much more a local government.— Mr. Emmanuel Edet, Student.

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Y opinion on the Ekiti election is that I am disappointed at the incumbent governor for his quick acceptance of defeat without due consultation with the national body of his party.

There is something fishy, anyway.— Mr. Beker Hassan, Businessman.

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PC, why war when the loser has accepted his fate and congratulated the winner? The spirit of good sportsmanship is to accept defeat in good faith whenever it comes.

It is not about winning always. You lose at times— Mr. Jacob Soyi, Teacher.

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HE Ekiti people chose to vote for PDP simply because APC is totally disconnected from the people. In Lagos, for instance, APC has rendered many people homeless and students pay extremely high fees just to get education.— Mr. Eleken Denis, Self-Employed.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—45

15 Delta students graduate from footwear design institute in Italy

APC rates Delta lawmaker high in service delivery

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HE All Progressives Congress, APC, has rated its Okpe representative in Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Julius Okpoko high and commended him for service delivery to his constituency since the advent of the fourth Republic in Nigeria.

APC Okpe Local Government chapter, in a statement by its Chairman, Mr. Joseph Imu, said that going by the selfless service so far rendered by Okpoko, the party was satisfied with the socio-economic and political benefits the lawmaker had brought to his constituency in Okpe.

The party observed that the lawmaker's accomplishments since the creation of the council were

2015: Ndokwa students back Obielum for Delta guber

BY TOMMY ANADUAKA

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HE Federal Union of Ndokwa Students, FUNS, Ozoro Polytechnic Chapter, Delta State, has implored the political class to allow Delta North produce the next governor of the state, come 2015.

Speaking with newsmen, President of FUNS in Ozoro Polytechnic, Mr Opone Azuka said that Chief Godswill Obielum, a detribalised Deltan and a son of Ndokwa nation, should be given the mantle of leadership come 2015.

He said that for equity's sake, Delta North should be allowed to produce the next governor and that the candidate should come from Ndokwa axis because of its proximity and affinity with other ethnic nationalities in the state.

Azuka also urged wellmeaning sons and daughters of Ndokwa nation and the state to join the body celebrate its cultural day come August 8.

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COMMISSIONING: From left: Tam Alazigha, Deputy Managing Director, BDIC; Dr. Dalhatu Tafida, Nigerian High Commissioner to UK; Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State; King Alfred Diete-Spiff, first Military Governor of old Rivers State and Amanayabo of Twon Brass; Mr. Lawrence Robertson, British MP and Chairman, Westminister African Business Council and Lord Marland of Odstock and Chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council, during the opening ceremony of Bayelsa Development Investment Corporation in London by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Dickson.

Bayelsa oil firm strikes oil after years of failed attempt

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—AFTER many years of fruitless exploration, Bayelsa Oil Company has finally struck oil in one of the oil wells it acquired.

The state governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, in a statement, said that the breakthrough came after a lot of money had been spent to no avail.

The governor, at the state’s monthly Praise Night at the King of Glory Chapel, Government House, Yenagoa, commended the management of Bayelsa Oil Company for its diligence and commitment, stressing that with the breakthrough, Bayelsa and the Ijaw

nation will be greatly transformed.

He restated the government’s commitment to the airport project, noting that the state airport, near Amassoma will become operational next year.

Attributing the modest achievements of his administration to God, Dickson expressed gratitude to the people of the state for their continued support and belief in the government.

“The source of the development of the state is from God, as the fundamental changes in the state have confounded all the enemies of the state,” he said, de-

scribing his administration as a revolutionary one that has come to change the landscape of the state forever.

“God is the one leading this state, because the love and power of God upon the state have brought peace and security. I appreciate all the prayers for the government and people of the state since the inception of this administration. We have handed over the state to God and the result is glaring for everyone to see,” he added.

Dickson enjoined all Bayelsans to speak good of the state, noting that it will attract good tidings to the state.

Anglican Primate dedicates two churches, vicarage in Delta

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—ARCHBISHOP Metropolitan and Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, has dedicated the St. Emmanuel Anglican Church and a vicarage built by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mr. Ovuozorie Macaulay in Owhelogbo, Isoko North Local Government Area, Delta State.

Also dedicated was the St Philips Anglican Church, Owhelogbo that was jointly built by the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the SSG, the late Mr. Daniel Igbrude, former Speaker of the state House of Assembly and their friends.

Speaking during the dedication service, Governor Uduaghan, congratulated the people over the dedication of the church buildings and the vicarage, adding that the projects were being dedicated “by the grace of God.” Saying that it was more difficult to redeem a pledge than to make one, Uduaghan urged the church to always pray for those who make pledges and commended Macaulay for redeeming his pledge.

The governor denied reports on facebook of purported plans to relocate the Faculty of Engineering of Delta State University from the Oleh campus to the main

campus in Abraka. He assured the Isoko people that the three campuses with their existing faculties have come stay.

Appealing to the people to shun rumour mongering, he noted that it could lead to crisis or destruction of one’s reputation. He said the country will attain greater heights under the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Macaulay on his part, announced the donation of two buses to the state Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN and the Isoko CAN,adding that the St Emmanuel Anglican Church and vicarage projects were built in the face of challenges.

IFTEEN students sponsored by the Delta State Government for training in footwear design and technology, yesterday, graduated from the Moda Pelle Academy, Milano, Italy, after two weeks of intensive training.

The state also yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO, for the building and equipping of a leatherworks factory in Delta State.

Under the terms of the agreement, UNIDO will fund the factory and help the state develop skills in shoe design to a level that will enable them compete with the best in the world.

On hand for the graduation ceremony were the Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Charles Ajuyah, SAN; Mr Chike Ogeah, Commissioner for Information and Dr. Antonia Ashiedu, Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation.

Edo lawmakers urged to embrace peace

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ENIOR Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Mr. Henry Okpamen, has called on members of Edo State House of Assembly to sheathe their swords and return to the business of law making and provide the enabling environment for the governor to continue to provide good governance for the people of the state.

Okpamen, who addressed newsmen on the crisis rocking the state House of Assembly, said that the crisis was engineered by members of the opposition party in the House to unsettle the peace in the House and by extension the state and to distract the governor from his avowed commitment to transform the state and better the lot of the ordinary man in the state.

46—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Unijos VC stresses need for corporate bodies cooperation

Ex-N'Delta militants urge Jonathan to declare for 2015 presidency

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OS—THE ViceChancellor of the University of Jos, Prof.

Hayward Mafuyai has reiterated the need for corporate bodies and public spirited individuals to give full support to tertiary education to ensure some improvements as government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility.

Mafuyai spoke yesterday in Jos, adding that the university was set to introduce three more faculties that will contribute meaningfully to the nation’s quest for accelerated development.

Briefing journalists, he added the new faculties would take off with pioneer students in October, this year.

190 teachers, students undergo peace training in 5 Plateau councils BYMARIE-THERESE NANLONG

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OS—IN a bid to con solidate on the ongoing peace process in Plateau State, teachers and students from 190 government and private schools in five local government areas of Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Mikang have undergone training in peace education and peaceful co-existence.

The two- day training funded by the European Union and implemented by an Italian-based non-governmental organization, Apurimac Onlus in partnership with Center for Peace Advancement in Nigeria, CEPAN and Centre for Peace Initiative and Development, CEPID took place in Jos, the state capital.

Speaking with Vanguard, the Education Coordinator of Apurimac Onlus, Mr. Austin Agbanyi said the training and re-training of the teachers and students were designed to inculcate the culture of peace and tolerance so that they would contribute their quota towards maintaining peace in the area.

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BRIEFING: From left; Dr Mrs Moyo Adejumo, Chairman, Lagos State Task Force on Health; Mr. Elijah Mohammed, Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria; Dr Paul Orhii,DG, National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC and Alhaji Ubale Yusuf, Director, Narcortics & Controlled Substances, NAFDAC during Orhii's press briefing on the joint operation

by Interpol and Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Food, tagged "Operation Porcupine" in Lagos yesterday. Photo by Biodun Ogunleye.

15 Bauchi bomb blast victims undergo operation

BY SUZAN EDEH

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AUCHI—THE Head of Department of Surgery at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Teaching Hospital Bauchi Dr. Makama Baje Salihu has disclosed that 15 victims of last Friday bomb attack underwent surgical operation due

Hundreds rendered homeless after downpour in Zamfara LG

BY SALISU MARADUN

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USAU—HUNDREDS of people at Gada town in Bungudu Local Government of Zamfara State were yesterday rendered homeless, following the heavy downpour which swept their houses away.

Apart from houses, flood occasioned by the heavy rainfall also destroyed shops, grains stores and animals among other house items.

The rain which lasted for about six hours also left many travellers stranded even as most commercial motorists used to ply the roads leading to Gada and environs from Bungudu were cut off.

A visit to the town by Vanguard showed that most parts of the town were deserted by residents. It was further discovered that majority of the victims had since taken refuge in some local government buildings near the town, just as some were putting up with neighbours or their relations at Bungudu town which was about two kilometres away.

Speaking to Vanguard over the issue, the District Head of the town, Alhaji Keku Umaru Muhommed revealed that the whole town was almost washed away by the ravaging flood.

Mohammed however, called

on the authorities concerned, particularly the Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency, ZEMA, to as a matter of urgency, ‘’come to their aid to save the situation before it goes out of hands.’’ ’’I am appealing to both the state government and ZEMA to please send us an urgent assistance as we are badly in need of it,” he added.

to the gravity of their injuries.

Makama who stated this in an interview with Vanguard said that out of 14 patients operated, one had been discharged.

He said,“the condition of the bomb blast patients receiving medical attention at the hospital is gradually stabilizing depending on the nature of their injury” “Seventeen of the patients with minor injuries were discharged at the trauma centre while the remaining ones with serious injuries were taken to the theatre and were operated upon.

“We attended to all the patients,including those who needed surgery, but those with fractures and various degrees of wounds are currently receiving treatment and may stay longer.”

Allow internal democracy or lose more states, group warns APC

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N elite body within the All Progressives Congress, APC, New Lagos Movement, NLM, has warned that unless the party ditched its culture of imposition of candidates and allow internal democracy to prevail, it stands the risk of losing more states, like it did in the recently-conducted governorship election in Ekiti State.

Speaking at a briefing in Ikeja, Lagos yesterday in a statement by its President, Niyi Akinsiju, the Movement said the joy of democracy is the freedom of the people to choose their representatives and the collective involvement of everybody in all electoral processes.

Akinsiju, who congratulated the party on the successful hold-

ing of its national convention, made a passionate appeal to the national leadership of the party under Chief John Odigie-Oyegun to intervene quickly to save the party from imminent electoral doom.

He said ‘’We consider it most pertinent to awaken the consciousness of the new leadership of the party to certain fundamental imperatives the failure of which can destroy the party and spell doom for the democratic aspirations of millions of Nigerians. ''It is our aspiration that the culture of imposition of party leaders and electoral candidates, which up till this moment, has become an albatross to our political advancement, shall no longer be tolerated.''

ENIN CITY—HUN DREDS of Ex- militants in the Niger Delta, held a procession in the streets of Benin City, weekend, calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare his intention to run for the 2015 presidential election.

The ex-militants who warned that the President may be banished in Ijawland if he failed to do so, said they are not happy with some threats and provocative statements coming from the North, asserting that they will not allow any group or individual to intimidate their kinsman.

In a statement signed by the leader of the group, Godstime Ogidigba and spokesperson, Peter Edah respectively, they also called on Nigerians to cooperate with the Federal Government in the fight against Boko Haram, asserting that any attempt to stop Jonathan’s presidency will be resisted.

