North in the middle of civil war - TY Danjuma

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North in the middle of civil war – Danjuma Continued from page 1 Boko Haram and Ansaru, had no immunity for anyone.

The former minister, who spoke at the special convocation and N50 billion fund raising for Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria Phase II Development Project, held in Zaria, described the attacks as “highly contagious” and have crippled social and economic activities of the region.

Danjuma said: “Our founding fathers sought to create a united and self-reliant society based on respect for human life and respect for the rights of others irrespective of tribe or religion. They would certainly be appalled that, today, the nation is in total anarchy.

Human life is very cheap and impunity has become the norm.

In the case of the North, the danger is very real indeed.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the middle of a civil war in

Northern Nigeria. There is no defined front in this particular war and, worse still,the enemy is faceless and

unknown. There is no immunity for anyone.

“This war is highly contagious. Needless to say,

the social and economic cost is incalculable. I regret to confess that I have not suggested solution to this

From left: Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, Apostolic Nuncio to Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, Primate, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara and Minister of State, FCT, Oloye Olajunmoke Akinjide at the flag-off ceremony for the Easter Pilgrimage to Israel held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

problem. It is up to us the elites to get together and brainstorm to solve our many problems. I take this opportunity, therefore, to appeal to the nation for unity.

We must unite in order to solve our problems”.

He commended ABU, the p r e m i e r university in the North, for being the only truly f e d e r a l university in the c o u n t r y .

Earlier, former m i l i t a r y president,

Gen.Ibrahim Babangida, attributed security and developmental challenges facing the nation to the declining fortunes of the education sector.

Babangida, who was chairman of the ABU convocation, said: “The security, peace and progress we aspire for ourselves and our families are not attainable if the majority of the citizenry remain locked in the traps of ignorance and poverty. Ignorance and poverty are two sides of the same coin. Pocketing one of these coins by any community would surely lead to peace and prosperity for all, while picking the other would certainly result into stagnation, insecurity and anarchy that would engulf e v e r y o n e . ” The high point of the convocation was the conferment of an award of honorary Doctor of Science on Danjuma.

Why there are upheavals in Africa, by Jonathan BY BEN AGANDE, ABIDJAN, COTE D’IVOIRE

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, attributed social upheavals and political instability in Africa to the flagrant disregard for the rule of law, warning that unless leaders in the continent work harder to strengthen democracy, the achievement of economic development would remain a mirage.

Addressing the Ivorian National Assembly as part of the activities for his two-day state visit to Cote D’Ivoire, Jonathan charged the present crop of African leaders to rise up to the challenge of managing contests for political power in a manner that assures greater collective security and peaceful co-existence.

The president, whose speech was intermittently interrupted with applause from members of the Ivorian parliament, warned

that leaders of emerging democracies in Africa must never succumb again to the lure of dictatorship.

According to him, “It is selfevident that people, who feel secure and free, governed by the rule of law and not by the whims of men, are less likely to go to war with each other, either within or across borders, than those who do not.

“We therefore risk the very institution we are trying to build if we exclude the people who voted us into power in the governance process. That is why we have to build strong institutions and allow the rule of law to take root.

Democracy without strong institutions defeats its own objectives,” Jonathan told the members of Parliament.

He added: “There are some, here and elsewhere, who might think that the straight jacket of a dictatorship is the surest way to bottle up these grievances and dismantle dissent. That is wrong.

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Nothing strengthens a society more than openness and a leadership, courageous enough to understand the inherent positives that flow from these contending demands. As African leaders, we have to, calmly and dispassionately, harness these energies and utilize them to serve the best interest of our people”..

He emphasised that for the continent to grow and meet the high expectations of its peoples, political leaders must do more to alleviate and ultimately eradicate abject poverty from the continent as this dis-empowers people and retards growth and development.

“We must assiduously promote the welfare of all citizens and create the

enabling environment in which they can fully realise their aspirations and potentials. This would enable them, as stakeholders, to invest in the protection of peace and stability of our countries. And this is achievable,” he said.

He called for the loosening of the “bolts of Bureaucracy” that hold back trade in the region, adding that there were billions of dollars waiting to be unlocked by improved trade and economic relations amongst countries in West Africa.

While calling for the greater integration between the peoples of the West African sub-region, Jonathan said the large presence of Nigerians in the West African country was a demonstration of the spirit

of Africannes which artificial boundaries should not be allowed to hinder.

“My own countrymen and people form a sizeable proportion of the population of this wonderful city. They have brought their energy and skills to enrich the economy and culture of Abidjan and other towns and villages in this country. That is the African spirit at work. That is the way we should see ourselves.

Borders divide us physically, but our spirits are one and indivisible.

“The borders we defend so resolutely nowadays are, after all, fairly recent creations.

Useful as they may be, they must not be more important than the welfare of the subcontinent and its peoples,” he said.

Nigeria lacks good leaders —OBJ

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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ORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, said Nigeria lacks good leadership to administer her enormous potentials.

Obasanjo, who identified lack of quality leadership, among other factors, as major hindrances to development in Nigeria as well as other African countries, lamented the lack of leadership that could harness the resources to the point of noticeable development.

The former president spoke in Abeokuta during the final of Africa Region Inter-collegiate Debate on Human Security Africa, organised by Centre for Human Security (CHS), an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.

The occasion featured universities and secondary school students from Nigeria and other African countries who participated in a debate as part of the activities marking Obasanjo’s 76 th birthday.

The former president opined that there were not many good leaders in the country, stressing that leadership in any country was very important to development and growth.

“On the topic you have chosen for this debate, ‘Human Security in Africa’, whether it is a myth or reality, threat to human security, high economic growth, whether it is flash in the pan or sustainable, it all comes to one major thing and that one major thing is leadership. Very soon, I do hope that we’ll bring leadership in all dimensions and in all ramifications.

“I realise that we have many Nigerians and there are not many good leaders in Nigeria.

Whatever is the reason, it is something we have to tackle because we cannot continue the way it is.

“That brings me to the hope and the bright future that I see in what Profs. Akin Mabogunje and Peter Okebukola are putting together (the debate).

“It’s to try and prepare African youths, boys and girls, together

that future belongs to you youths.

“Nobody will help Africa, nobody can help Africa and that is the truth. If we expect others from outside to come and help us, it is a second class help.

“What do I see for the future?

We have caliber of women, men, young and old that Africa needs to put itself up and to make its voice heard in the world today and tomorrow.

“Alfred Mills explains in his book, ‘Why Africa is poor’ but it’s a choice, a choice that our leaders have made.

“But here watching you (students) at the college level and university level. I believe that the materials are there.“ Obasanjo said he was shocked when Alhaji Aliko Dangote told him that six Ph.D holders and 600 master degree holders were among applicants for truck drivers in his (Dangote) c o m p a n y .

He stated that the issue boils down to the problems of job creation, wealth creation, among others.

PAGE 6—SUNDAY V anguard Vanguard anguard,, MARCH 3, 2013

N’Delt a: Exper ts link inf er tility tto o oil/gas pollution N’Delta: Experts infer ertility

BY EMEKA MAMAH & EGUFE YAFUGHORHI

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oxicologists in West Africa have warned a g a i n s t uncontrolled environmental pollution in the Niger Delta, blaming rampant cases of bareness among women under the productive age bracket on oil and gas pollution among others.

The West African Society of Toxicologists, WASOT, which converged at the University of Port Harcourt to discuss the “Global Understanding of Chemicals in Health, Diseases and Economics,“ in the region tasked governments in the region to lead a revolution on affirmative action against increasing health hazards posed by environmental pollution

in the area.

The conference, which attracted over 200 experts, met between February 20 and 23, 2013 but their communiqué was released yesterday.

The experts, in the study of poisons and their harmful impact on man, said: ‘’We are being

faced with a situation where our young girls and women are i n c r e a s i n g l y experiencing barrenness or having deformed or abnormal children when they are able to give birth,” in the summary resolution adopted after the conference.

Expanding public knowledge on toxicology at the event, Prof. John Anetor, a Pathologist from the University of Ibadan, said from birth to death, endless exposure to industrial emissions of mercury, cadmium, acids, and drugs as well as toxins

from food and other natural agents cost man serious health repercussions of lethal consequences.

In his summation, President of WASOT, Prof. Orish Ebere, said the developing world was exceptionally vulnerable due to

ineffective regulations and poor mitigating capacity, adding: “In Nigeria, it is even far grimmer for people living in the Niger Delta for obvious reasons of closer exposure to devastating pollutions from oil and gas operations’’.

Delta indigenes in the US shocked by flow station relocation

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN-CITY

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HE Abavo Peoples Vanguard, an umbrella body of Abavo indigenes in Delta North senatorial district based in the United States and Europe, is dismayed over the decision by Pan Ocean Oil Corporation to relocate the flow station on OPL 275, originally

mapped out at Obiayima community, to a neighboring town, it says has no oil or gas deposit.

In a statement by its president, Mr Josiah Onyeario, and secretary, Pastor Afam Efeloku, the group urged the oil giant to stop the tension in the area by siting the project where it was originally agreed by the stakeholders including

Delta State government.

While they accused a lawmaker in the state of masterminding what they described as an illegali-

ty, they threatened to resist the action.

The group commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for his

developmental strides in the state and expressed their support for the administration.

Group rallies support for Obiogbolu A group of businessmen based in Minna,Niger State has thrown its support behind Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Dr. Alex Obiogbolu.A spokesperson

for the group, Chief Dom Onuigbo (Onwa Naando), said they decided to back “a fresh, fine, firm but friendly politician who is full of ideas on how to transform the state”.

Onuigbo said the group

decided to take the stakes higher by rallying round Obiogbolu because of its belief in the former chairman of the Local Government Service Commission as the right person for the job.

SUNDAY V anguard, MARCH 3, 2013 — PAGE 7 Vanguard,

2015: Fresh row over Jonathan *We are vindicated by court verdict – Presidency *It is not over until it is over – CPC *Only Supreme Court can decide President’s fate—Wayas

BY SONI DANIEL, GBENGA OKE & JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

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HE court verdict, which approved the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential election, yesterday, sparked a fresh row in the polity.

The Presidency said it has been vindicated by the court pronouncement that Jonathan was qualified for the contest.

But the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said the battle to stop the president from the 2015 poll was not over yet as the court which ruled was one of first instance.

In other words, there are two other levels of the judiciary process to cross-Court of Appeal and Supreme Court -before the case is finally rested.

A former Senate President, Dr Joseph Wayas, lent credence to the CPC claim when he asserted that only the Supreme Court has the power to interprete the 1999 Constitution, as amended, on whether or not Jonathan has taken the oath of office for two times as maximally provided for by the Constitution.

An unrepentant critic of the president’s shot at the highest office in the land in the next general elections, Dr Junaid Mohammed, described the Friday court judgement as a huge joke.

The polity had been split on whether Jonathan can seek reelection in 2015 between those who believe he has served two terms, having completed the Yar ’Adua tenure before starting a fresh one, and those who claim he is serving his first tenure and hence is eligible for another.

Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi of an Abuja High Court, had, in a suit brought against Jonathan’s qualification to stand as a presidential candidate in the 2015 elections, held, in its verdict on Friday, that the president was in his first term of four years, stressing that “if he so wishes, he can seek from his political party, or any other party, the sponsorship to contest in the 2015 presidential election”.

The judgment came after the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, indicated that it could sponsor Jonathan in 2015, if he so desired.

The court held that in the eyes of the law, the president’s tenure commenced on May 29, 2011, saying he only assumed the Presidency in 2010 following the demise of his boss, the late President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua, who, it said, duly contested and won the 2007 presidential election.

In its interpretation of Section 137 of the Constitution, the court insisted that the germane issues for determination were “ whether the death of Yar ’Adua and swearing-in of Jonathan to complete the tenure remains four-year tenure? Did the first defendant (Jonathan) contest the presidency the first time in 2001?

Was he ever declared and swornin as president in 2007? Was he the presidential candidate of the PDP in 2007?”

Justice Oniyangi added that “the distinguishing factor is that after the election of Yar ’Adua, there was no election or bye-

L-R: Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi; Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu; Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Prof. Boniface Egboka; and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Admin), Prof. Greg Nwakobi, during the university’s annual lecture in Awka. election upon which Jonathan became president. He was merely asked to assume the position. I will like to borrow the phrase that was used by the legislature then, Doctrine of Necessity.

Don’t dissipate energy, The Presidency tells critics Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, boasted yesterday that the Presidency had been vindicated by the court verdict that his boss was qualified to vie for the top post in the land in 2015, if he so decides.

Gulak said Jonathan’s tenure started from May 29, 2011 and did not take effect from when he served out Yar ’Adua’s tenure, as affirmed by the court.

The presidential aide, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard in a telephone interview, appealed to Nigerians not to dissipate energy on the issue of Jonathan’s eligibility in relation to 2015, saying they should line behind him to fix Nigeria. ”We have been vindicated by the court regarding President Jonathan’s tenure. My advice to Nigerians is to stop dissipating their energy on the matter and join the President in fixing the country ’s problems. ”President Jonathan should not be distracted by unnecessary issues so as to be able to concentrate on rebuilding Nigeria’s infrastructure some of which had been left in deplorable shape in the last 35 years. ”Now you can see that the President is working more than ever before to change the face of rail transportation and power supply as well as other critical infrastructure so as to give Nigerians a new lease of life,” Gulak said.

It’s not over yet—CPC On its part, the CPC said though the court ruling was a welcome development, the matter could still be decided at both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Speaking to Vanguard on telephone, National Publicity Secretary of CPC, Mr Rotimi Fashakin, said: “We don’t have anything for or against the ruling. All we need to say is that as Nigerians, we need to wait patiently because this is the court of first instance. There are two other courts of appelate jurisdiction that can still rule on this matter. However, it is a welcome development and this is just the time for us to understand clearly what the Constitution says but we still have two courts of appellate jurisdiction”.

Wait for Supreme Court – Wayas In his own reaction to the court verdict, Wayas, the second republic Senate President, who was reluctant to comment on the matter as it was capable of generating controversy, said that it was only the Supreme Court that has the power to interpret the position of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, on whether one can take oath of office as the president for more than two times.

According to him, although there is a provision in the Constitution that nobody should have more than two terms of eight years and taking the oath of office more than two times, it was not envisaged that an incumbent president could die in office and his successor seeking maximum of two terms thereafter.

He said that the issue was being pre-empted too early as there is

what is called in law locus standi, questioning the locus standi of the person that dragged the president to court over his qualification to seek re-election in 2015 and how the president decision to contest will affect him.

He wondered whether the person was a candidate or had special interest to warrant him to head to court to pray for Jonathan’s disqualification.

PDP has final say – Yakassai Yakassai, a former Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to former President Shehu Shagari, said

it was only the PDP, which is the president’s party, that has the right to decide whether Jonathan is qualified to seek another tenure of four years or not.

He said, “All Nigerians other than those disqualified by law are qualified to contest election for an executive office two times after winning such election once.

“Legally, Jonathan cannot be an exception. The only thing that can prevent Jonathan from seeking second term is PDP if it would decide to enforce its policy on power rotation and zoning.

The court had made such pronouncements before the 2011 presidential election. The current ruling adds nothing new,” the elder statesman said.

Judicial joke – Junaid Junaid Mohammed, a second republic member of the House of Representatives, also commented on the court verdict, yesterday, when he described it as one of the jokes by the

judiciary.”This is one of the cases that have dented the image of the Nigerian judiciary. This judgement is one out of series of outrageous judgements”, he said in a telephone interview. “There was a case of General Buhari after he won an election and was robbed by the INEC and the judiciary. As far as I’m concerned, the president’s re-election bid is straightforward, I believe it is not over until it’s over. I want to assure they will hear from so many other people and other constituencies. So, this is one of those jokes they call judgements in Nigeria”.

Verdict addressed question – Babatope

legal

PDP chieftain, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, believed the court judgement adressed the legal question on whether President Goodluck Jonathan could contest or not. “I have always said that Jonathan is qualified to contest and that it is his right.

Some people think the judgement will overheat the polity, it will not.

Some party members are also qualified to contest, so it is good for the polity”, he told Sunday Vanguard..

Supersports studios gutted by fire ROPERTY worth millions P was yesterday destroyed in a massive fire that gutted Philips

Complex housing the SuperSports studios, Samsung, MNET studios and many other offices, at Ojota Bus Stop, along Ikorodu Road.

The fire was said to have started around 4 p.m. from a studio before spreading to other parts of the building.

Eyewitness said the studios of SuperSports, a sports channel on satellite pay TV, DSTV, Samsung and MNET studios, used in producing entertainment programmes, Naija Sings, Tinsel and Jara, were destroyed in the inferno.

Maintain status quo, Govs Forum tells Adamawa PDP

BY CHRIS OCHAI

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HE Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum, Mr. Goodswill Akpabio said the forum has resolved that the Kugama Mijinjwa-led executive in Adamawa State should be allowed to continue, pending the outcome of the Governor Sule Lamido committee on the crisis in the party.

Akpabio, who disclosed this at the end of the meeting of the PDP Governors Forum in Abuja, said that the status quo should be allowed to remain.

According to him, “the PDP Governors Forum also looked into the issue of Adamawa State PDP and came to the conclusion that they should allow Governor Sule Lamido’s committee to do its work to report immediately to the party, the NWC and the Presidency.

“But in the meantime, we plead that the status quo should be allowed to remain,” Akpabio said. “By the status quo we mean the Kaugama Mijinjwa Committee, the executive in place prior to the dissolution of the state executive.”

He said the PDP-GF resolved to allow the Kugama Mijinjwa-led executive in Adamawa State to continue, pending the outcome of

the Governor Sule Lamido committee on the crisis in the party.

