Lobby for confab delegates intensifies

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62071

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MONDAY, FEBRUARYY 3, 2014

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Shot I'm the leader, without me PDP is Newswatch dies finished in Oyo 56 Editor •NUJ, NGE, State —Alao Akala others react 6

Lobby for confab delegates intensifies •Presidency to write stakeholders this week •World Igbo Congress backs Leaders of Thought 54 •PIB: Lawmakers under pressure from IOCs

BY HUGO ODIOGOR, CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, PETER DURU, GABRIEL EWEPU & CALEB AYANSINA

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BUJA—FOLLOW ING last Thursday ’s release of modalities for the proposed National Conference, an intense lobby by politicians and other

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COLUMNISTS:

LES LEBA —P.40

OCHEREOME NNANNA •P.50

Mr & Mrs

BATTERED—A battered Mobile Policeman, Sgt. Samson Ofoyeju attached to Kayriott Hotel, Effurun, Delta State after Naval officers (inset) moved in to arrest former Delta lawmaker and hotel owner, Efe Afe on Friday evening. Photos: AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE. C M Y K

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 3

4—Vanguard , MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE: From left: Mr. Timi Alaibe, former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Miss Ebitimi Alaibe, daughter, Mrs. Ebi Elezianya, daughter, Mr. Okey Elezianya, son in-law, during the 5th year remembrance mass service for late Mrs. Alaere Augustina Timi-Alaibe, wife of Mr. Timi Alaibe, at Church of Assumption, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday.

Photos: Bunmi Azeez.

Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State (left) and Hon. Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs.

From left: Mr. Greg Uanseru, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, for mer Chief of Naval Staff and his wife, Vivivan.

Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Senator Udo Udoma, at the event.

Kalu not an issue in Abia, says Orji's former aide

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MUAHIA—A Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwart and former aide to Governor Theodore of Abia State, Mr. Ben Onyechere said, yesterday, in Umuahia that incessant claims by the former governor of the state, Dr. Orji Kalu, that his predecessor is not performing is the afterthought of a child who ate his cake and wants to have it back.

According to Mr. Onyechere, the truth is that nobody really cares how he feels because in politics what counts is the majority opinion and the extrication of Abia from his grip is total and therefore, irreversible.

He said: “He is still enthralled in the same old, and the governor is not losing sleep about him

because the day one strong man was born in a city another was also given birth to elsewhere and as such he should bear in mind that he has no monopoly of political rascality.

“Let it be on record that Governor Orji’s determination to recover all grounds of infrastructure deficit can not be swayed by the diversionary tactics of one man and his ragtag followers.

"The governor is not in any popularity or beauty contest with anybody neither is he claiming to be an international tycoon, but rather a lamb whose targets are unambiguous which is to give Abians back what belongs to them without minding whose ox is gored.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—5

POCKET CARTOON

MEETING—From left: SA to the President on Inter-party Affairs, Sen. Ndy Obi; Gov Peter Obi (Anambra); Gov Theodore Orji (Abia); Gov. Martin Elechi (Ebonyi); Gov. Sullivan Chime (Enugu); Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu and Chairman House Committee on Works, Chief Ozomgbachi at the Igbo political leaders meeting in Enugu, yesterday.

Lobby for confab delegates intensifies Continues from page 1 people, who want to be nominated as delegates has ensued.

To be part of the 492 wise men and women to be saddled with the task of reshaping Nigeria, some serving commissioners are currently pressuring their state governors for a slot. According to the modalities, each of the 36

state governors is expected to nominate three delegates. The presidency, which is expected to nominate about 70 delegates is also being pressured, Vanguard gathered. Already, some ministers considered to be in President Goodluck Jonathan’s good books are being bombarded with phone calls by people angling for a seat at the confab table.

The civil society or-

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

Never stop doing little things for others, you will be surprised that those little things occupy the big-

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

I suppose there are many reasons we choose to give. But people who enjoy sharing with others the most do not share simply because they have a need to get rid of something. Those who find the greatest joy from giving have learned to give from a deeper place; they give from their hearts – Steve Goodier ANTA Claus is becoming a universal symbol of giving. Millions of children write letters to Santa each year in hopes that they won’t be forgotten during his annual giving spree. In some cities around the world, they have programmes that allow people to sort through these hand-written pleas, hopes and wishes and become “Santas” to others in need. They choose a letter and respond however they can. Most anyone can play Santa.

“I like to go to their home on Christmas Eve,” one joyful Santa said. One year he bought presents for four children and a ham for their mother. Then he added this poignant observation: “The feeling you get is just incredible.”

Steve Goodier says: “ I admit it - I don’t always get that feeling when I give. But then I don’t always give out of untainted motivations. Sometimes I give from other places. Sometimes I give out of social obligation or out of guilt. Or I give with an expectation for receiving back. But I give best when I give from that deeper place; when I give simply, freely and generously, and sometimes for no particular reason. I give best when I give from my heart.”

And isn’t it true? Opportunities to give from the heart are not limited to a particular holiday season or cultural tradition. We can give it sincerely and joyously.

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ganisations, political parties, ethnic nationalities and other stakeholders are not left out. Many of them will hold crucial meetings on the issue this week.

Leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) will meet today to deliberate on whether or not to participate in the conference. APC is one of the five parties slated to nominate 10 delegates.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which is in support of the conference, said it would meet to nominate its two delegates, once it gets a letter from the Federal Government on the matter.

The apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said last week that it would convene a meeting soon to pick its nominees just as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) urged all stakeholders to send their First Eleven to deepen deliberations at the conference. President of the South-East, SouthSouth Professionals of Nigeria (SESSPN), Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju, who disclosed that the group will also meet this week, to take a position on the dialogue modalities, said “it will be sad if the governors nominate their houseboys as delegates because their states and geo-political zones will lose out. They must endeavour to nominate people who can represent their states well.”

Meanwhile, to get the proposed dialogue going, the Presidency will, this week, write stakeholders, who are expected to nominate their delegates on or before February 20.

A presidency source told Vanguard, yesterday, that the Presidency will look at the issue today and start writing the letters to drive the process.

The disclosure came as the World Igbo Congress (WIC), the apex organization representing Ndigbo all over the world backed the stance of the Professor Ben Nwabueze-led Igbo Leaders of Thought that the modalities released by the government did not meet the expectations of most Nigerians for convening a confab that will address the multifarious problems of the country.

Asked if APC would take part in the conference, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party’s interim publicity scribe, said: “The party will meet tomorrow (today) to take a decision on it” and declined further comments.

Select your delegates, prepare agenda, FG tells Nigerians

The Federal Government advised the various interest groups in the country to prepare their agenda to be presented at the conference rather than dissipate energy on whether the President Jonathan administration had a hidden agenda.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Alhaji Ahmed Ali Gulak, said “ we have to advise every interest group that has the interest of Nigeria as its agenda to go and do their home work and take it to the national conference. We have a feeling that those attacking the proposed conference are those who have nothing to offer and would be the first to jump up to claim that the other ethnic groups have outsmarted them.”

According to Gulak, the Federal Government has no other agenda than “to secure the peace, stability and unity of the Nigerian state. As the government in power, the Federal Government, will not abdicate its responsibility and allow anarchists to take reins of the country. We are committed to the welfare of Nigerians, the President swore an oath to accomplish these things. It is an open agenda which is not the subject of the conference.”

He continued: “We want people to do their home work and present their best team because when they fail to do so, they will not blame the President for their failure.”

APGA ‘ll participate –Umeh

Speaking on the conference, APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, okayed the modalities and assured that the party would participate in the exercise.

His words: “APGA will participate in the conference. We support the modalities released by the government. We cannot miss this opportunity of helping to save the country. The Nigerian situation is becoming very serious and the national conference has become imperative. Let people come together, let’s dialogue, look at Nigeria and things that are making the country unstable and find solutions to them. We are happy with President Jonathan’s commitment to the National Conference.”

Asked when the party would nominate its delegates, he said: “We are waiting for the letter from the Federal Government. When we get the letter from the Federal Government, which is the official line of communication, we will meet and pick our nominees.

“We welcome the programme for the conference. We urge all Nigerians to participate. The Federal Government has made it a broad all-inclusive conference. All segments of the society are involved. Those opposing the national conference are not patriotic enough. We cannot pretend we can get our acts together without dialogue.”

On whether the requirement of 75 per cent majority of delegates to resolve contentious issues would not undermine the exercise, Umeh said: “The conference will proceed with the unity of Nigeria as no-go area. Other things will be discussed. There are open wounds, which only the truth and good conscience will heal.

There are issues that will be tabled and people will see the glaring injustice.

If delegates at the conference fail to address such open wounds, it means clearly they want Nigeria to divide. Only unreasonable people will

oppose good demands.”

Youths seek more slots Meantime, Nigerian Youths, weekend, protested 18 slots given to them, saying if truly the conference is to reposition the future of Nigeria, 18 delegates cannot represent over 60 percent of the country’s population.

Consequently, a group known as Re-Orientation Advocates of Nigeria (RAN) tasked the Federal Government on the nomination of more youths. The President of RAN, Mr. Charles Folayan in a statement in Abuja, said the reserving 18 slots for over 70 million youths was unacceptable.

According to him, “We agitated earlier for 3050% representation in our communiqué at the National Youth Summit on Peace and Security held in November last year, we are also very much concerned on how the government is going about it even now that the youth council is in crisis as giving priority to any faction of the council will be out of place.

“The president had earlier said that the conference is meant for the younger generation, so the selection of the younger generation must not only be credible, but also significant, we are so much concerned that the number stipulated on the plan for the youth is insignificant. Youth group should be given up to 100 delegates not 18.”

WIC backs Igbo Leaders of Thought's stance

Picking holes in the modalities, Engineer Obi Barth Oyibo Thompson, a member of WIC Board of Trustees, said: “Although there are defects in the modalities released by the Federal Government, the World Igbo Congress supports that Ndigbo should participate in the proposed National Conference.”

He advised against Ndigbo boycotting the Confab, but rather

Continues 0n page 57

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

24-yr-old man commits suicide over failed marriage bid

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IRNIN KEBBI — A 24- year old man, Abubakar Ahmed, was on Saturday found hanging on a tree in Ganten-Tudu in Kaoje Development Area of Kebbi State.

A resident of the area, Malam Tukur Mohammed, said in Birnin Kebbi that the deceased was believed to have committed suicide over failed marriage bid.

Mohammed said the deceased had been farming to earn a living.

He added that the deceased ostensibly committed suicide after failing to produce N40,000 bride price for the marriage scheduled for Friday, January 31.

The witness said the deceased was not happy with an arrangement to postpone the marriage to Friday, February 7 in spite of assurance from relatives that the money would be paid.

The deceased reportedly travelled to neighbouring Buya village with a friend on a motorcycle to recover a debt but was unsuccessful.

He was not seen again until his corpse was found dangling on a tree on Saturday.

The sole administrator of Kaoje Development Area, Malam Bello Abdullahi, confirmed the incident.

3 die, 15 injured in Ibadan auto crash

BY OLA AJAYI

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BADAN — THREE persons were confirmed dead and at least 15 others seriously injured when two commuter buses collided at Bodija area of Ibadan, yesterday.

During a rescue operation, bottles of beer and wine were said to have been discovered by the driver’s seat of one of the buses.

The bus with number plate, Lagos LSR 945 XH, and another Toyota bus marked AJ 91 MNY were involved in the accident.

Shot Newswatch Editor dies ...NUJ, Lagos govt, NGE, Newswatch react

BY EMMA NNADOZIE, CRIME EDITOR, SOLA OGUNDIPE & ONOZURE DANIA

Newswatch reacts

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AGOS — THE Deputy Editor of Daily Newswatch newspaper, Mr. Toyin Obadina, who was shot early morning Saturday by unknown gunmen, has died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja.

Police sources said Mr. Obadina, 50, was driving a Toyota Yaris car with number plate AKD 701 CE when he was attacked along Ijebu-Ode road

by Hypo/Lucky Fibre junction by five armed hoodlums who operated in an SUV whose make and number could not be ascertained.

The source said the hoodlums stole N20,000 from the victim and shot him on his stomach before fleeing from the scene.

It was gathered that widow, who was contacted at their Tunde Odewole Crescent, Adamo in Ikorodu, together with other sympathizers rushed the victim to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja where doctors commenced immediate treatment.

However, the story took another dimension early morning Sunday when news filtered in that the victim had died from the gunshot wound.

Elder brother of the victim, Oluwole Obadina, who spoke with Vanguard said the widow told him that her husband went to the office on Friday and after the close of work, he left for home with two of his colleagues.

He reportedly dropped one of them at Agric bus stop in Ikorodu and the other person somewhere else.

According to her, “just a few metres to his house, two SUV cars double-crossed him and shot at him. The OPC men that were there told us that if they were thieves, his mobile phone would have been stolen.

"They immediately took him to Ikorodu Hospital from where he was transferred to Gbagada General Hospital and later to LASUTH, Ikeja. He was shot at the abdomen and the lower part was shattered. He was kept at the Intensive Care Unit, ICU, where he was being attended to but by 2am the next day, his condition changed and by 3am, he died. The doctors tried their best because they had to remove the bullets from his abdomen.”

The deceased's brother further said that the widow and her three children had been taken to one of their brothers' house at Alagbole in Iju area.

Contacted on phone, the

The late Toyin Obadina widow, Biola Obadina, told Vanguard that it was an armed robbery attack. According to her, "it happened around Imota area of Ikorodu. He was coming back from work around 11.30 p.m because it was their production day.

He was shot and they collected some money from him.

"He was to travel the next day, so, he went to the bank to collect some money and it was stolen from him. I don’t know the exact amount that was stolen from him.

“I feel so bad over his sudden death. He went to work and was shot on his way back home. Our first son is just 12 years, second one is nine while the last is five years old.

"We are yet to tell the senior ones who are in boarding houses about the death of their father.”

Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the development, told Vanguard that the Police at Sagamu Road division received information about the incident around 5.30 am, Saturday, and the Divisional Police Officer mobilised his men to the scene.

She said the Police team later visited the victim at LASUTH where he was receiving treatment in a stable condition only for information to filter in that he died the next day.

She said the police had recovered the victim’s car, and that detectives are combing all nooks and crannies of Ikorodu and its environs for possible arrest of the fleeing hoodlums.

NUJ condemns killing

Meanwhile, the National Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, and Lagos State council of the union have, in separate statements, condemned the gruesome murder of Obadina.

In a statement by its National Secretary, Comrade Shuaib Usman Leman, the NUJ said the

shooting of Obadina by robbers, leading to his death, “was another sad reminder of the vulnerability of media professionals and this further heightens our concern for the safety of journalists.

"While the NUJ condemns the continued killing of journalists in the country, it is no doubt that Obadina and many other journalists died because the Nigerian system over the years had failed to protect its citizens.

“The death has, yet again, deprived the media of one of its illustrious journalists and it is very important to call on the Federal Government to take measures for effective protection of journalists because journalists, as the conscience of the nation, cannot be subjected to constant fear and intimidation by such impunity.

“While we condole with the media family, we pray to God to grant the deceased eternal rest and the family the fortitude to bear the loss.”

Lagos NUJ tasks LASG

Also, the Chairman of Lagos NUJ, Deji Elumoye, tasked the state government to live up to expectations, wondering what is happening to the billions of naira that has been saved into the state Security Trust Fund.

While appreciating the Babatunde Fashola regime for his steadfastness against crime, Elumoye said there was need to do more in terms of security of lives and property.

He said: “It seems they have gone to sleep, criminals have gradually found their way back into the state. And I wonder what they are doing with billions of naira put in the Security Trust Fund.”

He also commiserated with Newswatch and Obadina’s family, while praying for the repose of the soul of the dead.

In his reaction, the Editor, Saturday Newswatch, Mr. Pat Asonye, lamented that they have lost a perfect gentleman, a competent, committed and professional journalist to the core who cannot hurt a fly.

He said: “I find it very difficult to speak about him in the past tense. That Friday, he worked till about 11pm, I was in a hurry to go and I left him behind to tidy up our stories. I then went home and around 4 a.m, I got a phone call but before I could pick, the call went off. I did not know who was calling. Much later, the phone rang again and it was now our Managing Director who called to say that Toyin was shot.