According to the statement, “ the call became necessary at a time like this when some individuals and selfish politicians are over heating the polity, making provocative comments.

Superflux partners Bulkpost Venture for efficient service

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UPERFLUX International Limited, a leading provider of print solutions in Nigeria is giving back to its partners with a donation of 20 KVA generator to Bulkpost Venture, a subsidiary of Nigerian Postal Services for bulk mail services.

Such mails include among others: dividend warrants, share certificates, notice of Annual General Meetings, exam slips, bill, religious tracts and correspondences.

While handing over the generator to bulkpost on behalf of Speedyprints one of its subsidiaries, the Head of corporate affairs of Superflux group Ms. Folake Akindele said the generator will help Bulkpost run its operations seamlessly and further enhance demands from clientele. She said the donation will further cement the excellent working relationship between the two organizations.

Ms. Akindele further explained that the donation of the generator to Bulkpost is in tandem with the high premium Superflux Group places on corporate social responsibility and the corporate objective of adding value to customers and partners.

In his response, the General Manager of Bulkpost, Mr. Mike Umo expressed his appreciation to Superflux Group on behalf of Bulkpost, saying Superflux gesture will encourage Bulkpost to deliver excellent service and delight its customers.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 47

3 DGs resign, decamp to PDP in Zamfara

Our coy has potentials to become next Google —IT expert

BY SALISU MARADUN

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G

USAU— FEW weeks af ter a serving commissioner in Zamfara State left the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, three directors general have also resigned from the government and joined the PDP. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Malami Aliyu was the first to leave thae cabinet following what he described as a hide and seek game being played by the present APC administration in the state.

However, sources told Vanguard in Gusau, the state capital that, Alhajis Shehu Adamu Yanware, Mustapha Bukkuyum and Sa’idu Muhammad, who were directors-general have also decamped to the PDP and asked the APC to leave the state for their new party.

Vanguard sources said that the decampees had already tendered their resignation letters to the Secretary to the State Government, SSG. over what they described as alleged “insult” to them on the side of the government.

Those who spoke to Vanguard accused the state Governor, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari of allegedly ruling the state through the telephone from abroad.

Former Director General in the Governor ’s office, Mustapha Bukkyum, in an FM radio programme monitored in Gusau, explained that there was no reason for him to continue to work with the governor in an unbearable atmosphere.

According to him, he lost his respect from the people of his area by joining the Yari’s administration about three years ago.

He said: “Throughout my stay as Director General, DG, I never set my eyes on the governor not to talk of discussing any issue pertaining to my duties with, and as a result of this, I always found it difficult to face my people because I did not have anything to either give or tell them being a D-G from the area."

Another top government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed his sadness over the nonchallant attitude of the governor, who he said does not listen or relate with the people.

"He is an absentee governor.

He is either outside the country or in Abuja or Kaduna,’’ the top official said.

However, one Isah Tanimu praised the governor for performing well in the last three years.

From left: Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State; former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Alhaji Suara Haruna III during Senator Saraki's visit to the Government House, Ibadan.

Bill to regulate religious preachings sparks uproar in Niger

BY WOLE MOSADOMI

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INNA — THERE is uproar in Niger State following an Executive Bill sent to the state House of Assembly for the regulation of religious preachings and establishment of places of worship.

At the public hearing held at the state House of Assembly in Minna, the state capital, yesterday, all the 16 religious leaders who spoke on the matter vehemently opposed the establishment of the law.

According to them, the law would be contrary to the 1999 Constitution which gives people the right to expression, freedom to association and religion as it is in Christianity and Islam.

Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the state, Rev. Musa Dada, said many of his members were not adequately informed about the bill as well as the public hearing.

CAN further said the passage of the bill would lead to crisis instead of bringing religious harmony among the people.

Also, Rev. Echioda Mathias, who also spoke in the same vein, said the proposed Bill was not a child of necessity, adding that it was a ploy to contravene constitutional provisions through curtail-

ment of the freedom of worship

by Christians in the state.

He said: ”The provision of the proposed bill is a direct provocation of not just the Nigerian Constitution but also our Christian faith. It is our dogged stand, prayers and wishes that this bill or any other bill like this should never be proposed in this state or country again, much less its passage."

He noted: ”We strongly submit without any doubt of contradiction that the title of the bill is a misnomer. The title is an irony of its purpose. The CAN will never stand aloof to watch our inspirational mode of worship and divine style and places of worship or centres being regulated by persons with little or no knowledge, inspiration from God Almighty."

Leader of the Ahalil Sunnah Jama’at, Mohammed Usman also objected to the passage of the bill in its ramification on the ground that it contravened the Sharia law and the 1999 Constitution as amended.

According to him, “the bill is in violation of the Holy Koran. The bill is also in contradiction to the provisions of 1999 Constitution.

It goes against the fundamental

human rights. Our religious freedom should not be abridged due to insurgency and terrorism. We object entirely to the bill and pray that Allah guides the nation as we pray for peace and stability in the country.”

Also, Dalhat Abubakar Hakimi, who represented Isalah Jos in the state, said there was no need for the bill because both Christains and Muslims have been relating well in the state.

He said rather than introducing a bill, government should inaugurate a forum for religious leaders to meet regularly and take a decisions that would enhance peaceful coexistence in the state Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Mr Adamu Usman, urged the two religious bodies to see the bill not as an attempt to gag their religion but to regulate the excesses of some religious leaders. ”This bill is not a private bill but an executive bill. It has nothing against Christianity or Islam, it is a liberal bill. We do not have a predetermined mind.

If we do, we would not have been having this sitting," he said.

Dealers accuse politicians of importing fake fertiliser

BY SALISU MARADUN

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USAU — FERTILISER deal ers in Zamfara State have alerted farmers in the state over alleged importation of fake fertilizer by politicians in the state.

Chairman of the National Association of Fertiliser Dealers of Nigeria, NAFDN, in the state, Alhaji Ahmad Hussaini Gusau made this known in an interview with Vanguard in Gusau, the state capital.

Gusau warned farmers, particularly the peasant ones, to beware of the fake commodity which he

said was brought in by politicians seeking political power in 2015.

He said the fake fertiliser was being supplied by a number of the National Assembly members from the state.

The chairman further explained that the commodity was brought into the state about a month ago, in about eight trailers, adding however, that experts later discovered it to be of poor quality.

“That is why we are alerting farmers to be careful in the cause of purchasing fertiliser,” he added.

According to him, the alert be-

came imperative considering the level of damage the application of such fertiliser, which is also being distributed free to some farmers, would cause on crops in the state.

He said the association in its efforts to curb the menace of the dangers of the fake fertiliser, has sought the support and cooperation of security agencies in the state to assist in arresting and prosecuting whoever was found guilty of selling or distributing the fake fertiliser in the state.

AGOS — THE Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the IT firm, Computer Warehouse Group, Mr. Austin Okere, has said the company has the potential to become the next Google, given the business prospects of their new business model, CWG 2.0.

Okere, who spoke during the just concluded annual general meeting of the company in Lagos said: “The advent of CWG 2.0 has positioned us be next Google or Facebook and make significant global impact. And this vision is attainable because our solutions are not only profitable but they are repeatable, scalable and sustainable.”

He said CWG 2.0 is a subscription business model and driven by the quest to help Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) grow and make notable social impact.

“This includes Openshopen, a website that affords shop owners open their own virtual store online and SMERP, an enterprise resource planning solution that will help business owners manage their business inventories on a subscription basis,” he said.

According to him, Openshopen will allow business owners to open their own online virtual stores which will give their businesses visibility leverages.

PAC hails IGP over Ekiti polls

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AGOS — POLICE Assist ance Committee (PAC) has given kudos to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, members of the Police Force and other security personnel deployed in Ekiti State for their role in ensuring peaceful election during the last governorship polls in the state.

Speaking at a post-election security seminar/workshop in Lagos for PAC members and other stakeholders,DirectorGeneral of PAC, Dr. Martins Oni, also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for conducting a rancor-free election, as well as members of PAC deployed in the state to assist security agencies with information dissemination before and during the election.

Oni expressed deep appreciation to the law enforcement agencies on ground during the Ekiti governorship polls for their co-operation with members of PAC and its affiliate, Association of Tradesmen/ Women and Artisans during the election."

48— Vanguard , WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

PRESENTATION: From left: Publisher of the book and former Commissioner for Information, Ogun State, Chief Fassy Yusuf, Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, House of Representative, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, author, Mrs. Ajoke Gbeleyi, Perm.

Sec. Ministry of Special Duties, Lagos State, Dr. Aderemi Desalu, representing Governor of Lagos State and Mrs. Folashade Ashafa, during the public presentation of the book "Wise and Witty Adolescent" written by Mrs. Ajoke and Oluwatomilayo Gbeleyi in Lagos.

PRESENTATION: From left: Founder, iQuibe, Mr. Chukwuma Monye, Head, Communications, First City Monument Bank, FCMB, Ltd, Mrs. Uchenna Mojekwu, winner of the iQuibe Innovation Challenge, Mr. Tony Oniwon, Chief Operating Officer, Avantgarde Financial Consultants, Mr. Adewale Alli and General Manager, Sales (West Africa) of CNBC Africa, Mr. Opeoluwa Filani, at the briefing and certificate presentation to winners of the iQuibe innovation challenge in Lagos.

LAUNCHING: From left: Mrs Mojisola Fisher, Customer Executive, Mr Vasu Moodley, MD, Mr. David Haruna, Customer, Mrs Esther Onyensoh, Brand Manager, and Tokunbo Dosumu, Marketing Executive, at the launching of Dangote noodles and pasta in Lagos.

From left: Communication & Engagement Manager, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Ms. Bolaji Sanyaolu, MD, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc, Mr. T.S. Dayanand, Maternal and Newborn Health Advisor, Save the Children, Dr. Opeyemi Odedere, Senior. Maternal and Newborn Health Manager, Save the Children, Dr. Abimbola Williams and MD, GSK Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Lekan Asuni, during the GSK’s Orange United Week finale in Lagos.

LAUNCHING: From left: Chioma Akpotha, Ali Nuhu, Ibironke Ugbaja, Category Manager, Fab Cleaning, Unilever Nigeria and Olufunke Akindele, at the Unilever launch of New OMO and unveiling of brand ambassadors in Lagos.

LECTURE/DINNER: Mrs. Tessa Ikimi (middle), with Mrs Sena Anthony making a speech, Justice Ayotunde Phillip, Chieh Jugde of Lagos State and others members the 74 set of the Nigerian Law School, during the lecture/ dinner to mark their 40th anniversary of call to bar in Lagos. Photo: Shola Oyelese.

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DONATION: From left: General Manager, Bulkpost Venture, Mr. Mike Umo, Head, Corporate Affairs, Superflux Group, Ms, Folake Akindele and Head, Registrar Marketing, Superflux Group, Bukola Olowojoba, during the donation of 20KVA generator to Bulkpost Venture in Lagos.

FORUM: From left: Mr. Manoj Dadlani, MD, Leosmart Ltd, Mr Afolabi Fadairo, Brand Manager, and Mr Samson Effiong, Busness Devolpment Exeecutive, during the company's Pens Customers Forum in Lagos. Photo: DiranOshe.

COMPETITION: From center: Mr & Mrs. Odumusi(middle) flanks by the judges, teachers and representatives, at the just concluded" Mathematics is Simple Competition" organized by Our Generation Foundation, at GEM International School, Yewa, Owode, Ogun State. Photo: Simon Adewale.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 49

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50—

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

V anguard anguard,, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 , 2014 — 51

How Boko Haram beats US sanctions

Pro-democracy protest sweeps through Hong Kong H

UNDREDS of thousands of prodemocracy protesters marched in Hong Kong on Tuesday, many calling for the city’s leader to be sacked, in what could turn out to be the biggest challenge to Chinese Communist Party rule in more than a decade.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying said his government would do its “utmost” to move towards universal suffrage and stressed the need for stability after nearly 800,000 people voted for full democracy in an unofficial referendum last month.

