PDP Crisis worsens!

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CONFERENCE PDP, APC bicker over DSS DG alleged partisanship

BY HENRY UMORU, ABUJA

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he war of words between the rul ing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples

Suspected armed robbers arrested with their weapons at the Police Command,Kaduna. Photos,Olu Ajayi.

Democratic Party (PDP) over alleged partisanship of the Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Alhaji Lawal Daura, continued, yesterday.

The PDP described the APC as a party of “shameless and desperate liars”, insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari must remove Daura.

It said the DSS boss is an APC member, and pointed

out that his partisanship will affect his job.

In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party noted that in appointing its member to head the DSS, a very sensitive security agency vested with numerous powers, the APC has annexed the agency as a tool to suppress the opposition and other Nigerians who hold views contrary to that of government, thus preparing the ground for dictatorship and a reign of terror on the people.

Metuh said,”No wonder we are now witnessing invasions of houses of PDP members as well as harass-

ments, arrests and detentions of electoral officers and tribunal members in Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and other PDP state where the APC is desperate to upturn our electoral victory at all cost and by any means.”

The PDP spokesperson, who lampooned the APC for sticking to what he termed as its lies and empty denials despite the overwhelming evidence that the new Director General of the DSS belongs to the APC, said, “The spate of lies chunked out by the APC in the desperation to suppress the truth is not only reprehensible but also symp-

tomatic of lack of character ”.

PDP crisis worsens! *How leadership contributed to Jonathan’s defeat – Warring staff *Accuses NWC members of corruption *APC, opposition bicker over DSS DG alleged partisanship Continued from page 1

“morally repugnant and obsessively corrupt”.

The staff also accused the leadership of the former opposition party of contributing to the defeat of erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election.

They had, on Friday, levelled some allegations against the PDP NWC which they asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, described the allegations as baseless.

But the workers launched a fresh attack, yesterday, in which they accused the PDP leadership of corrupt practices and helping to defeat Jonathan in the general elections.

The face-off between the main opposition party and the workers started after the latter said it would reduce its staff strength by 50 percent while cutting the salaries and allowances of the remaining workers by half.

In a letter from the PDP National Secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo, and addressed to all directors and administrative staff of the party, the leadership, while asking the workers to return to their respective states and prove their membership, also said, “Furthermore, establishment staff, who would remain, are required to obtain individual letters of revalidation from their state party chapters within one month of this circular as to their suitability for service at the national secretariat”.

Analyst said the staff rationalisation measures taken by the PDP leadership stemmed from the reality of a party that was once in government with access to large funds but now in opposition and cash strapped.

The embattled workers, under the aegis of the PDP Staff Welfare Association, yesterday, dismissed Metuh’s allegation that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was using them to destabilise the PDP. “We are not surprised that the allegation will become the most fashionable means of

covering tracks. The allegation is a wide window into the impressionable character of the man who has been in saddle as the party’s image-maker and an ominous signpost into the shallow manner the publicity of the party has been run”, the staff said in a statement signed by their Chair-

man, Ngozi Nzeh, and Secretary. Dan Ochu-Baiye. “ We therefore place on record that the majority of the establishment staff of the PDP are not just unrepentant members of the party who have spent over 16 years in service; who have assimilated the PDP ethos as a way of political life,

but are also the repository of the party’s institutional memory whose spirit can hardly succumb to the ephemerality of power loss”, they said.

“Who plays anti-party activities, you may ask? Staff members who are genuinely resisting the morally repugnant and obsessively corrupt NWC so that the PDP will survive or some NWC members who have the track record of anti-

Handing & taking over between COAS, Gen. Tukur Buratai & New MNJTF Commander, Maj-Gen. Ilyasu Abbah.

party activities especially the one who openly endorsed the APGA candidate in the 2013 Anambra governorship election, the subsequent denigration of PDP candidate and his chances on live television program less than 24hours after the election, even as the result was being awaited?

“Again, we have incontrovertible evidence that some of the NWC members worked assiduously against the presidential candidate of the PDP, former President Goodluck Jonathan, in the last election in order to get back at the ex-President for rejecting them in strategic campaign offices, a development which came after they had squandered 450 million naira earlier approved by President Jonathan.

“We wish to therefore advise the NWC to respond to issues raised in our Friday press briefing without which the fortunes of the party will continue to dwindle.”

OONI:

Sijuwade’s son weds today

Ife residents disagree on reasons behind Oro festival

By Gbenga Olarinoye, Osogbo

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he families of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, and the former National Emergency Management Authority, NEMA boss, Mrs Remi Olowu, will, today, join their son and daughter in holy matrimony in Lagos despite the rumoured death of the paramount ruler.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the two families resolved to proceed with the wedding programme after due consultations with friends and relations.

Meanwhile, there was disagreement between residents

of Ile-Ife yesterday on the reason behind the on-going Oro festival in the town which entered its third day today.

Many people of the ancient town, who spoke to our correspondent , believed the announcement of the festival may have been preparatory to the formal announcement of the passage of Ooni.

But some residents insisted that the festival had been scheduled to hold long before Sijuwade’s reported demise.

Media attention has been on the town since the reported demise of the Ooni on Tuesday in a London hospital.

Speaking to newsmen in IleIfe, a traditional title holder,

who preferred anonymity because he was not authorised to comment on the matter, listed Oro, Olojo, Orunmila, Edi, Oranmiyan, Esu, Obatala among others as some of the festivals celebrated in the town annually.

The chief insisted that the ongoing Oro festival had nothing to do with the “rumoured death of Oba Okunade Sijuwade.”

According to him, the ongoing festival will end on Thursday. He explained that while it lasts, there will be no restriction of movement, except for young and old females that must not see the procession of Oro adherents.

However, the door at the back of the Ooni’s palace, that normally should open at the death of the monarch, remained shut yesterday.

But a palace source explained that “since the door remains permanently closed, it means the monarch is alive.

“The closure of markets for business and ringing of a special gong to announce the death of an Ooni are two major significant signs to indicate that the monarch has joined his ancestors and these are yet to be done”.

“These have not taken place and so our belief is that our Oba is still very much alive”, he added.

PAGE 6 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

ORONSAYE: EFCC case linked to pension reform backlash

By Olalekan Bilesanmi

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HE trial of a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mr Stephen Osagiede Oronsaye, for alleged corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been situated within the context of a backlash arising from the pension reform he superintended while in office.

A source familiar with the case, at the weekend, claimed that Oronsaye may have been roped into the pension scam he uncovered as HCSF, following the report of a presidential committee on civil service reform which recommended the merger of the EFCC with similar government agencies.

Oronsaye headed the presidential committee.

The source described the charges against the former HCSF as arising from a vendetta.

To justify the vendetta claim, the source explained that at the outset of the trial of the suspects in the pension scam in 2012 with

the arraignment of a former Director of the Pension Unit in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (OHCSF), his former deputy and 30 others on 134-count charge of conspiracy, fraud, and corruption before Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Oronsaye’s name never came up.

“However, when the EFCC saw in Oronsaye ‘an enemy’, it chose to ‘revisit’ the statement of one of the suspect whom it alleged had additional information to provide. It is that additional information from the suspects who escaped mysteriously from the fortress of the EFCC that the

agency is using to try Oronsaye”, the source stated.

“The EFCC has listed companies as having benefitted from the ‘pension scam’ involving Oronsaye, yet the companies are not being put on trial. Why is the EFCC forcing people to ‘confess’ they had dealings with Oronsaye?

“If the EFCC is relying, in part, on the ‘audit report’ from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, OAUGF, from 2005-2010, where are Oronsaye’s predecessors in all of this?”

The EFCC leadership was said to have vowed to deal with Oronsaye over the civil service reform presidential

committee report “for daring to recommend the merger of the EFCC with similar agencies”.

Oronsaye was also said to have been seen as embarking on a mission to cripple the EFCC ‘financially’ by pushing for the independence of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

This no doubt infuriated the Lamorde-led EFCC, which also accused the Oronsayeled President Committee on Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of undermining the Office of the then Minister of Justice and AttorneyGeneral of the Federation by recommending that the secretariat of the NFIU be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with best practices from around other global partners”, the source added.

•L-r: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Eni Chidinma Priscilla of the national identity management body, presenting the national identification number to Vice President after he enrolled at the Presidential Villa on Friday.

Respect federal character principles, FCC boss tells Senate

By Funmi Olasupo, Abuja

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HE Acting E x e c u t i v e Chairman, Federal Character Commission, FCC, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Alkali has called on the Senate to comply with the commission’s

guidelines and formulae in areas of the provision of employment opportunities, distribution of infrastructural facilities, socio- economic amenities and other indices.

Alhaji Alkali maintained that the call was necessary because the Federal Character Commission

cannot interfere in the activities of the National Assembly saying “it is an institution on its own.”

The Acting Chairman who made the call while addressing members of the press in Abuja, added

that it is necessary for the Senate to respect Nigeria’s constitution.

He said this is with a view to guaranteeing equitable and balanced development in the country.

“We cannot interfere in the national assembly because it is an institution but we expect them to respect Nigeria’s constitution and to also adhere to FCC principle.

Recruitment consultants endorse JobConnect

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ECRUITMENT consultants on the platform of the Institute of Professional Recruitment Consultants, IPRC, Nigeria, and the Association of Professional Recruitment Consultants, APRC, UK, have endorsed JobConnect as an erecruitment services portal with capacity to meet the hiring needs of organisations who deserve the best at minimal cost.

The newly-launched portal powered by Leonadell Ltd, a human capital development and consulting outfit, disregards applicant’s prepared resume, requiring them to complete the JobConnect Employment Application Form, JEAF, online, and also incorporates simple qualitative and quantitative competency test, in sync with Nick

Odife, the Managing Director of IPRC Nigeria.

According to Mrs Chibundu Grace, a certified recruiter in Nigeria and London, “Jobconnect is the solution to the recruitment needs of organisations who not only seek to put the right pegs in the right holes but also achieve a formidable workforce that can outpace competitors within the local and international business space”.

Police raid baby factory in Asaba, arrest operator, eight pregnant girls

By Emma Amaize

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OLICE detectives, at the weekend, swooped on a suspected baby factory in Asaba, Delta State, and arrested the operator and eight pregnant girls.

In addition, a surveillance patrol team attached to the Ozoro Police Division, in the state, apprehended a pastor and a 14-year-old girl at a cemetery in the town around 10.30 pm.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the state, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said, “On 30/7/ 2015 at about 2038hrs, Police detectives from GRA Division Asaba, while acting on a tip off raided a suspected baby factory at opposite Federal Radio Corporation, Asaba and arrested its operator, one John Mary Ihezun ‘m’.

“Eight pregnant girls, namely (1) Ihezue Nkemjika, (2) Amaka Agu, (3) Isioma Anukwu, (4) Blessing Okafor, (5) Imezoma Okeke, (6) Chioma Oje, (7) Precious Ihemine, (8) Nzube

Chukwu, and two boys, one Prince Chukwu and Obum Nwankwo were also arrested from the said baby factory.

Meanwhile, investigation is in progress.”

In a related development, she said, “On 30/7/2015 at about 2230hrs, surveillance patrol team from Ozoro Division while on routine

patrol arrested one pastor of Christ Freedom Family, Amazing Grace, Ozoro, in a cemetery at Ozoro with one Chioma (f), aged 14 years.

“The suspect claimed that he was performing spiritual healing on the said Chioma to enable her attain academic prowess.

Investigation is ongoing,” she added.

Pa Alabi, ex-Ekiti Parapo College Principal, for burial

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HIEF John Oluwabayofunmi Alabi, aka Jolab, aged 85, is dead.

An educationist, community leader, retired civil servant and former Principal of Ekiti Parapo College (EPC), Ido Ekiti, Alabi was the Gbejoniyi of St. John’s African Cathedral Church, Afao, Ikere-Ekiti and pioneer member, St. James African Church, Kajola Street, Ikere-Ekiti There will be Christian wake-keep in honour of the deceased on Friday, September 4 at Jolab residence, Kajola Street, off Ado-Ikere Road, beside St. Louis Grammar School,

•Late John O. Alabi Ikere-Ekiti.

Burial service takes place on Saturday, September 5, at St. James Anglican Church, Kajola Street, Ikere Ekiti while entertainment of guests follows immediately at African Comprehensive High School, Ikere-Ekiti.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 7

THREE MONTHS TO KOGI GUBER POLL

INEC Paralysed?

•Commission can’t form quorum

By Jide Ajani

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HE

Independent

National Electoral Commission, INEC, may run into crisis as a result of its inability to effectively function as an election management body because its present composition deprives it of the statutory quorum required to take very important and sensitive decisions.

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended,

stipulates in Section 159(1) that Commissions, such as INEC, must have a quorum of one third of its members to take important top management decisions.

The National Commissioners of the Commission are 13, comprising the Chairman and 12 National Commissioners.

One third of 13 is not less than five National Commissioners.

Consequent upon the death of Prof. Akinola M. Salau, a National

Commissioner at INEC, the number of the National Commissioners have gone down to four – even without prejudice to the on-going controversy over the legitimacy of the tenure of the acting Chairperson, Mrs. Amina Zakari, a matter that is already the subject of litigation at a Federal High Court.

This is because the tenure of Mrs. Zakari, begotten in consultation with the National Council of State and confirmed by the Senate when she was

appointed ended on July 21, 2015.

The purported termination of her tenure by the Head of Service on June 30, 2015, did not follow the laid down constitutional provision.

Section 157 (1) states that “Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, a person holding any of the offices to which this section applies may only be removed from that office by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct”. None of these applied to Mrs. Zakari before the Head of Service terminated her tenure.

On the 11th of this month, few days from now, two of the National Commissioners would also disengage, leaving only one and Mrs. Zakari.

Meanwhile, Section 159 (1) states that “the quorum for a meeting of any of the bodies established by section 153 of this Constitution shall be not less than one-third of the total number of members of that body at the date of the meeting”.

In the event that the meaning of Section 159 is stretched elastically and crudely, a quorum in the event of a two-member commission gives the acting Chairman the latitude to take decisions since one of two is not less than one third.

Yet, there are some very important issues for INEC to deal with.

Among the important

CONFERENCE

•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (left) with his Ogun State counterpart, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (right) during their departure to Benin Republic with President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday. issues that remain unresolved by the Commission is the delivery of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) of a substantial number of voters.

Then there is the uncoordinated and alleged compromise of outstanding litigations in various tribunals on the

results of the just conducted general elections.

Importantly, the Kogi State governorship election is slated for November 21, 2015, and INEC, as presently constituted, runs the risk of taking decisions that would be challenged in court.

KOGI WEST: A/Court orders retrial of petition against Senator Melaiye

By Mary Lawrence

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HE appellate tribunal looking into petitions arising from the National Assembly elections in Kogi State, sitting in Abuja, last week, overruled the decision of the lower tribunal in Lokoja which threw out the case brought against the senator representing Kogi West, Senator Dino Gbenga Melaiye.

It would be recalled that shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Melaiye of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the election, the then incumbent Senator Smart Adeyemi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the result, claiming he had the highest number of valid votes cast.

The legal team of Adeyemi, which comprises of Chief Kayode Olatoke

(SAN), among others, challenged the election in court. The tribunal in Lokoja had struck out Adeyemi’s case on the grounds that his legal team failed to file a response to the claims raised by the respondents to the petition.

Dissatisfied by the ruling, the Adeyemi legal team approached the appellate tribunal, urging it to set aside the ruling of the tribunal which failed to look into the substance of the case.

Speaking after the verdict, Adeyemi expressed satisfaction with the decision of the appellate tribunal. He said his position had been vindicated that the lower tribunal didn’t look dispassionately into his case. He thanked his constituents for their support, assuring them that their mandate will be recovered.

Pa Oyefeko dies at 85

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A Solomon Temitayo Oyefeko aka ‘Baba Oye’ ‘ 85, IS DEAD. Born in Sagamu, Remo, Ogun State on the 3rd of March, 1930, Pa Oyefeko worked for some years with UAC of Nigeria, before he traveled to the United Kingdom in 1958 to further his academic pursuits.

Baba Oye, a devout Christian, was a member of both the Christian Fellowship Society of Yaba Baptist Church, and

“Egbe Itesiwaju” of First Baptist Church, Sagamu.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mojisola Oyefeko; brothers, sisters, children (Mr. Tunde Oyefeko, Mrs. Dupe Solanke, and Mrs. Yemisi Oyinlola) and grandchildren.

Burial takes place on Friday, August 21, 2015, after a service of departure at Yaba Baptist Church, Sabo, Yaba, where he was a staunch member.

PAGE 8 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

Senators hail Saraki’s reconciliatory moves

BY HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE BUJASOME A Senators have hailed the reconciliatory moves

by Senate President Bukola Saraki especially with the way and manner the he constituted committees in the Senate with membership cutting across all divide irrespective of the seeming crisis in the upper chamber.

The Senators particularly praised the Senate President’s large heartedness in giving the chairmanship of one of the two influential committees that he has constituted so far to a member of the Unity Forum.

Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, Niger North District, who commended Senator Saraki for his broadmindedness and the nonpartisan approach he has adopted in constituting the committees, said it took a peace-loving, patriotic and large-hearted leader like Saraki to continue to make reconciliatory moves aimed at harmonising all the tendencies in the legislative chamber.

Senator Jide Omoworare from Osun East, a member of the Unity Forum was last Wednesday named the chairman of the powerful Committee on Rules and

Business. Also, Senator Kabiru Marafa, the spokesman of the group, was named a member of the same committee.

Abdullahi said, “the Rules and Business Committee is the engine room of the Senate that directs the activities of the legislative house. That position given to Omoworare is so influential that it is next to being in the leadership of the Senate.”

Also speaking on the peace moves being made by the Senate President, Senator Peter Nwaboshi, Delta North, stressed that the Senate President was spreading the olive branch to those who are aggrieved by the events surrounding the emergence of the leadership of the Senate, adding, “I am indeed thrilled by the Senate President’s decision to fully reconcile the entire Senate.

He is really reaching out to all and sundry and trying to carry everybody along. I think he is the right man for the job now. That is why he is being broadminded in his choice of committee members.”

According to him, the choice of Senator Barnabas Gemade as the chairman of the Adhoc Committee on review of state of the roads and areas suffering environmental degradation

Traders protest alleged killing of members by NDLEA officials BY UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE, Aba ommercial activities C came to a halt on Friday along Faulks Road,

which leads to the Ariaria International Market, Aba, Abia State, as traders of Bakassi Line, protested alleged killing of their members by officials of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, Aba. Sunday Vanguard visited the scene of the incident at about 5:00pm yesterday and observed that both commercial banks branches and shop owners along Faulks Road, A Line, Power Line gate I and 2, Samek, Bakassi Line among others, were forced to close shop as soon as the situation got out of control.

A trader told Sunday Vanguard that two of his colleagues were hit in the shops by stray bullets from NDLEA officials who had shot at fleeing drug dealers from a nearby hideout.

He lamented that one of the persons hit by the bullet died on the spot while the other traders in the area also sustained injuries from gun shots.

The situation was said to have worsened when another group of traders brought the lifeless body of one of those hit by the bullet and dropped his corpse in front of the police station in the area.

Angered by the situation, the irate traders went after the NDLEA personnel who ran into the Ariaria Police Station for safety.

Eyewitnesses told Sunday Vanguard that efforts by the traders to gain entrance into the police station to attack the NDLEA official was foiled by the efforts of the combined team of Policemen from Abayi, Eziama and other divisions in the city who fired several teargas canisters into the air to ward off the surging traders from gaining entry into the Ariaria Police Station.

The police were later joined by soldiers who arrived the scene with about four patrol vans and an Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC, to stop the traders from carrying out reprisal attacks.

NDLEA State Commandant, Dele Akingbade, could not be reached for comments as his phone kept ringing without response.

Spokesman of the Abia State Police command, Ezekiel Udeviotu Onyeke, who confirmed the incident said the State Commissioner of Police, Habila Joshiak, had already visited the scene of the incident and called for calm.

despite his being the henchman of the Unity Forum, also shows that the Senate President wants all hands on deck in the plan to make the current Senate achieve its objective of serving the people. Senator Gemade was a former

minister of works, a position which placed him in good stead for the assignment.

For Senator Lanre Tejuosho from Ogun Central, he said Saraki deserves praises for laying emphasis on merit and ability in choosing which Senator serves in which committee or handles what assignment.

Immediate Past President of the Senate, Sen. David Mark, presenting cash award to Adole Moses, a student of the College of Education, Oju, Benue State during the 2014/ 2015 Mark Scholarship Foundation Award in Otukpo, at the weekend.

NURTW brawl: Police seize 44 suspects in Delta •ASP, Sergeant shot

BY EMMA AMAIZE FFURUN- THE E Police have arrested 44 suspects over last week’s

fracas by members of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Uvwie chapter, near Warri, Delta State.

The protesters, who attacked police officers on duty at the Dofect Motor Park, Effurun, shot an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, and a Sergeant.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Celestina Kalu, confirmed the arrest of the suspects,

yesterday.

She said, “On 29/7/2015 at about 0700hr, the Area Commander, Warr i , received information that following the change of leadership by the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Uvwie chapter, leading to the emergence of one Ariyor Francis ‘m’ as chairman, pockets of violent protests erupted in the area.”

“Based on the report, patrol teams were quickly mobilized to the scene, and at Jakpa junction, the protesters shot at the policemen, as a result of

A

BUJA – The Presidency has said that governing councils of federal universities were not among the boards of federal government institutions

policemen on duty at Dofect motor park Effurun, shooting sporadically into the air and in the process, a police sergeant was hit by stray bullet on his right elbow.

The injured policeman was rushed to Nigeria Navy Hospital Effurun for treatment.

“Meanwhile, normalcy has been restored to the area while investigation is in progress. The Command wishes to warn members of the public to always respect the law of the land and refrain from taking the law into their hands for any reason.”

PDP BoT member wants Abia Gov to cut security vote

BY ANAYO OKOLI MUAHIA—A U P e o p l e s Democratic Party [PDP]

Board of Trustee (BoT) member from Abia State, Chief Tony Ukasoanya has called on his Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, to cut down his monthly security vote which he put at “close to N1 billion”.

Ukasoanya said it would have made more impact to Abia State economy if Governor Ikpeazu had slashed his security vote instead of slashing his monthly salary which he said is less then N1 million.

In a statement he issued under the aegis of Concerned Abians for Good Governance, Ukasoanya described the governor ’s public announcement of salary cut as “mere window dressing and sheer deceit”, pointing out that “without touching the security vote amounts to nothing and cannot effect any changes

in the economy of the State”.

“The governor should come out clean and clear here by telling Abians how much his salary and allowances are and how cutting them by half will positively affect the state economy and help in paying the state civil servants’ salary.

“Unless the governor comes out to tell the people

time being.

It will be recalled that President Mohammadu Buhari on July 16, announced dissolution of Boards of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies, Institutions and GovernmentOwned Companies.

what his full package is and what he is cutting into two, the people cannot take him seriously and his actions will amount to nothing, other than windowdressing and deceit.

“We expect the governor to start on a clean slate and avoid the mistakes of last leaders of the state, but we are afraid his actions so far smacks of somebody who does not want to chart a

new and transparent course. Instead, what one sees are the old signs that signal nothing but deceit.

“A situation where one comes out to tell the people that he is cutting his salary and allowances by half without the people knowing the full package and also not touching his monthly security vote which is close to N1 billion

David Mark urges improved funding for education sector

BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI he immediate past T Senate President, Senator David Mark, has

urged improved funding for the education sector in the country in order to save the upcoming generation from oppression and manipulation.

Mark who also called on public spirited individuals to avail indigent young

Governing Councils of Federal Universities not dissolved A statement from the dissolved. They are to run as —Presidency constituted, at least for the presidential spokesman, Mr.

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

which an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) was hit on his buttocks by a bullet from one of the protesters. The victim was rushed to Central Hospital, Warri, for treatment. “ Later, the police reenforced and trailed the protesters to Agofure Motor Park on NPA –DSC express way Warri where the said protesters had gathered to cause more crisis and destruction and arrested forty-four (44) male suspects.

Some of the protesters also on the same date at about 1140hrs attacked

Femi Adesina, yesterday, said that “All Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities have been informed of this exemption through a circular issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Danladi Kifasi.”\

Nigerians scholarships to acquire formal education so as to improve themselves, spoke yesterday at the flag off of the 2014/2015 Senator David Mark Scholarship Foundation, DMSF, Awards in Otukpo.

He said, “Education for all is my passion; my prayer is that we improve the sector through improved funding so that every Nigerian of school age can be educated and saved from manipulation and oppression.

“Like wise, this foundation was set up to avail students in our state financial assistance to aid their education; I urge good spirited persons to also emulate this by sponsoring at least two students in our communities; it will go a long way to eliminate ignorance in the society.”

Earlier, chairman of the DMSF, Prof. James Alachi,

said a total of 2,100 students drawn from higher institutions and Nursing Schools in the country would benefit from this year’s award with each going home with N20,000 while several others were to receive special awards.

In his speech, the immediate past Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, noted that the country would be a better place for all if the privileged few made it a responsibility to impact the lives of the less privileged as being done by the Foundation.

In a heart rendering speech, a physically challenged beneficiary of the scheme, Francis Agboko, who is now a corp member, said after losing his parents at a tender age, “the foundation gave me education and today my life is no more repugnant.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 9

Todays America and a few more questions for U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy

By Femi Fani-Kayode

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HE United States of America funded and led the fight against tyranny and the German Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm 2nd in World War 1. She led the fight against fascism, the Axis Powers and Adolf Hitler’s Germany in World War 2.

She led theQA fight against communism, Josef Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union in the Cold War. She led the fight against Saddam Hussein in the two Gulf Wars and the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the war against terror. On all these occasions and many others, the Americans literally saved the world.

That is the United States of America that we know and love. In those days, in the conduct of their foreign policy, they led by example, they displayed solid religious values, they feared God and they stood firmly against all manner of evil.

Sadly, things appear to have changed in the last few years. Today’s America seeks to impose her culturally deviant and strange values on the rest of the world by hook or by crook.

Today’s America boastfully and openly erects statues of and builds monuments to Satan (the Lord of Destruction) in her cities, all in the name of religious freedom.

Today’s America openly celebrates the cult of humanism and the rejection of God in all its dealings and affairs. Today’s America says things like “we will compel Nigeria to accept homosexuality and gay marriage”.

Today’s America, through its Supreme Court, has redefined the institution of marriage, has rejected its traditional definition and has affirmed the right of every American to enter into same-sex marriagesa course of action which is in direct

contradiction with the Holy Bible and which is nothing less than an affront to the Living God. Today’s America has done more than any other country in the world to destabilise and topple Arab and North African secularist governments and to help spread the dreaded Wahhabi/Salifist philosophy, jihadist terror and Islamic fundamentalism.

Today’s America has isolated the State of Israel and has pampered and appeased the traditional enemies of the Jewish state more than any other.

Today’s America has provoked and alienated Russia, caused a civil war in the Ukraine, divided Eastern Europe, increased tensions and nuclear proliferation amongst the world powers and made the world a far more dangerous and unstable place.

Today’s America has a police force that slaughters blacks for sport and has a military that indulges in the systematic torture and rape of prisoners of war. Today’s America gives sodomy a pride of place in the affairs of men. I could go on and on.

So much has gone wrong in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. So much has gone awry in “God’s own country” and all of it has happened under the watch and during the tenure of office of a suave, goodlooking, elegant, eloquent, brilliant and seemingly gentle, humble and pious African-American President who first rode to power in 2008 on the slogan, “Yes we can”.

Little did we know at that time that “Yes we can” actually meant “anything goes”.

Yet despite all these challenges and conflicting signals one thing remains clear: Many of us, including this writer, still love America and we always will.

Our admonitions and observations are made out of love and concern and not out of

anger or hatred. Let us pray that the USA gets back up there again where she belongs.

Let us pray that she turns back to God and that her glory is restored. Let us hope that in 2016 the American people elect a President that “knows God”, fears Him and stands in awe of Him. Meanwhile I have a few more questions for U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy.

The United States of America, both directly and through their regional allies like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait and various other Arab Gulf states, supplied millions of dollars’ worth of arms to the vicious Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation known as the Al Nusra Front three years ago in Syria in an attempt to get rid of President Bashir Al Assad. Did they forget about the

Leahy Act then?

Did they not recognise the fact that when Al Nusra was going from town to town wiping out whole civilian populations, including women and children, and openly cutting out and eating the hearts of their victims, it was a gross violation of human rights? Worse still, they filmed their barbarous behavior and proudly aired it on the internet.

The Al Nusra Front was to later transmute into the beast called ISIS and the rest is history. Who created, funded and fed that beast at the initial stage? Who encouraged them at the outset? Was it not America?

Come to think of it, who funded and created Al Qaeda itself and who supported and armed Osama Bin Ladin to resist and fight the Soviets in Afghanistan right from the start? Was it not America?

Again, who supported and funded Saddam Hussein in the early years and who sold him millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to fight a war against Iran in an attempt to topple Ayatollah Khomeni after the Iranian revolution? Was it not America?

Where was U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy on all these occasions? Did he lose his voice?

Was he on vacation in Hawaii? Did he complain about the atrocities and human rights violations committed by the Al Nusra Front, Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein at the appropriate times?

In particular, why was he so silent about the atrocities of Al Nusra three years ago and why did he not call them ‘’rapists and murderers’’ in the same way that he called our soldiers?

Why was his celebrated Leahy Act not invoked to stop the Obama administration from supplying arms to the Al Nusra Front in the same way that it was invoked to stop them from supplying arms to our armed forces?

Senator Leahy should explain that one away to the world instead of insulting the sensibilities of our people. Who is kidding who? *Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation

Missing Plane MH-370: Anxiety trails ‘recovery of debris’

By Tony Nwankwo, with agency reports

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HE wing component found on an Indian Ocean island is now in mainland France city of Toulouse for full investigation. Officials confirmed the airplane debris found on the coast of the island of Reunion belongs to a Boeing 777, raising hopes that it could be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370. Additional new debris was found oFf the beaches of Reunion including a suitcase, which is being examined for any connection to Flight MH 370.

Last Wednesday, a piece of airplane debris was found on the coast of the French island of Reunion, an island near Madagascar.

And speculation soon arose that it belonged to the missing flight MH 370. The debris was tentatively identified as possibly belonging to a piece of the wing of a Boeing 777, the same type of plane as MH 370.

Malaysian Deputy Travel Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, last Friday, confirmed that the debris was from a Boeing 777, noting that investigators found the matching part number “657 BB” on the debris. “From the part number, it is confirmed that it is from a Boeing 777 aircraft,” Kaprawi said. The debris is a flaperon – a wing component – of a Boeing 777.

However, identifying the type of aircraft is only half the battle. As investigators and officials have stated, the serial number of the part will need to be found in order to confirm the aircraft the debris came from.

Still, many are hopeful that this new debris could help investigators determine what happened to flight MH 370.

“It’s the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found. It’s too early to make that judgment, but clearly we are treating this as a major lead,” said Australian Transport

Minister, Warren Truss.

While in France, the flaperon will undergo testing. Meanwhile, searchers are combing the beaches of Reunion and a reinvigorated search effort has begun in the Indian Ocean.

One beach cleaner discovered a suitcase, though its origin remains unknown, and an empty bottle of Chinese mineral water.

Another found an empty bottle of detergent made in Indonesia.

“We are searching all the time now. I hope to find something that will definitely be from the plane so that the families can

have some relief from their mourning,” said Johnny Begue, one of the many searching the shore for any evidence.

France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the origin of the wing part remains unclear, and that the French justice system currently has responsibility for it and will cooperate with international authorities investigating last year’s disappearance of MH370.

A sister of a Flight 370 passenger says she is skeptical that the crusty wing part

found on an island in the western Indian Ocean is from the Malaysia Airlines plane.

Boeing said it is sending experts to France.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board also said it will travel to take part in the probe Dai Shuqin told newsmen: “It has been more than one year, and now they claim to have found debris of MH370 on an island?

We don’t accept this. We do not believe what they claim. The finding does not constitute anything.”

Experimental Ebola vaccine could stop virus

By Tony Nwankwo, with agency reports

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N experimental vaccine tested on thousands of people in Guinea, exposed to Ebola, seems to work and might help shut down the ongoing epidemic in West Africa, according to interim results from a study published at the weekend.

There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the world’s biggest outbreak began in the forest region of Guinea last year.

“If proven effective, this is going to be a game-changer,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the study.

“It will change the management of the current outbreak and future outbreaks.”

Scientists have struggled for years to develop Ebola treatments and vaccines but have faced numerous hurdles, including the sporadic nature of outbreaks. Many past attempts have failed, including a recently abandoned drug cocktail being tested in

West Africa by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals.

Researchers gave one dose of the new vaccine, developed by the Canadian government, to more than 4,000 people who were contacts of confirmed Ebola cases within 10 days of being identified. In comparison, more than 3,500 contacts of other Ebola cases got the shot after a 10-day delay. In the group that received the vaccine immediately, there were no Ebola cases versus 16 cases in people who got delayed vaccination. The vaccine has since been licensed to Merck. The study was published online Friday in the journal Lancet.

An expert group monitoring the study’s data and safety recommended the trial be stopped on July 26 so that everyone exposed to Ebola in Guinea could get immunized.

The vaccine uses an Ebola protein to prompt the body’s immune system to attack the virus.

“It looks to be about as safe as a flu vaccine,” said Ben Neuman, a virologist at the University of Reading who was not part of the trial. Researchers are still assessing possible side effects; the most serious seemed

to be fever and the stress experienced by patients who believe such symptoms were due to Ebola.

“This (vaccine) could be the key that we’ve been missing to end the outbreak,” Neuman said. “I don’t see any reason on humanitarian grounds why it should not be used immediately.” He said further tests would be necessary to see if the vaccine might also protect pregnant women, children and adolescents; those trials are already under way.

WHO vaccines expert Marie-Paule Kieny said having an effective immunization might avert future disasters but added it would still take months to get the shot licensed.

“Using a tool like this vaccine, we would be able to stop the epidemic from going really wild and spreading further,” she told reporters, noting that stamping out future outbreaks still depends on early detection.

WHO first identified Ebola in Guinea last March but did not declare the epidemic to be a global emergency until August, when the virus had killed nearly 1,000 people.

PAGE 10—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUAT 2, 2015 case which will end with Justices declaring that “our hands are tied”. But, before we reach that point, a few observations are necessary.

One of the greatest tragedies in life occurs when someone actually gets what he wants only to be confronted with

Saraki on tiger’s back needs help (1) “Police confirm Senate forgery.” published on July 26, 2015, by a national daily.

“There was a young lady of Riga/ who [jumped] with a smile on a tiger/ they returned from the ride/ with the lady inside/ and the smile on the face of the tiger.”

Limerick.

Anonymous. ast month, about three weeks after Senator Saraki and Honourable Dogara caught everybody by surprise and pulled off the civilian equivalent of a political coup against the leadership of their party, I published an article titled SARAKI PROVOKES MOTHER OF MEDIA WARS. Since then, nothing, not even President Buhari’s visit to the US, or the announcement about one million barrels of oil being stolen by officials had pushed the fall-outs of that step by dissidents within the All Progressive

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Congress, APC, off the front pages.

The announcement by the Nigeria Police “confirming” a forgery of the documents of the National Assembly, NASS, was, to me a foregone conclusion. It would have amounted to a miracle of the twentyfirst century if the police found nothing. The matter is now pushed to the two courts operating in any democratic society – the law courts which have the Supreme Court as its head and the court of public opinion. So, a monumental legal battle had been super-imposed on the media war.

Already, a new dimension had been added to a political conflict which would certainly consume more than those directly involved. The integrity of the judicial branch of government will be tested to its limits. One certainly hopes this is not another

Let your health be your wealth "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."

— Hippocrates et the truth be known that many of us are more concerned about our outlook appearances than what is going on inside us.

When it comes to our health, we often do not prioritise it as our number one. In fact, it is often consigned to number four or five on the list. We are often chasing money, prestige, adulation, and physical trappings of wealth more than being concerned about health.

We often switch off, whenever health is mentioned. Our self-denial is costing us dearly; high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer. Last month in the UK, the month of July was dedicated to ethnic minority cancer awareness month and I ran some sessions on raising awareness about bowel cancer.

Over the years, concerns were raised about the health of black people and more so in diaspora, where you assume that with better health care facilities that

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people will readily present to the doctor when there is a concern about their health. No, sadly this is not the case. In the UK and US, the health of black people is far worse than the white population.

What we know, is the black community suffers poorer health than any other groups. They do not access health care services nor do they present early but are more likely to present later when their health has rapidly deteriorated. This is mainly due to lack of awareness, health inequalities, denial, poverty and our culture.

Sadly, many black people tend to be diagnosed when the disease is more advanced, which can lead to poorer survival rates. In a country like Nigeria, where the poor cannot afford good health care, health promotion should be the cornerstone of a good and robust health care programme. But it is not as those that have money go abroad for their health care needs. It is left for the majority to look after their own health and their family. Sometimes, it seems that people are more

unpleasant and unforeseen consequences.

An old man, who hosted me, late Mr Amo, living in Melrose, Massachusetts, USA, in 1969, said, several times, “Be careful what you pray

landed on my laps free of charge. Never again will I pray for anything without at the same time pleading with God not to grant my wish if it would end in disaster.

Certainly, when Senator Bukola Saraki reached for the Senate President’s chair, he could not possibly have imagined that he would unleash a political war which would claim as one of its victims his loving and loved wife. As she now chats with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which has now received a new lease on life, facing charges of money-laundering, for transactions completed years ago, Mrs Saraki must be wondering if the Senate Presidency is worth all the anguish she now experiences. She must certainly be aware that

One of the greatest tragedies in life occurs when someone actually gets what he wants only to be confronted with unpleasant and unforeseen consequences for, you might just get it and regret getting it.” At the time, I thought the old man was suffering from what Shakespeare, 15641616, described “second childishness”. How on earth could a prayer answered become a source of remorse? Forty-six years after, I now realize that one of the most profound ideas had

most Nigerians, believing in jungle justice, and also hungry and angry, accept mere allegation as proof of guilt. They are not waiting for any court to give verdict; they have declared the poor woman guilty.

That is one of the early tragedies which had got the APC government off to a start which nobody expected when the alliance

concerned about survival, that there is no room for medical intervention.

Much so the pity.

In the US, 43% of African descents do not know anything about breast screening and prostate cancer and yet breast and prostate cancer kills more black men and women.

What we know is that many black women say they are not sure what to look for when examining their breasts and black men,

that give unto Caesar ’s, which is Caesar, there is room for every intervention.

In the UK, black men are seven times more likely to get prostate cancer in later life, they are also likely to get type 2 diabetes and most of this often runs in families and yet the family refuses to get checked or become aware of the family component to prevent and arrest the disease. We are very poor at promoting public health awareness

In the US, 43% of African descents do not know anything about breast screening and prostate cancer and yet breast and prostate cancer kills more black men and women well; they would not examine their scrotum to check for changes. Many of our people believe that cancers only happen to white people or those that do not pray hard enough... it often noted that when cancer is first diagnosed, a black person is more likely to head to church for spiritual deliverance rather than medical intervention, they are also less likely to share their health condition with anyone even their closest family member or friends.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in seeking spiritual support but it is important to seek medical intervention for a physical ailment. After all it is true

amongst our communities when it does not come to screening, nor do we know where to go (other than the church) and to get help.

Once again, let me assure you that, like most cancers, if caught early, are treatable and have good survival rates. Last month in the UK was bowel cancer awareness month and we highlighted the importance to screen early.

Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer or colon cancer, is any cancer that affects the colon (large bowel) and rectum (back passage). It usually grows very slowly over a period of up to 10 years, before it starts to spread and affect other parts of the body.

What to look for - persistent bleeding and blood found in

was being formed.

Senator Saraki is now hanging on the horns of a self-created dilemma.

Irrespective of the decision he makes, to step down or to stay put, he will henceforth be regarded as a traitor by a large segment of the APC. Yet, it is doubtful that he can return to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and be trusted – giving the fact that he was accused of decamping because his presidential ambition was impossible to realize with Jonathan in the saddle. Indeed, his return to the PDP might deepen his wife’s problems as well as his own. Today, it is the wife who is being accused, almost six years after they left government house. What prevents the same EFCC from raking up charges against him?

As one former Governor in the Southwest told me confidentially, “Dele, there is nobody who ever held the offices of President, Governor or Minister against who a case cannot be made; because nobody is perfect.”

Meanwhile, those who mocked Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when the “palace coup” occurred, calling him a local champion, upstaged by more savvy politicians, might have been hasty in their observations.

Saraki might turn out to have been rash rather than strategic. It might become a very costly mistake in the end. With

regard to war, retired General Omar Bradley had in the early years of the Vietnam War described it as “the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time”. He was shouted down when the Americans were winning; until they lost. Yankees forgot what Richard Neustadt, had written in POWER AND PRESDENTS, that “the only battle that counts is the last battle”. Saraki won the first battle. But, it would appear that the tide of conflict is changing rapidly against him. The two options open to him are fraught with danger for his political survival.

Whether he stays on or steps down, he will need help from outside the political parties – neither of them will be merciful in dealing with him. “A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies” (Wilde, 18561900, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS) …

the stool, unexplained rapid weight loss, extreme tiredness and a painful lump in the stomach area.

Blood in the stool should not be confused with piles and constipation. In particular, where there is dark blood mixed with the stool is more likely to be due to cancer.

The main risk factors in bowel cancer are such as red meat, goat, beef, duck, pork and lamb, obesity, type 2 diabetes, alcohol consumption and lack of physical activities. Be mindful of the way it is cooked especially when it comes to barbeque or roasting as the process itself can be cancer causing.

Age is another risk factor as the older one gets, the more risk of contracting bowel cancer, this is not to say it does not occur in young people but majority of bowel cancer cases, is amongst the older people over 55 years. So the older one gets the more likelihood of getting bowel cancer. It is important to know the family medical history as it does have some family connection especially in first-degree relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, children) or many other family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, cousins) have had bowel cancer. Family connection does double the average risk of bowel cancer.

If one has a condition called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, may develop chronic

inflammation of the large intestine, which increases the risk of colon cancer. IBD is not the same as irritable bowel syndrome.

How do you get tested?

First of all, see your doctor then you may be required to do a stool sample screen and that can detect if there is blood in the faecal matter.

The Faecal occult blood test (FOBT is an effective way to show if there is any sign of polyps or cancer. A positive FOBT test, meaning that blood is found in the faeces, can be from causes other than a colon polyp or cancer, including bleeding in the stomach or upper GI tract and even ingestion of rare meat or other foods.