"Immediately, I got information that he was taken to the general hospital and I went there and by the time I got there, I met some of the other friends and colleagues. By then, he had been wheeled into the theatre for surgery. We were hopeful that he will make it only to hear that he gave up the ghost this morning.”

NGE asks Lagos CP to track down killers

The Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, while reacting to the incident urged the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State to track down the killers without delay.

In a statement signed by its President, Femi Adesina, the NGE described Obadina’s death as “sickening,” stating that “all men of the fraternity of the pen are revolted that a man returning home from his legitimate duty is waylaid, robbed and then shot twice in the stomach, leading to his death.”

It further condemned the proliferation of small arms almost throughout the length and breath of the country and called on the relevant authorities to rise to the occasion.

Lagos laments state of insecurity

In the same vein, Lagos State government described the death of Obadina as “painful.”

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, who spoke to Vanguard lamented over the state of insecurity in the country, saying “the central government isn’t providing adequate security for the citizens of the country."

According to him, “it is unfortunate that Toyin died in his fatherland where he is expected to get adequate security. It is painful that a young man whom the country has a lot to gain from died untimely. It speaks the fact that the there is need for the Federal Government to increase the funds allocated to the security apparatus in the country.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—7

Tambuwal, Ochekpe assure on Lake Chad Basin

BY FUNMI OLASUPO

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BUJA — HOUSE of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, has restated Nigeria’s commitment to the development and success of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, LCBC. They gave the assurance, weekend, in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of Speakers/Presidents of National Assemblies of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, LCBC, member states.

On Nigeria’s support to the committee of parliaments of member states of the Basin, Tambuwal said the commission’s secretariat in Abuja had been “provided by the House of Representatives of Nigeria.

I am pleased to inform you that I have made a promise to facilitate the rehabilitation of the RPC Secretariat to make it fully functional and befitting as soon as the agreement is signed."

In her address, Minister of Water Resources, said Nigeria granted $5 million out of the $6 million required to carry out the feasibility study on the Inter Basin Water Transfer from Ubangui River to Lake Chad to recharge the receding lake.

Ochekpe spoke through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resouces, Baba Umar.

Boko Haram: US, UK advocate non-military approach zSay it requires new thinking, approaches

BY HUGO ODIOGOR & VICTORIA OJEME

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AGOS— THE governments of United States and the United Kingdom have advised the Federal Government to increase its use of non-military approach and regional collaboration to tackle the menace of Boko Haram in parts of Nigeria.

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle, and the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Andrew Pocock, disclosed this separately in Lagos and Abuja, where they said the incidences of Boko Haram attacks in parts of the North required new thinking and approaches beyond military diplomacy.

The US Ambassador who was at a media roundtable in Lagos said: “The Federal Government must look at the social and economic conditions that gave rise to the insurgency in the Northern parts of the country.

“The Federal Government must look at why did it start in the first place? What drew people to this organisation in the first place?

Was it lack of employment opportunity? Was it education system?

I am not sure what the reasons might be. Sometimes it is hard to do but we need to ask why is it happening in our country and what can we do better in our country to make sure that this type of thing does not happen again.

Challenge of counter-terrorism

“Part of the challenge of counter-terrorism is that you are fighting an enemy who mixes with the population and one of the most difficult things for the military is to go into a mixed setting like that and figure out who is a terrorist

From right: Vice President Namadi Sambo; Dr. Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment and Jeff Immelt, Global Chairman/CEO of General Electric (GE) during Immelt’s visit to the vice-president and signing of the Government-to-company investment partnership between GE and Federal Government, in Abuja.

and who are the innocent civilians.”

"In my conversation with your government and military, I have expressed these points and I think there is a growing concern over finding an enemy who mixes with the civilian population.

“These are enormously difficult thing to do and that is why we are trying to help the Federal Government.”

He also advised Nigeria to strengthen its regional diplomacy.

According to Entwistle,”there is the need for your government to work closely with Cameroun and Chad because these guys cross the borders. The only way to deal with these guys is to collaborate with your neigbours and relevant international organisations.”

Britain to help with security challenges

In Abuja, the British High Commissioner, Mr. Andrew Pocock, who spoke in Abuja at the welcome ceremony for Nigerian Chevening scholars, said: “We have already been working closely with the Nigerian government on the security agenda.

There is a lot that is going on and will continue to go on.

“The other thing we are doing is to help promote the view which I think the Nigerian government already has, that the conflict in the North-East, the kind that we see, is not going to be solved easily and purely by military means.

There is need for a co-ordinated approach on the political and economic fronts.

“Our development programme

Atiku dumps PDP again, defects to APC

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR & HENRY UMORU

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BUJA — ERSTWHILE Vice-President of the country and one of the founders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday, dumped the party, alleging a reign of impunity that has put the party beyond redemption.

Atiku, whose resignation letter is to be delivered to the PDP ward chairman in Jada, Adamawa State today, said he would be joining the All Progressives Congress, APC. Sources close to the former vice-president told Vanguard last night that Atiku would be

received by the top leadership of the APC at a rally being organised in Yola this morning.

Party leaders, including Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, among others, are to witness the public defection of the former vice-president at the Yola rally.

Atiku in a statement, yesterday, urged his supporters across the country to take opportunity of the APC registration exercise commencing Wednesday to join the opposition party.

Reign of impunity He cited what he claimed as

the reign of impunity in the PDP which, according to him, had led to the unprecedented division in the country along religious, regional and ethnic lines.

The exit from the PDP would be the second time that Atiku would leave the party, having first left the party in 2006 at the time of the crisis between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

PDP keeps mute The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, did not respond to enquiries on the exit of the former vice-president, who was one of the founders of the

party in 1998.

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, who is also announcing his public defection to the APC, welcomed Atiku’s move, yesterday, saying he was aware of the internal humiliation that the former vice-president had endured in the PDP where he had been stripped of his privileges as a former vice-president.

Nyako who spoke through his director of media, Ahmed Sajo said: “He is welcome and it has long been expected as we are aware of the internal humiliation he had suffered in that party as he was denied of his statutory privileges including invitation to high level meetings of the party.”

is very much aimed in assisting in the two aspects in bringing new approaches to dealing with the drivers of conflict and secondly, by promoting some of the basic elements that people require, particularly in parts of the north, education, health care, sanitation, elements of infrastructure uplift, helping marginalised people to become small entrepreneurs and to have access to the form of financial systems in Nigeria.”

Pocock explained further that his government had plans to assist Nigeria in dealing with its security challenges but noted that it was actively engaged in providing training for the Nigerian military on Command and Staff College.

Nigeria'll overcome B'Haram challenges — Onaiyekan

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, however, expressed optimism that Nigeria would overcome the challenges of Boko Haram insurgents.

Onaiyekan expressed the optimism at a mass to conclude the 2014 Prayer Project of Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria, at Papal Ground, Kubwa, Abuja.

He said there was nothing like Boko Haram 10 years ago and it would soon become history by the grace of God. He said: “Let us continue to pray that God will deliver us from this ‘terrible infection’ of Boko Haram.

We do not know how God will do it, but as Christians, we need deep faith and believe that God will do it.”

The cleric urged Christians to continue to pray for the peace and unity of the country.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

House of Reps summons Okonjo-Iweala to clarify 50 questions answered

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

BUJA — THE House of A Representatives Committee on Finance, yesterday, sum-

moned the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for further clarifications on her answers to the 50 questions the committee sent to her on December 19, last year.

The letter of invitation dated January 31 and signed by the Chairman of the committee, Dr. Abdulmunin Jibrin, entitled, 'Observations, Request for Additional Information and Invitation to Investigative Hearing,' however, demanded further clarifications on 40 answers to the earlier questions.

The committee asked the Minister to appear before it on February 20 after when she must have provided more information on the 40 questions she had earlier answered.

The letter read in part: “your response to the 50 questions we raised to ascertain the true state of our economy dated January 15, 2014 was received and carefully analysed by the Committee. ”Having gone through your responses, the Committee noted that some questions were either not answered, partially answered, out rightly ignored or completely misunderstood. ”The Committee noted glaring missing gaps in the responses, absence of supporting proofs to assertions and lack of relevant documents to back up the presentation as is the practice in any legislative oversight or investigation.”

It was stressed in the letter that “many data and statistics provided were inconsistent with subsequent information provided while answering other questions.

"Also noted were the wide ranging comparison you made with other advanced and developing countries while responding to some questions but failed to apply the same in some cases that obviously require such approach.’’

It was further explained in the letter that “ in some instances, you abruptly referred the Committee to relevant agencies for clarification. ”The Committee is surprised that because of its conviction that if all the questions raised are beyond the competence of the Minister of Finance, it is certainly not beyond the competence of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to the extent of information you must have in your possession unless you say otherwise. ”In view of the above and ahead of the investigative hearing on the state of the economy, the Committee is obliged to forward to you additional observations and requests to be submitted to the Committee not later than February 20, 2014."

The 50 questions asked Dr. Okonjo- Iweala then generated a lot of controversies even as the Minister of Finance promptly replied them and was commended for responding to the questions promptly.

Here are some of the original questions: 1. What should you consider as the major economic achievements of this government in the 2013 fis-

cal year and why?

2. You have been credited with many announcements regarding Nigeria’s economy as one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. If the economy is one of the fast growing economies, what is exactly growing the economy?

What role does government play in the said economic growth, especially given that as high as 80 per cent of the country’s total annual budget spending still goes into recurrent expenditure?

3. Since your arrival as minister of finance in 2011, you have publicly announced the need to reduce the recurrent expenditure so that more money would be made available to capital spending which is critical to growing and diversifying the country’s economy. How far has government succeeded in making these necessary cuts; and where exactly have these cuts been made in this effort to reduce recurrent expenditure?

4. You are known to be celebrating a single-digit GDP growth.

But speaking recently at a breakfast dialogue with some members of the organised private sector in

Lagos, organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, you were quoted as saying: “We are growing, but not creating enough jobs. That is a very big challenge…We need to grow faster. I think it needs to grow at least nine to 10 per cent to drive job growth the way we want.”

Don’t you agree that a good finance minister managing an economy like ours should be celebrating a GDP growth as high as 20 per cent annually? Why is it that our economy cannot grow beyond a single digit? How many jobs are being created as a result of these said growths? In which sectors of the economy are these jobs created? If in private sector, what contributions is government making to further assist these private sector firms?

5. In the presence of Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit, why is it that the country’s debt-toGDP at about 19 per cent in 2012 remains one of the lowest in the world when compared to nations already with world-class infrastructure and industrial economies such as America’s 105 per cent, Brazil’s 65.49 per cent, In-

dia’s 67.60 per cent, and South Africa’s 40.9 per cent?

6. Since facts don’t lie, have you any disagreements with the September 4, 2013 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum for 2013-2014, which ranked Nigeria 120th out of 148 countries ranked in the Global Competitiveness Index, including being ranked far behind some African countries such as Mauritius 45th, South Africa 53rd, and Kenya 96th?

7. "For the first time in Nigeria’s 53rd year history, we have successfully privatised the electric power industry,” so said the President at a recent meeting in London with some foreign investors. As minister of finance should you agree that the recent privatisation of the country’s power infrastructure is worth celebrating as a major economic achievement in 2013, when in reality there is little or nothing to show as an improvement in the country power supply? Also why our rush to wholesale privatisation of the power sector when countries like South Africa, generating as high as 42,000MW still have

HAND-OVER: From left, Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar, Graham Clark; Chairman, Panafrican Group, Andrew Scott; Deputy Group Managing Director, Dangote Sugar, Abdullahi Sule, and Group Managing Director, Panafrican Group, Scott McCaw, at the Dangote Sugar Backward Integration equipment hand-over event.

No court order barring 11 Senators from defecting to APC — Lai Mohammed

BY EMEKA MAMAH

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HE ALL Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, said that there was no court order barring the 11 former PDP Senators from defecting to the APC, contrary to the misinformation being

peddled in some quarters.

This was contained in a statement issued in Ilorin, Kwara State, by the National Interim Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Mohammed said that the only existing court order was to the effect that the Senate President

Vice President's wife, Amina Sambo advises women to dress decently

BUJA — WIFE of the Vice A President, Hajiya Amina Sambo, has called on women to

imbibe the use of hijab (head scarf) and dress decently to underscore their chastity.

Sambo made the call in Abuja, weekend, at the maiden 'World Hijab Day' in Nigeria organised by the Coalition of Nigerian Muslim Women.

“The essence of hijab is to promote the dignity of women in modesty, which had been the norm in history, up until the later part of

the past century.

“Modesty is a component in several world religions, particularly in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

“It may come as a surprise to many that it was not Islam that invented modesty or hijab; it existed in the laws of religions revealed before Islam,” she said.

She added that it was very incumbent on Muslim women to use the hijab “because it’s a command from Allah."

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives should maintain the status quo concerning defecting lawmakers.

According to him: ‘’What this order means is that neither the President of the Senate nor the Speaker of the House can declare vacant the seats of the defecting lawmakers. It does not mean the letter of notification from defecting members cannot be read on the floor of the chambers. ’’We are not asking that the issue of the defection should be discussed or debated on the floor of the Senate. All we are saying is that the Senate President should read the letter of notification.’’

APC said that in view of this, the argument that the defecting letter could not be read on the floor, so as not to contravene the Senate’s Standing Rules that precluded the upper chamber from discussing any matter that was already in court, did not apply in this case.

their power sector mostly in public hands?

8. What was your reaction to the November 12, 2013 statement credited to the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, MarieFrancoise Marie-Nelly, who said that over 100 million Nigerians are today living in absolute destitution, representing an unheard-of 8.33 per cent of the world’s total number of people living in destitution?

9. Nigerians are increasingly perplexed that these days nothing happens without government borrowing. And for most Nigerians, it is frightening how those managing the economy are just dragging us into excessively unproductive debts. More worrisome is the fact that every effort is being made to hide the details of the country’s debt stock from Nigerians. Where are the facts that the country’s current high rate of borrowing is productive, let alone have the ability to be repaid without having to resort to more borrowings?

10. Is prudence in our borrowing simply reduction in borrowing or simply constructive borrowing with government putting necessary measures in place to ensure that domestic debt profile is properly supervised and utilised by curbing corruption?

11. From Debt Management Office (DMO) 2012 Annual Report, the total public debt outstanding between 2008 and 2012 for external stock rose from $3.72bn to $6.53bn, while domestic stock rose from $17.68bn to $41.97bn. The total debt service the same period saw the percentage of external debt service drastically reduced from 11.46 per cent to 5.96 per cent while the percentage of domestic debt servicing grew from 88.54 per cent in 2008 to 94.04 per cent in 2012, drastically increasing the cost of the total debt service since the cost of domestic borrowing is atrociously higher than the cost of external borrowing. How could your debt sustainability analysis rationalise this without seeing some narrow interests being the overriding reason? Could this be the explanation why commercial banks in the country are declaring unheardof three digit profits and the high Foreign Portfolio Investment and low Foreign Direct Investment?

12. It’s an established fact that the willingness and ability to borrow do not automatically translate into economic growth. If you agree with this fact, how productive are the country’s recent borrowings?

13. Why should our internal debts continue to represent more than two-thirds of Nigeria’s external debt profile, when the cost of servicing domestic debts is ridiculously far more expensive than servicing external debts?

Why should government continue to borrow internally when in so doing results in insufficient funds, skyrockets the cost of borrowing and above all, crowds out the real sector from the money market?

Shouldn’t the high cost of domestic borrowing override whatever are the assumed benefits? Since both London Interbank Offer Rates (LIBOR) and the US Treasury Bonds rates offer far better interest rates for sovereign borrowings, why have we continued not to take advantage of cheaper interest rates?

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 9

Lagos seals 23 firms over tax default

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AGOS—THE Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, has sealed 23 companies over the non-remittance of N326.6 million personal income taxes of workers in January.

Mrs. Folasade CokerAfolayan, the Head of Distrain Unit, said yesterday in Lagos that the taxes were the personal income taxes for a period of one year to six years.

She restated that tax payment was a civic responsibility of every citizen, adding that the proceeds were being used by the government to provide infrastructure.

She said: “Tax is a major source of government revenue. It enables it to provide infrastructure and improve the citizens’ standard of living.”