Organisers put the number of protesters at more than 510,000, emphasising this was a conservative estimate.

Police said some 98,600 had joined the protest at its peak.

Johnson Yeung, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, one of the organisers of the march, said activists would take to the streets to occupy the business district if China does not respond to demands for a

Pro-Democracy protesters on the street of Hong Kong direct election in 2017.

Scores of demonstrators dispersed late on Tuesday, but thousands remained after midnight. Some student groups, including Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students, prepared to hunker down for the night.

“The Hong Kong government is now controlled by the Chinese government,” said Daniel Cheng, 24, a recent

graduate who now works as a building surveyor.

“My mom said not to be arrested, to be careful. I will try, but I think I should do what I can for Hong Kong, my colleagues, my classmates, my friends.”

A security blanket was thrown across the heart of the business district, home to global banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered, as thousands of protesters lingered. Some 200 police

stood guard outside the offices of Hong Kong’s leader nearby.

Tempers flared in Hong Kong’s heat, fierce humidity and heavy downpours as thousands found themselves trapped near the start of the march in the shopping hub of Causeway Bay even as the head of the march reached the Central business district.

Iraqi parliament disagrees over new government

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RAQ’s new parliament deadlocked less than two hours into its first session when minority Sunnis and Kurds walked

out on Tuesday, dashing hopes for the quick formation of a new government that could hold the country together

A cross section of Parliamentarian

in the face of a militant blitz.

The United Nations said more than 2,400 people were killed in Iraq in June, making it the deadliest month in the country in years and laying bare the danger posed by the Sunni extremists who have overrun large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria and declared its own caliphate ruled by Islamic law. The Sunni insurgents’ advance, which has plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since the last U.S. troops left in 2011, appears to have crested, at least for now, as it bumps up against majority Shiite areas, and as it seeks to

consolidate its control of the territory already in hand.

The militant onslaught, which has tapped into deep-seated grievances among the country ’s Sunni minority with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki, has made the formation of a new government a pressing concern.

Acting speaker Mahdi al-Hafidh ended the proceedings after most of the 328-member legislature’s Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers did not return following a short break, depriving parliament of a quorum.

...militants declare Islamic state I RAQI troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swath of Iraq and Syria.

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Underscoring rising tensions in the region, the United States said it had sent about 300 additional troops into Iraq along with a detachment of helicopters and drone aircraft.

Alarming regional and world powers, the Is-

lamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed universal authority, declaring that its leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi was now caliph of the Muslim world, a mediaeval title last widely recognized in the Ottoman sultan deposed

90 years ago after World War One. “He is the imam and caliph for Muslims everywhere,” group spokesman Abu Muhammad alAdnani said in an online statement on Sunday, using titles that carry religious and civil power.

W

HEN Washington i m p o s e d sanctions in June 2012 on Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, he dismissed it as an empty gesture.

Two years later, Shekau’s skepticism appears well founded: his Islamic militant group is now the biggest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer, is richer than ever, more violent and its abductions of women and children continue with impunity.

As the United States, Nigeria and others struggle to track and choke off its funding, Reuters interviews with more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials who closely follow Boko Haram provide the most complete picture to date of how the group finances its activities.

Central to the militant group’s approach includes using hard-totrack human couriers to move cash, relying on local funding sources and engaging in only limited financial relationships with other extremists groups. It also has reaped millions from high-profile kidnappings.

“Our suspicions are that they are surviving on very lucrative criminal activities that involve kidnappings,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda ThomasGreenfield said in an interview.

Until now, U.S. officials have declined to discuss Boko Haram’s financing in such detail.

The United States has stepped up cooperation with Nigeria to gather intelligence on Boko Haram, whose militants are killing civilians almost daily in its northeastern Nigerian stronghold. But the lack of international financial ties to the group limit the measures the United States can use to undermine it, such as financial sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury normally relies on a range of measures to track financial transactions of terrorist groups, but Boko Haram appears to operate largely outside the banking system.

To fund its murderous network, Boko Haram

uses primarily a system of couriers to move cash around inside Nigeria and across the porous borders from neighboring African states, according to the officials interviewed by Reuters.

In designating Boko Haram as a terrorist organization last year, the Obama administration characterized the group as a violent extremist organization with links to al Qaeda.

The Treasury Department said in a statement to Reuters that the United States has seen evidence that Boko Haram has received financial support from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), an offshoot of the jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden.

But that support is limited. Officials with deep knowledge of Boko Haram’s finances say that any links with al Qaeda or its affiliates are inconsequential to Boko Haram’s overall funding.

“Any financial support AQIM might still be providing Boko Haram would pale in comparison to the resources it gets from criminal activities,” said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Assessments differ, but one U.S. estimate of financial transfers from AQIM was in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. That compares with the millions of dollars that Boko Haram is estimated to make through its kidnap and ransom operations.

Ransoms appear to be the main source of funding for Boko Haram’s five-year-old Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In February last year, armed men on motorcycles snatched Frenchman Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife and four children, and his brother while they were on holiday near the Waza national park in Cameroon, close to the Nigerian border.

Reuters

Continues tomorrow

52—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Southern, Middle Belt delegates hold marathon meeting •To fight for 21.5 % derivation

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•Delegates at the ongoing national confernce

Delegates scrap May 29 as Democracy Day

BY HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

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HE 36 states of the federation,including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, may lose the constitutional power to conduct local government elections, as delegates to the ongoing National Conference recommended that they be barred from doing so.

The conference, while considering the report of its Committee on Political Parties and Electoral Matters, yesterday, resolved that State Independent Electoral Commissions, SIECs be scrapped.

It said the conduct of local council elections be returned to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as it was in the past.

It cited irregular conduct of council polls and inability of state governors to allow political opponents who win elections to take their seats as reasons.

Accordingly, it recommended the scrapping of May 29 as Democracy Day in the country.

The committee also deferred the adoption of electronic voting in the 2015 general elections.

Also, the conference recommended that the age limit for people aspiring to contest the State Houses of

Assembly elections, be trimmed down to 25 years to give young people political participation.

The position, regarding council polls, was contrary to the recommendation of the committee which had recommended that rather than scrapping the state electoral bodies, efforts should be made to strengthen them.

The committee had said strengthening the SIEC through full financial autonomy, would make them more effective and credible just as it recommended that the SIECs be given first line charge treatment.

Two former Senate Presidents, Iyorchia Ayu, and Ken Nnamani chaired the committee which had also stated that the issues relating to the composition and administration of SIECs should be activated through

a law of the State Houses of Assembly.

National Chairman of Labour Party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, in his contribution, argued that it was impossible for the opposition to win local council elections in states, just as he said council election results were usually prepared in Government Houses.

E-voting

On the proposed electronic voting system, the conference said that it should be suspended until after the 2015 general elections.

But it rejected the recommendation that financial transactions of political parties be done through banks to encourage the ongoing cashless policy of the Federal Government.

It also rejected the call for the introduction of Option A4

RECOMMENDATIONS •SIECs to go •Strips INEC of power to deregister political parties •Suspends e-voting •Rejects Option A-4 •Pegs age of contestants into State Houses of Assembly at 25 •Stops FG from using the military for election monitoring

to be used by political parties during primaries and general elections, even as it called for a 10-year ban for electoral offenders.

The conference also stripped INEC of the power to deregister political parties, while it ruled that youth leaders of political parties should not be more than 35 years.

Other recommendations by the delegates were that, those aspiring to contest for the offices of the President, Governors, members of the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and Local Government Chairmen, should have a minimum of first degree.

It was, however, agreed that the minimum academic qualification for Local Government Councillors must be a minimum of secondary school certificate.

Though the conference outlawed defection, it however agreed that elected political office holders and members of the political parties that merged into one should be allowed to remain in their offices.

The conferee also voted against what it called militarisation of the polity, saying the federal government must desist from sending the military for election monitoring.

HEAD of debates on reports of the committees on Devolution of Power and Political Restructuring and Forms of Government, a fusion of Southern and Middle Belt delegates have emerged.

Vanguard gathered that the South South; South West; South East and Middle Belt delegates met Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday in Asokoro, to take a position on key recommendations that would be tabled for discussions and subsequent voting this week.

The meeting was well attended by major stakeholders and power brokers from the South South, South West; South East and the Middle Belt.

A source told Vanguard that the delegates would not accept the 13 per cent derivation principle and resource control as recommended by the Committee on Devolution of Power, adding that anything lower than 21.5 per cent would be rejected.

The source said resource control, true federalism; derivation, equality of zones as well as creation of additional nine states from each zone were discussed.

It will be recalled that after weeks of disagreements on resource control and derivation, the committee on Devolution of Power recommended that the status quo of 13 per cent derivation be maintained.

The committee said every matter regarding reintroduction of onshore-offshore oil dichotomy, increase or decrease in derivation principle and resource control were resolved.

At the moment, the derivation principle still stands at 13 per cent as contained in the 1999 Constitution for every mineral producing area; while the issue of resource control could be reviewed upward after amendment of Section 44(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The committee also resolved that on a monthly basis, 4.5 percent of federal revenue would be set aside for the development of natural resources in all the states of the federation. It is to be called Fund for Solid Mineral Development.

It also resolved that with the amendment of Item 39 of the Exclusive Legislative List, certain aspects of resource control have been taken care of.

A member of the committee Chief Victor Attah had said: “We have concluded deliberations on Exclusive and Concurrent list, fiscal federalism that has components of revenue sharing, resource control and sharing formula."

Vanguard, WEDNESD AY, JUL Y 2, 2014 — 53 WEDNESDA JULY

Osun election’ll be better than Ekiti — INEC

BY SONI DANIEL

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S concerns mount over inceasing terrorist attacks in parts of the north, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, yesterday raised the hope of conducting election in all the states despite the security threats.

Besides, Jega boasted on Tuesday that the Osun State governorship election would be better than the one concluded in Ekiti State last week.

Jega made the declaration when the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China, H. E. Gu Xiaojie, paid a courtesy visit to the Commission in Abuja.

Professor Jega restated INEC’s readiness to conduct the 2015 general election in all states of the federation, despite security threats in some areas.

He said: “We know that both nationally and internationally, there are concerns about the 2015 general election, partly because of the challenges of security in some states.

“On our part, we have been doing our best to ensure that we are able to conduct elections in those areas; and we have been working very closely with security agencies to ensure that there is adequate security for the conduct of election in those states.”

The Chairman said the commis-

•Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC chairman sion had devoted itself to improving the electoral process in Nigeria, “to make it more participatory and ensure that it is more transparent, that elections are conducted consistent with international best standards and in accordance with our own electoral laws.”

He added: “Since 2011, we have been doing our best to keep on improving the integrity and transparency of the electoral process.

We have cleaned up the Register of Voters, and we have been doing our best to address the challenge of logistics of deployment, which has been a major obstacle to our conduct of good elections.

“I am pleased to say there has been progressive improvement in the series of governorship elections that we have conducted since 2011, culminating in the Ekiti election that we conducted

two weeks ago, and which has been generally acknowledged as perhaps the best election that we have conducted so far.

The Commission, according to him, has improved its engagement stakeholders – including political parties, security agencies and civil society organisations, among others – in order to deepen the political process.