Meanwhile, the Adamawa Democratic Congress, ADC, has condemned the news report by a television station which it said portrayed the Governor Murtala

Nyako of Adamawa State as being sacked by the Appeal Court sitting in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

The ADC, in a statement by its Coordinator, Mr. Yusuf Garba, frowned at the manner the station reported the court ruling.

Delta 2015 guber: Youths tip Manager

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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OUTHS of Delta State based in Po rt Harcourt have called on Senator James Manager to contest the 2015 governorship election in Delta.

In a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, Coordinator of the group, Mr Fullpower Bussa, also urged Ijaw leaders to unite to produce Senator Manager as a sole candidate from the Ijaw nation in Delta.

He appealed to Chiefs Edwin Clark, Broderick Bozimo, Biakpara and Okrika to rally other leaders in the state to ensure no other candidate from the Ijaw extraction indicates interest for the governorship seat.

He urged the Ijaw to realise that they had not been lucky to serve as deputy governor since

the state was created. So leaders such as P.Z Aginighan, Mamamo, Tunde Smooth and Baritolo should work with others to deliver Manager as governor of the state.

Continuing, he said Senator Manager had paid his dues to the Ijaw nation, recalling that as Commissioner for Works, Senator Manager linked several Ijaw communities by road, adding that he also constructed bridges in the area as part of measures to open up Ijaw areas to other parts of the state.

“Chief Alfred Bubor and David Pere should work with other notable leaders of Ijaw nation to produce Senator Manager ”, he said.

According to him, the leaders of Ijaw nation should be united in producing Manager rather than allowing everybody to run for the election.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY V anguard Vanguard anguard,, MARCH 3, 2013

Ojukwu’s one year memorial Aircraft loses tyres in Ibadan rally shakes Anambra

BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

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•Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke (centre), with his Bauchi State counterpart, Alhaji Isa Yuguda (left), and the Senate leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, during an international friendly encounter between the Golden Eaglets and Botswana U-17 at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar yesterday.

HE All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, yesterday, held the first anniversary of the death of its departed leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, in Awka. The event turned out to be a political rally, a type never witnessed in the state.

The rally, which took place at the Alex Ekwueme Square in the state capital, indeed sent a signal of sort on the nature of campaigns to be expected in the state

PDP welcomes Imoke, says he is fully recharged

BY HENRY UMORU

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ATIONAL leader ship of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, hailed the return of Cross River State governor, Liyel Imoke, stressing that he was now fully recharged to “continue the good works he has been doing in the state”.

The governor” had been out of the country for medical treatment.

In a statement, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, noted that the governor used part of his ten years accumulated leave for medical treatment, adding that the PDP family missed him while he was away, but was now overjoyed that he is back in the saddle.

Metuh went on: “The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) welcomes the Executive Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, back to the country after his ten years accumulated leave. ”The PDP family missed the governor while he was away, but we are now elated that he is back in the saddle. We are happy

that after his thorough medical check, the governor is now fully recharged and refilled to continue the good works he has been doing in the state.”

The PDP thanked Cross River State government functionaries, including the Acting Governor, the leadership of the party in the state, the state House of Assembly and other political office holders for their loyalty and commit-

Woman, 65, commits suicide

BY EMMA UNA, Calabar

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N what is apparently a hurried exit from earth, a 65-yr-old woman, described as the daughter of the late Ukpe clan head, Madam Alice

Obeng, yesterday, committed suicide by hanging in Bayobri community in Ukpe, Obudu local government area of Cross River State.

Her lifeless body was found hanging from the ceiling of her bed room,

Tragedy averted as bomb thrown into Jos mosque fails to detonate

BY TAYE OBATERU, Jos

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RAGEDY was avert ed on Friday night as a hand grenade thrown into a mosque along the Jos-Bukuru express way in the Plateau State capital failed to detonate.

The weapon was hauled into the mosque by unknown people at about 8.30 pm when about 10 worshippers were preparing for prayers but it did not explode.

Panic was said to have gripped the worshippers and others around when they realized what happened following which they promptly alerted security agents.

Members of the Special Task Force (STF) maintaining security in the state later cordoned off the area until the grenade

ment in ensuring the smooth running of the state during the period the governor was away.

It also thanked the people of Cross River State and indeed all Nigerians for their prayers for the governor even as it restated the commitment of the PDP led- administration to continue to focus on the welfare of all Nigerians at all times.

was safely removed.

STF Spokesman, Captain Salisu Mustapha, confirmed the incident in a press statement but said no arrest was made.

According to the statement, “Miscreants threw a 36 hand grenade into a mosque but it failed to detonate. Thereafter they fired shots in the air and escaped. No arrest was recorded”.

He said investigations

were on to track down those behind the attempted attack and advised the public to be vigilant and to report suspicious persons, activities Or objects to security agents.

Calm had returned to the area when our correspondent visited the area yesterday as people went about their normal activities without betraying any fear of the previous day’s attempted attack.

Bayelsa landslide

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O fewer than five houses were, on Friday night, destroyed when a landslide hit the riverside town of Okoloba, Sabagreia, in Kolokuma-Opokuma local governemnt area of Bayelsa State.

Though no life was lost, the incident caused panic among the natives.

The destroyed houses among them two block buildings were buried in the landslide which sound reportedly reverberated through the town.

with her tongue out even as she did not leave any suicide note. One Julius Odey Okang, resident in the community, said Obeng went to bed the previous evening after dinner, looking cheerful with no clue that she had such plan in mind.

But some villagers said she had a health problem for which she was always in and out of hospital.

Few days to the suicide, she was said to have complained of the return of the sickness, and her nephew based in Calabar, the state capital, decided to arrange for N37, 000 for her go for medical checkup.

Obeng reportedly went into her apartment and left the money on the floor, and hung herself using a piece of cloth which was tied to the ceiling.

The woman was buried about two hours after being confirmed dead as suicide is an abomination in the land.

While relatives were digging her grave, it was gathered that thieves sneaked into the house and stole N8, 000 from the money she left behind.

The deceased left behind seven children, including five from her estranged husband, Mr. Sylvester Okang, and two others born out of wedlock.

ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Apart from Governor Peter Obi, all members of the interim management of the party, led by its national chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu, as well as all the candidates of the party in the past elections, including the governorship candidate for Abia State in 2011, Chief Reagan Ufomba, and his counterpart from Ebonyi State, Chief Frank Ogbuewu, were present.

Ojukwu’s wife, Bianca, used the occasion to thank Obi and all Nigerians for the befitting burial given her husband and capping it up with yesterday’s mega rally.

A

chopper, which had its two rear tyres burst, yesterday, caused a stir at the Ibadan International Airport, Alakia.

All passengers were on board and the door shut in preparation for take-off when the incident happened.

As a result, there was a delay as many passengers, especially editors who had just concluded the 2013 convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, where new executive members of the association were elected.

Some of the editors had to return home.

All flights to Abuja were put on hold to enable the aircraft fix the burst tyres.

Offor fights polio with $1.31m

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Abuja

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philanthropist, Chief Emeka Offor, has donated $1.31 million through the Rotary International, District 9125, Nigeria to fight polio.

Chairman of the Rotary Foundation Trustees of Rotary International, Wilfred Wilkinson, who disclosed this in an acknowledgment letter to Offor at the 2013 World Understanding and Peace Day Seminar and fund raising dinner of Rotary International in Abuja, commended the businessman for distinguishing himself as a member of the circle of the Arch C. Klumph

Society.

Wilkinson, in the letter, said, “Your generous contributions this year to the Rotary Peace Centers, the PolioPlus Initiative, Education and Literacy, Maternal and Child Health and the annual fund, have brought your total gifts to the foundation to $1, 031, 000. Your financial contributions as of this date total the highest of any donor in Africa.

“Your exceedingly generous gifts will help to bring about peace throughout the world, will provide opportunities for children to be educated and will help to bring about healthier mothers and children.

Fresh oil spill hits Bayelsa

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NVIRONMENTAL group, ERA/FoEN, has reported a fresh oil spill on an Agip oil facility at Ikarama in Yenagoa LGA, Bayelsa State.

Ikarama town shares boundary with Kalaba.

Agip’s Taylor Creek Wellhead ‘A and B’ are located in Ikarama and the oil bearing pipelines traverse

through the community as crude oil is transported to Rumuekpe axis of Rivers State.

Though the immediate cause of the spill could not be ascertained, ERA’s field monitors, led by Comrade Alagoa Morris, said there were three points currently spewing crude oil into the environment.

Abubakar resumes as Customs controller

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new Controller has been appointed for the Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). He is Deputy Comptroller Inuwa Abubakar Mohammed.

He replaces Comptroller Dan Ugo who was rede-

ployed as Controller, Risk Management at the NCS headquarters in Abuja.

Abubakar was the Deputy Comptroller in-charge of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (Baggage Control) Ikeja, Lagos.

Warri Baptist High School Old Students

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HE first anniversary of the Baptist High School Orerokpe Old Students Association, Delta State holds March 30 in Warri.

A statement by Dr Solomon Osazuwa and Revd Excellence Miller Emuobo, Chairman and

Secretary/Media Director of the association respectively, said the general meeting of the association, ahead of the anniversary, is scheduled for today at NPA Guest House, NPA Quarters, beside Chicken Republic, off Airport Road, Warri.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 9

" Cheers! Let's see if your ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER can move me from here!"

All letters bearing writers' names and full addresses should be typed and forwarded to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, Kirikiri Canal, P. M. B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E-mail: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

Why FG should outlaw Ohanaeze, OPC, ACF, SSPA, others Dear Sir,

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HE current issue that Nigeria is either becoming a failed state or is a failed state is a direct working by some individuals to cause diversionary chaos in the country in order to loot the nation's wealth. What makes such diversionary tactics to work is their ability to misinform Nigerians that are willing to listen and adhere to their advice.

The Federal Government should now as a matter of urgency deploy every authority to outlaw Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Oodua Peoples Congress, Arewa Consultative Forum, South South Peoples Assembly and all groups championing regional and tribal causes. This should be a priority now, not later. There should be one Nigeria and not divisive and regional identities. The founders and leaders of these groups have contributed to the great divisive politics causing chaos in Nigeria. Someone who has lost relevance in politics will just come out in the name of any of the tribal groups to make inflammatory statements to gain media attention and regain some sort of sinister relevance. Citizens of Nigeria should not be known by their tribe but as Nigerians.

If you are relevant, come out and tell us what you have done for Nigeria and not what you have done for your tribe or nuclear family. In fact, these people have done nothing for their tribes other than make statements that cause chaos and division among Nigerians. They forget that Nigerians

will never vote for anyone who has promoted regional or tribal politics.

And sometimes, one is tempted to believe that these people making inflammatory statements are being paid by some powerful groups outside the country to cause chaos and for them to sell weapons for Nigerians to fight themselves.

It’s even painful and sad to watch former presidents come out and make inflammatory statements. Religious crises did not start from 2011. It started since 1960s and had its height during the Babangida’s administration where communities were razed and

religious riots lasted days and weeks with hundreds and thousands killed.

Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is the first administration since independence, excluding Abacha’s and Buhari’s military regimes, that is yet to record religious crises that would last for many hours and this is one reason some people are trying to frustrate the efforts of Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, the Chief of Army staff. They should let Ihejirika to continue his good woks; the terrorist activities in the Northern part of the country are gradually fading out and the people from those parts should

help the armed forces.

A very credible solution for a one Nigeria where everyone will share one identity, interest and a stronger relationship, where tribe and region will not define our association and progress is to urgently outlaw all regional and tribal groups. They will never make a united Nigeria that the world will respect. Enough of the division that has been ongoing since 1960. Yes, our fathers failed in uniting the country but do we have to fail like them?

Efemena Agadama, a playwright writes in from London

Let them March to Timbuktu for all I Care Dear Sir,

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civil society group of Nigerian women under the aegis of Women Arise recently marched in Lagos to protest against the proposed allocation of N4billion to construct Africa First Ladyies Peace Mission House in Abuja. The women marched to the office of the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, where they delivered a letter. Fashola received the women’s letter, promising to deliver it to President Goodluck Jonathan.

The protesting women repeatedly claimed that the proposed Mission House is “for President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Mrs. Patience

Jonathan.” The impression being given to the general public is an erroneous notion that the FCT wants to build a “Mission House” for Dame Patience Jonathan, which, of course, is contrary to information available on the whole matter.

If the group of protesters had done a little homework, they would have known that the building being proposed is a permanent secretariat for the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM).

The building is not for an individual person and certainly not to be the property of Dame Patience Jonathan.

The AFLPM Secretariat is for the work of whoever occupies the seat as Nigeria’s first lady and who

automatically by that position is a member of the AFLPM. When that individual ceases to be First Lady of her country, she also ceases to be a member of AFLPM as membership of the body is open only to African First Ladies.

I am all for our constitutional rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and the freedom to march but if we do so, we must understand what we are agitating about and articulate our points with honest precision so that we do not misinform.

If the protesting women cannot do that much… they can all march off to Timbuktu!!

Aisha Sambo, a public commentator, lives in Lagos .

PAGE 10—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

No apologies on last week’s column to anyone

Ladies, lies and leadership “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”- Abraham Lincoln HE lady doth pro test too much! So the president’s other half, Patience in her inestimable candid humility would like the Senate and the House of Reps to pass the budget of N4 billion earmarked for her “pet” project- The Ladies Mission House.

This edifice she tells us will be left for the people of Nigeria and she in her words “will not carry the building with her when her tenure ends”.

Her tenure? Who does she think she is? I mean, did the people of Nigeria vote her in or did they vote for her husband?

Suddenly this “fascinating” woman has developed the taste for power.

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It seems she has declared herself the mistress of all she surveys.

She has rewritten her past even if it is in bad taste and disrespectful to most Nigerians. She does not seem to have a control valve, nor does her husband who indulges her to use the wealth of Nigeria as her play things.

In a country where the mortality rate is distressingly low and the majority of the population are barely making a crust, she has the temerity to display such opulence and wealth. In the presence of the who is who of stupendous wealth and power they gather in the court of their empress to pay their respects and rub shoulders with likeminded people.

While the men of the cloth and women politicians and the rest of the sycophants fall over

Igbo Minister had come under attack; eleven Yoruba Ministers were carpeted during the same period.

Tribalism, against who?

So ferocious were my attacks on Abacha, that his spokesman, the late Alhaji Wada Nas(ty), called a press conference specifically to denounce me among all the columnists of the era. I was attacked by their supporters many times; I was also in detention four times; but, never was I described as being tribalistis.

Those who feel their own kinsmen should not be criticized can take advice from me. They can either ask their kinsmen to do the right thing, as stipulated by the constitution, or they can ask them to go home

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Since 2010, two public officials have come under the hammer, more than anybody else—President Jonathan (Ijaw) and Mrs Diezani AlisonMadueke(Ijaw). A few rejoinders have been received from Ijaws accusing me of hating the two; but none had attributed my writings to tribalism. Altogether, in 19 years, individuals from, at least, 57 oth-

about the imminent crash of the capital market; I also advised Dr Ndidi Onyuike, the Director-General, to leave – while there was any ovation left. Another avalanche of text messages and phone calls followed; 687 in all, and again, close to ninety percent from “her people”.

Once again, sounding like a bunch of broken records,

themselves to be at her beck and call. What?

Surely no one wants to attend this show of opulent debauchery? If their conscience served them well they should have politely declined the invite. What they have done with their presence is to endorse the disgraceful show of excessive living while majority of Nigerians are struggling to make ends meet.

Could she not find a cause that could make so much difference in the lives of our people? Does she know over one million children die every year and 14% of childbearing age dies giving birth? If she does feel deeply about the people,

would not even live that long without affordable access to good health care. Nigeria is not working and the overpaid and underworked ruling elite are complicit to the present state that Nigeria is in. So pardon me, I fail to see her purpose other than aggrandizing, flaunting wealth and power. What really has she done? She is either clueless or unfeeling, either way, she does not really care about ordinary Nigerians and she clearly does not care about Nigerian women.

Resurgence of Lazarus The resurgence of Lazarus by the fragrant lady as she describes

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ble people don’t jump to conclusions; they search for reasons. To the very few sensible people, alone, I owe an explanation; not to the mob. For the first time in almost 19 years since this column started, I showed the piece, in advance, to three friends, a Jugun from Taraba, Urhobo from Delta and Ishan from Oke Ora in Edo. After reading, they all made the same comment.

“Dele the Igbos are going to descend on you like a ton of bricks”. To that, my reply was: “I know; this is my fourth contest with the zone”. Readers will discover, shortly, how the first three ended. But, first permit a diversion. I started to put together a selection of my columns since 1989, a few weeks ago, for publication, because, it’s getting to departure time. That should make my current critics happy. While on that project, I just decided to find out who received the greatest knocks on this page. The top six, in order of ranking, were: Obasanjo (Yoruba), Abacha (Kanuri), IBB (Nupe), Jonathan (Ijaw) and Yar ’Adua (Fulani). In fact, Obasanjo, had received close to one fourth of the attacks with Abacha coming very close.

From independence till date, over 120 Igbos had been Ministers; only this

,

“Those who deal in ideas, if they are wise, must welcome attack. Only a peaceful passage should dismay them; for it proves that the ideas do not affect anyone very much”. Professor John Galbraith, c 1970.

HERE do I start?

That was the question on my mind for three days before starting to write this piece. But, in a way, I have already started with the title –which is a deliberate message to my critics. Be they 1000, 1000000 or 1000000000, they can be rest assured that the petition for the enforcement of the principle of Federal Character, enshrined in our constitution, by the Federal Ministry of Aviation, will continue. All the noise, on the internet, will not stop me. So, those who want to, can stop reading here.