Coker-Afolayan said that LIRS would continue to sanction tax defaulters and advised companies to remit taxes promptly to avoid embarrassment.

She said that it was a criminal offence to break government’s seals on sealed companies.

Amosun laments Ondo ghastly crash

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BEOKUTA—OGUN State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has sympathised with the government and people of Ondo State as well as the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, over the ghastly road accident which occurred along the Akure-Ondo expressway in Ondo State at the weekend.

He said the accident, which happened at Aponmu village and involved the deputy governor, Alhaji Alli Olanusi and the Osunmakinde of Ife Tuntun, Osun State, Oba Obawure Taofeek Olaposi, claiming four lives, including the Chairman of the NUJ, NTA, Akure chapel, Mr. Alex Akinwale and some of his family members, was very sad.

In a press release by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, Senator Amosun, who condoled with the family of the deceased, also described the accident as lamentable.

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH & ONOZURE DANIA AGOS—GOVERNOR of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has stressed the need for judges and legal practitioners to seek continuous legal training and scholarship to promote the cause of justice in the country.

Fashola’s call was coming as a former Justice of the supreme court, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, who was a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, regretted the depletion in the knowledge of law, arguing that the time is now for stakeholders to establish a fund for legal scholarship.

Fashola who was speaking as a special guest at the public presentation of a book entitled, 'Civil Litigation- A Quick Reference Guide to Substantive Law and Procedure’, written by a Lagos high court judge, Justice Oludotun Adefowope-Okojie said most often times he wondered about different decisions emanating from the appellate courts in the country, especially on issues of objections filed by lawyers in courts.

He expressed surprise on the attitude of lawyers who profited on technicalities to delay cases in court, saying to him such attitude is basic lack of the knowledge of law.

He said: “Filing unnecessary objections or relying on technicalities does not advance the cause of justice.

We should consider the objections we file in courts.

“That is why we must

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FACILITIES' TOUR: Lagos State deputy governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire (2nd right), Chief Medical Director, Gbagada General Hospital, Dr. Adekunle Dauda (right), presenting baby products to new born babies, during the deputy governor's tour of the hospital facilities and interactive session with health workers in Lagos.

Fashola wants continuous training for legal practitioners zAs Ayoola regrets depletion in the knowledge of law continue to emphasise the necessity for continuous training and legal scholarship.

I think continuing legal education will help us to see what they are doing in other jurisdiction.”

Speaking on the efforts of the sitting judge to write the 530-page book, Fashola said he never doubted the integrity

and legal astuteness of Justice Adefowope-Okojie, while encouraging others to emulate the author and said the government was considering the establishment of a legal institute to compete with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, NIALS. He advised judges and legal practitioners to update

Police nab 22-yr-old for cloning Egba monarch's facebook

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BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

AGOS—A middle-aged man, Gani Akinmade, has been arrested by operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly cloning the identity of the Alake of Egbaland on facebook, with an attempt to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

The Commissioner of Police SFU, Tunde Ogunsakin, in a statement said the unit received a complaint on July 22, 2013, where it was alleged that between May 3 and 22, 2013, a frausdster with phone number 08096897566 opened a facebook account with the name of HRM Oba Micheal Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland and attempted to swindle one O l u b u k o l a Awofeso, a UK resident whom he met on social network facebook,

of N300,000.00.

The suspect was also said to have attempted to lure the victim to partner in a business of supplying 300 transformers valued at more than N1 billion.

The said Gani Akinmade is 22-year-old and a native of Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State. A dropout of Tai Solarin College of Education, Ijebu-Ode. He confessed to the crime but stated that he conspired with one Seyi Lewis and Ifeanyi to perpetrate the fraud.

themselves with the workings of the profession in order to effectively and efficiently discharge their responsibilities.

The governor also reiterated the administration’s commitment to continue to reform its laws, adding that the revised edition of the Lagos State Laws would soon be published.

10—Vanguard , MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Ekiti PDP flays Fayemi's involvement in RTEAN's politics

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DO EKITI—THE Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has berated the state governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi over insistence on retaining Mr. Rotimi Olanbiwonu, aka Mentilo, as the state chairman of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN. According to a press statement issued in Ado Ekiti yesterday by the party ’s state Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, the PDP said it has uncovered that Fayemi has planned to use Mr. Olanbiwonu to coordinate certain members of the driver’s union to rig and cause mayhem during next governorship election in the state.

Whereas members of the union had kicked against Governor Fayemi backing appointment of Olambiwonu as caretaker chairman after expiration of his tenure leading to wild protests by the members.

Novena varsity holds seminar on accountability

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O V E N A UNIVERSITY Ogume, will hold a seminar on public sector accounting at the university’s conference hall today. The seminar, is hosted by the Department of Accounting and Finance.

Professor Sulaiman A. S. Arewa, Director of Governmental and Financial Accounting Research Centre, Newswatch state university, Kofi, will be the guest lecturer.

The renowned scholar and publisher of 53 peer reviewed national and international journals, among others will in his lecture dwell on new developments in governmental accounting system, procedure and issues in public accounting and accountability.

Why I was framed up over Ige's death —OMISORE

BY GBENGAOLARINOYE

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SOGBO—FORMER deputy governor of Osun State and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore, yesterday, explained why he was framed up on the death of the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige. Chief Ige was on December 23, 2001, murdered in his Bodija residence in Ibadan by a yet to be identified gunmen.

But fielding questions from newsmen in Osogbo, Senator Omisore who was the prime suspect in the murder case along with some of his associates stated that one of the reasons was to cover up the murder of a former House of Assemly member, Hon. Odunayo Olagbaju who was killed few days before Ige. According to him, another reason was the second term ambition of the then governor of the state, now chairman of All Progressives Congress APC, Chief Bisi Akande.

Looking back, Senator Omisore who was persuaded in 1999 to step down for Chief Akande by their party then, the Alliance for

Democracy, AD, stated that he had no regret for obeying the party’s directive.

Omisore, one of the leading PDP governorship aspirants in August this year’s election in Osun State also noted that there

were no progressives again in any of the parties.

He said: “We don’t have progressives again in this country. It is mere deception and propaganda. PDP, APC and any other party are the same thing.

It is just a matter of political convenience.”

Omisore called for the immediate redeployment of Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Ambassador Rufus Akeju from the state alleging that he cannot conduct a free and fair election.

LAUCHING: From left: Osun State deputy governor, Otunba Titilayo Laoye-Tomori, Chairman, RLG, Mr. Roland Agambire and Osun State overnor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, during the official launching of Adulawo Technology City, at Ilesha, Osun State.

Ogun LP exco sues Daniel over purported removal

BY INNOCENTANABA

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BEOKUTA—LABOUR Party, LP, executive committee members in Ogun State, have dragged former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos over their purported removal without a valid congress.

The plaintiffs want the court to declare that they and other executive committee members at the state, local government and ward levels are LP’s authentic leaders and officers.

The plaintiffs, Mr. Olabode Simeon, Oginni Olaposi and Arabambi Abayomi, who sued for themselves and on behalf of the committee, also joined the Inspector-General of Police; the Director-General, Department of

State Services, DSS; LP and its national chairman, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu as defendants.

Other defendants are LP Deputy Chairman, South, Dr. Joseph Akinlaja; John Olaleye; Michael Adegbola; Ladi Adebutu; Sarafa Tunji Ishola; Senator Lekan Mustapha; Kayode Amuson; Isiaq Biodun Akinlade; Gboyega Nasiru Isiaka and Adeshina Kawonise.

The plaintiffs are contending

RLG commissions $50m technology city in Osun

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LESHA—WEST Africa’s biggest ICT and phone manufacturing company, RLG has increased its foothold in the industry with the commissioning of a 50 million US Dollars Technology City in Ilesha, Osun State.

Called the RLG/Adulawo Technology City, the world-class facility which is already operational will be involved in the training of youths in the assembly and repair of the various electronic devices as well as also produce these devices from its facility. In addition, it is expected to create over 10,000 jobs both directly and indirectly.

Speaking at the official launch of the City, Mr. Roland Agambire, Group Chairman of RLG noted that gone are

the days where oil was the mainstay of world economy, that ICT was the new money spinner and the RLG/Adulawo Technology City is an ambitious project that will play a major role in the technology revolution that is sure to come to Nigeria.

He noted that the dream of setting up such a facility was propelled by the leadership and vision of the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, whom he stated supported the idea from the outset especially because it

has as its main goal the creation of jobs and the transfer of technology.

He stated that although the African continent is the wealthiest, it has not been able to maximise its potential and RLG as a Pan-African company has the ambitious dream of creating wealth for African youths and leading them out of poverty through technology.

that their tenure ought to have elapsed in 2013, but that at the party ’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting held on November 20, last year, it was unanimously resolved that the tenure of all occupants of executive offices at all levels be extended pending the holding of congresses and a convention to elect their successors.

They want the court to determine whether the LP executive committee in Ogun State can be removed from office without elections at a valid state congress, or a convention held to overturn the NEC resolution.

The plaintiffs urged the court to hold that Akinlaja and Daniel cannot unilaterally handpick and appoint anybody of their choice as LP officers in Ogun State in total disregard of the 1999 Constitution and the party’s 2009 Constitution, and that INEC cannot recognise such officers.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—11

CENTENARY: Govt bars telecom firms from SMS promotional lotteries

DEFECTION: Mark meets with 11 aggrieved PDP senators today

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

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A

B U J A — S E N AT E President, David Mark, will today meet with the 11 former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators, who defected to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, last week.

It was gathered that the Senate President was making efforts to make the affected senators change their minds and return to the ruling party.

Some of the senators who spoke to Vanguard on telephone, yesterday, expressed their preparedness to attend the meeting, adding that they were too old to be influenced by anybody.

One of the senators, Ali Ndume, said he, as a person, has great respect for Senator Mark, who he described as a good leader and that he was ready to honour invitations from him (Mark) any time because of his excellent leadership qualities, adding, “Of course we are still together as senators, so, I think he is doing what he is supposed to do on his part. What he is doing is normal. I think it is good for him as a leader and not to say okay, you are going, bye.”

On whether they would change their minds, if pressurised by Mark, Ndume, said: “We cannot predict what he is going to do and I honestly, cannot predict what is going to happen till tomorrow ( t o d a y ) . ”Naturally if the Senate President wants to see me, I cannot ask why before going to see him. It may not necessarily turn out to be what he wants, but as a leader, he has done what he should do.”

Another senator also said that not minding the respect they have for Mark, “we are adults that can take decisions we know are good for us.”

Attempts to speak to the leader of the defecting Senator Bukola Saraki was unsuccessful, as he did not pick his calls.

Senator Aisha Al-Hassan did not pick her calls either, nither did she reply to the text message sent to her phone.

Meanwhile, among the things the Senate President would discuss with the defecting members include his reason for not reading their letter during the last plenary, why they should drop their defection plan as well as the pending court case instituted by the national leadership of PDP to stop them from defection, among others.

BURIAL: From left: Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen. Tobiah Minimah, with the son of the deceased, Mr. Gari Akpobire, during the burial of late Pastor Jacob Akpobire, in Enwhe, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, weekend.

Nine govs, more senators to decamp from PDP —RIVERS APC

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARCOURT—ALL Progressives Congress, APC, has said that nine Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governors and more senators would defect to its fold before the end of March.

Congratulating the 11 senators that decamped to the APC from the PDP last week, Chairman of Rivers State chapter of the party, Mr. Davies Ikanya, charged the Senate President, David Mark, to read their letters of defection

on the floor of the House.

The party described the senators as truly progressive minded, adding that they had come to where they truly belonged.

He said: “We are aware that by March, 2014 more senators and nine PDP governors will cross over to APC from PDP by which time the arrangement for the formal burial of the doomed PDP will commence."

In the case of Senators Magnus Abe of Rivers South-East and Wilson Ake

of Rivers West, the party hailed their dumping the PDP for APC as a big boost to the party and a manifestation of the fact that APC was now well rooted in the state.

“APC is now in full control of Rivers political space and ready to deliver the state wholly to APC in the 2015 general elections. Rivers APC welcomes Senators Abe and Ake. Progressives adore you, Rivers people are proud of you; democrats salute your courage, your constituents are behind you,” he said.

UGBORODO: Community rejects Uduaghan's choice of EPZ interface Chair

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI & AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

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ARRI—MOVES to am ica-bly resolve the crisis rocking oil-rich Ugborodo community in Warri SouthWest Local Government Area, Delta State, suffered a major setback, weekend, with the community rejecting the appointment of Mr Austine Oborogbeyi as Chairman of yet to be fully reconstituted Escravos Processing Zone, EPZ, Interface Committee.

The state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, had announced Oborogbeyi, a lawyer and Delta Internal Revenue Board member, as the new Ugborodo EPZ Interface Committee Chairman follow-

ing his nomination by the Olu of Warri, Ogiamwe Atuwatse II. The committee was earlier dissolved over factional differences in the community.

At a meeting in Ode-Ugborodo presided over by Olaja-Orori (Spiritual Head), Benson Omadeli, Eghare-Aja, elders and interest groups unanimously rejected the state government’s choice of Oborogbeyi as the new committee chairman, describing him as an imposition.

At the meeting, which was not attended by the Thomas Eriyitomi’s faction, Olaja-Orori Omadeli said: “The Olu and Governor Uduaghan cannot decide for the Ugborodo people.

Even under military dis-

pensation, government never meddled in Ugborodo affairs. We reject the imposition of Oborogbeyi on us.

“Ugborodo has no factional leadership. The fifth columnist created it. You can see the traditional authority including myself, the EghareAja, Wellington Ojoghor and the Registered Trustee, Pa Eworitsemogha Shebi, are in charge of our affairs. The community will choose its EPZ committee and deal with the Federal Government on this laudable EPZ project ceded to us.”

The community said it would sanction embattled leaders, who masterminded the arrest and arraignment of the Spiritual Leader and others in court over sundry charges.

HE National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, has ordered all mobile telecommunications service providers in the country to suspend all forms of short message service, SMS, promotional lotteries in order to allow the Federal Government conduct its Centenary Games Lottery on their platform.

NLRC, in a statement in Abuja by its Director General, Mr Joe Ekpe, said that the suspension of multiple lottery schemes on telecom platforms began in January and it will remain in effect till further notice.

The Centenary Games Lottery is part of the activities lined up by the Federal Government to mark the country’s 100 years of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates by Nigeria’s first Governor-General, Sir Fredrick Lugard in 1914.

The centenary lottery, according to NLRC, will run on MTN, Airtel, Globacom, Etisalat and Visafone platforms.

Government has already appointed Secure Electronic Technology Plc, SET, its centenary lottery operator to carry out the lottery on the five telecommunication operators’ network platforms.

Sanusi urges states to tap into CBN’s N220bn Micro Finance Fund

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—GOVERNOR of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, has urged state governments to tap into the bank’s N220 billion Micro Finance Intervention Fund in order to alleviate poverty in their states.

The CBN governor, in Benin City, Edo State, when he paid a condolence visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the palace of the Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa over the death of Queen Esther Erediauwa, said the CBN will continue to engage the relevant state finance ministries to avail themselves of the opportunity offered to assist small and medium scale enterprises access the fund.

12 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—13

My political future depends on God, my people — Ekweremadu ....Ezeagu constituents endorse him for 2015

BY TONY EDIKE

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NUGU — DEPUTY President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has said his continuous stay in the National Assembly was at the mercy of God and the people that elected him, noting that his political future depended on them and not on any single human being Apparently reacting to speculations within the PDP circle in the state that some powerful politicians in the state had plotted to retire all the current National Assembly members from the state who are doing second term and above, Ekweremadu expressed happiness with the quality of representation and achievements by the federal lawmakers representing Enugu West senatorial zone He said the two members of the House of Representatives, Tobias Okechukwu (Awgu-Aninri-Oji River federal constituency), and Ogbuefi Ozongbachi, Chairman, House Committee on Works (Udi-Ezeagu federal constituency), had given a good account of themselves by the number and quality of projects they had attracted to the area.

The Deputy Senate President and Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, who made the remarks when stakeholders and leaders from Ezeagu Local Gov-

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ernment Area of the state, comprising 20 wards and over 40 autonomous communities, paid him a solidarity visit in his residence in Enugu, said nobody would change a winning team.