The next step is going for a colonoscopy, which is a flexible, lighted tube called a colonoscopy is inserted into the rectum and the entire colon to look for polyps or cancer. During this procedure, a doctor can remove polyps or other tissue. This is the only screening test that allows the removal of polyps, which can also prevent colorectal cancer. If has been diagnosed, depending on the stage of the cancer from stage one to stage four. If it is at stage one to two, where the plops are still within lining of the stomach walls then a surgical operation is needed to have removal of the cancerous cells and the prognoses during the stage is over 85% of survival after five years.

If on the other hand if it had spread from the lining to the lymph nodes and to major organs then , it would need extra medical intervention.

FELLOW NIGERIANS, PREPARE FOR $40 PER BARREL OIL IN 2016.-- 1 “The sky is falling.”

There is no objection here to President Buhari taking his time to make appointments. But, next years budget must be based on a benchmark of not more than $40 per barrel.

The dire consequences for the Nigerian economy must be addressed immediately. Dynamic global economic variables don’t wait for any nation. They must be addressed speedily.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 11

Nigeria’s Concept of VIPs

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he term VIPs which stands for ‘Very I m p o r t a n t Personalities’ is used in some parts of the world especially Africa to refer to distinguished persons but in Nigeria it is used to identify persons who operate without recourse to law. In other words, in Nigeria, VIPs are persons above the law- a piece of evidence that the country is not yet a democracy. This is because in a democracy, the rule of law according to A. V. Dicey, the scholar best known with the principle, presupposes that everyone is equal before the law. It was this principle that immediately occurred to me a few days ago when I read media reports that the convoy of our former first lady, Patience Jonathan was stopped from taking her to the foot of ‘her’ aircraft on the tarmac of the Port Harcourt International Airport, by the Federal

Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). A report credited to FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate

There are therefore different types of VIPs in Nigeria who make life unbearable for the common man.

Will President Buhari be able to convert Nigeria into a country where ‘no man is oppressed’?

Affairs, Yakubu Dati, stated that the security officials who stopped the former first lady ’s convoy from gaining access to the tarmac where her aircraft was parked were only abiding by international safety standards.

The statement by FAAN sought to refute the insinuation that Mrs. Jonathan was stopped on account of orders from

manage to fly with the ‘commoners’ are regularly seen being brought to the foot of a plane or taken from there in luxury vehicles while the rest of us go by the official buses to the arrival halls. Because the buses are sometimes unavailable, passengers are ‘permitted’ to walk all through the tarmac to board their flights, the ICAO regulation

PhD,Depar tment of Philosophy, University of Lagos 08116759758 opuruiche2000@yahoo.com

$13 billion. In fact, the President’s media aides at every opportunity proclaim that American investors would soon be in the country to explore business opportunities. Unfortunately, they failed to reckon with the fact that the image of a hideously corrupt country Buhari projected in America has degraded Nigeria considerably. Relentless denigration of Jonathan’s government as corrupt and incompetent may boomerang by discouraging investors from establishing businesses in Nigeria. Specifically, serious genuine entrepreneurs from the United States and elsewhere would be afraid to invest in a country whose President claims that about $150 billion is stolen annually.

In my view, by constantly dredging up the failures of his predecessor publicly, President Buhari and his supporters are cutting their faces to spite their own noses as well.

Moreover, APC leaders are mistaken in thinking that it is proper to denigrate Jonathan’s government thoroughly such that any achievement by the current administration no matter how insignificant would seem more impressive to Nigerians than it actually is. They should learn one or two lessons from the way successive American Presidents treat their predecessors. For example, former President G.W. Bush committed grievous errors of judgment while in office. His eagerness to dislodge Saddam Hussein of Iraq led the US into a needless war that, overall, has cost America about $1 trillion. Besides, the 2008 economic meltdown in the US was largely the result of inappropriate economic policies by the Bush administration. Yet, even in the charged atmosphere of electioneering campaigns

Going to America: The Buhari-APC style (1)

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RESIDENT Muhammadu B u h a r i ’ s vuvuzelised state visit to the United States has been generating a lot of commentary in the media.

Expectedly, the key issue people are arguing about is the possible benefit of the event to Nigerians as the new government struggles to overcome multi-faceted economic, security and infrastructural challenges facing the country at this time.

The debate is in order, given that bilateral engagements between two countries at the highest level of political decision-making sometimes have serious consequences particularly for countries at the lower levels of the pecking order in the international arena.

According to appointees of the President and leading members of All Progressives Congress (APC), the visit was a resounding success. On the other hand, non-partisan Nigerians dissatisfied with the higgledypiggledy style of governance since President Buhari assumed office in May 29 would interpret it as a placebo or public relations display to make gullible Nigerians think that President Barak Obama is indeed favourably disposed to the current dispensation and would fully cooperate with it to repatriate stolen funds back to Nigeria, liquidate Boko Haram, and attract American investment into the Nigerian economy.

One of the so-called benefits of President Buhari’s visit to

above adding that the action was merely in line with the specific regulation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which disallows people from driving on the tarmac to the foot of the aircraft. Of course, FAAN was being clever by half with such rationalization because we all know that the regulation it is relying upon does not apply to every Nigerian. Practically on a daily basis, we see many Nigerian VIPs who are too rich to travel by domestic flights being specially conveyed to their personal ones which litter our airports like motor parks. Even those who

America is the announcement of a plan by the World Bank to provide $2.1 billion dollar rehabilitation package for the North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe that have been ravaged by Boko Haram. Presently, details concerning the loan are sketchy. However, from what is known about World Bank’s relationship with underdeveloped countries, Nigerians should think carefully before celebrating the announcement.

Essentially, the World Bank, like other financial institutions owned by Western neocolonialist powers, was created with the main objective of maintaining the economic superiority of developed Western countries led by the United States over non-Western countries especially in Africa. Therefore, although it is desirable to rehabilitate expeditiously those areas devastated by Boko Haram, the federal government should rigorously analyse the conditionalities” attached to the loan facility to avoid mistakes of the past on foreign borrowing.

Certainly, the loan will increase our foreign debt overhang, which would worsen Nigeria’s vulnerability to the dictates of Western imperialist agenda.

It is difficult to ascertain exactly how much investments the President’s visit attracted to Nigeria.

According to some media reports, the cumulative financial inflow into Nigeria because of the visit is about

notwithstanding. Going by the Nigerian meaning of VIPs, it would therefore be difficult to explain to a former first lady who still has a convoy that there is a regulation which disallows her to break a rule!

The argument that former President Goodluck Jonathan, in his recent trips from the same airport, had had to walk to the aircraft from the protocol lounge, in recognition of the said ICAO regulation will still not suffice because the man and his wife are not the same type of VIPs. How can we forget the recent history of how in her days in office as the first lady in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Mrs. Jonathan was also a Permanent Secretary in the Yenogoa based Bayelsa State Government?

It is similarly difficult to just quickly erase from our memories that the lady often organized several ‘peace’ rallies in Abuja for which security operatives appropriated the collective freedom of all residents of the city. Several times, such operatives were strategically located to determine what roads to block at the expense of public liberty to establish the first lady’s importance.

Other VIPs have always enjoyed such anti-people disposition in Nigeria.

Indeed, the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999 came with the term ‘VIP Movement’-a term which refers to the keeping of the ordinary man at a

standstill for longer than makes sense whenever the powerful is around. Its worst form was observed with air travels where flights can neither take-off nor land because certain big men and their spouses plan to also fly so many hours later. At its height, ‘Non-VIP’ passengers prayed daily for their flights not to crash while roving around in the sky to make room for easy and safe VIP movements.

State governors also contribute to the animal farm type of movements in Nigeria especially within the seat of power-Abuja.

They all have offices and r e s i d e n t i a l accommodation in the city where they actually spend more days than in their state capitals so as to appropriately monitor and personally take delivery of the monthly federal allocation. Unfortunately, it leaves Abuja residents with the dilemma of coping with 37 siren formations all whipping the people off the roads. Many privileged Nigerians listed in the ‘Order of Precedence Act’ are also part of this scheme which turns the ordinary citizen into an object rather than the subject of governance. An obvious piece of evidence that the feature is avoidable is the fact that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) who is the over-all head of one of the three arms of government is not part of it. Anyone can actually drive past him

before realizing it was him.

He is usually not even accompanied by a convoy let alone those who blow sirens ceaselessly to herald the movement of a Nigerian type of VIPs. What this suggests is that the recklessness of a convoy has the tacit approval of its principal.

Anyone who, like this writer, frequently travels on our highways may have come across some VIPs who probably have standing instructions to their convoys to avoid over speeding. To please their masters, such convoys move below the recommended speed of 100km but they add a new dimension of not allowing any vehicle to overtake them. Thus, they choose their preferred travelling mode which they impose on other road users by implementing a new speed limit for all. There are therefore different types of VIPs in Nigeria who make life unbearable for the common man.

Will President Buhari be able to convert Nigeria into a country where ‘no man is oppressed’? That is probably part of the change some of us look up to as sanity gradually returns to our polity. Luckily, the President had said he would obey traffic regulations. We hope the pressures of office will not prevent him from knowing whenever his convoys decide to put him in the group of Nigeria’s VIPs

and after he was sworn in as President, Barak Obama hardly mentioned his predecessor’s shortcomings.

Instead, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work by implementing policies and programmes that actually improved America’s economy, which remains the largest in the world despite fierce competition from China. Meanwhile, Buhari and APC’s media machine are still responding to the serious challenges of governance as if they are campaigning for votes, constantly quibbling about

America is open to criticisms from several angles. To begin with, let us consider the composition of his delegation.

In my view, going on a state visit with his son, Yusuf Buhari, is nepotic because there is no good reason why the young man should accompany his father on such a visit. Yusuf is neither an official of government nor a technocrat whose expertise would be required during discussions between the Nigerian delegation and the Americans.

Some commentators claim that it is part of presidential privilege for Buhari to choose anyone to accompany him on a foreign trip. Still, in leadership, public perception of a leader is usually as important as, if not more important than, reality itself.

Generally, our top public officials do not always differentiate between their personal idiosyncrasies and public interest while exercising the prerogatives of their office, a major weakness that leads to misuse of public funds and assets. During the electioneering campaigns, Buhari excoriated Jonathan and his subordinates for nepotic abuse of public office.

Nevertheless, the appointment of Amina Zakari, who is closely connected with the President, as acting chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and inclusion of his son in the group that went to the US indicate that Buhari is swimming dangerously close to the murky waters of nepotism.

It is interesting to note the complete silence in the media about the cost of the President’s trip to Washington.

It is as if the cost of travelling out of the country with a huge delegation by a sitting President is no longer an issue that warrants critical discussion as was the case

during the tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Remember, Buhari went to America with a 33-member delegation. Therefore, the relevant question is, how much did the federal government spend in organising that trip, including estacodes paid to each member of the delegation and other expenditures connected with the visit? What criteria were used in selecting state governors and other politicians that travelled with the President? Going by the way our leaders waste public funds, millions of dollars must have been spent on the trip, which raises the question whether President Buhari really intends to reduce wastage of public funds by minimising the frequency of official foreign trips by top officials of government and the number of people that go on such travels. Buhari could have achieved better results with a 20-member delegation at most. If he had appointed top class ministers, he probably would have gone to America with a few of them from the relevant ministries such as finance and economic development, justice, defence, and commerce and industry, together with some creative Nigerian businesspersons who can engage with key players in the US economy.

To be candid, it is very difficult to justify the inclusion of Rochas Okorocha, Adams Oshiomhole, Tanko Al Makura and other politicians in the delegation that travelled to America with the President.

President Buhari’s US visit seems to me like a colonial subject who went to pay tribute to his master and present a checklist of demands so that the colony entrusted to him would be managed better to meet the expectations of the colonial overlord.

To be concluded.

The relevant question is, how much did the federal government spend in organising that trip, including estacodes paid to each member of the delegation and other expenditures connected with the visit? What criteria were used in selecting politicians that travelled with the President? how corrupt former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was, and about who would be probed and who would not be probed.

Buhari’s penchant for castigating his immediate predecessor is aptly captured by the Igbo aphorism, ike oru gwu nwata, ike oga akara ya mma (if a child is tired of working, he spoils for a fight).

President Buhari’s trip to

PAGE 12—SUND AY 12—SUNDA

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

SHOCKING !

I lost over N1 billion in one game

—Adebutu, Baba Ijebu promoter

•Sa ys lo tt o is the st oc k •Says lott tto stoc ock exchange of the ordinar ordinaryy man

BY ABIODUN ALADE

He started as a saleman of a pharmaceutical company after his secondary education in 1955. While with the firm, he rose to the position of Sales manager for the then Lagos and Western region, made up of the present-day Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states.

But in 1963, he left the company to start his own small business. This was influenced by a book he read which encouraged entrepreneurship.

“I worked briefly with Classic Chemical Limited, a pharmaceutical company produced Andrew’s Liver Salt, Cafenol and all of that.

I worked as a salesman and rose to the position of Sales Manager for the Western Region and Lagos. I stumbled on a book which says whatever job you are doing, you have to leave, either you quit or they give you the boot. It went further to say that in a little business of your own, when you leave it, you leave it to yourself. That inspired me and I decided to be on my own,” he noted in an interview with Sunday Vanguard.

He chose to be an entrepreneur in an odd area.

Having no capital, he looked for a business that required little or no capital and what came to his mind was to be a pools agent.

“There was the challenge of finance because the money was not there to start a business. So I had o think about a job that required little or no money to start and what came to my mind was pools agency because, as an agent, all you need is a book, a pen and a small table,” he recalled.

He started his life as an

entrepreneur- a pools agent.

Later, he went into partnership with his friend, the late Chief Solomon Adebayo Ayoku, and, within a short time, they became household names with their famous Face- to-Face Pools.

Many people know him as Baba Ijebu but his real name is Kessington Adebutu. He sits atop the multi-million Naira betting business – Premier Lotto (Baba Ijebu).

Adebutu, a project management and business development expert, has full ownership of investments in a number of organisations like Face- to-Face Pools, Kessington Industries, AfriPrints Limited and Kessington Foundation.

He was born on October 24, 1935 at Iperu Remo in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State. He completed his primary

I started with pools, so I am used to the shock in any game. We have lost over one billion naira in one game before, but I am used to the shock. Lotto is like mutual contribution, so we get commission as the collector

•Adebutu

education in 1942 and had his secondary education between 1951 and 1955.

The billionaire is currently the Financial Director, Premier Lotto Nigeria Limited PLL. PLL, also known as Baba Ijebu, is a gaming company incorporated in 2001 and was established to carry out lotto business in Nigeria.

“The public gave it to me.

Funny enough, people have forgotten my family name.

People think that is my name. It’s not my making.

It’s not the name given to me by my father. It’s a nickname from the public and our satisfied customers and, of course, I am from Ijebu; maybe that explains it better,” he said about his famous Baba Ijebu alias.

Obviously, the prudence with which he managed his resources has helped him in his journey, especially during challenges. It has not all been rosy for him in the lotto business as many think. The business has suffered losses on many occasions; in fact, in the early 60, more than 95 percent of pools business in the country was killed when the entire coupon won. Even the Federal Government-

sponsored Niger Pools couldn’t survive the loss but Adebutu is still standing tall.

“I started with pools, so I am used to the shock in any game. We have lost over one billion naira in one game before, but I am used to the shock. Lotto is like mutual contribution, so we get commission as the collector.

People win certain percentage of our total gain. Definitely small percentage is left for us”.

He loves pools gaming, lotto gaming and he does not see it as fraudulent. He believes that lotto has empowered a good number of young people and dissuaded them from heinous acts.

“The influence of gaming is enormous. People that have reservations are getting it wrong. I keep saying it that gaming is the stock exchange of the ordinary man on the street. At the stock exchange, people buy shares and, as we have seen, the shares crash at times. Similarly, when you game, you can win or lose but, at least, it gives the ordinary man hope and that stops them from any nonsense. We have also taken so many thugs out of the streets and they are useful to them-

selves, their families and the society at large,” he noted further.

To underscore his point, he disclosed that six of his children are working with Premier Lotto.

Baba Ijebu, as he is fondly called, will join the octogenarian club in October. On how he keeps fit and able to manage his companies at that age, he states, “The secret is that everything in moderation. Everything should be in moderation. I do all the ‘evils’ in the world but in moderation,” he said with a smile.

The billionaire pools magnate urged young entrepreneurs to learn how to grow their business.

“Young people should learn to crawl before they walk. Young people are always too much in haste but you must learn to crawl before you walk,” the multibusiness owner submitted.

A philanthropist to the core, he established the Kessington Adebutu Foundation to cater for the less privileged. The foundation also provides supports for hospitals and schools. He has built many structures across the country, including the Kesington Adebutu House in Abuja donated to the Radio, Television and Theatre Workers Union (RATTAWU); an accident and emergency centre at Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilisan Remo; Science laboratory block at Tai Solarin College of Education; a radio station for Lagos state university (LASU) to mention a few.

Adebutu sponsors secondary school debate, football competition and there is also a vocational centre for training the youths in vocation of their choice.

He said that he is always willing to give back to the society as a way of showing appreciation to God, whom he noted has blessed him beyond his labour.

“It is God’s grace, that is why our office reception is full of people. I should appreciate God. That is why I give back to the society, the less privileged. God has done wonders in my life.

Some people work harder than I do and not getting the result. At my age, I should be living on my reserve, my pension, but I thank God, at my age, I’m still making money. Im very grateful to God, I don’t hide it,” he added while receiving an award from Chioma Lina Okafor-led Youth Advancement for Qualitative Education, promising to support the group in its drive to advance the cause of qualitative education in the country.

SUNDAY

BY GABRIEL OLAWALE

Man, 64, Man 64, blind, bereaved and begging for a living

H

E was not born blind, but Jimoh Idris Ajibaye has spent more than quarter of his sojourn on earth in perpetual darkness. An encounter with the 64-year-old former tipper driver evokes a strong emotion of a man shortchanged by fate.

Before he lost his sight under mysterious circumstances 24 years ago, Ajibaye, was well known as a vibrant and enterprising Nigerian. He struggled, like millions of his other compatriots, to eke out a reasonable life for himself and his family.

But like a thief in the night, darkness came upon the middleaged man in broad daylight, turning his world of brightness into an inky blackness. With his sight gone, Ajibaye lost his job, lost his home and lost his hope for a better tomorrow.

The once-prosperous man became impoverished practically overnight and Life for the father of four and his family changed forever. As if this calamity was not bad enough, he lost his wife and the only male child among his four children.

Life took on a totally different meaning. Blind, bereaved, but not broken, Ajibaye did not relent. With gratitude to God, he says but for his remaining three daughters, he would have been completely alone in this world.

Time passed and one by one, his daughters grew up, got married and moved into their husband’s houses, leaving Ajibaye all to himself. Alone and with hardly anyone to attend to his beck and call, life took on am even harsher note as it became very difficult for him to get proper care.

But being a staunch Muslim, Ajibaye strongly believes that the will of God will prevail. His faith in the power of divine healing, reformation and restoration remains unshakeable. However, the sexagenarian who has spent 24 years of his life blind has lost count of the numerous efforts to ensure he regains his sight, but the situation remains the same.

Narrating his ordeal, Ajibaye told Sunday Vanguard that not

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 13

On that fateful day, I took a tipper-load of sand to Teslim Balogun Stadium. I also drove back to the garage without incident, but as I attempted to alight from the truck, my partial sight suddenly went blank again

once did he ever imagine he would go blind, “I was a tipper driver and my work was to load sand for customers and help them delivered it on site. Everything started on the 5th of May, 1991. I was at our loading park at Coconut at Apapa, Lagos. It was around 9.00 in the morning.

“After I finished my breakfast, I was about to get into my truck to commence the day’s work, when observed that I was not seeing clearly. I thought it was just a minor thing that would pass, but in just a matter of minutes, my sight went off completely. That was how I became blind.”

As a result of his incapacitation, he

PAS ASTTOR EKE AATT 40

‘Why I celebrated birthday at maximum security prison’

BY MARY LAWRENCE

S

ome Nollywood stars joined Pastor Chris Eke of Word and Spirit Assembly, Ijegun, Lagos, as he marked his 40th birthday, penultimate Saturday, with the inmates of Hearts of Gold Children Hospice and Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, Lagos.

At the Heart of Gold Children Hospice, Eke shared good moments with the kids.

The pastor was accompanied by Nollywood stars, Chinyere Winifred, Amaechi Muonagor, Ebere Okaro.

Muonagor said: “This visit has opened my eyes and I was devastated. I saw so many beautiful children and could not understand why they had to suffer so much pains. What got to me more was, despite their health condition, they were still happy and excited, ready to play, eat and smile when you come closer to them.

I must also say that I was very impressed with how neat they all looked, how their nannies and care givers spoon feed and take care of them”.

The pastor donated cash, food items and wares to the hospice. On the reasons C M Y K

behind his celebrating with these special children, the pastor said: “God has been so faithful to me and this being my 40th year on earth is worth celebrating, there is no better place than here. This is an opportunity to see children with special needs that I have never seen before, and this has added to my experience commitment to God and mankind.”

The visit to the Kirikiri Female and Maximum Prisons turned out a very emotive and joyous celebration. It was difficult for the inmates to let go of the celebrant and his entourage as he delivered to them messages of hope, forgiveness, salvation, deliverance and transformation. They were also presented with relief items such as bags of rice, garri, beans and fuel to power their generators.

Eke told the inmates he was not there to sympathise with them but to celebrate them because of what God had decided to do in their lives. He hinted that, for so many reasons, he decided to celebrate his 40th birthday with the inmates, adding that experience had shown him that “it is not about what you take but what you

give to humanity that matters.

The pastor explained why it became necessary for him to celebrate with prisoners: “When I discovered that a lot of people I grew up with ended up in prison as armed robbers, I knew I must

begged a friend to drive him back home and that was the beginning of the end of his sight. “We tried everything we could, but that was the last day I had normal sight. I went from pillar to post, consulting healers and doctors, roving from one place to another just to regain my sight.

In the process of moving around for help, he partially regained sight in the right eye, and was able to move around unaided once again. He felt compelled to return to work although he was unable to drive at night.

This reprieve was short-lived but enough to enable him return to work.

But the level of sight regained in the right eye continued to relapse until it completely degenerated and he was back to square one.

“On the 17th of August, 1999, the right eye went blank again. On that fateful day, I took a tipper-load of sand to Teslim Balogun Stadium. I also drove back to the garage without incident, but as I attempted to alight from the truck, my partial sight suddenly went blank again.

“That was the very last time I ever saw anything again. Ever since, I remained a blind man. I have only visual memories of members of my family, friends and colleagues. I have remained totally blind ever since,” he remarked.

“Since then I have been to different hospitals in which they could not diagnose the problem, I have also lost count on the number of church and mosque that have been to, the native doctors was not left out but the situation remain the same.”

Ajibaye who hails from Asa Local Government in Kwara State relocated to Lagos state in 1971 in search of greener pasture, said his blind status has prevent him from working in other to earn a living.

“My eyesight is gone; I do not have the strength to go anywhere again. I have accepted blindness as my fate, because since 1999 to date, for 24 years ago, I have tried, but now what I want is that people assist me to survive.

My needs are modest. All I ask is to be able to feed and have a place to stay. The house I am staying has been sold and I need to rent another one,” he added.

Currently, Ajibaye is taking refuge at No. 9 Aiyenero Street, Okoya/Ojo road, Ajegunle.

If you are moved to assist, kindly send your contributions to Jimoh Idris Ajibaye, First Bank Plc 3061524502. For more details, please contact 08096610742 or 08053422307.

render some assistance to them. So, I just have to celebrate and thank God that I didn’t end that way, though a lot of them are victims of circumstances. I also want to send across the message of forgiveness, revival, salvation and deliverance so that they will understand that’s what life is all about. I’m here now, I’m fulfilled, I’m excited and I don’t think that I would have experienced the kind of joy I have right now, if I had thrown a birthday party”.

•Pastor Chris Eke with Nolly stars Chinyere Winifred, Amaechi Muonagor, Ebere Okaro with others during the birthday

PAGE 14—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

GOOD-BYE AWO, WELCOME BUHARI

BY GBOYEGA AMOBOYE

T

HE late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and PresidentMu hammadu Buhari might have lived at different times but, like identical twins, possess many things in common-dynamism, pragmatism, integrity, self- discipline, vision and passion-to make Nigeria work. The impeccable past of these tested leaders has proved that the bane of the country’s slow development since independence has been lack of purposeful leadership.

Unlike the reluctant leaders who had been imposed on us, Awolowo and Buhari, both armed with impeccable records of performance, the former as Premier of the old Western Region as well as Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council in the regime of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, and the latter, as a military Head of State, etc, adequately prepared for the leadership of Nigeria. Three times were each unsuccessful- Awolowo in 1959, 1979, 1983 and President Buhari in 2003, 2007 and 20011.

Their paths might have crossed in one form or the other, that may been the unseen hand of God in their lives preparatory to the task ahead that :”You Obafemi Awolowo is my Moses and you Muhammadu Buhari, my Joshua, for the libration of your people from the ‘rats and mosquitoes’ of your country”. Or could it be by sheer coincidence that, for the first time since independence, both the North and the South West are in effective political alliance?

The Thomas’s may continue to doubt.

Like the Nostradamus that he was, Awolowo, in a paper delivered in Kano in 1970,had proposed a seven- point agenda which he called national objectives that should be implemented simultaneously in all the states of the federation for the rapid and even development of the country. He explained that the revenue allocation formula should be based on the implementation of the seven objectives and, by so doing, put an end to the “endless search for the appropriate allocation formula”. He was speaking in a paper titled, Revenue Allocation Must be Based on Even Progress and Needs, delivered in his capacity as the Federal Commissioner of Finance, to the annual conference of state commissioners of finance.

As if confirming the link between these great national heroes, Buhari recently implemented item seven of the Awolowo’s seven- point objectives for national development of 45 years ago and, by so doing, been praised for “bailing” out states that could not pay workers salaries. The late sage had said under this item that it was imperative to put the federal government in sufficient funds to enable it not only to perform its allotted functions but also to come readily to the aid of any state in need while arguing: “But perchance any state falls on evil day, it would be the duty of the federal government, acting as an accredited agent of all the states, to come to the aid of such a needy state without delay…Before leaving this topic , one may ask Buhari’s critics where they were when former President Goodluck Jonathan granted some members of the private sector a bail out. For instance, Arik Airline got 600m dollars, Aero 200m dollars, Air Nigeria-

C M Y K

•Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo 225.8mdollars, Chachangi-55m dollars etc.(AMCON) in addition to an attempt to buy aircrafts for them but for adverse public opinion.

Revisiting the Awo agenda If one of Awolowo’s seven objectives has been considered well enough for implementation, the remaining six, which may equally be as good, are therefore presented though in abridged form, for consideration by Mr. President. They are-full employment, free education at all levels and free health services for all, modernisation of agriculture and rural development, rapid industrialization of each state and rapid development of system of transportation. Owing to the relevance of Awolowo’s paper to the Nigeria of today, I had, at the formation of the All Progressive Party (APC), dropped a copy of it for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu at his office, Freedom House, Victoria Island, for possible incorporation into the APC manifesto.

Discussing full employment, Awolowo called for full exploitation and efficient utilization of minerals resources as well as modernization of agriculture explaining that the country ’s capability for phenomenal growth was tremendous and colossal. He warned that anything short of full employment which could only be provided by exploitation of mineral resources and agriculture, would be an admission of failure on the part of Nigerian leaders “ that they are not equal to their admittedly difficult but at the same time inspiring and manageable assignment”.

Whenever we talk of merely reducing employment and not stamping it out he said, “The question which I always ask myself is- who are the unfortunate victims we are planning to keep on the unemployment market?”Like Awolowo, bailing out distressed states could be regarded as Buhari’s demonstration of love for workers too.

On modernization of agriculture, and industrialization, the sage, supporting his argument with characteristic statistics, said to achieve any of the ambitious projection, the country’s agriculture must be modernized and mechanized in a bold and massive manner. “We shall need to invest heavily in tractors, mechanical ploughs riggers, fertilizers, pest Gov. Dave Umahi z and control, irrigation, research into high yielding grains and cattle ranches, fishing trawlers, etc”. Awolowo, how-

•

President Muhammadu Buhari

ever, cautioned that none of the states could alone afford the level of investment involved without the intervention of the federal government acting in concert simultaneously with all the states.

As for industrialisation, he argued, that a properly developed agriculture in every state would lead to development of agro- allied industries automatically as well as manufacturing industries and consequently, disappearance of uneven location of industries.

He however warned that between agriculture and industries, the choice should be agriculture to eradicate unemployment explaining that while industries if properly managed could provide employment for 220,000 workers in the next 12 years, agriculture would provide employment for six million within five years. Seeing 2015 way back in 1970, Chief Aw o l o w o warned that “if it is the ardent and burning desire of those of us in the vanguard of public life to serve our age and the next generation faithfully, our area of concentration must ipso facto be agriculture.”

Concern But how could uneducated and unhealthy population be productive? This was the concern of Awolowo as he canvassed as ever, for free education at all levels and free medical services for all, arguing: “Man is the alpha and omega of production and therefore indispensable to rapid economic progress, political stability and social harmony. The more educated and healthy he becomes the more productive he becomes as an economic agent and more effective as a member of the society” . H e dismissed the fear that money would be the problem but adequate manpower and called for immediate planning.

On development of system of transportation, Awolowo said, “While the northern and riverine areas of the country, for social and economic reasons, lag behind in transporta-

Those who could not see yet any difference in electricity supply in the past two months may equally not find the correlation between Awolowo’s economic road map and that of Buhari

tion development and should be therefore given a special attention henceforth, the crucial point of convergence for most transportation activities were those adjacent to the ports of Port-Harcourt, C a l a b a r , Sapele,Warri, Escravos, Lagos and Apapa. It follows from this fact that the development of those roads within the areas of the MidWest, Eastern, Western and Lagos Region which give access to the ports, is of concern to all of the states in the federation.” Predicting the chaotic situations of the roads witnessed today, Awolowo warned: “Any transportation difficulties in these areas are bound to constitute time- wasting bottle-necks of the worst order.”

The question may be asked, of what relevance is the vision of 1970 to 2015? The answer may be found in the reality that Nigeria has not been blessed with a visionary and patriotic leader since the Gowon era of 1970,who could harness the common wealth for the benefit of all her citizens as Chief Awolowo did for his people as the Premier of the Western Region.

The metaphysical and psychological relationship between Awolowo and Buhari has shown that for the country to attain its potentials, there is an urgent need for another visionary, competent and honest leader like Awolowo, who Nigerians have found in Buhari, a man who came to power with tons of ‘universally acknowledged’ credibility that was uncommon with his fore runners. Apparently in tandem with Awolowo, Buhari has already indicated that he would continue from where the sage stopped. Apart from”bailing” out distressed states, the President told the Nigerian community during his four-day visit to the United States: “The All Progressives Congress administration would fulfil its three-pronged campaign manifesto of providing security, turning around the economy with major focus on youth employment and fighting corruption.” He said agriculture and mining would receive priority as a faster job- creating avenues for the teeming unemployed youths.

Those who could not see yet any difference in electricity supply in the past two months may equally not find the correlation between Awolowo’s economic road map and that of Buhari. The sad news however is that if the projection of 1970 is still relevant in2015, it means the past 45 years has been that of the locusts and caterpillars due to bad governance. It is therefore not a surprise that Nigerians have unanimously voted for a statesman they could trust to remake the country. Good-bye Awo, welcome Buhari.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 15

It is unfair to blame the Osun financial crisis on Aregbesola – Comrade Adebisi

BY LEKAN BILESANMI Members of Osun Progressive Left organized a rally to show support for the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Comrade Wale Adebisi, the convener, in this interview, speaks on contentious issues in the state and why the governor remains credible. oing by the happenings in Osun State, especially the call for the impeachment of the governor, why did you organization organize a rally in support of Governor Rauf Aregbesola?

G

As a matter of fact, our own rally is to show support for a government constituted by a popular mandate through victory in the election that has been said to be free and fair in all the tribunals up to the supreme court.The rally that is to show that the man is transparent , still credible and has the interest of the labour at heart.

At no point as he ever been anti-labour in his policies. He has been always ensuring that the interest of labour is uppermost in his government. For instance, since he came into power in 2010 ,for the first time in the history of the state, he gave the workers 10 percent bonus on the basic salary. In the second year,he gave 25 percent and third year he gave 50 percent. Then last year December immediately after the election, he gave 100 percent. This has never happened in the history of the state.

Don’t forget that the governor is a product of popular struggle, labour struggle and he has worked with trade unions, there is no way he would be anti-labour. I want to state that Governor Aregbesola is not being fought by the labour, the antiAregbesola rally was sponsored by the opposition led by some hoodlums who claimed to be pensioners. The governor has increased the pensioners’ money since 2010 so the people can’t say he is antilabour. The genuine pensioners have never agitated; they want to hide under the issue of non-payment of salary to cause anarchy in the state. We know those who are behind them. The state of Osun is not the only state that owes salaries, 24 other states owe. Non-payment of salaries is a national calamity as a result of the past administration mismanagement of the nation’s resources. Why Osun state is single out is because of the vibrancy of the governor and the fact that the state is the political heartbeat of the south west. With kind of politics governor Aregbesola is playing the PDP is going into extinction in the state and that is why the opposition is hiding under non-payment of salaries to foment trouble. The Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice under the platform in which they organized the rally is not in existence in Osun State. We have the list of the registered coalition group in the state. They don’t even have a secretariat.

The workers in the state have a very good working relationship with the government. If it is not because of the drop in the allocation which has adverse affect on the state. Let me give you the rundown of the allocation as at today. In January 2015 N 1.25b was released. The original allocation for the state was N4.6b now it has dropped since 2013 because of the ingenuity of the governor he warehouse the excess crude oil accrued to him that was why the issue was not exposed last year. But in one of his public discourse he had mentioned and raised an alarm that the federal government might be able to sustain the state because there is crisis in the oil market in the world. In February it was N1.12b, in March it was N624m,in April N466m,in May N2.2m.

C M Y K

• Comrade Wale Adebisi If we want to look at the payment of salaries, the payment of salaries is supposed to base on the allocation; you cannot pay outside the allocation. What the state owes the workers is six months by allocation. One has been paid last week, remaining five. By allocation it is months by calendar are 7months. Same thing pensioners by allocation it is seven five months, by calendar it is eight months.

Local government by allocation is four months by calendar it is five months and you cannot pay beyond your allocation.

The shortage in the world oil market, for instance Nigeria by OPEC’s quota suppose to be producing 2.6m barrel per day.

But on record it 2.1 and former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told us about the theft of 400,000 oil barrel per day. The whole issue is now unfolding in NNPC; several monies did not enter into NNPC accounts. All the 36 states are affected except Lagos because of her IGR base.

Talking about IGR,many have argued that Governor Aregbesola should have alternative ways of generating revenue instead of depending on the allocation from the federal government.

What would say on this?

We are talking about statutory allocation to the state. People should not look at it as if the states are begging. What is federal government doing, how many local government are they taking care of.

All the states of the federation owns the money. The only thing we should talk about is the management and the lopsidedness in the sharing. There is no true federalism in Nigeria and that is 56.68 percent goes to the federal government and 22.62 to the state and the rest to 774 local govt. What goes to the federal government is too much. People should not say the state should depend on IGR. The federal government does not have the right to hold money and gives at it pleases. The sharing is not regular. The states are even forced to embark on capital projects because of the negligence on the part of the federal government in the

states.

The state of Osun is being owed N34b by the federal government; it is enough to pay the workers if the money is released.

On the IGR, when Aregbesola came to power in 2010, the IGR he met was N3.6b per year. But it is now N10b apart from the money in Omoluabi savings and loans which he cannot touch because it is for the generations yet unborn in the state. He is also taking care of the Agba

The state of Osun is being owed N34b by the federal government; it is enough to pay the workers if the money is released. On the IGR, when Aregbesola came to power in 2010, the IGR he met was N3.6b per year. But it is now N10b apart from the money in Omoluabi savings and loans which he cannot touch because it is for the generations yet unborn in the state

osun with N10,000 permonth,O-meal 252,000 students are being fed and food vendors are hired and they were giving soft loans for empowerment. That is why we have peace in the state because the youths are engaged.

The inauguration of Aregbesola as governor of Osun State signaled a break from the past characterized by gross inefficiency, unfulfilled promises, culture of blackmail, failure of state and circumspect sincerity as he brought on board catalytic ideas that quickly got the state working.

Despite the complexity and the technical nature of many of the problems confronting the state, the governor rose above the clouds by taking competent decisions that effectively rescued it from becoming “a war-ravaged territory”. Notably, he grew the state’s Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) without any increase in tax payable by citizens. Tuition Fees in state-owned tertiary institutions were slashed by close to 30% as well as training and empowerment of over 5,000 youths in Information Technology through the Osun Youth Empowerment Technology (OYESTECH) scheme.

But there is argument in some quarters that the governor should put his helicopter for sale to augment salary payment, what is your view on this?

How much is the helicopter we are talking about? People are just frivolous. And this is just pure politics. Individuals owed private jet in Nigeria. The reason for the chopper is because of the economic situation in the state. When he came into power no banks open in the state between 2008 and 2009. The armed robbery operation in the state was guerrilla like. Armed robbers operate in broad daylight with explosives and grenades. The chopper can monitor from the area view. Osun is the only state in Nigeria that has 25 armoured tanks. The governor has been saying it at every forum that the helicopter was bought for surveillance. Since he came into power the state has known peace.

Governor Aregbesola is a product of popular struggle, we the comrades in the Osun Progressive Left believes that nobody should usurp power through the back door as the opposition is doing. They will be charged for treason because they want to take power by office.

We therefore advised that the police should be on the lookout for those promoting anarchy in the state. They are vilifying the governor because of his political sagacity and ingenuity in governance.

Governor Aregbesola remains a credible and transparent man who is also a lover of his people.

Nigerians should also bear in mind that, at the inception of his administration, Aregbesola’s ‘Freedom for all; Life more abundant’ Integral Policy thrust was clear: banishment of hunger, poverty and unemployment. Others were promotion of functional education, healthy living, communal peace and harmony. So far, his word has been his bond.

There has also been argument that the governor is reckless in his spending?

If Aregbesola was “reckless” by increasing primary school funding grants from N7.4million to N424m a year while Secondary School Basic funding grants rose from N171m to N427m a year, then, he was ‘reckless’ indeed. If the governor was reckless by giving free school uniforms to no fewer than 750,000 pupils and students, with over 3000 tailors trained and empowered to sow school uniforms, then recklessness had better be redefined! If the construction of 74 Primary Health Centres and rehabilitation of 9 hospitals and 12 Comprehensive Health Centres is termed “recklessness”, then, Aregbesola had better continue to be ‘reckless’.

PAGE 16—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

The The Amaechi Amaechi legacy legacy

BY OLALEKAN BILESANMI

L

ast week, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike asked President Muhammad Buhari not to appoint his predecessor, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, as minister if he (Buhari) wants his fight against corruption to be looked at with credibility. Buhari had revealed in far away United States of America, during his fourday visit, that he would announce his cabinet in September. Amaechi was among those who accompanied Buhari on the trip. In a release by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, Wike described Buhari’s anticorruption campaign as selective, saying it would be dismissed as laughable if Amaechi makes the ministerial list.

The comment attracted a swift reaction from Ken Minimah, Chairman of Legacy Group, who wondered why the governor was convulsing over what role, if any, Amaechi may play in the new scheme of things instead of focusing on governance for which he was elected, albeit temporarily. According to Minimah, it was the same Wike, who called Amaechi “the modern governor” (Channels TV’s SUNRISE) comparable only to Chief Alfred Diete Spiff, because of the massive infrastructural development that took place in Rivers between 2007 and 2015, that “now spews garbage bags of infectious lies about corruption and misappropriation”. He pondered over what has changed between then and now, that suddenly Amaechi must now be destroyed. The Legacy Group leader said he was surprised that Wike was

not sober after he has been unjustly aided to take over the Port Harcourt Government House by the troika of INEC, security agencies and the Presidency under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We would have thought that the travails of the soon to be e x p o s e d Resident Electoral

Commissioner, Gesila Khan, should be a source of bother for the impostors”, he added.

He posed several questions: “Why has the governor abandoned governance and refusing to take advantage of the little time he has to reinvent and perhaps make a token of a good name for himself? Why is the governor wasting his precious time running after Amaechi who has moved on graciously after serving the state meritoriously for eight years? Why is the governor convulsing over what role, if any, Amaechi may play in the new scheme of things? Why is the consuming fear of what Amaechi will

become tomorrow? Does he want to fight God and His plan for Amaechi?

Why is the governor scared of the political destiny of Amaechi in the politics of the South- South and Nigeria in general?

Why is the governor desperate about what type of relationship that exists between Buhari and Amaechi?”

Minimah said a well positioned Amaechi will help to drive the development of the state from the federal level, especially with •Rotimi regard Amaechi to recovering the stolen oil wells as against Wike’s reckless and disorderly pursuit of the shadows of his benefactor even as he asked the governor to answer the following questions: Is this bringdown-Amaechi-posture in the interest of Rivers State and its people? Isn’t it a probability that a well positioned Amaechi will help to drive the development of the state from the federal level, especially with regard to recovering the stolen oil wells? Why must Wike’s personal interest be more important than the interest of the state?

According to him, it is sad that that despite the painful betrayal of Amaechi by some of the people he

has lifted politically over the years and the recent gang up and attempt by the same people to tarnish his image, his legacy in Rivers and the emerging story of a better Nigeria remain unshakable irrespective of whatever role he may play now and in the future. He asked Wike to tell the people of Rivers how many month(s) salary arrears his regime inherited. He also asked him to produce the total amount of the salary arrears he has paid and how much was in the state coffers on May 29, 2015 when he assumed office. The governor was also tasked on how much he has received from the Federation Account since May 29, how much he has borrowed from the banks as well as the way the funds were spent.

On the achievements of Amaechi as governor, Minimah stated: “We are confident that his legacy is firmly etched on the hundreds of schools that he built, hundreds of kilometres of roads that he built, hundreds of primary health care centres and hospitals that he built, thousands of students who benefited from his free education in Rivers and across the country as well as those sent on scholarships to study overseas, the various projects in agriculture, transport, entrepreneurship, industries, housing, etc. We are confident that Amaechi’s legacy is secure not by the unsteady grips of men but by the firm hands of his Creator.