However, to those still with me, let me make a second start by thanking the six people, four from Nigeria and two from abroad, who were so disturbed by that article, which they said “ was out of character ”, as to want to know what went wrong. I also want to show appreciation to those who sent text messages – asking the same questions. I am deeply grateful. That, to me, is as it should be. When exceptional things occur, sensi-

er ethnic groups have been subject of essays on this page. There has been no ethnic group reaction.

When in 2007, I wrote a series of articles warning about imminent collapse of the banking sector, on account of the failure of Con-Soludo-tion - the former Governor of Central Bank was accused of allowing the banks to get away with murder - I received 708 calls and text messages – over ninety percent from “his brothers and sisters”. Every single one was either accusing me of tribalism or stupidity or being bribed to write. Well, the “Con-Soludo -ted” banks eventually collapsed. There were 73 banks when Soludo became governor of CBN, there are only 15 today; and three on danger list.

Over 250,000 banking sector jobs have been lost forever. So, who is stupid or tribalistic?

In mid-2008, I warned

Nigeria is not working and the overpaid and underworked ruling elite are complicit to the present state that Nigeria is in

then you would have hope that she will do whatever she can to make a change in the lives of the young and women in Nigeria. Does she know that life expectancy for a male in Nigeria is 48.95 and for female is 52.02? Most

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it, made her want to rededicate her life to the less privilege. Of course, like any other megalomania she throws a party for her subjects. So this politician with no portfolio has decided that she wants the biggest prize of all, a building for her mis-

the accusations were the same – tribalism, stupidity etc. Well, within a few weeks of my warning the market started sliding from close to N17 trillion; today, it hovers around N10 trillion on account of gains made since 2011 and new listings, especially by the Dangote Group. At one time, it went as low as N7.8 trillion. Millions of Nigerians lost those trillions of naira that went down the drain – including “her brothers and sisters”.

Again, who is stupid or tribalistic?

The third was a more recent occurrence. Professor Barth Nnaji was first appointed a Special Adviser to the President on Power; later he became Minister of Power. My objection to Nnaji’s appointment was based on the issue of conflict of interest. Nnaji had substantial holdings in a private power plant, which needed more money – like most companies. It was in the interest of his firm that electricity tariff should be increased. But, that was not in the interest of 167 million Nigerians – “his own people” included. The higher tariff we are paying now was one of the legacies of Nnaji before he was shown the gate. Again, my objections received the same rejoinders – tribalism, stupidity, etc. This time the traffic was light. However, two things happened afterwards. First, Nnaji pushed through the current tariff increase; so power plant companies now makes more millions and, poor Nigerians are paying dearly for it. Nnaji was forced to resign, precisely, on charges of conflict of interest. He even allegedly put in a bid for some of the plants which failed to function properly during his

tenure as Minister – despite the huge amounts spent on them.

So, this is the fourth battle being fought on the same terrain. Those wasting their time denouncing me on the internet, or through text messages, or phone calls, will be well advised to learn from the three previous episodes.

They will not determine the outcome of this battle. So no amount of threats, abuses or name calling can stop me from pointing out when a public officer is doing wrong. There is no immunity from criticism here for any ethnic group; Idoma, Bassa, Efik, Itsekiri, Birom, Ijaw, Kataf, Igbo, Fulani, Yoruba, etc. Those who feel their own kinsmen should not be criticized can take advice from me. They can either ask their kinsmen to do the right thing, as stipulated by the constitution, or they can ask them to go home. Jonathan, Abati, Okupe, Mrs Diezani have become the latest targets of attacks on this page. In fact, for reasons known to myself, I have left the Minister of Petroleum strictly alone. What makes the Minister of Aviation so special that she cannot be criticized? One of my callers asked me if I tried to get in touch with the Minister before writing. My answer was simple. “I did not; and I don’t solicit meetings with Ministers; they might mistake me for some of those media beggars looking for brown envelopes.

Every Minister is a public servant, I am Mr. Public. If an objection is raised, and she wants to clarify matters, she should call me. I don’t have four hours to waste in the outer office of Ministers while getting dribbled by saucy Special Assistants.

sion and we should be lucky that Nigeria has this opportunity she tells us, no consultation, no nothing what Patience wants, Patience gets.

While she makes and throws down nonsensical tirade one after the other, the president watches, without flinching and offers her offer no real direction as to where this runaway train is going to stop. Her proposed Ladies Mission house will be like the Basilica of Yamoussoukro. A hare brain while elephant dreamed up by the then president of Ivory Coast, President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. The man used up $300million of their countries' meagre resources to build some outrageous buildings that were not exactly suited to the climate, but which very much suited her ego. It is all about ego, wanting to build a monument to herself .

Her justification that other first ladies had done similar project: built hospital, a women centre. So how impertinent are the senate to deny her the means to build her memorial? She argues that it creates employment for the youth.

There are no consultations of why the building is needed. And for

good measure she slammed the men that if it were a male project it would have been granted and approved.No, this lady is deluded. In this trying times people need the means to work their way out of poverty and no purpose other than to satisfy an overblown ego.

If that was not enough to entice women she had promise them, 70 per cent of women in Nigeria will be employed

by March. How is that possible? She tells her listeners that they too can be presidents, governors of the country one day.

Her side kick, PDP through the National Women’s Leader, Dr. Kema Chikwe, has laid it out for the gullible, that the president is very much a woman’s president who will increase womens’ participation by 50% by 2015!

She said: “We are even more confident that when President Goodluck Jonathan returns in 2015, women would be talking about 50 percent, no longer 35 percent. As we give him unequivocal, undiluted, unreserved and unlimited support and as we march with him to 2015, PDP women will reach the promised land.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 11

Who sent killer-soldiers to Keffi University?

It appears rational to assume from the beginning that the killers could not have been invited by the Vice Chancellor of the University. This is because the demonstration was not against the University. To start with, the primary constituency of the University, that is, the campus itself had water-the subject of the protest. Those who did

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N Monday Feb ruary 25, 2013, some students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi were killed by armed men suspected to be soldiers. The dead were some Nigerians including students who were on a public demonstration against continued lack of water in the town. No one knows how many people actually died. While some newspapers say they were four, others say two while some others say three.

The students imagine that more than six may have died. But no one can certify if all those who died were students.

Again, no person can say who invited the assailants to deal with the demonstrators. In short, it is exceedingly hard to obtain a factual version of what transpired, notwithstanding that Nigeria claims to have since 2011, joined the League of Nations with a freedom of information regime. We can only hazard a guess by first removing what seems unlikely.

ry that when the Vice Chancellor learnt that some of his off-campus students were among persons who had become restive over incessant dry taps in Keffi town, he sought to ameliorate the situation by sending water tankers to provide them with water. This was turned down by the demonstrators who, conscious of the temporary

University authorities in Nigeria are conversant with the delicate nature of students’ protests. For this reason, they call security agencies to quell students’ protests only as a last resort

not have water were offcampus students and other persons living around the environs of the University. This explains why lectures and other activities were in progress unhindered at the start of the protest.

There is indeed the sto-

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nature of tanker water supply, insisted on pipeborne water by government. Thus, the protest was essentially against the state government.

University authorities in Nigeria are conversant with the delicate nature of students’ pro-

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

The dwindling population of genuine role models in Nigeria from President Jonathan.

There is no doubt that Nigeria has been progressing in fits and starts since the incumbent President took over power effectively in 2010. In terms of execution of his administration’s “transformation agenda,” it is clear to any honest observer that the President and his cabinet, together

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HEN one of world’s fore most storytellers, Prof. Chinua Achebe, declined for the second time a national award conferred on him this time around by the current administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, most so-called eminent Nigerians failed to learn the simple but powerful lesson embedded in Achebe’s refusal to “join the bandwagon.” Indeed, one of Jonathan’s town criers and halleluyah chorus boys who, due to slave mentality and unthinking loyalty to his boss, is fond of making reckless statements against critics of his boss, alleged that Achebe, living in the United States, has lost touch with what was happening in Nigeria.

Remember, in a terse statement rejecting the award, Prof. Achebe had argued that since the bugbear of chronic misgovernance and insecurity that characterised Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency was still present in Jonathan’s administration which made him reject the award the first time, he was constrained, as a matter of principle, to reject the “honour ” again

ernors, ministers, and so on.

Second, the level of electricity supply and insecurity nationwide is terribly unsatisfactory – indeed the problems here are worsening - despite the President’s pledge to improve power supply and distribution expeditiously supply and defeat terrorism and kidnapping perpetrated by Boko

Individuals whose achievements – intellectual, moral, spiritual or professional – have earned them the status of role models in the society should not be hobnobbing with people of ill-repute

with members of the National Assembly, have achieved relatively little compared with the amount of resources spent in maintaining the apparatus of government.

Two examples are sufficient to justify the claim above. First, the current administration has failed to move against corruption where it hurts most, that is, the larceny committed by former heads of state, gov-

,

Haram and other undesirable elements.

Thus, most probably, Achebe must have taken a long hard look at current events in the country and, correctly in my opinion, decided not to lend credibility to the game of musical chairs played by the federal government. Prof.

Achebe, as a fallible human being, might not always get it right while responding to the complex issues con-

tests. For this reason, they call security agencies to quell students’ protests only as a last resort. This has been so since the memorable Kunle Adepeju riots at the University of Ibadan in 1971. For instance, students of the Ebonyi State University have been protesting increases in their school fees since the beginning of this session without anyone unleashing killer-soldiers on them. It was only a few days back that the school was closed to avoid the lingering crisis from deteriorating into uncontrollable degree of violence.

This contrasts largely with the case of Keffi where within two hours of demonstration last Monday, armed men had gotten into it and killed people. Such use of fire-arms against citizens is despicable and could not have arisen from an invitation by anybody. Rather, it looks more like a spontaneous reaction by an intemperate military force. It is in fact rumoured that the ‘soldiers’ were irked by the adverse effect which the protests had on movement on the highway.

Incidentally, being a hindrance to free flow of movement has for awhile become the hobby of security forces in Nigeria. Last Monday for example, when security personnel resorted to killing people in Keffi to clear the highway, their colleagues held-up for longer than makes sense, all travellers on Benin-Lokoja highway to enable the Minister of Works to inspect some construction sites along that route! Whereas such helplessness is avoidfronting contemporary Nigeria. But as a thoughtful man of courage who speaks his mind even when it is “politically incorrect” to do so, he is a credible role model for Nigerian youths. To even suggest that because Achebe lives in the United States therefore he is out of touch with happenings in Nigeria betrays a dishonest forgetfulness of the globalising capabilities of modern information technology. More to the point, many Nigerians domiciled in Europe and America are more informed about the country than a significant number of educated Nigerians living in our towns and cities because of highly developed usage in the West of reliable social media powered by the Internet.

Therefore Achebe lives in America, but he certainly is better informed about Nigeria than Nigerians living in the homeland who do not have enough money to buy local newspapers and newsmagazines on a regular basis and have very limited access to news from various electronic media like radio, television and the Internet because of epileptic electricity. That said, I really admire Achebe for making it abundantly clear that he has zero tolerance not only for incompetent leadership but also for politicians of questionable character.

The same cannot be said for some other highly respected Nigerians. Take Chief Emeka Anyaoku, for example. His claim to fame and respectability stems mainly from several years of holding the position of

able, it is obviously unbearable when it gets to the level of killing people under the guise of clearing the highway as was done in Keffi last Monday t is heart-warming how I ever that many wellmeaning Nigerians and

notable organizations condemned the Keffi episode and in earnest called for a thorough investigation into the matter. The Nigerian Labour Congress, the Civil Liberties Organization of Nigeria and the National Association of Nigerian Students have all shown concern. This column supports the call for investigation but for several reasons, allowing the Police to handle it does not sound right. First, when contacted by media men about the Keffi onslaught, the Police did not only deny their own involvement, they claimed not to know who killed the demonstrators. Their spokesman, Michael Ada, allegedly referred the media to the Army. Second, whereas the Police could not identify who fired the killer-shots they were able to know those who allegedly threw stones hence they arrested and detained 30 students.

Third, more than 24 hours after the Police claimed to have begun investigation into the matter, none of the principal persons they claimed to be interrogating - that is, the Vice chancellor and his Management as well as the Student body was aware of the investigation We are therefore left to rely on the probe by the House of Representatives Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, from where he retired with grace and dignity. Chief Anyaoku chaired the 2012/2013 Post Graduate Lecture given by Prof. Ade Adefuye at the University of Lagos, and the moderator and guest lecturer both tried to outdo each other in pouring encomiums on the former Secretary-General. From the way he speaks English and mannerism, one can conclude that Chief Anyaoku is a refined gentleman. However, the retired diplomat appears mingling with politicians of questionable character, a situation that many of his admirers find disconcerting.

To some extent the same is true of Prof. Wole Soyinka, one of the best playwrights and humanists to emerge from the Black world, not just Africa.

Soyinka’s courage in confronting military dictatorship in Nigeria is beyond dispute. Of course, his contributions to scholarship are acknowledged worldwide.

But some of us that admire the playwright from a distance are puzzled whenever we see him in the company of politicians we think have with strong odour of corruption around them.

Nigerian politicians do not just use “fronts” to launder stolen funds; they also use clever means to burnish their dirty image by clinging to eminent Nigerians, in futile hope that people would forget their bad character and begin to respect them as well. It usually happens like this: politicians of questionable antecedents either establish a founda-

Committee on Army, Security and Police Affairs which is to turn in a report on the subject within two weeks. This column thus hopefully looks forward to the House for a job well done. It is expected that all the relevant facts will be revealed when some questions such as the following are answered. How many people died in the Keffi protest of last Monday? Who were the deceased? Who killed them? Who invited the killers to the scene? If as is rumoured, the killers are Nigerian soldiers, who has right to deploy soldiers to such activities? Can soldiers act on their own in a case like that of the Keffi incident? Is a public protest an offence in Nigeria? Are soldiers empowered to kill public demonstrators?

Meanwhile, it appears tempting to revisit the suggestion in this column sometime ago on ‘prevention being better than cure’.

These days, international best practices on democracy rely on citizens being treated as the subject rather than as objects of governance. To attain this in Nigeria, we must halt the trend of allocating to a subject like “security” funds that are thirty times higher than what goes to subjects like “ water”. Oh yes, if we reverse it and fund Water Resources better, we will avoid drought, prevent flooding and provide clean drinking water to our people. If on the other hand, we continue to spend more on security, insecurity will increase as there will be more arms to be indiscriminately used on thirsty and hungry Nigerians. tion or finance an existing one, probably in the name of a revered deceased politician or accomplished professional, where they sit on the Board of Trustees.

Then they cultivate the company of respected personalities either by instituting awards for them, organisiing birthday-related events, making big donations during public presentation of books written by such individuals, and generally footing the bills for sundry personal expenses of the latter. Unknown to these highly-regarded individuals, the moneybag politicians are using them to earn respectability by association. For many Nigerians that admire Chief Anyaoku or Prof Soyinka, seeing their idols sitting sideby-side with cash-and-carry politicians in a newspaper or television channel implies acceptability of the politicians involved as men deserving respect also.

In my opinion, individuals whose achievements – intellectual, moral, spiritual or professional – have earned them the status of role models in the society should not be hobnobbing with people of ill-repute.

This is because the youths in every society need role models and mentors to emulate. But when those who should play such a role keep bad company, then there is a problem; the young ones would be confused and disappointed.

Worse still, they might become cynical and hypocritical, preferring Machiavellism to genuine effort towards exemplary conduct.

PAGE 12—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

BOKO HARAM

We are fighting an international war — Ex-DSS Director

By Kingsley Omonobi & Johnbosco Agbakwuru

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ecently, the Senate recom mended capital punishment for terrorists in the country.

In this interview, Mr. Mike Ejiofor, a former Director of the Department of Security Services (SSS), commends the parliament for the bold step, but goes further to recommend same punishment for corrupt government officials. Excerpts: The country is facing a lot of security challenges. As a security expert, what is responsible?

As you are aware, the greatest challenge facing Nigeria for now is the issue of Boko Haram, a new dimension has just been introduced where this new group called Ansaru was involved in the kidnapping of French nationals in Cameroon. In fact, this is an international dimension that the group is actually affiliated to Al Qaeda since they are operating across border now and that calls for worry. Security agencies too, I believe, are following events and monitoring developments, but, generally speaking, apart from this major challenge, the security situation in the country is quite appreciable.

The Senate recently recommended death penalty for kidnappers, terrorists and other similar criminal activities.What is your take on that?

I was very excited when the National Assembly, precisely the Senate, passed the Amended 2011 Terrorism Prevention Act prescribing death sentence for offenders; that is quite commendable and I must congratulate the Senate for taking this bold initiative.

Terrorism is a fight that everybody should be involved in, all arms of government should be involved in the fight. And I think the fight against terrorism received another boost when the State Security Service paraded some terror suspects who were affiliated to Iran, that was a major outbreak and I think, with that, some of the international connections of these terrorists would —and don’t forget that these suspects were not arrested in the North, as you are aware that the North is the hotbed for terrorism; this cell that was established in Lagos, the Security Service had been following them for long and, for the service to come out that they have arrested suspects in respect of espionage and terrorism involving another national organization is something that we must commend the SSS for, and I plead with Nigerians to come out and assist the security agencies.

General insecurity could be linked to political, religious and economic reasons, they are all interwoven. If you look at when the president came to power, some people threatened that if

zInset: Ejiofor...Terrorists should die he assumed office, they would make the country ungovernable and, even though nobody has be specifically held responsible, it does seem that an agenda is being pursued to make his government unworkable and unpopular.

That is the political angle. One group also said Nigeria should be Islamized.

Nigeria is a secular state and it is definitely not possible to Islamize Nigeria. On the economic front, the economic downturn in the world is not peculiar to Nigeria and, with time, I think government has made promises of transformation and the transformation takes a lot of time for us to get to where we are now and I think with time we will make a headway.