“We have periodic meetings with these stakeholders where we explain what we are doing and we receive suggestions for improvement; and we take these suggestions on board as we continue to improve the process,” he said.

The Chairman also acknowledged the support of the international community for Nigeria’s electoral process. “Our development partners have been very helpful, other friends of Nigeria have generally been helpful; they have encouraged us and shown understanding, and that also has gone a long way to contribute to our continuous improvement of the electoral process.”

The Chinese envoy, in his remarks, said there is much that his country and Nigeria could mutually learn from each other’s electoral experience. He added that Nigeria being an important country in Africa, global attention is on the country as it prepares to conduct the 2015 general election.

1,000 Accord Party members decamp to SDP

BY GBENGA OLARINLOYE

I

T was a bumper harvest for SocialDemocraticParty(SDP) in Osun State as the entire members of Accord Party (AP) numbering over 1,000 yesterday in Ejigbo Local Government of the state decamped to the party.

The AP members led by their Chairman, Alhaji Saka Salam stated at a brief ceremony held at Bricklayers’ Hall, Masifa junction, Ejigbo that they decided to dump their old party due to alleged lackadaisical attitude of its leaders both at the state and the national levels.

Salam explained that SDP became their choice after thorough search of a political party that can govern the state very well.

“Many political parties came around. We have the leaders of the PDP and the Labour Party here. They met us but we decided to go with SDP which has a welfarist agenda. We also realized that SDP presented the most credible candidate for the August 9 election”, he said.

The AP Chairman promised to mobilize people in his local government and neighbouring councils for SDP and its governorship candidate, Mr. Olusegun Akinwusi.

Receivingthemembersintothe SDP fold on behalf of the state party executives, Akinwusi explained that the present state of the economy in the state and the interest of the youth led him to join the governorship race.

Akingbade promises free medicare for pregnant women

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OVERNORSHIP candi date of the Labour Party, LP, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade has promised to provide free health care for pregnant women in the state if voted into power.

In addition, Akinbade assured that a Diagnostic Centre that would be imbued with state of the art facilities would be established with a view to unraveling health related challenges. In a statement by his director of media, Mr Kayode Oladeji, Akingbade made the promise while speaking with over 500 women in Osogbo under the aegis of Women for Positive Change led by Dr (Mrs.) Eunice

Adedayo.

He said that in addition to the qualitative free health his administration would give to the indigenes of the state, premium would be placed on pregnant women.

Akinbade said he “would go a long way in reducing cases related to pregnancies We believe one of the surest way of preserving our future is to pay solid attention to our present because if we are able to take care of our pregnant women, this will not only reduce mortality rate but will ensure the delivery of healthy children who are the tomorrow of this country”.

Omisore, Akingbade fault Aregbesola’s education policy C

ANDIATES of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP and Labour Party LP, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade respectively have faulted the Rauf Aregbesola administration re-classification education policy in the state.

The two candidates in their separate comments stated that the new policy has taken the state backward and counter productive to the advancement of education development in the state.

Specifically, Akinbade fingered the re-classification policy and lack of tangible plans for the state owned tertiary institutions by Aregbesola’s government as the basis for the dwindling fortunes of the state in the sector.

Spokesperson to the LP candidate, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, insisted that the state has not had it so bad, decrying equally, the strike action of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the four tertiary institutions of the state which he said was caused by Aregbesola’s administration.

Oladeji said “the sector has been badly affected, so much muddled up: many schools built through communal efforts have been demolished, thereby leaving the

•Gov. Rauf Aregbesola pupils and their parents in such areas, in serious problems. The policy lacks focus and human face.

All our tertiary institutions have been under lock and key since February this year due to the ineptitude and greed of the administration. Teachers and students have been at home since then with Aregbesola turning deaf ears to their demands, yet he is spending billions of naira on frivolities.”

He, however, stated that “the situation really calls for concern. The lecturers are asking for their hard earned money which they contrib-

•Senator Iyiola Omisore uted as allowed by the new Contributory Pension Scheme. This money runs into billions of Naira.”

“The money has been mismanaged and that is why the administration’s agents have been blowing all sorts of grammar instead of giving the lecturers their money. Currently,our West African Examination Council(WEAC)result is at an all time low now. Our state is now at the lowest rung when compared to what it used to be some years back”, he stated.

Promising to correct the problem already created by the policy, the former SSG said if voted into power, his administration would revert to the policy on education while the state tertiary institutions would be rejuvenated on all fronts towards making teaching and learning environment to be conducive for students, teaching and non-teaching staff of the institutions.

Similarly, Senator Omisore promised to restore the dignity of education if voted into power on August 9, 2014. Speaking at the

interactive section with the state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria at its secretariat in Owode, Ede, Omisore said education is accorded top priority in his 8 point agenda of his Rescue Mission.

According to him, the government of Aregbesola has caused so much confusion in the education sector that he will on assumption of office cause a paradigm shift in order to correct the anomaly.

While assuring CAN leaders that schools that were taken over would be returned to the owners, he said it was wrong and unacceptable for pupils to wear the same uniform to school.

He added that such policies has bastardized education and made it difficult to identify unruly behavior among pupils.

On Opon Imo, Senator Omisore said the contradictions inherent in the tablet has caused serious setback to educational system of Osun state. “It is a tablet full of errors. It is unthinkable to study mathematics or other science subjects without drawings, but no single diagram in Opon Imo, this is unacceptable,” he said.

54 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Family raises alarm over arrest of 90-yr-old man by the Police in Abuja •Alleges detention in underground cell

By KINGSLEY NDIMELE

F

EAR has gripped mem bers of the Duwe family in Koko town, Delta state, following the recent arrest of their 90year-old patriarch, Pa Daniel Uroye, by policemen from Force Headquarters in Abuja over a protracted land dispute in their area.

The nonagenarian was reportedly arrested together with six other members of his family over the land dispute which started in 2008 and in which judgment has been given in their favor.

To worsen the anxiety, his family members allege that the sick old man is being detained in an underground cell at Zone 10 of the Force Headquarters in Abuja and all efforts they made to seek for his bail have failed.

Counsel to the family, Ehinon Okoh, from the Chambers of Dan Ose Okoh, SAN, has written a strongly worded petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, imploring him to effect the im-

defendants’ counsel again filed another motion asking that the action be dismissed as there were no more live issues to be adjudicated upon. Again, this second application was argued and dismissed in favor of our clients.

“Pa. Daniel Uroye’s counsel brought a motion to restrain the defendants from alienating the land in dispute. To stall the proceedings, appeal was lodged against the latter ruling and the suit at the High Court, Sapele, Delta State was adjourned pending the outcome of the appeal which has been entered at the Court of Appeal, Benin City, Edo State as Appeal No. CA/B/275/2014.

“During the pendency of the suit, the defendants sold a part of the land in dispute to a person whom our clients learnt borrowed about N120,000,000 from Zenith Bank Plc. This person who has clearly bought a lawsuit broke onto the land in dispute to commence development thereon. Our clients resisted and Pa. Daniel Uroye’s vehicle and other personal belongings

courts have warned strongly that it is not the business of the Police to dabble into civil matters and take side with the wealthy oppressors.

“The act of the Police amounts to contempt of court.

In view of the above sir, we implore you to use your good office to direct the release of our clients forthwith.”

Meanwhile, family members who spoke with Crime Alert on the condition of anonymity said they are afraid of mentioning their names because those that arrested the old man can go to any length to deal with them. “We are afraid to even cry out now.

“This is why we have left everything to our Lawyer. If they have the heart to use police to arrest and subject this old man to the humiliation of this sort at the risk of his life, who are we? They can equally finish all of us,” they stated.

Efforts made to contact the police at Area 10 Abuja failed as the telephone line of the investigating Officer which was left with members of the family rang consistently without reply. The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mbah could not also be reached as he was said to had gone out for a radio programme.

,

We are afraid to even cry out now. This is why we have left everything to our Lawyer. If they have the heart to use police to arrest and subject this old man to the humiliation of this sort at the risk of his life, who are we?

mediate release of his clients from detention in order to save the life of the old man.

The petition reads: “We have been consulted and our services retained by Pa. Daniel Uroye; Mr. Isaac Tanarami; Mr. Moses Uroye; Mr. Wilson Uroye; Mr. Samuel Uroye; Mr. Tietie Uroye, all of Duwe Family of Koko, Delta State to write you this urgent letter on the above subject. Our client’s family members are the absolute owners of the land subject matter of Suit No. S/31/2008 at the High Court of Justice, Sapele, Delta State.

“Suit No. S/31/2008 was filed in 2008; pleadings have been fully exchanged as required by law. The 2nd – 13th defendants therein through their counsel filed a preliminary objection to the effect that the claim is caught by the doctrine of res judicata.

The objection was argued and in a considered ruling, the preliminary objection was dismissed. After the dismissal, the

,

were damaged.

“The malicious damage to our clients’ property was reported to the Police Headquarters, Asaba, Delta State who subsequently referred the matter as civil, after the defendants had boasted loud and clear in public that they have connections in the police and that connections will be used to deal with our clients.

“Surprisingly, our clients, including Pa. Daniel Uroye (an old man of about 90 years) were arrested by Police officers from Force Headquarters, Abuja and our clients were detained overnight and taken to Abuja on 27th June, 2014. The question now is, for what offence and motive will prompt the Police in Force Headquarters, Abuja, to deal with a land matter at Koko, Delta State; a land matter and issues that had earlier been referred civil by the Police Headquarters, Asaba, Delta State?

“This is a case of Police being used as an instrument of vendetta and oppression and the

•IGP, Mohammed Abubakar

•Pa Uroye

Drama as court sentences 2 motorcyclists for attac

By CHINENYEH OZOR, Nsukka

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magistrate court sitting in Nsukka, Enugu State, has jailed two motorcyclists for attacking officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) attached to Nsukka unit and damaging windscreens of their two official operational vehicles.

Delivering the judgment at Nsukka magistrate court, Mr. Sylvester Eze said that the evidence before the court had been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the two accused, Anthony Attama and Christopher Edowa, were guilty of allegations against them for attacking FRSC officials, beating one of them to pulp and damaging front windscreens of their operational vehicles.

The court thereby sentenced the two motorcy-

clists to seven years imprisonment each without any option of fine. “I hope this sentence will serve as a deterrent to some members of the public who attack FRSC officials without remembering that they are representing the Federal Government. Even if FRSC or any government security agents trampled upon your rights, you should not take the laws into your hands but go through the legal process to seek redress,”he said.

However, the magistrate was moved with sympathy and tempered justice with mercy when the two convicts broke down in tears, pleaded with him to have pity on them as they have nobody to take care of their families. Touched by the pleading and weeping by the convicts, Magistrate Eze, reduced the sentence to one year imprisonment or N20, 000 option of fine. “Because of their pleading and show of remorse, I hereby reduce your sentence to one year

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 55

diately after their release, I proceeded to court on June 9 and obtained vide exparte motion that restrains the police from burying the murdered teenager and the hospital from releasing the corpse to the police pending the determination of the motion on notice fixed for the 8th day of July.”

JUNE 5, 2014, will always remain a dark Thursday for the families and friends of late Lovely Omoregie, who was allegedly killed under questionable circumstances by policemen from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Edo State Police Command.

According to reports, the life of Lovely was snuffed out at about 11.00 am that fateful day while he was playing “WHOT” card game with his friends in front of their residence at No. 20, Omoregie Street, off Upper Mission, Ikpoba Hill, Benin City.