Irrespective of what Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi chooses to do in contributing further to the progress of this great country today or in the years ahead, his place in history has been safely bookmarked and can never be deleted by those who are tormented by his God bestowed favour and ability to work through the valleys of uncertainty, betrayal and tribulation. We call on the people of Rivers whose votes were violently violated to remain vigilant and protect the legacy of a man who is ever ready to put in everything he has for state and country”.

NDDC: Winning slowly and steadily

BY JACK KALIO

D

espite the internal wrangling generated by the recent dissolution of its board by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), an interventionist agency set up to handle development issues in the oil producing areas of Nigeria, is still up and kicking. Recently, the agency has been on the road cutting tapes to declare most of its projects fit for use. A few days ago, it was the turn of Akwa Ibom State to host the commission when its managing director, Bassey DanAbia, led board members and management team to commission the 522-bed hostel built to accommodate students of the University of Uyo. Described as “state-of-the-art” by those present, the hostel, built for medical students, is said to be very significant as it would spur the state to rise to the challenges facing the medical sector where doctors are in short supply.

At the occasion, the state deputy governor, Moses, Ekpo, who represented Governor Udom Emmanuel in an inauguration speech, said the hostel would increase the capacity of the C M Y K

teaching hospital to train more doctors in a very conducive environment. “This will improve the provision of health services to the people. We are grateful to the NDDC for helping us touch the lives of people in the state. I am confident that the commission will continue to meet the expectations of the people,” he said.

Dan-Abia said that despite the funding challenges faced by the Commission, it was determined to complete all on-going projects as directed by the Federal Government. He disclosed that out of the 19 student hostels being built by the NDDC across the Niger Delta region, only one was completed when the current board was inaugurated on December 16, 2013.

He explained: “Since we came in, four more hostels have been commissioned and four others are ready. We have commissioned similar hostels at the Imo State University, Federal University of Science and Technology, Owerri, University of Benin and the Delta State University, Abraka.”

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Professor Comfort Ekpo, described the project which has facilities such as a 250 KVA power generator, perimeter

fence and a newly asphalted access road, as the most laudable in the university especially, as accommodation for the medical students remains one of the major considerations for admitting more students. She noted that the commission had in the past donated five transformers as well as constructing internal roads with solar-powered street lights for the school.

The Commission also commissioned was the Ikot Akan-Ibekwe Akpan-Nya Road in Ikot-Abasi/Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of the state. In Abia State, the government agreed to partner with the Commission for more development. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu stressed that the NDDC remained a catalyst for the development of the Niger Delta region.

Former chairman of the commission, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, who was in the entourage, said the agency had completed and commissioned six university hostel projects, including the 630 bed-space ultra-modern hostel for the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia State, and awarded 1,021 overseas scholarships for master’s and Ph.D programmes in

engineering and sciences. He however attributed the slow pace of completion of the commission’s projects to funding challenges, noting that over N800 billion of funds due to the interventionist agency had been withheld over the years; adding that N45 billion accruing from the ecological funds was also outstanding.

It was revealed that NDDC, since inception, has been getting only 10 per cent instead of the statutory 15 per cent funding from the Federal Government, as per funds accruing to the Federation Account. Appeal was made to the governors of the states covered by the NDDC to ensure that the federal government does the right thing by adequately funding the Commission while also mandating the oil companies to play their statutory part.

It was leant that NDDC under the present leadership, inherited about 7,000 projects and a financial liability in excess of one trillion naira, including Interim Payment Certificates that were not paid. In less than two years, Dan-Abia is said to have guided the team into recording some remarkable achievements in the completion of projects and the execution of development programmes despite the funding challenge.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 17

DIVORCE MESS: Emeka Ike’s wife insists on separation • August 12 set for next hearing

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By Bartholomew Madukwe

meka Ike now seems to be living out his life in courts. From the eviction court tussle with his landlord over the property on which his school was situated, to the battle for the presidency of the Actors

Guild of Nigeria, AGN, and the far-from-over divorce mess his wife has dragged him into, there seems to be no end in sight with his romance with courts.

When the news broke that his wife of over twelve years, Emma Ike, had filed a divorce suit against the actor on allegation of domestic

violence, the actor was quick to squash it as mere rumour and insisted that his marriage is intact, claiming he had not received any divorce notice.

“As I’m talking to you now, I have not received any divorce notice. Nothing like that happened. I have not received any letter from

anybody. I am a Christian, we don’t divorce” he told one of our reporters who sought him out on the issue.

Barely a week after his claim, the case came before a Lagos Island customary court where his wife’s petition for dissolution of their marriage was heard.

Though Emeka was not in court but his counsel was and so was Emma and her counsel.

In his presentation, Emeka’s counsel prayed the court to adjourn the case for the next hearing to six months, citing possibility of settlement between the couple before then.

“My client is ill but I will try my possible best to ensure that he comes on the next adjourned date.

We indulge the court to give us six months from this day to see if there is possibility of settlement between the couple,” he said.

In her response, Emma said six months was too long, adding that the respondent had two years to reconcile with her but didn’t.

“The last time I wanted to speak with our children, it was my mother-in-law who picked the call and asked if I had read Exodus 21 which says that if I go, I shouldn’t return,” she said. Subsequently, the court President held that only two weeks can be granted and thereafter August 12, 2015 was fixed as next hearing date.

I don’t really enjoy sex, but...

— Hannah Ogundare

W

hen Nollywood upcoming actress, Hannah Ogundare is in her element, she hardly plays with any rules. Tall, beautiful and sexy, the actress has got the goods not only to play with sensibility of her fans but also to knock them out as she recently did in a photo shoot that sent the internet into an uproar. Not the Maheeda or Afrocandy type of photos but Hannah told us enough about herself as one who could take the plunge and do some really serious stuff in a film.

Of course, she is a rare talent and takes acting as seriously as an artist would take a piece of magnificent art. “Acting has always been my dream. Acting comes to me naturally” she says She’s any man’s dream but not without a word of caution. She doesn’t really like sex. Does that sound scary? She is not frigid either but prefers things to shape out her own way, the way she likes it and wants it.

“I don’t really enjoy sex, I prefer romance. Meanwhile, I don’t have sex often because I don’t have a man presently. But that does not mean I won’t sort myself out when the need arises.

I can always arrange that” she told Potpourri.

Interestingly, fellow actors are not hot on her shopping list. “I don’t think I can date an actor but if such happens, there’s nothing I can do about it but the possibility is very slim” she says.

Day I drove a car in pant and bra – Empress Anu Sosanya B udding Yoruba actress and marketing graduate of Lagos State University, Empress Anu Sosanya is beautiful, talented and daring. Ask her to describe herself, she would tell you she’s a very simple person, who can be very blunt. “I make and stay happy always because I know that no matter the situation, it will always pass. I don’t force things, I live my life. I don’t want to know what you are going through, I like being myself ” she describes her kind of person.

She may be new in the industry but she’s definitely not a cheerleader as she has produced three movies of her own and have featured in so many she could not count off her fingers. In a recent chat with Potpourri the vivacious and voluptuously crafted mother of one opened up on the weirdest thing she has ever done, “I have really done some crazy things like driving almost naked. I mean with only a pant and bra on me. It happened a couple of years

back. Myself and a friend went to see a sister who was sick and resting in her hotel room. While on our short visit, it started raining. We had to go in the rain but before we could get to my car, we were soaked and I was cold. I removed my clothing and zoomed off. We got in traffic and all those guys who sell things in between traffic made a big show out of me. They were looking at me stunned and could not take off their eyes. I quickly collected my friend’s scarf to cover my boobs” she said.

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PAGE 18— SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

I have been smiling to the bank since I became brand ambassador – Yvonne Jegede

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ideo vixen of 2Face’s African Queen’ hit and Nollywood actress, Vyonne Jegede is riding on air right now. The ebony beauty who is highly hot in demand in the film industry has just landed an ambassadorial deal with QAA Wearable Art Gallery, a company that promotes indigenous African textiles.

According to her, the outfit promotes indigenous African textiles to ensure its preservation and restoration, and to create economic development.

“It is about promotion of indigenous African textiles.

Very important in preservation and restoration of the textile culture to create economic development. It’s opening soon at QAA Wearable Art Gallery, flagship showroom of Queen Ahneva Ahneva, Sanusi Fafunwa Street, Victoria Island. I have been smiling to the bank since I emerged the brand ambassador” she quips.

She’s smiling to the bank and working hard. She also hits the studio to showcase some of the prints the outfit has to offer. Yvonne’s very African dark skin and smashing figure does so much to accentuate the beauty of the prints.

Germany-based Nigerian artist brings the Chibok girls in painting erman based Nigerian G artist, Vivian Timothy, took Germany by surprise as

she takes her paintings to another level. Her second art exhibition has become the biggest so far in Bavaria,

Germany as she pulled out both young and old to her exhibition to talk about her sleepless nights since the disappearance of the Chibok girls, bringing them to memory in various paintings

she exhibitions of art at the exhibition.

Vivian says the disappearance of the Chibok girls breaks her heart. “I think about their pains and the pains of their parents.

Their darkest hour and anguish kept me sleepless for months. Since I’m not a good speaker I decided to put them on canvass. This is the most emotional painting I have ever made so far, I cried all the way through”, Vivian said. “I’m amazed to see many people coming from many cities to see my art works. It humbles me. I’m also grateful to God that through my art I have been able to touch people’s heart, reminding them that the struggle is still not over even though it seems forgotten. I pray that the Chibok Girls will live to tell their stories”, she said.

Her two weeks Art Exhibition started on Saturday, July 11 and ended last weekend Saturday, July 25. People were emotionally touched as she broke into tears talking about the pains she feels for the Chibok girls and their families. She calls the series the “Broken Vessels”. On one of her paintings, she leaves a space for others to write their own thought about the girls.

Vivian got standing ovation as African Rhythm drum group and dancers entertained the guests with cultural dance. Vivian who never studied art but science, never believed she was good enough until her paintings started speaking for her.

BON Awards goes to Ondo T

he Best of Nollywood (BON) Awards has announced that it will hold its 2015 edition in the ‘Sunshine State’ of Ondo.

According to the organiser of the event, Seun Oloketuyi, the awards ceremony which has previously held in Lagos, Delta and Rivers States, respectively, will take place at the prestigious event centre in Ondo - The Dome, in December.

Speaking on plans for the event, last Wednesday, before a colourful audience comprising a cream of Nollywood stars including Segun Arinze, Yomi Fash Lanso, Alex Ekubo, Ngozi Nwosu, Ebube Nwagbo and Amanda Ebeye, among others, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, promised that this year’s edition of the awards will be the best ever. In his words, ‘We will give spirit and soul to the Best of Nollywood Awards this year. It would be held in the best event centre in the country which is our new ultra modern Dome, which would make the Expo Centre in Lagos look like a village square.’

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SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

AY, I Go Dye, Akpororo, others cautioned on jokes ahead of “Owerri Must Laugh”

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s controversy continues to trail the comedy taken beyond boundaries by a Nigerian Comedian, Chuks D’ General at the just concluded 2Face EARgasm, Mallam Yankee, the organizer of the show has cautioned all

I got bored watching the same kind of materials on TV — Yvonne ‘Vixen’ Ekwere

eautiful TV personality and B initiator of Vixen Red Carpet (a YouTube channel) is no doubt one of

the industrious damsels in Nigeria’s showbiz.In a recent chat with Potpourri,she talks on the challenge of being a woman in the entertainment industry dominated by men and why she started Vixen Red Carpet.

“Its challenging being a woman in the entertainment industry because women are considered to have a lot of animosity towards each other. I believe that the sky is big enough using my own unique talents. I am not into any competition with

anybody. I am focused and the aim is to win and be successful”.

She also throws more light on what led her to start her Vixen Red Carpet. “I got very bored watching the same kind of materials on TV and said to myself :I can do more than that.

I asked myself: Why are people so mediocre? Nobody can cover red carpets the way I do. I am blunt and straight forward. I decided to do something different by focusing on my forte. My selling point is my originality”.

comedians heading to the Imo State capital, Owerri, on Saturday, August 8, to approach their jokes carefully, and possibly confer with a fellow musical artiste before cracking any serious joke concerning them.

It would be recalled that Chuks D’ General at the 2face Eargasm, while cracking his first joke for the night said 2face Idibia was being humanitarian by trying to revive the dying ‘voices’ of artistes like Victor Uwaifo, Sunny Nneji, Olu Maintain, and Daniel Wilson, who he joked have failed to secure any viable platform to perform for years.

According to Chuks, ‘’If 2face can do this, then a time will come when correct comedians like me will stage a show to showcase old comedians like I Go Dye, Basket Mouth, Akpororo and others.”

The joke infuriated 2face and others at the event, who warned the comedian to crosscheck his facts before cracking jokes.

However, announcing the date of the ‘Owerri Must Laugh’, which has been scheduled to hold at the Imo International Conference Centre, Mallam Yankee dismissed the media uproar about the comedian’s joke, saying it was only a joke.

He said, even 2Face was equally joking. He however said it was important for comedians to confer with any artiste they intended to joke about before going on stage. He said, ‘’ As for ‘Imo Must Laugh’, we are just going to make them enjoy the night. They need to laugh, and we are happy the State Government feels it’s important the people start the new tenure with laughter. It’s not really about roasting other artistes. But can you really stop a comedian from doing his stuff?”, he quizzed.

Artistes that will be paraded at the event are I Go Dye, Akpororo, Funnybone, Osama, A capella, Yellow Mouth, Chuks D’General, 2canTalk, Korede Bello, Lil kesh, X-Busta, Lizzy Lu.Comedian AY will be the host of the night.

My music has to say something beyond moving your body -Eva

F

emale hip hop star, Eva Alordiah is no doubt a talented rapper. The enterprising entertainer who was once romantically linked with Ice Prince has opened up on the reason why her music is much more mature compared to when she started out.

She puts it this way: “If I have the opportunity to do music, I have to say something that doesn’t just move your body but moves your mind.”

When asked how she has been able to blend her make-up artistry business and music, she had this to say: “They both serve their purpose. They are both arts. When I am doing make-up its art, when I am doing music, its art.”

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PAGE 20, SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

A lesbian nearly raped me

worked for you?

It has worked a lot of magic for me in the sense that any clothes I put on, look good on me. I don’t worry about anything because they are there to make it perfect. What’s the point having big boobs when after some time, you can’t show them off anymore. Two things I won’t do: enlarge my boobs or change my colour.

– Queen Adakole, actress, model

What’s your take on going nude either as a model or as an actress?

I would go nude with concept, but completely nude?

No. What I mean by going nude with concept is, for instance, in modeling you could do a photoshoot where you’re nude but with your hands covering your privates. It shows that you’re nude but with concept – people don’t get to see your privates.

By JULIET EBIRIM

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ast-rising Nollywood actress and model, Queen Adakole has her eyes on the top. The 24 year-old Benue State born dark-skinned beauty, is set to take the entertainment industry by storm with her target of reaching out to a minimum of 15 million people.

In this interview, she talks about her career, relationship, family and more ...

W

hen did you begin your acting career?

I started acting in 2005 when I did my first movie ‘Queen of Tomorrow’. It was shot in Ghana, Benin Republic and Lagos. Then I was still in secondary school (SS2). I had to stop acting after that because my family thought if I continued, I wouldn’t go to school. But I got back fully into the industry in 2012.

How did you start modeling?

Before modeling, I was actually dancing. I danced for two years then went into modelling. One of my artiste friends in Benin Republic whom I danced for looked at me and said ‘Why just dance, why not model?’. He said I could do well at modeling since I’m dark, tall and slim. I joined a modeling house in Benin Republic. That was how I started modeling and I took it professionally when I came down to Nigeria to continue my education.

Which is more lucrative, acting or modeling?

I would say acting, though modeling is cool, but you can’t model all your life. At one point, you have to retire. Acting is a lifetime career. I’m more passionate about acting.

Which do you think is more challenging?

Acting is more challenging because you have to pretend to be what or who you are not. You work on new challenges everyday. You learn new languages, travel often and sometimes you hardly get to rest.

How easy was it for you to get into the acting industry considering the competition?

It wasn’t really easy, it’s just

by God’s grace. I was fortunate to meet the right people like Mr. Ibu and he accepted to manage me. He gave me my first major job and we worked together subsequently. After that, I’ve

been freelancing on my own and I’ve met a lot of other great people.

Most people would ague that actors don’t really make love on set and that it’s all make-believe?

It depends on the kind of movie you’re doing. In Africa, we don’t go to the extremes, but when you’re doing a Hollywood movie, anything can happen. I don’t intend to just be an African actress, I intend to take it to the next level, do Hollywood movies and so on.

Have you done any sexually explicit scene before?

I have.

Don’t you get turned on doing some of those scenes?

No. I take the idea of lovemaking and sex very personal. So, when I’m working, it’s work. You don’t get aroused or get a feeling. You get carried away in the act, but you don’t get carried away in the feeling.

In the sense that, you know you’re doing a movie and you

You get carried away in the act, but you don’t get carried away in the feeling

want to make it look real. You pretend to be another person but you don’t feel a thing.

After everything, you’re like ‘it’s nice working with you’ and it ends there. Some people might take it elsewhere, but for me, it ends there.

Would you date someone in the industry?

I can’t control my feelings but I wouldn’t want to date anyone in the industry. I’m an entertainer and I’m not ready for an entertainer kind of relationship.

We travel a lot and so the person could be living a double life. He could get married to someone in Zambia and have you as a wife in Nigeria.

Are you inferring that entertainers live double lives?

I’m not saying so, but it’s possible, the chances are 5050.

What are you presently working on?

I’m working on my own entertainment outfit which will encompass acting, modeling, music, dance and so on. I currently have a dance team that I manage in Benin Republic. I’m working on a lot of stuff to put myself out there, because I came into the industry with a target to reach a minimum of 15 million people around the world. I’m also currently doing a documentary on myself in Benin Republic, showing my full

story in visuals which will be aired on TV. What are those physical attributes you possess that has worked in your favour?

My colour. I’m black, black is beautiful and unique.

Secondly, my height which is 5’ 10”, so for a woman, I’m tall.

Also, my slim structure and my stomach is so flat that when I wear a bikini, people are like ‘Wow!’.

Then the funny part that I don’t joke with is, my boobs.

They are small and cute and I don’t think they can ever sag.

Having small boobs is the cutest thing any lady could ever have because 20 years to come they still look fresh and attractive.

Why go for silicons when after five years, they go down and I still need to go fill it up again?

With the increase in homosexuality everywhere and in Nollywood, have you had any experience in that regard?

There was a time, I went to work in the east in Owerri, precisely. After shooting, I was in my hotel room and a lady who also worked on the same set with me, walked up to me at about 1.00a.m when we finished shooting. She told me she couldn’t go back to her house in Owerri, so I asked her to come and stay in my room, so that she could go back home in the morning and prepare for the next shoot. It was so funny that night, because it was the first time I was having such an experience with a lady. It was so real and strange. She just started touching me. I stood up and slapped her. I don’t like a lady touching me. No offense to the gay, because I have a lot of gay friends but I don’t like when you do it to me. Even though I slapped her, she was still like ‘Please, it won’t hurt, you’ll like it’. It was as if she was sick, because it wasn’t her anymore. I had to scream and people came to my rescue, because she was so strong, pushing and I was struggling with her. It was as if she was possessed. When people came, she pleaded that she didn’t know what came over her, to a point that I felt bad to have screamed for people to come. She was like a totally different person after the whole incident.

What was your growing up like?

It was fun because my family moved a lot. I was born in Plateau State, then we moved to Bauchi where I spent about ten years. After that, we moved to Republic of Benin where I spent most of my life. I’m the first girl out of a family of nine.

You think that has really

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SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 21

What he’s thinking on yyour our second or thir d dat e third date

I

BY ONOZURE DANIA

’m sure it comes as no news to you that a man can be doing all the things that say he’s interested in you, but still say he’s not ready for a relationship or “anything serious.”

N e t w o r k i n g / Sponsorship •Segun, resides in Lagos,

needs someone to sponsor his business.

0 8 1 5 9 2 3 6 0 2 2 •Ben, needs sponsorship in his outreach and church building project Foundation of Light Ministries.

07030523968 •Ruth, 25, from Delta state, fair in complexion, fun and loving, needs someone to sponsor her education.

07069241366 •Chichi, 23, from Abia state, needs a good Nigerian who will sponsor her HND. 09099047874 Links •Ese, wants to link up with Olufunmilayo.08139091156 •Enoc, wants to link up with his friends whom he lost contact with in 1984, Amadi Nation, Esther Johnson and Aramide Titilayo.

08033722860 Friends Searching Female •Yemi, 22, resides in Lagos, needs matured female friends, aged 20-25.

08103501345 •Ellen, 26, needs a tall, slim and pretty female friends.

07010708761 •Teeberry 21, from Edo state beautiful, fat, tall, busty and sexy, needs both male and female friends from different part of the country.

07038686652,08162292662 •Linda, 15, from Delta state, needs friends who resides in Delta state and are God fearing, aged 15and above.

08094768867 •Jennifer, from Delta state, needs male and female friends, aged 16-18.

09090853911 Searching Male •Alex, 32, resides in Abuja, needs a responsible female friend within Enugu, aged 20-28. 08065647248 •Sunny, a graduate from Kogi state needs friends with

It’s one of those things that drive women crazy.

What’s worse, he can do all kinds of things with you from hanging out to getting physical, but he won’t communicate what he’s really feeling until after he decides things “aren’t working.”

Frustrating, right?

You didn’t even get the chance to know or talk about what was going on inside his head.

How in the world did he think things were supposed to end up working?

Were you supposed to read his mind!?

The problem is that women try to read too much into

whom he can pray for Nigeria.08079859148

•Elvis, 26, resides in Abuja, needs a mature lady, aged 35-50. 08054707773 •King, 42, employed and resides in Kaduna, needs a tall, plumby, matured and sexy lady, for a serious relationship.08063840016 •Kenneth, 40, needs a single lady aged 30-40, who is either from Delta or Edo, for a relationship that will lead to marriage.09021153274 •Eugene, 30, handsome, 5.5ft tall, fair in complexion, from Benue state, but resides in Owerri Imo state, needs a decent, caring and good looking lady, aged 30-45, for a serious relationship.

07036765363 •Isong, 50, employed and needs a God fearing lady, for a relationship that will lead to marriage.08184931110 • Nwaogwugwu, 30, a businessman, from Imo state, needs a wealthy Igbo lady, aged 30 and above for marriage. 08050474156 •Sunday, 32, from Kogi state but resides in Lagos, needs a God fearing lady, for serious relationship.08067569117, 09098036062 •Dayo, 38, employed from Oyo state, needs an employed lady, who is responsible, aged 33 and above, for a serious relationship,08038449261, 07061831131 •Kc, from lmo state, needs a humble, cool, sincere, God fearing, honest, not a proud, employed lady, aged 28-35, for marriage.

07065298663 • Evans, 25, handsome, creative and ambitious from Delta state, needs a beautiful and employed lady in Uyo or PH, for a serious relationship.07038678547, 08055711243 •Andrew, 68, a widower, not handsome but God fearing, from Benin City, Edo state, needs an industrious, presentable and busty lady, who is average height from Edo, state aged 50-55.

0 7 0 6 2 3 6 8 1 7 1 , 0 8 0 5 1 3 3 7 7 8 9 , 08073380488 •Mike, 45, God fearing, needs a lady, aged 35-37, who is employed or in to business,

Lovers Searching Female •Nancy, 26, a graduate and resides in Lagos, needs a caring, kind, honest, and serious person for a relationship, aged 30-50.

08027449159,08077059178 •Mary, 30, a single mother, needs a God fearing man for a relationship, aged 35-45.

08094506942 •Julie, dark, curvy, bursty, very alluring with a sultry body and an appealing backside need a mature man aged 50 and above to love her for a lasting union.

08104264298 •Adebusola, 43, slim, dark in complexion, average height, intelligent and God fearing, needs an educated Yoruba man, aged 44-45, for marriage.07039307588 •Bola, 33, resides in Abuja, needs a nice, caring, and God fearing, responsible and employed man, for a serious relationship.08050544365, 08106685905 •Precious, 36, a single mother of three, needs a caring and God fearing man, aged 4060, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08064367309 •Chioma, 30, needs a caring and God fearing man, aged 40-55, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.07068385373, 07069785596 •Victory, 28, pretty, sexy, employed, from Akwa Ibom but resides in Lagos, needs a man, who a graduate and that is ready to settle down, aged 30-45.08067694433 •Tejiri, from Delta state, needs a man who is successful and ready to settle down, aged 30-40. 0 7 0 8 7 3 7 1 9 8 8 Searching Male • Rolly, 35, needs an educated, vibrant, presentable, beautiful and a business inclined and God fearing lady, for a serious relationship, aged 20-27.

0 7 0 5 5 4 2 6 5 7 0 , 08181611453

DISCLAIMER! Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636

their early interactions with men, which then leads them to think that after the first few dates, they’re in what I call the “instant relationship.”

That means women often think they’re in a relationship with a man when he’s still feeling things out and probably doesn’t have “relationship” anywhere on his radar.

So what is he thinking on those first few dates?

When a man asks you out for a second or third date, all it

means is he’s interested in getting to know you better, because he felt a good connection with you on date It doesn’t mean that he necessarily wants to be “exclusive” or is thinking “serious relationship.”

He’s still just getting to know you. He’s enjoying your company, having fun, and starting to wonder about you.

Meanwhile, you’re already thinking ahead to the next few months when this is the only man you’re seeing and things are “serious.”

from Abia, Enugu, Imo or Ebony.08097777388 •Max, 47, needs a caring and very romantic lady, of the same age bracket for a relationship.

08137097667 •Elijah, 30, from Edo state, needs a God fearing lady, aged 18-22, from Edo or Delta state, for marriage. 08070474031 • Osie, employed, needs a lovely lady, who low tempered and has good character for a serious relationship. 08033232205 •Dan, 32, fair in complexion, tall and a graduate, seriously needs a lady, who is fair in complexion, a graduate and God fearing, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.08039323944 •John, rich, tall, handsome and resides in Benin needs a tall, beautiful, slim and fair, lady aged 20-30 for friendship 0 8 1 2 9 7 1 8 6 8 1 , 08063195141 •Luke, 55, a businessman, from Benin, needs a responsible, caring and mature lady, who is ready to settle down, aged 30 and above for a relationship that will lead to marriage.07018671997 •David, 52, a divorcee from Ondo state, but resides in Lagos, needs a lady, aged 3550, for marriage.

07087052933,08052604397 •Jeffrey, 26, 5ft tall and resides in Port Harcourt, needs a lady for a serious relationship, aged 20-24.08182510414 •Patrick, 40, from Delta state, needs a God fearing lady, who is a graduate, aged 25-29 for marriage.08182586956 •Tom, 25, needs a lady, aged 19-24, for a relationship.

08185220076

educated, calm, hairy, and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, who is rich for a serious relationship.

07032773418 or bb pin 3339fa2f • Nathan,30,tall,light in complexion, handsome and romantic, from Delta state, needs a rich, loving, caring and romantic sugar mummy, who can take good care of him. 08054467973 •Noel 35, a transporter, dark in complexion, tall easy going, needs a decent and mature minded sugar mummy, for a good relationship, in Lagos, Abuja.

08180603300 •Ola 50 from Lagos needs sugar mummy, aged 3045 08068965632 •Prince, 35, a graduate and resides in Warri, Delta state, needs a very fat, sugar mummy, who resides in Warri and its environs, age is not a barier.09096061166, 07032431195 •Jack, 29, handsome, from Delta state, needs a rich and sexy sugar mummy, aged 3550. 08065998824 • Efe, 30, needs a sugar mummy that will take care of him.08096873542, 08035173012 •David, handsome, humble and resides in Lagos, needs an active and caring sugar mummy, aged 30 and above.

09020021666 •C J, 35 and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy that can take care of him.

08166396219,08180694439 •Charles, 25, from Warri, needs a kind, generous and eloquent sugar mummy who will spoil him with gifts for a serious relationship. 09021160794, 07061040900 •Nwike, tall, handsome, dark in complexion and resides in Delta state, needs a rich and sexy sugar m u m m y .

08168694161,08132891222 •Olu, resides in Benin, needs a reasonable sugar mummy, for a romantic relationship.

08095224112, 08036094404 •Banks, 27, fun to be with and resides in Abuja, needs a wealthy, pretty and sexually active sugar mummy. 08175492419 or Pin 2757EE44 • Olalekan, 26, dark in complexion and resides in Lagos, needs a loving and caring sugar mummy. 08038572825 •Godswill, 23 and a student, needs a sugar mummy.

08165063107 •Aloma, 33, dark in complexion and resides in Lagos, needs a loving, caring and sexy sugar mummy in Lagos.09023821236 •Jimmy, 29, from Warri, needs a sugar mummy. 08060197949

Sugar Cares Searching Female •Lizzy,20,fresh,humble,hot in bed resides in Benin, needs a sugar daddy, who is caring, energetic and financially buoyant who can take care of h e r f i n a n c i a l l y .

08125343311,08137601105 • Ann, beautiful and sexy, resides in Benin, needs a sugar daddy who is wealthy and can take care of her financially.

08124040590 •Lovina, 32, a widow with three kids, needs a trust worthy, loving and caring sugar daddy, who will support her financially, for a relationship, aged 37-55. 08183410118 Searching Male •Kelvin, a student, needs a sugar mummy, for an intimate relationship.07067333561 • David, 24, light in complexion, average height,

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

s s e n i x e s s ’ There o d I l l in a o l l e B y f f a h S – CHRIS ONUOHA

F

OR every woman, the ability to multi-task might look so easy on the outside but try being a wife, mother together with working and it becomes a different ball game entirely.

It takes a woman who is self confident to successfully balance all three without either one lacking. The quintessential lady of screen and former pop gospel singer Shaffy Bello Akinrimisi known for her hit song ‘Love me Jeje, Love me Tender’ that made waves in the 80s is one woman whose enigmatic demeanor seems not to simmer as years goes by. The delectable thespian that plays the role of ‘Adesua’ in the unique first Nigerian Telenova series ‘Taste of Love’ that has been running on Digital and Terrestrial TV Stations, in a chart with Vanguard, she tells more.

Tell us about yourself I am a career woman, a wife and a mother. A hard working thespian who still loves to sing, maybe soon I will make a comeback into music. I love what I do and I’m quite passionate about it.

Let’s talk about you and people’s perception of your real self…..

There’s difference between real me and the characters I play on movies. What really thrills me about people is when they say, oh! You really look pretty on TV! Which is nice, but I never heard anybody come to me and say you are the image you portray on screen. My fans need me and they appreciate my work. They appreciate the artistry I bring into the work. Also you should know I am a woman who is over 45. I have nieces and nephews around me. When we sit and do things together, people do think we are age mates, but of course, I have the confidence in knowing that I am still looking good and that exudes sexiness. I

The roles I play in movies don’t reflect in me as a person. Come to think of it, I am a sexy woman.

I have a loving husband that makes me feel sexy

believe women in their 40’s are still as good as women in their 20’s if I may say.

Do the roles you play reflect your person?

The roles I play in movies don’t reflect in me as a person. Come to think of it, I am a sexy woman. I have a loving husband that makes me feel sexy. I have two children that make me feel wonderful and family that are very supportive. I am very confident and that’s because I feel I have things that makes me feel that way. It works for me. I think people get the sexiness in

everything I do because I exude confidence and that’s what they see as being sexy.

Tell us how you felt playing the character of Adesua in Taste of love.

For the role I play as Adesua in Taste of love, I take pride in it. That’s exactly what the bible character is. The fact that the audience is saying that’s who she is makes me fulfilled. They script writer wrote that as a bible character and people who are watching confirms that.

That means I know of it.

How does your being a wife and mother influence the character you play as Adesua?

It is fun playing Adesua. I am a mother, a wife and playing Adesua thrills me because she is a powerful woman. She’s not overly powerful but she gets what she wants. She gets what she believe is hers anyway, even if she does it in a dubious way. To me she is an emblem of a strong woman.

How do you feel being a cast member and has the soap opera, Taste of Love been a success story?

Taste of Love as the first Nigerian Telenova, an adaption of South American Televista series is a success story and still ongoing as we approach season after season. We are in the work right now shooting the second season. I am excited because we don’t know what’s going to unravel, I don’t know what Adesua is going to be doing next, but besides, I am excited.

Its fun to see people see you on the street and call you Adesua, saying Ah a! You did not do that guy

right! That’s all about it. It’s gratifying to know that the fans are watching and they are enjoying what you are doing.

What positive reviews have you gotten so far?

The movie had a lot of reviews before it went on air and it was nice. People anticipated and actually love the story line and told us to go on. It is all encouraging.

I think it has been a hit and it is in line with any other shows that are great.

With the whole structure, set, and intention to keep the whole cast and crew stationed at a location for a long period was an interesting aspect it. It did work but of course, you can’t rule out some challenges which are homesick and emotional fatigue. Micromedia, the producers were generous enough to grant breaks when you needed it.

Besides, there wasn’t any surmounting challenge during the whole process of season one shooting as we were properly taken care of.

They have done an excellent job keeping us together.

Really, they have pioneered something good.

I am very proud of having been part of Taste of love.

They are great people. I call a lot the young ones in the show my baby. We had a great mentorship on the show. There is a fantastic symbiotic understanding among the old and young cast members. There was harmony. It was fun.

Your relationship with Yola seems vague My relationship with Yola is one interesting side of the play. The thing is that I can’t stand Yola because I love him but he doesn’t love me back. So, Adesua really wants Yola’s love and attention badly but he doesn’t know it. He uses her to get whatever he wants and doesn’t lover her instead, because of the kind of women she is. For that kind of treatment, every other man that comes into her life, she try to use them.

On the contrary, Adesua is more in love with her self. She’s out to get whatever it is she wants and as long as it pleases her.

That’s typical of some women.

To know if Yola will realize and love Adesua as much as she do is obviously something more interesting to look out for in the series, as the drama unfolds. May be that’s one interesting aspect that will get you glued on your TV screen to find out, but trust me, there’s going to be surprises.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 23

A father, turned on by his sons’ Love-life!

N

earing 50, Victor had thought his sex life was normal for his age.

Married for 22 years to his childhood sweetheart and mother of his four children, sex had been a once-a-week exercise and the wife wasn’t complaining. I guess she was grateful for whatever peace and quiet she could get in the night after a hand day’s work and the stress of looking after four boisterous children, three of them boys. But all that changed some few months ago. Victor has always looked after himself and is as fit as any man in his age group if not fitter. He’s had the odd affair too, but had always run back home whenever things looked like getting out of hand. Then, all of a sudden, his love-life was back with a bang. What happened?

“You wouldn’t believe what happened to beat the viagra!”, he chuckled. “As you well know, it’s our last child that is female. As soon as the children hit their teens, we’d encouraged them to be very open about sex. We’ve answered their questions directly and honestly, and though we didn’t flaunt nudity, everyone occasionally sees everyone else in the nude.

My boys and myself have

all seen each other naked hundreds of times – and they all have handsome, average size organs and I am grateful for that. What triggered off my `problem’ happened with my middle son, Mike who is 19. I came home early one day and when I walked by the room that Mike shared with his elder brother, I saw that the door was open. I looked in, intending to have a chat when I saw him lying on the bed naked, masturbating. He was engrossed in a soft porn movie and didn’t hear or see me. The size of him was a surprise now that it was erect – much larger than I’d seen on him. I was still mesmerized by what I was witnessing, when he had an orgasm – and it was a powerful one! Then he noticed me standing in the doorway. “My first words to him were: `that must have felt pretty good’. He was so embarrassed I really felt sorry for him. I went over and sat on his bed and handed him some tissue to clean himself up.

I told him not to worry, that what he did was perfectly normal and that every male did it. I did warn him that the next time, he should close the bedroom door because of his sister.

“The incident happened months back and I’m sure

that Mike has practically forgotten all about it.

Unfortunately, I haven’t.

Every time I look at him, my own son, I think of his muscular body lying on the bed, masturbating and I get so aroused thinking about this that I have an almost instant erection. Naturally, it is my wife that I reach for whenever this happens. In fact, she recently told me that I have been hornier lately and that we have had more sex in the past few months than we’ve had since we were first married.

She was exaggerating of course, but I can’t tell her that whenever we are making love, I am thinking about Mike. I fantasise that my bits are as good as my

son’s.

“A few weeks ago, I came home early again, and this time, Mike’s door was locked. To my shame, I peeped through the keyhole.

I was excitedly anticipating catching Mike at it again.

But it wasn’t him I saw on the bed – it was his elder brother and he was making love to a girl I’d never seen with him. `My eyes were on stalk as I watched them at it. My goodness. These youngsters were more adventurous than I was at their age! Barely in his twenties, I couldn’t believe my son’s prowess. Did he get the experience watching porn like his brother? Or did that experienced-looking partner of his teach him all

Get fit and firm with Yoga moves Technique: Lying on your belly, bend both knees and with the legs up in the air hold the feet with the corresponding hands. Lift up the chest and stretch out with the

Taut Abdominals: The leg raise ECHNIQUE: Sit on the floor with the legs outstretched in front of you, place the hands just behind waist level and a little away from the body.

Inhale and raise both legs up diagonally, forming a ‘V’ with the trunk.

Once you are in the posture breathe normally.

Retain the position for five to seven seconds, rest and repeat a few more times.

T

The Triangle: Fir m Thighs and Butt Technique: Standing with the feet apart, bend the right knee to waist level with the toes pointing forward, keep the left knee slanted with the knee locked. Keep the hands at shoulder level and the trunk erect.

Count to 10 and repeat legs.

Strong Arms: The Bow C M Y K

these tricks?

“That night, I pounced on my wife again. She was not complaining, mind you and she’s started to spruce herself up more. She thinks my increased libido is down to her looks. If only she knew. I feel a bit mean not being able to share the secret in my sudden increased excitement in sex with my wife. She would probably have a fit if she knew. But I’ve never felt better – the sex is doing me a world of good and is the consolation that I’m far from being a oncea-week man!” I told Victor this was the first time I’d heard anything as weird as the experience he was gleefully revealing. I told him he was living in fantasy

elbows straightened out.

Hold the pose for a slow count to 10. Rest and repeat.

Front to Back Splits amazing

land if he thought his sons were not already aware of his obsession with their sex life. That it was unlikely Mike would have forgotten the masturbation incident.

How did he think the poor kid felt at being disturbed by his father while engaged in what was an essentially `private activity’. And for the dad to even participate in cleaning him up? If he knew what was good for him, he had better stop snooping round his sons and get his kick somewhere else. He assured me he was already planning to stop before it turned into a family embarrassment, but would he?’

It’s been observed that father-son incest feelings are by no means unheard of – though it’s not as common as that of fatherdaughter incest. A son’s burgeoning adolescent reminds a father of how he used to be and brings back days of his sexual escapades enough for him to delude himself he hasn’t ‘lost the touch’, that as a matter of fact, he could be as randy as his son, if not randier! I warned Victor he might need to look for other methods of arousal besides his sons. Could he ‘re-awaken’ this in his wife may be?

Technique: Standing legs as you lower down the body. As you get closer to the floor invert the left foot and keep the right heel down.

You may keep the hands on the floor so you can hold your body up a bit if the stretching effect gets too uncomfortable.

As usual, regular practice makes the pose easier and easier.

* The Bow

Yoga Classes Inhale and raise both legs up diagonally, forming a ‘V’ with the trunk. Once you are in the posture breathe normally

STARTED Physical Therapy Centre @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos.

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

* The Triangle Pose

P AGE 24 — SUND AY Vanguard , A UGUST 2 , 2015 SUNDA AUGUST

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

I was married to a psychopath – and didn’t know!

H

e was every woman’s dream of the ideal man come true. Fade was fresh out of college and looking for a job when a friend introduced her to Godwin.

“He was much older than my 22-year old but I didn’t see him as a potential lover – just a boss”, confessed Fade. “My friend had filled me in that most of his empire was in Nigeria but he had a very impressive office in London. His personal assistant just left to get married and he needed an urgent replacement. I didn’t have any working experience but he told me I would do.

I had the job!

“Within months, we’d attended various meetings and social events together.

I didn’t know what I was expected to do officially, but he said I should just look pretty and serve coffee and be his `man Friday’ until I got the hang of the office routine. Before I could do that however, things took on a new dimension.

Godwin constantly turned on the charm whenever we were together that it was easy to fall in love with him. He swept me off my feet – flowers, extravagant meals, jewellery – h made me feel like a princess. It was like a dream come true, like I was living a fairytale.

“When he asked me to move into his house nine months later, I didn’t hesitate. He had a housekeeper – all I had to do was give instructions and be at his beck and call all the time, dressed to the nines.

He was generous with money too and gave me a gold card. I was in cloud nine and when I got pregnant and feared he would ask me to get rid of it, I was surprised when he suggested we get married.

He had a wife and children who lived in one of his property in Nigeria but he told me they were never

legally married. All they did was a traditional marriage.

“When I met Godwin, marriage was the furtherest thing on my mind. Now it’s staring me in the face. I know getting hitched so soon was moving too fast but I was in love with the man and he really was charming, funny, handsome and romantic. What would I gain by waiting? I may have only been 24, but I was ready for this good fortune.

Within three years, I’d given birth to a set of twins and an adorable son. My husband’s career had really taken off by now and we had moved house twice – upgrading every time.

Though his business schedule meant he had to work long hours, but it was worth it. He was a good dad – just not around that often. Every night, I’d go on my knees and pray to God before bed to thank Him for my blessings.

“Sadly, I would soon discover that Godwin was far from perfect. In fact my

husband was one of the most ruthless men on earth – an evil monster, a sick and twisted man who caused unimaginable pain and suffering. He was a con artiste per excellence!

People had asked me: ‘How could you not know?’

But the thing with psychopaths is you can’t tell. It’s part of the condition. They mimic normal people and it takes an expert to spot one.

According to experts, a psychopath is wired towards making people do their bidding and they can be so charming. Some can go through their entire life undetected. Some even end up running corporations.

The business world is rife with them as their utter lack of human compassion makes them good businessmen.

“Almost ten years after we tied the knot, my life fell apart when the police knocked at my door in the early hours of a cold morning waving a search warrant in my face. I told them Godwin had travelled

to Nigeria the previous day, but they didn’t believe me.

They turned the house upside down, seized all the computers in the house.

And nothing they said made sense. The police were telling me about my husband but it seemed like they were talking about a completely different person. This person didn’t run a legitimate business.