How can these challenges be handled to ensure that there is peace?

There must be synergy among the security agencies, the people must be committed in providing information,

or passing information to criminals, there are measures, laid down rules on which such persons can be dealt with but I would not subscribe to the fact that the security agencies are part of the security problem.

Some of the people who say that, say it out of ignorance because if the agencies tell you exactly what they do, it will create fear in the people. It is only when it is obvious that people get to know.

For instance, the kidnapping of the French nationals, the security agencies can’t begin to tell people what they are doing because it will definitely compromise the outcome of investigations, it is only when investigations are concluded, they are many ongoing investigations that get to know what is going on. Our asecurity agencies based on my knowledge are doing their utmost and, just to think of

General insecurity could be linked to political, religious and economic reasons, they are all interwoven the government, on its part too, should encourage and assist the security agencies in getting modern equipment to fight this war because it is an international war.

It was alleged that the situation is so bad because some security personnel are working with the terrorists.

I don’t see how security agencies should be working with terrorists, but one thing I can tell you, like Mr. President once said, they have sympathizers in the security agencies. Nigeria is the most religious country in the world yet we don’t reflect it in our lives; so, you cannot rule out the possibility of moles in the security agencies. But that is not the position of the agencies themselves, anybody caught divulging

it, why is it that when Nigerian troops or security forces go outside Nigeria, the are adjudged the best?

So what are the challenges facing the security agencies in the country?

Inadequate funding, lack of training, rivalry among the agencies because as things are now, every agency is under pressure; so everybody wants to take credit, and this leads to haphazard coordination in terms of operation. I must advise them to work together in the best interest of the country.

Before the advent of the Yar’Adua/ Jonathan administration, no government has taken security seriously as this administration, but it can never be enough because of a lot of damage had been done; remember we witnessed

over 40 years or about that of military regime that was interested in protecting itself, instead of seeing to peoples welfare as it is in Section 14 of the Constitution that says that the primary responsibility of government is security and welfare of the people. It is only in this democracy that government started taking the issue of security seriously so there is a quantum link in terms of funding but we still need the government to put more money into security.

The present administration has faced more security challenges than any other administration. Take the issues of Boko Haram and kidnapping, these are the aftermath of the long neglect of the peoples welfare by previous governments.

Government has been accused in some quarters of lacking the political will to fight corruption. Do you agree?

Government is very prepared. Everybody is equal before the law but the poor people don’t have the means, the economic means to hire senior advocates for legal representation. But the ‘big men’ have the means, the money to manipulate the legal process, influence through technicalities.

Our judicial process is very cumbersome, there is a lot of technicalities. If you have a SAN as your counsel, the tendency for them is there to raise technicalities and to warrant series of adjournments and not pursuing the mean issue.

That is the problem, so we need to set up a special tribunal to try cases of terrorism now that the National Assembly has come up with this punishment of death they should go ahead to set a timeline on which these cases like the electoral cases could be decided so that they just concentrate and finish up the cases instead of the unnecessary technicalities and diversion.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 13

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PAGE 14— SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

Life as Lagos refuse dump neighbours!

By Bilesanmi Olalekan Dateline: 6.30am; Tuesday, February 5; Solous dumpfield along LASU/ Iba Road, Lagos.

A

s you approach the dumpfields, that is if you are coming from Isheri roundabout, you are greeted by the sites on both sides of the road. The sites, named after Solous, a popular hotel, obviously for better description, have been dumpfields for more than 25 years. While you are greeted by the mountainous sites, you also pick the odiferous smell from the fields. As a matter of fact, you have to cover your nose because of the stench oozing out to the road.

Just as you contemplate which of the sites to approach for your report, you suddenly notice that the one on the left on your way to Lagos State University is barricaded with iron roofing sheets, leaving you with no option than to switch to the other field. This other field is home to all manners of garbage, from pure water sachets to used diapers, some with excreta; toiletries including pads; decomposed foods like rice, eba, amala; torn clothes;shoes,bathroom slippers;empty cartons of biscuits,electronics,pastries,detergents and toilet soaps. You also notice makeshift huts by scavengers(who, by the way, have an association- Scavengers Association of Nigeria).

Activities on these sites don’t pick up until about 11 am- when refuse trucks and cart pushers begin to arrive even as Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, officials direct the affairs.

However, there is a distinction between the cart pushers and the scavengers.

The scavengers are on the dump fields to pick out those items that can be recycled while the cart pushers mainly concern themselves with carrying garbage to the fields. However, among the cart pushers,there are some who indulge in scavenging.

That is why some of the cart pushers stay over night around the vicinity of the fields so that they can have better access and opportunity first hand to recycled items. Salisu,24, from Sokoto State, operates both as a cart pusher and a scavenger. “ When I turn in my refuse in the evening,I still pass the night around here so that I can have more access to the refuse and determine what to take from it”. Also, on this day, a six-tyre truck was stationed few meters to the entrance of one of the sites, the driver behind the wheels, snoring away. He didn’t wake up until one of the LAWMA/PSP(Private Sector Participant) agents refuse trucks drove in around 7.40 am. But by 7 am, two of the LAWMA staff had strolled in. The two men walked into a portaC M Y K

zScavengers’ battle for garbage zDouble life of cart pushers zThe wastes that generate electricity

. *A dumpsite as different strokes for different folks

*Oresanya...Our problem with cart pushers

cabin labelled, ‘Sweepers Camp’. Beside the camp was a canteen built with plank. The administrative office here, headed by a manager, a middle aged woman, was another cabin, much longer than the sweepers’. In it was a section for the manager, while another was the changing room for sweepers.

There is a common room which has a television set and a cupboard stocked with small boxes inside which the sweepers keep their tools. It is from the cabin that instructions are dished out on what was not done properly the previous day and what is to be done the following day. The staff are courteous in their interaction with people.

There is also a high level of hygiene amongst them as reflected in their uniforms and the environment. About 150 meters to the field is properly cleaned up.

The windows of the houses around the sites are firmly locked, obviously because of the stench from the fields.

One of the residents on Shekoni Street, Mr Segun Awise,32, a business man,

said in time past, his windows, especially at night, used to be flung open but that has since stopped because of the stench from the sites.” You cannot stand the stench in the afternoon.

Everybody must shut his doors and windows. I think the smell stopped last year or so such that you could open your windows for breeze but all that has since stopped. Nobody around here dares open his windows any more otherwise you will suffocate. They have been talking about doing something about the smell for some time but nothing has been done yet”, he stated.

While some residents like Awise cannot stand the stench, others are indifferent. Tunji,26,is an agent of the popular Baba Ijebu lottery. He says he does not have any option since his daily bread comes from the lottery business he operates within the sites vicinity. The stench, Tunji says, has become part of his life since he started the lottery business about two years Continues on page 15

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 15

Continued from page 14

ago. `There are no jobs around; so, when you get one, you hold on to it, irrespective of whether you like it or not. The stench, I must say, is not good for one’s health but, tell me, what can you do? Of course I do take drugs once in a while but there is really nothing I can do to stop the stench except I want to relocate. I am the only one here and market is okay because customers have come to recognize me. So, I cannot leave here.”

By 9.20 am, the area was beginning to come alive with different activities.

Both scavengers and cart pushers have increased in number at the sites just as the staff of LAWMA are in full throttle regarding the cleaning of the vicinity.

The canteen was ready as it displayed N70,N100 loaves of bread. You now begin to see why the six-tyre truck was parked over night as carcasses of automobile, motorcycle, used aluminum roofing sheets, cans of margarine, electronics(components of television, radio, pressing iron, refrigerator etc), bottles of table water, tomato of 10,4,1½ litres of kegs, all packed differently, about 100 in each white 50 kilograms bags which have turned black, are loaded into the truck. Traffic is not usually high in the morning compared to anything from noon to about 6 pm when vehicular movement of the PSP agents trucks is at its peak. As a matter of fact, in the evening, the trucks would have to queue before they can gain entry into the site just as the scavengers are busy fighting over the garbage. Sometimes it would take intervention of colleagues and even drivers to bring things to normalcy. The sweepers, once the trucks discharge the garbage, sweep the remnants off the road and this continues until about 5.30pm. While the staff leave the site for their homes, the scavengers hang around repacking their ‘treasure’. Mustapha,23, is from Kebbi State. He says he came to Lagos through a friend who told him about scavenging as a thriving business.” Since I have been doing this business in 2011, I have no regret because it gives money not only to eat but also to send to my family in Kebbi”. On the health hazards the sites pose, Salisu says he takes medication on weekly basis even though he didn’t know the names of the drugs. His clientele , according to him, ranges from the middle class to the common man.

He brings refuse from as far as Ikotun; Pipeline Road; Abaranje; Idimu; Ejigbo Road; Orisunbare; Paiko, etc. He says he is on the road as early as 6.30 in the morning so that ‘I can go for about two trips, depending on the availability of refuse’, otherwise, by 12 noon, he is through with cart pushing.

On the average, he makes between N3,000 and N4,000 daily.

Expectedly, the PSP agents complain of danger the cart pushers are posing to their business. Ade Ola, one of the

Biogas project...The wastes that bring electricity

Scavengers’ battle for garbage agents,explained that areas like Council up to Alake Bus Stop have been taken over by the cart pushers, adding that each time he gets to the areas,residents would tell him the mallam(cart pusher)has taken the garbage away.” I think it is high time the state government did something to these cart pushers. They are high in

garbage, that is, in case the agent did not turn up so that we could call the next available agent to come around.

Also we encourage the various Community Development Areas, CDAs, to always hire trucks to carry their garbage to the dump site once their agent is not available so that as they get to the site, they are refunded the money

ket where the project is located. We have recycling plants including four plastic plants up and running. These things are in phases”.

Indeed, some of the traders at the Ikosi market Sunday Vanguard spoke with confirmed the existence of power in the night. Mama Uche,33, a plantain dealer, said she does not leave the market until 9pm because her suppliers come to the market late.” I The sweepers, once the trucks discharge the garbage, have been selling sweep the remnants off the road and this continues plantain since 2009 until about 5.30pm. While the staff leave the site for and I leave here as their homes, the scavengers hang around repacking late as 9pm. And that is because my supplitheir ‘treasure’ ers usually arrive late so that by the time my stock is discharged, it number around this area. Come immediately ”, he said. is already getting to 8pm. You had to here(Solous) in the evening and you On the rickety refuse trucks on the get a generator of your own to get powsee them in their 10s and road, Oresanya said the authority had er so that discharge could be conve20s,discharging their consignments”. made arrangement for the agents so nient. So naturally every one was hapThis managing director of LAWMA, that they could buy new trucks and pay py when the LAWMA people came to Mr Ola Oresanya, says the cart push- back installmentally. Oresanya ac- say that we should be sending their ers are part of the problem of flooding knowledged the stench from the site waste to them, rather than taking them in the state during rainy season. Ac- but quickly added that the chemical to to the refuse site. Because of that, they cording to him,” These cart pushers spray was already at the site.” Thank have been supplying us electricity evtake your refuse and throw them in the God you also admitted that before now ery night since then. It has made the drains and canals so that they become there was nothing like stench which job easier for me”, she said. problematic during rainy season. We presupposes that something was done A visit to the site of the biogas project have reduced their activities drastically to the field before. You cannot do any- shows a washing bay where the sand compared to many years back, but thing to that field during rainy sea- and mud on wastes (banana, pineapagain their existence is tied to those son, it is during this time that you can ple, mango, orange, water melon, paw who still patronize them. If there is no deodorize the place with chemical paw, guava, pear, etc) are washed bepatronage, then they won’t be on the which is already available at the site. fore they are moved into two tanks road again.

The stench will disappear as soon as filled with 250 gallons of water or two we deodorize the field”. days. ur agents(PSP refuse trucks) However,beyond making the enviThe two days storage makes the are always around you to rons of dump fields hygienic and hab- wastes easy to blend (just like pepmake use of their services. itable, the state government is also con- per) in the grinding machine. After Except you don’t have container in verting the wastes to energy. Present- this, the product is transferred to a front of your house, if you do, the agent ly it is running a pilot scheme of the 15,000-litre tank called digester. After will always come around every week biogas project at Ikosi market(the bulk 21 days of fermentation or digest as to take your refuse away. of where the raw materials are the case may be, the scrubber sepaThere are actually three phases to sourced). rates the methane; the methane is this. In the LAWMA bill, there is a toll According to Oresanya, the waste to then transferred through a hose to a free number you could call in case wealth project,” as we speak is pres- gas generator that supplies the marthere is any problems relating to your ently providing electricity to Ikosi mar- ket power.

O

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PAGE 16 —SUNDAY

Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013

•Amaechi...ruffled feathers in the Presidency

•Jonathan... moved against NGF

•Akpabio...leads splinter group

AFTERMATH OF NGF CRISIS

To thy tents, O Govs T

HE avoidable but raging war among the governors, particularly those of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which culminated in the birth of PDP Governors’ Forum from the allinfluential Nigerian Governors’ Forum, led by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, last week, points to a crack in the political machinery of the PDP and threatens to cause a major leakage in the party’s umbrella, if the discontentment among the contending forces is not well managed before the dawn of the 2015 polls.

The war had long been declared from above but the foot solders did not know they would be recruited to work for and against one another. At the firing line is one man, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Governor of Rivers State, who has been fingered as not showing enough respect to President Goodluck Jonathan and his exalted office. Those who are shooting darts at him accuse the Obima-born fearless politician of joining forces with strangers to battle Jonathan and his political empire, not minding the fact that he is one of the governors from the President’s backyard.

On the offensive is the President himself, aided and abetted by some loyal People Democratic Party, PDP, governors, his trusted political strategists and bystanders, who want to make a gain from the festering war of attrition that has largely been fought in the media than a real onslaught.

Although no bullet has yet been fired, C M Y K

,

By SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

Many of the PDP governors, especially those who are serving out their second term and do not have much to fight for politically, are not in sync with the party and do not seem to be in a hurry to do the bidding of the Villa

,

the ripples are already reverberating in the land like a hurricane and not many can perfectly predict how it will end and who the victims will be at the end of the combat. Not many of the foot soldiers can pinpoint to anything that Amaechi has said and done in practical terms to warrant being isolated as being at war with or disrespectful of President Jonathan and family. But the fact remains that the daring governor shoots straight and is not given to the reigning invidious survival strategy of most Nigerian politicians who say one thing but mean the opposite.

Amaechi, it appears, has failed the Nigerian political test by refusing or not knowing how to call black white and vice versa, all in a bid to be seen as a ‘’good boy” to his political godfathers.

The governor has been, rather,

indirectly and helplessly, plunged into the bad book of President Jonathan, clearly by political soothsayers, whose calculation is that with Amaechi in the saddle as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, the fortunes of the President may continue to plummet to a point that his 2015 ambition could suffer a discount. Those who made him the NGF leader two years ago, apparently out of selfish expectation that being a PDP governor and one of the six South-South governors, he would always dance to the tunes called by Jonathan, are rather disappointed by the turn of events. The President’s men and PDP leaders might have also expected Amaechi not to have a mind of his own but to sheepishly accept and chorus along any policy and programme fashioned by Aso Rock Presidential Villa and placed on the neck of Nigerians no matter how suffocating the effect may be.

But this has not been the case with Amaechi.

He must have unwittingly rocked the boat of the leader of the PDP and the largest party in Africa by, first, disagreeing with the way the Presidency was managing the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF, by dipping its hands and taking from it at will without involving the governors. He spoke out and when the Federal Government refused to stop pinching money from that fund, the NGF, under his leadership, went to court to stop the government from using the money the way it likes. This perfidy, despite the fact that a so called Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is a Bretton Woods protégé.

That action has paid off handsomely, at least.

Now, the government has been forced to set up a corporate legal body to run the fund and Nigerians may soon begin to see more transparent usage of the SWF instead of being kept in the dark as was the case before.

Although the Presidency did not like the ‘’confrontation”, the 36 state governors, who are expected to also derive more benefit from the fund, are happy with the steps taken by the Amaechi-led NGF. While that imbroglio was just settling down, then came the spat between Amaechi’s Rivers State and President Jonathan’s Bayelsa State over the ownership of some controversial oil wells, which the two sister states claimed were rightly theirs. Again, Amaechi, as the bastion of the Rivers people’s mandate, had to be put in the ring of contest, this time with the President, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and the people of his state. In the fight over the oil wells yet to be fully settled, many Nigerians also expected Amaechi to have backed-off, close his mouth and concede the wells, all because President Jonathan’s state is involved.

But, Amaechi decided to shout from his rooftop, insisting that he would not allow the commonwealth of Rivers people to be taken away on the altar of politics. He was quoted as saying that he would rather resign as governor than shy away from defending and protecting their interest in the controversial oil wells.

T

he refusal of Amaechi to concede the ownership of the oil wells was immediately followed by a report that he had been anointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to run with his Jigawa State counterpart as vice president and president, respectively, in 2015 although the story bearers did not indicate on which party platform the two governors would run.

Despite strenuous denials by both men that they are not running, Jonathan’s men appear to have already marked down the Continues on page 17

SUNDAY

Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 17

To thy tents, O Govs Continues from page 16

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•EK Clark ...taunts govs platform than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,”, an angry Orubebe roared while accusing the governor of leaving the governance of his state to poke nose into the non-completion of the 337-km East West Road, whose contract was awarded by the Obasanjo administration in 2006 but could not be completed before it was transferred to the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry in April 2009.

Not done with his frustration with Amaechi’s style of leadership of the NGF, Orubebe added, “Even governors from the South-South, particularly, Rotimi Amaechi, have no respect for the President of this country.” He did not however provide any evidence to support what Amaechi did to show disdain to President Jonathan.