Narrating the incident to Crime Alert, the immediate elder brother of the victim, Osas Omoregie, explains, “They were in front of our house when these policemen arrived. They drove into our compound and they met my younger brother and his friends playing WHOT. They asked them to lie down on the ground, which they promptly obeyed. Later, they asked why we were not in school. My brother told them that he had finished his secondary education which was why he was at home.”

By ESTHER ONYEGBULA

T

ORTURE: “He was still re sponding when they started beating him with a two-by-two plank. The beating was so severe and unbearable when I intervened. It was at this point I began to ask the officers why they were beating him. That was how they started beating me also. Later, they handcuffed us and before I knew what was happening, they shot my brother thrice. I don’t know why they shot him because it was at the front of my father’s house that the incident happened.

They searched our house that day without a search warrant. They searched everywhere but found nothing.

“When they finished searching the house, they arrested us, took us into their vehicle and drove to the station. We were taken to a police station located at Ring-road in Benin City. At the station, I was in shock, I could not write the statement they told me to write.

So, one of the officers wrote the statement, pressurized and compelled the five of us to sign with-

•Osas, brother to the deceased

•The deceased, Lovely

Lamentations Lamenting the loss of his younger brother, Osas continued, “I still can’t believe that he is dead, we sleep together, eat together, wake up together. Just in a twinkle of an eye, he is gone. All we want is justice in this case. My brother had his life, a promising life ahead of him before they killed him in cold blood.

“Despite the support and encouragement from relatives and friends, our mother is so heartbroken. My family has not been the same; we are calling on the Governor of Edo State, the Inspector-General of Police and Nigerians to ensure that my brother gets the justice he deserved even in death.

“Human right organizations should please come to our aid, we don’t want the case to be swept under the carpet. We want justice. How can law enforcement officers murder my brother in cold blood and still attempt to label him as a criminal? Right now, they are doing all they can to intimidate members of my family to accept monetary compensation to discontinue the case.

Fear grips family

•Friends of the deceased after their release

out knowing the content of the statement.

“Meanwhile, immediately we got to the station, they washed the blood stains in the vehicle. My brother was lying down in the pool of his own blood; I didn’t know that he was already dead. In a bid to cover up the murder of my brother, they decided to that will run concurrently or an option of N20,000 label him an armed fine each. robber. Later that “People should learn how to cry when they want night, the police went to commit crime rather than crying when the punto our house with a ishments comes. Government personnel on unigun and a battle axe form were working for the good of the public and claiming that my as such should be encouraged rather than being brother was a crimiattacked, “he stated. nal. But for the timeThe accused persons have been standing trial ly intervention of our since 2012 on allegations of conspiracy, mobilifamily lawyer, who zation of motorcyclists in the University town of helped secure our reNsukka to attack FRSC officials and beating one lease, we would still FRSC official while on official duty to state of be in police custody unconsciousness. The police prosecuting counand my brother would sel, Mr Richard Iwuoriso told the court that the be labeled an armed incident happened around Bishop Shanahan robber.”

Hospital, Nsukka on November 29, 2011.

How they wanted to

ck on FRSC officials

Cp Edo, Adebanjo – Justice needed label the deceased as an armed robber Crime Alert learnt that after efforts by the police to label him an armed robber when they visited their house failed, they hatched another plan. According to Osas, “While our family was left to mourn our dead, the next day, on June 6, Edo State Police Command obtained a warrant from a Coroners Court after misinforming the Magistrate that late Omor-

egie was shot at a scene of robbery. With the new development, we ran to B. A. Iluobe law firm and the head of Chambers to prevail on the case.

Legal intervention: The family Lawyer Benjamin Iluobe, who spoke with Crime Alert on phone said, “I called the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) on the phone and warned him that Omoregie should not be buried as an armed robber after the family came to the law Firm to seek legal advice. I also called the Edo State Commissioner of police not to allow his officers bury the victim as an armed robber. The Commissioner of Police ordered for the arrest of the six police officers responsible for the brutal murder of the innocent teenager.

“The Commissioner of Police also pleaded with me to see him in his office, but I gave him condition that the five other teenagers in custody be released. Which was why the CP, ordered for the release of the teenagers. Imme-

“Our lives are no longer safe, we now live in fear in our own house since the incident happened. Different officers keep invading our house. Lovely is the second to the last child in our family but he was very hard working, easy going, very peaceful, a loving and caring young man, who loved to share with everyone.

In the community, he is well loved which was why when the news of his death broke out, there was a huge protest by the community who came out en-mass to protest his untimely death which was caused by trigger-happy policemen.

His dreams Like every young Nigerian, Lovely had tall ambitions, he had dreams to be successful in life. He had dreams of securing admission into University of Benin to study electrical engineering.

Which was why after he finished secondary school, he learnt electrical works and from the little he made, he supported our family.

Although our family is still struggling to survive, we are hardworking and resourceful. Right now, his entire dream has been cut short by trigger-happy policemen.

Chibok and the failure of reporting I

By LANRE IDOWU

NSECURITY as typified by the Boko Haram menace, BHM, must rank as one of the longest running stories in the Nigerian media. For five years now, the BHM has unrelentingly hugged the headlines and redefined life in northern Nigeria especially with stories of one bestial killing competing with another in the resolve to overwhelm the people.

Hiding under the clamour for an Islamic state, the BHM has denounced western education as sinful and made centres of learning objects of regular and special attacks, especially in the last two years. Last year alone, no fewer than 50 schools were destroyed in northern Nigeria, 30 teachers and scores of students killed.

At first, the protest wore the garb of speeding motorcyclists hurling firebombs at police stations and other state installations in state capitals. Later it donned the toga of religious attack as churches were burned down regularly. When those urban centres were better secured, the attacks relocated to schools and homes mostly in the urban outskirts, and later rural settings without regard to religion or ethnicity.

Usually a band of marauders storms a remote village, looting their foodstuff, sacking their homes, and killing their men and women. This year alone, about 2000 lives have been wasted, including the massa-

of Europe, the Americas, and Australia, condemnation continues to trail this heartless act.

In the face of Nigeria’s limited capacity to tackle this type of asymmetrical war, it is understandable, if unfortunate, that foreign troops from more experienced countries are now in Nigeria to help fashion a better response to the insurgency.

This turning point obviously calls for more robust coverage and analysis of the BHM. Regrettably, the Nigerian media have shown limited capacity to rise to the occasion. Beyond the reactive reports, which are filed hundreds of kilometres from the trouble spots, Nigerians have had to rely on the foreign media to get a clearer understanding of the issues at stake.

To begin with, the Nigerian media like the Nigerian presidency have shied away from visiting Chibok for any meaningful on-the-spot-reporting.

By so doing, they have denied the public a firsthand pulse of the sense of life and living

,

The Nigerian media like the Nigerian presidency have shied away from visiting Chibok for any meaningful on-the-spotreporting

cre of 500 at a market on May 5. At the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, 59 boys were slaughtered like rams by these agents of darkness.

It is, however, the April 14 abduction of 276 girls from their school dormitory that has caught the attention of the world like no other. How such an act could be pulled off without challenge in a state under emergency rule beggars the imagination. It also mocks the government’s avowed responsibility to promote the citizens’ welfare and guarantee their security.

This callous act has compelled response from almost all corners of Nigeria, where the protest culture has been muted for long. Privileged Nigerians, who otherwise may have been content to make verbal denunciations, have taken to the streets in their conscientious resistance to this descent to sheer terror. Beyond Nigeria to Africa, the Western cities

,

there and dismissed the Chibok people as not being important enough to have their experience directly mediated by the media.

True, Chibok, linked to Maiduguri, Borno State capital, by a 134 kilometre lone dusty road, is nobody’s favourite destination. But the magnitude of its loss compels a better reporting response, which has eluded the Nigerian media. That can be blamed on the parlous state of the media.

From the owners to the reporters, everyone is sworn to a journalism of convenience. This mindset explains why no medium invests enough resources to report stories beyond the relative comfort of urban centres, much less one in a conflict zone. Media managers are generally satisfied with coverage that guarantees advertisement patronage from various tiers of government and business interests. State correspondents have conditioned themselves to “pack journalism” of

reporting events from the prism and precincts of Government houses. It is usually when illicit negotiations break down that some angry reports filter into the public space about government’s shortcomings.

In the case of Chibok, it is from the foreign media that we learnt firsthand of the state of the Government Girls’ Secondary School after the Boko Haram invasion and abduction.

It took CNN’s visit to Chibok for Nigerians to get a guided visual tour of the burnt school and comprehend the enormity of the damage. It is also from CNN that we had glimpse of a victim’s account of her ordeal on television. It is also from them that hard probing questions on the Nigerian experience, which should be the hallmark of reporting, resurfaced on television as our Information minister was forced to shift gear from his usual self-assured soapbox-like exhortations to mumbling excuses for inaction. A good reminder that fawning questioning in the name of respecting authority is an abdication of duty!

Abdication of duty The Daily Mail, Reuters, BBC, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, to mention a few, have joined CNN to explain developments in the Chibok story that are lost on the Nigerian media. Regrettably, Nigerian dailies, without a touch of irony, dutifully reproduce these reports for their readers’ consumption. The abnormal has become normal as the Nigerian pathfinders that should guide the rest of the world on happenings in their backyard have been reduced to playing catch up.

In the journey to this sorry pass, the military are not blameless. Media managers have complained of the military’s unwillingness to embed their reporters in periodic sorties to conflict zones, especially those suffering from BHM. The military have always hidden under the cover of the unconventional nature of the war as not conducive to such “adventures”. The truth, however, is unless the military have something to hide, they need to cultivate the media to convey better the challenges of the war and secure the public buyin without which no war is successfully conducted. Nigeria is at war and the false notion that it involves only a section of the country is dangerous and short-sighted. What affects one

affects all ultimately! Nigeria with active support from the media, the military and the security community must galvanise the people to be more security-conscious and conflictsensitive to tackle the BHM and other conflicts.

As long as conflicts result from divergent interests, perceived injustice, clash of values, and communication breakdown, the BHM is not about to disappear from Nigeria. The war against terror cannot be won by half-hearted reporting by the media or lack of media engagement by the military and security community but by all parties leveraging on each

other ’s strength. The BHM discussion will benefit more from greater appreciation of conflict-sensitive communication that differentiates underlying issues from the eyecatching ones, that explains the process, not just the consequence, and distinguishes the predisposing factors from the immediate trigger. The media and the military-security community obviously have a lot of catching up to do in this area for the good of our land.

•Idowu is Editor-in-Chief of Media Review and a Trustee of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence

Terror attacks on football viewing centres: Reversing the Trend

BY ACP FRANK MBA

T

HERE is no argument that Nigerians are coming to terms with the realities of terrorism, but what many do not know is that their seemingly safest haven may be the softest target of terrorists.

This ignorance can be understood; after all, one is still puzzled at what terrorists intend to achieve by killing religious worshippers, football fans or viewers or even ordinary citizens in their lawful businesses.

These unprovoked attacks are the symbolic signs of radicalized terrorists, now gaining repulsive notoriety in Nigeria.

Since the history of Boko Haram insurgency, there has been a sustained shift in its modus operandi and target selection. Most often, they delight in soft targets that can give them maximum reach in the number of fatalities.

Evidently, attacks that can result in a large number of civilian casualties are now top on the agenda of terrorists. This type of attack, which is the bait

,

56—V anguard 56—Vanguard anguard,, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 , 2014

ple of the kind of war terrorists are waging against our national unity.