The stakeholders had during the visit, pledged to support Ekweremadu in whatever ambi-

tion he chose to pursue in 2015, saying he had distinguished himself as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Deputy Senate President said all they were asking for was a level-playing ground in any election, so the people

could decide the fate of any aspirant or candidate He noted, however, that anytime the people said he had represented them enough and he should come back, he would do so immediately and join hands to support whoever they wanted.

FAAN gives concessionaires 6-month deadline to develop airport lands

BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

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HE FEDERAL Government has set a deadline of six months for concessionaires to develop lands leased to them for development at airports across the country.

Failure to develop the lands within this period may result in the concessionaire losing the property to the government.

Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr. George Uriesi, who disclosed this at dinner to round off the Aviation Investment Forum Stakeholders Opportunity Buy-in of Aviation Master Plan in Lagos, weekend, said the new

template was necessitated by recent controversies between his agency and ACI Limited.

ACI was leased land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, to build a hotel but failed to do so decades after, which prompted FAAN to terminate the concession and take over the land.

This, however, resulted in a legal battle between both parties still pending in court.

To avert a recurrence of this, Uriesi said aside from having six months to start development of leased lands, concessionaires must also be able to complete project in not more than two years.

This, according to him, was also to ensure airport environment across the country was not littered with abandoned projects.

“From now on, land concession at airport will not be more than six months for development which must be completed in not more than two years.

“The era of not developing lands leased to concessionaires years after they were leased out are over. This is in line with the transformation agenda of the present government,” he said.

Uriesi added that concessionaires must also show financial capacity to develop land before any deal would be signed.

DPR seals NNPC mega station, others for under dispensing fuel

BY ANAYO OKOLI

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MUAHIA — FOR un der-dispensing petroleum products to the public, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, in Abia State, weekend, sealed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, mega station in Umuahia.

The DPR also sealed seven other filling stations operating in the state for the same offence.

Some marketers had, last week, created artificial scarcity of petrol in parts of state, especially Uzuakoli where a litre of petrol was sold for as much as N150 per litre in black market.

The action of DPR followed a routine surveillance it carried out during which it discovered that some of the affected stations were cheating their customers with as much as two litres per every ten litres dispensed.

Seven of the sealed petrol stations include NNPC mega stations located in Umuahia and Aba.

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

FG attributes success of power sector reform to stable polity 'Transparency of 2011 polls makes Nigeria attractive to foreign investors'

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

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NUGU — THE Federal Government, weekend, attributed the huge investments recorded in the power sector, following the successful privatisation of the sector, to political stability in Nigerian since the conduct of 2011 general elections.

Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, who disclosed this while speaking at the Biennial Keyman dinner of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, ECCIMA, at Nike Lake Hotel, noted that the influx of foreign investors in the sector was made possible by free, fair and transparent 2011 polls, which restored confidence in the polity.

Dr. Amadi stressed that despite divergent political views, the opposition did not oppose the power sector reforms embarked on by the government of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, because of its benefits to the country.

He said the insecurity in some parts of the country notwithstanding, Nigeria remained attractive to foreign investments, with economic growth, because of stable

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polity, noting that economic growth could not be achieved during political instability.

He said: “Nigeria’s political scene has experienced stability since the 2011 elections said to be most transparent in the history of our elections.

“We have stabilised political environment and that is why insecurity is insignificant to economic growth. But we can’t say this under unstable polity.“ Dr. Amadi, who was guest speaker on the occasion, spoke on the new power sector regime

as a panacea to stable and quality electricity supply to unleash and prime industrial and economic activities in Nigeria.

He said with the successful handing over of power assets, the nation had entered the second phase which had to be with effec-

tive and reflective pricing system. ”The politics of pricing is such that it is difficult asking people to pay for a product that is under supplied. Most Nigerians households and businesses are starved of electricity.

N7bn confab bill, a waste —Bishop Kukah

BY VICTORIA OJEME

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ATHOLIC BISHOP of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, weekend, described the N7billion earmarked for the proposed national conference as a waste of resources, insisting that the exercise would not result in any fundamental difference in the condition of the country.

Bishop Kukah, who was Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference in 2005, also described the planned proposed conference as another forum for political noise-making.

He spoke on the occasion of the signing of Tripartite Partnership Agreement among the American Specialist Hospital Limited, GE Healthcare (USA) and Edifice

Capital (France) for the $73 million American Specialist Hospital for Women and Children.

In the 2005 National Political Reform Conference which Bishop Kukah was Secretary, N932 million was proposed by President Olusegun Obasanjo for the con-

ference.

In his reaction to the N7billion proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan for the conference, Kukah said in an interview with journalists in Abuja: “N7 billion is just pocket money, it is chicken fee by Nigerian standard, con-

sidering how much money have been stolen from this country.

"Frankly, even if they are going to commit N10 billion for people to stay in hotels in Nigeria, the money is not the issue, building a nation is a serious matter.

Chuka Odom set to join Imo guber race

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ORMER MINISTER of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Chuka Odom, may soon declare interest in the governorship election in Imo State, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, following the release of 2015 elections timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Investigation revealed that the campaign team of Chuka Odom

currently operating under the aegis of the Chuka Odom Foundation, had been laying the ground work of a western-style political campaign unprecedented in Imo State.

According to one of the cocoordinators, Chief Mike Ejeugwu, “Chuka Odom represents the hopes and aspirations of Imo people today who are tired of politicians who make so much noise, assault their sensibilities,

promise everything and deliver nothing. He is untainted and comes with little political baggage but huge political and administrative experience.”

Chief Ejeugwu pointed out that the lack of inspirational leadership that had bedeviled Imo State was wrong choice of leaders at every election and declared that the "emergence of the likes of Chuka Odom is a good and encouraging development."

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—15

2015 polls: INEC not under pressure —Jega

BY OKEY NDIRIBE

commission was not under any pressure when it designed the timetable for the 2015 general election. He said the time-table and election schedule were fixed

based on reasonable factors.

A statement signed by Kayode Idowu, Special Adviser to Jega quoted the INEC chairman as stating while fielding questions from the audience after a presentation he made at the Chatham House, London, weekend, that "the Commission was mindful of its own operational effectiveness and global best practice in grouping national elections together on one day, and state elections together on another.”

The timetable announced two weeks ago by INEC Ugborodo indigenes held meeting in Ugborodo town, Warri schedules National AssemSouth West Area of Delta State, weekend. Benson Omedeli, the From Right; Pa John Afigbin, Eghara-aja Wellington Oiogor and Pa Weston bly and Presidential elecOlaja-Ori of Ugborodo being greeted by Mr. David Tonwe.

Omadeli. Photos: Akpokona Omafuaire tions for February 14, 2015, and Governorship as well as State Assembly elections for February 28, 2015.

The statement said, “Professor Jega dismissed suggestions that INEC was under external pressure in designing the election timetable the way it did.”

The Chatham House event was a public forum at the instance of Africa Programme unit of the organisation, which invited Professor Jega to speak on "2015 Elections in Nigeria: Expectations and Challenges."

Jega said, “As far as we are concerned, the presidential election is not positioned first. What we did is that we combined the national elections, so you can’t say that presidential election is placed first. Some Nigerians wonder why we can’t have all the elections in one day.

"It is true that in some countries, they conduct all their elections in one day.

From our own assessment, the enormity of challenges associated with that is such that we are not prepared in the electoral commission to do all the elections in one day. But then, we felt that instead of having three elections, let us have two. " In 2011, we had three: we did the National Assembly elections first; then, the Presidential; and then, the Governorship as well as State Assembly elections.

But we felt that (in 2015), let us have two elections rather than three. ”So, rather than have the Presidential and Governorship elections together, or the National Assembly with State Assembly elections; we said, let us have all the national elections together, and then the state elections.

You hear politicians make all manners of allegations, because in their own calculation, some people want certain elections to come first, others want it to come later."

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HAIRMAN, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, said that the

16 Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 THESE days Nigerians fight over anything. A disputed bus fare, a misunderstood word at a community gathering or the better known incidents of cult rivalries or the more celebrated cases of land disputes are reasons for Nigerians to go at each other.

Casualties could be high. In some instances, combat is postponed to another day and could last for months. No part of the country is spared the scourge of unrest.

The causes could be as ridiculous as the killing of a hunter’s dog in Ilorin, Kwara State.

A police corporal, Mr. Agboola Joachim, who was among policemen sent to quell the commotion, died from bullet wounds. Angry youths of Abayawo and Dada communities were engaged in the fatal confrontation after a dog of a hunter in one of the communities was killed.

What is the worth of a dog compared to the life of the policeman? What was the value of the dog that its killing could enrage the communities? How could the fight escalate to one where firearms were used? Were the police surprised that the warring groups

Killing A Dog To Kill A Policeman were armed?

Little about this incident is surprising.

Communities in many parts of the country are armed. They go to war at the slightest provocation. Sometimes they do not require a reason, other than to test the firing power of their acquisitions.

Any incident is enough to re-ignite unsettled quarrels among these communities. The confrontations are also occasions to frighten opponents with exhibitions of arsenals that could scare security agencies.

In rural communities, where poverty is a daily companion, a hunter’s dog is a major asset in the economics of hunting. Its death

is a setback without immediate remedy.

The hunter is not worth much without his dog.

Yet, this could not be a good reason for the confrontation, during which 50 motorcycles, again the riders’ source of sustenance, were destroyed. The anger that resulted in this extent of destruction and the killing of a policeman could not all have been over a dog’s death.

It is becoming more important by the day that security agencies have a presence that warring communities respect. The killing of security agents has gone unpunished for too long.

Last May, the Ombatse group in Nasarawa State killed 100 security agents.

The chief priest Ala Agu defended Ombatse thus, “The governor asked the police officers to arrest me, cut my head and take my head to him. When they came, because they were themselves drunk, my god did not allow them to come to me and they died on the way.”

Agu and his men are still free. Others who act like them expect similar treatment.

OPINION

BY CONSTANCE OKECHUKWU

I

N African culture, elders are the custodians of truth. They are the moral guide to the society and they do all in their wisdom to engender peace and preserve the interests of the larger society.

Unfortunately, the various elders’ groups in Nigeria–in the East, West, South-South, Middle Belt or North -are different; they observe this rule in the breach. The most typical of them is the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) which has been in the news in recent times, for its strident pursuit of sectional and parochial interests to the detriment of the well-being of the larger Nigerian nation.

The elders, at the end of its meeting in Kaduna last month, alleged that the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika and some other top military officers were involved in extrajudicial killings and strangulation of civilians by soldiers in Bama and Giwa Barracks in Borno State, using an underground detention centre. The Forum’s threat to drag the former Army chief to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, is not only seen as a campaign to fan the embers of ethnic discord –with its potentialities in Nigeria-it is also a campaign to diminish Nigeria before the international community. More grievous is that it is a malicious attempt to portray President Goodluck Jonathan as a violator of human rights.

At a different forum, the group and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) accused the President of masterminding the mass redeployment of heavy military weapons

20 15 elections: Nor thern elder 2015 Northern elderss as sacre monger mongerss from the North to the South. As if the issue is not worrisome enough, their meeting chaired by no less a personality than the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, in Kaduna, alleged that the reason for the arms relocation was to aid the plan to rig the 2015 elections. Weighty accusations, I dare say. However, they are allegations that are as curious as they are baseless.

While the spokesman for the first group, Professor Ango Abdullahi, did not mention the six other persons he alleged were involved in the Borno human rights violations, the Sultan’s group did not in any way substantiate its allegation on arms relocation. The questions that arise are many, but only two will suffice here: Why did they hide the allegations in their large babanrigas, until shortly after Ihejirika was removed as Army Chief? And where were they when Odi, Katsina-Ala and Zaki Biam faced worse action, or are Katsina-Ala and Zaki Biam no longer part of their North?

While several groups have denounced the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), for openly discouraging the military’s efforts in containing terror -- for that’s what its posture amounts to-prominent Igbo leaders say it is an attempt to tarnish the image and sterling performance of General Ihejirika as the nation’s army chief. My worry is that the attack on the former army chief is illconceived, coming at a time that the military, and indeed the nation, was counting the losses in human and material terms of the war on Boko Haram.

According to Ihejirika himself, in the entire command chain of the Army,

directives are issued from higher commands down to the issuance of operational orders, but at every level of adherence, the rule of engagement is emphasised with special emphasis on the preservation of human rights. Therefore, to accuse the army, such a highly organised institution that does not condone indiscipline, of human rights abuses within the Nigerian territory, is to be uncharitable, considering the challenges they have had to face and the risks they have borne in the Boko Haram ‘war’. Besides, to single out Ihejirika for accusation, smacks of hidden agenda, and fuels the belief by Ohaneze Youths, that it was an attempt to blemish the records of their kinsman who broke all records to rise to the top position of the Nigerian Army.

We have always known the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as the modern version of the old Kaduna Mafia, but when did they transform to military tacticians? Their tale on relocation of military hardware must therefore be seen as unnecessary scaremongering. To allege too that it was part of a grand design to rig the 2015 elections is utter claptrap coming from hawkish politicians out to score some cheap points. NEF must appreciate the impact of the ongoing reforms in our electoral system, for which President Jonathan has received acclaim and commendation from local and international organisations. Such glib allegations are senseless in a country that has increasingly widened the democratic space and moved away from shambolic elections.

We must get something clear here. The

NEF stand on Ihejirika, has revealed the other side of the Northern Elders who have all paid lip service to the war on terror which Boko Haram presently symbolises.

Here, we have politicians who mask under some amorphous groupings to further their regional agenda, regardless of the cost to our nation’s development. While it is still within their democratic rights to oppose President Jonathan and oppose his administration’s policies, we must insist that they pursue their regional political agenda within the limits of decency. What everybody must frown at is their insistence over time, in stoking the fire of sectional interests, and denigrating of the institution of the presidency. The question must indeed be asked: where truly lies their sympathy?

Like Senator Uche Chukwumerije said while adding his voice in condemnation of the elders’ indiscretion, their statement has revealed the depth of resentment of the campaign against Boko Haram.

Chukwumerije, who said the threat was capable of unleashing ill-will on the federation, further described it as highly provocative to the sensibilities of all, who desire the unity and stability of Nigeria.

While he described the NEF as biased, he believes they had opened doors into the world court for not only the Ndigbo, but also the people of Odi, Zaki-Biam and Katsina Ala, saying they would all dust their files and head for The Hague. I cannot agree any less.

*Mr. Okechukwu, a commentator on national issues, wrote fromAbuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 49

50—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2013

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NEF’s irresponsible ICC threat killings and pogroms which followed the first military coup.

While these happened, none of these so-called Northern elders raised a voice of protest. If anything, most of them have been on record justifying this evil and boasting they would do it again if the circumstances presented again. In fact, they invoke this ugly episode in our nation’s dark history as an instrument of intimidation against those who call for true federalism, saying what they did to Biafrans during the war would be a child’s play for those calling for Nigeria’s “breakup”.

With the advent of the Boko Haram Islamic insurgency fuelled mainly by these disgruntled “elders” and their local and foreign financiers due to power shift to a Niger Delta president, and the coincidental emergence of an army chief who happened to be Igbo, these “elders” suddenly turned into “human rights activists” who would petition ICC with unproven cases documented only by them. It was the same NEF

Here comes a ‘confusional' conference!

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is set to empanel “The National Conference”, which will set a new national record with 492 nominated delegates, conclude sittings within 90 days and gulp seven billion Naira! It will discuss everything under the sun except answer the two most important questions of (a) are we ready to continue as one nation after a century of blood-soaked history characterised by dysfunctional nationalism and (b) what are the bases for living together and make progress as a people? And here is a conference that will not produce a constitution but submit its agenda for the future to the national and state assemblies for tinkering!

Still, we must go to the conference, if only to satisfy our curiosity.

For me, there is nothing in it that is likely to change anything except waste our time and resources, and divert some quality attention.

under the late Alhaji Abdulrahman Okene who, during the bloody reign of General Sani Abacha, applauded when Abacha unleashed the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Ogoniland, killing hundreds and staging a kangaroo trial that led to the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders on November 10th 1995.