A

maechi’s attempt to respond to the verbal assault on him by Orubebe, was already too late, as a lasting impression appears to have already been made in the minds of Jonathan’s men that the governor was not with them and should be taught some lessons to make him realise who controls the levers of power in Nigeria and the PDP where he belongs.

Reports say that although the Presidency had long nursed the game plan to deal with Amaechi by out-rightly removing him from the NGF or creating a splinter group to whittle his enormous power and influence

•Babangida Aliyu...allegedly nursing presidential bid

,

Rivers governor as a ‘bad boy’ not loyal to the PDP leader and Nigeria’s helmsman, who has curiously found it rather difficult to openly declare his interest or otherwise in the 2015 presidency till date. His claim that he is working actively to fix Nigeria and does not want to be distracted with the next election while his hatchet men prod the land with unprecedented gusto, does not really catch fire, since his body language points to the opposite direction.

In a bid to keep Amaechi at bay and whittle his alleged influence, which the President’s minders believe stems from the NGF, Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, who is regarded as President Jonathan’s godfather, openly taunted the governors platform but merely stopped short of calling for its disbandment.

In a strongly worded letter Clark sent to the NGF on January 24, 2013, the elder statesman noted, “The Forum has become a powerful tool in the hands of the governors who now use it to pursue and promote their individual and collective interests with little or no regard to the letter and spirit of the Party’s Constitution and supremacy.

“The PDP as a political party has lost control of its various organs and, for some time now, proper elections at congresses and conventions have not been held democratically due to the imposition of unqualified members on the good members of the party, contravening Section 87(4) of the Amended Electoral Act 2011 and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s law.”

Although the Ijaw leader did not mention Amaechi as committing any infraction in his personal letter to the NGF, the meaning was not lost however that he was making indirect reference to what was considered to be the overbearing influence of the governors’ platform under the stubborn leadership of the Rivers governor.

But to put the President’s anger and disappointment over Amaechi in proper perspective and put the heat on the governor, the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Elder Godsday Orubebe, on February 2, 2013, knocked Amaechi almost below the belt.

While on inspection of projects in the Niger Delta with reporters, Orubebe fired a debilitating shot at the governor, accusing him of not showing respect to President Jonathan.

“Today, Amaechi sees himself as the governor of governors and feels that he is even bigger

To put the President’s anger at Amaechi in proper perspective and put the heat on the governor, the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Elder Godsday Orubebe, on February 2, 2013 knocked Amaechi almost below the belt when he said the latter was beginning to see himself as superior to President Jonathan

,

among the 36 governors, the prosecutors of the agenda were mindful of the need to execute it with utmost diligence to avoid a backlash that could rob the Presidency of the needed sympathy and support for 2015.

Convinced by advisers that it would be difficult to oust Amaechi from his post, the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP settled for the more innocuous and ingenious idea of creating a splinter group to be headed by a ‘core loyalist’ from among the PDP governors, who would be willing to stand by Jonathan even if he is sinking. The President’s men settled for Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. Akpabio is said to have fitted the bill because those close to him and Amaechi suggest that they are not the best

of friends and do not intend to be so even in the near future. They seem to have fallen apart over disagreements bordering on the controversial 176 oil wells, which they claim belong to them until the court ruled that the wells were Rivers’.

Once assured that it could woo some PDP governors to its side and that Akpabio was willing to head the splinter PDP Governors Forum so as to cut Amaechi to size, the President summoned with some degree of glee a meeting of the PDP governors with him at the Villa last Sunday.

Insiders said as the meeting was in progress, Amaechi and Akpabio were excused to leave the venue of the meeting at House 7 only for Akpabio to be announced shortly as the new chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.

T

he President, his party and ad visers were in a joyous mood when Akpabio, still basking in the euphoria of his election as the PDP GF, stormed the Wadata Plaza to present himself to the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and other NWC members and made some heart-warming statements that obviously elated Jonathan’s camp.

Akpabio said he was on a rescue mission to sanitise the PDP and chase out untrustworthy members he described as Judases.

The governor noted, “What the PDP is trying to do now is to cleanse its house; to try to identify the ones they called Judas and whisper it to them and say ‘go out, the train is moving and you cannot stand otherwise we will

crush you.’”

But even with such self-assuring boast, many of the PDP governors, especially those who are serving out their second term and do not have much to fight for politically, are not in sync with the party and do not seem to be in a hurry to do the bidding of the Villa as far as 2015 is concerned. They, too, are not willing to leave Amaechi to be swept away by the ill wind that is sweeping through from the President’s men.

To show the President that they mean their support for Amaechi, they still went ahead and prepared to re-elect him for a second term, before the tensed election, which was slated for Amaechi’s lodge in Asokoro, a stone throw from Jonathan’s Villa, was called off when it dawned on the President’s men that they could not secure the needed support from the governors to flush out Amaechi.

The election has been pushed to May this year apparently to enable the camp of the President and the PDP to use the Akpabio’s PDP GF to prevail on others to ditch Amaechi and elect Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, who has been tipped as a Jonathan’s admirer, supporter and loyalist to the core, from the North-West.

That notwithstanding, the Northern Governors’ Forum, headed by vociferous Babangida Aliyu, who is also not in the good books of the President for daring to say that Jonathan signed a pact with them to serve only a term, may also not go along with Shema when he stands election as chairman of the NGF. Aliyu is said to be nursing a presidential ambition and he does not appear to be in a hurry to reconcile with Jonathan. He is reported to have engaged in a shouting match with Akpabio for accepting to head the splinter PDP GF at a time the opposition is fusing to consolidate ahead of 2015.

What may spill the beans for PDP is that while its ranks is being split into groups, thereby weakening its unity and cohesion, opposition governors are working together to ensure that Amaechi retains his position as the NGF chairman.

Their reasoning is that Amaechi is not fighting the President as alleged by some sycophantic elements but working for the overall interest of Nigeria.

“I am sure the Presidency is aware that it has lost the battle against Amaechi and that the latest attempt to force PDP governors to remove Amaechi has even attracted more support and sympathy from the governors for the NGF chairman,” a member of the NGF said.

The furore generated by the emergence of the PDP GF is likely to shape the PDP political landscape for some time to come and may largely determine how far the party can go in the next general elections.

PAGE 18 —SUNDAY

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Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013

or a politician who believes in the sanctity of the state and its machinery, perhaps many have come to confuse the role and personality of Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih. But to those in the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he epitomises experience and loyalty. Since 1998 when the party was formed, Anenih remains perhaps one of the very few – very, very few – members who have never contemplated decampment as a directive policy of politicking.

Therefore, when last Monday night – indeed into the very early hours of Tuesday – it was time to vote for the new chairman of PDP’s Board of Trustees, BoT, the set criteria could only fit one bill: Tony Anenih. It wasn’t by design; it was just time for the qualities of hard work, loyalty to party discipline, experience and leadership, to yield dividends.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the Jerry Gana Committee that had been set up last month to harmonise the membership of the BoT as well as fashion out a selection/election process, came up with its report, presented and read it for all members present.

The meeting, which began at 8.45 pm and ended at 1.10 am, commenced with the adoption of the report.

Thereafter, aspirants who had been disqualified ab-initio by the guidelines for eligibility to be chairman, as contained in the report, began to step down, one after the other.

But why did they step down?

The guidelines made it so.

Tagged CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING BoT CHAIRMAN, and divided into two parts, Criteria For Screening The Aspirants and The Selection Process, (see box), the Gana Committee enumerated a number of factors and conditions to be met (unlike the amendment by former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the PDP’s 2005 National Convention, an amendment which made him the only qualified person to become chairman of PDP’s BoT) which narrowed the number of qualified persons for the seat by half, from the earlier multitude of almost a score.

Thereafter, aspirants who had been disqualified ab-initio by the guidelines for eligibility began to step down, one after the other.

Sunday vanguard gathered that the first to step down was Chief Don Etiebet from the South-South zone, the same zone with Anenih. He was followed by Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun and Yekini Adeojo in that order, from the Southwest zone. Both were caught by the one of the criteria for selecting chairman of the Board which disqualifies any member of the Board who left the party for another party and returned thereafter to the Board.

Then a small drama ensued. Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, asked that President Jonathan should request that he should step down; that way, it would be easy for him to explain to his supporters outside that he stepped down at the instance of the President and Commander-in-Chief and leader of the party.

President Jonathan was said to have smiled and calmly replied: “Senator Nnamani, please step down.” And Nnamani did. It turned out to be one of the comical moments of the meeting, with the admixture of intrigues and cold calculations to push C M Y K

THE RETURN

My agenda for PDP,

by Tony Anenih Details

of the consensus arrangement that produced BoT Chairman

Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih

through the agenda of Jonathan’s presidency.

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, publisher of Champion Newspapers, who claimed to be the endorsed candidate of the Southeast zone for the position, took his turn to explain how the Igbo had been marginalized and how he had spent time and resources on the process. In fact, Sunday Vanguard learnt, he was said to have wondered why the President did not let them know early that he was interested in one of the aspirants. He suggested that instead of prolonging the process, the National Chairman, President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker should constitute themselves into a small committee which should meet separately to agree on a candidate who would be presented to the meeting for endorsement as consensus candidate.

It was a good suggestion. The advice was taken.

In addition to the five persons, Chief Olabode George and Governor Ibrahim Shema were co-opted into the committee, which met for some time and its decision to present Anenih as consensus candidate to the meeting for endorsement was announced by Shema.

The meeting unanimously endorsed the consensus candidate.

And the Iyasele (prime Minister) of Esanland emerged as Chairman to begin his second missionary journey, having been suddenly shoved out in 2007 by Obasanjo in a coup-like manner.

The Agenda Sunday Vanguard has exclusively gathered from sources very close to Anenih that in the build-up to last

week’s meeting of the BoT, the man popularly referred to as Leader by his loyalists and Mr. Fix It by his adversaries, had made his plans and agenda for the party known in no uncertain terms.

Concerned about the widening chasm in the party, especially between the members and the leaders on the one hand, and the damaging consequences of the ceaseless bickering among members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party, Anenih had set for himself, targets.

In private meetings at the very highest levels, Anenih, information available to Sunday Vanguard suggests, had made it clear that he would be focusing on the following: 1. Unity & Fairness 2. Oneness 3. Progress 4. Rancour-free party 5. Assisting the NEC in bringing everybody together 6. Assisting the NEC in resolving the plethora of challenges and crises confronting the party in the state chapters 7. Working with members of the BoT to live and act the spirit of the conscience of the party 8. Re-positioning the party for the challenges of 2015 9. Ensuring adherence to strict party discipline 10. Keeping faith with the legacies of the founding fathers of the party Sunday Vanguard gathered that whereas this has not been codified and formally presented to the President and the BoT, the source said “the list encapsulates the agenda of the new BoT Chairman.

“The reason is simply because when you look at the happenings within the party, a wise leader like Chief would be interested in ensuring what you have in the 10-point agenda.

“In fact, it even becomes more pressing now with the opposition forming a coalition with the sole purpose of dislodging the PDP from power.

“The BoT Chairman believes that if every member and leader of the party at the different levels key into these points and make them cardinal objectives to be achieved, the party would be better positioned to silence critics. “Even the President is also very worried especially against the backdrop of the bickering in the NWC, a situation which pitched the national chairman against his national secretary. Strict adherence to party discipline would be the watchword and the chief is eminently positioned to deliver on that”, the source concluded.

All attempts made by Sunday Vanguard last week to get Chief Anenih to talk ran into a stone wall.

Continues on page 19

SUNDAY

Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 19

My agenda for PDP, by Tony Anenih Continued from page 18 But feelers from the camp loyal to Anenih, as of press time, indicated that the old and tested political warhorse is determined, in the face of burgeoning opposition against Jonathan by the other parties, to give the president’s 2015 reelection bid his all.

It is believed that primordial issues and ancient allegations of some perceived wrongdoings while in office as Minister of Work would be incrementally revisited and raked up, it was learnt that there is a resolve by him and members of his camp not to be unnecessarily distracted by such antics and political shenanigans.

P

olitics, thy name is nenih From his days in the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, in the defunct Bendel State, Anenih’s politics has been variously described as one of pacification.

However, beneath that pacifist paradigm of Anenih resides a very strong vice-grip mentality of loyalty to the general cause of party position.

An example can be drawn from the very turbulent days of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, when the party was forced to agree to go for another presidential election. The pillar of the then SDP, the late General Shehu Musa Yar ’Adua, had agreed to another election as a way out of the emerging crisis of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election. Indeed, the leadership of the party at that time had seen the hands of General Sani Abacha, eager to wrest power and, therefore, had hoped that an early resolution would checkmate Abacha’s adventure. But the gale of antagonism to that decision, coupled with the shortsightedness of a section of the political class first gave way to an Interim National Government, ING, which was made to look all the more interim

by Abacha’s dismissal of Ernest Shonekan, the then head of ING. But Yar’Adua and Anenih’s position for another early election which was poohpoohed led to Abacha’s fiveyear disaster as head of state.

During February 1999 National Convention of PDP in Jos, from where Obasanjo emerged, the victory recorded

by Obasanjo over Alex Ekwueme, his closest rival, was made possible by a combination of factors from which you cannot divorce Anenih.

In fact, as early as 6:45am on C M Y K

voting day, apart from Sunday Vanguard, the only person who sat in the VIP section of the Jos Township Stadium that Sunday morning was Anenih. Clad in his now familiar blue jeans jacket and trouser, he kept making sorties between the VIP section of the stadium and the delegates’ stands, each time to nip suspected emerging crisis in the bud when voting was

about to commence.

In 2002, at the height of the attempt to impeach the rambunctious Obasanjo as President and Commander-inChief, it was to Anenih the latter turned.

Working tirelessly with a handful of other committed leaders of the PDP, Anenih became the arrow-head of that rescue mission, negotiating,

conciliating and making compromises with a view to saving a situation which had pitched the North of Nigeria against the South. That Obasanjo could survive the onslaught and later serve out his first term and even secure a second term, was due, in part to Anenih’s role. Worse for Obasanjo, on the eve of the PDP National Convention in

THE SELECTION DOCUMENT DEVELOPING CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING BoT CHAIRMAN After concluding the verification exercise of BoT membership, the Committee examined some modalities and drew up criteria to serve as guidelines for selecting a suitable Chairman for the Board of Trustees. Our recommended process is in two parts: PART A: CRITERIA FOR SCREENING ASPIRANTS 1. A candidate for the position of Chairman of BoT must be consistent in his loyalty to the Party, in terms of stability of sustained support and integrity of character, such that there is no record of having left the Party.

2. An aspirant must not be one of those who have brought the Party into public ridicule and disrepute.

3. An aspirant should be well grounded in politics both at the national and local levels, with a good reputation for excellent leadership.

4. An aspirant should possess the necessary charisma and instinctive leadership skills to move the Party forward.

5. Any aspirant who is keenly interested in contesting for elective office in the executive and legislative arms of Government, or Executive office in the Party, should stand disqualified.

6. Any aspirant with a case of criminal misconduct in Court, or with any of the anticorruption agencies (EFCC, ICPC, etc), or facing Party disciplinary action, should stand disqualified.

7. Aspirants should have good relations with Party leaders, Party Elders, State Governors, etc, and should enjoy the goodwill of Party members.

8. It should be an added advantage if an aspirant is a founding member of the Party, with good experience in Party administration and management.

9. Any aspirant with a terminal date to his or her BoT membership may stand at a disadvantage for lack of continuity.

10. Regular attendance at BoT meetings should be a basic requirement for any aspiring candidate for BoT Chairmanship.

PART B: THE SELECTION PROCESS 1. Since the Board of Trustees is the moral guide and conscience of the Party, it would be ideal and preferable for the Board to

produce its Chairman through a process of democratic dialogue and consensus. But if all efforts fail, the BoT elective process of casting votes may be adopted.

2. Since the BoT is basically the Upper Chambers in the Party hierarchy, comprising a remarkable body of people with profound experiences, good reputation and demonstrated knowledge, members are expected to relate among themselves with accustomed dignity. They must at all times be perceived in uniform voice and spirit as symbols of our unity. They must never be seen in the disruptive and inelegant role of electoral divisiveness.

3. It is suggested that a high powered Committee be established to dialogue with illustrious members of the BoT who are aspiring to serve as the Chairman of this august body, with a view to arriving at a consensus.

4. After the interactions with their colleagues, the Committee should recommend the most suitable candidate to the larger house for endorsement as the BoT Chairman. We consider this to be the most honourable and edifying process.

5. If achieved through proper consultations at all levels in the BoT, and especially with the aspirants, this process of building consensus will bind the entire BoT together as an undivided conscience of the Party.

Reality confirms that a divided conscience is of no use to anybody.

Present at the meeting were President Goodluck Jonathan; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Senate President, David Mark; Speaker Aminu Tambuwal; Kano Governor, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso; Prof Jubril Aminu; Mrs Josephine Anenih; Dr. Bode Olajumoke; Don Etiebet; Prof Jerry Gana; Chief Banabas Gemade; the party women leader, Dr. Kema Chikwe; Dr. Hassan Adamu; Dr. Dalhatu Tafida; Prince Vincent Ogbulafor; Alabo Graham Douglas; Chief Alex Ekwueme; Chief Jim Nwobodo and Dr. Sam Sam Jaja.

Others were former Senate President, Chief Adophols Wabara; Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State; Alhaji Bunu Sherif; Chief Olabode George; Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu; Dr. Mohammed Bello Haliru, Dr Ahmadu Ali; Maj Gen David Jemibewon; Shuaibu Oyedokun; Okwesiliese Nwodo; Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu; Ken Nnamani; Adamu Muazu and Danjuma Goje.