A similar attack as this had taken place in Jos, Plateau State, though unsuccessfully. Nigeria is not alone in this kind of terrorist enterprise. In October 2002, tens of heavily armed members of Islamist militant separatist movement from Chechnya, laid siege on the crowded Dubrovka theatre in Moscow, Russia with grenades and improvised explosive devices strapped on their bodies as they threatened to shoot hostages and blow up the auditorium should Russian authorities refuse to meet their demands. That threeday siege led to the death of about 133 hostages and 40 militants. Also in April, 2013, two terrorist bombs killed three people and injured 260 others at the Boston marathon in the United States.

The case is not different in Kenya where it was reported in June, 2014 that not less than 48 people were killed

by Somali’s Al-Shabab terrorists in the town of Mpe-

,

It is strongly advised that Nigerians opt for safer places in viewing or watching football that catches the attention of the media, earns the terrorists maximum publicity and cheap media coverage which has become the very oxygen that sustains their nefarious activities. Terrorists have the penchant to induce fear and doubts in people about their personal and collective security. The attacks are most times intended to make the citizens lose confidence in government as well as all symbols of authority of the state, including the Military, the Police and other security forces.

Today, leisure facilities such as football stadiums and viewing centres, which attract large crowd, are now making the list of terrorist targets. Terrorists see these places as easy killing fields where they can record mass deaths. The recent attack at a viewing centre in Damaturu, Yobe State is a good exam-

ketoni, near a tourist resort in Kenya. Among the dead were people watching a World Cup football match at a hotel.

The reasons for targeting these places are very clear.

Football and other sporting activities are unifying factors which keep the adherents of all religions and political divides in Nigeria togetherBoko Haram does not want this.

Football is also associated with Western Culture which Boko Haram claims to detest.

Sports are tools for projecting national creativity, pride and the Olympian spirit of friendship, love, tolerance, competitiveness, inclusivity and togetherness which are clearly repugnant to the terrorists’ ideologies of extremism and hatred.

To be continued

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

LIBRA; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis may bring you personality clashes base on envy from the other party. Slow down and give peace a chance at least for now.

SCORPIO; Full-Moon in Aries points to possible misunderstanding (probably) within your working arena. This is the wrong time to fan the embers of discord.

SAGIT TARIUS; Although the full-Moon is generating tension, your wish is to have your good time. It’s wrong to under-rate the havoc jealousy can wreck.

CAPRICORN; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis will bring pressure from many fronts, the more noticeable ones are career/business and domestic related types

— 57

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

R

IGHT from ages man has continued to look for ways of clothing his nakedness. Nakedness does not just mean not wearing clothes alone. It includes covering our evil deeds,

God is watching wicked acts, ways and sins etc.

As it was in the days of the biblical Adam and Eve, so it is today.

When we commit heinous crime, we run for cover under the stone,

TERROR MUDA

under the water and under the dark, hoping and praying that we will not be caught.

We live a lie. We forget that air bear witness to our cruel act;

in “Never say goodbye”

the sun by our shadow takes our photograph, and our conscience convicts us daily.

Beware, God is watching. Your sins will find you out.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

AQUARIUS; Full-Moon in Aries warns you to watch what you sign and verbally agreed to do. If you fail to respect the law, it’ll back-fire very soon.

PISCES; Today ’s full-Moon in Aries does not encourage carelessness with money as such can actually lead to avoidable but serious troubles. Avoid jealous approach ARIES; Full-Moon in your Star sign will encourage you to under-rate many to their resentment the way you too’ll be negatively affected. Don’t ignore your spouse TAURUS; Full-Moon in Aries warns you to do away with whatever can not be placed above board.

Take your health seriously today more than before GEMINI; Today’s full-Moon in Aries can tempt you to expose your love life unnecessarily. Separate your private/personal affairs and open friendship CANCER; Full-Moon will certainly affect your mood and make you aggressive but, encouragement of tension along your career line and/or within your business circle can not help your cause now.

Protection of your image is important however.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Pretty Lunatic’

By Andy Akman

LEO; Full-Moon may bring you what you’re likely to see as an insult but in reality it is not one. You only need to be on the right side of the law so that you’ll have the last laugh to the detriment of your opponents. Discourage of jealousy within you.

VIRGO; Full-Moon across Aries/Libra axis may generate tension around you but, the best way for you not to be the loser is to make sure your finances are well protected. Then green eyed monster called jealousy may make things a little bit difficult.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

Basic characteristics of Pisces Pisces is 12th of the twelve Zodiac signs ruled by mysterious Neptune. It quality is mutable while it element is water. Mutable aspect of Pisces indicates that people born under it are changeable, by this I mean they change their minds often times. Being a water sign, naives of this Star have very strong intuition and can flow into anybody heart and/or mind.

Neptune as the ruler of Pisces brings compassion and ARTISTIC talent into Pisces born people’s creativity quotient. Neptune rules psychic related thing and many of things that cannot be placed above board; Neptune makes most natives of this star sign secretive, hard to understand and dreaming.

Two opposing fishes as joint symbol of Pisces oftentimes responsible for occasional confusion suffer by all natives of Pisces one time or the other.

It is truly important for them to learn how to control both their emotion and mind.

Because it is easy for Pisces people to become pessimistic unnecessarily The reasons are while one of the fishes may head for optimism and day dreaming, the other’s inclination may be of fear, despondency and timidity. Thus, confusion can creep in and that will be to the detriment of their confidence.

Cultivation of practical nature and adoption of realistic method in all you do will be of great importance. It is equally important for Pisces born people like you to take psychic related things more seriously because they can make use of psychic and/or spiritual related things.

VIRGINIA

HOME & ABROAD

dadadekola@yahoo.com

By Lawrence Akapa

58—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

U M A R U D I K K O:

His mystique

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

T

HERE was a mystique of power around the feeble looking Alhaji Umaru Dikko that made him the rallying point for the North at every time of crisis.

In 1966 and at the age of 30, he was appointed as the head of the secretariat appointed by the military governor of Northern Nigeria, Gen. Hassan Katsina to unite the Northern Region following the 1966 crisis that engulfed the country. Even at the point of death at the age of 77, Dikko was also the one that the embattled national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur sought to help him regain the power that was slipping from him last year.

Senate seat Despite his prowess as a political power enforcer, it is on record that he never won election in his own right. He always wielded power on the behalf of principals.

However, it was in the Second Republic that Dikko radiated the power that brought him to national limelight. At the onset of the campaigns for political office in 1979, Dikko easily got the nomination of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN to contest a Senate seat from his native Kaduna State. But he

position as Minister of Transport in the Shagari cabinet.

Dikko turned out to become the political enforcer in the Shagari cabinet, and alongside the late Senator Uba Ahmed, the secretary of the NPN, formed the power caucus around whom the pivot of the administration rotated.

Dikko above all, was seen as the eyes of the president, given that he was the son-inlaw of the president. It was a relationship that Dikko exploited to the fullest. It made many of his cabinet colleagues envious as he extended his power even beyond the ministry of transport.

At a time that rice was a special commodity for many and with the import license for the product a special privilege, Dikko made himself the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on rice.

The committee was supposed to be composed of political stakeholders who were to use the committee to position the NPN properly for the 1983 general election.

Remarkably, most of the committee members including the then Minister of Agriculture, Isaac Shaau abandoned the committee for Dikko.

1983 elections

As the 1983 elections approached, Dikko continued to wax in power and offended many in the party. The

,

Despite his prowess as a political power enforcer, it is on record that he never won election in his own right. He always wielded power on the behalf of principals

looked beyond the Senate seat as he also positioned himself as the national campaign director of the Shehu Shagari Presidential Campaign Organisation. It was a job that easily came his way given that he was Shagari’s son in law.

Whether it was the focus on delivering Shagari or some other reason, Dikko lost his bid for the Senate. But that was no problem as he took

,

ultimate was the face off with party financier, Chief Moshood Abiola who was at that time seeking the presidential ticket of the NPN. In a famous retort in 1982, Dikko said the presidential ticket of the party was not for the highest bidder, forcing Abiola out of the party.

Dikko proceeded to deliver a second term for Shagari in

•Dikko: The political enforcer in the Shagari cabinet an election that was termed a moonslide.

By that time, the NPN big men had sufficiently annoyed the rank and file in the army.

The officers’ corps in order to save themselves from a more bloody revolt from the junior ranks preempted a coup that eased out Shagari on the last day of 1983.

Shagari was arrested and detained but an unforgiving Dikko who fled to the United Kingdom from there continuously railed against the new military rulers led by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari was so peeved that his government organised with some Israelis to crate Dikko as diplomatic baggage from Britain. A last minute intervention of fate saved him leading to a shouting match between the Buhari junta and

Mrs. Margaret Thatcher ’s government.

Dikko continued in the UK throughout the years of the Ibrahim Babangida regime which overthrew the Buhari regime.

It was a trying time for the Dikko family to the extent that his children schooling in Gusau in the then Sokoto State had to change their surname to Shagari, their mother’s maiden name.

Agitations in the polity It was not until 1994 that Dikko returned to the country.

The Sani Abacha junta had in 1994 convened a National Conference to quieten agitations in the polity arising from the annulment of the

June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Northern emirs and leaders had to prevail on Abacha to nominate Dikko to represent the interest of the North given that other sections of the country were sending their first eleven.

Dikko returned and duly participated in the conference. However, the gait and grandeur was gone.

His incursion into the politics of the Fourth Republic was largely insignificant. He joined the All Peoples Party, APP and could hardly fit the frame of opposition to the PDP. It was an irony that at the twilight of his life that he was called upon to chair the Disciplinary Committee of the PDP. Dikko died at the age of 78 last Monday after a protracted illness.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014—59

Jonathan, Sambo, Gowon, Atiku, Mark, others mourn Dikko •The media gave wrong impression of him — Gowon •Body arrives Nigeria today

BY SONI DANIEL, LUKA BINIYAT, DAPO AKINREFON, CHARLES KUMOLU & JOHNBOSCO AGBARUKWURU

S

ECOND Republic Transport Minister, Alhaji Umaru Dikko died yesterday in a London hospital. Dikko, who died at the age of 78 was said to have suffered three strokes in a row and had been ill before now.

He was a prominent member of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN, in the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. As member of the kitchen cabinet of that administration, he was regarded as the most powerful minister.

The October 31, 1993 military coup which ousted Shagari from power, resulted in Dikko’s escape to London having been accused of corrupt practices by the regime of Gen Mohammadu Buhar (rtd).

Efforts to get him back to Nigeria led to his kidnapping in London on the alleged orders of Buhari. The arrest of his abductors while he was being shipped to the country in a ‘Diplomatic Crate’ at Stansed Airport in London, caused diplomatic row between Nigeria and Britain.

Few mourners at his Kaduna home At his Kaduna home on number 12 Constitution Road,

few people gathered to mourn him at the time Vanguard visited.

A canopy was being erected, and a condolence book was opened around 4pm, but no dignitary had signed at the time our reporter left the house.

His younger brother, Lamido Dikko, did not speak to the media.

The body of Dikko, will arrive Nigeria today. Left to mourn him two wives and 11 children.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan joined eminent Nigerians to mourn the demise of the politician, who meant different things to different people.

Advocate of stronger political parties — Jonathan Jonathan, who condoled the family said he received the news with sadness. A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati said, “Alhaji Umaru Dikko’s life-long advocacy for stronger political parties, greater discipline within political parties and the supremacy of political parties have assured him of a place in the annals of Nigeria’s political development.”

“The President extends sincere commiserations to the family, friends and political associates of the former Minister of Transport during the Second Republic who also played a leading role in the National Party of Nigeria which controlled the Federal Government in that dispensation.

In mourning the renowned political leader who, in spite of advanced age, continued to actively contribute to the nurturing and strengthening of democracy in Nigeria until the end of his life.

Also, Vice President Namadi Sambo noted that the north and Nigeria as a whole have lost one of the most dogged politicians in the country.