These were the same people who prevailed on the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua to order Major General Sarkin Yaki Bello, as the Commander of the Joint Task Force on the Niger Delta, to exterminate Ijaw communities in an all-out war over their militant agitation for the control of their God-given resources just about four years ago. These chaps had also supported Abacha to declare war on Yorubaland and eliminate leaders of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) with sniper squads for mounting a campaign for the revalidation of the presidential mandate of Chief Moshood Abiola between 1993 and 1998.

Following the death of President Yar’ Adua, these northern “elders” after failing to prevent the installation of the then Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, launched a feral campaign to snatch power back to the North by all means in 2010/2011. They warned that unless Jonathan stepped down to enable the North reclaim power, they would make Nigeria ungovernable. When Nigerians ignored them and voted Jonathan into power in the April 2011 presidential election, from nowhere, a dead Boko Haram resurged across the North and started killing Christians and Southerners, mostly in churches through bombings and suicide attacks. Later on, the terrorists

started killing everyone without discrimination.

Soon, the Al Qaeda Islamic terror network bought into the insurgency and expanded the attacks to government establishments, military facilities and crowded places. When the Jonathan administration started serious military operations and set the terrorists to flight, the NEF and vociferous pro-Boko Haram activists accused him of “declaring war against the North”. However, majority of the patriotic Muslim population in the North started realising that, contrary to the rantings of the NEF and their cohorts, Boko Haram was, indeed, the enemy of Nigerians irrespective of religion and creed.

They joined the war against terror and the insurgents fled into remote forests in the North East. The

,

OLLOWING the recent retirement of military service chiefs, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) threatened to take former Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika and six other unnamed officers to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged extrajudicial killings by soldiers in Bama and Giwa Barracks in Borno State.

This threat stirred political dust and verbal exchanges between Professor Ango Abdullahi and Ihejirika’s kinsman, Senator Uche Chukwumerije. NEF said it set up two committees to “investigate” the alleged abuses and that it would take the end product of its probe to the ICC. Apparently, the NEF does not believe in the dictum that charity begins at home. If it did, it would have started by reporting the matter to our own National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), which is entertaining a similar complaint over the shooting of alleged Boko Haram members in Apo, Abuja last year.

It would, indeed, be sad and unpatriotic if it is true that soldiers sent to crush the Boko Haram insurgency engaged in extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians, even though it will only follow in an ugly tradition that was rampant during the Biafra-Nigeria war. Northern soldiers regularly and freely engaged in the massacre of civilians. Some of them surrendered and accepted “One Nigeria” only to be lined up and shot simply because they were Igbos. Northern elements in the federal armed forces did this in continuation of their revenge

want “their power back” by all means.

I fully welcome the idea of approaching the ICC to look into the conduct of the Army under Ihejirika in the war on terror in the North. The whole world knows that Boko Haram is one of the deadliest terrorist groups operating today.

We are waiting for the NEF to make a cast-iron case against Ihejirika and other military chiefs.

We will also be meeting the NEF and other past military chiefs of northern extraction who have carried out genocides against innocent civilians; from the civil war to Ogoni, from June 12 to Odi, from Zangon-Kataf to Zaki-Biam and from the Niger Delta to the Plateau. Let the ICC settle all these alleged human rights violations by the Nigerian military forces once and for all! We will be meeting the NEF and their collaborators with the details of the Oputa Panel and other reports.

On a more serious note, let us bear in mind that the Nigerian Army and the armed forces are there for our protection. Without the armed and security forces, Boko Haram would have overrun the North. The South, in selfpreservation, would have taken up arms to keep them and their lookalikes at bay, thus fulfilling Major Gideon Orkar’s vision. Nigeria would thusly have disintegrated.

We must be grateful and appreciative of the sacrifices of our

President Jonathan and Ihejirika should be held as heroes of the North. They have helped to save the North from itself. They have risked a lot to contain the saboteurs in the military, the government and the political class

attacks tricked down to isolated incidents, and the economic, social and political livelihood across the North markedly improved.

President Jonathan and Ihejirika should be held as heroes of the North. They have helped to save the North from itself. They have risked a lot to contain the saboteurs in the military, the government and the political class, including some of these misguided “elders”, who are bent on destroying the North because they

,

now re-professionalised armed forces which are no longer under any ethnic or regional thumb.

We must expose all those enemy “elders” and “youths” in our midst who are promoting anarchy and bloodshed, pitting Nigerians against one another in their selfish pursuits to grab power at all cost.

We must consign them to the trash bin of history and move on to build a united nation where no expired, frustrated and screaming “elder” can trouble us anymore.

OPINION

BY AYISIRE EMMANUEL

N

IGERIA with a population of about 160 million people has a Police Force of less than 300,000 men.

The abysmal ratio of one poorly motivated policeman to over 500 disgruntled and discontented Nigerians is pitiable and a far cry from the average.

The fact that our country is grossly under-policed is just a facet of the multi-dimensional structure of the constraints that affect efficient policing in Nigeria.

The historical root of the Nigerian police as a colonial force of oppression of the people has made it absolutely impossible for the Force to transform into a people friendly outfit. Worse still is the fact that it is almost impossible for the Nigerian police to break down the barriers of apathy and mistrust that have characteriszed the relationship between them and the Nigerian public.

Mutual trust is the prime value that should form the bases of the partnership between the police and the public. A firm foundation of trust enables the police form a close relationship between it and the people that will produce a result -oriented policing. No wonder Sir Robert Peel, founder of the London metropolitan police set a number of principles one of which is that “……The police are the public and the public are the police”.

There is no doubt that for a number of reasons, the Police in several third world countries including Nigeria have lost sight of this fundamental relationship as a central organising concept for police service.

The concept of community policing is an attempt to revive this principle. The central feature of it is the

Police/VGN collaboration:Panacea to security challenges acceptance of the fact that the police is no longer the sole guardians of law and order as in the past. There is the need for a genuine police-public collaboration with members of the community becoming active allies in the effort to support and enhance public security and safety.

The Vigilante Group of Nigeria is the first systematic effort to galvanise a broad based grass root Community Oriented platform for Nigerian Public partnership and collaboration in the area of security.

According to Ali Sokoto, the founding Father and National Chairman of Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), his vision is that every family or household should be security conscious enough to keep watch over the next door neighbour. VGN is firmly established in all the 774 Local Government Council Areas and the 36 states of the Federation including the FCT, Abuja. Registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in 1999 as an NGO, VGN exist in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria as a vanguard of patriotic men and women, whose sole objective is to assist the Police in securing lives and properties in their respective Communities.

There is no denying the fact that the level of crime has changed in Nigeria; from illegal drugs to rape, gang violence to murder, burglary to armed robbery and kidnapping to terrorism.

The nature of crimes like kidnapping and terrorism cannot be adequately tackled by the present conventional Police structures and modus operandi. Even the concept

of centralised management of the Police Force has only helped to isolate it further from the public it is serving.

In many cases, Police officers posted far away from their localities are ‘strangers’ in the community where they serve. It has been commonly observed that these “criminals” are not ‘spirits’, indeed they are not. However only bonafide members of the communities can understand their environment, terrain and even identify and monitor suspected ‘strangers’.

Pertinent and useful information will not be forthcoming from the public where the Police is perceived as total ‘strangers’ and the relationship of mistrust and suspicion persists between them and the public they serve.

The argument is not to support the proponents of State Police. In fact, any student of Nigerian history will allude to the fact that the call for State Police like that of ethnic militia is a call to anarchy and the total fragmentation of the Nigerian Nation. Consequently, Police /VGN partnership and collaboration is the panacea to our present security challenges.

All well meaning Nigerians including the Federal, States and Local Governments should assist VGN in bringing all mushroom vigilante groups and neighbourhood watchers under the umbrella of Vigilante Group of Nigeria for easy organization, direction and co-ordination to achieve a crime - free society.

*Mr Emmanuel is the General secretary of the VGN, Lagos State chapter.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014— —51

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HE beauty of science is that, it is empirical - smell, touch and see - so, we can deduce from our senses and observations. It is also logical. The science of Politics is not different; based on what we observe, we can reach conclusions.

It is so everywhere, polls are conducted and most times, the results of the polls turn out to be the true position.

Look at the situation in the Nigerian politics of today, the behavioural patterns of our politics, can you reach conclusion on what the outcome of 2015 election will be?

Already, the Americans are prognosising Hilary Clinton and Chris Christie for their next election, what are we in Nigeria doing? Even, when you try to objectively assess, based on what is happening, our - all too know critics punch holes in one's submissions, based on sentiments and other bias.

We will not stop making our analysis known to the majority of Nigerians, who deserve to be truly informed, instead of the abracadabra, that we now witness.

The Daily Post of January 25, posted a comment by Shekarau, ex-governor of Kano state, with Bafarawa, ex-Sokoto state governor in attendance; " A few months ago, we were calling the

PDP evil, and now, we are calling on the same set of people we called evil to come and join us".

It is clear that our politicians are taking the gullibility of Nigerians for granted, If not, why do the people who constitute the new APC, expect us to look at them from a perspective different from the PDP, when the antecedents of the new APC memberships are well known? We were used to an ACN party, with very radical views; focussed, disciplined and people friendly. The performance of their governors - first Fashola and later Oshiomhole - also helped to place the party as a true beacon of hope for Nigerians. In fact, Fashola's government was a reference point, for all states in the federation, Delta state, a PDP state, sent representatives severally, to Lagos, to learn a thing or two about how Lagos state run its government successfully. And, this brings me to the point that; you do not need to be at the centre before you can positively impact on the people.

Awolowo did it with the Action Group of the western region, Ahmadu Bello did same in the north with NPC. Presently, Fashola is doing it in Lagos, same with Oshiomhole in Edo state. What I had expected from the ACN party, is a vigorous push - using its strength in the media and net working advantage - for a truly federated state, where each state controls its resources and give a

It was therefore a surprise, to see the APC that is still battling with the challenge of integrating diverse interest groups, running after dissidents of the PDP

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percentage to the centre. I expected them, to fight for the shrinking of the over bloated federal government port-folio, and they would have gained more support from the truly progressives across the country but now, that opportunity is lost, with the uncalled for merger with other reactionary parties. We do not know what the ACN stands for these days, surely not a progressive party. The situation is even made worse, when we consider the fact that the ACN was gradually gaining follower ship, from states outside the core western region; Delta, Anambra, Kwara, Kogi, and Benue were already building reasonable support base for the ACN, all the gains have come to nought. he CPC party, from the way they operated, did not hide their ethnic and religious bias.

They presented someone as

Enough is enough, let President Jonathan be

BY BENEDICT IJOMAH

I

AM compelled to caution our politicians.

I have been in politics in this country, from my days in the university in 1960. I have participated in the elections during the NCNC/Action Group period. I have followed the politics of Nigeria from the first election before independence. I have witnessed the tragedy of the Western region. I have witnessed the tragedy of the Civil War. I am old enough to know the events that led to the series of massacres of the Igbos and the Yorubas in the Northern region. I have also witnessed the various coups and countercoups of the Northern military generals who consolidated power in the Northern oligarchy and misruled this nation for years.

I am constrained to caution young and inexperienced politicians that are crossing from one party to the other as if good governance depends on only numerical strength in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. Let us learn from the lessons of history.

It is clear to me that most of the people that are crossing from PDP and creating a false image for the opposition were very young in the 1960s; they must have been very young to witness the Western Nigeria crisis. They are creating scenarios that are similar to what happened in the Western region. Let me caution Nigerians, including myself, that we must give Jonathan a chance to run this country before we declare him incompetent. Let us not create a situation which is similar to calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It is clear to us that immediately Buhari lost the election many souls were lost in the crisis that followed the riots in the North. He appeared to be a sacred cow that could not be questioned for the crisis he instigated because he lost a simple election. He has now joined the opposition to make sure that Jonathan is in a difficult time, and if possible, to see that he is

C M Y K

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presidential candidate, who did not consider it crucial to visit the south for campaigns. A party that is populated by, very extreme tribal and regional bigots, prone to violence at the slightest provocation, as they did during the 2011 elections, who felt that the state must burn if they do not win and which turned out to be their greatest undoing. How do you reconcile the ACN, with its band of intellectuals, with such a party?

The third leg in the APC alliance, that is the ANPP, has never been known for progressive politics, they have always been there, conservative in the manner of the NPC of the 60s. Their strongholds have always been in the north, they do not command any national follower ship. Bafarawa tried to move it to another level, but he was frustrated out of the party and he had to move to DPP, where he also, has been short changed.

That was and still is, the situation in the APC. We were still figuring, how they can make a success of this union, when the situation in the PDP imploded.

It was therefore a surprise, to see the APC that is still battling with the challenge of integrating diverse interest groups, running after dissidents of the PDP. It is unbelievable. The people you have presented to us, as not good enough, you are going in their midst to fish for membership, some of them are even being wooed, to become leaders and top candidates, for the new party. It is a shame! Our politicians are all the same. It is a pity, that innocent Nigerians have been brain washed and are now made to hold extreme views. In the buses, along the

All those who have deliberately gathered themselves into formidable opposition just to stop Jonathan, as if that is the only thing Nigeria needs, send the message to Nigerians that they have nothing new to offer Nigeria

,

BY SUNNY IKHIOYA

,

Our politicians and us: Who is the fool?

impeached.

People who move from one party to another have nothing to offer the country. A good politician is one who has developed his area not a politician that canvasses to overthrow duly elected Governors and Presidents. I am writing this paper at exactly midnight and I am led in spirit to caution Nigeria that the events in the Western region under Akintola and Awolowo that gave rise to unnecessary coalitions of UPGA and NNA could not save this country and will not help us at all.

Akintola formed the coalition with the Northern Peoples Congress, Awolowo formed the coalition with the NCNC. We had two mega political parties, the UPGA and NNA. It was a clear demonstration of the incompetence and ineptitude of the political leaders. It did not save us from gradually moving into a civil war. I want to appeal to all Nigerians that the way things are going, we are gradually moving towards disaster. We will continue opposing Jonathan until Jonathan by default becomes dictatorial in order to save his government. We will blame the opposition for forcing the Federal government to adopt methods that anybody in opposition would not like; they must hold themselves responsible. The President cannot fold his hands and watch the opposition destroy his government in the name of democracy. It is also democratic for an elected president to do everything possible to save the country from being thrown into chaos by the opposition. For every action begets a reaction. Every action by the opposition to destroy the government will stimulate a reaction from the government in order to contain the opposition.

Jonathan has had the greatest opposition from those who failed elections to those who want to stop him from contesting the election that he is entitled to. It is very clear that what is happening in this country is not governance the way it should be. Jonathan

streets, anywhere people gathered, you witness arguments and fightings, over nothing, because of the activities of our politicians.

Look at the number of people, that have been wasted or killed, how many of them are real politicians?

So many innocent lives are being lost daily and our politicians do not seem to care, the other day, one of them - Senator Abe - was hurt, the whole world was forced to take notice. He was flown abroad same day. The people are dying, while our politicians are smiling to the banks, who is the fool?

Sahara reporters tweeted Hon. Gbajabiamila on saturday 25th January, saying; " I have about 20 different allowances". When it comes to their allowances, the politicians forget the party, each one of them belong, they are all united - like cultists - in this.

This is a man who was ' dye in the wool' ACN and now APC, angling to be the majority leader amongst the representatives. Not one of them, has come out to appeal to their colleagues, to step down on the bleeding, the National Assembly is causing the nation, even career workers in both the government and private sectors, do not have half the number of allowances our politicians have appropriated to themselves.

It is time for us - the people - to see through the wool. If you follow these politicians without thinking, you will end up like the foolish fly, that followed the dead body to its grave. Let us not play the fool any more.

*Mr. Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.

Therefore all those who are gathering themselves into oppositions to stop Jonathan should ask themselves whether they have any other thing to offer Nigeria except to create opposition. Oppositions that buy members to carpet-cross from one party to the other make democracy unstable. Younger politicians who did not witness the events that led to the crisis in Western region, or the events that led to the Civil War, the events that led to Aburi Conference, should learn that we cannot relive unwholesome situations a second time within this generation.