January 2003, when a majority of the state governors in the party almost threw Obasanjo to the dogs, preferring, instead, then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, it was the same Anenih who again threw himself into the battle to save Obasanjo.

However, between the selfsame Obasanjo and Anenih, the centre could not hold when the issue of Third Term began to gain fervency. The latter objected to the move and this angered Obasanjo. And whereas the former president recruited some political upstarts to drive his Third Term project, the effort ended as a fool’s errand. Had Obasanjo adhered to good sense and wisdom, he might have spared himself and his presidency the odium of the embarrassment that trailed his failure to secure the Third Term, which still haunts him till today.

Presidential watchers insist that when the issue of zoning became very contentious in the run up to the 2011 presidential contest, it was Anenih who brought out data, showing how zoning had almost always been breached since 1999 whenever the party wanted a presidential convention, citing the instances of the late Abubakar Rimi in 1999 and 2003 (when the slot was supposedly reserved for the south); and 2007 (when some southerners contested against Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a time when the slot was supposedly reserved for the North).

For the BoT Chairman, he accepts the praises where due and takes the bashings which are sometimes caustic with quintessential equanimity when they come – as they often do, especially in his home state of Edo, where another political party is in control. Some may never agree with his politics, but for a man steeped in his ways, some phrases commonly used by Anenih in the face of party indiscipline are, ‘things are not supposed to be done this way’, ‘You cannot behave like this’. Anenih has his multitude; and he still leads. It was in 1992 that the late Shehu Yar’Adua christened Anenih, “The Leader”. The title has since stuck.

That he has returned as BoT Chairman to lead is, therefore, not by accident, especially at a time when the PDP needs leadership with character to resolve its crisis. Anenih turns 80 in August.

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY VANGUARD,MARCH 3, 2013

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

Employment agents & the Nigerian factor

A

friend’s married daughter and her husband were shocked when their guard came to tell them when they returned from work, that the nanny to their two children had begged him to allow her smuggle a male relation, who she claimed had come from their village to look for a job, into her room in the Boys’ Quarters. The guard agreed initially but when the man actually showed up that night, he had to come confess to his employers. When confronted, the nanny rudely told them that she hadn’t done anything wrong, since it was to her room she had invited the man, and not to the main house. Her employers contained their anger, but told her to go remove her relative from outside the house immediately. In anger she moved out that night. The agent who brought her was quite shocked by what happened. He confessed he hadn’t researched the lady well, but that she looked humble, hard-working and honest. The couple decided to use another agent, and they invited me to come help vet him and the nanny he was bringing to them. I had hardly taken my seat when the agent, a lively soul, gave me his call card, saying I might need his services at a point, or have friends and relatives who might, as he also supplies other categories of domestic workers.

“Thank you. Oh, you’re a deacon, are you? And of this highly-acclaimed church?” I asked “Yes, madam,”he answered, clearly pleased that I noticed. “I’m of province …... I’ve been a deacon for several years now, and by the grace of God, I hope to become an assistant pastor in future, and then rise. I got born-again, er, let me see now – er while in secondary school. That was many years ago.”

If he expected applause from the couple, he didn’t get it, as my friend’s son-in-law observed quietly, ‘Most employment agents are deacons, born-again, and of that particular church. I suppose that’s to make people trust you guys.’

“My brother, maybe, but I’m a genuine deacon of that church, and an honest agent. You can go ask of me in my church. They will tell you that I’m honourable.” defended the agent.

“You may actually be,” said the other with a short laugh.

We then got down to business. His fee was twenty thousand naira payable in one instalment. There’s a replacement if the nanny leaves or is sacked within six months. After six months of service by the help, he wouldn’t be liable to replace her. It would be a fresh start.”

“Deacon, I’m uncomfortable with that rule. What you’re in fact saying is that it is possible that we require your services every six months, and we have to pay twenty thousand each time. That seems unfair to me..” I told him.

“It shouldn’t be, madam. It’s not as C M Y K

View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

There’s no doubt that some agents are as honest as they can possibly be in Nigeria, but some teach the job-seeker to lie and tell half-truths about their background and circumstances.

if the girl is here to work for six months only.

It’s up to her. I have two people in Lekki who have been with their madams for more that two years now. Six months guarantee for a replacement is the normal agreement. ” “Alright,” said my friend’s daughter with a sigh. “What do we pay the girl?”

“Thirty thousand if you’re not feeding her, and twenty-five, if you are. She will go to church every Sunday, and have one full Sunday off every month.”

The couple agreed and the girl was called in. She seemed respectful, sober and looked eager to work.

She worked well and the couple were pleased with her. A week from the end of her first six months, she told her employers that she had got admission into a higher institution. How? When?, asked the astonished employers.

She completed her remaining week well, and even went to work on the morning she was leaving. The couple gave her money and several gifts and she left. The agent supplied a replacement for a reduced fee of fifteen thousand naira. She wasn’t as pleasant and hardworking as her predecessor, but she did her best. As she was completing six months in mid-December

of that year, she said she would be going home for Christmas. She never returned. The couple rang the agent, but this time, not to ask for another help, but to tell him he was fraudulent in his trade, as it seems he has the habit of moving his wards to other employers every six months. He denied this, and claimed he hadn’t done any wrong; and that the decision to leave was the girls’.

Someone introduced the couple to yet another agent. He too said he’s a deacon of a branch of the same church the other agent claimed to belong to! He was quite

set in, and I’m told many employment agents barely know those they ’re placing in employment. Some only ask the jobseeker to bring a relation as guarantor, and that’s it. Those guarantors could be people picked at random, and who are not relatives, and false addresses are supplied the agents.

There’s no doubt that some agents are as honest as they can possibly be in Nigeria, but some teach the jobseeker to lie and tell half-truths about their background and circumstances.

We do need employment agents, but there’s urgent need to sanitize the industry, so that agents can be seen as being honest people of integrity, who can provide workers who won’t bring us stress and heartache. All employment agencies should form and register associations at state or local government level; having rules and regulations for a good code of conduct which should be fair to all concerned; the employer, the employee and the agents themselves.

dynamic about his job and took several girls to be viewed by my friend’s daughter at work, before they settled on one. He had told them his fee was ten thousand naira on telephone, and that there was no ‘expiry date’ on the girl’s tenure.

A sigh of relief! When he took the girl to their house, however, and saw that they weren’t paupers, he raised his fee to fifteen thousand naira on the spot, and said he would collect something every month out of the girl’s twenty-five thousand salary. The girl’s work was just average, but the couple treated her well and she seemed happy there. Then the bombshell after barely three months! She told the couple that she would be leaving at the end of the month to go prepare for JAMB! She was very sorry when the couple got quite upset and asked why she took the job without telling them that. She said she had told the agent that she would be available for three months only, and he had told her not to mention that to the couple! So, the search continues since the couple need help in the house.

Many years ago, you got jobs/ workers by word of mouth, and people helped to link you up with those who needed that sort of job.

It was a fairly safe process because you would know the source the jobseeker came from. Consultancies which help screen /select workers for companies began to spring up in the early seventies, but these positions were at first for professionals who were graduates of higher institutions. With time, some included lower offices/ domestic workers in their books, but soon, people saw it as an avenue to set up their own business, and so, agents now abound in all nooks and corners in most cities.

Personally, I think it’s a good thing to have agencies which can provide such workers, because it gives the person you’re employing a sort of background, as agencies are meant to thoroughly research the lives and background of those on their CHINESE FASHION TREND 2013 lists. But sadly, like most things in news.yahoo.com our dear country, the Nigerian factor of greed, dishonesty and the www.japanesestreets.com urge to make a fast buck or two, has

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 21

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I want to see our vision turned into action —Pat Black, President, Soroptimist Int'l of Great Britain

By JOSEPHINE IGBINO VIA IGBINOVIA Prof.(Mrs.)Pat Black, R ecently, President, Soroptimist International of Great Britain & Ireland- SIGBI, paid a oneweek to Nigeria. Soroptimist International is a worldwide organization for women in management and the professions, serving as a global voice for women and girls. SIGBI oversees all Soroptimists clubs in Commonwealth countries, including Nigeria. After a tour of the various Soroptimist clubs in the different parts Nigeria in six days, Pat Black visited the University of Lagos on the day of her departure, in company of various Lagosbased clubs, to inspect a Braille Centre built by the Soroptimist International of Eko in 2010. Vista Woman was also at the Braille Centre, and we had a session with Prof.Pat Black. Enjoy!

W

hat inspired this visit to Nigeria?

AS the international president, I have the care of all the clubs in Nigeria, and there are fourteen of them. So, I have come to see their projects and the works that they’re doing.

Soroptimist International seeks to make a difference in the lives of women and girls everywhere in the world, and Nigeria too has been very effective in helping to execute education and health projects for women and girls. I aim to help one million girls and women in my one year as president.

In what ways can this be achieved?

This will be done in various ways; providing education, building schools, providing opportunities like the Braille Centre built by the Soroptimist International of Eko at the University of Lagos, which enhances the acquisition of higher education by the physically-challenged students; educating community leaders; helping people to

understand health issues, etc. We also have projects where we provide medical facilities for mothers in hospitals, like in one of the areas I visited in Abuja, in the course of my one-week visit. In other countries, we’re training mid-wives, birth assistants, doctors to help women who have serious medical complications during child birth, etc. So, it’s a whole range.

Each president of Soroptimist International comes with a theme for her tenure, what’s yours?

My theme is Vision to Action. We have a Soroptimist International vision which is to help every woman and girl achieve her potential, so, I want to see that vision turned into action.

For how long have you been a member of Soroptimist International?

I joined 20 years ago as a very humble member.

The first project that I got involved in was in SierraLeone, which was an education project. We worked to make available educational materials and to build schools in Sierra-Leone. I live in the United Kingdom, but at that time, I was working in Sierra-Leone as an educationist. My background is in education, so, I’m always very passionate about education. From there, I progressed to being club president, national president, board member, and so on. On behalf of Soroptimist International, I will be speaking at the United Nations in a few days’ time, on the work of Soroptimist International.

Tell us about your background..

I started as a primary school teacher, worked in secondary schools, and then became a Director of Education of a very large local government area in the UK. I went on to become a university professor and worked to encourage the work of women and girls, particularly women who are trying to reach top levels in management.

Back to your aim of turning the vision of Soroptimist into action, how do you hope to pull together every Soroptimist so as to achieve that?

From L-R: Otunba Bjorg Lawal-Solarin, former National President, Soroptimist International of Nigeria; Prof(Mrs.)Pat Black, President, Soroptimist International; Prof. Babajide Alo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics; Okanlawon Oladipo Adedeji, Acting University Librarian; Mrs.Funmilola Braimoh, National President, Soroptimist Internationa and Mrs.Norma Jackson Steele during Pat Black’s visit to the Braille Centre at the University of Lagos.

All over the globe, Soroptimists are working with the same vision to ensure the empowerment of women and girls towards fulfilling their potentials. So, every country will have similar projects in the areas of education and health. We work to educate, empower and enable, and every project has to meet that focus. That’s the strategy that brings the whole together.

For how long have you been in Nigeria?

I’ve been here for one week and I’m going back tonight. In the past six days, I’ve been to many places in Nigeria. I’ve been to several Soroptimists clubs in Lagos, have been to Abuja, Enugu, the coal city, Nnewi, Asaba and back to Lagos where I’m seeing more projects today.

Having visited all these clubs in different parts of Nigeria, how would you score the performance of Soroptimist in Nigeria?

Very good! I’ve been very pleased to see the works going on. Each club is working with the focus, working with the theme, and they are making a difference in the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of women and girls. To every Soroptimist club in Nigeria, I’ll therefore say: keep working, keep focusing!

What would you miss about Nigeria?

I’ll miss the colours, friendships, vibrancy, food, and all. I’ve really enjoyed Nigerian delicacies. Each area I’ve been to, have their different foods.

However, my favourite that I found in every place is fried ripe plantain. I’ve enjoyed it very much!

*Pat Black

What do you think your various clubs in Nigeria could do more?

There isn’t a lot more to do because they have already identified the needs in their various local communities. They’re doing several projects in their local communities, and I’ll say that they need help with fundraising. More resources are needed for them to be able to continually make a difference. The Braille Centre built by the Soroptimist Club of Eko for example, I was told by the current club president, Cordelia Barber, is being financed by the family of one Late Chief Ayo Rosiji.

All over the globe, Soroptimists are working with the same vision to ensure the empowerment of women and girls towards fulfilling their potentials. So, every country will have similar projects in the areas of education and health.

C M Y K

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

Is it still intact?

Dear Rebecca I am a confused 20 year old girl. When I was six years old, I happened to play with a boy a year older than me. He climbed on me and we played. I don’t know if I can call it sexual intercourse but this thing happened thrice.

Now I’m not so sure if I am a virgin or not.

That was a long time ago. Since then I haven’t done such and I have not let any boy between my legs because I don’t want to make a fool of myself.

Worried girl, Lagos

REPL Y REPLY I would not know if you are a virgin or not, and I doubt if any medical doctor would know either, just by looking at you or listening to your story. A girl loses her virginity when the thin film of flesh inside her vagina is bro-

ken through. This could happen through sexual intercourse, as well as strenuous exercises like jumping and climbing.

The hymen varies in toughness, so, while some may break through exercise, some may not.

The tampon(Tampax) used for menstruation, may break the hymen if inserted very very high into vagina, but this is rare, says an expert.

The major way by which most girls are disvirgined is through sexual intercourse from penetration.

If that boy was only seven years old and merely lay on top of you, I doubt if intercourse took place. If it were someone older and penetration took place, you would have felt pain which I am sure you would remember all your life. There would have been a show of blood too.

Once the hymen is broken, it does not grow back again, no matter how early in life it was broken.

No more smiles on her face!

Dear Rebecca

I

am a twenty three year old boy in love with a girl the same age. We’re both working in the same ministry. Whenever she visits me, she returns home late, and this has caused a misunderstanding between her and her senior brother.

As a result she has stopped visiting me, and sending me love texts. Also, the smile that warms my heart has vanished from her face.

This is over two months now. Should I continue loving her?

Elvis, Benin city.

REPL Y REPLY HAT depends on you.

It seems this lady T wants to be friendly with you

but is afraid of a romantic involvement with you. This could be because her elder brother does not approve of her relationship with you.

But it could also be that she listened to the voice of reason, and believes that a relationship with you would not lead anywhere.

You are both twenty-three and workers. I don’t know what your plans are, but I doubt if you are going to be ready to settle down soon.

You have to make sure that you are ready both financially and emotionally first before you think of marriage.

Girls do not need to be necessarily strong financially, before wanting to get married, since it is still assumed that the man in the home would have the larger financial responsibility. So your

girl could be ready for marriage now.

Many girls prefer men who are older as husband, so you can see that being the same age as you are, she may not want marriage with you.

However in order to have a man to fall back on if there’s no-one else, a girl may keep up a relationship with an age mate, while waiting for a more suitable man.

I would advise you look elsewhere for a romantic relationship, and just remain a friendly colleague to her.

Girls always desert me Dear Rebecca

I

am a twenty-two year old with many girl friends. My problem is girls always turn around to disappoint me and each time I ask when next they will visit all I hear is ‘’ until God says so or we shall meet on the road’’. Among my girlfriends, I like a particular one, I dont know why. February this year she requested for valentine gift which I bought her. I also requested for

a nice meal and she cooked jollof rice with good meat. When I asked her when we will see again, she told me to leave her alone until God says so. This problem made me think of you.

Please help.

Fatai Ibadan.

REPL Y REPLY

A

s human beings, we react to people in different ways. We may want tender, roman-

tic relationship with some people, while with some, just ordinary friendship.

Then there are others we cant be bothered about.

Judging from what you said are girls’ responses to you, it seems those you consider your girlfriends now, do not see your relationship in a romantic light. They consider you a friend; just as they have girls as friends.

Every relationship with the opposite sex does not have to involve romance. Your best

No-one to share my problems with!

Dear Rebecca

I

am a 17-year-old in SS2. My problem is that my private part itches almost all the time.

I was not circumcised.

I read the solution you gave somebody with similar problem but you did not mention whether she has discharged and if it smells. I have coloured discharge and it smells.

In your answer, you suggested her drinking water every morning. I have also tried this and it makes me want to throw up. So I stopped.

My second problem is that I easily forget what I read. Infact I am too forgetful in every thing.

These problems disturb me a lot and I cant share them with my aunty, because whenever I try to

tell her my problems, she shouts at me and asks if I am only the one in the world with problems.

Sara, Lagos REPL Y REPLY Bear with your auntie.

The struggle to cope with life financially and emotionally has made so many people tense and hard, particularly in the big cities.

So don’t be disappointed in your aunt if she’s not in the mood to listen to your problems and offer advice and sympathy. I’m sure she’s interested in your welfare.

A doctor says the itching cannot be due to your not being circumcised, rather it would have to

do with infection. Like you read on this page the other time, because the woman’s private part is rather open, infection gets in easily. T h i s could be from your underwear or what you use for your menstruation-cotton wool, sanitary towels and pads, etc . It could also be due to germs picked up from the dirty toilet bowls. Urinary tract infection is common among woman of all ages, including those who have never had sex before.

Drinking a lot of water to flush out the system helps a lot, but if this upsets you in the morning, then drink water last thing at night . You should see at doctor about the discharge .

Lack of concentration is

usually responsible for forgetfulness. So you have to make deliberate effort on what you are doing or reading, so that is would sink into you.

Form the habit of asking yourself several questions throughout the day if there is something you ought to do that you haven’t done. Take down notes at lectures or while studying on your own.