He was a scam artiste, a `yahoo-yahoo’ expert with a string of workers working for him at home and abroad. Several of his victims had been financially ruined beyond recover and he’d also dabbled into drugs. The police had been on his trail for weeks after one of his men was arrested with almost four kilograms of cocaine. In exchange for a prosecution deal, he’d told them everything about Godwin.

“My jaw nearly hit the floor as I listened to these horrid stories about my husband and the police refused to believe I knew nothing about his crimes.

LOVE IS A MUSIC,

Love is music that plays in the eardrums of the afflicted, I treassures, fulfils, uplift,strength, heals,cuddles,cares,trust,faithful, transform one that matured dude/lady,.in fact it's only if you can adequately listens to the rhythm of it,then you becomes a good dancer of love.

Chris Onunaku 08032988826/08184844015 dekris4real@gmail.com.

Y

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

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

ENTANGLED

From two world apart, two half of a soul became entangled. one soul, two bodies locked up together in a torrid night sharing in silence fervid emotions.

We are tied together with one unfathomable umblical cord known as love which only death the blade can seperate....

But they had no evidence against me and they left me alone. I couldn’t get hold of Godwin in Nigeria – he’d changed all his phones and I didn’t have any address or contact though which I could reach him. He’s wanted for a string of crimes – racketeering, trafficking cocaine, human trafficking, prostitution charges and fraud. It’s obvious he’s not expected back in Britain any time soon. Meanwhile, my whole life has been ripped from me. I had no idea what my husband way up to, yet I am being punished for his crimes. The house we lived in, which was in his name, has been confiscated, and I’m now living in a rented flat.

I can’t imagine what the families of his victims are going through and I’m truly sorry for what he did.

Yet the children and I are victims too ...”

Partners seldom see eye-to-eye when they argue It’s been confirmed that there are some general differences in the way men and women behave in arguments.

These differences don’t generally apply to all men and women, but it is worth recognising the tendencies.

Women generally want to pursue arguments longer than men do, following their partner from room to room, trying to get a resolution when it would be wiser to let things calm down. They almost always cry more easily than men too, and are more likely to phone their mothers, sisters and friends as a way of escape or to gain sympathy.

Men tend to opt for the quiet life at first, avoiding arguments and hoping they will go away. Or they withdraw from them by finding something ‘urgent’

to do: getting engrossed in a paper or watching TV. They are also more likely to escape to the club or to drink too much if the going gets touch. And they often attribute what they see as ‘unreasonableness’ in their partners to premenstrual tension – though it may be the cause, men can overdo the accusation.

Generally, men argue about: Th amount of time they want to spend playing or watching sports, or pursuing their hobby, which tends to be more than their partners want. The boss expects long hours, while getting home on time is for ‘ whimps’. Money: why is he married to a spendthrift?

Surely, the shopping cannot cost quite so much?

The mismatch of sexual desire: Has she really got a headache? Why is she asleep when he comes to bed and ‘too busy’ in the morning?

Women on the other hand argue about: His untidiness. Why does he always leave his towel on the4 bathroom floor, or fails to put the seat on? Why can’t he spend more time on her and the children?

Why are the household chores rarely shared? Why does he see them as her responsibility? And why, when he does them, does he expect her to thank him?

Why is he heavy-handed when disciplining the children? Why is he so tight about money? Doesn’t he realise that food and children’s clothes are expensive?

Thankfully, some marriage councillors agree there are negotiating rules.

Avoiding the pitfalls of a negative approach and understanding how we tend to believe when arguing lead to more positive negotiation. Keep to the point. Don’t set out to win at all costs. Really listen to each other. Avoid giving long monologues on withdrawing into silence.

ONYEKAONWU HARRISON OMMY 08064888266/09097691852.

LOVE AND ANGER

Love is something that brings joy to the heart and mind of people, it bring smiles on the faces of couples and lovers. Anger is a destroyer, it brings hatred and misunderstanding between couples and lovers...

Love and anger have no limit,so you choose the latter to fall on and have a beautiful and lovely life.. Things are to be used and people are to be loved.... Watch your THOUGHT because they become WORD, watch your word because they become ACTION, watch your action because they become HABIT, watch your habit because they become CHARACTER, then watch your character because they become your DESTINY. CHARLES CHIDUBEM OGBONNA. 08169186581, 08170268800

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 25 08116759757

AREPO

Where high demand for stolen petrol fuels infernos, deaths! dare-devil obbers, kidnappers’ •The dare-de vil armed rrobber obber s, kidnapper s’ saga •Residents send SOS to govt, security agents

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BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

esidents of Ikorodu and Arepo areas of Lagos and Ogun States went into wild jubilation, last week, when the news broke that a massive explosion, from a pipeline belonging to Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, killed hundreds of pipeline vandals who had been terrorizing their areas lately.

They contacted media houses, informing them about the development, while some others uploaded pictures of the burning pipeline on social media.

Many had thought that the deaths, occasioned by the explosion, would deter the vandals, also accused of being the masterminds of bank robberies and kidnapping in Ikorodu, from further operating.

But the residents celebration was cut short after two photo journalists who visited the scene, at Arepo, were abducted and taken to an island, off Ikorodu, which is used as their operational base.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that, in an attempt to show their strength, some armed vandals took over the streets of Arepo, and a jetty in Ikorodu leading to their base to prevent security operatives, NNPC officials and journalists from reaching the island.

•Vandals scooping petrol after breaking pipelines A resident, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said the vandals, armed with rifles, patrolled the streets of Arepo, clad in military and police uniforms, in search of security agents and journalists. The resident explained that the vandals had taken full control of the area and not even the police or military could enter. “We are now living in fear. It is not like we are new to it, but it is just that we feel that this fire would reduce their number and

thereby, possibly make them leave the area. As we speak, I don’t know if Arepo is no longer part of Nigeria, because these vandals are the ones calling the shots now. There’s no single police or military personnel in sight.”

Another resident urged security operatives to go after those patronizing the vandals, adding that it would help to curtail their activities. The resident explained that the increasing demand

for stolen petroleum products in the area has been the main reason the vandals are still operating. He explained: “The marketers coming into this area and Ikorodu to buy the stolen products is obviously what encourages the vandals to step up their vandalisation operation in this area. I don’t think petrol sellers go to buy from the depot anymore. Government needs to urgently move against those patronizing the vandals and bring them to justice; that is obviously how those vandals could be curtailed”.

A source at Lagos State Police Command stated that the latest explosion dealt a heavy blow to the vandals who, he said, took advantage of the swampy nature of their base to carry out their nefarious acts. “Those vandals were responsible of the killing of nine policemen last year. They attacked the Owutu Police Station and killed several people. They also coordinated several kidnappings around Ikorodu, Epe, Ajah and Lekki areas of Lagos. They were the same boys behind the Lekki and Ikorodu bank robberies. The list of atrocities is endless and the boys have proven to be undeterred. After each operation, they would move into the creek and take cover. The intelligence report we have received in the meantime indicated that the boys have lost a very large number of men and rifles.

We were told that all the rifles they took for the last vandalisation operation were consumed in the fire.

As I speak, those boys do not have the capability to coordinate any massive operation within Lagos at least for now”, he stated.

Rot ar trict Go e-care ffacility acility ffor or Ado-Ekiti otar aryy Dis District Govv. Adebajo plans end-of-lif end-of-life-care •To spend N200m on projects

BY DAMILOLA IGBEDION

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otary District 404 B-2 Nigeria, under its new District Governor, the first female to be appointed to that office, is set to construct a hospice in Ado-Ekiti, where special care is to be provided for chronically, terminally ill patients and those in severe pains.

Lion (Dr) Christine Funke Adebajo disclosed this in Lagos at an occasion to herald the ‘New Lions Year’(20152016 Lions Year).

The organisation’s second core project for the year, according to her, is a youth empowerment project through the construction and equipping of a water plant ‘to be housed at Ozanam House Complex, Lagos.’

Speaking on the hospice, she explained that it will attend to seriously ill-patients’ symptoms as well as their emotional and spiritual needs.

“Hospice care is end-of-life-care where the patients are given a dignified end.

The health professionals and indeed all care givers in a hospice are carefully trained in the art of compassion, C M Y K

commitment and dedication”, Adebajo stated.

“Location of such facility in AdoEkiti, the capital of Ekiti State, will fill vacuum of care. Suffice it to mention that none of the existing hospitals in Nigeria has this type of facility. When

constructed, the facility will also provide referral services for other hospitals in Nigeria”.

On the water project, the District Governor said it will be located in Ozanam House which caters for teenage girls who are victims of unwanted pregnancy mostly through rape, even by close relations.

“The girls will be trained on the production of bottled and sachet water.

Those who have the flair can eventually set up small scale outfits. Some of our Leos can also benefit from this project.”

According to Adebajo, District 404 B2 intends to spend about N200 million to impact on “our community this Lions Year.”

Isokos plead with Okowa on cabinet appointments

BY DAMILOLA IGBEDION

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HE people of Igbide Kingdom in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State have appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to consider their worthy sons and daughters for appointments, saying that, since 1999, neither of the community’s indigenes has been appointed into the state cabinet nor an aide to successive governors.

They said that despite the community’s 10,000 voters’ strength, they have never been considered for appointment while they have have been voting for the Peoples Democratic Party in all elections.

Chief Emegrerurhia Adheke, the Otere of Igbide Kingdom, who spoke to our correspondent, said: “Igbide Kingdom has not had it good with Delta State government in terms of appointments. Igbide is a

community with over 10,000 voters and predominantly a PDP area since 1999, yet nobody remembers us for appointments at the state level after elections. “I want to also advise our respected governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to know that it is only the best we want him to appoint from our kingdom. I know many persons are jostling for positions but the one I feel, if given appointment, will positively affect members of our community, Isoko South Local Government Area and the state at large is Chief Nicodemus Akuegha”, he added.

He explained further, “Chief Nicodemus Akuegha is a very good man, loved by all because of his track record of positively affecting the lives of the Igbide people. I urge Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to appoint him into his cabinet, especially now that the state needs capable hands to support him for speedy

development”. On their part, Isoko South Concerned Youths for Good Governance asked Okowa to appoint Okuegha as commissioner because, according to them, if not for him, PDP couldn’t have won in Igbide Kingdom. The group, which spoke through their representative, Comrade Sunny Onoriode, said: “It is clear that Chief Nicodemus Okuegha is the people’s servant, and his maturity is golden, his leadership ability is tested and proven. From the eccentric and multiracial green chambers, his leadership foot-marks are eloquent and evident even to the blind.

“After his vast achievement in knowledge and technical know-how, his academic sojourn endeared him to get good and profitable experiences in various capacities at the Department of Petroleum Resources (NNPC Inspectorate) in Nigeria.

PAGE 26 —

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015 08116759757

At last, water to drink for Ondo riverine communities

BY DAYO JOHNSON, Akure

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ELIEF is on the way for the people of the oil rich riverine communities in Ondo State who have lack of potable water for years as the state government has inaugurated a N4b water scheme for them.

With this development, the paradox of water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink would no more apply in the communities.

Generations in the oil rich communities have had to travel far in search of potable water to drink.

Consequently, the Governor Olusegun Mimiko government came up with the idea to build a water facility in Aboto, in Ilaje area to serve the beleagured communities.

Speaking during the inauguration, which attracted paramount rulers from the oil rich communities, Mimiko said the water project “ will terminate the previous order where rainfall, pond, streams or polluted rivers were the only sources of water for domestic use”.

While saying that the first phase of the project may not

•Gov Olusegun Mimiko

cut across all the communities,he assured that, with time, the water will be reticulated across the length and breadth of the council area.

The first phase, according to the governor is designed to extend from Aboto-Igbokoda and Aboto-Ugbonla axis.

Mimiko added that the second phase will cover the entire council area.

To actualize the project, two construction firms have been contracted to undertake the works. One of the firms is constructing two million gallons per day capacity water treatment facility within nine

to 12months for N2.378billion.

The second firm is to construct the water pipeline for reticulation to the communities a t N1.790billion.

The Chairman of OSOPADEC, Pastor Johnson Ogunyemi, in his address at the occasion, said, with the project, the perennial problem of potable water will be a thing of the past.

Ogunyemi, who lauded the governor for adding value to mankind with the provision of basic amenity, said it will put a stop to traveling long distance to get drinkable water. Speaking on behalf of the Aboto people their

N/Delt ants congr atulat oh, commend Buhari N/Deltaa Ex-milit Ex-militants congratulat atulatee Bor Boroh,

BY ONOJA INNOCENT

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iger Delta exmilitants have congratulated the new Chairman of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Brigadier- General Paul Boroh, saying President Muhammadu Buhari made a wise choice from the Niger Delta.

Making the commendation, Delta State Chairman, Phase 2 Ex-militants under the Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Muturu, noted that Boroh’s appointment to pilot the affairs of the programme was a choice that would see to the successful conclusion of the programme, saying exmilitants have passed a vote of confidence on him due to

his selfless services rendered to the Nigerian state as an exsoldier of high rank.

Muturu urged ex-militants to work with Boroh to see to the success of the programme and advised ex-militant leaders who were heating up the polity during the President’s consultations, accusing fellow Niger Deltans of lobbying for the office,

Okowa’s SMART tune for Deltans

BY AUGUSTINE AVWODE

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new tune is wafting across Delta State. It is the SMART tu ne with a

loveable chorus of “Prosperity for all Deltans”. The proponent and natural cheerleader is no other person than Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, whose passion is how to ensure that his fellow Deltans, irrespective of differences in ethnicity, gender, faith, geographical location and political persuasion, live a good life.

SMART, an acronym for a well thought-out, all embracing and masses oriented agenda meticulously packaged to usher in “Prosperity for all Deltans” involves: * Strategic Wealth Creation Initiatives and Provision of Jobs for all Deltans. * Meaningful Peace Building Platforms aimed at Political/ Social Stability. * Agricultural Reforms and Industrialisation. * Relevant Health and Education Policies. * Transformed Environment through Massive Urban Renewal.

The appeal of Okowa’s SMART agenda can be located in the way the components are designed to address those things that are at the heart of peoples’ efforts to meet their everyday needs. It was, therefore, not surprising that, notwithstanding frantic efforts in some quarters to divert Deltans’ attention and focus during the April 11

C M Y K

spokesman, Prince Ade Adeniyi, lauded the Ondo government for sitting the project in their community.

The Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, and the Amapetu of Mahin, Oba Lawrence Omowole, said the project will wipe away generational hardship in the oil rich communities.

The monarchs, however, appealed to the state governor to construct a Mother and Child Hospital in the council area.

Mimiko promised that a Mother and Child Hospital would be constructed in the area before the expiration of his tenure next year.

gubernatorial election, they stuck to their choice. For them, the SMART agenda represents the message of hope that is genuine, original in content and appeal and the best option going forward.

It was not surprising, therefore, that across the three senatorial zones, Deltans overwhelmingly voted for the opportunity for this new song of hope to be sung with greater fervor and intensity across the state.

As we speak, the administration has unveiled six entrepreneurship schemes to create 6,000 direct jobs in the next six months. The schemes include the: Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP); Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP); Production and Processing Support Programme (PPSP); Tractorisation; Extension of Loans and the Development of Agro–Industries.

The schemes are being pursued using the traditional institution in the 25 local government areas of the state.

Targeting 6,000 direct jobs before the end of 2015 is indicative of the seriousness which of Okowa attaches to the implementation of the SMART agenda aimed at economically empowering Deltans.

The governor has also taken an unprecedented step to ensure that a critical agency of government, the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Commission (DESOPADEC),

•Gov Okowa

is repositioned in a way that it an effectively deliver on its mandate by reviewing legal provisions that have impeded the commission’s performance.

One cannot but commend the determination, foresight and political will of Okowa to revisit DESOPADEC as it is presently constituted. It is all part of his determination to ensure that prosperity for Deltans does not turn out a mere slogan, but to concrete and visible wealth for all.

Regrettably, some self centered individuals benefitting from the skewed arrangement in DESOPADEC have gone to great length to discredit an otherwise laudable and timely intervention. It is, however,

gratifying to note that the majority of stakeholders, who appeared before the Hon. Dennis Omovie led Ad-Hoc Committee of the Delta State House of Assembly on DESOPADEC during the public hearing on July 17, commended Okowa’s initiative to make the commission more effective and efficient in utilizing the resources accruing to it.

For those who have chosen to label Okowa’s line of action on DESOPADEC as having a “hidden agenda”, the governor, again, explained his motives to revered traditional rulers from Delta Central, last week, during a courtesy visit to him at Government House, Asaba. His words: “We are not going to do anything in secrecy. In my inaugural speech, we made it clear that we will strengthen DESOPADEC along the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) pattern; we want to ensure that we have a structured management system that would not be based on ethnic sentiments.

The commissioners from different ethnic nationalities will be members of the Board where they will present issues concerning their ethnic nationalities, while the management which is insulated from ethnic politics, implements policies reached.

“I insisted on a public hearing so as to get the people’s views which will

stressing such behaviour did not augur well for the Niger Delta struggle for fair treatment from the federal government.

He thanked Buhari for his promise to implement the “good aspects” of the Amnesty Programme and assured him that Niger Delta agitators would create the enabling environment for his administration to flourish.

vastly enrich the bill before it is passed into law. It is left for the House of Assembly, after listening to the public to take its own decision and pass a bill that will be in the best interest of Deltans, this I will

assent to”.

Okowa has also not hidden his desire to see to the quick completion of the Asaba Airport by the contractors handling various projects there. This much he made known to the contractors when he paid an unscheduled visit to the airport early last month.

Okowa has left no one in doubt about his commitment to SMART. While swearing-in some Commissioners and Special Advisers recently, he urged all political appointees to firmly key into it, especially the job creating programmes.

A focused, painstaking and farsighted pan-Deltan, Okowa couldn’t have emerged as the Governor of Delta at a better time.

For a man who has superintended three different ministries in the state as commissioner; functioned as the Secretary to State Government (SSG) and has also represented the good people of Delta North as senator where he shone like a million stars, Okowa arrived this point well prepared.

Those who know him speak eloquently and confidently about his near immeasurable passion and selfless commitment to empowering people economically.

For the majority of Deltans, who are bent double by the excruciating pangs of poverty, SMART comes as a sweet music to their ears. And they are in their millions. For such people, and many more Deltans of goodwill, it is simply let the SMART tune “play on, play on, play on”, the way a Lionel Richie would render it. *AVWODE is media aide to Governor Okowa.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 27 08116759757

ANOTHER EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING ROCKS BENIN

Our son shot dead after apparent torture in police custody – Family SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN-CITY THE family of one Benson Orode, 26, an indigene of Edo State, is at war with the police following the mysterious death of their son, David, in custody.

The deceased was arrested on May 21, 2015 by policemen who claimed to be from Lagos and, ever since then, nothing was heard about David until few days ago. The policemen, who arrested him, alleged that David bought a stolen vehicle. However, the bad news broke, last week, when it was learnt that the body of David was deposited at a mortuary in BeninCity. This is coming barely four months after a 26-year-old worker of Protea Hotel, Benin City, Chibuike Edeh, died in the custody of the police. The police has yet unable to fish out the killers.

In the latest incident, it was the radio police crew that revealed this sad news after the family travelled from Benin-City to Abuja and then Lagos where they were informed that David died in Benin and never left the town as claimed by the police.

Meanwhile, the police authorities in Benin-City have failed to make any comment on the death of David, whom Sunday Vanguard learnt died during interrogation. Family members, friends and associates, on Tuesday, protested the killing of David whose corpse, it was gathered, was deposited at the

We saw the body at the morgue and there is evidence he was killed by torture and shot

•Elder sister of the deceased, Mrs Osawaru Uzehi mortuary by one Corporal Oniyon Musa same day he was arrested.

The protesters stormed the premises of the Edo State House of Assembly, Edo Government House and headquarters of Edo Police Command, demanding for independent autopsy to ascertain the cause of death. His elder brother, Solomon, said the police was yet to inform the family what happened to the deceased since he was arrested, adding that

•The late David N200,000 cash, phones and ATM cards belonging to his late brother were still missing. According to him, his brother’s corpse was deposited at the morgue as Benson Agu instead of David Obode. “Until now, they have not told the family anything.

They broke the news to journalists in Lagos and not the family. We don’t know what has happened to our brother. How could somebody you arrested be mobbed?

“We saw the body at the morgue and there is evidence he was killed by torture and shot. His landlord, who was also arrested, said my brother was tied and hung on a tree while blocks were placed on his chest. We have informed our lawyers. They have written to the IG and we are asking the police to produce our brother. They said the boy bought a stolen car. Who is the complainant? We do not know. How did he die? The police should tell the family what happened”. Elder sister to David, Mrs Osawaru Uzehi, said the family travelled to Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt in search of where police said they took their brother but didn’t know he had been killed. Osawaru said her late brother was innocent of the crime he was accused of and that she was at the police station on the day her brother was arrested. She stated that injuries

Akwa Ibom ex- councillors task Buhari on maritime academy

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By Mary Lawrence

he Association of Former Councillors of Oron Nation (AFECO), Akwa Ibom State has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give priority attention to the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, which, it claimed, has been under funded, in addition to the failure of not being accorded the status befitting a special institution.

Following its recent facility tour of MAN which it claimed to have undertook to ascertain the level of its development in the past four years under the watch of the Rector, Ambassador Joshua Okpo, the group said much is still left to be done, even as it lauded Okpo for his legacy projects and purposeful leadership, stressing that “current development has significantly raised the facility and infrastructure base of the nation’s sole maritime academy.”

Addressing journalists in Uyo after the tour, AFECO lamented that successive administrations in the past have failed to pay adequate attention to the development of the academy, thereby precluding it from offering a rounded and complete training programme, which, according to the group, has negated the primary purpose for establishing the institution, in addition to making it lag behind in regional, continental and global ranking, reckoning and capacity.

The group listed perceived under development of the academy to include non-listing of the academy by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), World Maritime University and other C M Y K

•Rector, Ambassador Joshua Okpo relevant international maritime authorities, thereby reducing its global status in both the international labour market and participation in relevant global protocols and conventions.

The forum which expressed deep confidence in the leadership of the Rector of MAN, Okpo , for taking the academy to its present level from the modest development he met on ground in 2011 upon his appointment, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that Okpo was reappointed, to provide the needed impetus in achieving a complete repositioning of the academy towards its transition to a degree awarding institution, for global acceptance.

President of the AFECO, Hon. Okon Edet Iyohokwa (JP), said the coming of Buhari has renewed their hope for the eventual journey of MAN into its rightful place.

He said, “As former Oron councillors, we have for a very long

time been concerned about the fate of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria. As a special institution like the School of Aviation, Zaria, Petroleum Training Institute, Warri, Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna to name just a few, we had hoped for a realistic provision of adequate maritime training for the production of the needed maritime manpower” AFECO Vice President 3, Hon. Ekpeyong Ekpo, stated, “If President Buhari can take a second look at the size of the academy’s funding, in addition to the funding history and the regime of inadequate and poor budgetary allocation hitherto, perhaps this will go a long way in correcting some of the imbalances and inadequacies. I also think that extending the tenure of the incumbent Rector, Ambassador Joshua Okpo who with very lean resources at his disposal nevertheless thought it proper to set

the academy on the right footing, will assists in boldly implementing Mr. President’s intervention initiatives. Mr. president needs a capable, tested and reliable hand that can match executive vision and commitment to align the academy with the relevant international accord bodies.”

Also speaking, Secretary of the group, Hon. Essang Achibong, said, “We are happy and grateful to God that a man of integrity like President Muhammadu Buhari has ascended to power. We urge him to take more than passing interest in the affairs of MAN Oron in respect of holistically repositioning the academy, and we are very hopeful that Mr. President will afford the incumbent Rector a second term appointment to enable him complete the very laudable cleanup programme and enviable developments projects he has started.”

Group wants NNPC, NDDC probed

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PRESSURE group un der the aegis of NigerDelta Youth Vanguard for All Progressives Congress, APC, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC and Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC activities.

The group in a statement by its President, Comrade Fredrick Ujobolo, Secretary and PRO, Comrade Gordons Oweiware and Bounty Omokoro, said Buhari’s government will not make any headway in the fight against corruption without

probing the running of both NNPC and NDDC. The group blamed the underdevelopment of the Niger Delta on selfish leaders appointed from the region to head the commission, saying it has confidence that with the emergence of President Buhari, the region will experience rapid development if there is a close monitoring on the allocation accruing to the region. They also advised the President to be wary of sycophants and those who cross carpeted to APC after the presidential election.

on his corpse showed that he was shot as there was a big hole on it indicating her claim.

She said David spent the night before the arrest in her house after which he left for his apartment only for her to be informed that he was in trouble. She rushed to the place only to see her brother held down by neighbours and his landlord who said the police had come for him for an undisclosed crime. “So the police, who said they came from Lagos, took my brother away to Edo State Police Command; later, they said he had been taken to Abuja and then Lagos”. Uzehi, who wept profusely, said a legal practitioner in Lagos had written the police but then no response was heard about her brother ’s whereabouts and neither was he charged to court for any criminal offence. According to her, the aged mother, who stays with her since they lost their father years ago, had become hypertensive and always troubled asking for her son.

She continued: “The policemen came in a Toyota Highlander ash colour; they were wearing ear rings and dreadlocks; if not for the police colours on their rifles, I would have doubted they were real policemen. I asked them what my brother had done. They replied that I didn’t have any right to ask them questions.

“Later, I went to the Edo State Police Command. We saw the policemen, we tried to talk to them but they did not grant us audience.

We waited endlessly to see who could talk to us. We went to see the OC SARS in Edo State, he did not also attend to us. The policemen only told us he bought a stolen vehicle and that he was an armed robber. I was surprised; he stayed with me for a long time, he never took my money; if he didn’t have money, he will request from me and I will give to him. The policeman insisted that he was a thief and that they were ‘Scorpion SARS’ from Lagos.

“The next day, May 22nd, we went back to the state police command with a lawyer. The lawyer and we waited and eventually they said my brother was an armed robber but still did not allow the lawyer to see him. The next day, May 23rd, when we got there, they said they had moved my brother to Abuja and we later called a lawyer in Abuja to help us search police stations there. He went there and he could not see my brother. Later, the police told us that they had taken him to Lagos. My uncle, who is a policeman, went there and searched several police stations but did not see him”.

A copy of the family’s letter to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police

by Peter Ehijinwa of Peter Ehijinwa & Co, dated June 29th,, 2015, identified the team that travelled to Benin to arrest David as Corporal Adeleke Adedeji, Corporal Abenna John, Corporal Henry Shobowale and Corporal Oniyo Musa.

The family, from Esan Central, Edo State, appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to come to their aid in the interest of justice.

When contacted, Edo State Police Commissioner, Samuel Adegbuyi, said he was on leave.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Stephen Onwochei, did not pick his calls.

PAGE 28— SUNDAY, Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

AYO ONIKOYI 08052201215

Lat e Helen Ek unk unbor laid tto o rest Late Ekunk unkunbor

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emains of Late Helen Esi Ekunkunbor, wife of Sonny Ekunkunbor were committed to mother earth penultimate Friday in .

Lagos, in a sombre atmosphere that had family members and friends showing open affection for the deceased.

For peaceful repose of her soul a well-attended funeral service was held at African Church Bethel, Surulere, Lagos.

In pictures are some of the guests who graced the occasion. Photos

by Diran Oshe

L-R: Amaju Ekunkunbor, Mayomi Olubowale, Oma Babalola, Mr Sonny Ekunkunbor, husband, Alero Ekunkunbor, first daughter

Mrs Tosan Nwafor (left)and Mrs Rita Amuka

L-R: Mrs Helen Arowolo, Alero Ekunkunbor, Jemi Ekunkunbor and Mrs Ronke Amats.

Ayan wale installed as Inner Wheel District anw Chairman

L-R: Mrs Apua Ajose- Adeogun, Mrs Floretta Edun (crying) and first daughter, Alero Ekunkunbor .

L-R: Mr Sunny Aminaghan, Mr Victor Grage, Mr Sunny Joe and Prosper Erhabor.

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rs Olayinka Ayanwale last Sunday in Lagos took over the mantle of leadership of International Inner Wheel, District 911, Nigeria, from Mrs. Joe Nkiruka Ebo as the club’s 32nd District Chairman.

The installation ceremony had many of the club’s bigwigs in attendance, including some dignitaries like former First Lady of Lagos State, Dame Abimbola Fashola, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, Oba Kabiru Adelaja Agbabiaka, The Osolo of Isolo; Otunba Bola Onabadejo and many others. Photos by Lamidi Bamidele

L-R: Mr. Benji Omatsola, Mr Sunny Joe, Mrs Lovey Joe, Mr George Buwa, Mr Prosper Erhabor and Victor Grage.

Olufunwa Children School’s graduation L-R: Vice President, International Inner Wheel, Mrs. Oluyemisi Alatise; Chairman, Inner Wheel, District 911, Nigeria, Mrs. Olayinka Ayanwale; Immediate Past Chairman, Mrs. Joe Nkiruka Ebo; Immediate past National Representative, Inner Wheel Clubs in Nigeria, Mrs. Osenike Ajadi and National Representative/President, Inner Wheel in Nigeria, Mrs. Phebean Aduke Alade

L-R: Alhaja Iyabo Olapade; Alhaja Yinka Agoro and Alhaja Risikat Osiade C M Y K

L-R:Dame Abimbola Fashola; Senator Ganiyu Solomon and Aremo Oba Abeeb Faronbi

L-R:Mr Kolawole Ayanwale, Group Managing Director, Centrespread Group; Mrs Olayinka Adijat Ayanwale, District Chairman, Inner Wheel District 911 Nigeria and Mr Michael AdewaleCole, former President, Nigerian Institute of Management.

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he 17th graduation ceremony of Olufunwa Children’s School, Agric, Ojo, Lagos took place on July 15, 2015. Parents of the pupils and staff of the school had a delightful time with the graduands.

The graduating pupils of Olufunwa Children’s School

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 29

BY EMEKA AGINAM, IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

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ffort to retool Software Nigeria to international market has started yielding the expected result as Microsoft at the just concluded 2015 Imagine Cup technology competition held in Seattle, Washington expressed interest on the possibilities of working with Team LifeWatch from Nigeria on their AsthmaVisor solution designed to supervise asthmatic patients.

Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition that gives students the opportunity to break new ground, solve tough problems facing the world today.

It would be recalled that thirty three Teams across the globe had competed in the 2015 Imagine Cup in one of the three categories including World Citizenship, Innovation and Games. The three 2015 competition categories were designed to inspire students to use their imagination and passion to create technology solutions on the Microsoft platform.

Team Lifewatch from Nigeria, Digital Interactive Games from South Africa, and T2 from Tunisia were the three African Teams that made it to the world finals to fly African flag at the showcase that exposed the innovative students on how best to be software entrepreneurs after graduation from the university.

Team Nigeria is made up of four innovative students from Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, ABUAD. The members included Adeyemo Oluwaseun, Kevin Ahwin, Sobola David and Raymond Obinaju .

Accordingly, soon after their brilliant live presentation in the World Citizenship category before Microsoft panel of judges, the innovative solution caught the attention of Microsoft.

This development has shown

2015 Imagine Cup: AsthmaVisor solution attracts Microsoft attention that Nigerian indigenous solution can be globally competitive if given opportunity and the right platform.

Although Team LifeWatch was unable to advance to championship round at the weekend, because of the potential of AsthmaVisor solution to supervise asthmatic patients in real time, Dennis Tom, Senior Director, Program Management, Microsoft Corporation who was thrilled by the solution immediately invited them for a meeting at the Microsoft Redmond Campus in Seattle on the possibility of

working relationship with the team.

During the meeting with the students and their mentors, he commended the amazing solution showcased by Team LIfeWatch, saying that there was need for possible working relationship as a result of the robust nature of their solution to solve Asthmatic issues claiming lives all over the world.

When the innovative students asked him on the possibility of partnership to take the solution to the next level, he said that, “I was thrilled by your live presentation by the panel of

judges. Your Team has done well. It is possible to partner on the dust sensor which is the only missing link in the product. But it will take little time though.

We are looking for robust solution like this that will better people’s lives. We can partner on your vision. We can start discussion.

You need to work on the dust sensor if you want to get it right.

Asking questions on battery life of the wearable, he advised the students to get approval from the local regulatory authority for product Type-Approval.

Expressing their gratitude for the expression of interest, the

spokesperson of Team LifeWatch , Raymond Obinaju said that they will be ready to work with Microsoft so as to take the solution to the next level, adding that the Team will go back to the drawing board for the challenges ahead.

Meanwhile, the Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, in his goodwill message to Microsoft expressed happiness on how the software giant has been revolutionizing the computing world just as he is reforming and transforming the educational ecosystem in Nigeria .

From left: Yemi Orimolade, Communications Lead, Kendra Nnachi, Audience Marketing Manager, Joel Ogunsola, Microsoft Education Technical Advisor all of Microsoft Nigeria Ahwin Kevin, Member Team LifeWatch Obinaju Raymond ,Team Lead for Team LifeWatch, Dennis Tom, Senior Director, Program Management , Microsoft Corporation Adeyemo Oluwaseun,Member Team Life Watch, Sobola Timilehin,Member Team Life Watch, Adebayo Ogundipe and Daniel Ale both Mentors of Team LifeWatch, at the weekend in Seattle, Washington shortly after a meeting with Dennis Tom for partnership on AsthmaVisor solution presented by the Nigerian Team at the just concluded Microsoft Imagine. Photo: By Emeka Aginam

Mobile solutions needed for healthcare T

he utility value of mobile technology is almost second to none. In sub-Sahara Africa, the mobile phone has proven to be an innovative and transformative tool for positive social and economic change, empowering individuals, communities and organizations in a variety of ways.

One key area where mobile is transforming realities and becoming positively disruptive is in healthcare services.

Driven by some of the fastest mobile subscriber growth rates in the world, cheaper mobile devices, and continued innovation, emerging mobile health solutions are saving lives – an estimated million of them by 2017, according to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Despite the growing interest in Mobile Health (mHealth) initiatives across sub-Sahara Africa, adoption rates of mobile solutions vary widely. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by GDP, needs to do a lot of caching up in this regard.

Healthcare experts meeting at the “Future of Health” conference organized by Nigeria Health Watch in June 2015, argued C M Y K

rightly that Nigeria’s healthcare systems and structures were literally still in the dark ages.

Clare Omatseye, a pharmacist and President, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria stated that Nigeria needs greater and smarter use of technology to tackle the challenges facing the health sector, pointing out that the health sector is stuck in an analogue world, while patients had already arrived in the digital world.

In countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates informational medical apps are gaining traction but infrastructural challenges in other countries have limited adoption of consumer-facing apps and hampered integration with local health systems.

An emerging opportunity, however, exists for healthcare providers and other enterprise organizations looking to improve operational and logistical health delivery. Instead of wrestling with the underlying infrastructure, organizations can overcome the current barriers to adoption and deliver more holistic medical care to their citizens.

Circumventing infrastructural challenges While the population is eager for mHealth solutions, most African countries still lack the required infrastructure to support widespread deployment of apps that might integrate personal medical information.

They first need to deploy Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems, from which health organizations can pull, analyze and share patient medical histories, and which could be integrated into mobile health apps.

In a healthcare ecosystem that encourage citizens to select a variety doctors and specialists instead of one primary care physician, the consolidation and ownership of medical information is challenging for public leaders and confusing for consumers.

Inward-facing enterprise mHealth apps, which improve the logistical and operational efficiency of healthcare solutions, are a potentially easier way to deliver mobile technology’s benefits to patients without having to tackle infrastructural transformation. By deploying apps internally, the additional

burden of educating consumers and nurturing widespread adoption is eased – an added benefit of improving citizens’ healthcare experience without requiring their participation.

Initiatives which improve accessto medical supplies, track immunizations, and allow remote diagnostics have the potential to transform the entire regional healthcare landscape– resulting in higher referrals, faster diagnoses, and dramatically improved patient experience.

Telehealth apps, for example, can reduce the need for patients to travel hundreds of kilometers to visit a GP or specialist. Mobile diagnostics, which allows health professionals to send test results from the field, would give citizens in remote areas access speciality care prefessionals in other countries, in real time.

Enterprise mHealth apps enable a “distributed” model of healthcare provision – healthcare field agents can consult with patients and collect the necessary information, relay it back to specialists, and receive treatment recommendations.

Once established, these apps can also be more easily mandated and

rolled out by local governments.

In Zambia, the government partnered with IBM to deploy a mobile program aimed at better managing the inventory and delivery of 200 life-saving prescription drugs. Staff from three local health facilities are now using mobile devices with barcode scanners to record stock and generate real-time views of supplies. The solution also allows workers to transfer supplies and identify trends, thereby preventing gaps in the medical supply chain and ensuring that citizens have access to the medications they need.

For a country that sees around 100,000 deaths each year due to preventable and treatable diseases, the benefits of the mobile-based system are selfevident.

Healthcare providers and institutions in Nigeria and other African countries will do well to replicate this Zambian scenario in their domestic health sectors.

Rasheed Ola Jimoh, Director, IBM Systems, Central & West Africa, wrote from Lagos

PAGE 30—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

My story,

by Alex Otti

•Narr at es how police guar dw as killed •Narrat ates guard was •‘Abia should not be run like a secret cult’

P

enultimate Friday, Dr. Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in the Abia State election, raised the alarm that an attempt was made on his life. This generated so much heat in the state with the Abia State Government taking him on and pooh-poohing the allegation.

In this interview with JIDE AJANI, EDITOR and OLALEKAN BILESANMI, Dr. Otti laments that he is at a loss as to the interest of the state government in the matter, especially since he did not point any accusing finger at anybody. According to him, the police are aware of what happened with the attendant killing of a police guard on duty at the residence where the attackers struck. In fact, he showed photographs of the lifeless body of the policeman in a pool of blood. He was shot in the head.In the photographs, you could see blood on the floor of the house – the images are too gory to be reproduced here. And because of on-going investigations by the police, the identity of the dead is still being kept under wraps. But the interview as not all about the assassination attempt. He also speaks about the parlous state of finances of the Abia and why the people of the state should not allow their future and those of generations unborn, to be mortgaged. Excerpts: Last week, there was a story about an attempted assassination on your life.

What really happened?

I had been away in the U.S. I returned to the country last (penultimate) Saturday and I went to Abuja.

I was in Abuja from that Monday till the early hours of Thursday.

From there I went to Umuahia on Friday.

As early as 3.30/4am that Friday, the cook in the residence where I stay in Abuja called to alert my personal assistant that there were some unknown gun men who scaled the fence from the back of the house and entered into the premises.

He said they shot one of the police guards in the compound, and he died instantly.

Thereafter, he said they went straight to my own apartment, ransacked everywhere and turned the place upside down.

Of course, I was not there.

He said they then went to the other wing of the duplex which also has an office and ransacked it too.

Did they steal or cart away anything?

Not even a pin was taken.

Nothing at all?

Nothing! So, it was very clear to me that C M Y K

they were hired assassins.

What I did was to call a press conference mid-way during the recess at the tribunal sitting in Umuahia - that was during the one hour break of the tribunal so I quickly used the opportunity to address the press, that same Friday, July 24.

I alerted the general public that some people made an attempt but thank God I was not available to be killed.

I also disclosed that a policeman was murdered in cold blood - I was very shocked first and foremost that someone was killed. It was one of the guards that had been with me all week.

Did you point accusing fingers while you did the briefing?

A day later, Saturday, in the evening, I saw an online report that the governor had issued a press statement. To my consternation, the statement said that what happened in Abuja was a robbery event; that they had checked and it didn’t happen in my place but another compound and that the person that was killed was not attached to me.

The apartment you were referring to, is it rented or your private property?

The place was given to me by a friend.

The duplex used to be his own guest house before he went abroad. So, in the last two

years, the place has been vacant. Since I left the bank around November last year, he just called me and said he gave me one of the wings so that anytime I am coming to Abuja I could stay there instead of staying in hotels.

One of the curious things about the statement from the government of Abia State – mind you I did not mention any name nor did I point any accusing fingers just as I was very careful not to give out too much personal information – was that the government gave the name of the place where the incident happened.

The statement said it was Nestoil but in my press statement, I didn’t mention that because the police was still investigating and I didn’t think it was proper. Even in the press interview, I was asked if I suspected anybody and I said I didn’t suspect anybody because I believe that the police will delve into the matter thoroughly and they will come up with the culprits and whoever sent them. That was my comment and it is still there in the public domain. You can go and check.

With your petition against the incumbent governor still on at the tribunal and your press briefing during the break could have suggested that ….?

Look, I was surprised to read what they were saying, that I was whipping up

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 31

We don’t know anything about the finances of the state.

The state should not be run like a secret society. There is no gain saying that the finances of the state were muddled up. Even the internally generated revenue, IGR, of the state is still very hazy sentiment….

•Dr. Alex Otti

C M Y K

That’s exactly the point I was trying to make?

Somebody was killed. A life was lost.

Sentiments?

They said I wanted to give an impression that Abia State was unsafe in order to actualize my desire to move the tribunal sitting from Umuahia to Abuja.

And I wondered what sense that makes.

The attack was in Abuja. If I wanted the sitting to be moved to Abuja I should not be claiming that there was an attack in Abuja.

I think the government statement was hurriedly put together and they didn’t really spare a thought for it, otherwise, it does not make sense. I was amazed that somebody of my calibre would be attacked and the sympathy word I would get from my governor is that I was lying.

He concluded his investigation 24 hours after the event happened.

He arrogated to himself the role of the policemen investigating the case, the Inspector General of Police, the spokesperson of the force and even the commissioner of police in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. I was very, very shocked that they could be making such statement.

Again yesterday (Thursday), they reported that the governor said I was raising false alarm. But, it didn’t matter that a soul was lost. A bread winner, a father!

What stage is the police investigation now?

They have taken all the statements and samples, because there were quite a lot of blood stains in the place. They are investigating. I think it was assigned to experts, the CID. So, with the way they are going, I believe they are going to be able to come up with some form of information very soon.

There was another thing that shocked me, that was on Tuesday. The state chairman of the party, that is PDP, took a page in a national daily and titled it, “Exposed, the antics of a drowning man”.

I was really shocked. He said in the publication that he had gone round all the police stations in Abuja between Friday and Tuesday, and no one confirmed to him that such a thing happened and reported, that it was not true; that if it was true, I would have gone to the police. This is a lawyer and as such, he should know better.

A matter that obviously has nothing to do with him, going to the police station, he thinks they will just volunteer information to him? I am quite disappointed that he would make that kind of statement. And indeed he made quite a lot of disparaging remarks. I have chosen not to respond to him. I thought it

was too desperate an attempt. I believe that the way they have meddled into this matter is a sign of many things the police would have to unravel.