Is Jonathan qualified to contest election in 2015? The answer is yes, he is qualified to contest. All those who are now moving into different unwholesome alliances just to make sure that Jonathan does not contest election should give us their manifestos, or what they will do for Nigeria if they succeed in removing Jonathan. Nigerians want to know. What will Buhari offer Nigeria other than gathering people together to stop Jonathan? Let me caution that stopping Jonathan from contesting election in 2015 does not make Buhari to win. Nigerians have seen how many people were slaughtered in the election results which Buhari refused to accept, and Nigerians are waiting for him to come out again. Only a fool will look at the destruction that followed his refusal to accept the result of the election and still go back to ask him to rule Nigeria. Let me make it very clear, whether anybody likes it or not, Jonathan is entitled to contest in 2015.

Jonathan will contest in 2015.

I also want to warn the PDP to put its house in order. Dumping the PDP and crossing over to an untested political party is not the alternative Nigerians are looking for. It is clear that inspite of the deliberate opposition created for Jonathan, Jonathan has continued to record major achievements.

And it is also clear that if Jonathan is given an opportunity to finish his eight years, he will create a great nation out of the crises that are being crafted for him.

,

is spending a lot of his time trying to contain unnecessary oppositions from people who lost to him. This is not my idea of genuine opposition.

L

et us look at the American system or even in the civilised world. When you lose an election you bid your time until an opportunity comes again, if you feel you should rule the country. General Buhari has not hidden his disdain for Jonathan since he lost the election to Jonathan, and the President would become a coward if he allows Buhari to pull him down without showing that he is the President. I appeal to all politicians to realise that when the politicians were fighting in the Western region, and when the UPGA and NNA emerged, we had two major mega parties that could not govern this country. We must not allow history to repeat itself. The various coalition groups whose stock-in-trade is to stop Jonathan create the impression that they have nothing to offer this country. The President, inspite of the opposition being mounted against him has tried to record major achievements. It is therefore clear to me that if people do not deliberately construct opposition to pull him down, if he has a free hand to run this country, Nigeria would be a much better place. All those who have deliberately gathered themselves into formidable opposition just to stop Jonathan, as if that is the only thing Nigeria needs, send the message to Nigerians that they have nothing new to offer Nigeria except to destroy the result of a democratic election.

Continues tomorrow on pg 18 *Prof. Ijomah, Wrote from the Centre for Policy Studies and Research, Asaba, Delta State.

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 53

54—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

PIB: Lawmakers admit to pressure from IOCs

BY GODWIN ORITSE

L

AWMAKERS in the House of Representatives, have admitted to being under pressure to scuttle the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, from International Oil Companies, IOCs, operating in the country. This will be the first public admission by the legislators as to why the PIB has remained at the National Assembly for about a decade.

Specifically, the House Committee on Environment, last week, promised to proceed with the passage of the bill notwithstanding pressures from the IOCs. The Committee, which made the disclosure at a public hearing on the Bonga oil spill said, “What you (IOCs) do to stop the passage of the bill will not stop us from passing the bill into law.”

The Committee Chairman, Mrs. Linda Ekwunife, accused Shell of leading the pressure against the passage of the bill, adding that the bill will be passed no matter what. The Committee’s declaration was quite comforting as Nigerians had begun to wonder why the legislators were dilly dallying on the passage of the bill into law.

The IOCs have constantly criticised the PIB, saying it is the “harshest in the world” because of the fiscal terms which require them to give up some more of their profits and give more money to the Federal Government to provide essential services for the people. The Chairman, Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, the trade group of the IOCs, Mr. Mark Ward, had predicted a sharp decline in current oil and gas production from 63 percent to about 25 percent.

Ward, who is also the Managing Director, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, said current fiscal proposals in the bill could translate to loss of investments of about $185 billion in new projects.

But the IOCs criticisms were last year set aside by the World Bank’s independent assessment of the

bill. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, the investment arm of the World Bank, declared the PIB as, “One of Nigeria’s most important pieces of legislation, because it proposes massive industry reform.”

The Fund, however, noted that the bill was “… at risk of being picked apart by opponents,” and added that it “… looked forward to an early passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, which would boost investment, government revenue, and fiscal transparency.”

Similarly, an industry consultant, Dr. Pedro van Meurs, had described the IOCs criticisms against the fiscal provisions in the bill as one induced by the desire to make more profit for their shareholders. Meurs, who incidentally is from the Netherlands, the home country of Shell, argued that there is nothing in the proposed law that will scuttle future investments in the industry.

He said, “There is no truth in the allegation that the PIB fiscal system is the harshest in the world or that it will halt investment. I have been advising governments all over the world for over 40 years, and I know that this is a battle whereby the oil companies will try to get out of the parliament the highest possible share.

So they make loud noise that maybe somebody out there might be listening to them. But the role of the government is to make sure that the country’s interest is protected by insisting on a fair share.

“I can tell you that for every one company that is planning to leave, I know of 50 new ones that are planning to come in once the door is open.” On the allegation that the fiscal system in Angola and other climes are friendlier than what is proposed under PIB, Van Meurs reeled out statistics of comparative government take to buttress his position. He stressed that “whereas the PIB allows investors in small fields to start deducting cost of production once production begins so that funds can be available for re-investment

in other fields, in Angola you can only do that from future productions. So tell me which is more investor friendly?”

He described the PIB as an industry friendly legislation which has a fair deal for the companies, the host communities and the government.

The Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCO, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe, could not react to the allegation of master-

minding oppositions against the PIB, but rather said that Shell could not discuss the issue of the Bonga oil spill because the case was in court. Recall that on December 20, 2011, an oil spill of more than 40,000 barrels occurred from the Bonga oil field operated

by SNEPCO, the production arm of the Nigerian unit of AngloDutch Shell Group.

The spill had resulted in an oil slick 115 miles (185 km) long off the Nigerian coast, widely report-

ed as “the worst spill in the area for a decade.” Incidents thereafter, probably made one of the Committee’s member, Akpan Micah Umoh, to criticise Shell, saying that the oil company’s attitude over time has been such that it can compromise the system to have its way.

He said, “Shell has been operating in the Niger Delta for over 50 years and it has taken time to study and understand our sensibilities and weaknesses. As such, Shell has perfected the art of deceiving us; it has perfected the art of buying one or two persons amongst us…”

L- r: Mr. Sri Krisman Ahuja, Chief Executive, Sunflag Group, Mrs. Joy Chinwokwu, Chief Executive Officer of Best of the World Promoting Fashion & Textile addressed guests during the Sunflag Group and Best of the World Business Forum with the theme, curbing the patronage of substandard school uniform products in Nigeria in Lagos

Anti-gay law: Nigeria accuses US, UK, others of double standards

T

HE Federal Government has accused western nations of double standards over a new law banning same-sex marriages in the country. Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri, said such criticisms stem from the “double standards” of the West.

Speaking to the News Agency

of Nigeria, NAN, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the just concluded AU summit, Ms. Onwuliri said President Jonathan signed the law in the interest of Nigerians and democracy.

She said, “What happened in Nigeria is democracy in action and it will really be unfortunate that people who are talking about

Boko Haram murdered 250 in Borno in 2 weeks

A

BOUT 250 people have been killed in Borno State alone within the last two weeks of renewed attacks and cold blooded killings by the Boko Haram sect. The high human casualty figure was first of such recorded deaths within a very short period in Nigeria since the year 2000 episode in the Niger Deltan village of Adeje in which a damaged oil pipeline exploded, killing more than 250 people.

The only difference between the Adeje episode and that of Borno was the time frame. Some residents even believe the Borno casualty figures could be higher.

“Some of the attacks may not have

been reported if they occurred in very remote locations, or did not carry a very significant number of casualties”, said Mr. Lawan Musa, an official of the CivilianJTF in Kawuri village.

The latest harvest of deaths happened early Friday morning when seven passengers travelling to Gwoza town in an 18-seater Toyota Hilux mass transit bus were killed after their vehicle got bombed by an explosive device believed to have been planted on the highway by the Boko Haram terrorists. It is not certain if three of the passengers who survived with serious injuries would eventually survive, as their situation was very critical in hospital.

democracy when they now see democracy work, they want us to go against democracy. Is democracy for pick and choose?

When it suits them they want us to do good governance and democracy, but when it does not suit them they want us to go against the democracy that has been put in place. The National Assembly took a decision, the National Assembly is the face of democracy in Nigeria, they are the representatives of the people, they form the voice of the people and they have spoken.”

The European Union, Canada and the United States have criticised the new law, saying it negates the fundamental human rights of individuals enshrined in the Nigeria constitution.

On the situation in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, the minister said Nigeria strongly backs the AU and regional groups’ role in demanding the return of peace and stability in the regions.

“Nigeria has taken a position on the need for peaceful resolutions in conflict situations in Africa, safety of lives and property and ensuring that women and children are safe in conflict areas,” she said.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 —55 YOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 TAURUS: Although matters-of-the-heart may give you cause to smile broadly, if care is not taken, you would cause friction that can’t help you r case at work. This is the wrong time for unnecessary scheming within your working arena.

GEMINI: Those of your who are red-blooded for romance may have an exciting and satisfying day. Happenings within your social circles must be taken more seriously.

CANCER: Confrontation may come your way in the circle but the heavens are working favourably for you. Some doses of romance is not too much for you on a day like this.

LEO: Provided you don’t allow your innate ability to be as diplomatic as necessary desert you, things work favourably for you to the betterment of your finances.

VIRGO: Many of you will be in sentimental mood and exhibit strong romantic desire openly. But then, if care is not taken, you may be carried away to the detriment of your finances. Serious minded lovers are in for happy day.

THOUGHT FOR TODA Y TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

S

O you are … alive? All the suicide bombing of last year did not consume you: What about the economic hardship? All the retrenchment of last year did not affect

A New Beginning (2) you? What about the business you started part-time, did I hear you say it is now a full time business? Fine! Inspite of the chal-

lenges of last year you are still alive.

There must be a reason why the author of the universe still keeps you alive. Find out why.

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”

Ask yourself what kind of result do I want to achieve this year? Why did I not make it last year? What lessons can I take with me and invest it in my new project?

Where and what can I improve on?

By Lanre Kehinde

LIBRA: Whatever anybody says or does, you will have both your say and way. Venus and Jupiter may tempt some of you to embrace illicit (or secret) romance within your base of operation.

SCORPIO: Venus and Jupiter at positive angles may tempt you to join some of your friends who are already onboard of merry making train. Watch your health.

SAGITTARIUS: Good luck will smile at many and induce love of luxury merry making and romantic liason. Genuine lovers will need to be on guard against deceit from new admirers.

CAPRICORN: Both financial success and emotional satisfaction are closed to you than before. Those of you travelling because of maters-of-the-heart are in for an exciting romantic day Those ambitious career-wise will succeed after few struggles.

AQUARIUS: Many members of your opposite sex will go out of their ways to attract your romantic interest. This is the wrong time to engage on unnecessary argument.

PISCES: If you priority is love, much of it would come your way as desired. But here is a better day for more ambitious in the business world. Don’t allow anybody to deceive you over money.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

ARIES: Those of you with secret admirers within your working area will have the needed opportunities to make the needed moves. Resist the temptation to deceive others.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

What’s my horoscope Dear Joshua, I am a middle aged lady born on September 13, 1962. Although I am fairly successful, I want you to give me my comprehensive horoscope, especially what my special gift is.

Which day of the week was I born? Where were my natal planets and their meanings? Who am I? Ganiyatu, Jos. Dear Ganiyatu, There is no space for comprehensive horoscope but what you’ll have here -under is answer to your questions/ You were born on a Thursday and your special gift is LEADERSHIP quality.

YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA Date of Birth: Thursday, September 13, 1962 Sun Sign: Virgo: Sun in 20th Degree of Virgo Moon Sign: PISCES: Moon on 10th Degree of Pisces Mercury in 16th Degree of Libra Venues in 5th Degree of Scorpio Mars in 13th Degree of Cancer Jupiter in 6th Degree of Pisces Saturn in 5th Degree of Aquarius Uranus in 2nd Degree of Virgo Neptune in 11th Degree of Scorpio Pluto in 10th Degree of Virgo North Node in 6th Degree of Leo South Node in 6th Degree of Aquarius Quality and Element Cardinal and air star signs hosted two planets each fixed and earth three each, no planet in fire while mutable and water star signs hosted five planets each.

Push-full influence = 20% Non- push-full element = 80% Final dispositor = Lucky Jupiter General Analysis Just 20 per cent of push-full influence in your chart can deceptively present you to others as a soft (or even timid) person but practical Virgo that hosted nothing less than three heavenly bodies when you were born and Astrological aspects between Mercury (mental focus) and aggressive Mars in you r chart are pointers to the contrary.

Yes! You are highly intelligent and your mind works the same way detective’s minds do. It is true, there are little contradictions between your inner self and your emotional being as indicated quality, water element and Virgo characteristics.

One moment, you can be very emotional, exhibiting temper with stinging tongue but a few hour later you are amiable, easy going, friendly and compassionate. You are the adaptable type who will see changes as sources of good opportunities.

LEADERSHIP quality is one of your greatest gifts from God. placement of your natal sun (basic-selfhood) and moon (your emotional being) in Virgo and Pisces respectively mean that characteristics of both Virgo and Pisces are highly pronounced in your inner-self.

VIRGINIA

HOME & ABROAD

dadadekola@yahoo.com

By Lawrence Akapa

56—Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Oyo: I am leader, without me PDP is finished — Alao-Akala FORMER Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State is a strong pillar of the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State and beyond. Though he lost his re-election quest he was not disgraced as Oyo State became the only state in the Southwest region to return a PDP senator and members of the House of Representatives in 2011.

In this interview in Ibadan, he addresses issues on the PDP structure in Oyo, his political future and his position in Oyo politics. Excerpts:

BY OLA AJAYI

I

Participatory leadership Most of those who have defected are not those who can contest election constitutionally with the exception of my brother in Kwara. Those who have defected would come back.

Why were you not at the Oyo PDP stakeholders’ meeting hosted by former Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide(SAN). Did you have any reservation against the meeting?

No, I don’t have anything against the meeting. It is only that I enjoy participatory leadership where everybody would be involved in moving the party forward. So, if you feel some people who were expected to be there were not there, so be it.

Some of your loyalists like Dr. Saka Balogun were there. Did you send him to represent you?

No, I can’t send an adult to that kind of meeting. He is an adult, he knows what to do.

Does that mean you were not represented at the meeting?

I did not need to be represented there. I just said I believe in participatory leadership. everybody is free to

•Adebayo Akala••• If I leave no one would remain do what they like. I am not a dictator.

Another meeting has been fixed for that same venue. Will you be there.

Where?

At Chief Akinjide’s residence.

I don’t know. If I am around, may be.

Do you belong to Chief Bode George’s faction in the party.

I don’t belong to any faction. I don’t encourage factions. I am in PDP and I am not in any faction.

What do you mean by a faction?

I am a PDP man. Chief Bode George has not got any faction.

Chief Bode George is above that kind of thing. Anybody who tells you that is a mischief maker.

There is nothing like that. I know Chief Bode George and Chief Akinjide are above that kind of thing.

But there is a group that is loyal to Buruji Kashamu.

(Cuts in….) what do you mean a group is loyal to Kashamu. You can’t be loyal to an individual but should be loyal to your party. I am loyal to PDP and that is all. I can’t be loyal to an individual. I will never be above the PDP. What you should have done is that you should have interviewed some state chairmen and let them say they are loyal to Kashamu.

Loyalty should go to PDP. That is what I said. So, what do you

mean some people are loyal to Kashamu. What makes somebody a politician? It is just joining a political party. It is how useful you are to that system. Would Kashamu go to Ekiti and vote there or would he come to Oyo and vote here?

Many people assume that the structure of the PDP in this state has been given to Teslim Folarin You don’t know what you are saying. You are being mischievous. If you are not being mischievous, am I not here in Oyo State? If I leave the PDP today, would anybody remain in the party? Why are you deceiving yourselves? We know who is who in Oyo State. If they asked you to ask that question, it is wrong.

But, it is the reality on ground (Cuts in…) what is the reality on ground? Am I out of the state?

Where did you see everybody that you did not see me.

But, recently, Dr. Saka Balogun said the names of people you sent to Abuja were removed.