Refer to these notes frequently to refresh your memory. Join a study group of focused and serious-minded boys and girls. This would encourage you to concentrate hard as you strive to answer the questions being asked.

friends could be a girl and you both can even discuss your romantic relationships with other people. You sound a person who gets on so well with girls that they are willing to be friendly with you, but when you want to introduce romance, they back off. It could be because you have been too eager to please them and have them as girlfriends that they don’t see you as an object for romance. There is the saying, ‘’familiarity’’ brings contempt.

If you don’t have so many of them, and if you held yourself aloof a bit and played hard to get them, they may long to have you as a boyfriend.

The one who asked for a Valentine card and present was merely after her own interest only. She wanted to satisfy the need to have such for the occasion.

Normally, you do not request for a Valentie card or present. They just come out of the blue from an admirer. However, there is a girl or girls somewhere who will one day want a romantic relationship with you.

It is by remaining friends with girls that you will come across such. So, don’t despair.

•All letters for publication on this page should be sent to: Dear Rebecca, Vanguard Media Ltd, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: dearrebecca2@yahoo.com

SUNDAY Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 23

When a man loves too much I

was almost ready for the office when my door-bell went persistently. Annoyed that the driver ’s been locked out by the maid again, I went to the door with my face half madeup. The man standing on my door-step looked as though he’d been given a thorough beating by a gang of armed robbers. “‘Candy, I want the truth from you, please,” he pleaded. “About what?” I asked. “About Kenke,” he said, “did she stay here last night with you, yes or no?” Now that was a tricky question. Kenke, Wasiu’s wife, is a good friend and they ’d been married for over 20 years.

Wasiu’s bloodied face was as a result of trying to beat a confession out of his wife.

Yes, Kenke was having an affair. It seemed she was always hopping from one bed to the other, using me as an alibi most of the time. The last time she was caught redhanded by Wasiu, he came charging to me, accusing me of encouraging his wife’s affairs and she was possibly using my place as a sort of rendezvous. I calmed him the best I could, told him how innocent I was. “And to think I always allowed her to go anywhere at the mention of your name,

believing you wouldn’t allow her to cheat on me,” he bleeted.

A

s far as I was con cerned I’d had enough of the two of them. In spite of his good looks and macho image, Wasiu seemed the ‘ woman wrapper ’ type, hanging on to the skirt of his wife and wearing his love of her on his sleeve. Warnings that Kenke should stop pushing her luck had always fell on deaf ears, so I gave her a wide berth. I learnt of her latest ‘catch’ from some of our friends and now Wasiu had got wind of it.

When I told him that I hadn’t seen his wife for weeks, Wasiu’s face crumpled. `She’s been out all night” he wailed, “I think she’s having an affair. She forgot her mobile and I found she’d been calling a man named Joseph. I rang him myself but he was very evasive.”

“Joseph?”, I asked puzzled, “ you’re deflnitely wrong there. I’m positive your wife is not with any Joseph.” “Are you sure?” he wanted to know ” that defInitely wasn’t the name of Kenke’s new lover.

Wasiu turned and left. I felt really sorry for him.

As soon as he’d gone, I

called his wife and told her Wasiu thought she was having an affair with someone called Joseph. ·’It is true”, she admitted.

She’s always been upfront with me. “He’s my current main man, I’ve dumped the other one.” With glee, she explained how she met this new man and how she was sure he was her soul mate.

I

nevitably, Wasiu kicked her out of their matrimonial home.

She moved in with a cousin, and, as soon as she decently could, went to live with her new squeeze. That was some years back. It was a shock when I learnt she’d

ditched this Joseph and went back to her husband. This set a pattern for their marnage.

She would go from one man to another, begging for forgiveness when Wasiu found out. He always took her back. The last straw was when she moved in a second time with Joseph and their grown-up children kicked against her coming back as their mother - they’d been humiliated enough. Wasiu was a shadow of himself. We all felt sorry for him. In the end I fixed him up with Serah, a forty – something year-old widow who was a participant at one of the courses we ran.

With time, they clicked,

but would Kenke be happy for the two of them? “How could you do this to me,” she shrieked down the phone the day she called to ask me to warn Serah off her husband. I reminded her that her divorce case was pending and Wasiu was no longer interested in their marriage.

“You’re supposed to help me save my marriage, not break it”, she spat. I was gubsmacked.

“Anyway, I’m stating my own side of the divorced case and naming Serah as one of my grounds.” I was livid. “You’ve certainly got a cheek”, I said. ‘’’After the way you treated the poor man. If you must know when people were sure you’d left for good, Wasiu’ s been regaled with tales of most of your escapades. The man is disgusted with you.” She slammed the phone. I wasn’t really surprised when Serah visited a few weeks later to tell me how Kenke had been making a fool of herself trying to get Wasiu back. ‘’’She called at odd hours and whenever I picked up the phone, she called me a husbandsnatcher. The day she called on the pretext of seeing the youngest child, she brushed past

me and gave Wasiu a kiss. He shoved her anyway. She was surprised.

Her hold on him was flllally gone. Anyway, as soon as the divorce sails through, we’re getting married.”

I was happy for both of them. Wasiu deserved a settled home after the roller coaster of marriage he had with his ex. During the wedding, we’d all anticipated that Kenke would make trouble, but the ceremony was hitch-free. At the reception, however we all gasped with disbelief, as we saw Kenke at one of the windows, clutching the hand of her youngest child. Did she think Wasiu would leave Serah in the lurch and come away with her? Serah has had enough. She marched up to Kenke and told her to leave the child with her father and leave.

All eyes were on Kenke and she knew she’d lost.

She turne on her heels and stormed off. To this day, she still likes to tell people that I helped fix a wife for her husband.

It was her choice to have affairs and her choice to leave her husband. She should have the decency to leave Wasiu to get on with his life and lie on the bed she made for herself.

Lower back is strengthened.

Flexibility of the upper back is improved

wards.

The Full Locust Legs are kept straight and lifted as high as possible.

Hands are together Elbows are straight, and as close together as possible.

Chin is stretched forwards on the ground

08052201867(Text Only)

The Locust for backpain

L

C M Y K

Benefits The practice of this Asana renders the spine supple and elastic. It relieves backache or strain on the spine caused by the hard work, etc. It also tones up the muscles at the back and the intestinal organs in the abdominal region and relieves pain in the lumbar and sacral regions.

Above all, it aids digestion and relieves gastric troubles.

Main Benefits: The Locust brings elas-

ticity to the cervical (upper back) region, and strength to the lower back, but it is important to stretch the chin as far forwards as possible if these benefits are to be gained. When you first

that your feet rise only slightly from the floor. Do not be discouraged. This will improve rapidly with practice and time.

The Half Locust Both legs are straight Tune the raising and lowering of the leg to the breath.

Chin is stretched for-

,

Technique IE flat on the floor with face down wards and keep the hands by the side of the body with the fingers clenched into fists. Rest the chin on the ground by raising the head. Inhale and stiffen the body by pressing the fists against the floor. Slowly raise the legs as high as possible.

Keep the legs in a straight line, while the two thighs, knees and ankles touch each other. The weight of the legs must fall on the body and hands. Contract the muscles of the buttocks, stretch the muscles of the thighs and further extend the position of the legs.

Retain the posture for a few seconds in the beginning and gradually increase the duration. Concentrate on the upper

portion of the body, i.e. above the waist. Slowly lower the legs to the floor and simultaneously exhale. Relax with normal breathing. Repeat the posture two or three times.

Relax in Makarasana.

The Locust brings elasticity to the cervical (upper back) region, and strength to the lower back

,

attempt the Locust, you may be dismayed to find

* The Locust

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

P AGE 24 —SUNDAY Vanguard , MARCH 3 , 2013

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

These hard times, don’t give out money you can’t afford to lose!

W

E’VE all, at one time or the other, regretted agreeing to something and wished we’d only had the presence of mind to say, no. Part of the problem is being taken unawares so you don’t give your self time to think properly before you made a rash decision. “Too often, while your inner self is screaming ‘No, sorry, damn it, no!” your mouth is saying, “ yes, 1’d love to organize the fund raising symposium in aid of the motherless,” observes Amanda Hinnant, a psychologist. Recognize the problem? Then learn how to do the right thing - for yourself and others - and find a graceful get-out in these common scenarios she pinpoints where you know that opting out is your best option. Don’t feel guilty, she warns. Be prepared instead!

A present for who? Request: A co-worker wants you to chip in some money for a gift for someone you wouldn’t recognize in the staff canteen.

What you should say: “1 don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with John.

I think I’ll just wish him a happy birthday in person.”

Why it works: Chances are the person taking donations has no idea how close you are to the recipient. By c1arifying your intention to get to know them better - you come across as thoughtful, not cheap. Why you shouldn’t feel guilty: A gift isn’t a gift if it’s an obligation.

How to avoid the situation in Future: If workplace gift-giving is getting out of hand, take off the lid by circulating a card before someone can bring out the gift donation plate. Make sure others know you don’t expect something on your birthday.

How can I turn down a

friend?: Request: A friend in need asks for a hefty loan. What you should say; “I wish I could, but as a rule, I don’t lend money to friends.”

Why it works: It’s clear you’re not singling out this person as untrustworthy.

Why you shouldn’t feel guilty.

Lending any amount of money can cause problems and can change the nature of your relationship if the person doesn’t pay you back. How to avoid the situation in future: Never lend money to friends and you won’t get a reputation as a walking, breathing AIM. Tips:. If you want to help someone financially, but don’t want to become the loan shark in the relationship, think about giving them the money rather than lending it. Be sure to clarify it’s not a loan, so there are no strings attached to the money (or the friendship).

T

hey ’ve asked you again! Request A distant relative has invited you to their Rotary ‘Club’s annual party ...

For the third year in a row. What you should say: You’ve explained in a way that doesn’t sound like a personal rejection and you’ve asked for understanding, based on your need to take stress out of your schedule.

Why you shouldn’t feel guilty; you have only so much free time - and so much tolerance for dressing up and socializing with people you don’t have too much in common with. Don’t RSVP, then back out at the last minute, or worse, not show up at all. That is far worse than saying no straight away. How to avoid the situation in future: in a note, thank them for thinking of you and say because you tend to be busy this time of year, they shouJd feel

Y

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

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

My Dear Blessing

In your presence, I ve rediscovered my name. My name that was hidden

free to take you off the invite list.

Saying no step-by-step * Dodge first, then digest. Never answer in the moment under pressure.

Try “Jet me get back to you.” * Don’t fall for flattery: if someone makes an appeal to your vanity, you might not notice that is the wrong time or the wrong assignment for you. * Is this in your best interests? Ask yourself if the person who’s asking will ever return the favour. * Give yourself credit for being generous most times: Don’t beat yourself up for the only time you say no when you’ve said yes so many times before.

On second thoughts ...

How to back out: So you didn’t get it right the first time - “ yes” tumbles out before you could think about it. There are still ways to back out gracefully, which is better than not backing out at all and being an unexplained no show. Here are some tips for getting it right the second time. Correct your mistake sooner rather than later. The longer someone has false hopes of your involvement, the harder it will be for her to replace you.

Admit you screwed up when you said yes: Ac-

knowledge any disappointment, but don’t wallow in it. Just say. ‘I know this complicates things for you and I apologize for that ... ‘ Don’t feel obliged to elaborate on how or why you’ve come to your senses (unless it’s a good friend)’ The less you say, the better. Any excuse you give invites scrutiny and more discussion. Offer to help find a solution or person to take your place; it’s a nice thing to do and the memory of this added chore should remind you to say no immediately to future requests.

Get a grip on your sanity!

Here are six ways, experts swear, to tame your neurotic side. Follow these steps and escape from the obsession trap:

R

emove thoughttriggers from view: This means anything that reminds you of the unwanted thuoght; if you want to switch off from the office when your home, clear your bed-side table of any work files. Or, if it’s an ex you’re tryingto shake, replace all the

so long under the pain of separation. I've rediscovered the eyes no longer veiled with fever. And your laughter like a flame piercing my heart has revealed you to me beyond the snows of yesterday.

And the neaklaces of laughter hung round our days.

Days sparkling with ever new joys and love. I love u.

Emma Mine 07051037749 Delta State

My Sweet Angel,

Baby, I love it when you carry me in your arms; pamper me, pat me, until I fall asleep in your arms. Stain me with the kisses of your love, let me drink and dine from the sweet fruit of your heart. the sweetest juice in this

picture in your picture frames and for the moment store away gifts he bought for you. Out of sight is out of mind.

Try new things: Even if you change only the place where you get your morning refreshment or the gym you go to after work. You’ re less likely to encount.er familiar cues that can trigger your thought process. So if you’re trying to go on a diet, simply change your normal lunch-break route so you don’t walk by that canteen where you usually have lunch. Taking up a new hobby or going on a trip may also help by taking you away from your usual routine - and new activities are much less likely to trigger odd thoughts.

Distract yourself - the right way: You’ll often try to divert yourself with objects plucked from your immediate surroundings (for example, looking out the window).

But in doing so, the things you see all the time become contaminated by the thought you’re trying to avoid and you begin to associate starring out of the window with the unwanted thought. A better strategy is to choose a

distract or: pick one image to summon to mind when unwelcome thoughts intrude; try a vision of a sun-drenched beach.

Get absorbed in a task: Try something that you find genuinely involving, such as cooking a meal for friends, reading.

Not only will it focus your thoughts, but the more you enjoy an activity, the more relaxed you will become. Sports and exercise are especially good because they combine the physical benefits of relaxation with the mental stimulation of trying something new.

Express yourself: If you can’t seem to stop thinking about a row you had with your partner, or, a remark that your mother made, it’s time to express those thoughts. It may seem counterproductive to dwell on the very subject you are trying to escape, but the important difference is that you are choosing when and where to address it, instead of having it sneak up on you. Talk to a good friend and really get all your worries off your chest - being open about your feelings will help you stop obsessing.

R

ecognize when you’re tired: Ever wondered why problems always seem so much worse in the middle of the night? It’s because you’re tired, stressed and can’t think straight - and by the time you get up in the morning and feel more awake, things always appear a little better. Learning to recognize when you’re vulnerable and when you’re at your strongest will help you work out when to actually think about your problems. Tackle them when you’re relaxed and well rested, rather than having a blanket approach and always pushing them aside.

world cant be compared with your kiss. Indeed, in beauty, in character, in stature you are the best in a billion ladies. Soon, the world shall see the fruit of our tangle of love, a beautiful bouncing baby boy and girl. A wedlock of happiness..... I love you so much.

Omorville Umoru omorville@gmail.com, 08062486549

My world!

If I were to compare you to one of the eight wonders of the world, you'd be none of them...why? becuase you're already my world, containing all its wonders.

Jeremiah Imoudu jerrylove4real2001@yahoo.com 08038797372

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013—PAGE 25

CHILD WITCH SAGA

Father tortures 6-yr-old daughter for five days Locks

her up with hands tied, mouth covered

By Mma Una, Calabar A six- year- old girl, Edidiong Etok Akpan, who was subjected to a harrowing treatment by her father, Edet Etok Akpan, was rescued after she had been locked up in a room with her hands tied and mouth covered with a piece of cloth for five days.

Edidiong said her 42-yearold father started beating her on Tuesday,19th of February, after one Prophetess Endurance, the pastor of the church they attend, told “my father that I was a witch and I was the one making him not to progress in life”.

She said after the severe beatings, which, according to her, lasted for two days, on Thursday, 21st February, her father tied her hands with a cord and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth and “locked me in the inner room of our house and he never gave me food and never al-

lowed me to go to school ”.

The girl, who said she attends Femos Nursery and Primary School, located at 24 Etyin Abasi Street, Calabar, was dying after days without food or water when luck came her way on Sunday, 23rd February, at about 11 am, as another child who lives in the same with her family came to their veranda, looked through the window and saw Edidiong bound on the floor and screamed. “The girl called her parents and neighbours to come and see Edidiong tied like a goat inside their house”, Mr James Ibor of the Basic Rights Counsel, a child rights advocate lawyer, who was called to the scene, said.

Ibor said that when the neighbours saw the girl in that state, one of them called him and he, in turn, informed the officer in charge of legal matters at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters, Superintendent George,

and they both drove to the place.

“As we were going there, we also informed the police at Efuk, Mbukpa to join us.When we got there, we saw a crowd outside and we knew that,that was the place and we went in and carried out the rescue by breaking the door”.

He said the girl was “very weak because she had been without food for days and so we had to give her water first, then, after about ten minutes, we gave her milk before solid food an hour later”.

Ibor said the father and mother had locked up the girl in the inner room of their tworoom apartment and went to church in the hope that by the time they came back, the girl may have died. “God saved her and she is now living with her grandmother in another part of town,”the lawyer said.

DSP John Umoh, Cross River State Police Command spokesman, said the father,

Edidiong...’Pastor told my father I am a witch’ from Akwa Ibom State, had been arrested and would soon appear in court to answer charges of felony. “To tie a small girl hand and mouth and

lock her in a room for days without food is a grievious offence; he (the father) will soon appear in court”, Umor added.

‘My Okada was sold by the police after they seized it. Now they are threatening to kill me’

By Bose Adelaja commercial motorcyclist, aka Okada, Niyi Owolabi Saheed, whose motorcycle was seized and then sold by a police officer who served in Ikorodu Division before his dismissal, has alleged that the police, particularly those serving in Ikorodu Division, are threatening his life and those of his family members.

The motorcyclist, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said the dismissed cop’s colleagues have been trailing him, threatening to kill him. Niyi, an illiterate whose matter with the police is in court in respect of the sold motorcycle, said the dismissed cop’s colleagues wrote something on the paper and asked him to sign but he politely told them he could neither read nor write and was forced to thumbprint the said document.