I have no doubt that the I.G would invite them, at least, to ask them questions, how did they know the venue of the attack? How could they say the police man was not shot? Could they make statement and credit it to the police? When a thing like this happens, it is either armed robbery, kidnapping or assassination. And they cannot rule out anyone until they finish their investigation. I think they were too jumpy.

There is a whole lot they may be able to help the police with. Even though I understand the governor has immunity but that does not stop the police from inviting him if he has information to give them. I think they have spoken enough and the police should wade in and find out what else they know that they have not told us.

How has it been like from banking to politics?

I won’t say I have been very surprised because I live in this country and I know how things are. But there are few things that I found strange.

This is one business where people know somebody is cheating them, yet, they continue to give the cheater money.

Where I am coming from, if you are not performing, I get you out. But here, I just had to make do with the good, the bad, the ugly. It is also a place where people do anything. My experience in the election was a bit sad, because you see clearly that some people just bring bring ballot papers, write fake results, force them into collation centre, get the results announced, intimidate people, shoot people at polling units, scatter polling units, snatch ballot boxes, particularly in the South-East, I thought those should be things of the past. A situation where a few staff that should be umpires to the election actually participated in the unwholesome activities.

People have said that about INEC, but do you have proof?

At the appropriate time, because my case is already at the tribunal, so I try to refrain from making direct comments about the matter at the tribunal. But at least I can tell you what I saw. I am also aware that some people have written petitions and they have evidence about some of the things that happened. All said and done, I think it is an experience. And it is not too much of a price to pay to change things in the country. Some of us have gone through difficult times of bad governance. We cannot keep quiet and not do anything and let it continue the way it is going. One day we may not have a country. For me, I was not looking for work, I had work, I was okay, it was my own way of trying to change things, having people who know what to do, and take part in decisions that affect the people. It was Plato that said when intelligent people shy away from participating in politics, they take away their rights to complain when fools begin to rule them. If we all sit idly and complain and do nothing about it, things will just keep getting worse.

The house of assembly in the state, there seems to be tension in your party and the PDP over a N30b approval?

I don’t have the details because it happened after I had left Umuahia. I just read it like you did. But I think what happened, according to what I was told, was that a letter from the government, asking for an approval for them to borrow N30b was sent to the House.

The speaker explained to them that the funds were going to be used for reconstructing Aba, developing other parts of the state including the state capital. They also sold a dummy to them that most of the states were owing and that President Buhari was going to write off all the debts and that Abia State was not owing as much as other states and

that if they got this N30b it will be put in that basket and it would be written off.

Of course, anybody who hears that will know it was a dummy. So, they gave approval. But subsequently, one of the government officials came to clarify that the sum was not a fresh loan but would be used to offset some obligations of the state. So, APGA members of the house, having heard this, went and dissociated themselves from it.

Some observers have said so many things about your state and its finances.

What is actually going on in Abia State?

Regarding the loan issue, I think you are very right. There are a lot of things we as APGA have been asking the government and we have been kept in the dark.

We don’t know anything about the finances of the state. The state should not be run like a secret society. Virtually all other state governors make pronouncement about what they inherited in terms of debt or outstanding obligations to contractors, salary arrears and all that. Our dear state has not said anything. We read that there was money approved for salary but it was not deployed for that purpose. Even in some ministries and parastatals, people are being owed between 8 to 9 months’ salaries.

There is no gain saying that the finances of the state were muddled up. Even the internally generated revenue, IGR, of the state is still very hazy. Even the ministry of finance does not know how much the state collects. We are in Lagos, we know how much Lagos collects. So, we thought there should be some transparency in

Somebody was killed. A life was lost. Sentiments? I think the government statement was hurriedly put together and they didn’t really spare a thought for it; otherwise, it does not make sense. Somebody of my calibre would be attacked and the sympathy word I would get from my governor is that I was lying terms of management of finances of the state. Until you do that, we didn’t think it was wise to borrow. We members of APGA think so too.

We look at another APGA state like Anambra, you will see that it is one of the few states that have credit balance system and it is about management of finances; it is not about how much you get. Some of the other states have cut the coat according to their cloth and so they are able manage and stay away from crisis.

If you reduce profligacy and manage your finances properly, you will be able to avoid debt. Otherwise if you go borrow N30b today, tomorrow you will have to pay it.

Where are you going to pay it from? I am a banker, so I know clearly when you borrow money with an average interest rate of let’s say 15%, that easily means that if you borrow N10b, you pay N1.5b.

That N30b will easily be about N4.5b in terms of interest alone for one year. You are still going to pay the principal. I think rushing into loan is not the best thing to do. You need to plan your finances, be sure you are able to pay back the loan.

Borrowing is easy, paying back may not be as easy.

PAGE 32 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

Under Undersstanding anding the the Cent Centenar enaryy City City Pr Project oject

BY IKE MICHAELS ODENIGWE, JR.

T

here have been media comments on the Centenary City Project and we have deliberately refrained from responding to most of them.

The reason is quite simple: Some are outrightly mischievous, uninformed or speculative, while others, in countering the mischief, sought to advance public discourse. With both sides of the debate out in the public domain, our view was that truth would emerge in the course of the exchanges. But because many of the commentators are motivated by genuine patriotism and desire to place all the cards on the table, so that Nigerians would be better guided in their perceptions of, and comments, the management of the Centenary City has a duty to clarify the issues. One of the more sober comments came via a wellmeaning editorial comment in Thisday newspaper of Monday, July 6, 2015. Our Board of Directors, led by General (rtd.)

Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, GCFR, is convinced that what is at stake is of great important to our country and has urged the management to respond only to informed and purposeful comments in the media. The editorial under reference calls for information on the status of the project and the rights of original inhabitants, among others. Such interventions do not set out to undermine the project and thus damage the economic visibility of Nigeria as a favoured FDI destination.

Hindsight I shall attempt to straighten the records in this response and give some details about the project and its development so far. The newspaper’s call on Nigerians to exercise the necessary vigilance, so that we get the best of this Centenary Legacy Project, which was initiated as part of the programmes and activities for Nigeria’s centenary celebration in 2014, is very apt. The project set out to focus the attention of the investing world on Nigeria and trigger investment opportunities, the way cities like Dubai (UAE), Monaco (France), Shenzhen (China), Singapore (Singapore) and Songdo (South Korea);

impacted the development of their respective nations.

Following the Concept Document for the City, an investors forum was held on the 5th of February 2013, after the successful flag-off of Nigeria’s centenary celebration the previous day by former President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR. The forum attracted 124 potential investors and other professionals representing 11 countries. At the end of the investment forum, 29 potential investors from nine countries (including Nigeria) expressed interest as “promoter investors”. To further expand the opportunities, advertorials were later placed in three national newspapers, to enable those who did not have the opportunity to register their interest and commitment at the investors forum to express similar interest as promoter investors.

A meeting of interested parties was later called, where it was resolved that: (1) a company to promote the Centenary City be formed with potential investors as its promoters; (2) Equity Call in the Company would be a minimum of US$250,000 and a maximum of US$5 million (to forestall the possibility of any particular investor having overwhelming majority); (3) subscribers of up to US$5 million were to constitute the Board and appoint a Chairman that may or may not be a subscriber; (4) the company would be a public limited liability company whose stock would be quoted in both local and international stock exchanges in due course and (5)the legal adviser and financial advisers were to be appointed by the promoters, to perfect the decisions reached in the meeting.

Milestones The promoter investors who confirmed their interest and commitment met on March 1, 2013 and agreed to appoint a legal adviser to incorporate the company. They also agreed on the appointment of a consulting firm to work with the legal adviser to: (1) work out the Share Structure and Corporate Governance Framework of the company (2) conduct feasibility studies for the Centenary City and (3) consider the Concept Master Plan for the Centenary City, in addition to any other business that may arise therefrom. The competitive

presentations from invited professional firms at the above meeting led to the emergence of Sterling Partnership Legal Practitioners (“Sterling Partnership”) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) as legal adviser and financial advisers, respectively. They were to finalize the Company Registration, Share Structure and Corporate Governance Framework. The Capital Call of US$5,000,000 (maximum) and US$250,000 (minimum) was also restated at the meeting.

On 25th of March, 2013, another meeting of promoter investors was held, to re-confirm Capital Call commitments and to deliberate on key issues to be included in the Shareholders Agreement. A draft discussion table provided at the meeting enabled promoter investors to discuss a number of issues from the legal and financial advisers.

The milestones achieved within the intervening period (4th February 2013 to 19th May, 2015) include the registration of the Centenary City Plc. with an authorized share capital of N1 billion by Registered Nominees of Sterling Partnership (First Limited and Basic Start Limited) with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) pending the finalisation of the Shareholders Agreement and the distribution of shares to subscribing promoter

The foregoing is the full story of the Centenary City Project, which is a worthy legacy of our attainment of 100 years as one nation.

investors. The company also received capital commitments in excess of US$80,000,000 from 40 private sector Nigerian, UAE and USA promoter investors. The Board of Directors was elected and inaugurated, with General (rtd) Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar, GCFR as Chairman; thus making the Centenary City Plc. a 100% privately owned public limited liability company. The senior management reports to the Board and functions in accordance with the provisions of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

250,000 -job capacity We have also since negotiated and executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eagle Hills International Properties LLC (“Eagle Hills”), a UAEgovernment supported company based in Abu Dhabi, for 100% development of the Centenary City site at a development cost of US$18 billion. This represents the single largest private Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the history of Nigeria, with the capacity to create over 250,000 well-paying permanent jobs.

Management and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) also delineated the Final Boundaries and Coordinates for the Centenary City site and negotiated a modified Land Swap Agreement with the Federal Capital City Administration (FCTA). The Certificate of Occupancy is for 1,267 hectares of land issued to Centenary City Plc., with the FCTA holding 5% equity interest and a Board seat.

Compensation Knowing the controversies that often trail land compensation in Nigeria, management worked closely with the FCDA and concluded the evaluation and payment of approximately N1,234,747,077 in compensation for economic trees and crops to the original inhabitants and other private property interests at the site. This is in addition to the ongoing construction of 671 houses and engineering infrastructure, at a cost estimate of about N6 billion to resettle the original inhabitants.

The cost is to be borne by the company.

With the supervision of the FCDA, a 330 KVA high tension transmission line crossing the project site was relocated, at a cost of N984,462,583. The company also completed a master plan, which has undergone four intensive Clarification Workshops with the FCDA, to make sure it meets the requirements of the Abuja Master Plan (sequel to a final engineering master plan), at a cost of N486,900,000. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project has received an initial approval from the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv) and we have helped Eagle Hills to construct the access road to their well-designed Showroom and Sales Center, at the project site on Airport Road, Abuja at a cost of N110,000,000.

Centenary City Plc., at the request of (and in conjunction with) Eagle Hills, sought various incentives as Success Factors for the proposed Centenary City, such as Free Trade Zone. An application to the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) for the declaration of Centenary City as a free zone followed due process and met the requirements for a free zone. Mr. President’s approval was subsequently conveyed, making

the Centenary City site a free zone to be known as “Centenary Economic City” (CEC). It is one of four free zones approved by Mr. President in 2014 including the Eko Atlantic City Free Zone in Lagos.

Sold out th On the 24 of June 2014, in the company of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, and Chairperson of Eagle Hills, Sheikh Mohammed Alabbar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, performed the ground breaking ceremony and unveiling of the Centenary City. This was broadcast live on the international network of the Nigerian Television rd Authority (NTA). On the 3 and th 4 of December, 2014, Eagle Hills began clearing the project site. It also officially launched the first project on site – The Address Villas & Apartments, which quickly sold out. It is a matter of record that no other free zone in Nigeria has attracted a betterfinanced foreign investor, nor achieved a faster movement to site, with over 150 well-paying permanent jobs th already created!

On the 19 of May, 2015, Centenary City Plc. held its first Annual General Meeting (AGM) to, among others, (1) verify deposits/contributions made by the Promoter Investors for Shares, (2) inaugurate its Statutory Audit Committee, (3) consider the 2013 and 2014 Audited Financial Statements by Akintola Williams Deloitte; and (4) approve the Shareholders Agreement; all of which would be updated shortly with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Credentials Let us note for the record that the major local and international drivers of Centenary City Plc. have been involved in private and public markets for more than 300 years. Their corporate governance and public-private company management credentials are impeccable. Thisday‘s concern regarding the fortunes of the original inhabitants of the site is already addressed in a twopronged compensation package that covers payment for (1) crops/ economic trees and (2) resettlement. Thisday may wish to confirm that no allegations of wrongdoing have been leveled against the company or its promoters by any government or regulatory agency anywhere in the world. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which has ranked Nigeria as the number one country for FDI in Africa, is being proven right by with the Centenary City Project.

The foregoing is the full story of the Centenary City Project, which is a worthy legacy of our attainment of 100 years as one nation. We are convinced that the economic visibility of Nigeria as a favoured FDI destination is guaranteed by this project. I urge the reading public to disregard the mischievous insinuations of those who fail to adopt the mature and nationalistic thrust of Thisday and who also do not investigate, educate, and inform themselves on the details of the Centenary City, so that their comments will improve national discourse. *Odenigwe is Managing Director, Centenary City PLC

SUNDAY

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 33

Anenih @ 82 and and the the

longing longing for for more more odysseys odysseys

BY SUFUYAN OJEIFO

“Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it. – “ Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, to his Portrait Painter, Sir Peter Lely.

Once again, I take the liberty offered by the opportune occasion of the 82nd birthday of Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih, a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which comes up on Tuesday, August 4, to paint his portrait in the hope that I will be able to remark the “warts and all” as I see him, but not necessarily for a recompense.

It is apposite to remark that the Iyasele (Prime Minister) of Esanland has not come to the terminus of his odysseys yet, even with his graceful exit from the Chair of the Conscience Department of the PDP in the aftermath of the party’s loss to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this year’s presidential election.

He is still making himself available for resolution of critical issues in the party, albeit behind the scene.

Consider his reported advisory role in the negotiation of the PDP into the Senate leadership with Ike Ekweremadu emerging as Deputy Senate President. That explicates his longing for more actions in his political odyssey that has spanned well over three decades. Anenih’s longing fits in well into the architecture on which he has built a life and time of robust politics and politicking.

Thus, his belonging in the political circles is quite understandable.

Regardless of his panache and accomplishments in politics, one must not fail to trace his trajectory in life, especially his starting point, which was hitherto not highlighted until his 80th birthday in 2013 when, through publications in the print media, Nigerians were apprised of his grass-to-grace narrative, the nittygritty of which touched the sensibilities of readers and provided a new perspective of his individuality. It was chronicled that after his successful sojourn at Government School, Uromi, he could not proceed to Saint Thomas’ Teacher Training College, Ibusa, subsequent to passing the qualifying examination due to the inability of his parents to afford the six pounds required for scholarship; and, he had to, among other things, take to rubber tapping to raise fund for his education.

Introspection That narrative had shattered the mindset in some quarters that Anenih came from an aristocratic background. Truth is, he had endured the vicissitudes of life: he headed for Benin-City to stay with and serve, for one year, Lance Corporal Omeben, the father of retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben, who was then in Edo College. It was the late older Omeben who advised and encouraged Anenih to enlist in the Nigeria Police Force in 1951 (from where he voluntarily retired in 1976 as Commissioner of Police to venture into private business, which he later combined with politics.).

The occasion of Anenih’s birthday always affords him obligatory introspection on the journey of life and the vagaries of socio-economic and political tempers that he had to deal with.

The consequences of this annual introspection must have informed his devotion to the service of God and humanity, which adverts attention to the silent chapter of his life: his philanthropy that is hardly celebrated. Among countless individuals and institutions, both academic and religious that have benefitted from his eleemosynary are: Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; the University of Benin; Igbinedion University, Okada; and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In 2012, he endowed a multi-million naira Geriatric Centre at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the first in Africa, to support the care of the aged and senior citizens.

I will like to recap part of what I wrote last year concerning Anenih: “Without doubt, it is all about Anenih’s humanity: here is a leader with a heart to help; a principal who is always touched by the feelings of the infirmity of his associates and followers; and, tries as much as it is possible to provide them succor. Yet, this inimitable benefactor does not make noise about his good deeds whether in the political or private lives of the beneficiaries…. It is curious that in a society where politicians clamour for recognition, and advantageously position themselves in the media to gain mileages, Anenih would rather restrain himself and choose, instead, to dance to the quiet rhythm of his soul. This is a disposition that has helped to define his persona as a taciturn and decorous politician, whose maturity, experience and fidelity cannot be faulted.

Anenih is a purposeful and quintessential politician, a politician who has earned his place in the nation’s politics as a Leader of his people and his numerous followers within and outside his political sphere of influence. But his tenacity of purpose and legerdemain had actually crystallized in the

A grand and archetypal politician who is consistently and persistently loyal to his leadership and followership defunct Second Republic when, as Chairman of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the old Bendel State, he plotted and led the political/electoral onslaught that saw his party’s candidate, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, defeat the then sitting governor, the late Professor Ambrose Alli of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

The strategist had replicated similar feat in the ill-fated Third Republic as Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and in the current Fourth Republic when, during Obasanjo’s reelection gambit in

2002/2003, he had taken charge of the machinery that fashioned out strategies that ensured the defeat of opposition to Obasanjo within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2007 and 2011 general elections, he played a frontline strategic role in the electoral success of the PDP. Anenih’s ability to consistently, at every turn, resolve knotty political puzzles would later earn him the sobriquet- “Mr. Fix It”, which the opposition elements had tried to twist negatively to demonise him. The deprecating aura that the ‘Mr Fix It’ tag exudes in the nation’s political arena does not aptly convey the essential content of the Anenih persona. Yet, the other camps have always played it up in their deliberate schema to demonize him within and outside the cosmos of political affairs where he hit the limelight.

It is, indeed, paradoxical that politics, which brought him fame, has also earned him scorn in the camps of the opposition elements.

But then, he has chosen to bear the cross philosophically: politics is in his blood and he plays it with the passion and devotion of a religious aficionado.

He accepts the compliments that come with it as well as the bashings. He relishes the victories, the accomplishments and the bravura performances of his party and candidates during electoral contests.

He has also learned to live with the pains of

defeat whenever he suffers any….”

Not hysterical He is presently living with the defeat of the PDP by the APC in the 2015 presidential election. He is not hysterical about the development. He had congratulated General Muhammadu Buhari, the winner of the election, on his victory. His April 6, 2015 press statement on the Buhari victory was clear: “I congratulate the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on his victory. Nigerians are expecting great things from him; it is my hope that he will take this great country to greater heights in the journey towards our manifest destiny.”

To be sure, the Iyasele of Esanland is taking a well-deserved rest having survived the dangerous intrigues, tempest and ballyhoo that characterised the dark alleys of our cloak and dagger politics.

This is not a declaration that he has opted out of politics. Politics is in his blood. He is quietly pondering ways to assist the PDP regain its lost prize. He would calmly admonish his associates and loyalists to remain steadfast and not to despair as there would be dispensations and eras. This is his inspirational disposition to politics, which is far flung from the myth of invincibility that has been created around him by his traducers who have tried to create the erroneous impression in the minds of those who do not know him (Anenih) that he behaves as a god in human flesh as far as politics and electoral contestations are concerned.

Permit me to surmise in much bolder but apt reliefs the correct portrait of Anenih: a grand and archetypal politician who is consistently and persistently loyal to his leadership and followership; an ardent mobiliser of human resources; a political strategist with the can-do spirit, who believes in positive thinking as well as the force of great and reasonable expectations. All these represent the sum of his inspirational life as he longs for more political odysseys (of course, with restrained intensity due to age factor) at 82.

•

•Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih

Mr Ojeifo sent in this piece from Abuja via w ojonde n rg @ r yaho co m .

P AGE 34 —SUND AY PA —SUNDA

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

...All about the North

‘We are passing through hell!’

•Mararaba residents attack Gov. Al-Makura

•The Nasarawa road to nowhere. Inset: Gov Al-Makura

I

CALEB AYANSINA

t was agony and tears in December 2013, when the people of Mararaba, Nasarawa State helplessly watched their houses and shops succumb to the bulldozers of Governor Tanko Al-Makura.

Some people, as a result of the exercise became homeless, making the joy of Christmas to taste grapes in their mouths. Some lost their jobs because the shops where they earned their means of livelihood were demolished, leaving them at the mercy of benevolent in the neighbourhood.

The exercise, carried out by the Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB), according to the government, was to give space for the construction of a road from the Aso Road, Mararaba Market Junction, down to Carvary Road and Kabayi Junction, popularly known as Sharp Corner.

The project, no doubt, generated mixed feelings among the populace, as some, in spite of the agony caused by the demolition, still lent credence to the

project, owing to the sorry state of the road.

However, many people saw the project as the beginning

There is no compensation so far. In fact, they demolished our houses; when they wanted to do the road, they narrowed it than how it was. Two vehicles can hardly pass this road now. We rebuilt our structures, they didn’t pay one kobo

of another long suffering, saying Al-Makura just wanted to create an impression that he was working, a campaign strategy to get peoples’ votes for another four years.

Talk of the devil, the project did not start until the rainy season of the following year (2014), thus making lives miserable for the local dwellers.

Some people lost their lives, while many became incapacitated due to the construction that was kicked off without providing alternative routes for people to ply.

Narrating their ordeal, a trader in Kabiyi-Aso Road in Mararaba, who simply identified himself as Kennedy, and was one of the traders whose shops were demolished, said the Mararaba- Aso Road has become a big problem for residents.

“I don’t know how to express it. Only God knows what I will say because of what I am passing through as a result of the rehabilitation of this road.

My business is crippled. My

shop is virtually empty. You can see empty hangers, no more clothes.

“I sell one and eat the profit, I eat the capital because I don’t sell again.

All our customers have run away from this area. It is dry now- then dust. If it rains now, it is puddle and water.

So, we are passing through hell here.”

“There is no compensation so far. In fact, they destroyed; when they wanted to do the road, they narrowed it than how it was.

Two vehicles can hardly pass this road now. We rebuilt our structures, they didn’t pay one kobo.”

On the level of work on the road sofar, Kennedy explained: “The last time construction workers came, they only did the sewage, and the water is not even flowing. We have complained but no response.

All they do is to collect revenue.”

The people, therefore, called on Almmakura to help them complete the road.

“We are begging the governor to just do the road for us. This road has

rendered us useless business-wise. We can start building things up gradually. Let them give us the access road,” they appealed.

Aside terrible road network, a section of traders in Mararaba, under the umbrella of the United Traders’ Association Kabayi, berated multiple taxation imposed on them by the state and local government authorities in Nasarawa.

They alleged that they paid not less than four different taxes annually to the authorities.

The taxes paid according to the traders include registration of business premises, liquor licenses, environmental fee, and personal income tax, which they described as exorbitant.

They disclosed that some traders paid up to N100,000 annually per shop, lamenting that in spite of the dwindling business activities, the revenue boards from the state and local governments still billed them without considering their plight.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PPA AGE 35

By BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO, LOKOJA

The electoral fortune the All Progressive Congress, APC, enjoyed in the last general election in Kogi State has turned it to a beautiful pride.

However, the victory seems to have intoxicated some of the party members who now parad themselves as aspirants for the November 21 governorship election in the state. At the last count, 30 aspirants are jostling to contest the poll.

They include Engineer George Olumoroti, Prince Rotimi Obadofin, Dr Habeeb Yaqeen, Lanre Ipinmisho, Baba Ali Suleiman (Western Senatorial axis); Dr. Adinoyi Onukaba, Yahaya Bello, Nurudeen Abatemi (Central Senatorial axis); Prince Abubakar Audu, AVM Salihu Atawodi, Chief James Ocholi, Sen Nicholas Ugbane, Chief Tim Diche, Abdullahi Adama and Senator Alex Kadiri.

Meanwhile, mudelinging name calling, blackmail and media wars have suddenly become handy tools in the battle.

Political analysts predict that future elections will not be rosy for the Kogi APC if it failed to put its house order. To them, the pattern the March 28 polls followed would not continue as the APC would have to contend with the PDP at the grassroots.

The …. categorize the over aspirants into CONTENDERS, PRETENDERS and SPOILERS. PRETENDERS The likes of Lanre Ipinmisho, Dr. Adinoyi Onukaba, Sen Nurudeen Abatemi, Sen Nicholas Ugbane, Chief Tim Diche, Abdullahi Adama and others have attracted the toga of pretenders. Aside their posters scantily posted around the state capital, Lokoja, and other towns in Kogi, their bid appears, to only exist in name.

Ipinmisho, a former NDLEA DG, like others, is seen as a political neophyte whose only antecedent is the private security company he set up after his tenure at NDLEA. All the aspirants in this category don’t have the structure to help them in this contest.

SPOILERS From the outset, it was obvious that the over 20 aspirants who hail from the Eastern Senatorial axis are out for a spoiler game. Their target: Prince Abubakar

•Wada: Kogi State governor

•Audu:First Civillian Governor of Kogi

•Ugbane

Nov. guber poll:

The battle for the soul of Kogi Audu; on former governor of the state whose track record has remained unmatched 12 years after he left Lugard House. The aspirant are Atawodi track, Ocholi, Ugbane, Diche, Adama, and Kadiri have proved themselves through their action and inaction as antagonists in the party.

First, they formed themselves into the State APC Elders Forum and have been using the platform to fight Audu’s ambition. Many describe them as ‘Abuja’ politicians.

Some of them belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but defected the APC just on the eve of March elections.

The aspirants first called on the national party to stop Audu from contesting the November poll. Not satisfied, they asked the leadership to dissolve the ward, local government and state executives put in place months before they joined the APC on the grounds that they had been ‘hijacked’ by Audu.

CONTENDERS

Olumoroti, Obadofin, Yaqeen, Suleiman, Bello and Audu fall in the category of contenders.

Olumoroti and Yaqeen have been moving round the state to showcase their agenda while Obadofin has

Some of them belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but defected to the APC just on the eve of March elections

been on the radar of guber the race since 2003 and was once the guber candidate of the defuct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. In the case of Bello, the CEO of Fair Plus Transportation Company, he has shown tremendous passion for the governorship position. He organized the Youth Arise Group in Kogi which galvanized support for President Muhammed Buhari emergence, while many groups have lent support for his aspiration through endorsement. The aspirant also has financial muscles and youthful disposition (40 years old) to put his hat in the ring.

Meanwhile, the down side to his aspiration lack of political structure to actualize the dream.

Pundits said he has being spending his money to the wrong people.

For Ocholi, who was the guber candidate of Congress of Progressive Change, CPC, in 2011, has suddenly gone cold. There is no poster to announce his interest, neither is there

any hint he is contesting.

He has quietly admitted to the rumour that he’s secretly working to become a Minister from the state.

AUDU When the PDP took the state leadership in 2003 with Alhaji Ibrahim Idris assuming office, Audu of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, was the incumbent governor. But Audu is still a factor in the current governorship race.

He is the undisputed leader of APC in the state. He also has utmost control on party structures and executives who will eventually produce the delegates for the primary election.

His Lokoja residence hosted APC meetings where strategies were mapped out in the run up to the 2015 elections. It is obvious that Audu’s has undying governorship ambition which will play a huge role in the determination of the Kogi governorship election. If Audu decides to throw his hat into the ring once again, as he has done since the creation of the state in 1991, it is feared that it would be difficult for any other aspirant in the APC to stop him. Audu was governor between 1991 and 1992 during the aborted third republic. He was re-elected governor in 1999 and ruled until his loss to Idris in 2003.

Meanwhile, how the various tendencies in APC and indeed the electorate in Kogi react to Audu’s candidature will make or mar the party’s challenge at the governorship poll.

Page 36---SUNDAY Vanguard, August 2, 2015

All letters bearing writers' names and full addresses should be typed and forwarded to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, Kirikiri Canal, P. M. B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E-mail: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

Kudos to Buhari over bailout for states Dear Sir,

P

lease let me use this medium to sincerely commend President Muhammadu Buhari for giving a comprehensive bailout package worth N713.7 Billion to cash strapped states, to pay arrears of salaries and pension of pensioners who have not been paid for months.

Again, big kudos to President Buhari for coming to the aid of the long suffering workers.

He is worth a leader and father of the nation by putting aside partisanship in approving the intervention fund for all the states.

I see the bailout as an endorsement of the financial recklessness of some of the governors, amounting to promoting their perceived corrupt tendencies and their uncontrollable cost of governance.

Actually, the economy of the country cum the states is facing challenges, including the drop in revenue stream to the government obviously from the oil shock.

It should also be stated here, that the state governors should buckle up to protect and ensure that the health, safety and welfare of all persons in their employment are safeguarded and not endangered or abused.

Also, my advice to the debtor state governments is that they should

ensure proper use of the bailout and diversion, as all eyes are on them, while other state-governments should avoid falling victim (debtor).

For the avoidance of

doubt, those at the helm of affairs should know that the first duty of government is the protection of lives and welfare of the people and not this cunning way to impover-

ish the masses and force them into homelessness.

Also the government should provide suitable and adequate shelter, adequate food, reasonable national minimum

living wage, care for our old ones and regular payment of pensions, provision of employment, sick benefits and welfare for the disabled.

This will give for all cit-

izens sense of belonging.

Prophet Oladipupo Funmilade-Joel writes in from Lagos +2348033733470 , babasekunderin@yahoo.com

A thought for equity and fairness Dear Sir,

F

or all intents and pur poses, 2016 promis es to be an interesting year for the people of Edo State. By then, they will be heading for the polls to elect the next executive governor who is expected to take over from the incumbent, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. Though the year is about six months away, there are visible signs that politicking, awareness raising, fence mending and handshake across the divides are going on in earnest. Unlike before, a number of prominent politicians in the state are already warming up by way of embarking on public service undertakings, all in an attempt to endear themselves to the people. It does not matter that such endeavors are, more or less, alien to their real lifestyles. No one can fault these undertakings in so far as the politicians in question have not gone against any known law. However, it must be said that while every stakeholder is getting ready to set the ball rolling, none should overlook the need to ensure that in the distribution of offices, fair play and equity must be the guiding principle in deciding how the three tripods on which the

state is represented.

Importantly, while non electable offices such as secretary to the state government, chief of staff and, in a way, speaker of the state house of assembly, are important, two offices are those in high demand. They include office of the governor and that of the deputy. It is noteworthy to point out here that founding fathers of the state realized how important it is that the three tripods are adequately represented in successive governments that adopted rotation policy to ensure fairness and equity. Though it cannot be said to have been followed to the letter, adherence proved to be the only way politics in the state took place without rancour, bitterness and accusations of marginalization.We should be a shinning example to others in the practice of fair and equitable politicking.

Record of leadership indicates that between 1979 and now, power has not fairly rotated along the three axis.

For instance, in 1979, Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Alli, from Ekpoma of central senatorial zone, became governor of the state. He was barely into his second term when the military struck and ended the country’s democratic process.

John Odigie Oyegun, from Benin City, south senatorial

zone, held the reins while Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida attempted to midwife a return to full democracy. His attempt to retain office for a second tenure was cut short when his kinsman, Osagbovo Ogbemudia, also from the same senatorial zone, sent him packing but was himself sacked a few months later. But by the time full democracy returned full fledged in 1999, Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion, another candidate from the south senatorial zone, became governor of the state. Cumulatively, the zone held the reins for almost 14 years before Professor Osarhiemen Osunbor, from Iruekpen, central senatorial zone took over. Like Ogbemudia, Osunbor’s reign was cut short barely two years later by an order of the appeal court ruling, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, from the north senatorial district, assumed office in November 2008. While it is important to note here that Oshiomhole’s second tenure, a cumulative unbroken run of eight years for the north is expected to expire by the same date next year, the combined tenures of both Alli and Osunbor, representing central, is less than six years.

More so, it is instructive to note here that while Alli and Ogbemudia had deputy

governors from Urhobo extraction when the state was Bendel, Oyegun, Igbinedion, Osunbor and Oshiomhole had their deputies from either the north or south, leaving central in the lurch.

For instance, Rev. Peter Obada, who was second in command to Oyegun, came from the north while Mike Ogiadomhen, deputy to Igbinedion also hails from same zone just as Lucky Imasuen and Dr. Pius Odubu, deputies to Osunbor and Oshiomhole are from the south. So far, no representation has come from the central. Certainly, this is hardly the right advertisement for fair play and equity and it needs not be over emphasized that the situation needs to be addressed without further delay.

In the main, the imbalance has been explained away as a fall out of the population balance in the state.

Among such excuses, there are claims that the south, for instance, commands an unassailable 60 per cent of the population of the state and to that extent, it must stand astride the distribution process like the Roman colossus. It is sufficient to state here that no excuse can be more ludicrous for many reasons which, for the purpose of this discourse, cannot be exhausted here.

However, one cannot but

consider a very important one.

There is no doubt that Edo south, for instance, controls a very large portion of the population of the state. But the truth is that those who bandy that position conveniently overlook the fact that being a metropolis, a melting pot for people from the other zones, the said population is made up largely by the grace of same. To that extent, it would have been more responsible that while the huge population argument is valid, its protagonists must not lose sight of the need to respect voters from both central and north, the real sources. Certainly, the balance is most likely to change should they transfer their votes to their original zones. Therefore, it needs not be repeated here that the most honourable way of showing it is by ensuring that all must be represented adequately while high offices are being shared. That is not the case for now particularly as it affects the central.

Indeed, there is hardly any doubt that such respect and privileges are needed now that the time has come for equity and fair play to be the guiding principles on which political offices are distributed in the next dispensation.

• Akhigbe Oshioma, writes in from Edo State.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 37

DEATH OF ‘DOGARA FORMULA’ ON THE ALTAR OF PARTY SUPREMACY

How Reps sacrificed federal character, excluded Igbo

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

F

or over 50 days after the House of Representatives was inaugurated, the leadership knew no peace. Sleep apparently took flight from Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his deputy, Yussuf Lasu, while nocturnal meetings, blackmail and accusation of disobedience to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party that produced them were the order of the day.

But like the 20th-century novelist, Francena H. Arnold, in the book on Christian fiction classic, Not My Will, the Speaker seemed to have been cajoled to submitting to the pressure from the leaders of the party whose interference contributed to the polarisation of the House not only against party lines but also against ethnic leanings.

The announcement of Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila by the Speaker as House Majority Leader took everybody by surprise going by the unfolding events during last Tuesday’s plenary even as Dogara, at a point during the sitting, ignored the former Minority Leader in C M Y K

the 7th Assembly on his Point of Order.

There was no inkling that Gbajabiamila, the Lagos State-born lawmaker, would clinch the House Leader position. It was not that he was not qualified or that he did not merit it, but because of the circumstances surrounding his candidature.

For sure, Gbajabiamila is well versed in legislative business and, as an erudite lawyer with amiable mien, before the contest for the speakership, he had majority support of his colleagues, but the obstacle he had was on those allegedly backing him and the suspicion that external influence would manipulate the lower chamber with his emergence.

The well respected Lagos lawmaker was set to clinch the House speakership. Not only did he have everything going for him, he was the adopted candidate of the APC. He also emerged the winner of the straw poll conducted about three days to the inauguration of the 8th assembly.

However, Speaker Dogara and some law makers of the party, who were not comfortable with the adoption of Gbajabiamila, were not intimated with

But the Speaker who, to an extent, was ‘rejected’ by the APC and, with the support of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, members in the House, ignored the party’s directive, insisting on keeping to what he said was the age-long tradition where the spirit of federal character was the guiding principle

the development and they kept on pushing though at that point with slim hope of seeing their aspiration realised.

But the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate President, despite the fact that he was not the APC’s choice for the position as the party had given its backing to Senator Ahmad Lawan who emerged as the preferred candidate in a mock election, was just the magic that changed the equation.

When the North-east geopolitical zone, where Dogara hails from, realised that it had lost the bid to clinch the Senate President due to the political miscalculation committed by the APC leaders on the inauguration day and Saraki outsmarted them, the zone had no option than to quickly circulate information through SMS to lawmakers from the zone to rally round Dogara against the party ’s choice, Gbajabiamila, so as to not to lose out completely.

With the victory of Dogara as Speaker, the APC now, through its National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, Continues on page 38

PAGE 38 —SUND AY —SUNDA

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

Continued from page 37

submitted to the House the names of the lawmakers to occupy the four remaining principal offices in the House as Dogara and Lasun from the South-west had emerged as the presiding officers in defiance of the party’s decision.

But the Speaker who, to an extent, was ‘rejected’ by the APC and, with the support of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, members in the House, ignored the party’s directive, insisting on keeping to what he said was the age-long tradition where the spirit of federal character was the guiding principle in the sharing of the principal offices in the House of Reps.

This again did not go down well with the APC leadership which considered the action of Dogara as an affront and this led to the rancorous development in the parliament on June 25 where the warring factions threw caution to the wind and went for each other’s juggler.

This development led to an abrupt closure of the House for over four weeks.

Even during the break, series of meetings were convened by the party leadership and the different factions.

While the Speaker was adamant that the spirit of federal character should be observed, the APC insisted that Dogara should respect the supremacy of the party.

Although President Muhammadu Buhari had refrained from interfering in the internal affairs of the House, saying there should be separation of power, he had, in a meeting with the House factions when the issue appeared to be getting out of hand and also becoming embarrassing to the ruling party, advised that the party’s decision was supreme.

But Mr. President’s intervention appeared not to change anything even as the Speaker replied the APC National Chairman’s letter and told him that for the sake of equity and fair play, the spirit of federal character must be observed.

Besides, Dogara in his reply to Oyegun stated that the letter with the names of four nominees to fill the vacant positions of the principal officers could not be read on the floor of the House due to the pending suits from the North-central and South-east zones who were excluded from the positions going by the letter from the party.

Gbajabiamila and his loyalists had, in a meeting with Buhari, accused Dogara of disobeying the ruling party and hobnobbing with the opposition PDP and called for sanctions.

Despite some of the alleged threat from the APC on Dogara and blackmail from some members of his party, he appeared calm and determined to ensure that all the geopolitical zones were carried along.

He also succeeded in dividing the camp of Gbajabiamila.

With this, it was the general belief that the Speaker had stamped his authority on the House and would, ultimately, have his way. Besides, the division in the loyalists camp which saw some of the supporters of Gbajabiamila like Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Pally Iriase, Mohammed Monguno, among others, embraced the sharing formula as enunciated by Dogara, tagged the ‘Dogara formula,’ further made people to believe that Gbajabiamila had lost the struggle.

Some loyalists of Gbajabiamila he went to meet Mr. President without carrying them along and that they were not briefed on the outcome of the meeting and then dumped him in the power squabble.

C M Y K

How Reps sacrificed federal character, excluded Igbo

•Speaker Dogara (right) with Gbajabiamila

But as it is said that, in politics, 24 hours is such a long time, about a day to the resumption of plenary last Tuesday, July 28, and being aware that Dogara was determined to implement his decision of ensuring that federal character was observed in the sharing of the positions, the leadership of the APC impressed it on the President to call for a meeting so as to resolve the crisis before the sitting.

Already, efforts made by the party and the Mediation Committee, led by a former Speaker and incumbent Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, as well as the Chairman of the APC Governor’s Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, did not achieve result.

In the meeting at the Presidential Villa on Monday with the APC House caucus, Buhari was said to have told the members to ensure amicable resolution of the leadership crisis before the plenary and also reminded members on the need to respect the supremacy of the party. Though it was reported that the meeting was deadlocked, with the insistence of Buhari on the respect for the supremacy of the party, the Speaker was said to have been cajoled and intimidated to accepting the party’s position.

It was gathered that when the lawmakers left the Presidential Villa, the Consolidation Group, which is the camp supporting Dogara, met and maintained that there was no going back in respecting the principle of federal character.

However, in the morning of the day of resumption, it was gathered that a leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, paid a visit to Buhari; though the details of what transpired was not made public, an informed source disclosed that it was for the President to compel the Speaker to ensure that Gbajabiamila was named the House

Leader.

On the resumption day, Tuesday, at about 10:05am, Dogara arrived the National Assembly complex in the company of the National Security Adviser, NSA, and the Deputy Speaker.

The Divisional Police Officer, DPO, incharge of the National Assembly also

Despite some of the alleged threat from the APC on Dogara and blackmail from some members of his party, he appeared calm and determined to ensure that all the geopolitical zones were carried along.

He also succeeded in dividing the camp of Gbajabiamila

led the security at the Assembly gate to screen visitors into the complex.

As plenary commenced, there was calm and orderliness in the chamber with the normal legislative business going on and there was no inkling that there was going to be any surprise especially in the composition of the Body of Principal Officers.

However, midway into the sitting, the Speaker handed over proceedings to his Deputy and stepped out of the chamber. It was also observed that Gbajabiamila and Ado Doguwa, who had been pencilled down to emerge as Majority leader, also left the chamber and all of them met in the office of the Clerk of the House, Mohammed SaniOmolori, for about one hour.

When Dogara came back, about 3:27pm, he announced the composition of the principal officers starting with the opposition PDP, which saw the former Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, being named the Minority Leader. The Speaker also announced other principal officers from the opposition. Then on the principal officers from the ruling party, it was the greatest surprise of the moment as there was the expectation that Doguwa had been tipped to emerge as the Majority Leader, but behold Doguwa was mentioned as the Chief Whip and, immediately, Gbajabiamila was announced the Majority Leader.

The announcement, however, attracted standing ovation for Dogara as he was hailed to have conceded the position to his arch-rival in the contest for the House presiding officer.

It was gathered that Mr. President and the leadership of the party influenced the announcement.

Meanwhile, this has rubbished the spirit of federal character the Speaker was preaching and also made the South-east the loser in the whole political chase game.

SUND AY SUNDA

By Charles Kumolu

E

VEN with the hydraheaded dimension the crisis in the National Assembly,NASS, had taken, the prospects of respite was never in doubt.

But how soon the breathing space would come was a question that even the warring factions could not have responded to readily.

The game of brinkmanship witnessed in the manner the various camps had conducted their supposed fence mending affairs, simply created the notion that the impasse had become cancerous to statecraft.

It was a situation that saw Senators Kabiru Marafa and Humkuyi separately threatening to ground the Senate upon resumption to bring about leadership change.

The duo had said that Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, would be impeached when the senior legislative chamber resumed session.

Speaking on behalf of the pro-Lawan legislators, Marafa urged Nigerians not to believe that there was a leadership in place in the Senate, stressing that a proper leadership would be put in place.

Though this interesting posturing may have passed as mere threat, observers were, however, convinced that it got an already overheated polity reverberated.