I am not complaining. Did you hear me complain? Dr. Balogun is older than I in every respect.

So, he knows what he is saying.

He was talking in his own capacity like Dr. Saka Balogun which he is entitled to. He is an elder and one of the leaders of this party. You people (media)

cause problems when there is no problem. We know ourselves and our limits. If some of us are not talking on pages of newspapers because of our experience, age and position, it is not that we are stupid. But, we don’t just want things to deteriorate. If you give big head to someone who has a small body, you would just make him collapse.

Can you confirm whether you would be contesting the 2015 gubernatorial election as we have seen posters to that effect.

If yes, on what platform?

,

T seems as if the PDP is waking up after the crisis instigated by the controversies around Bamanga Tukur.

Yes, the new national chairman of the PDP is an experienced man who will take the party to the next level. It is just like a footballer who is put on a reserve bench watching others play.

When he is eventually brought on to the pitch, he would play like a coach. The man has been brought in to do damage control which I believe he is going to do effectively. He has started. He knows what to do. He knows how to tackle it. PDP will be there.

What is happening now is normal especially when elections are drawing near. It is not new to people like us.

Do you have confidence in his ability to bring back those who have left the party?

Oh yes. It may not be all them.

He would bring back some of them.

When we get to the bridge, we shall cross it.

Some people are looking at you as the leader of the PDP in this state….

What do you mean by some people? When you came in here, you saw many people here. By the grace of God, I was once a governor of this state. There is no way they would talk about this state without my name being mentioned. You cannot take that from me. Not that some people are saying I am the leader. I am the leader of the party in this state.

But you still romance with Senator Rashidi Ladoja who is the leader of Accord. There was a time that a committee was set up by the two of you?

Do you want to say that because I am a PDP man, I should not relate with my former boss? PDP is how many years old now and since when have I been in good relationship with Senator Ladoja.

Would you support another candidate if PDP presents another gubernatorial candidate?

You heard what the national chairman of the party said that internal democracy would be observed. If you heard that why then are you asking me hypothetical questions?

So, if the primary comes up today, you are sure of securing the ticket of the party.

I am a politician. I don’t have to tell you my tactics. If I tell you, it means I am selling away my joker.

Are you aware of a poster in Ibadan that contains your

,

If it were possible for those who voted me in 2007 to get me there, it is also possible for them to get them out in 2015

Where do you want me to start from. Posters are beyond me. If you love me, you know what you want me to do. You can as well put posters. It is my admirers who pasted those posters. I have not been in Ibadan for quite sometime. I was in Abuja, so there is no way I could have done it.

But there is one thing about the posters, they are not printed in the same colour. That means they emanated from different groups.

When the time comes, we shall sit down and discuss it. We are yet to sit down and agree on it. I want to follow due process.

picture and that of Ladoja with the inscription two wrongs don’t make a right?

That poster is insulting to the two of us. You don’t need to put our pictures. That is very wrong and that is part of what we are trying to correct. Address issues, don’t attack personality. It is only because of my position. I don’t want to be seen as causing the breach of peace in Oyo State. If not, why should somebody put our pictures with such inscription? I didn’t use my

Continues on page 57

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014—57

Lobby for confab delegates intensifies

•Akala: Accord is mishievous to reserve Senate ticket for me

Oyo: I am leader, without me PDP is finished — Alao-Akala Continues from page 56 posters to abuse anybody.

But, there is counter one that says, two good heads are better than one.

Those people who counter it don’t know how to go about it and I am not ready to incite anyone.

They thought they should respond and that it what they did. I did not send anybody to defend me because that has become personal. They should have allowed us to see what steps we should take. We should play politics without bitterness.

Look at the people that did my poster, they sent the message out. “Ajumobi o kan taanu, eni Olorun ba ran si ni ni s’eni loore” meaning (coming from the same parental background does not qualify one getting favour but help comes from someone who is God sent). Nobody abused anybody. It is food for thought.

People have been pondering over it.

But, somebody bears that name Uuuuhhhn. No. that is not the name o. Those who call him that name do not know what they are saying. Those who printed the posters are speaking to Yoruba for Yoruba people to understand and we have understood.

Towards the end of last year, you went to Oyo town to see the Alaafin of Oyo. Were you able to meet him?

That is a forgone issue. I have over-flogged it. Don’t let us go back to it. Papa belongs to all of us. Nobody can have monopoly of him. He is not papa of Oyo alone, he is our father.

In the spirit of reconciliation, how do you think factions in the PDP can be brought together to make the party more formidable.

When the time comes, we will all come together, we will

reconcile those who are reconcilable, and those who feel they are bigger than the PDP would be allowed to go.

You say it with emphasis that PDP will win the governorship election in this state. How do you think this is possible bearing in mind that when you were the governor, it was this same party that defeated you in the 2011 elections?

If it were possible for those who voted me in 2007 to get me there, it is also possible for them to get them out in 2015. Don’t forget the fact that the stronger our democracy, the more educated are the electorate. It is not yet time for campaign.

In the state, APC is ruling..

Cuts in…..People are even confused about the name. How many times they have changed names now.

Peaceful atmosphere They were AD, AC, ACN and APC. Can you remember? And some people just joined them saying they are ANPP, CPC and so on.

What do you think the ruling party is not doing right now that can be corrected?

You want me to tell them? No, leave them, let them continue to fumble. We don’t want to tell them. We have not started campaigning. Let them blow the whistle.

How do you think violence can be avoided in the 2015 elections?

If you allow violence as a leader, I don’t know who you want to govern. We shall continue to talk to our people to be peaceful. It is in peaceful atmosphere that we can get things which are wrong corrected.

We learnt that a senatorial

ticket has been reserved for you in Accord. Is it true?

People say it in Yoruba that, I don’t want is superior to I gave you. If they are not so mischievous, why should they reserve ticket for me? I have said it several times that I don’t belong to Accord and I can never become an Accord member. Can’t people just take simple no?. I can never go to Accord.

What party can you go to?

I will not go to any party. I am a loyal member to PDP. Irrespective of what happens, PDP remains my party. It is the party that made me what I am today. Why then would I abandon it? I can never do that. If PDP made somebody like me, it would not like losing somebody like me.

People say that your aides like Prince Dotun Oyelade have moved over to Accord to prepare the ground for you?

They are not my aides.

You mean now?

Even before. They were not my aides.

Even Prince Oyelade?

Dotun has never been my political associate. He only worked for me as a professional journalist.

Can we refer to those in Accord now as your lost political children?

They were never my political children. They were employed by me and they have gone there for another employment. Don’t you know that in every government, there are those we call technocrats who are always looking for money. They have applied to that place and they have employed them.

Like prodigal son, if they come back for re-employment. Would you consider them?

I would consider their applications based on merit.

Continues from page 5 should go there and insist on the terms of association of Ndigbo with other nationalities as articulated by the Prof Nwabueze–led Igbo Leaders of Thought. “The Igbo predicament in Nigeria is a challenge to the conscience of all ethnic nationalities and geo-political zones or Regions in Nigeria.

It is a moral wound, inflicted over a long time by injustice, that must be cured. What is important is the quality of Ndigbo representation and that is why Igbo Leaders of Thought are going ahead to complete the task of articulating the Igbo position. There is nothing absolutely sacrosanct as to how an existing Constitution may be replaced by a new one.”

Obi Thompson advised that “although nobody should go to the conference to seek dissolution of Nigeria, it should be emphasized that the right of self determination is a fundamental sacred human right.

The Conference should therefore be about discussing conditions whereby it is attractive for each stakeholder to happily and freely exercise this right within the framework of one sovereign Nigerian nation.”

On selection of South-East delegates, Obi Thompson said “nobody is contesting the collectively cherished ideal of Ndigbo speaking with one voice through Ohanaeze” but since the issue of leadership of Ohanaeze appeared currently subjudice, a better approach might be a conciliatory process whereby all other socio-political cum cultural groups come together with all factions within Ohanaeze for the purpose of selecting their delegates.

On Igbo support for President Jonathan, he said: “If the Conference successfully gives birth to a new Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Jonathan would have built for himself a formidable and appreciative constituency across the length and breadth of Nigeria whose support will overwhelm the combined opposition of APC and PDP and sweep him into land slide second term victory.

The President should note that our objective is to ensure that he succeeds in this undertaking. If he achieves this, he becomes the undisputed father of modern Nigeria, thus sharing the same spot of honour in our history as accorded to Sir Herbert Macauley and Rt. the Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as the genuine protagonists and patriots of a true and sincere One Nigeria.”

This is another jamboree –Tsav

Speaking on the confab in Makurdi, the Benue State Capital, former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, said it is “another jamboree by the federal government that would serve

no useful purpose.”

According to him, the conference will serve as a conduit pipe for wastage and siphoning of the nation’s scarce resources.

His words: “The proponents of the conference are only doing it to distract Nigerians from the avalanche of challenges that we face as a people. As far as I’m concerned, the conference is a misplaced priority. The critical problem facing the country and derailing its growth and development is nothing but corruption which is the reason why we are all lamenting and crying in this country.

“How can anyone suggest the convocation of another conference in Nigeria when the recommendations of previous ones that were held by past governments in this country have not been implemented. The bane of the development, peace and progress of this country is corruption, if this is tackled every other thing will fall into place.

“How can a government that encourages high level corruption convince Nigerians that it is sincere with its policies and programmes when we all know that people who have been declared wanted for corruption charges are being daily celebrated by this administration. As far as I am concerned, the Jonathan’s conference will not be different from the previous ones, nothing new will come out of it. In fact, it will provide a basis for looting and another reason for wastage and drainage of the nation’s scarce resources.”

Ex-minister advocates six-year single term Ahead of the conference, former Minister of Science and Technology, General Sam Momah, has advocated for a six-year single term in office for the president and governors.

Noting that after every four years the government spends huge sums of tax payers’ money to conduct elections at the expense of the needed socio-economic development by the people, he said apart from huge costs of conducting the elections, the “ four-year term does not give any executive enough room to complete or conclude any programme it starts. In Africa, no incumbent loses an election, even though it happens, it is difficult, because he makes sure he spends state money to win that election. So, if he knows he has a single term he does his best and leaves.”

He further stated that issues the national conference would address had overtaken the constitution amendment by the National Assembly, since the constitution amendment was temporal, but he urged the National Assembly to continue with what they were doing as it was their assignment."

58 — V anguard Vanguard anguard,, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

NEWS BRIEF

Protests mar Thai polls

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UN tasks Nigeria, Cameroon on terrorism, cross-border crimes

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE, Abuja

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HE United Nations Security Council has tasked Nigeria and Cameroon to tighten their border posts against cross-border crimes, terrorism and maritime piracy to actualize the ultimate goal of the Greentree agreement between them.

The Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations for West Africa, Said Djinnit, made the call during the weekend at the opening ceremony of the 32nd Session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, CNMC held in Abuja.

The UN envoy, said it is imperative for both countries to enhance cross-border confidence building measures that address the well being of the populations affected by the judgement of

Ukraine's opposition demands change

U

•The Flag Officer Commanding Naval Training Command Rear Admiral Goddy Anyankpele presenting a sourvenier to the Director of Training Ghana Navy Captain Emmanuel Kwafo during a courtesy call on the FOC in Lagos on Wednesday. the International Court of Justice in October 10, 2002.

Djinnit also called on Nigerian and Cameroonian governments to intensify their fight

against the scourges of cross-border and organised crime, terrorism and maritime piracy within their territory.

The Envoy, who com-

Egyptian court frees pro-Morsi protesters

A

court in Egypt has acquitted more than 60 supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi who were arrested during a violent protest last year.

Judges also cleared a cameraman working for the broadcaster AlJazeera.

The men, most of whom have links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, had been accused of attempted murder and rioting following deadly clashes in Cairo.

They were demonstrating against Mr Morsi’s removal from power by the military in July

S/Sudan rebels accuse govt forces of violating cease fire

S

OUTH Sudanese rebels accused government forces yesterday of razing the hometown of their leader Riek Machar, violating a ceasefire, and said the army was drawing support from foreign fighters now in the country.

Rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said government SPLA forces and fighters from the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement - a rebel group from north of the border - had destroyed the northern town of Leer on Saturday, massacring women and children as they fled.

An army spokesman said he had not received any reports of fighting in Leer, where the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said

LECTIONS in Thailand passed off peace fully yesterday , but anti-government protesters made their presence felt in the voting, blockading polling stations across the country.

Polling was disrupted in about a fifth of the country’s constituencies, but no major violence was reported, despite armed clashes between supporters and opponents of embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Voting ended yesterday but no results will be announced. Further voting is already scheduled for February 23 after problems with advance polling last Sunday, while the ballot in some southern areas may not happen for weeks.

last week more than 200 of its staff had been forced to flee because of growing insecurity.

2013.

Egypt’s first democratically elected president is currently facing four separate trials on various charges.

Islamists have staged regular protests demanding his reinstatement, but have been met with a heavy crackdown in which hundreds have died.

The interim government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation and arrested thousands of its members since last year.

mended the two countries for their commitment in ensuring a peaceful completion of the transfer process in Bakassi that was concluded in August 14, 2013, in accordance with the terms of Greentree Agreement, said he was delighted by the remarkable cooperation displayed by Cameroon and Nigeria to fight against the scourge of organised crime, terrorism and maritime piracy.

“The United nations encourages the two countries to further strengthen this cooperation with a view to ensuring an integrated, coordinated, and pragmatic approach to deal with transnational threat affecting the region,” he said.

Abike-Dabiri seeks closer Nigeria, Ghana ties

BY EMEKA AGINAM

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HE Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Hon Abike DabiriErewa has advocated Nigeria-Ghana educational partnership.

Abike-Dabiri who stated this during her committee’s visit to Nigerian High Commission in Ghana last week stated that there was need for more synergy between the two countries for the development of West African subregion.

While frowning at the

way Nigerian business men are being treated in the country especially the issue of $1 million required for the opening of business by foreigners, she noted that Nigerians should be treated fairly considering the immense contribution of the country to Ghana.

She commended the interventionist effort of the Nigerian ambassador to the country, Ambassador Ademola Oluseyi Onafowokan, who she said has been proactive in responding to fusillade of complaints by Nigerians.

Accompanies by other

members of the committee including Honourable Hon Innocent Tirsel, Hon Akinlaja Joseph and Hon Khabeeb, the lawmaker, during courtesy call to the University of Ghana’s Vice Chancellor, while appreciating the academic excellence of the University of Ghana, said the citadel of learning has distinguished itself in learning and character hence the intellectual gravitational pull to the university from African nations, not only by African best students, but also best brains all over the world.

KRAINE’S embattled president an nounced he would return to work after four days’ sick leave, as protesters filled Kiev’s main square on Sunday demanding he give up power.

Opposition leaders, addressing the crowd on their return home from meeting European and U.S. officials, said they hoped for international mediation in negotiations with the government and for constitutional change to limit presidential power.

Calling for a complete change of leadership after weeks of crisis that have divided the country and set the West against Yanukovich’s Russian allies, opposition figures who attended a security conference in Munich told supporters they would secure international economic aid if they were able to take power.

Afghans begin campaign amid violence

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AMPAIGNING for the presidential elec tions in Afghanistan has begun, stained by the deaths of two aides for the front-runner in a gun attack.

The men, working for for Doctor Abdullah Abdullah, were killed in the Western province of Herat.

The attack follows an attempted assassination last month on Mohammad Ismail Khan, a vice presidential candidate for Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and former water and energy minister.

In Kabul yesterday, billboards began appearing as the candidates prepared their first campaign conferences.

Israeli minister attacks Kerry over boycott warnings

U

S Secretary of State John Kerry is holding a gun to Israel’s head in peace talks with the Palestinians by warning it could face international isolation if negotiations failed, a senior Israeli cabinet minister said yesterday.

The remarks by Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed recent accusations by Israel’s defense minister that Kerry was being “messianic” in his pursuit of a peace deal.

At a Munich security forum on Saturday, Kerry touched a nerve in Israel by pointing to “an increasing de-legitimization” campaign building up against it internationally and “talk of boycotts” if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not end.