Dikko, a statesman par excellence — Mark Senate President, Senator David Mark described the late Dikko as a political strategist who contributed to the political evolution of Nigeria. Mark in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh said that the nation had lost an elder statesman whose experience would have been handy now.

He noted that Dikko was a great political leader in his own right and would be remembered for his meritorious services to the nation.

The media gave a wrong impression of him —Gowon A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) said that the media gave a wrong impression of the man, once regarded as the de-factor president, during the regime of Shagari.

Gowon who spoke in Kaduna said: “I have known him since our school days in the 1950s. He was part of the Zaria Boys Association. I was the Chairman and he was my deputy. So you

,

•Dikko: Died in a London hospital

can see how long we have known each other, and we have interrelated ever since.

“And I can assure, he had been a very good person. He was a very effective Minister. It was not in his character to be what newspapers made him to be.

And I am sorry for him for that. I am also very sorry for what happened to him when he was to be forcibly returned to Nigeria from London. But thank God that exercise was foiled, and he returned to retain his position.

“His death is a great loss to the country, no matter what anyone will say. He has been a good man from the beginning. The statement credited to him was unfortunate because he was a caring person, and this I know throughout my life." ‘’In 1983, during a nationwide scarcity of basic food items and drought that caused famine in some northern states, Dikko became very infamous when newspapers quoted him as saying that until he saw people feeding from the dust bins he did not believe any Nigerian was hungry. Again, Dikko was accused of underhand dealings in the then Import License saga that permitted businessman to import essential commodities at a waiver."

He was an advocate of rule of law — Atiku Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar described the late Dikko as a “fierce opponent of unconstitutional seizure of power.” Atiku also said Dikko was a courageous advocate of rule of law, constitutionality and democracy. In a statement by his media office, Atiku said despite the public hostility to Dikko, the man had other virtues that

Dikko and a few prominent Nigerians in less than two months is a reminder that the present generation of Nigerians must grow up mentally, morally with collective objective towards a common developmental destination within the confines of appropriate leadership tenets."

Former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa said “I have known Umaru Dikko since 1947, he was one year behind me in school. He was an absolute gentleman and may his soul rest in perfect peace.”

Leader of Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasorant said though a controversial man, he lived be a good life. “That is the end of an era. He was a controversial figure and he lived a good life.

He will missed by many, may his soul rest in perfect peace.’’

Northern delegates react Spokesperson of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin said: “Dikko was one of the leading lights of NPN in the Second Republic and history has documented his roles. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”

Also speaking, the Northern Delegates Forum, NDF, through its Spokesperson, Mr. Anthony Sani said: “The Northern Delegates Forum, NDF, has received with heavy heart the news about the death of Alhaji Umaru Dikko, who was one of the moving forces of the ruling party during the Second Republic. Alhaji Dikko was a man who consciously directed efforts to make his desires for the nation possible” “That is why even though many Nigerians would miss this statesman, and as painful as the death may be to many of us, this loss may not change places among those who did not share his views on issues of national importance. May God provide

His death is a national calamity because Dikko dedicated his life to the nation and at a stage in his life,was a voice of the voiceless and protector of the interest of the downtrodden in the society

Nigerians did not seem to appreciate.

He recalled that Dikko was the loudest critic of military rule, a role which he said singled him out for special punishment.

The former Vice President said, although Dikko had his own shortcomings like every other person, he was a passionate democrat, who vigorously opposed the take-over of government through unconstitutional means.

NSGF mourns Dikko Similarly, the Northern States Governors Forum,NSGF, described his exit as a further depletion of the ranks of Northern leaders. The Chairman of NSGF, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said in a statement that Dikko was an experienced politician who will be dearly missed by all."

He said: “This is indeed another sad episode to the already challenging times Nigeria is passing through as a country. The death of Umaru

,

the fortitude to endure this irreparable loss precisely because death is often a inevitable and would come when it will come.’”

Tukur, Yakassai mourn Immediate past National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur said, “ his death is a national calamity because Dikko dedicated his life to the nation and at a stage in his life,was a voice of the voiceless and protector of the interest of the downtrodden in the society. His death has created a big vacuum in the political history of Nigeria.

The younger generation of Nigeria will miss his wise counsel and consistent approach to political problems of the country.”

Also speaking Tanko Yankassai, who served with Dikko in Shagari’s cabinet said: “He was one of the most misunderstood Nigerians. Many people believed that Umaru Dikko made so much money during the Second Republic".

60—

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 61

Odemwingie: We made a mark S

TOKE City Striker Peter Odemwingie says Nigeria can return home with their heads held high after their World Cup dream ended against France.

Odemwingie said: “We go out in the second round but a lot of great teams were already at home watching the competition on TV.” “I think we can be proud of how we’ve done and for a long time we

thought we could win.”

“This is football, things can change quickly and at any moment.

Unfortunately there was a little mistake when Vincent (Enyeama)... (pushed a cross to Pogba).”

“But Vincent played a great game. But for him we might have been two or three down already.

We knew he could save us and he did many times.”

World Cup over for De Jong T

Onazi out for a few weeks

N

I G E R I A international Eddy Onazi would have to spent the next few weeks on the sidelines after PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi stepped on his ankle during the second half of the France - Nigeria second round World Cup tie.

The injury was so serious that the Lazio starlet had to move straight to the dressing room after he left the pitch in the 59th minute.

Despite what appeared to be a red card offense, the American referee

Mark Geiger only issued a yellow card to the Frenchman, and his action was criticized by Stephen Keshi in his post match comments.

“The referee decides what happens on the field. I am not happy because on two occasions Onazi was fouled and nothing was done by the referee. And now he is going to be sidelined for weeks,” Stephen Keshi told reporters.

21 - year - old Eddy Onazi suited up four times for the Super Eagles at the World Cup.

ARS 4 zonal championship kicks off in Abuja, Ilorin

A

FTER weeks of a s u c c e s s f u l nationwide registration for participation in the season four of the annual Airtel Rising Stars U-17 male and female Tournament, the zonal championships got off to a fine start on Monday in Abuja and Ilorin with thousands of talented youngsters participating in the preliminary screening exercises.

The championships

will run concurrently from June 30 to July 5 in Abuja at the Area 10 Sports Complex and Ilorin at the Kwara Football Academy Soccer Pitch.

The trio of Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos will host the last lap between July 7 and 12 at the UNEC Sports Complex, Enugu, Number 1 Field, PH and NIS Pitch National Stadium, Surulere respectively.

L-R: Ex-Director, ExxonMobil Udom Inoyo, CEO MTN Nigeria, Mr. Mike Impoki, Mr. Babajide Koku, SAN at the Western Regional qualifiers of MTN World Golfers Championship held at Lakowe Golf and Country Estate, Lekki on Saturday.

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Osaze Odemwingie contests the ball with France defender Patrice Evra. France won 2-0.

HE World Cup is over for Milan and Netherlands midfielder Nigel De Jong, who suffered a groin strain.

He limped off just nine minutes into their 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16.

The Dutch FA has now released a statement confirming the World Cup is over for De Jong.

“Nigel De Jong has a tear in his groin muscle. He’s probably out of action for two to four weeks. De Jong will continue his rehabilitation with the Oranje squad.”

Netherlands Coach

Louis Van Gaal had already expressed his frustration at losing De Jong for the quarter-final, let alone the rest of the tournament.

“It’s a hard blow for us that Nigel has been injured,” Robben said at a Press conference. “The possible absence of De Jong in the quarter finals is a heavy loss.

“But our strength is that every player who comes off the bench onto the pitch manages to have a big impact on the match.

“The confidence within our team is very big, in spite of any absence.”

Super Eagles gave a good fight — Lagos SWAN

T

HE Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Lagos chapter, has called on Nigerians and football fans to remain positive about the Super Eagles, declaring that they gave a fair representation and were gallant even in their defeat to France in the second round of the Brazil 2014 World Cup. In a statement signed by its chairman, Fred Edoreh, and secretary, Emma Njoku, the association pointed out that the national team gave a good fight against top seeded soccer nations like Argentina and France and their performance gives hope that the team is progressive.

“The Super Eagles were gallant even in their defeat. We can pride in the fact that they fought a brave fight and gave a good account of themselves against highly rated soccer nations like Argentina and France. This performance is an improvement over our outings in France ’98, Korea/Japan 2002, Germany 2006 in which we did not even qualify and South Africa 2010.

Ahmed Musa (l) close marks a France defender during the 2-0 loss to France.

Archbishop Adewale Cup kicks off

I

N an effort to enhance connectivity among its members and forge unity in the Catholic church the Catholic Men Organisation, Lagos Archdiocese has floated the Archbishop Alfred Adewale Matins Football tournament.

The opening ceremony of the UBA sponsored tournament which will be played among the 34

Parishes across the state was performed at St Gregory ’s College Obalende last weekend.

The ceremonial match between the Archbishop’s team and the CMO team saw victory going the way of the former.

The Archbishop’s team won CMO by a lone goal.

The President of the Catholic Men

Organization (CMO), Lagos Archdiocese, Chief Emeka Asoegwu said “This tournament is not intended to showcase talents that would win laurels for the country in the future, rather, it is designed to further unite and strengthen the CMO in the Archdiocese and Parishes respectively.

62 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 58

Heartbreak for Swiss as Argentina win Yobo joins African

players with 100 caps

A

NGEL di Maria scored two minutes from the end of extra-time to send Argentina into the World Cup quarter-finals following a 1-0 win over Switzerland in Sao Paulo.

Di Maria’s erratic performance had been symptomatic of Argentina’s, but he produced the decisive moment of a largely disappointing game to set up a last-eight encounter with either Belgium or USA. Switzerland created the best chances of a first half which failed to match the entertainment that has generally been on offer at the World Cup so far.

Granit Xhaka forced a smart low save out of Sergio Romero on 28 minutes following good work by Xherdan Shaqiri before Josip Drmic tamely chipped the ball straight at the Argentinian keeper after he had been sent clean through.

BY TONY NEZIANY, NAN

HEARTBREAK . . . Switzerland’s defender Stephan Lichtsteiner (bottom L) and Switzerland’s defender Johan Djourou (C) agonize after their losing the Brazil 2014 World Cup quarter final ticket to Argentina at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo.

Argentinal won 1-0. Photo: AFP.

Neymar fit for Colombia clash looks set World Cup quarter-final “He will be evaluated NEYMAR to be fit for Brazil’s against Colombia on Fri- again, but team doctor day.

Jose Luiz Runco said fans Neymar suffered thigh and knee injuries during Brazil’s dramatic win on penalties against Chile on Saturday.

But the 22-year-old forward is making a good recovery, according to the team spokesman Rodrigo Paiva.

“The worst is the knee – it’s what’s hurting the most,” Paiva told reporters at Brazil’s training ground in Teresópolis.

don’t have to worry because he’s not a concern for the match.”

Neymar undertook a light swimming session with his team-mates on Monday but he was seen hobbling as he got off the team coach. The Barcelona forward, who has scored four goals for Brazil at the World Cup, could be rested from training over the next couple of days to aid his recovery.

Costa Rica keeper focuses on Dutch JOYFUL . . . Brazil’s forward Neymar celebrates after scoring a penalty kick.

C

OSTA Rica keeper Keylor Navas, hero of a penalty shootout against Greece that put the ‘Ticos’ in their first

Amid Cup euphoria, fans lose passports, get robbed

D

ISTRACTED by the World Cup atmosphere, American fan Jack Smith slipped his card into an ATM in a Rio airport.

He believes the card was cloned in an instant and, over several days before he discovered it, his account was debited for $12,000, a loss he said his bank would cover.