Findings revealed that this frustrating air of uncertainty that pervaded ahead of resumption prompted the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led committee to summon a meeting last Sunday.

The meeting held in Room 301 of the Senate chambers, with the sole aim of troubleshooting ahead of the resumption.

Rather than bringing the warring groups together as intended, the governors met the feuding legislators separately same night.

Why? No one was sure what could happen were they to have been seated in the same room with the bile of dissent still full.

Whether the nocturnal gathering which lasted till early in the morning achieved desired results was a matter of ambiguity.

Nonetheless, there was some level of cautious optimism on the part of the governors, Sunday Vanguard gathered.

It was with bated breathe that Nigerians waited for the D-day, the resumption of plenary, which attracted a huge number of people to the Senate chamber.

In a dramatic or better still decisive move, to end the C M Y K

deep-seated crisis, 34 senators elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and 47 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators passed a vote of confidence in Saraki, Ekweremadu and the entire leadership of the Senate.

Having commenced the session amid friendliness but yet charged atmosphere, Marafa was given opportunity to speak.

Expectedly, the attention on Marafa at that moment was high, as some expected thunder and brimstone. But that was not to be as he raised a point of order on the time of sitting making Saraki to admit that there was printer’s devil in the Rule Book.

Other activities slated on the agenda had followed peacefully in sequence until Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East) moved a motion of vote of confidence on the principal officers in line with orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended).

The motion, seconded by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), was co-sponsored by 79 other senators.

Melaye had produced a list of 81 sponsors and mentioned that there were others who wished their names were on the list but could not be reached to sign it before the sitting commenced.

Interestingly, some supporters of Senator Ahmed Lawan, the lawmaker who

For example, of the two committee chairmanship he has allocated, the Unity Group got the better one and perhaps one of the few most influential positions as Sen. Jide Omoworare was made Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee

•Senator Saraki

Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 39

•Senator Lawan

The Senate peace •The massive endorsement of Saraki was sponsored for the Senate presidency by the APC leadership against Saraki, in the Senate Unity Forum, SUF, like Senators Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central); Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West); Monsurat Sunmonu (APC, Oyo Central); Olanrewaju Tejuoso (APC, Ogun Central) and Bukar Abba Ibrahim (APC, Yobe East), were also co-sponsors of the motion.

Other APC senators, who coauthored the motion, were Adamu Aliero, Ibrahim Gobir, Mohammed Ohiare, David Umaru, Tijjani Yahaya Kaura, Ahmed Rufai Sani, Sabo Mohammed, Mallam Wakili, Ibn Nara’ Allah, Danjuma Goje, Francis Alimikhena, Salihu Egye, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Binta Masi Garba, among others.

When the Senate President called for votes on the motion, there was no dissenting voice from senators - including those who had been opposing the election of Saraki and Ekweremadu.

Even Marafa, Lawan and Senator George Akume (Benue North-West), who were also present, did not object.

While moving the vote of confidence motion, Anyanwu noted with dismay “the continued harassment of the Senate and senators, the National Assembly management and spouses of senators by security agencies of government.

The motion read: “Determined to continue to perform its constitutional duties and responsibilities without fear or favour; “Further determined to focus on matters of interest and importance to the ordinary people of Nigeria in view of the

enormous challenges facing the nation; “Considering the sustained interference in the internal affairs of the Senate by detractors and media propaganda against the Senate and Senators by selfish politicians; “The Senate, hereby, resolves to pass a vote of confidence on: (a) the President of the Senate, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki; ( b) the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; (c) the entire Senate leadership as presently constituted; “To call on the Nigeria Police Force and all other security agencies in Nigeria not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to harass, intimidate or blackmail the Senate, senators and or their spouses”- that was the motion.

The passage of the vote of confidence on Saraki’s leadership effectively laid to rest insinuations of rancour among senators, who were displeased with the Senate President.

With that, it becomes important not to lose sight of the implications of the headway which affirmed overwhelming support for the Senate leadership.

The numeric strength of Saraki’s supporters implies that he boasts of more than twothird majority of the senate membership needed to pass the most important motions.

Another impressive aspect is the fact that with the domination of 36 APC senators with 45 PDP, who are supportive of the Senate leadership, the upper chamber could best be described as bi-partisan.

It is noteworthy that Saraki has been reaching out to the other group, even with the lit-

tle distribution of committee chairmanship that he has made. For example, of the two committee chairmanship he has allocated, the Unity Group got the better one and perhaps one of the few most influential positions as Sen. Jide Omoworare was made Chairman of the Rules and Business Committee. This committee is the engine room of the Senate as it directs its activities.

It is one of the few positions that ranks next to being in the leadership position.

Again, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee reviewing the state of roads and areas suffering environmental degradation is Chief Barnabas Gemade, another leader of the Unity Forum.

In addition, Marafa, the gadfly and rambunctious spokesperson of Unity Forum is also a member of the Business and Rules committee.

This, no doubt, is a demonstration of broad-mindedness on the part of the Senate President and signposts the pursuit of a united Senate.

With these, it means Saraki is making his appointments based on merit. Omoworare, a lawyer, was the Majority Leader in Lagos State House of Assembly for eight years.

Also, Gemade, an engineer, served as Minister of Works under the military regime and is one of the most knowledgeable Nigerians on infrastructure.

What Nigerians now expect in this regard is for the lawmakers to further shun divisive politics that is capable of distracting them from the core business of governance and delivering change to their constituents.

PAGE 40—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

MINISTERIAL LIST

y a m d u e f n a Saraki, Law r o f s e u s s i e t complica e r e m a z U r o t a n e S – i r a h u B t n e d i Pres SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

E

higie Uzamere is the immediate past senator representing Edo South.

As a matter of fact, he is the only senator in the history of the district, made of the Binis, to have made it to the Senate twice (2007-2015). In this interview, Uzamere, who is one of those being tipped to pick the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2016 governorship election in Edo State, shares his experience in the red chamber as well as his falling out with his state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who was in strumental to making him pick his second term ticket under the then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. He reels out his achievements, which include installing the first Bini man as Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin. He, however, laments the failure of his party to win the presidential election, saying the PDP could win the governorship election in Edo if the party leaders ensured that a credible candidate emerges. He warns Senator President Bukola Saraki to sort out his differences with those opposed to his leadership within the APC so as to allow President Muhammadu Buhari fulfil his promises to Nigerians.

When I came into politics, some people thought I was joking and that was how the name, Munemune Joker, came about. I joined the sixth Senate and it was a challenge to me because I was not a politician before that time C M Y K

You are the only Bini man to have spent two terms in the Senate. How were you able to achieve that?

First and foremost I want to thank the Almighty God and the people of Edo South who gave me their mandate to represent them for two terms at the Senate.

I came into politics from business back ground. I veered into politics after my incarceration over the Alameseigha issue by the EFCC. I came out and found that a lot of people were urging me to join politics.

When I came into politics, some people thought I was joking and that was how the name, Munemune Joker, came about. I joined the sixth Senate and it was a challenge to me because I was not a politician before that time. Though I had been following the politics of the nation right from time. When I got to the Senate, I s t a r t e d supporting the

time, Oyegun was in the ANPP, Dr Ogbemudia and Col Ogbebor were in the PDP, while the candidate I was being asked to clear was in the ACN. So it was not really a party affair; I only carried out t h e

the seventh Senate, we had few challenges when three major parties came together to form the APC. At the time APC was born, I moved back to the PDP. But things were very smooth there was no rancour among us despite the cross carpeting in the Senate.

Akume group, issues came up including the NDDC issue and I excelled. In that NDDC issue, the rule of the Senate says two senators must support the clearing of any nominee for the NDDC Commissioner in any state. What I did was that I appealed to my other two colleagues from Edo to soft pedal and allow me have my way. But the media interpreted it that I defeated my two colleagues in that contest to clear the late Don Omorodion as NDDC Commissioner in the state then. I informed them that the elders and people of Edo South which I represented directed me to go and clear Omorodion at a meeting held atzthe residence of Chief John Gov. Dave Umahi Odigie-Oyegun, who, today, is the National Chairman of the APC. At that

choice of the leaders of Edo South. And that pitched me against my party leaders in PDP. Then the next controversy I encountered within the system was the issue of Doctrine of Necessity.

You will recall that the late President Yar’Adua was ill for a long time and there was this issue of how the country will move forward. Most of us in the senate then felt it is only the Senate that could resolve the stalemate. So we started from nine“senators, later to 82 and we held the meetings in my house.

We did every thing possible to convince the leadership that our meeting had nothing to do with impeachment, what we were doing was to see how we could allow the Vice President to act so as to avoid vacuum. And our fear then was that the military may take advantage of that. We met and agreed, we convinced the leadership to take the bull by the horn and they accepted. That happened in the sixth Senate. In

say. But you know our people, whatever you do, some will abuse you, some will blackmail you. Many people who initially did not know the role I played in the emergence of a Bini VC in UNIBEN later called me to apologize. A Bini man became the VC of UNIBEN as a result of the pride of the Bini man. We held meetings, I was invited to a meeting chaired by Prof.

Emovon and some prominent Benin men, where they pleaded with me to intervene in the struggle. A committee was sent to meet with the then Pro Chancellor of the university, the Sultan of Sokoto. Then I wrote a petition to the late President Yar ’Adua, who granted me audience and told me that he decided to grant me audience because of my petition and that one aspect of my petition that bothered him

We are aware you were instrumental to the making of a Bini man the VC of UNIBEN after over 40 years. How did you make that happen?

For some time now we have been reading a lot of things being said about who contributed to the making of a Bini man the UNIBEN VC and that the Senate did not contribute. I decided to remain silent because I was still serving and what happened was top secret which I was not able to

Continues on page 41

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 41

‘Saraki, Lawan feud may complicate issues for President Buhari’

situation; so APC must be careful for the smooth running of the senate. We saw how the House of Reps resolved their own crisis few days ago. I congratulated Dogara and Gbajamiamila for that smooth resolution. I still call on the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Senator Lawan to see how they can come together and sort out their problem.

The ministerial list will soon be out; if this matter is not resolved, I am telling you, in the next one year or two, we will not have any Minister in the country. It is not easy to move from one group to another group in the Senate. I pray that the Saraki and Lawan groups become one group. That is my prayer. David Mark was able to bring all the groups together during his time. Then I was in the Akume group but Mark was able to bring the two groups to be one group and that is what I urge them today. Let the interest of Nigerians be upper most in their hearts so that they will be able to create a conducive atmosphere for Mr President to deliver his promises to Nigerians. Because if this problem persist, we will be in darkness and for us to see light, these two groups must become one group.

Continued from page 40 was the area I said we have six senatorial districts in the two states that made up the then Bendel State, that only Edo South has not produced a Vice Chancellor. So he called one of his SAs and instructed that they should go and ensure that a Bini man became the VC. I was touched. But I was surprised that a night before the interview for the VC, I was told to come up with a petition kicking against this interview, this message came from the Presidency at about midnight. So I had to assemble my aides to put up a strong letter to denounce the interview that was scheduled to take place the next day. I received the letter at about 7am, by 12pm we heard on television and radio that the senator representing Edo South has written a letter and because of the letter, they cancelled the interview.

Now, the question I ask my detractors is, how will a senator write a letter to the Governing Council to stop an interview. The truth is that every one of us, from the Oba and our leaders, contributed to the emergence of a Bini man as the UNIBEN VC but the aspect that turned the table was the order of the late President, that was what did it.

And the Chairman of the Governing Council then called me that this was the President’s directive. So they needed to have a petition to enable them push for the cancellation of the interview that day. If that interview had gone on, a Bini man would not have emerged.

So I played a major role in the emergence of a Bini man as the VC of UNIBEN, but my detractors don’t want to hear that because they don’t see anything good about me.

The second leg of this matter is that every professor is qualified to be a Vice Chancellor because, once you get to that position, it becomes a political position. The present VC, Prof. Orunmwense, is very qualified to be there and my joy is that Prof.

Oshodin, Prof. Orumnwense and I attended, Western Boys High School. People tried to cause confusion between me and Prof.Oshodin but thank God we settled because he is my elder brother and a mentor when I entered the United States in the mid 70s.

Another interesting appointment I attracted to my people is the Executive Director of NAIFOR. For the past 72 years, no Bini man has occupied that seat despite the fact that the then Oba of Benin, Oba Akenzua, gave that land to the expatriate founders in 1933, the year he was installed as I used my political will to ensure that President Jonathan gladly accepted a Benin man. Then we played a very strong part in ensuring that Dr Olotu emerges as the Medical Director of the Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu. The other one that I was called upon was the Iyanomo Rubber Research. They did the interview, Dr Ogbemudia spoke to me about it. So I got to Abuja, spoke to the Minister and some senators and, by the grace of God, I provided the political power that got the Benin man there as MD. How do you review the general elections which sow party, the PDP, losing the presidency?

Politics is just a game. Our party got it right from the beginning. It was very clear that the people of Edo were actually fed up with the APC and that showed in the results of the National Assembly and the Presidential elections which PDP won in the state. The PDP campaigned vigorously in the C M Y K

*Uzamere... 8th Senate is a different ball game government. Before I left ACN, I elections in Edo. We won the consulted widely; appointments were National Assembly and presidential made even into Neighbourhood but lost the House of Assembly Watch, my people were never election. And that was as a result of considered. How do you expect me to the presidential election which the stay in a party where I was not wanted?

APC won. And that is why I oppose Meetings will be called and I will not this amendment in the Senate, I was be invited even as a senator. So I exited one of the senators who insisted that progressively, my relationship with the all elections should be conducted on Comrade Governor is still intact the same day. If elections are because I have nothing against him. staggered, there will always be The governor is a good man but band wagon effect; if we had had the sometimes pressure and lies people elections in one day, we would have tell may confuse him. had a different result today.

However, the elections have come National Assembly crisis and gone. When elections are over From what I see in this 8th Senate, you close ranks and move on.

I see the emergence of the leadership And in the case of the presidential as politics that was played to the election, I think Jonathan meant highest level. Yes, the party is well for Nigerians but the truth of supreme, but, again, I plead with the the matter is that his campaign was parties, not only APC, PDP inclusive, not handled properly. They was this that they should allow members of the conspiracy too; besides that there National Assembly to play their was this religious issue which came politics according to the rules of the up. Former President Jonathan may game in the hallowed chambers. You have altered the dreams of more saw what happened to former House than 35 million Nigerians whose of Reps Speaker Tambuwal; today he destiny was tied round his own, but is being celebrated all over the he is a good man due to the sacrifice country. What happened in this 8th he made. I commend his courage for Senate in choosing their leadership accepting the situation, may be some had to do with lack of information of us may have fled the country due between the party leadership and to crisis. But he saved us the stress. their members. I think the party It was God that made it possible for should be concerned about who Buhari to win and I want our people directed them to the International in the PDP to accept the situation Conference Center that morning. Was and re-organize ourselves. APC it the Chairman of the party or the started from Lagos State; so if that President? That is where the problem one party today grew to control the came from. That Mr President had Federal Government; it means we sent his proclamation letter to the still have hope that PDP will bounce clerk of the Assembly meant that back. proclamation was sacrosanct. You could not stop the inauguration that Relationship with Oshiomhole day.

I have a very good relationship Therefore I will say that whoever with the Comrade Governor; my directed the APC senators to the disagreement with him had to do International Conference Center is with issues not personal. I told the cause of their problem. In the 7th people that it was the Comrade Senate, the opposition was not able Governor who backed me to get a to form a quorum due to the number, second term in the Senate. The but in this 8th Senate, it is a different Comrade Governor and God made ball game. The two parties, especially it possible for me to be a ranking the ruling party, must be very careful senator. The issue of NDDC was a in taking decisions because you have major issue, which I made the substantial number of PDP senators governor realize that 'I have cleared and they are speaking with one voice, two persons for you in the past, so which is commendable. There is no help me give appointments in the rebel among them; if there was a state to my followers'. But none was rebel among them the APC will have given to me by either the Federal upper hand but now it is not the Government or the state

How prepared is your party for the 2016 guber election in Edo? Our party, the PDP, is doing everything to first reconcile our differences. We are reconciling different factions; once that is done, we will move to those who decided to stay at home. So, once we sort out ourselves, we will be able to take over the state come 2016. It is possible, God did it in other states. Serving governors were either defeated by the opposition or their candidates defeated in the last elections. If the Almighty God can do it for these people, He will also do it for us. All we need to do now in PDP is to come up with a credible, acceptable candidate for Edo people. With faith and determination, the Okada rider will overthrow a trailer in a hill. We made mistakes in the past in PDP, so we must not make them again. We should come together and agree on a certain template where we can be able to come together, that template may warrant us to reduce the number of aspirants and make them realize that we are confronting a government which party controls the federal, state and local governments. So we need an acceptable candidate that does not have any baggage like Buhari. So the people of Edo PDP will be looking at a candidate that is credible so that that candidate will be acceptable to both APC and PDP, that is the only way we can win.

That Mr President had sent his proclamation letter to the clerk of the Assembly meant that proclamation was sacrosanct.

You could not stop the inauguration that day

There is this strong rumour that you will join the race for Oshiomhole’s successor?

In politics, there is always rumour, sometimes it becomes reality, sometimes it becomes so negative. I think it is too early to say you want to run for an election that will come up some time in August next year. Nobody knows who will be alive till then. What we need now is to build the party and build confidence among the electorate.

It is being rumoured that you are being backed for the governorship by the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alameseigha. How true is that?

Sometimes our people tell lies either because they are ignorant or envious.

My relationship with Alameseigha is very clear. It is more of a senior brother and junior brother. He was a former governor of Bayelsa, he is retired and people should allow him to enjoy his retirement. He cannot come and vote in Edo. Every one of us, irrespective of party affiliations, have friends but it does not mean they are supporting you.

Chief Alameseighe and I have not discussed any governorship ambition; so people should stop linking him to the governorship race in Edo.

PAGE 42 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

Police arrest suspected killer of Enugu monarch

DSS arrests 28 suspected kidnappers

By Chris Ochayi

T

HE Department of State Services , DSS, has arrested 28 suspected kidnappers during its nationwide operations within six days.

The service in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its spokesman, Mr. Tony Opuiyo, said that in line with its statutory mandate, the DSS initiated series of special tactical operations in states prone to the nefarious activities of criminal gangs.

The suspects according to the service were apprehended across various states in the South-South, South-West and the North-West regions.

The service stated further that the operations succeeded in the capture of the masterminds and other facilitators of kidnapping syndicates amongst whom is one Victor Afikparobo who was picked up on July 20, 2015, at Owheologbo, Isoko North LGA of Delta State.

The DSS said the suspect is a key member of the “Federa” gang, a kidnap syndicate which perpetrated series of kidnap incidents within the Ikorodu/ Otta axis of Lagos State, adding that the arrest had given further leads on the gang leader of the Federa kidnap syndicate.

According to Opuiyo, “On July, 24, the DSS also apprehended Joseph Ojobor (a.k.a Chairman), the leader of the Lagos cell of the “Federa” kidnap syndicate at Uduere, village in Ughelli North LGA, Delta State. The DSS said he had also been linked to some incidents of illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism. “ Also, on the same July, 24 about 0500 hours, the team arrested another member of the Lagos cell of the “Federa” kidnap syndicate, one Timothy Japheth in his house at Onokpasa Avenue in Okhan village in Ughelli North LGA, Delta State.

“Earlier, on July 19, another member of the notorious gang, one Howell Anufa was apprehended by the Service.

The suspect was instrumental to the kidnap of the Regent of Akungba in Ondo State.

“Anufa also participated in the spate of kidnap incidents, carried out by the gang in Lagos and Ogun States respectively, before he relocated to Warri, Delta State, where he was eventually arrested.”

The service also said it arrested one member of the Ekiti kidnap syndicate, Ayodeji Oluwafemi and Rachael Oladapo, a female, who was used by the gang as a reconnaissance spy and informant.

“In a follow-up tactical raid in Ekiti State, five other members of the notorious Ekiti kidnap gang were intercepted by operatives of the DSS and they are are Felix Omaiwa, Bose Ajayi, Tope Gabriel, Olayemi Ogunmola and Damilola Obamoyegun,” the DSS said,adding that operations to apprehend fleeing members of some of the identified kidnap gangs are ongoing.

BY FRANCIS IGATA nugu State Police E Command, through operatives of the homicide

•L-R: Senior Manager, SME Segment MTN Nigeria, Mr. Alexander Ibehre, Head Legal SMEDAN, Ms. Julcit Onigbogi, DG SMEDAN, Mr. Bature Masari, General Manager, Enterprise Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Ms. Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, and Director Enterprise, Development and Promotion, SMEDAN, Mr. Wale Fasanya, during the signing of MoU between MTN and SMEDAN on SMEs held in Abuja...

$15.7bn illicit money passes through Nigeria — Report •Says Nigeria ranks among top ten countries in slush funds •CBN faults claim

By Gabriel Omoh

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HE Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, yesterday, quoted the global financial integrity group as saying about $15.7 billion illicit money passes through Nigeria annually. This makes Nigeria one of the top ten countries encouraging illicit financial flow. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s financial regulators reacted, saying they have increased vigilance on illegal financial flow.

A statement by Ibrahim Mu’azu, Director, Corporate Communications of the CBN, said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) notes with concern a recent report by the Global Financial Integrity group, which ranks Nigeria as one of the 10 largest countries for illicit financial flows in the

Guru commends Buhari for damning U.S on Same Sex Marriage OUNDER, One Love Family, F Sat Guru Maharaj has commended President

Muhammadu Buhari for refusing pressure by United States of America that Nigeria should recognize or approve same-sex marriage.

Describing Buhari’s action as a mark of patriotism, Maharaj described same-sex marriage as evil, and un-African.

“Our president has done well. He deserve kudos for refusing to bow to the dictates of imperialism.

What does our former colonial master take us for? Same-sex marriage is an abomination. It is not only uncultural, but also unAfrican. It is another form of imperialism, but thank God, President Buhari resisted US moves,” he declared.

While describing actions being taken so far by Buhari as being positive, Maharaj urged Nigerians to support the president’s efforts to reposition Nigeria for greatness.

He further implored Buhari to sustain the war against corruption and other vices which he claimed has hindered Nigeria from realizing its potentialities.

world. Although we do not have an independent confirmation of this assertion, the report estimates that about US$15.7 billion of illicit funds go through our system annually.

“In the light of this avoidably negative commentary, we wish to draw the public’s attention to several protocols on illicit fund flows, money laundering, and terrorism financing both in Nigeria and around the world, and warn that the CBN will increase its vigilance to ensure that Nigerian banks are not used as conduits for illicit fund flows, especially in foreign currencies.

“We note and applaud that in line with global best practice, Nigerian banks have started to curtail the acceptance of foreign currency cash deposits, much the same way as customers in other countries cannot just walk into banks and make foreign currency cash deposits without proper documentation.

“We wish to assure all citizens seeking foreign currencies for legitimate personal and/or business interests that there remains ample opportunity to do so within the law. The

CBN’s Foreign Exchange Rules have many windows for accessing foreign exchange for legitimate business as well as for personal commitments including payment of medical bills, school fees, mortgages, demand notes and other bills.

Also, Bureaux de Change (BDC) services to small-scale users remain valid as long as this is to meet genuine needs, and BDCs’ documentations to the CBN include the customer’s Bank Verification Number (BVN).

“The CBN will continue to support the Federal Government’s fight against money laundering, corruption, and terrorism financing and will block any and every avenue that may be used for these purposes.

We will also ensure that persons who venture into currency speculation and currency substitution find it unattractive and dangerous. In these efforts, therefore, we seek the continued cooperation of all Nigerians to make this work for the enhancement of our shared progress, rather than the prosperity of a greedy few amongst us.”

APGA closes case at Anambra Election Petition Tribunal

T

HE All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), yesterday, at the Anambra State Elections Petition Tribunal One, sitting in Awka and presided over by Justice Nayai Aganaba, closed its case with the conclusion of its evidence by its witness, Chief Sam Oraegbunam and his cross examination by the counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and her candidate, Dr Okey Eze, in the tussle for the Anaocha/Njikoka/ Dunukofia Federal Constituency seat.

Mr Dozie Nwankwo, who was the candidate of APGA, is challenging the declaration of Eze of the PDP as winner of the March 28 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). Nwankwo is insisting he won overwhelmingly, instead of Eze. Also the immediate past

National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, APGA’s Anambra Central senatorial candidate, who is challenging the declaration of Senator Uche Ekwunife of the PDP winner of the senatorial election of March 28, his evidence-in-chief, yesterday, urged the tribunal to order the cancellation of all invalid votes, mutilated results and over-voting results where results were found to be more than the number of accredited potential voters.

Nwankwo’s principal witness, Oraegbunam’s cross examination by counsel to the PDP and Eze respectively drew the curtain for the APGA candidate. The session ended abruptly. The sudden conclusion of presentation of witnesses evidently caught PDP off guard as its witnesses were not ready to take the stand immediately.

section of its Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department,CIID, have nabbed one of the suspects in the murder of Igwe Peter Onuoha of Isienu Amofu,Nkerefi community in Nkanu-East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The assassins, numbering six, after perpetrating the dastardly act, escaped.

Other victims killed in the incident were Ejike Udeme Uzor; his wife, Evelyn and Daniel Ogbu.

Police intelligence was said to have led to the arrest of the suspect at Ebu village in IllahOshimili Local Government Area of Delta State.

The suspect, who gave his name as Sunday Agbara Edwin, from M g b a r a o c h a , Umuokpala,Nkerefi Nkanu-East Local Government Area of Enugu State, regretted his alleged action even as he revealed that many people were not happy with what the monarch was doing in the community.

Enugu State Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, confirmed the arrest in a statement, adding that Edwin alleged that the deceased monarch was violating human rights by killing people and throwing them in the river and also collecting peoples land forcibly in the community.

Lagos Area Command, stakeholders partner on community policing he large crowd that T gathered at the PCRC Hall of Idimu Area Command of

Lagos State Police, penultimate Friday, was a reflection of the entrenchment of community policing as an effective paradigm in modern policing.

Tagged Peace and Security Stakeholders Forum, in partnership with Women Rights and Health Project ( WRAHP), the forum initiated by CSP Ben Osuji, the Divisional Police Office, DPO, Idimu Division, had a large turn out of CDAs, human rights groups and youth organizations.

Declaring the forum open, the Area M Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, Austine Akika, eulogized Osuji and the Executive Director of WRAHP, Mrs Bose Ironsi, for their effort in putting the forum together. He reiterated the continued effort of the police in Idimu and Lagos in crime reduction through such platforms. While reading from her speech, titled, “ Strengthening Reporting and Documentation on Gender Based Violence”, Ironsi presented the facts sheet of gender based offences and the Lagos State Law on protection against domestic violence even as she encouraged every one to work towards a reversal of the increasing spate of domestic violence against men, women and children.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 43

We are the Jews of the Yoruba race – Oba Oyelude, Olowu of Owu-Kuta *Says his kingdom was the first in S-West *’Any royal father with one wife is not worth his salt’ Oba Hammed Adekunle Makanma Oyelude, the Olowu of Owu-Kuta in Aiyedire Local Government of Osun State and Chairman, Supreme Council of all Owu Obas in Nigeria and in the diaspora, recently celebrated his three years on the throne. A political associate of the former Nigeria military president, Ibrahim Babangida, the Olowu, in this interview, says there were 37 Owu communities scattered in different parts of the country including the East.

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

Since your ascension to the throne there years ago, can you share with us the journey so far?

Three years down the lane as the Olowu Kuta, all glory to God Almighty.I have been having it easy. With the help of God, my friends and teeming supporters, I have been having a smooth sail through.

Can you share the story of your ascension to the throne? grew up in the North, Maiduguri, Zaria. We have four ruling houses and where I come from is the most senior. When I was younger, like other princes, I was aspiring that one day, I would become the king but I never knew it would come this early.Destiny thrust this post on me when I was hoping that my boss, General Babangida, would get me a federal appointment. It is like God gave me life time appointment contrary to what I envisaged. That made Babangida to write when I was made king.When the late monarch passed over, our ruling house was next to fill the stool and our leaders called for nominations.80% nominated me and 20% wanted another person. Those that that were not even eligible from other ruling houses also contested. Because of my closeness to Gen. Babangida, I was branded a PDP man.

They said I would kill ACN if I clinched the crown. But I told them I was not a card-carrying member of the PDP but that I am an IBB. Man. Governor Aregbesola refused to be swayed and that marked the beginning of our relationship. Our people are today happy and I have been enjoying their support since I became king. My boss’s (Babangida) support was very crucial to my ascending the throne.

As a cosmopolitan person, now having to reside in a settlement like this, how are you coping?

I look at my kingdom as a small London. What I miss having to live among people is being shored up by the influx of people here. Friends like you and my subjects are always around me. The way I relate is also helping me have people around me. I delegate responsibilities and not authority. I go and come back when it is time to return home. But I must admit the two are not the same-life here in my little London and outside this place.

Is there any relationship between your own Kuta and Kuta in Kogi State?

No, or may be I have stumble on the history. People in Kuta in Kogi must be Nupe by tribe. But our own Kuta is an Owu settlement. We have been here since 1425.

We have heard many things as being responsible for the disintegration of

I

Owu Kingdom. Can you share some of those things that led to the disintegration of that kingdom?

We have 37 Owu communities in Nigeria and about six in diaspora. Orile Owu or you call it Owu Ipole is the ancestral home of all Owus. It is the headquarters. My progenitor migrated from Orile Owu around 1425 and settled here.Some of his brothers joined him here too. But the disintegration occurred in 1420. Oyo, Ife and Ijebu joined hands to fight Olowu. Check history, Owu was the first kingdom in Yorubaland. Check Johnson and Johnson and other archival documents. But my forefathers lost that empire to Alaafin because of impatience, high handedness.

As you are aware, Owu was the first empire formed by Oduduwa. That iswhy in Yoruba land, the people say, “Owu la koda”. After the disintegration of Owu, some people joined us in Kuta while some moved to Erunmu.That is where the likes of Oyelese, a former minister, hail from.

Oyelese is an Owu man. One of the late Olubadans, Olugbode, was also an Owu Kuta man. This was because some of our people moved to Ibadan in Olugbode compound, some moved to Ijebu, some to Abeokuta, some to Epe. But during the life time of the late Balogun of Owu, Akin Olugbade, he suggested that all Owus should come together. That was over 20 years ago and we formed the Royal Union of Owu People. Since then, we gather annually to deliberate. Last year , I hosted them, this year I am hosting them also for two days. During the meeting, we deliberate on issues that concern us a group of people.We are the Jews of the Yoruba race. We have Owu-Obaloyin in Kwara and Owu-Isin.Aregbesola (Osun State governor) was even telling me recently that he and a professor have discovered some Owus in the East. We are making efforts to meet these people.

As the Chairman of the Contact Committee for the annual meeting of Owu people....?

No, I am the Chairman, Supreme Council of Owu Obas. I have a not too large community but I am senior in the hierarchy of Owu Obas.

Specifically, what are your roles?

My roles include but not limited to uniting and to harness and formulate policies and identify directions we should go as a group of people. To God be the glory, I have been playing my roles very well. All Owu Obas meet and that is part of the efforts to forge common cause and unite our people.

What was the cause of the crisis that disintegrated Owu Kingdom?

From the information I got from the British archives, before the disintegration, Olowu was next to Ooni.So he was so

powerful. At that time, he sent some of his men to collect royalty from the Alaafin, but the then ruler in Oyo could not afford his demands, so the Olowu told his men to march the Alaafin down to Owu. With supernatural powers, Sango, the brother to the then Alaafin, came and met all the demands of the Olowu. But because of the shame of being seized, the Alaafin declined returning to his stool and Sango became the new Alaafin. Olowu later demanded for tribute from Alaafin

From the information I got from the British archives, before the disintegration, Olowu was next to Ooni.So he was so powerful

Sango. And because he resisted being treated like his brother, issues starting cropping up. Ife saw that was an opportunity to resist and also the Ijebus.

They waged war against Owu and defeated it.

Is there any federal presence here like institutions?

No, we have a road in front of our mosque here to the Federal Poly, Ede. It is about 20 minutes drive, but there is bridge that must be done. My grand father started the call on government to do the road since 1958, but, unfortunately, it has not been done. If the road is done, it will open up this town. We will want the Federal Government to come around and help us. We have land in abundance. We gave Osun State government about 1,000 hectares for its O’ REAP programme.I am also talking with the National Museum about some of our sites with the potential to attract tourists. Owu is an ancient town with rich history.Where our forefathers descended to the ground is a sacred place.

I have invited officials of the Ministry of Culture and those of National Museum to come and look at the site.

As a royal father, what is your view about polygamy? Many royal fathers are obviously drifting from the culture of having many wives.

Any royal father that has just one wife is not worth his salt. It is either he is poor material-wise or he is poor in ideas. As a Muslim, I have freedom to marry as many as four wives. Also, as a traditional ruler, I have freedom to marry as many as I want. If our fore fathers had married just one wife, royalty would have long been wiped out. It was because our forefathers had many wives that made some of us to have the opportunity of being born into a ruling house. Polygamy is part of our culture and Obas must protect it. Thank God I am not poor, I am a Muslim and I am a traditional ruler, so I remain an advocate of polygamy in the palace.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

Kaduna Refinery set to pump five million litres of petrol daily into economy – KRPC MD *Speaks on gas flaring and TAM issues

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

A

billow of fire and thick fumes of burnt hydrocarbons to Kaduna residents is the signal that the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, is in operation. This is accompanied by a flurry of activities, especially heavy traffic of petrol tankers, in and around the 1.2 square mile refinery, which is unarguably the biggest government investment north of the Niger and the Benue. But, in the past 10 months, the fire has disappeared and the hustling around the refinery has also whittled down into a sober, lowlevel activity.

Sunday Vanguard then decided to find out what is going on.

The Managing Director, MD of the facility, Engr Saidu Mohammed, a 1980 graduate of chemical engineering of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, laughed heartily from behind his table in his cosy office at the plant last Wednesday at the notion of the disappeared fire as a sign of lack of production, when Sunday Vanguard wanted to sieve out rumours from reality.

“Don’t worry that you don’t see the usual fire billowing out smoke which makes people know that we are producing, for now, we are steaming and that is what is most important”, he said.

He continued: “Tell you what?.

That fire in itself requires gas, since it is gas we usually flare.

But we cannot afford to waste it at this stage, because it is the same gas that we need to burn the heaters, to fire the heaters. So is it the same gas that you want to take and go and flare? If you have problem with the heaters, what happens? So the time will come when you see the fire again”.

Mohammed then went on to say

C M Y K

that the KRPC was going through a radical overhaul of the refinery using Nigerian engineers only, and that the refinery was still producing. It turned out to be a very revealing encounter as he gave a narration of the ongoing effort to reposition the KRPC to optimal state.

TAM-Rehab, instead of shutdown Said Mohammed: “We are doing TAM (Turn Around Maintenance)-Rehabilitation (TAM-Rehab) while the refinery continues to run. We try as much as possible not to shut down the entire refinery while this is going on. The whole essence is to say, “Look, the TAM that you have neglected for a while we are doing it; at the same time those equipment that have been troublesome, that need complete rehabilitation, we will make procurement orders for them and fix them.

“As the parts come, we rehabilitate; as the new ones come, we install. So that is the concept of TAM-Rehab.

“And we say we are going to earmark a period of 18 months beginning from October last year for the TAM-Rehab. So, invariably, by March next year, we should conclude the work.

“Not only did we give ourselves a time frame, we said we would do all we can to take the refinery from the present operating level of 60% to as high as 90%. In fact, even now, nothing stops us from pushing it to 80%, but can that be sustained, the answer is No!.

“For example, some compressors may fail; some pumps may fail. That is why we need to change such equipments.

And once we change them, we would have improved, remarkably, the reliability of the refinery, then we can safely push the capacity.

“As a matter of fact, we can push it higher than 80% before now, but

Part of our problem is the epileptic supply of crude. Until something drastic is done in terms of security, Kaduna refinery will continue to have that problem.

Because, as we speak now, we have crude oil in Warri. It is meant for us, but it cannot be pumped to us then we would be doing it just to test, but we cannot sustain that.

To hit 90% capacity next March “But we can reliably sustain 60% operating level with all other things available. So the essence of this TAM-Rehab is to bring back the refinery to an acceptable level of performance, and we are looking at a utilisation level of 80 to 90%.

Next, we want to make sure that we can sustain that level of performance by continuing going back to regular planned maintenance, including the TAM, again.

“Now, on the mini TAM, we have almost completed it, but we did not make noise about it. We call it mini TAM, because we are

doing it in phases. Under the fuel section, the crude distillation unit, the Naphtha hydrating unit, the FCC, the basic four components of the fuel section - there is no heat exchanger that we have not fixed, cleaned and rebundled- or replaced.

“There is no column that we have not opened; where there are cases of damage, we have replaced or repaired them. There are no pumps that have not been fixed, and there are no compressors that have not been fixed. TAM is just like checking the engine of your car, repairing and fixing things that are bad. In fact, we have gone very far.

“We have finished two of the four phases. The other phases belong to the other section of the refinery, which, for now, are not a priority because it has to do with foreign crude to run that section. But the ones that are supposed to produce Liquid Petroleum Gas, LPG, gasoline, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil, all these are what we now concentrating on. “ If you go into the plant now, you will see that we are steaming up. Forget about the fire from flaring, I know that is what people want to see. When we want, we can let that come out. The fluid distillation unit and the power plant are fully back.

How a refinery works “Ok, let me put it this way: A refinery is not like a car that you put on your ignition and its starts, ready to move, No! For a refinery, you first of all get your power plant ready. And you don’t have your power plant until you have your boilers. You get your boilers stabilised; they are now directing enough steam, then you put the steam into generators that will bring out electricity. When you have electricity now, you start running other utilities. You start producing your compressed air; you start producing nitrogen, because you need nitrogen to

blanket everything, because, as you know, nitrogen does not burn. No refinery can run without nitrogen. And every refinery has its own nitrogen plant. Now, you push the nitrogen into every reactor, every column; every heater, so that when you are now . . . (not clear) what will now follow behind, in fact we say, ‘you have ignited the system’, nothing will burn again, because nitrogen cannot burn. Then you start introducing your hydrocarbons.

Then you start lighting the heaters, then the columns will now start picking temperature, then you charge-in the crude, then you start boiling the crude, then you start . . . you see, so it’s not like your car that you just put in the key and start.

Using available crude to produce “Now because of the level of Turn Around Maintenance that we have done and the overhaul, this will now allow us to use the little amount of crude we have to run. That will now allow us to know the level of reliability, and will show us areas that we need to pay attention to. The strategy is just like pay-as-you-go. We put crude and the plants run. If you go into the plant now, you see another section where the contractors are very busy. Go to the fluid catalytic units, FCCs, the contractors are very busy.

Epileptic crude supply from Warri “Part of our problem is the epileptic supply of crude. Until something drastic is done in terms of security, Kaduna refinery will continue to have that problem. Because, as we speak now, we have crude oil sitting down in Warri. It is meant for us, but it cannot be pumped to us.

The pipelines have been breached, so many sections have been tampered with. What we are

•Continues on page 45

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 45

‘Nigeria can do better than 8.5 million litres of petrol daily from Warri and PH’

BY UDEME CLEMENT

T

he declaration by the Nigerian N a t i o n a l Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) about Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries being resuscitated to produce about 8.5million of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol daily has sparked controversy among fuel marketers and stakeholders in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

While some people say the effort to revamp the plants would ease excessive importation of refined petroleum products into the country, others believe the plants do not have the capacity to meet even the demand for domestic consumption of fuel.

In a chat with Sunday Vanguard, a former President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Tunji Adeniji, expressed displeasure with the state

of the two refineries, saying they are obsolete and can not meet the increasing demand of fuel consumption by a population of over 160million.

On the economic benefits of reviving the plants to produce about 8.5million of petrol per day, he said, “What economic benefits are we talking about. It is a shame to say that Port Harcourt and Warri plants would produce only 8.5million litres of petrol, which cannot meet even our domestic consumption demand in the country.

What we have in Port Harcourt and Warri are not refineries but obsolete plants.”

He went on, “For me, it does not make any economic sense to say we are putting more money into such aged and obsolete plants trying to revive them. What we need are new and modern refineries that would produce sufficiently within the installed capacity to reduce importation of

petrol” He continued, “You can recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, during his tenure finalised the process of privatising those refineries before he left office in 2007, but late President Musa Yar’Adua, came in and reversed the privatisation of those plants. Since then nothing tangible has been realised from them, notwithstanding the huge amount of money pumped into the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM). Even before now government realised that the plants were aged and inactive, which informed the decision to privatise them, but looked at how the entire process was reversed, only for us to hear now that the same plants are going to refine 8.5million litres of petrol daily. I think government should look for a better solution to curtail importation than investing more money in obsolete plants” However, the management of NNPC

stated that both refineries have resumed operations after a nine-month phased rehabilitation carried out on them. According to corporation, the two plants are said to be functional following the completion of technical repairs by inhouse engineers and experienced technicians.

The Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said, “both plants commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs.

The Port Harcourt refinery has already increased its production capacity to about 60 per cent of its 210, 000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity. Also, Warri refinery can realise 80 per cent of installed capacity of 125,000 bpd. Port Harcourt Refinery would boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of 5 million litres of petrol daily, while Warri Refinery would contribute about 3.5 million litres of petrol to the local refining capacity”.

‘Kaduna Refinery set to pump five million litres of petrol daily’ •Continued from page 44 doing now is to use water to flush the residual crude up to here. As we put water from Warri, the residual crude now starts moving.

The water now will flow out to show you areas that have been vandalised and water does not pollute any environment. You know that is the job of the PPMC, and I understand that it will take them about four weeks to finish that.

Meanwhile, we are restarting the refinery with the crude oil that we have now, awaiting the one that is being pushed, so that we don’t remain idle.

TAM done strictly by Nigerian engineers “What we are doing, we are using purely Nigerian contractors. Nigerian engineering contractors are very competent; sadly many people don’t know that. They have the competence and the capacity to do jobs. They can do everything on this refinery. The contractors working around the technically complex FCCs are Nigerian contractors.

Original equipment makers only “But then, on the spare-parts that are needed, what we doing is to use the original e q u i p m e n t manufacturers of the refinery. They find parts, they find the value, they give us performance invoice , we agree on the price, then we open a letter of credit, LC, for them. So, now, we are sure of the source and quality of the parts that are coming.