US denies Syria’s claims of direct talks

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ASHINGTON denied has claims by Syr ia’s foreign minister that American diplomats had sought to negotiate directly with their Syrian counterparts at last week’s ‘Geneva 2’ peace conference in Switzerland.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States had offered to connect with Syrian officials “on a staff level” through the United Nations and Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 59

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Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

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Of green jerseys, Ejike’s resurrection and a glorious bronze

,

regret the day I met Nicodemus.

This young man is simply impossible.

No sooner had the Eagles walked out against Morocco in white jersey than Nicodemus rang me. I ignored him. He rang again and again and finally resorted to sending a text. “………Oga Paul, we should not have worn white. We should not. We will not win this match. We should have worn green ” I remember taking Nicodemus through the exploits of the Eaglets in Abu Dhabi and how the colour of their jersey did not matter, yet Nicodemus was not convinced. He ended up saying that “perhaps” at the junior level it does not matter.

Nicodemus was at it again. He has no respect for the concept of ‘home’ and ‘away’ teams. For him no matter what happens, Nigerian officials should always insist on wearing green jerseys whether they are home or away.

The match started and before you could say…

CHAN, we were three goals down!

What annoyed Nicodemus most was not that we were three goals down, but that I refused to pick his calls. He resorted to sending text messages at the speed of light, one of which read. “ Oga Bassey pick my calls please. Try and reach Keshi, if there is any excuse they can muster to change to green in the second half, they will come back……”

To cut a very long story short, the Eagles did not change to green, they came out and won at extra time and all efforts to reach Nicodemus proved abortive…….Now he is the one that did not pick my calls.

On Saturday, I called Nicodemus again, this time after we had lost to Ghana wearing green jerseys! I just hope that others like Nicodemus would have been cured of the senseless belief that anything but determination, attitude and ability wins matches.

Against Ghana we were not just good enough.

Many have tried to justify why. Some say we were muscled and bulldozed, others claim Morocco left us weak and deflated…..whatever, we lost to a side that was hungrier.

That we could not, for over one hour neutralize a team that was numerically inferior was not very complimentary. And to prove that our helplessness against Ghana was no “fluke” we were presented

I just hope that others like Nicodemus would have been cured of the senseless belief that anything but determination, attitude and ability wins matches

the same “gift” against Zimbabwe, yet we had to labour for about an hour before we were saved the agony of facing another set of penalties with Agbim in goal…….

Let us not talk about penalties here. We were awful. After watching the final match between Libya and Ghana I drew certain conclusions. One, that if the Ghanaians were so good at taking penalties, how come the Libyan keeper kept them at bay? (Nabduala it will be recalled saved two penalties and converted one against Zimbabwe ) Perhaps I should also talk about the Ghanaian goalkeeper who also contribute so much in giving his side hope by attempting and saving penalties…….

I have been asked again and again, was CHAN worth it?……I do not know about other countries, but CHAN is the best thing to have happened to our domestic league. That we did not qualify in the first two editions did not drive the message home to us. Now that we ‘ve gone there……. to get Bronze at first attempt, I cannot wait for our league to com-

Elegbeleye wants Eagles to focus on World Cup T

HE Director General of the National Sports Commission, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye has told the Super Eagles team that won the bronze medal of the just concluded Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) to put the competition behind them and focus more on the Brazil 2014 World Cup that would kick off in June.

He harped on good preparations as well as selection of best legs for the Eagles to achieve success in the World Cup. Elegbeleye has tasked the team to use the World Cup as a better avenue to prove their worth and to make Nigerians happy. He also commended them for not coming back home empty handed as

TUSSTLE . . . Super Eagles Abubakar Ibrahim vies for the ball with Peter Moyo of Zimbabwe during their 2014 CAF African Nations Championships 3rd/4th playoff at Cape Town Stadium.

they did well to beat Zimbabwe 1-0 to clinch the bronze medal of the CHAN 2014 competition. He also expressed happiness over a member of the team, Ejike Uzoenyi who emerged

,

Most Valuable Player of the competition just like Kelechi Iheanacho who won same award in the last U- 17 World Cup held in United Arab Emirates last year October.

T

HE Inspector Gen eral of Police Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar visited and trained with Nigeria Badminton players who were preparing for the 9th edition of the Uganda International Badminton tournament scheduled to take place on 20th-23rd of February in Lugogo Indoor stadium, Uganda.

The IG who is a former national badminton player as well as an ex-board member of Nigeria Football Association, NFA, promised to continue to support the players so that they can gain enough points that will qualify them for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. ”If we engage the youths especially through sports, we have done one great thing, which is taking them away from the streets and is a very good factor in creating better leaders of tomorrow” Also on Sunday, Abuja badminton club donated

mence, wait for the fierce competition between clubs, between players who now know that apart from their clubs going continental, there also exists the possibility of getting a CHAN call up and with it an opportunity of show casing one’s talent on a continental shop window.

There also exists a lot of arguments as to whether we took the best there is in the domestic league to South Africa. Maybe not Agbim. I also know that at a time Kwambe was a regular on Keshi’s list he was nowhere on the starting eleven of Sunshine Stars!

Benjamin Francis of Heartland is even worse......not for his club duties, as long as he is a national team regular......

However, What ever the arguments are, I remember that in the previous two editions when perhaps we had taken the “best”, we ended up not qualifying, so we can only thank Coach Keshi for this singular effort and achievement. It can only get better.

Finally, did the competition offer Keshi World Cup alternatives? People rush to mention Ejike Ozuenyi. God bless him. How can I forget that terrible fall and the look on the face of his colleagues who rushed in to see whether he was still breathing?

More worrisome for me was to see him rushing back to the field minutes later…….thanking God that he is still alive to reap from a very productive championship for self and country.

But Ejike has always been around…..Benjamin…..

Kwambe….Agbim….they are as old as Keshi’s exploits in the Nations Cup and World Cup. Perhaps this competition has only helped to prove that a lot still needs be done at the domestic level to challenge the rising profile of our foreign armada who gratefully have stepped up their activity level in Europe in the last three weeks.

We thank God for CHAN ( We nearly came back after the first round) we salute the team and welcome them back home with the credible bronze. As one of my friends will say “at all at all na him bad” For Keshi, too bad that he cannot go on break. As Blatter perhaps told him in South Africa, “….see you in Brazil” …..where the Real Thing waits. Brazil will not be ‘moi-moi’ I swear.

See you next week.

IG boosts National Badminton Team •Ahead of Uganda Championship

a set of jersey and badminton equipment to the national team ahead of the Ugandan tournament. The chairman Abuja badminton club, Abubakar Isa said it is their way of supporting the Nigeria Badminton Federation, NBF. ”We are trying to promote badminton in Nigeria and we feel we should start with the national team.” Isa added.

President of NBF, Justice Danlami Senchi who was on hand to receive the donations, thanked the donors especially the IG for helping to promote badminton in Nigeria and assured that Nigeria will qualify for 2016 Olympics. ”We want to thank the IG as well as the Abuja badminton club for their support, we hope we’ll also get the support of the

•Abubakar sports ministry. Our aim is to gain enough points that will help our players qualify for the Olympics.”

Senchi concluded.

National badminton captain Olaoluwa Fagbemi said the team hopes to win at least four gold medals in Uganda.

Organisers say 16 teams have confirmed participation in the championship, that will see 64 players taking part in different categories.

Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 61

Anichebe: I did Everton a favour W

CONTEST: Dumte Pyagbara of Nigeria gets to the ball ahead of Partson Jaure of Zimbabwe during their match on February 1.

NSC warns federations over competitions T

HE Director of Sports Federation and Elite Athletes Department (FEAD) of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba has warned sports federations to desist from entering for international competitions without the approval of the NSC. He stated that the NSC’s endorsement was required for Sports Federations to enroll for international competitions, describing the action of some federations that enter for such competitions without the knowledge and endorsements of the Commission as ‘’wrong and a breach of established sporting procedure.”

Dr. Ojo-Oba said the Commission frowns at this attitude and would henceforth consider sanctions for erring federations.

Dr. Ojo-Oba spoke in the light of the controversy that has trailed the camping of Nigeria’s volleyball team, which is preparing for an international competition.

“The Commission is unaware that that they were

going for any competition.

As at today, we do not have any written request for funds from them.

“These include available funding, sports development goals, rating of the team and others,” he said.

“Federations should not

CHAN to the World Cup in Brazil and Uzoenyi believes that they merit to be in the squad to Brazil.

The Enugu Rangers C M Y K

Man City vs Chelsea

Mourinho taunts Pellegrini

Pellegrubu (l) with Mourinho

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OSE Mourinho has reignited a simmering rivalry with Manuel Pellegrini by mocking the Manchester City manager ’s faux pas in the Champions League earlier in the season, when the Chilean failed to realise that his side could have topped their group with a single goal.

Uzoenyi in line for World Cup — Keshi E

XCEPT the unexpected happens, Super Eagles and Enugu Rangers winger Ejike Uzoenyi is one of the players who will form part of Nigeria’s 2014 World Cup squad.

The performance of the striker in the just concluded African Nations Championship in South Africa, where he was declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament has placed the striker in pole position to make the Stephen Keshi World Cup squad.

In a chat with reporters

Uzoenyi Continues from BP

just wake up and say they are participating in international competitions.

When they enter for such competitions, it is under the banner of Nigeria and so the Commission, which is the premier sports agency in the country, should be fully aware to give approval. This is essential for proper planning.”

EST Bromwich Albion striker Victor Anichebe has revealed that he was instructed to score in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool yesterday by a former Everton teammate.

The 25-year-old came off the bench to rescue a point for the Baggies this afternoon, cancelling out Daniel Sturridge’s first-half effort.

Consequently, the Reds hold just a two-point lead over the Toffees in the race for Champions League qualification, and Anichebe - who spent seven years at Goodison Park - admits that he is happy to dent their European ambitions for his old club.

He told reporters: “It’s always nice to score and I was itching to get on.

I had a text from one of the Everton players to say do us a favour against Liverpool.”

The strike was Anichebe’s second of the season.

International player also promised that the MVP gong would not distract him as he plans to ride on his success in South Africa to global recognition in Brazil if selected

by Stephen Keshi.

after the bronze winning effort of the Super Eagles in Cape Town, Keshi said, “I can safely say this is Ejike’s tournament and I thank God for him.”

Keshi was asked at the mixed zone after the match against Zimbabwe to review the performance of the Rangers striker in the tournament.

The coach admitted Ejuke towered above

others despite the unfortunate semi final loss to Ghana, and he said, “Ejike did wonderfully well. He made the tournament look like his project and his efforts have been acknowledged by all.”

Although the coach said he would not disclose the names of the players who will make the World Cup squad, he assured that he would be happy if the

Egwuekwe, Kwambe Continues from BP because nothing has been concluded. “No, I can’t disclose the names of the clubs because talks are still in progress,” he retorted.

Likewise, his team mate and a co-defender Solomon Kwambe did not travel with the rest of the bronze-winning team to Nigeria for same reasons.

Although he would not talk to reporters, Kwambe was said to have several offers from clubs in South Africa, Europe and Canada. He told Sports Vanguard in Bloemfontein after the defeat to Ghana that he was considering an offer from a Canadian club but pointed out that nothing had been concluded for now.

petite forward w makes the World Cup squad, all things being equal.

“He has done well, but there is room for improvement. I hope he makes the squad,” Keshi prayed.

Uzoenyi, Ali, Kunle make CAF’s best XI

T

HREE Local Ea gles stars, Ejike Uzoneyi, Rabiu Ali and Odunlami Kunle made the CAF’s best XI of the just concluded African Nations Championship.

Also, Black Stars trio, -Joshua Tijani, Jordan Opoku and Siedu Bansey also made the list.

Another set of three Ghana players- Stephen Adams, Yahaya Mohammed and Abeiku Ainooson-were named in the substitutes.

Tijani who played in all six matches as leftback and captain Opoku was influential in midfield.

City, who play Chelsea in a crunch encounter at the top of the Premier League tonight, were leading Bayern Munich 3-2 in Germany in December and would have qualified as group winners on goal difference had they added a fourth.

However, Pellegrini has since apologised for being unaware of the mathematical permutations, bringing on Jack Rodwell in the closing stages of the match.

City lead Chelsea by three points and have a far superior goal difference but have been drawn against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. Mourinho, who succeeded Pellegrini as manager of Real Madrid in 2010 and irked the South American with his zealous celebrations after Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over City earlier in the campaign, claimed the Manchester club would not be regarded as a great side until they had triumphed in Europe.

“They won one title, they won a couple of cups. Only in Europe they didn’t do well.

Speaking objectively they did very bad in the Champions League in previous seasons, also in the Europa League they did bad,” said Mourinho.

“The first thing to be successful in Europe is to know the rules of the competition, that’s the first thing.”

62 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

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Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 — 63

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VANGUARD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014

Today’s Fixtures

Brazil: Home Eagles deserve more shirts — Uzoenyi

Man City Villarreal Genoa

V V V

Arsenal West Brom

2 1

Atalanta Catania Chievo Sassuolo

3 3 0 0

Elche Betis

1 2

Chelsea Osasuna Sampdoria Results EPL Palace Liverpool Serie A Napoli Livorno Lazio Verona La Liga Almeria Espanyol

9pm 10pm 8.45pm 0 1 0 3 2 2 0 0

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OST Valuable Player, MVP, of the just concluded African Nations Championship, CHAN, Ejike Uzoenyi has charged his local based Eagles to redouble their efforts and fight for places in Nigeria’s final list to the World Cup in Brazil.

Uzoenyi, the most outstanding player of the tournament and the engine room of Stephen Keshi’s team said that they(homebased) are equal if not better than foreignbased Eagles and deserve shirts to the World Cup. Coach Stephen Keshi has promised to take four outstanding homebased players from the Continues on Page 61

Egwuekwe, Kwambe remain in South Africa

S

UPER Eagles Team B defenders, Azubuike Egwuekwe and Solomon Kwwambe did not return to Nigeria yesterday with the rest of the team after the African Nations Championship which the Eagles won a bronze.

The dependable defenders did not board the bus that took their teammates to the Cape Town airport as they were billed to travel to

MAN OF THE MOMENT — Ejike Uzoenyi

••• in line for World Cup — Keshi — Pg 61

Johannesburg same day to finalise possible transfer talks with some unnamed clubs.

Egwuekwe confirmed to Sports Vanguard that he will be holding talks with clubs in the commercial town of Johannesburg but would not name the clubs in question. “ I am not travelling to Nigeria with the team because of contract talks with some clubs,” he stated, but added that he won’t mention the names of the clubs Continues on Page 61

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 3 Whiskers (5) 9 Appeared (6) 10 Excursion (6) 11 Name (5) 12 Egg-shaped (4) 15 Duct (4) 17 Erased (7) 20 Sorrowful (3) 21 Trench (5) 23 Sketched (4) 25 Acid (4) 26 Subsequently (5) 28 Finish (3) 30 Wished (7) 33 Elderly (4) 35 Season (4) 36 Courteous (5) 38 Plaid (6) 39 Strict (6) 40 Brute (5)

DOWN 1 Spate (5) 2 Regional (5) 3 Wager (3) 4 Revised (6) 5 Part (4) 6 Owing (3) 7 Less (5) 8 Leered (5) 13 Selling (7) 14 Flat (5) 16 Fought (7) 18 Plunged (5) 19 Deed (3) 22 Custom (5) 24 Lump (3) 27 Careless (6) 28 Ground (5) 29 Disparage (5) 31 Jockey (5) 32 Dissuade (5) 34 Pit (4) 36 Taxi (3) 37 Chartered (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Abduct 5, Bowser 9, Rover 10, Pillow 11, Garret 12, Pedal 14, Code 17, Ran 18, Pile 20, Treat 22, Clear 23, Seizure 24, Seven 26, Yacht 29, Prod 30, Wed 32, Deer 33, Hades 35, Inched 36, Bolted 37, Regal 38, Endued 39, Recede.

DOWN: 1, Aspect 2, Delude 3, Crop 4, Tower 5, Began 6, Oral 7, Sortie 8, Rotter 13, Dazzled 15, Order 16, Eased 18, Plead 19, Lathe 21, Ten 22, Cry 24, Sprite 25, Voiced 27, Centre 28, Trudge 30, Waded 31, Debar 33, Here 34, Sole.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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