“I’ve probably met 60 C M Y K

people here, and 20 have been hit,” said Smith, of Knoxville, Tennessee. “Of course these were for smaller amounts, although somebody told me they were out $6,000. But I’m scared. I won’t ever use an ATM machine here.” It happened a few days ago, so Smith now laughs about it.

“Maybe this is a Brazilian tax of some kind I

have to pay.” Crime in Rio de Janeiro was on the rise in the months leading up to the World Cup with muggings in the famous Copacabana area rising 60 percent. Official statistics won’t be out for months, but the United States embassy, among others, warned its citizens before the World Cup about robberies on city buses, in banks and at cash machines.

ever quarter-final, is ignoring talk of a possible transfer to Real Madrid while the World Cup is on.

Costa Rica play the Netherlands on Saturday.

“There are more important things right now, like the honour of a nation, and wanting to make history for Costa Rica,” Navas told reporters asking him about media reports from Spain that Real Madrid are hoping to sign him.

“I’m relaxed. I’m focussed on the national team. A World Cup is a unique opportunity and I’m concentrating on this.

For me, the most important thing is Costa Rica,” he added after training.

NIGERIA’S captain, Joseph Yobo, 34, made history in Brasilia on Monday as he joined 20 other Africans to make the 100 caps for their countries.

Yobo, the first Nigerian player to have attained that height was born on Oct, 1980 and first appeared for the national team then at the age 20.

He has so far scored seven goals for the national team.

His low number of goals has not diminished his achievement as he played deep in the defence.

However, some of the top Africans he joined include the likes of Cameroon’s, Rigobert Song with 137 from 1993 to 2010, Geremi Fotso Njitap with 118, (1996-2010) and Samuel Eto’o Fils with 117 (19972014).

The list also includes I vorian, Didier Drogba with 101 (2002-2014) and Kolo Touré with 107 (2000-2014).

Mikel Obi had told newsmen that they were happy at the achievement of their captain.

“Tis is an inspiration for us. We know his antecedents on and off the pitch.”

The records are as follows: Ahmed Hassan [Egypt] 184* (1996-2012) Hossam Hassan [Egypt] 176 (1985-2006) Rigobert Song [Cameroon] 137 (1993-2010) Ibrahim Hassan [Egypt] 128 (1988-2002) Hany Ramzy [Egypt] 123 (1989-2003) Didier Zokora [Ivory Coast] 119* (2000-2014) .Geremi Fotso Njitap [Cameroon] 118* (1996-2010) 100.Samuel Eto’o Fils [Cameroon] 117* (19972014) Noureddine Naybet [Morocco] 115 (1990-2006) Wael Goma’a [Egypt] 113* (2001-2013) Kolo Touré [Ivory Coast] 107* (2000-2014) Joseph Musonda [Zambia] 106* (2002-2013) Radhi Jaidi [Tunisia] 105 (1996-2009) Ahmed Shobair [Egypt] 105 (1984-1996) Nader El-Sayed [Egypt] 104 (1992-2005) David Chabala [Zambia] 103 (1983-1993) Elijah Tana [Zambia] 102* (1995-2009) Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast] 101* (2002-2014) 287.Mohamed Aboutraika [Egypt] 100* (20012013) Ahmed Fathi [Egypt] 100* (2002-2014) Joseph Yobo (Nigeria) The fllowing are Yobo’s appearances to date: 1st (24-03-01) – Chingola - Vs Zambia - Africa Cup of Nations Qual. (1-1) 2nd (21-04-01) – Freetown – Vs Sierra Leone – FIFA World Cup Qual. (0-1) 3rd (05-05-01) - P –Harcourt - Vs Liberia – FIFA World Cup Qual. (2-0) 4th (02-06-01) – Benin – Vs Madagascar - Africa Cup of Nations Qual. (1-0) 5th (16-06-01) – Windhoek - Vs Namibia - Africa Cup of Nations Qual. (2-0) 6th (01-07-01) – Omdurman – Vs Sudan - FIFA World Cup Qual. (4-0) 7th (29-07-01) - Port Harcourt – Vs Ghana – FIFA World Cup Qual. (3-0) 8th (12-01-02) – Bouaké - Vs Ivory Coast - Friendly (1-1) 9th (21-01-02) – Bamako - Vs Algeria – Africa Cup of Nations (1-0) 10th (24-01-02) – Bamako - Vs Mali – Africa Cup of Nations (0-0) 11th (28-01-02) – Mopti - Vs Liberia – Africa Cup of Nations (1-0) 12th (03-02-02) – Bamako – Vs Ghana – Africa Cup of Nations (1-0) 13th (07-02-02) – Bamako – Vs Senegal – Africa Cup of Nations (1-2) 14th (09- 02-02) – Mopti – Vs Mali – Africa Cup of Nations (1-0) 15th (17-04-02) – Aberdeen – Vs Scotland - Friendly (2-1) 16th (16-05-02) – Dublin –Vs Republic of Ireland – Friendly (2-1) 17th (02-06-02) – Ibaraki – Vs Argentina – FIFA World Cup (0-1) 18th (07-06-02) – Kobe – Vs Sweden – FIFA World Cup (1-2) 19th (12-06-02) – Osaka - Vs England – FIFA World Cup (0-0).

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 — 63

L

AZIO and Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has forgiven Blaise Matuidi for the horror tackle that saw him taken off the pitch during the round of sixteen tie against France..

There have been

Onazi forgives Matuidi conflicting reports on the injury as some reports said he suffered a double fracture of the fibula in his left leg However, the Corriere dello Sport claims Onazi assured Lazio directors

NFF Continues from BP from moving if he wants to. He is a grown man and knows what is good for him. If he so desires a greener pasture, then we can’t stop him, it’s up to him to decide,” Umeh said.

He however denied claims that the NFF have not been supportive of the former Togo coach, saying, “It’ll not be fair to say we haven’t supported Keshi. We have given him tremendous support, more than anyone could imagine. So the thought that he hasn’t been

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adequately supported isn’t true.”

Umeh also spoke on the possibility of getting a new coach in time for the 2015 Africa cup of Nations qualifiers expected to start soon.

“I’m sure a new coach will come in immediately Keshi’s departure is finalized, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Umeh noted.

Immediately after the loss to France, another NFF top gun, Deji Tinubu tweeted, ‘and off his goes to S.A’, which obviously confirms Keshi’s exit.

there are “no fractures.”

He still posted a picture of his leg in plaster, so the situation remains unclear.

Lazio also released a tweet for the player: “Forza Onazi! You’ll be back better than ever!!!

Good luck and Stay Strong!!”

Nigeria Coach Stephen Keshi was furious with the fact Matuidi only received a yellow card for that challenge.

“I want to know why the referee didn’t send Matuidi off.

It’s shameful, as he’d already gone in with two

Mikel

Continues from BP won 2 - 0 to advance to the last 8 of the tournament.

Before the encounter in Brasilia, everyone knew it was going to be huge midfield battle between Mikel and Pogba, and the Nigeria international has acknowledged that Juventus star won the duel.

“It was an incredible duel, it’s true. There were times when I thought he was starting to look tired, but then he went and

scored the opening goal.

“I guess that, in the end, he wasn’t that tired!

But yes, the two of us had a really good tussle,” Mikel told FIFA.com.

“He’s an unbelievable player, isn’t he? He got the better of me today, but I’m sure we’ll come up against each other loads more times in the future.

Who knows, maybe even at the next World Cup?” John Obi Mikel started all the games played by the Super Eagles at the World Cup.

dangerous tackles. The tendency was to favour the French.”

Matuidi apologised in public and private for the challenge. “I didn’t go in to hurt him and I’m disappointed, as I’m not a bad player.

I apologise. I went into their dressing room to apologise.”

As for Onazi, he forgave Matuidi via Twitter.

“Hi @MatuidiBlaise thanks for your support and concern. Let the game go on.

“Thanks to you guys, my friends and fans for your love, support and encouragement. Hoping to do much better next time.”

Maradona Continues from BP Maradona apparently riled by Referee Mark Geiger decision to give Matuidi a yellow card described the incident as more severe than Luis Suarez biting Italy’s Giorgio Chellini on the shoulder that led to the Uruguayan been given a 9 match international ban plus a 4 months global ban from football.

“It is impossible that

the referee did not see this criminal tackle, it is worse than what Suarez did.”

Maradona is among a set of selected few people who think that the four month ban on Liverpool forward Luis Suarez is excessive.

However Suarez has admitted his mistake and tendered an apology to Giorgio Chellini and the football world pledging never to bite an opponent again.

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014 Result Argentina

1

vs

Switzerland

0

Maradona: Matuidi tackle worse than Suarez biting incident

NFF: Keshi can go •OUCH! The horror tackle on Onazi.

A T

HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will not stop Coach Stephen Keshi from vacating his post as

Super Eagles coach, after the ‘Big Boss’, as Keshi is fondly called expressed his desire to step down following Nigeria’s ouster from the World Cup. Vice president of the NFF, Mike Umeh spoke about Keshi’s impending departure and confirmed that they will not be standing in Keshi’s way as he has decided to quit.

“We cannot stop Keshi

Continues on Page 63

•Maigari

RGENTINA legend, Diego Maradona has said that Blaise Matuidi’s wild lunge on Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi during France 2-0 win over Nigeria in a World Cup 2014 second round game on Monday was worse than Luis Suarez’s biting of Italian

Mikel bows to Pogba

C

HELSEA midfielder John Obi Mikel lavished praise on France international Paul Pogba after Monday ’s World Cup clash between the Super Eagles and the blues which the Europeans

Continues on Page 63

•Keshi

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

defender Chellini.

Matuidi’s tackle led to the Lazio man being stretchered off on the hour mark with scores at 0-0 causing a collapse in the Nigeria midfield from which France took advantage and scored twice in the last 10 minutes.

Continues on Page 63

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 3 Squander (5) 9 Rotated (6) 10 Concern (6) 11 Order (5) 12 Essence (4) 15 Broad (4) 17 Penetrated (7) 20 Guided (3) 21 Cubed (3) 23 Trick (4) 25 Game (4) 26 Senior (5) 28 Poem (3) 30 Strolled (7) 33 Departed (4) 35 Rank (4) 36 Fair (5) 38 Sexless (6) 39 Fur (6) 40 Kudos (5)

•Mikel

DOWN 1 Platform (5) 2 Believe (5) 3 Tiny (3) 4 Confused (6) 5 Diplomacy (4) 6 Newt (3) 7 Carp (5) 8 Avarice (5) 13 Break in (7) 14 Taut (5) 16 Fan (7) 18 Frogman (5) 19 Vitality (3) 22 Suspect (5) 24 Moose (3) 27 Sooner (6) 28 Due (5) 29 Follow (5) 31 Restrict (5) 32 Parched (5) 34 Maiden (4) 36 Limb (3) 37 Attempt (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Duress 5, Pardon 9, Attic 10, Baffle 11, Living 12, Eased 14, Isle 17, Mud 18, Feel 20, Speed 22, Range 23, Ringlet 24, Solid 26, Dated 29, Clue 30, Asp 32, Late 33, Cited 35, Rubber 36, Dangle 37, Debar 38, Darted 39, Legend.

DOWN: 1, Debris 2, Raffle 3, Sale 4, Steam 5, Piled 6, Acid 7, Driven 8, Niggle 13, Suggest 15, Spool 16, Eerie 18, Fatal 19, Egret 21, Did 22, Red 24, Scored 25, Lumber 27, Tangle 28, Depend 30, Aired 31, Pedal 33, Cede 34, Dare.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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