Then the Nigerian agent

will be responsible for clearing them, and bringing them to the refinery. And where installation is required, he will now be the go-between the Nigerian contractor and the manufacturer – assuming the contractor does not have the competence. And as you know, there is no single manufacturer for all the refinery equipment; it is just like buying a car, there are many makers of different parts for the car.

So, we have many manufacturers involved.

How TAM became a problem “Let me tell you about this place. This place was commissioned in 1980. In 1982, there was TAM; two years later, there was TAM; in 1986, there was TAM; in 1989, there was TAM. You may not have known that, because it was routine, and not a big deal. TAM started becoming an issue when the demand on NNPC changed. You said, ‘Well, NNPC, we can no longer subsidise your crude’.

Because all the TAMs were done when crude oil to the refineries were subsidised.

That meant we had money to do our maintenance. But, you now start telling NNPC to pay for every barrel at international price.

Meanwhile, certain costs along the chain are not even being captured. For example, nobody gives NNPC money for transporting the crude from Escravos to Warri and then to Kaduna; or even evacuating the products from here to depots. All

these are not factored into the final price of the product. It is not even captured on the template of the PPPRA. NNPC had to source for money elsewhere and provide this service.

Governance issues “What we are trying to model after this is to say, ‘ok, going forward, there have to be some governance issues that need to be addressed to ensure that the refineries don’t go back to the state they were”.

“We are addressing the technical aspects of the plants, making sure they efficiently run at full capacity, but then governance issues have to be looked into: Crude oil supply must be regular.

What we are advocating is a kind of small autonomy for the refineries so the management of a refinery will be charged with the entire chain management.

Today, you have a refinery sitting down, waiting for a third party to supply crude oil. It is waiting for that third party to evacuate products, incurring cost that are not captured. We should have refineries that operate at least at a reasonable commercial level to be able to sustain their plants, maintenance including TAM. So that refineries don’t have to go to government all the time looking for money.

Treat pipelines like military zones, like the US does “Again, we must take strategic assets with real strategic assets. What I am saying is that refineries and related assets must be

seen as military zones, and given the desired security.

For example, we just scratch the surface when it comes to the security of our pipelines.

In the US, major trunk lines carrying gas or liquids are military zones. You tamper with it they take you on immediately. You can’t tamper with their pipelines and go free. They have a combination of human resource and technology.

The pipelines are constantly monitored. You touch it, you are seen and there is immediate intervention from any direction and you may be killed immediately, because you are sabotaging their country.

In Nigeria, you may install these same monitors, and see someone around Okene, or in the creeks. But that can be done with a command and control centre, essentially for the pipelines for rapid intervention, through the sea, air and land. This is what the NNPC cannot do. It is a governance issue.

Now, we are using communities, but it has its limit. The people tampering with the pipelines are coming from the same communities. So we need something more formidable and enduring.

5 million litres of PMS next year “When we start producing at 90% next March, we shall be producing between three and five million litre of PMS per day, or about 100 to 150 trucks per day”.

N3.2bn ads exposed in 2015 general elections—Report

BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

N

ew report released recently by CCM Limited, a media monitoring agency has put the total amount spent on political advertisement in the 2015 general elections at N3.23 billion.

Speaking at the unveiling of the report tagged, “CCM Report on the 2015 Presidential election,” the Managing Director of CCM Limited, Mr. Tunde Onadele, said between December 2014 and March 2015, over N3.23 billion media advertising was placed on radio, television, print media and billboards nationwide.

The report said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP campaign, including third party adverts accounted for about N2.5 billion or 77 percent with APC spending about N728million or 23percent.

The Managing Director also revealed that about 253 creative materials were deployed across Radio and TV channels in all the 260+ stations monitored by the company, with PDP utilizing 145 materials while APC deployed 107 materials. The split across media platforms showed TV and Press were the media platforms mostly utilized by the two parties at over 85 percent of total campaign spend.

Speaking about the significance of media monitoring in politics, Onadele opined that political parties need to measure compliance to media or campaign plans as set out by their c a m p a i g n organisations, anticipate opposition’s media strategies especially across regions and appropriate and match regional spending with potential for electoral votes and for quality decision making in sharpening campaign strategies.”

According to Onadele, “CCM has committed to revolutionizing media compliance and postcampaign analysis through innovative products as exemplified in the launch of this report, thus raising the stakes in the industry also showing our capability to deliver media intelligence products across industries.”

He went on to say that in arriving at the figures the gross media rates were used in the calculations and the data across the monitored stations accounted for about 85 pervent national coverage.

CCM’s calculations also excluded special media such as News mentions, live coverages of political rallies and Satellite (Pay TV) media and all Below-The-Line promotional spend.

This was unveiled in Lagos as a special CCM Report on the 2015 Presidential election campaign after a thorough analysis of over 260 broadcast media (Radio and Television), 48 print (Newspapers and Magazines) media and over 1,000 outdoor bill boards monitored across the country.

The media report which only focused on the two main parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), took into cognizance the different geographical zones within the country, as well as the advertising campaigns of the different political parties, individuals and groups in support of the presidential candidates.

The Chief Technical Officer of CCM, Mr Bayo Odeyinde affirmed that CCM has deployed advanced detection and logging technology that has the capability to provide reliable media intelligence reports and services to her clients and prospects across various industries e.g.

Advertising, PR and Music. CCM only recently launched musiktrak.com as a device to alleviate royalty pains and lack of airplay data in the music industry.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015

•Central Bank of Nigeria’s building. Inset: Mr Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor

AS DEADLINE TO PUBLISH N490 BN BANK DEBTORS’ NAMES EXPIRES

LCCI faults move, asks CBN to tread with caution *Non-performing loan is 3% of N13trillion of industry total credits

BY UDEME CLEMENT

T

he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has described the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to publish names of debtors to shame individuals and companies involved after the August 1, 2015 (yesterday) deadline, as unprofessional, calling on CBN to examine the default on case by case basis in order to avoid sweeping generalisation. The chamber also advised the apex bank to adhere to global best practice of debt recovery by giving due consideration to legal implications.

Speaking, the Director General, LCCI, Mr. Muda Yusuf, stressed that there are varying causal factors for loan default that must be taken into consideration. He said, “The LCCI recognises two categories of debtors that include defaults as a result of genuine business failure, which are irreversible and affect the capacity to repay.

Also, there are defaults as a consequence of deliberate intent not to repay. So, it is vital to distinguish between these two categories of debtors, to guide the choice of debt recovery strategy.”

He went on, “Some factors in business failure in recent years include shocks and dislocations from depreciation of the Naira, exchange rate and the attendant shocks to businesses, especially those with high exchange rate exposure. Sudden drop in

crude oil prices with significant impact on petroleum product importers, as investors in the upstream oil and gas sector are also victims of collapse of oil prices. Many businesses are yet to recover till date. Some banks have huge exposure to this sector. Power sector investors are grappling with issues ranging from gas unavailability, theft, billing issues, quality of assets and legacy debts. Defaults caused by import duty waivers granted by government, which put many businesses at very serious competitive disadvantage.

Rampant smuggling and counterfeiting of products as well as importation of fake and substandard products, which created severe competition issues for manufacturers”.

He continued, “Others include sudden changes in fiscal policy especially import tariffs, import prohibitions, import duty waivers and policy reversals on incentives. Huge indebtedness to contractors by governments at all levels, which had impeded the ability of contractors to repay the loans from the bank.

Combined indebtedness to local contractors by the federal, state and local governments is well in excess of N1 trillion .Prohibitive interest rates and charges by banks, which increases the risk of default and have a compounding effect on outstanding indebtedness of businesses. Security issues in some parts of the country that

jeopardized many investments affected areas.

Many projects were abandoned due to security breaches in some parts of the country. Stock market collapse, which led to huge losses by investors in the capital market.”

“The second category of debtors have deliberate plan to default. This class of debtors took loans and from the very beginning did not intend to repay. This is of course the more disturbing

The CBN is adopting this strategy of debt recovery now to ensure that NPLs are not out of control like what happened in the financial industry some years back

scenario,which borders on criminality and impunity.

There are bad borrowers and there are bad lenders! The CBN should deal with both sides. There is need for better use of Credit Bureaus to reduce the incidence of serial debtors. Given the adverse consequences of Non Performing Loans (NPLs) on the stability of financial system, the risk to depositors’ funds and the sustainability of the banks, there is compelling reason to take drastic actions to avoid grave consequences of bad loans. NPLs in the banking system is currently estimated at over N400 billion.”

“Entrepreneurship is about risk taking. Sometimes profits are made, at other times losses are suffered. It would be unfair to portray business failure as an act of criminality, which is what the publication of names connotes. The reputation of businesses is also very high. Loans supposed to have collateral and a foreclosure invoked in the event that such loans are not redeemed.”

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the non-performing loans currently represent three percent of the N13trillion industry loan book, which has a set limit of five percent. Also, NPLs have increased to N490billion sector-wide. This figures amount to three percent of the N13trillion total bank credit, and the move by banks to recover the debts is to prevent NPLs from reaching the five percent

ceiling of total credit in the market set by the monetary authority. As such, immediate recovery of these loans would enhance stability in the financial sector to prevent systemic stress capable of making banks to go under.

Thus, the CBN is adopting this strategy of debt recovery now to ensure that NPLs are not out of control like what happened in the financial industry some years back. In 2009, the banking industry in Nigeria experienced a major financial crisis, as commercial banks recorded huge NPLs of about N4.3trillion. In the process, many banks were declared insolvent and eight banks were taken over by the apex bank. To remedy the situation, some banks went into merger and acquisition deals, while the remaining weak banks that could not merge were given financial bailout by the CBN to preserve depositors’ money.

Our investigations revealed that despite measures put in place to curtail NPLs from escalating, these debts are still rising. For instance, the statistics available shows that such loans rapidly increased from over N344billion in 2013 fiscal year to N400billion in 2014 and N490billion in 2015.

In the same vein, the total banks’ credit increased sharply from N9.27trillion in 2013 to about N11.22trillion in 2014 economic year and currently N13trillion in 2015, where there is a new government in place. On the whole, the apex bank stressed that the name and shame publication is adopted as the last resort to ensure speedy recovery of NPLs.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 47

The Tales of Two Presidential Visits

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he 'historic' visit of President Muham mad Buhari to the United States of America has long come and gone.

Mr President had returned to Nigeria, while his host, Barrack Obama had afterwards undertaken a tour of certain African countries, including his ancestral home, Kenya. The U.S. President's visit to Africa immediately after Buhari's sojourn had somewhat over shadowed the importance of meeting the president of the country once referred to as "Giant of Africa".

Unfortunately the "giant of Africa" was not included in the list of countries the U.S. President visited.

This is the fourth time Obama had come so close to Nigeria, yet could not get to honour its leaders with even a touch-down visit. Observers are shocked by what they believe is deliberate "snubbing" of the most populated black country in the world. You cannot blame him though as the hitherto opposition "groups" in Nigeria had "propagated" to the world that in Nigeria, human rights violation is a daily thing. So why would Obama, or any "world class" leader want to visit?

They would rather "invite" our president to their "model" countries.

Obama kicked off his visit to Africa in a country that can best be described as his source of life. It was his father's country of birth - Kenya. Trust Africans for their friendliness and respect for visitors, and especially for the most powerful man in the world, who, coincidentally is a "son of the soil." Obama was treated like a lost son who had come back home. Unfortunately for the Kenyans, their son had not come to stay, he was on official duties.

Obama demonstrated during this visit that he was no stranger to the traditions and cultures of Kenya. His earlier visits as a "non starter" some years back and later as a senator had definitely prepared him for what to expect. He did not disappoint them as he ate some of their foods, and also showed his host that he still had a few impressive Kenyan dance steps.

After a successful outing in Kenya, the President headed to Ethiopia where he was also warmly welcomed. Obama made history in Addis Ababa as the first sitting U.S. President to address the African Union. He called on the leaders to end political corruption in the continent.

He did not hide his disappointment in leaders who try as much as possible to perpetuate their stay in power.

In all, the visit was a success for the American president. As Obama was rounding off in Ethiopia,

Nigerians were still talking about their president's visit to the U.S. It might have been two weeks after the visit, the ripples were yet to settle. The debates were on going in traditional choice of venues where Nigerians discuss their affairs - the local palm wine shop, beer joints, motor parks, public transport etc - were all bubbling with activities.

For the past one week, we have been analyzing what the gains and losses of the visit are. Not many kept quiet on the number, composition and activities of the delegation that “toured” God's Own Country. Even before the visit, Nigerians queried the size of the delegation, and condemned the inclusion of certain individuals who they believed could not have served any purpose on the visit. It was therefore no surprise when during the visit, comments on social media were suggesting some members of the delegation were actually on sight seeing ventures.

We shook our heads in disbelief and frustration when in some meetings, only the US officials were seen taking notes. Our delegates had no “notes taking devices” with them.

Why should they? More also through out the visit they all appeared too relaxed and non challant in their postures as some of them were captured, on camera, in positions that suggested they might have felt really “sleepy” or simply bored with what they came there for. To say Nigerians were disappointed in the “activities” of some of the delegates is to say the least.

Observers have criticised the President for not

The only achievement of the visit is the sensitization of the international community to the "promise" of the new government to fight corruption and terrorism. It did not go beyond sensitisation. seemingly realising the importance of the visit to Nigeria's image. They argued that the visit was a rare opportunity to repair the seriously battered image of the country abroad, especially in the US. However, our leaders did not take it as a means to shore up any image, rather it was taken as a sort of jamboree and sight seeing “historic” visit for them to see and probably "feel" the “first black president of the United States”.

To some of the delegates it was instant success, in as much as they had the "golden handshake" from President Obama. The visit was just a photo opportunity with the U.S. President to show their grandchildren in future or to include in a chapter of their yet to be written memoirs.

It was therefore a matter of time, before their publicists had the pictures all over the newspapers and the social media. And wait a minute, also on billboards, advertising, "This Is The Real Change". An handshake with Obama was the "real change" people voted for?

Nigerians argued that it is no “rocket science” that when leaders visit other countries, they go with the best technocrats their countries can produce so as to maximise and negotiate the best deals for their countries. Nigeria's case seem to be the opposite. I am aware there were some civil servants on the delegation that worked behind the curtains, but what is the assurance that the quality was not same as “fronted” by these politicians?

To the relief of everybody the president and the delegation are back at home.

The only achievement of the visit is the sensitization of the international community to the "promise" of the new government to fight corruption and terrorism. It did not go beyond sensitisation.

Although to the Buhari government this visit was a success even if the main desire to get the US to lift the ban on the sale of arms and ammunitions to Nigeria was not achieved, and no policy statement from the host on Nigeria's corruption "crisis". There were hopes before the visit that Boko Haram's days in Nigeria were numbered.

These hopes had soon died down on realising that we are not out of the woods yet in fighting terrorism. Majority of Nigerians, including President Buhari, are disappointed in the fact that nothing concrete was gotten out of the United States. This is evident in his words - ‘Unwittingly, and I dare say unintentionally, the application of the Leahy Law Amendment by the United States government has aided and abetted the Boko Haram terrorists.’

The Leahy Law states that "no assistance shall be furnished to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country, if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights". And by killing Boko Haram jihadists, the Nigerian army is adjudged to have violated human rights - according to the opposition groups. Therefore, no assistance should be expected from the U.S. Period.

God of Creation still creates … keep faith alive

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n this week’s Joyful Homes, I bring to your practical examples of people who have had breakthroughs in the area of child bearing. These are recent examples in Nigeria and overseas.

LET me first of all congratulate you for being alive. That you are alive and waiting is an indication that, that thing you most desire – children - is still possible. As it is often said, only the dead have no hope.

Recent events have rekindled our hope that the God of Creation is still in the business of creating.

Since the beginning of this year, I have seen and heard of astonishing miracles of God in the area of child bearing.

Once again, I am not limiting readers to any particular place of worship.

One is merely sharing experience.

Please feel free to share yours with our readers.

For waiting couples, there are times they feel depressed or even rejected by people.

Irrespective of what medical science may have attributed the delay to, it is wrong to blame your spouse for the delay.

Unknown to both of you, it could be a spiritual problem.

A couple, in their bid to have children, went to a reputable gyneacologist for artificial insemination.

Shortly after, they experienced signs of pregnancy. They returned to the doctor who, after consultation, told them that yes, the signs were there, but that no implantation had taken place in the woman. In other words, the womb was empty.

Immediately, the couple realised they had a spiritual problem.

When a partner is low in spirit, let the other encourage.

Let’s always bear it in mind that the God of Creation still creates.

Recently, a couple presented a set of twins for dedication at Laughter Foundation Christian Ministry, Lagos after 13 years of waiting. They confirmed they had seen a number of medical practitioners who attributed the delay to low sperm count.

There is also the case of a man who had a surgical operation meant to improve his low sperm count. For years, no conception took place until God intervened.

The man took no medication and the wife conceived and had a baby boy. They have since had other children.

How do we explain this?

Could low sperm count have been corrected on its own? Not likely. The couple attribute their breakthrough to prayers and faith.

Another example of the power of the God who creates is the case of a woman who lost her ovaries to surgical operation. She persisted in

prayers and, before long, God created new ovaries in her and she had a baby girl.

This was after she had been told that it was impossible for her to be a biological mother.

Her story is not too different from that of a lady who had a baby after 11 years of waiting. In the case of this lady, she had the misfortune of experiencing five miscarriages. Persistent prayer also gave her a breakthrough.

Let me dismiss as untrue the assertion in some quarters that some women are not biological mothers because they don’t love children.

Nothing can be farther from the truth.

It is true though that a woman waiting is not excited sometimes when she meets children.

This is natural because it reminds her of her condition.

How to handle loneliness Couples may need to have a quiet time, be relaxed and have a heart-to-heart discussion of the matter.

More importantly, when the spirit of a spouse is low, let the other encourage.

Both must find time to pray together.

Take steps to renew your relationship. Couples must

When a partner is low in spirit, let the other encourage.

Let’s always bear it in mind that the God of Creation still creates not lose sight of the fact that all relationships have one challenge or the other.

Men of God always remind us that “ every challenge has an expiry date”. Our duty is to take the right steps to put the challenge behind us.

Couples must resolve to stay together.

Being alive gives hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Many who have been written off have become mothers, Those who find it difficult to cope with loneliness may opt for adoption, but this must be done legally.

Believe God, get your miracle A couple that had been married for seven years visited a number of hospitals and were told that the husband had low sperm count and the wife multiple fibroids. Exercising their faith, they resolved to take

their case to God with prayers at Laughter Foundation Christian Ministry.

God visited them and, now, this couple, who got married in 2008, had a set of twins this year.

The story of a lady I will simply call Biodun should encourage many women.

During her search for children, she lost one of her ovaries and had to depend on one ovary to have children.

At that time, she thought it would be a miracle for her to have even a child but God surprised her, she had a set of twins.

There is also the case of a waiting couple, who sought medical advice, and they were told that the quality of the woman’s eggswas so bad it could hardly make babies.

Her husband told the doctor that he was not discouraged and that he had faith that his wife would still be a mother. The doctor will have none of that; he shouted at him, “ We don’t use faith here”.

The husband left the clinic unhappy but resolved to exercise his faith.

The point to be noted here is that rather than blame his wife, he encouraged her.

This should be the attitude of couples towards each other.

Finally, after about seven years of waiting, the woman, whose eggs were said to be too weak to make babies, is now a mother of a baby boy.

Several testimonies abound, but those who must have a breakthrough need to get serious with prayers.

Not a few women have had children well past the age of menopause.

If you think it is impossible to have children late, wait for this one which was recorded in Germany: A 65-year-old mum of 13 children is expecting quadruplets.

A newspaper, Bild am Sonntage, reported: “A 65yr-old German grandmother is reportedly pregnant with quadruplets. Annegret Raunigk, who has 13 children and seven grandchildren, decided to try for another child because her youngest daughter, who is nine, wanted a little brother or sister. The Russian and English teacher from Berlin, became pregnant after 18 months of artificial insemination.”.

She narrated her story.

She said, “ Certainly, that was a shock for me. After the doctor discovered there were four, I had to give it some thought to begin with”.

The lady, who also spoke to Luxembourg-based broadcaster RTL, was asked if she didn’t think she was too old to bring up four babies at a time.

Her reply: “ How does one have to be at 65? One must apparently always fit some clichés which I find rather tiring. I think, one must decide that for oneself”.

Page 48 — SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

DESOPADEC AMENDMENT BILL: The true picture munities. It opined that the amendment deals with administrative structures and not production issue or sharing of the 13 percent derivative among the ethnic communities that make up DESOPADEC. In clear terms, they are convinced that an amended DESOPADEC Bill will auger well for the oil producing communities, increased the capacity of DESOPADEC to render service to its people and, more importantly, be accountable to them.

As interesting as their comments may seen, it is obvious, particularly for those against the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill, that two things are at play here. It is either they have very poor understanding of the items in the proposed amendment or they are out to cause distractions. The first cannot be correct because one of those who picked holes in the amendment bill was a former Chairman of the Commission. He cannot in all sincerity claims not to have a

full understanding of the principal law and its amended version.

Therefore, it is correct to infer that critics of the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill however fluid their points may be are out to distract the governor.

Separating the wheat from the chaff, the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill seeks to tackle frontally the minority right issue, which is the cause of the protracted injustice in the oil producing communities. Put differently, the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill is intended to bring development closer to the people, give greater efficiency and accountability to the management of the 13 percent derivative fund in line with international best practices.

Before now, what did we have? A variants of administration that allowed officials to function in dual positions as Commissioners representing various ethnic nationalities and chief executives overseeing day to day affairs of DESOPADEC. What does that portend? Little time

is paid to the development of the ethnic communities they represent. Also by combining the two functions, the infrastructural needs of the oil producing communities were sidetracked by partisan and intra-ethnic squabbles.

If the motives of those against the amendment bill is not partisan, why are they scheming to prevent the governor from putting in place a system that makes it difficult for individuals except the oil producing communities themselves from having access to DESOPADEC fund?

Rather than playing politics with the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill, critics should commend the governor for insisting that the Delta State House of Assembly should hold a public hearing before the bill is passed into law. Because by so doing, Okowa has demonstrated that he is sincere about fulfilling his ‘’ Prosperity for all Deltans” mantra.

•Udemba is a Media Aide to Gov Okowa.

Misunderstanding Wike’s visit to CJN

suggesting that the learned CJN could be manipulated to issue directives to tribunal members, in order to meet the purpose of the bribe. Of course, that misses the point. Such commentators do not have legal knowledge to understand how election tribunals operate. Yet, we must not lose sight of the fact that the writers argue that the election petition may ultimately end up at the Supreme Court, and that the CJN might be perceived as tainted. Again, that also aggravates the slur on the person and office of the CJN. It is common practice for legal practitioners and judges to hold meetings in judges’ chambers— before they come into the open court. Nobody ever imputes in those circumstances that justice is being wangled. A case is decided on its merit. To imply that a visitor to the CJN could work on him to rig the outcome of a petition not directly before him, or even if it were before him, is, as stated earlier, the ultimate insult on the Bench.

If Wike had gone to visit the CJN at his official residence, and if it was in the wee hours, and if he was turned back when he came call-

ing, there might be reasonable ground to ponder the rationale for such nocturnal visits. Wike did not also try to telephone the CJN, because everyone recalls the example of Justice Salami. On the contrary, the governor went to the CJN’s office in broad-day light. He did not pretend to sneak in; he walked and was seen visibly. Mercifully, there was no report that Wike was accompanied by aides hauling fully-loaded Ghana-mustgo bags, with what that invariably suggests.

There is nothing in Wike’s previous conduct that links him directly or remotely with the perversion of justice. Wike is a lawyer, and member of the Body of Benchers.

Rather than lambast him, he deserves all the accolades for getting Rivers judiciary to work again.

The governor went to the CJN’s office with a pure heart, and in the interest of Rivers judiciary. He had no mens rea. But those who have sought to impugn the integrity of the CJN owe him and his office an apology.

VIEWPOINT

By Amaechi Udemba

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The holes in critics’ claims

‘’ We are never deceived , we deceive ourselves” – Goethe ( 1749-1832 )

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ANY informed observers of Delta State politics must find the current rumpus over the DESOPADEC Amendment Bill, initiated by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, disturbing.

This assertion stems from the fact that plans to restructure DESOPADEC had been in the public domain before now. During his gubernatorial campaign, particularly to oil bearing communities, governor Okowa had assured them of a better deal under a restructured DESOPADEC primed for effective service delivery amidst applause.

On the day of inauguration,

VIEWPOINT

By Ken Odessa

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

Putting the records straight

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HE hysterical reaction in some quarters to the visit by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) is a wellknown perception management technique that seeks to, through deliberate misrepresentation and misinterpretation, cast aspersion on the integrity of a targeted individual. It is hardly surprising that the usual suspects in character assassination are in the forefront of those who have sought to discredit Wike and, in the process scoop political capital out of their reaction to a harmless undertaking by the governor.

Wike paid an unscheduled visit to the office of the CJN at the Supreme Court, Abuja, on July 6, 2015. The CJN was unavailable, as he was away on hajj. Wike returned on July 8, 2015, and the CJN was again unavailable, as he

VIEWPOINT

By Ifeanyi Mbakogu

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

The search for the leadership of the opposition party HE Peoples Democratic Par ty, PDP, is direly in need to establish its credentials as a formidable platform to articulate alternative views on the governance of the country. Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that the party had all along been faced with the challenge of reinventing itself. Had it been able to achieve some acceptable level of internal restructuring, under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur or even Alhaji Adamu Muazu after him, it is possible-just possible-that it could have retained power at the federal level. What is not clear is whether retaining the presidency could have been achieved without nominating a northern candidate, a factor that not only polarized the party by culminated in the departure of some of its prized members.

The 2015 election has come and

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his novel ideas for a restructured DESOPADEC occupies copious position in his speech. His words: ‘’ We will give strength to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) Law, by restructuring the Board and Management in line with the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC ) model through an Amendment Bill”.

It is, therefore, curious that critics of the Amendment Bill, in their desperate attempt to score cheap political points, have chosen to sidestepped the governor’s moral high horse approach to issues of public concern to vilified the state chief executive for what in their view amounts to ‘’ rocking the boat”. They know, as most Deltans do, that by amending the DESOPADEC Bill , it isn’t going to be ‘’ business as usual”.

But while this incongruous views persist, a more benevolent and nonpartisan school of thought emerged. Interestingly, it comprises people of the oil producing com-

was attending the screening of nominees for consideration as Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

It is reasonable to infer that the governor came a second time, apparently because the staff of the CJN might have informed him that, by the date of the second visit, the CJN would be at his desk. Why did Wike visit? He had gone there primarily to discuss with the CJN the imminent lapse of the acting appointment of the Chief Judge of Rivers State, an event that would occur at a time when the judiciary, and members of the National Judicial Council, headed by the CJN, would be on annual vacation. The governor was seeking to renew the acting appointment.

Over this, all hell broke loose in partisan quarters, because Wike is a respondent in a petition filed against his election in April. Although those who have expressed reservations over the visit may have other objectives, let us, however, assume that they were motivated by a desire to ensure that the CJN is not perceived as being susceptible to political manipulation

and inducement in the dispensation of justice. Regrettably, that is where they got it all wrong.

By insinuating that the CJN could be swayed to upend justice following a visit or two by a politically exposed individual is to insult the person and office of the CJN. To further imply that Wike, whose victory in the April governorship election is being challenged at an election petition tribunal, may have gone, to obstruct justice, or manipulate the outcome of the petition in his favour, those who have frowned at the visit for that purpose have cast aspersion on the integrity of the CJN, as well as on the members of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. For, they are implying that the CJN and the tribunal members are malleable and bribeable. This is sufficient cause to demand an unreserved front-page apology to the CJN, the tribunal members, and the Bench in general.

The election petition is not directly before the CJN; but some commentators are mischievously

PDP and the crisis of relevance gone. The PDP emerged from the election completely worsted. But for some token redemptive effort in Taraba State, the party which had flaunted a 150-year uninterrupted rule as its birthright failed so woefully in the north that visitors to Nigeria could pass it for a regional party. So what should it do in the face of this dismal outing? What is left is for it to now undertake a radical internal restructuring that would guarantee its relevance in the opposition role that has been thrust upon it.

But the pertinent question remains whether the leaders of the party possess the sincerity to learn from their mistakes and the courage to chart a new course no matter whose ox is gored.

In some sense, it is rather strange that, on a daily basis, the PDP is busy picking holes in President Muhammadu Buhari’s actions. Granted that the party’s opposition status confers a watchdog role on it, many would

consider it rather impolitic and an affront to the electorate, that the man they gave their mandate is literally being hounded on a daily basis. I think that it is rather too early to engage a President who is yet to settle down into office in debilitating sparring sessions.

To that extent, I will think that the PDP should rather concentrate on re-establishing an internal dynamic that boasts of the integrity and moral force to hold existing members, reintegrate estranged ones and enjoy the confidence of the electorate. Against the background of the protracted instability suffered by the party and the evident treachery clandestinely carried out by some of the its leaders, PDP needs to install a party executive that has the clout, integrity, unquestioned loyalty, widespread acceptability, commitment and exposure to command the respect of both its members and members of the ruling party. In this re-

gard, enthroning a formidable personality as national chairman, someone who commands widespread respect becomes a compelling success factor.

Without mincing words, how the party executive is reconstituted will determine whether or not it will command national recognition and relevance and by extension, its ability to function effectively as a formidable opposition platform. If the speculation that the party has scheduled a special congress for August, 2015 is correct, it will afford it one great opportunity to reestablish its credential as an institution anchored on strong nationalist principles.

The political mill is awash with speculations that Bala Mohammed, Kauran Bauchi and immediate past minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, is being seriously considered for the position. Should that happen the PDP would have taken a bold and honest step towards its re-

•Odessa lives in Port Harcourt

demption. But that depends on whether the cabal whose handling of party affairs had so alienated as to frustrate loyal members out of the party would be ready for the Bala Mohammed type of leadership.

Bold, fearless and forthright, the erstwhile minister spares no punches in matters of equity, loyalty and justice.

However, political observers will agree that the Kauran Bauchi may need to, first, reach much needed rapprochement with his kinsmen in the persons of two former governors of the state, Ahmed Muazu and Isa Yuguda, the former being the immediate past chairman of the PDP under whose watch, the party was routed by APC’s political machine.

In spite of them, Bala’s greatest asset lies in his unquestionable loyalty to the party while maintaining very positive relationship with the top brass of other political parties, a quality that could be of strategic significance as the PDP grapples with its crisis of relevance.

•Mbakogu, a public affairs analyst, is resident in Abuja.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 49 grounds on which this president wishes to probe his predecessor, President rexmarinus@hotmail.com Buhari said very poignantly of the decay: “A lot of institutions are compromised. We have people, educated and experienced people, but everybody seems to have

TOWARDS THE BUHARI PROBES

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fully endorse President Buhari’s commitment to initiate a probe into the past administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

He would of course require the legislature to commence this probe, because by law, the legislative arm of government, that is the National Assembly, specifically the senate, is the arm empowered, through its various committees, to investigate the activities of the government, following which the president may be compelled to establish or initiate, through the Attorney-General, prosecutorial remediation.

Presumably, there is established in the Nigerian senate (since the Nigerian constitution is modeled after the US constitution), a Senate Investigations Committee, equivalent to the powerful US senate permanent investigation committee, which has subpoena authority over all homeland and government affairs.

It will be the duty of this powerful committee, following a letter from the president, to probe the past president, and suspend his immunity in the event that he might be required as key witness in the investigations.

The incumbent president does not have the power or authority to tamper with the immunity, or any act of his predecessor covered by his

To probe Jonathan is a task that must be done. But who will probe the states, where many in the president’s party have looted their states?

And what sense does it make to probe Jonathan and his ministers alone, when the roots of the problem goes deep and further back, and continues still? immunity until such is overridden or vacated by the National Assembly and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The checks and balances as a principle established by the rule of law under c o n s t i t u t i o n a l governments forbids one arm, that is, the executive arm of government, from being judge, jury, and witness, in matters such as this. In effect while President Buhari’s move to investigate the past administration is welcome news to all supporters and advocates of transparent governance, it too must follow the rule of law. And speaking about the

VIEWPOINT

By Olufolahan Emmanuel

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

How best to tackle insurgency

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NE can guess that the Nigerian Army is numerically better than Boko Haram, but as we have witnessed since 2009, the battle is still on and the number of internally displaced people is increasing. As at June 2015, there were 1,385,298 internally displaced persons (IDP) from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states and they are being supported by the Federal Government, host families and benevolent donors.

Insurgency is proving to be a dragon spitting fire anywhere it turns. Moving the military command headquarters to the North East is a good step but not adequate. Focusing mainly on military strategies is myopic. Boko Haram is causing more havoc using suicide bombers than engaging in direct shoot-out with the Nigerian Army. Worse still, the suicide bombers are young girls! Who will suspect that a nine-year-old that walks past you on the street is a suicide bomber? Do these young girls really understand what the Boko Har-

been working for himself, on how much they could get away with as soon as possible.” And reaffirming the shocking details of massive looting and alleged endemic corruption of the last administration, Mr. Adams Oshiomole, former Labour Leader and current governor of Edo State with whom the president recently toured the US told journalists who accosted him at the Presidential villa in Abuja: “the PDP destroyed this country. I mean from the lips of American officials; senior officials in the State Department said one minister under PDP cornered as much as $6 billion. The man said even

by Washington standards this is earth shattering.”

Oshiomole was quoting Johnny Carson, who is no Johnny-just-come to Nigerian affairs. A number of issues rise out of these statements from both the president and the Edo state governor.

One issue certainly is, how did Nigeria’s money “ walk” from its shores? It would take a complex network of civil servants, banks, handlers, and mules, including the collusion of key officers of the Central Bank to “disappear” this money. It will also take the failure, collusion, or incompetence of Nigeria’s National

Intelligence Services as well indeed as the Criminals Investigation Department of the Nigerian Police to stash Nigeria’s looted funds in foreign banks without early detection and deterrence.

These institutions dropped the ball. Will the president also probe them?

If it takes US officials to know which of Nigeria’s public officials have money stashed away in foreign nest eggs, then it means that the entire national bureaucracy is compromised and everyone is in on the game.

It is a frightening picture indeed. It means that the entire fabric of Nigeria’s national security has been compromised, in ways that make it vulnerable to instability and destabilization; and makes possible the destruction of its capacities as a functioning state. But history is a bitch. The collapse of the Nigerian state did not happen today.

This decay did not begin with President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; nor was his regime the most corrupt, from all the indices available. Nigeria has been hemorrhaging since 1966. Every regime since the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970, the beginning of the oil boom, has a case to answer. The military era in Nigerian politics, of which President Muhammadu Buhari was a key participant, was an extremely corrupt and lawless era in Nigeria. The looting of Nigeria’s wealth by the Generals gave the term, “lootocracy” its most signifying metaphor.

President Buhari himself, if he wants to be taken seriously on this issue, must account for his own years as minister for oil and chairman of the Nigerian National Oil Company. In

1980, a Nigerian senate investigations concluded that $2.8 billion was missing under his watch from Nigeria’s oil accounts, which compelled President Shagari to empanel the Ayo Irikefe judicial inquiry. President Buhari must also account for his years as chairman, under General Abacha, of the Petroleum Trust Fund.

As a matter of fact, he defied the invitations of the late Justice Oputa to appear before it, and the heavens did not fall.

I draw upon all these to justify my argument that another toothless judicial panel of inquiry will not serve the current need to expose the depth of malfeasance in Nigeria’s public affairs. If this president is serious about probing Jonathan, he must seek serious legislative teeth that will give bite to judicial sanction, fairness, as well as transparency to the process. It must not be seen as a witch-hunt. At the moment that is how a vast section of Nigerians is likely to see any selective probing of the administration of Dr. Jonathan. To establish the credibility of the process, the president must back a probe of the last fifteen years of the PDP government in Nigeria, including the period under the watch of President Olusegun Obasanjo. For eight years, president Obasanjo was sole imperator of Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum and the NNPC. I endorse the assertion by Professor Nwabueze, the d i s t i n g u i s h e d constitutional lawyer that to probe Jonathan’s administration alone will scratch only on the surface of things. There must eventually be a probe of Nigeria’s past leadership,

at least from 1983-1999, including the era of military rule, which introduced the impunity that now characterizes public governance in Nigeria. Buhari’s excuse that going further beyond Jonathan would be a distraction, is in fact, groundless.

Finally, corruption is not just a feature of the central government: the states were also massively looted, and all parties were involved. Indeed, the highest level of corruption in Nigeria happens in the states which have very weak legislative oversights and enforcement. Right now, state governors owe arrears of salaries to public servants, going up sometimes to five months.

There is no society in which this happens without consequence, because nonremuneration of workers in government signifies the highest failure of government. It amounts to a security breach. Nigerian states are bankrupt, in spite of the massive allocations they have received in the last fifteen years as revenue from the federation account.

The APC governor in Imo state, a key ally of the current president, allegedly illegally appropriated the accounts of the local governments in the past four years and has not accounted for it. He is threatening to sack state workers who are striking because they have not been paid.

To probe Jonathan is a task that must be done. But who will probe the states, where many in the president’s party have looted their states? And what sense does it make to probe Jonathan and his ministers alone, when the roots of the problem goes deep and further back, and continues still?

Boko Haram – the solution am leaders tell them to do? Do they believe in it? Are their parents, who get paid, willing donors of their daughters?

Boko Haram existed during the Obasanjo era but was successfully dislodged from Kano and it moved to Borno State. The insurgents operate in six categories: the original Boko Haram, the abducted & conscripted, the financiers, the new members, the sympathizers and foreigners. Of the original group that in 2009 started by bombing and killing policemen, only a handful is most probably still alive. The

In this era of change, Nigeria needs peace in every state for meaningful jobs creation, business growth, development and speedy industrialization. We trust that this will be a reality and not a mirage

abducted victims from Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe States are most likely not locked up; eating free food and drinking free water; they are forcibly trained on the use of weapons and conscripted. Any resistant abducted victim is summarily executed. Some of these victims could be unwilling suicide bombers. Feeling helpless and not knowing how to de-activate the explosives they carry, they walk or drive to their target, killing themselves and others. The financiers have become enslaved and their families ensnared by what they permitted few years ago. They most likely want to stop but do not know how. New members are recruited by promising them heaven while some are just simply sympathetic to the cause of Boko Haram. The militant foreigners are mainly from Chad and are fewer than the Nigerians.

With a continuous, appropriate propaganda targeting the mind; peace can return to Nigeria permanently, within six months. Battles begin and end in the mind. With the success of the mind game technique, it will be easy for the last category, the foreigners, to be

stopped by the other five categories. The Federal Government should consider the case of the Intelligence & Finance Director of Al-Shabab, a terrorist group in Somali, akin to Boko Haram, Zakariya Ahmed Hersi. In December 2014,Hersi surrendered to the authorities. What could have made a terrorist of that caliber give himself up? Surely not the fear of death!

Was it the $3million offer on his head? Similar offers have been made on terrorist leaders without result.

Terrorism has never been stopped by military action, instead military action sustains it. President Buhari is focusing on military action and considering negotiation with Boko Haram. Negotiation could set a bad precedent as any group of disgruntled people can choose terrorism to drive home their grievance.

In recent past, appropriate weaponry was not provided for our soldiers, while the insurgents used superior weapons. Also, it appeared that non-Muslim and nonnorthern soldiers were mainly the soldiers fighting Boko Haram.

This Boko Haram challenge

should not be treated as civil war or we will only end up wasting so innocent lives.

The mind game technique depends greatly on the media and will have the least casualties and the resultant peace will be permanent. It can reach all the six categories of insurgents at the same time and have synchronized effect.

This is not an assignment for foreign consultants or the military.

There are two categories of beneficiaries of this insurgency; the manufacturers and dealers of RPCs, APCs, artillery bombs and weapons used. While these beneficiaries are smiling to the bank, we are crying to the burial ground to bury our dead, to the hospitals to care for the injured and to camps for IDPs to feed and care for our over 1.3 million brothers and sisters.

In this era of change, Nigeria needs peace in every state for meaningful jobs creation, business growth, development and speedy industrialization. We trust that this will be a reality and not a mirage.

•Emmanuel can be reached via info@ooemmanuel.com.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015 sam.eyoboka@gmail.com

08023145567 (sms only)

Expectations high as RCCG 'All sufficient God' convention begins

By Sam Eyoboka & Olayinka Latona

A

LL hotels and hostels in adjoining communities around the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Church of God on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway have been fully booked for the next one week as thousands of Christian worshippers have started arriving the ever expanding City for the church's 63rd annual convention which opens tomorrow with the ordination of deacons and deaconesses.

The programme is preceded by a 4-day Ministers' Conference which began on Thursday and ends today.

The one week spiritual fiesta scheduled to hold at two locations within the Redemption City has as its theme; “The All Sufficient God.” A statement by the church's head of Media and Publicity, Pastor Segun Adegbiji said the convention will hold at two Arenas---the new threekilometre by three-kilometre Arena on Simawa Road and the outgoing one and half kilometre by one kilometre Arena.

The statement which noted that the new arena, still under construction, is billed to host plenary sessions of a few evenings, advised those who have not already secured accommodation within the camp to make alternative arrangements in the neighboring communities of Simawa, Lotto, Loburo and Ofada.

Established in 1952 in a suburb of Lagos by late Rev. Josiah Akindayomi, the RCCG is expecting delegates from, at least, 188 nations of the world in addition to local and foreign gospel ministers who will join the

Time

Monday

*The main entrance to the Redemption Camp. Photo by Lamidi Bamidele General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye to minister during the programme.

As at the last count, the church once described as a 'homegrown Pentecostal denomination that is crusading to become a global faith' has 24 regions in Nigeria and another 24 in foreign nations comprising Mainland Europe with three regions with headquarters in Holland, Spain and Sweden. UK has four regions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland while the USA has five regions. Asia/Middle East has two among others.

Stressing the significance of the convention at a recent Holy Ghost service, the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye said the annual spiritual fiesta is designed for those who are serious and desire a great encounter with the all sufficient God and want to see Him in action.

Addressing participants at the July Holy Ghost Service on Friday, July 3, 2015, Pastor Adeboye said the theme of this year's convention alone "is enough to tell you that if you come to the convention, there’s

nothing you want from God that you won’t get.

"But then, like I’ve always told you, the church's convention is not for just anyone. It is for those who mean serious business with God. So if you know you are just coming to chat or while away time, please stay away. Only those who want to do serious business with God are welcome," he stressed.

According to the General Overseer, despite efforts by the church to provide adequate accommodation for participants during major programmes at the camp, "we still have accommodation

63 RD ANNUAL CONVENTION PROGRAMME Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Ordination of Asst.

Pastors

Bible College Graduation

Plenary Session 3

Plenary Session 6

Question Ordina & tion of Answers Pastors & Farewell Service

Plenary Session 4

Bible Study

1. Baptism Services 2. Elders Meeting 3. Good Women Forum

EARLY MORNING WORSHIP 8:30am-

Ordination of Deacons & Deaconesses

10:00am12 Noon

LUNCH & REST 2:30pm– 4:00pm

Children of God Meet

Special Seminars 1-13

Special Seminars 1-13

4:30pm– 6:30pm

Group Seminars 1-6

Melody Hour

Service of Songs

Welcome Service (Plenary Session 1)

Plenary Session 2

Deliverance Service (Plenary Session 5)

Special Seminars 1-13 Youth Hour

Children's Hour

Holy Ghost Service (Plenary Session 7& 8)

Holy Communion Service (Plenary Session 9)

DINNER 8:30pm

1.House Fellowship Leaders & Workers Meet 2.Council Meet

problem. So if you are not coming for serious business, stay home so that those who are serious will be able to have a wonderful time in the presence of God." He then urged his listeners to pass the message to their friends that "they are welcome provided they are coming for serious business with God, otherwise have a nice time at home, they will hear the testimonies.

"This year’s convention is going to be absolutely awesome. You can’t talk about the All Sufficient God and go away empty. It’s not possible. This year’s convention is absolutely going to be heaven on earth," he stated.

Briefing newsmen a few days after, the church's Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Adegbiji said Pastor Adeboye will be joined by other anointed guest speakers from home and abroad.

According to him, RCCG Mass Choir, RCCG Praise Team and guest music ministers will render refreshing and edifying gospel music during the convention, assuring that there will be adequate security to be provided by detachments from the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC and Redeemer ’s volunteers.

"There will also be aerial monitoring," he said, pointing out that the church had perfected plans to ease traffic on the LagosIbadan Expressway during the programme.

He faulted claims in certain quarters that the church is responsible for the incessant traffic gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, maintaining that such traffic is often caused by bad patches on the road.

Adegbiji further stressed that the church’s activities have rather prevented traffic on the road instead of the claim that they are responsible.

According to him: “Our activities do not take place by the road. In fact, the new arena where the forthcoming convention will be held is on Simawa Road and the outgoing arena is far into the village. It has a capacity of 12 million people and as much as possible, we want to avoid using the expressway for our transportation."

He maintained that the church, over the years, had created sufficient parking lots within the camp for the use of the evergrowing number of participants.

Pastor Adegbiji also noted that because of the church's independent power and water system which supplies uninterrupted water and power in the camp, residents of Mowe/Ibafo had written to the church to provide electricity for the community.

“They think we are government.

If we can afford it, we will do it.

We build and repair roads all around,” he said, noting that RCCG Turbine has recently been upgraded for the purpose of participants at the church activities," he said,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 51

M

ANY Christians don’t even know what Jesus saves us from. Some believe he saves us from God. But that would make God evil for no man is saved from good but from evil. However, Jesus affirms that: “Only God is good.” (Matthew 19:17).

Moreover, God is Almighty; therefore no man can be saved from him. God declares: “I am he; and no one delivers out of my hand.”

(Isaiah 43:13).

Indeed, it is God who is first and foremost our Saviour.

He says: “I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.” (Isaiah 43:3).

It is God who sends Jesus to be “the Saviour of the world.”

(I John 4:14). Therefore, Jesus does not save us from God. On the contrary, he brings us to God and reconciles us to him. (II Corinthians 5:18).

Who and what then does Jesus save us from?

Salvation from the world God saved the Israelites by delivering them physically out of Egypt. He saves today by delivering us spiritually out of this present evil world.

(Galatians 1:4). When we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour, God gives us the Holy Spirit and then translates us into the kingdom of God. (Colossians 1:13); a spiritual kingdom not of this world. (John 18:36).

The world hated Jesus and crucified him. This evil act crucifies believers to the world. (Galatians 6:14). It ensures we neither love the world, nor the things in it.

Thus, John warns: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the

proving even death cannot impede the goodness of God. Jesus saves us from ourselves by giving us the Holy Spirit, who provides us with “God-control.” “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (I Corinthians 3:17).

Salvation from sin

WHAT DOES JESUS SAVE US FROM? Father is not in him.” (I John 2:15).

Jesus overcame the world.

He says: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

(John 15:18). Pa ul also counsels: “Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think.” (Romans 12:2).

Salvation from the devil The devil holds men captive to sin through the love of life. We steal, cheat, fight, kill and commit adultery in order to save our lives. “For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that he might undo the works of the devil.”

(I John 3:8).

The demonic principle says: “All that a man has he will give for his life.” (Job 2:4).

But God insists those who claim to be his friends must lay down their lives for him.

Jesus says: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.”

(John 15:13). We overcome Satan when we are willing to give up our lives for God’s sake. (Revelation 12:11).

“Jesus died to bring to nothing the devil, who had power over death.” (Hebrews 2:14). Once he laid down his

Jesus is more than able to save from any and every human affliction life, the devil’s stranglehold on the lives of men was broken. Jesus then empowers us to follow his example by sending us the Holy Spirit.

Thanks to Jesus: “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.” (Psalm 124:7).

Salvation from death The gospel reveals that man is already dead. We are “dead in our trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus saves from this living death by raising the dead back to life. He declares: “I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).

Jesus even allowed himself to be killed. However, he rose triumphantly from the dead.

So doing, he exposed the lie of counterfeit death. Through Jesus, we discover that what we fear as death is actually

no more than sleep. The real death comes from separation from God. Jesus “died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying.” (Hebrews 2:15).

Salvation from life Jesus says: “I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).

This shows although men were alive before Jesus came, the life we lived was fake. Jesus comes to give us the real life; the life of God. To receive this, we have to be born again. (John 3:3).

Life on earth is a death sentence. It is a life of sickness and death. Worse still, we do not even know what it means to be well. But God is the Lord who heals us. (Exodus 15:26).

To save us, Jesus asks: “Do you want to be healed?” If we answer “yes,” he then heals us from the sickness of this life.

In exchange, he himself becomes our life. (Colossians 3:4).

In effect, Jesus not only saves from death, he also saves from

life. That is the reason why God kills and makes alive. (I Samuel 2:6). He kills our temporal lives and gives us eternal life instead.

Accordingly, those determined to save their life; who refuse to relinquish their life, cannot inherit the life of God. Jesus warns: “If you love your life, you will lose it. If you give it up in this world, you will be given eternal life.” (John 12:25).

Salvation from ourselves Jesus says: “A man's worst enemies will be right in his own home!" (Matthew 10:36).

Indeed, we are our worst enemies. We are snared by our evil thoughts; our adulterous eyes; our lying lips. We sin against our own souls.

(Proverbs 20:2). Jesus gives us a tall order: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off!”

(Matthew 9:43).

Kings control others but have no self-control. But Jesus was in full control of himself.

Power without self-control is no power at all. A good man must be able to humble himself and submit to God. The devil was unable to impede the goodness of Jesus.

He made a big mistake in deciding to kill him. When he did, Jesus rose from the dead;

Church of Holy Cross Anglican Communion, Wuye, Abuja,

A

BUJA-Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh has admonished Christians to boast not of their achievements on earth, but acknowledge God in all their ways, as pride goes before destruction.

Okoh, who was speaking during a church service to celebrate Venerable Folusho Taiwo at 60 and 30th wedding anniversary at the

Re-Monsignor Osigweh at 76 Catholic clergy, Monsignor Sylvester E. Osigweh of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Ifo, Ogun State, celebrated his 76th birthday anniversary on th the 19 of July, 2015. A story published in Sunday Vanguard on that day on the birthday put his age at 81. We regret the error.

•Monsignor Sylvester E. Osigweh

•Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh

said man achieves nothing without God. According to him, it is not by power nor wisdom but by the spirit of God that gives life, as wisdom of man is foolishness before God. In an interview with newsmen, the celebrant, Ven. Taiwo, who is also the vicar of the Church of Holy Cross Anglican Communion, urged youths to imbibe the spirit of hardwork, saying God is taking Nigeria to her desired

place among the comity of nations.

He said with the grace of God on Nigeria to make her the dream of our founding fathers, her youth must draw closer to God and acknowledge Him, while cherishing the virtue of hardwork to succeed in life.

"I want to tell the youths who are on the fast lane to take it easy. There is fruit in hardwork, they should surrender everything in to the hand of God. They should not take short cuts," he urged.

Cleric predicts an end to Boko Haram

By Sam Eyoboka

G

ENERAL Overseer of House of Redemption In ternational, Archbishop Kalu O. Kalu has called on Nigerians to pray without ceasing for the nation and its leaders, assuring that an end will soon come to all forms of anti-social upheavals in different parts of the country.

Specifally, Archbishop Kalu also predicted an end to Boko Haram menace in the North Eastern part of the country, arguing that it was politically motivated and since that purpose has been achieved there will naturally be a truce.

Speaking in an interview at the end of his church's 4-day convention in Surulere, Lagos the cleric who established the HORI in 2009 after several years with St.

Joseph's Chosen Church of God, said Nigeria is passing through a phase, at the end of which the citizens will rejoice.

Theme of the convention was: 'My day, my time, my season of turnaround.'

According to him, the current insurgency in parts of the North was organised for a political purpose, but now that that purpose has been achieved the backers of the dream will back off soon.

"If the insurgency ended immediately after the elections everybody in the country would have been left with no alternative than to believe the rumours that have been flying around," adding "but for its end, it will end very soon."

The Abia State-born cleric believes that Nigeria, as a nation, had been established by divine

Salvation to the uttermost Jesus’ salvation is not limited to these more salient aspects of his redemptive work. His Hebrew name is Yehoshua, which means “God saves.” God is not limited in salvation. Jesus is more than able to save from any and every human affliction. “He is able also to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.” (Hebrews 7:25).

Osu greets new NUJ president

Okoh warns Nigerian Christians against pride

By CALEB AYANSINA

God is “the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.” (I Peter 2:25). Therefore, the most important thing Jesus saves us from is our sins. God told Joseph concerning Mary: “She shall bear a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus saves us from our sins by his word, through which he calls sinners to repentance.

(Matthew 9:13). The psalmist says: “(God) sent his word and healed them.” (Psalm 107:20). Jesus’ word frees us from the bondage of sin.

Through it, we know the truth that makes us free. (John 8:3132). Jesus is the word of God that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

(John 6:32-33).

arrangement, noting that every attempt by individuals or groups to tear or balkanise the nation will come nought.

"This nation's unity is by divine arrangement. Every nation goes through a phase and Nigeria is not an exception. Britain, America and all the developed nations of the world had gone their different phases and today, America is the most powerful nation of the world. Life is in phases and Nigeria is going through its own," he explained.

He therefore enjoined every Nigerian to hold on to God. He argued that a nation that holds on to God will naturally be lifted up, lamenting that despite the upsurge of worship places in the country, there is no righteousness in our governance.

T

HE Director of Social Communications, Archdiocese of Lagos, Msgr.

Gabriel Osu has congratulated Mr. Waheed Odusile on his recent election as the new president of the Nigerian Union of Journalist, NUJ. In a congratulatory message made available to newsmen in Lagos, Msgr. Osu also applauded members of the Nigerian media on the peaceful and orderly manner they conducted themselves during the election of their national officers, saying that such was exemplary and worthy of emulation by members of the political class.

He urged the new NUJ leadership to work assiduously in ensuring that the plights of the Nigerian journalists such as incessant harassment and intimidation, coupled with poor remuneration are promptly addressed in view of the important role they play in national orientation and development.

Anointing Service

P

RESIDENT, God-Will-Do-It Ministries, Lagos, Dr. Gomba Fortune Oyor will on Wednesday host a special interdenominational service of prophetic impartations, declarations and revelations at Eko FM Radio Lagos/LTV Complex, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos tagged “Deliverance & Special Anointing Service with Dr. G.F. Oyor” by 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

PAGE 52—SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

NGA boss, Muku, laments absence of gallery space in Lagos

By JAPHET ALAKAM VISUAL

T

he National Gallery of Art NGA, one of the parastatals of the Culture Ministry is noted for a lot of programmes geared towards the promotion of art and artists in Nigeria. But, for long, art and culture stakeholders, especially art writers have been worried over the absence of such vibrant activities. As partners in the promotion of the Arts generally and Visual Arts in particular, NGA Director General, Muku Abdulahi, recently had an interaction with art writers where he explained some issues, pointing out few areas that NGA is focusing on at present.

Muku stated that the Abuja Biennial which is scheduled to hold in 2017 is a programme NGA is committed to both for its economic benefits to the country generally and the artists in particular. The programme which will last for 14 days, will bring together renowned artists from Nigeria, Africa, the Diaspora and the world in Abuja to showcase the best of the their works with art collectors, art dealers and art lovers buying these works.

According to him, “having participated in the Dakar Biennale almost from inception, we discovered that they have been able to make good money from organising the event compared to what they spend. We are hoping to do the same by getting the private sector fully involved and other key stakeholders.”

The Abuja Biennial which is named after its host city is an art market that will bring together artists, art and culture administrators, art collectors/connoisseurs, political leaders and administrators, tourists and tourism practitioners.

On the Art Embellishment and artist royalty act which is a dream NGA are hoping to realize with this 8th Assembly. The Act if enacted will make it mandatory for every public building as well as bridges in Nigeria to have some kind of embellishment especially art works with a percentage of the construction cost set aside for this purpose.

When this happens, you will agree with me that our artists would never lack.Apart from the fact that the pool of money set aside is going to be available to the artists to access through the sale of their works, it would make them sit up and bring out the best in them.

With the Artist Royalty entrenched in the Act, if an artist sells his work to somebody and that person

resells it, a percentage of it will go to the artist or his/her family. This is a residual income that will benefit artists just like royalty that performing artists enjoy for the playing of their musical works in any medium!

Other innovative programmes and activities towards promoting and propagating the Visual Arts sub-sector by NGA includes: Nupe Art Conference/ Exhibition which took place in the ancient city of Bida, Niger State which interrogated the place of Nupe Art in Nigeria.

It featured works of traditional artists from the old Nupe kingdom who displayed different works ranging from paintings, sculptures and textiles. At the exhibition,Dr.

The Art of Friendship exhibition is a platfor m for Nigerian artits to cross-fertilize ideas with their counterparts from other nations through their embassies in Nigeria

•DG National Gallery of Art, Abdullahi Muku

Ndagi Abdullahi, Secretary, Nupe Culture & Resource Centre, Bida in his lecture titled,”Nupe Arts: A Renaissance”,asserted that the ancient Nupe people were not just the masters of Arts, but were by and large the originators of the Arts of ancient Nigeria.

The Art of Friendship exhibition initiated in 2012 as a platform for Nigerian artists to cross-fertilize ideas with their counterparts from other nations through their

embassies in Nigeria took place last year. It featured 40 works of art , comprising paintings, mix-media, drawing, sculpture and printmaking from Nigeria and four other countries: Republic of Czech, France, Italy and South Korea.

Another programme is NGA Children Funfair which took place last year at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja. Tagged, “Rainbow Art Children Art Expression,”with the theme,

“Unlocking Creativity-Christmas through the eyes of the child” it is geared towards stimulating values, identifying talents, motivating parents to love art and encouraging young ones to choose art as a career.The Fair featured six segments: Art Competition, Folktale, Face Painting, Hat/Bead Making, Head Tying and Cartoon Characters. Each category has specific tasks for the children to bring out their innate talents.

Other programmes include, the Art Fair, inaugurated by NGA in 2013 as a deliberate move to encourage professional artists in its employ to produce works for public exhibitions thereby sharpening their skills and developing bodies of works just like their peers in studio practice.

While, the Visual arts competition, in its 5th edition took place at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre featuring works in the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary and Professional categories. The exhibited works showed great promise from the budding artists.

The winners were rewarded with cash prizes as incentive to do more and a motivation for others to strive for excellence.

Despite all these laudable programmes, the DG is not happy that since the gallery place at the National theatre was destroyed, all efforts to get another beffitting place from the federal government has yielded no results. This to him is seriously affecting the business of the parastatal and therefore calls

on the new administration to do something about that.

Blueprint for Application of Digital mapping in print

By EMMA NNADOZIE REVIEW

D

ue to the growing level of sophistication in crime, the application of spatially referenced proactive and reactive measurement tools becomes indispensable towards nipping it in the bud. With the involvement of Microprocessor Based Computer Technology in earth and geographic information, it becomes imperative that the police and other security agencies shift focus from analogue methods of crime fighting to digital methods given that the world today has gone digital. By digital I mean computerized.

Digital mapping involves the acquisition of analogue maps (especially topographical sheets and existing multi-purpose cadastre maps) and integrated analyses of the acquired features of interest from the maps with the associated crime related data to generate needed geospatial information for policy makers to make decision.

It is on account of the foregoing that the book titled “Digital Mapping for security” is written.

Intended beneficiaries such as security personnel, students, teachers, researchers and private individuals, are to be acquainted with the techniques of Terrain modeling, Spatial analysis, Trend analysis and network analysis with a view to managing

emergencies when they occur.

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING: Security personnel on operation need to study the terrain not just in twodimensions but three, so that the length (X), Breadth (Y) and height (Z) of the physical terrain can be appraised with a view to determining inter-visibility, areas that are difficult to access, terrain heights, free passage ways, ambush and counter-ambush operations and so on.

SPATIAL ANALYSIS: Cordon and search operations are easier when points, lines and areas are determined using Global Positioning Systems and results plotted in worksheet and imported into map view. Also, when a kidnapper puts a call through asking for ransom, the knowledge of the point source of the call goes a long way in unmasking the culprits. Again, when a server for

Also when a kidnapper puts a call through asking for ransom, the knowledge of the point source of the call goes a long way in unmasking the culprits

vehicle tracking is installed in a Police Command for instance, it becomes easy determining the location of patrol vehicles especially during an emergency.

Vehicles on pin-down will always be found at designated posts.

TREND ANALYSIS: Changes are bound to occur with time, hence when past crime incidents (data) are related with the present and analyzed, future expectations could be predicted; areas that require extra attention would be mapped out and adequate arrangement would be put in place to fore-stall possible untoward incidents. This will serve as a proactive measure.

NETWORK ANALYSIS: Knowing the routes to, and from a scene of crime in spatial context helps in determining possible escape routes for criminals and alerting men on patrol, pin-down, stop and search and sister agencies would synergize to track down the culprits and bring them to book so as to serve as a deterent to others in like minds. With this operation (Network Analysis) vehicle tracking in real-time becomes possible as a georefernced and digitized map sheet stands out as primary data used all over the world for journey-to-crime estimation, spatial and temporal analysis of crime, spatial autocorrelation of crime among other geospatial

operations.

Aside the aforementioned, the military may be charged with the responsibility of building sandbags to arrest a looming flood in an area, but will first require the assistance of other agencies to succeed.

With inputs from NIMET (Nigeria Meteorological Agency), The Police, Geological Agency, Civil Defence, the task will be executed successfully within crash time.

Again, the Nigeria Customs may be mandated to block and monitor all illegal entry points into the country so as to enforce movement of goods in and out through approved routes only.

Here digital mapping becomes indispensable.

Digital Mapping for Security; Franklin Nzam; Corpus Prints & Partners, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; 2014;PP. 292.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 53

In My Grandfather’s Ghost Ghost,, selfish desire pre prevvails

By CHRIS ONUOHA DRAMA

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tepping into octogenarian fold with grace is a journey worth celebrating. For Uncle Fred Agbeyegbe whose 80th birthday berthed some kind of theatrical carnival brings to fore a rethink - the style in which deceased are celebrated opulently, instead of luxuriant cascades for living legends. However, both deserves eulogies to inspire success quest in living beings.

For the foremost playwright with many works to his credit, it is an encomium well desevered as he was celebrated amidst other activities. Two of his plays ‘Conflict Resolution and My Grandfather ’s Ghost’, featured during the carnival at the Cinema Hall 1,National Art Theatre, Lagos on July 22, 2015.

The eve of the day heralds the world premiere of the play, “My Grandfather ’s ghost”.

A theatrical rendition of man’s

predestined life that evolves the terrestrial and ephemeral setting – that our fate has been ordained before we are born and having believe that even otherwise, we can change rules, culminates into the unstoppable going after the immovable.

It’s a highly electrified culture display of the Niger Delta descent, ‘Itsekiri’ precisely. The play was produced by the Ajo Theatre Group, Uncle Fred’s theatre outfit and was directed by Muyiwa Osinaike. The 34 man cast featured Paul

The essence of such presentation is man’s ingratiating quest for power in the eyes of the unsuspecting populace, even when the truth is glaring

•A scene from a superlative performance of the play Adams as Great One/King, Nissi George as Holy Ghost/ Megbuya, Gabriel Isong as Jesus/Ibrirkimo, Pius Amulo as Mauhammed/Igbasala, Michael Okorie as King Eyisan, Burvey Obi Abiejue as Ologban, Victor Coker as Lucifer/Gbuwa and Ossy Uzondu as Madwoman among others.

In the play, the plot showed that it is difficult to change what fate has predestinated.

Seeing that the death of a king demands a need for a successor, the consultations and intrigues associated with such selection results in many tussles, both dialogue and battles which may or may not profer

solution. Perhaps, the mentally challenged in the society (Mad people) that we often looked with disdain, even when their spirited opinion is mysteriously true, tends to portend how myopic man’s mind can be.

Following the scene, a prince returned from sojourn in the Whiteman’s land, joined his half brothers in the duel to possess the throne. Repeatedly, the madwoman announced the intricacies of such bloodbath that it would not produce the right king. Undaunted, the prince meticulously tricked the first contending duo who fought with blunt

Uncommon Legacy Magazine honours outstanding Nigerians phases with clear cut means of realising these objectives.”

By PRISCA SAM DURU AWARD

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he need to achieve a reshaped Africa with peaceful co-existence, national unity, pan- Africanism and socio-economic development through life of legacy, charity, good governance and quality leadership, poverty reduction and uncommon empowerment, cannot be overemphasised.

The above becomes imperative especially considering that the wealth of most African nations only circulate amongst a few while the masses languish in abject poverty in the midst of plenty.

In all this, it is encouraging to know that there are yet few individuals who still regard virtue and living a life of legacy as important, as they strive daily to ensure peoples’ lives are positively affected in diverse ways.

It was on that note that the Uncommon Legacy Magazine organiser of the African Uncommon Legacy Award, honoured some individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their communities and society at large.

The award ceremony, held last Sunday at the Golden Tulip Hotels, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, attracted the awardees and their families, polit icians,

entrepreneurs and other eminent Nigerians.

Some of the awardees include, Engineer Iniobong Umonah, Mr Obi Peter, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, Nze Maxwell Ibe Okpara, Ikem Chudem, Mrs Florence Okorji, Hon. Promise Nwankwo, Mr

•Dr Echekoba (4th from Right) and some of the awardees at the event Solomon Uwakwe (Pa Solo), through a lot of horrible and unpleasant phases to which we etc.

Former Chairman of must guard against a recurrence; unitarism, Amuwo Odofin Local Gov- colonialism, ernment Council, Comrade militarism, pluralism, civil wars Ayodele Adewale who was and intense corruption. It is a known fact that for many years the the Chairman of the occasion economic and social-political and also an awardee, rights of citizens in Nigeria and commended the initiator of indeed Africa have long time the Award, Dr Joseph suffered badly in the hands of Echekoba for the initiative corrupt leaders whose primary prewhich he said will go along occupation is how much they would way to spur individuals to selfishly grab our common wealth engage themselves in activi- for themselves and their immediate ties capable of repositioning families at the expense of the mass the country. of poor and helpless citizens.”

He added that the Award will no Comrade Adewale who was represented by his Special doubt, encourage people to live a Senior Assistant, SSA on life of legacy so as to be listed Legal Matters and Public Af- among other reformers such as fairs, Mr Elijah Adetunji, la- Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole mented that “Nigeria has gone Soyinka, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi

It is encouraging to know that there are yet few individuals who still regard virtue and living a life of legacy as important

Awolowo, Mahatma Gandhi of India, Mother Theresa, Dr Martin Luther King Jr of America etc.

While assuring Nigerians that APC will bring about a positive change in the country, he emphasised that “As a nation, we must devise a strategic economic plan which will be holistic, far-sighted and critical to our country’s survival and in

The publisher of the Uncommon Legacy Magazine and the African Legacy Express Newspaper, Dr Joseph Echekoba disclosed that the Award was initiated to engender an uncommon African brotherhood and service in all spheres of human endeavours amongst Africans in the Diaspora and at home, to live a life of uncommon legacy, charity, given back to the society and to inculcate into the youths a life of uncommon legacy.

Apart from his newspaper and magazine publications as well as the award initiative, Dr Echekoba listed African Voice Internet Radio, African Legacy TV and Radio, Uncommon Advertisers and Lectures and Communique, as the platforms he is banking on to fulfill his God-given assignment for the benefit of mankind. he award therefore, was designed to honour sons and daughters of Africa who have provided exceptional leadership in any field of societal endeavour.

He announced that the Abuja edition of the Award which is being supported by the Emir of Abuja, will be coming up in September while Ghana, Kenya and South Africa have been billed to enjoy same honour.

Also, a gala night during which guests and all awardees will interact, comes up before the end of the year.Dr Echekoba insisted that it takes only a paradigm shift of the mind and leadership for Nigeria and indeed Africa, to be ranked amongst developed nations of the world..

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edged dagger, while he eventually hacked his opponent down with sharp edged knife and finally clinch the throne – the resultant prize which is childlessness. Then, the grandfather’s ghost appeared in his dream and spilled the beans, that he will not produce an heir to the assumed usurped throne.

The essence of such presentation is man’s ingratiating quest for power in the eyes of the unsuspecting populace, even when the truth is glaring. In the society today, many progressive agendas have been buried because the autocrats usurped and regress wheel of progress.

Many dignitaries including renowned thespians were present and really commented not only on the play but Fred Agbeyegbe’s ingenuity both in law practice and theatre.

Among them, was the famous Television personality Albert Egbe, lead actor in the rested “Basi and Company” drama series in the NTA National programme. “For me, I would say there’s no lawyer who has written books as much as he’s done and also practiced law much like he’s done. He is a man that believes in justice and fair play and he believe people should not be downtrodden but should get their right even in his plays.”

Albert whose wife, also an actress in her own right, that played the role of Bola’s mother in ‘Jacob’s Cross’ said we have great regards for Uncle Fred as he is fondly called.

“Actually we have been in theatre and television for a long time and we are moving on to film production, along the line of Uncle Fred’s works.

We want to wish him what the Irish wish their elders – I want to wish him to live as long as he wants and may he never want as long as he lives”.

Another great Thespian Odia ofeimun said “A man at 80, a businessman, a lawyer who wish to authenticate himself as a dramatist on his 80th birthday is giving all of us in the theatre a challenge.

By that, I mean not to abandon the tradition which in my view has a lot of meaning for the way society ever get better. It is wonderful that, that’s how he has chosen to celebrate. The whole world may abandon the art; artistes should not abandon their own.

PAGE 54, SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

Osaze thanks Crouch for heading lessons P

•Osaze warming up for Stoke

ETER Odemwingie is toasting his first goal back by thanking Peter Crouch for the lessons in heading.

The forward found the net yesterday for the first time since returning from eight months out on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

That strike and his energy after coming off the bench with half an hour to play was the major highlight of the game as Stoke slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of hosts Cologne in the pre-season Colonia Cup. He said: “That’s what I’m asked to do. The gaffer knows I make that run. I need to be in the right place because we have players who can clip the ball in so definitely I’m going to do that.

“And I told Peter Crouch that after two years playing with him if I can’t head that in then I’m learning nothing!”

Odemwingie returned to ac-

tion in April following a massive recovery process after limping out of a 1-0 win at Manchester City last August.

He was able to celebrate in front of the near 2,000 travelling Stoke fans packed into the corner high up in the RheinEnergieStadion.

He said: “It was great to score … and in front of the fans as well that made it special. The numbers that I’ve seen in Cologne

Akpom to join Hull City

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RSENAL striker Chuba Akpom could follow his teammate Isaac Hayden to Hull City.

Hayden, 20, joined the Tigers on a season-long loan move on Friday.

Now, highly-rated Akpom, 19, may also be about to make the journey to the KC, with the BBC reporting a similar loan

Moses gets Chelsea No.20, Mikel retains No.12

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IGERIA internationals, John Mikel Obi and Vcitor Moses, have been handed Chelsea squad numbers ahead of the 2015/2016 season.

According to the club’s official website, the numbers were released on Saturday with Mikel maintaining his jersey No.12 while Moses gets No.20.

Also handed jersey numbers are Nigerian youngsters, Dominic Solanke with number 35 and Ola Aina with number 34.

A total of 27 players got squad numbers, an indication that they will form the core of the senior squad.

Meanwhile, among the major changes made by Chelsea concerning jersey numbers, Juan Cuadrado switches from number 23 to number 11 previously worn

by Didier Drogba.

Also, new signing, Asmir Begovic, has been handed number one and Radamel Falcao the number nine.

today makes me so happy. We’ve had a lot of support.

“To be honest it doesn’t matter if it was a friendly or not, it was important to get that first goal.

One shot has to hit the net.

“I’ve set a big target for myself this year and even in training it’s important to score. I’m really happy that thisoneisoffmyshouldersandhopefully the next one is in the league.”

•Victor Moses back in action for Chelsea

deal has been agreed between the clubs.

It follows discussions between Steve Bruce and Arsene Wenger this week, when several youngsters were mooted for temporary deals.

Akpom scored a hat-trick for Arsenal in a 4-0 win over a Singapore XI in the Barclays Asia Trophy last month, a performance that led Wenger to declare he would encourage the teenager to fight for a first-team place rather than go out on loan.

The Gunners boss said after that match: “It’s down to performance and attitude and he has enough of that way to be a big talent. And, after that, he has to be an efficient player week in, week out, that’s the target.

“It’s down to him. This will give him encouragement to do well and work even harder. He’s a young player and it can lift confidence.

“But let’s not forget it’s a friendly. He’s a good talent but he has to work and show that in every game.”

Special Olympics:

Aluko inspires Chelsea to first FA Nigeria wins Soccer Gold Cup win T the 10th minute by the tournament’s heart-trick and highest goals scorer, Chukwudi Ezeama. Russia’s Kozyrev pulled in an equalizer for his team in the 13th minute. Second half of the game got a lot more intense and physical, as both teams played with increased tact and defensively, in a move to ensure no further goals were conceded.

After an unproductive extra time play by both teams, a penalty shootout became the only available recourse to determine the winner. Team Nigeria scored 4; Russia 3. And so, it was Nigeria 4; Russia 3 in a pitch capacity of 500 spectators. By this feat, Nigeria will be receiving the Gold Medal at the Medal awards c e r e m o n y scheduled to hold in the main bowl of UCLA later •Team Nigeria rushing for goal today.

EAM Nigeria Unified Soccer sponsored by CocaCola Nigeria a few hours ago emerged Winner of the LA2015 7-Aside Unified Soccer by defeating Russia in a very intense, highly physical and technical game. The match which resulted to extra time, saw Team Nigeria’s Abubakar Adebayo spin in the first goal in the 3rd minute of the 1st half. Russian Romanov equalized in the 8th minute through a free kick awarded against Nigeria.

Second goal for Nigeria came in

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HELSEA Ladies won the Women’s FA Cup for the first time in their history by beating Notts County Ladies 10 in the final in front of a record crowd at Wembley.

The decisive moment on Saturday came 10 minutes before half-time, when player-of-thematch Eniola Aluko caused panic in the Notts County defence, driving into the box before finding the the run of Ji SoYun. South Korea midfielder, and current PFA Women’s Player of the Year, Ji duly made history by instinctively poking the ball into the net, to score the winning goal in the first ever Women’s FA Cup final to be played at the national stadium.

“The overwhelming emotion right now is just relief,” Aluko told BBC Sport. “It has been a long time coming.

“After coming so close last season (to the WSL 1 title) everyone has talked about it, will Chelsea do it? How will we play under pressure? But we cer-

tainly played under pressure.

“We were disciplined and got the win. This is history in the making I couldn’t be more proud of this group of players.”

•Eniola Aluko working for Chelsea

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015, PAGE 55

Bulgarian coach Dobrev on verge of return to NPFL

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ORMER Technical Adviser of Nnewi-based FC Ifeanyi Ubah, Mitko Kostandinov Dobrev, is on the verge of landing another plum job in Nigeria’s Premier League, as clubs engage in final preparations ahead of the second stanza of the NPFL season.

The Bulgarian-born tactician was fired after the Nnewi-based side lost a Glo Premier League game at home to Wikki Tourist FC, but could be making a quick return to action soon.

This was confirmed by his agent, Mr. Geoffrey Aghogi, who said his client, will storm Nigeria any moment from now.

Aghogi, who has managed Dobrev since the Bulgarian first burst into the Nigerian soccer scene in 2006, threw more light on how the former Heartland tactician was dismissed by FC Ifeanyi Ubah without being paid his full entitlements.

According to him, Dobrev’s contract with FC Ifeanyi Ubah stipulated that in the case of his contract being terminated before

its expiration, he will be paid the sum of five thousand US dollars ($5,000), being a month’s salary, plus ten thousand US dollars ($10,000) as sign-on-fees.

“The manner the management handled the whole situation was very wrong. They asked coach Mitko Dobrev to sign on behalf of his agent, who had been in Nnewi two weeks, before the coach was sacked when they knew Dobrev cannot read English,” he explained.

Aghogi refuses to see this as a mere mistake on the part of the team management, insisting that Dobrev was not fairly treated after his good job with the club formerly known as Gabros FC for six months.

•TAKE THIS...Chibuzor “T-Boy” Obi lands a direct punch at Prince Nurudeen during the Gotv Boxing Night

Nigerian Boxing hits it big at GOtv Boxing Night L

AST Sunday, the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, throbbed with excitement.

The occasion was the third edition of the GOtv Boxing Night, an event that yielded the biggest payout in Nigerian boxing history.

The night’s cash prize, the sum of N1million was won by Olaide

“Fijaborn” Fijabi, the light welterweight boxer and darling of the Lagos boxing fans. Fijabi defeated Kazeem “Iberu” Ariyo to win the best boxer trophy and the cash prize. After his name was announced, the 29-year old was a fountain of emotions. “I thank GOtv for this,” he said as his voice

Arsenal congratulate Kanu on his birthday

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NGLISH Premier League club Arsenal have wished their former striker Nwankwo Kanu happy birthday.

Born August 1, 1976, the ex Super Eagles skipper is celebrated his 39th birthday, Saturday, and the Gunners posted a tweet to congratulate their former striker.

•Dobrev

Siasia continued from back Page Harcourt ended 2-1 in Nigeria’s favour. Although the Congo coach admitted the Nigerian team deserved to win with a bigger margin, describing the outcome as an ‘’unfair scoreline’’ to the Dream Team. His Nigerian counterpart, Samson Siasia would not take that as a submission or concession to his side’s superiority by the cunning Frenchman as he has described today’s clash as ‘’a must win.’’

Siasia told journalists in Abuja after Wednesday’s training, “I love big games.” He warned his boys to go into today’s match with all the seriousness it deserves, saying, “you must do everything to ensure victory comes our way.

Only that way will you be writing your names in gold.’’ Most importantly, he told the players not to expect an easy match. They must fight with the last drop of sweat to achieve victory.

To underline his serious approach, Siasia invited five more players, including Sokari of Enyimba to fortify his squad for the all important clash.

The Dream Team have proven to be at home, wherever they play.

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Before the first leg fixture against Congo, the Samson Siasia tutored team played out a frustrating 1-1 draw against Zambia in Abuja and went to Lusaka to silence the home crowd with a 2-1 victory over their hosts, courtesy Taiwo Awoniyi brace.

Awoniyi who started the Port Harcourt duel from the bench may be thrown into the fray from the beginning of today’s encounter in Point Noire.

“We are in Congo to win. The game in Congo would be different because they would come out to play and that would help us express ourselves and maybe get the goals.

“I am still worried about our goal scoring, as you can see we create lots of chances and fail to put them away. We cannot afford to do that in Congo.”

Le Roy on the other hand has invited six foreign based professionals for the encounter which he believes is still retrievable. “The Nigerians played very well but we are not a bad side either. With the additional players in camp, our guests will meet a different team from the one they played in Port Harcourt,” Le Roy said.

“Morning all - we start the day by wishing a very happy birthday to former @Arsenal star @papilokanu! #KingKanu, “Arsenal said on twitter.

Nwankwo Kanu joined Arsenal in the winter of 1999 from Inter Milan and made 119 appearances for the Londoners in the Premier League, scoring 30 goals.

quaked. “I had given up on making something of my life, but thanks to GOtv, I now have a chance build on this. I don’t know what to do with money, but I will use it wisely.”

Fijabi may have been big, but the bigger success was the revival of boxing in Nigeria-the aim of the sponsors. GOtv Boxing Night, a six-fight professional event, was conceived to revive a sport that had been afflicted by poor organisation, shabby facilities and inadequate funding. This grotesque combination ensured that boxers waited for years between fights, were poorly paid and ill-motivated.

This situation persisted until last November, when the maiden edition of the GOtv Boxing Night held. With considerably better organisation, insurance, live television coverage and funding (including bigger remuneration to boxers), the process of revival

began. In March, the second edition held and got bigger. The third, which held on Sunday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, however, is the jewel in the crown.

With the N1million carrot dangled by the sponsors, insurance policy in place as well as live telecast by SuperSport, participating boxers had additional incentives to excel.

And excel they did. The event began with two exhibition bouts by kid boxers. These were then followed by the professional fights, the first of which was a Lightweight challenge bout between Prince Nurudeen Fatai and Chibuzor “T-Boy” Obi. Obi, a man of deceptively slight build, is a boxer with the heart for a fight. He did nearly enough and lost the bout by a split decision. He, however, won the admiration of many.

The next fight had Sunday “Golden Child” Ajuwa fighting Femi “Easywhite” Ajayi in an eight-round Cruiserweight challenge. Ajayi, who lost the fight by a split decision, immediately expressed desire for a rematch.

Wenger

•Kanu

Mmadu continued from back Page Mmadu, one of the players who helped the team to qualify for the Sydney 2000 Olympics Games stated that the Super Falcons have the edge despite playing away from home.

“I think we can make it, since they have played at home. No doubt the coach must have figured out what went wrong in the first leg and has sit

down with the players and show them their mistake and also show them the opponent’s weak side, so we can capitalize on it and also come up with a strategy that can give us the result that we want there in Bata,” said Mmadu She added that the players have to be motivated and so that they can channel teir energy to producing a good result.

continued from back Page Premier League.

The Chelsea boss raised the stakes again by claiming by now he would have solved the problems dogging Wenger in his winless run against the Portuguese were their roles reversed.

But former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes the latest jibes will be water off a duck’s back to Wenger, paling into insignificance alongside previous criticisms where Mourinho branded the French manager a ‘voyeur’ and a ‘specialist in failure’.

‘I think he’s just being mischievous there,’ Keown said.

‘He has had a go at Wenger on more than one occasion, so this is quite light compared to some of the comments he’s made about him.

SUNDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 2, 2015

Community Shield: Wenger bids to end Mourinho’s hoodoo Kick-off 3.00 pm

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HE Gunners have been in fine form during pre-season and were in relaxed mood during Saturday ’s session as they bid to lay down a marker against the Premier League champions six days before the new campaign begins.

Arsenal have every reason to head into the match against Jose Mourinho’s title-winners in high spirits after winning the Emirates Cup by thrashing Lyon 60 before beating Bundesliga club Wolfsburg last Sunday.

The north London club are looking to win their third piece of silverware at Wembley after also claiming the Barclays Asia Trophy following a 3-1 win against Premier League rivals Everton in Singapore earlier this summer.

Summer signing Petr Cech worked alongside fellow goalkeepers David Ospina, who ended last season as the club’s No 1, and third choice Emiliano Martinez as he prepared to face his former club for the first time since his £11m switch across London.

Wenger has not beaten Mourinho in 13 meetings between the two managers, with the pair

regularly exchanging war of words during their time as rivals in the Continues on page 55

Wenger

•Mourinho

Rio 2016: We’re in Congo to win — Siasia

m 30 p .

4 f -of Kick

By Jacob Ajom

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•Siasia

Mmadu tips Falcons to fly over Equatorial Guinea hurdle Kick-off 4.00 pm

By Ben Efe

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ORMER Super Falcons midfielder, Maureen Mmadu has backed the national team to over come their Equatorial Guinean counterparts when they clash in today’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifier in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

The Super Falcons boxed themselves into a tight corner in the first leg decided in Abuja, after they were forced to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea. The Falcons coached by Christopher Danjuma will need a win to confirm their movement to the next round of matches. And

RARING TO GO: Godwin Saviour (r) in contest for the ball with a Congolese opponent.

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Governor of Sokoto State (8) 5. Assistant (4) 7. Praise (5) 8. Upright (4) 9. Lantern (4) 11. Tradition (6) 13. Lagos masquerade (3) 15. Exclamation (2) 16. Pig’s nose (5) 18. Agent (3) 20. Glitters (6) 24. Forward (5) 25. Nigerian state (6) 27. Boring tool (3) 29. Ghanaian fabric (5) 31. Perform (2) 32. Oshiomhole’s state (3) 34. U.S. currency (6) 36. Vow (4) 38. Musical quality (4) 39. Inclination (5) 40. Eager (4) 41. Damages (8)

HE battle line is drawn as Nigeria seek to pick a ticket to the African U-23 championships which is a qualification tournament for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Between Nigeria and this ticket is the Congolese national U-23 side handled by Frenchman Claude Le Roy. The first leg played a fortnight ago In Port continues on page 55

DOWN 1. Sample (5) 2. Niger state town (4) 3. Observe (5) 4. Lecture (6) 5. Everyone (3) 6. Use (6) 10. Inquires (4) 12. Carpet (3) 14. Colour (6) 15. Resistance unit (3) 17. Coax (4) 19. Rollicked (6) 21. Hatchet (3) 22. Satisfied (4) 23. Nigerian state (3) 26. Cry of derision (3) 27 . African country (6) 28. Endure (4) 29. Child (3) 30. Spoke (6) 31. Adorn (5) 33. Baking chambers (5) 35. Asterisk (4) 37. Possessed (3)

See solution on page 4

•Oparanozie

continues on page 55

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