The Okada rider said he was handcuffed and beaten up by the said policemen in court premises, saying ‘’for fear, I had to thumbprint the document ‘’. He added”, They told me,’since you have decided to expose our friend to the media, we shall kill you here in Lagos or anywhere in the world, you will never escape from us.’ Meanwhile, Motorcycles Association of Lagos State, MOALS, who took the case to court, was alleged to have abandoned Niyi to his fate as they no longer appear in court or render support to the Okada rider in respect of the matter.

A

 Saheed...before his Okada was impounded C M Y K

MOALS chairman in Ikorodu, Tijani Pekis, did not respond to Sunday Vanguard calls. Efforts also to get in touch with Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, on the matter proved abortive as calls to her were not answered.

The said corporal allegedly seized the motorcycle from Niyi, over his violation of the Lagos new traffic law, late last year, and efforts by the Okada rider to recover the bike failed, as he was informed that it had been moved to the state government secretariat, Alausa for crushing. But, in January, Niyi, reportedly, found the motorcycle with another rider, identified as Ismail Olomitutu, around Anibaba area of Ikorodu and raised the alarm.

Olomitutu allegedly confessed to have bought the motorcycle from the policeman for N55,000, an action which led to his dismissal. Sources hinted that the dismissed corporal had accomplices within the police who collected the lion share of the proceeds of the sale of the motorcycle while N8,000 was sent to the dismissed officer’s wife without the husband’s consent as a way of pushing the whole blame on him.

Sources also hinted that the embattled policeman was a humble and diligent officer in the division before he was implicated by the accomplices. Sunday Vanguard investigations revealed that the accomplices also threatened to eliminate him if he dared to expose them in connection with the matter.

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard,

MARCH 3, 2013

Mass failure in SSCE:

School on Air to the rescue

BY Ola Ajayi, IBADAN

B

efore the administra tion of Governor Abio la Ajimobi came on board, the results of students in the examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council,WAEC, and National Examination Council,NECO,in Oyo State were disgraceful. In fact, the state was at the lowest rung of the ladder coming 34th out of the 36 states. Some concerned educationists moved to reverse the trend.

One of them, Mr. Muyiwa Bamigbose, developed a programme, tagged, “School on the Air”, where seasoned teachers teach subjects on television to enable thousands of students overcome problems they encounter during their final examinations. Within weeks of introducing the programme, it has been widely embraced by students, teachers and proprietors of schools who described the programme as a timely intervention.

The proprietress of Starlite College, Alaro, Ibadan, Mrs. Remi Alade, where the programme was first administered on students, said she saw the possibility of the programme addressing the problems students usually encounter while preparing for their senior school examinations.

Innovation in education in session She said, “I like anything that would complement learning and be beneficial to my students. Anything that would aid learning, I buy into it. We will soon go beyond using a class for the programme. We would install it in all the classes and integrate it into our time-table.

We need more of this not only in science subjects but in other subjects too”.

The principal of the school, Mr. Adewuyi Taiwo, said the programme was introduced to help students excel. “And since we installed it, we have seen positive changes in the learning of our students. The programme will surely reduce fail-

ure in examinations. It is more effective than what they learn in class”, he added.

When asked if this would not lead to retrenchment of teachers, he said, to the contrary, it would complement their efforts.

Miss Idowu Ayomide, a science student, commended the initiative, noting that it would go a long way in reducing failure of students. Another student, Aderibigbe Kudirat, said the programme would help her in passing her final exams. “Anytime, I listen to the School on the Air, I understand better than I do in class. My teachers have been very helpful by coming to my aid when-

ever I have any difficulty in understanding a topic”.

Oniosun Damola, also a science student, saw the programme as an added advantage to them.

According to him, the programme makes them learn by showing different experiments, but noted that it is limited by the inability of students to ask on-the-spot questions.

Despite the limitation of the programme which the initiator, Bamigbose, said would be tak-

en care of, the student said he would not hesitate in recommending it to his colleagues to help them in their examinations. Bamigbose explained that students who have questions would be given the opportunity to get back to tutors on the programme.

Prior to this, he had entered into a partnership with Oyo State government by introducing mock examinations for secondary school students preparatory to their final examinations.

He said it was purely a formative examination which would expose how many students pass or fail and why they failed and, in addition, help to determine serious students.

When the School on Air initiator was speaking with newsmen at a valedictory programme held for the graduating students of the centre, he said, “60,000 pupils are taking the examination in 26 subjects. Government is in the position to determine cut-off points for the subjects.

But, for us, it is a formative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of pupils in each subject. It is a diagnostic examination. It will help schools address their weak areas. After the assessment, we can point to why the children failed and what the government needs to do to address it. This is why we are into it.”

How Ladoja's step daughter touched Kwara community

T

he fundamental importance of the idea, coupled with the passion with which a youth corps member who served in Kwara State, Folami Olajumoke Olateju, executed her project made her a cynosure of eyes, and one of the stars of NYSC batch "A" members who passed out on February 14.

From a collapsed library in Banni community secondary school, Alore in Ilorin West local government area of Kwara State, Jummy, as she was fondly called, constructed a new one, well furnished and fully stocked with books.

The funds she raised through publishing houses, donations and support from good Samaritans to execute the project, according to her, amounted to over N500,000, aside the cost of the building and the furniture. Jumoke also taught SS2 students mathematics in the school while her stay lasted,but she would be remembered by the teachers,the principal and indeed the pupils for her rare gesture to the academic community.

The students and teachers recalled with nostalgia how she used to pay the fees of pupils whose parents couldn't afford such, among her other gestures.

Jumoke would also be missed by the women she

Jumoke (2nd left) with her mum used to give clothing materials and other items of her mother, wife of the former governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Olayinka Mutiat Ladoja, who was also present at the library commissioning, which she took from home and gave to the women.

At the ceremony,the former first lady was shocked when she saw some of her old attires on the women.

In her address at the ceremony, Olajumoke ex-

plained: “The aim of remodelling and expansion of Banni community secondary school library is to give the existing potential students a competitive edge or advantage over others as they are the custodians of our future resources in Nigeria".

The school principal, Alhaji Toyin Abdullahi, in his remarks, noted that the corps member was most outstanding among several others posted to the school for her rare passion and keen interest in caring for the needy.

For this and several other gestures of hers among which is organising special coaching classes for her students and payment of WAEC and NECO fees of less privileged students, the school principal recommended her for the NYSC state award.

The HOD of the CDS in Kwara State, Mr Rotimi Salami, who represented the state director of the NYSC at the ceremony, described her gestures as commendable and urged other corps members to emulate her. Jumoke's mother, Chief (Mrs) Olayinka Mutiat Ladoja, who came all the way from Ibadan to honour her daughter, urged the community where youth corps members are posted for their primary assignment to always see and treat them as their own family so that they can get the best out of them.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 27



A building wrecked by the storm

Again, rain of tears in Ibadan

BY OLA AJAYI, IBADAN

W

ith the intense heat from the sun that Sunday afternoon, it was a big relief around 11pm when residents of Ibadan, Oyo State capital saw the cloud gathering preparatory to the first rain of the year. However, the joy that greeted the change of weather was short-lived. Suddenly, the gentle breeze which gave way to a drizzle later turned into wind and then a destructive storm.

Many people turned to prayer warriors begging God to have mercy on them especially when tales of woes left behind by the August 26, 2011 floods in the city were yet to be forgotten in some families.

But, it seemed the gods would not be appeased.

At the end of the rain that fell till the following day, the damage done by storm an unforgettable experience.

At least one person was confirmed dead at Asolo area of Ibadan while three others left on its trail were reportedly killed at Soka area when the roof of their building fell. The death of the three persons was not confirmed officially.

In the aftermath of the storm, about 1,000 houses in the city were destroyed, according to the State Emergency Management Agency through its Chief Situation Welfare Officer, Alhaji Tayo

Ayoade. SEMA spoke just as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) promised relief materials for the victims.

The South West spokesman of NEMA, Alhaji Ibrahim Farinloye, said the relief materials would be ready for distribution this week.

Unlike the 2011 storm, Ayoade, the SEMA chief, said the damage from the Sunday incident was minimal and making resettlement camps for the victims might not be necessary.

Meanwhile, owners and occupants of the houses which roofs were blown off by the storm were seen trying to pick some of their property.

Worst hit are Ajegunle, Olorunsogo, Toll Gate, Felele, Basorun, Muslim, Soka, Fodasis, Ring Road, Baba Nla, Challenge, Molete and Olunloyo. Also affected are Ighodalo, Academy, Omiyale, Olomi, Olunde, Ayegun, Aba-Alfa, Jaloke, Papa-Eleye, Aladi, Ire-Akari all in Oluyole Local Government Area.

Property worth millions of naira were destroyed by the storm.

Apart from buildings, several vehicles were also badly damaged.

Miss Kafayat Ahmed, who lives at Ighodalo area of the city, said, “Almost all buildings in this area were affected by the storm. Some houses either collapsed or had their roofs blown off.

As you can see, many. The storm removed a building roof and dropped it on top of a Sports Utility

A damaged petrol station

A shop in ruins

Victims sorting out property

Vehicle.”

A man, who identified himself as Wasiu Ogundare, spoke in tears, “Where do I start from now, after so many years of constructing this house? Who will help me? Governor Abiola Ajimobi has, in the meantime, directed government officials to move round and help the victims.

28—SUNDAY, Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

Ok onjo-Iw eala bags Silv erbird Man of the Y ear 20 12 Okonjo-Iw onjo-Iweala Silverbird Year 201

L-R:Gov. Kwankwanso of Kano State; Gov Uduaghan of Delta State; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of finance and Silverbird Man of the Year 2012; Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State; Gov. Yuguda of Banuchi State; Chief Emeka Wogu, Minister of Labour and Productivity; Mr Edem Duke, Minister of Culture and Tourism and Mr Umana O. Umana, SSG,Akwa Ibom State.

THE Honourable Minister of Finance, Ngozi OkonjoIweala, has beaten off challenge from Akinwunmi Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector General of Police, Shamsudeen Usman, Minister of National Planning, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, ACN Chieftain, Sule Lamido, Jigawa State Governor and Ahmadu Giade, NDLEA to emerge Silverbird Man of the Year.

The former World Bank woman was presented at a glamourous award night at Muson Centre, Lagos on Thursday. Several other Nigerians were also honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Pics

By Lamidi Bamidele

L-R: Alhaji Umar Aminu Kano; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and Chief Sunny Odogwu

L-R: Mr Willy Murray-Bruce; Mrs Margaret Murray-Bruce; Mrs Jou Jonah and Mrs Philomena Hammond

R-L: Amb. Shehu Malami presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Chief Newton Jibunoh while his wife claps

L-R: Dr Victor Hammond and Professor Sylvester Monye, Special Adviser to the President on Budget Planning

Zainab and W aheed Waheed

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he traditional engagement and Nikkai ceremony of former Miss Zainab Ayodeji Owoyele and Dr Abdul-Waheed Ademola Bello took place in Lagos. Photo by Biodun Ogunleye

Happy couple; Dr & Mrs Abdul-Waheed Zainab Bello C M Y K

R-L:Mr Odein Ajumogobia, Chairman of the occassion, presenting an award to the Kutis, Yeni Kuti and Kunle Kuti

L-R: Dr Oba Otudeko, Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kari and Eng Aliyu Jibrin

Aka Ikenga meeting

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embers of Aka Ikenga in Lagos held their February meeting at Lekki last Sunday. Many important dignitaries graced the occasion. Photo by Sola Oyelese

L-R: Mrs Dora Akunyili, Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State, Chief Goddie Uwazurike, President, Aka Ikenga, Dr Ausbeth Ajagu ]and Pastor Mrs Anuli Ajagu

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of finance and Silverbird Man of the Year 2012, with Chairman, Siverbird Group, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce

F

Tolu and TTa ayo

ormer Miss Tolu Ajala and Tayo SobakinSopein consummated their relationship in a Holy matrimony at St. Peters Cathedral Church, Ibadan.

L-R: Mr. Tunji Ajala, bride's dad, Mrs Hannah Sobakin-Sopein, the couple; Tayo and Tolu Sobakin-Sopein, representing groom's dad, Mr. Victor Shoyele and bride's mum, Mrs Bola Ajala

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013 —29

unnu mar ks Okunnu marks Ma Ukpedesivw e laid tto o rest at A gbar ha-Ot or Femi Ok Ukpedesivwe Agbar gbarha-Ot ha-Otor 80 with book launch

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th he celebration of 80 birthday of Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN), former Federal Commissioner for Works continued during the week at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos with a public presentation of a book on history of Islam in Lagos. The publications “ Torch Bearers of Islam in Lagos State” parade Prof. Siyan Oyeweso and Associate Prof. M.O. Raheemson as editors while the former Chairman of United Bank for Africa, UBA, Hakeem Bello-Osagie was the book presenter. Photos by Kehinde Gbadamosi

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he Remains of late Madam Victoria Onorievuriaye Ukpedesivwe (Nee Akpotu), a Women Guild Member of the Anglican Church was laid to mother earth at her country home, Agbarha-Otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

Funeral service was held at Bishop Agori-Iwe Memorial Anglican Church, Ughelli and entertainment of guest followed immediately at the Ibru College, Agbarha-Otor.

The ceremony was well attended by important personalities.

R-L:Engr. Kingsley Ukpedesivwe, Francis Ukpedesivwe, Jite Ukpedesivwe, Maureen Ukpedesivwe, Favour Ukpedesivwe and other children of the deceased

L-R: Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Oyo State Governor, Senator. Abiola Ajimobi and the celebrant, Alhaji.

Femi Okunnu (SAN)

HRM Richard Oghenevwogaga Ebelle Okorefe, Okorefe1,Ovie Of Agbarha-Otor Kingdom (m), Princess Mercy Egodotaye (l), Mrs Shirley Ukpedesivwe and husband, Francis Ukpedesivwe (r), Princess Ochuko Okorefe, Princess Lucky Oharisi and HRM the Queen Mother

L-R: Queen Elohor Okorefe with Mr and Mrs Francis Ukpedesivwe.

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Her Majesty Christiana Okorefe, Engr. Christabel Oke Obiuwevbi, Executive Assistant to the Deputy Governor of Delta State and Chief Francis O. Ukpedesivwe From Left: Celebrant, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN), his wife, Alhaja. Latefat Okunnu and Chief Emeka Anyaoku

L-R:Emma Arubi,Kingsley Omonobi Deputy Bureau Chief Abuja,Francis Ukpedesivwe son of the deceased and Festus Ahon

From Left:Gov Abiola Ajimobiof Oyo State, Alhaji Femi Okunnu and Mr Hakeem Bello-Osagie c

Ocean Pavilion Hotel opens in Lagos

cean Pavilion Hotel, owned by Tunde Agbabiaka, was officially opened last weekend in Lagos. First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunso Amosun cut the tape to declare the Hotel opened in the presence of eminent personalities from the State.

L-R:Chief Gabriel ,Tunde Agbabiaka, wife of Ogun State Governor, Olufunso Amosun and Mrs Esosa Agbabiaka

L-R:Prince Dada Otinwa, kunle Otinwa,MD, Ocean pavilion Hotels, Tunde Agbabiaka and Lekan Otinwa

Hon. Segun Olulade, Tunde Agbabiaka and Hon. Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Kuforiji C M Y K

PAGE 30—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 31

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PAGE 32 — SUNDAY Vanguard,

MARCH 3, 2013

EXIT OF A POPE:

not see that as the main reason for his resignation. Rev Fr. Albert Cutie said:”What had been happening in the Vatican are more than what meet the eyes. It is strange that the pope just walked away. There had been financial mismanagement.”

He added on the CNN that contrary to belief, it had been discovered that there are several Catholic priests who have sex regularly and fathered children across the globe.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles also accused the former pope of shielding some priests accused of sexual abuse, rather he was posting them out to avoid interrogation.

According to a former Catholic friar, Mark David, the issue of gay priests in the church was a “ticking time bomb”.

David alleged that 50% of those coming into the priesthood are gay themselves.

Homosexuality has become ingrained in the Catholic Church and seems to be manifesting at various levels and at variance with the teachings of the church.

Only last month, a top Catholic cleric in Britain, Bishop of Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, resigned in the wake of the allegation by some priests against him of inappropriate behaviour some * The faithful bids bye to a controversial papacy page report, submitted to him years ago. O’Brien said he was especially abortion in December 2012, showed not coming to the conclave while and now homo- corruption in the Vatican. There the Vatican has accepted his sexual rights. The were, cases of kick-backs on resignation. The O’Brien affair conservationism of contracts,money laundering was damaging to the church.

The next pope Vatican is not and inappropriate influence of With Benedict XVI out, the welcome in a gay lobby within the Vatican. focus is now on who becomes mainstream America.

The former pope was the next pope and the qualities With US promoting overwhelmed, frustrated and he should possess. Cardinal gay culture and tired of reports of sleeze around Daniel DiNardo, who will be rights, it is expected him, all calculated to weaken his among the 117 electors to that Americans would control on the church. Even in choose the new pope, said, “The be watching the his own parish in a Germany, it first requirement for a new pope unfolding events in was alleged that there were 300 is that he fulfills the Office of the Vatican with cases of sex crimes. It was also Peter, which is to be the visible interest especially as it weakens alleged that there was an sign of unity in the church, and, second, he’s got to be the rock. the pope’s voice in social and underground gay network Jesus said to Peter in Matthew’s ethical issues particularly the among the top hierarchy of the gospel, “Peter, you are a rock, gay and lesbian campaign, Catholic clergy in Vatican and and on this rock I will build my abortion and reduction of elsewhere. church.” poverty and inequality.

Cardinal Francisco Ossa, The church was struggling to Americans have built up cope with cases of widespread former Archbishop of Santiago formidable lobby for gay rights child and sexual abuse by in Chile, wants the next pope world wide and any perceived priests and staff of religious to be relatively young. The 80year-old cardinal, who has or real threat on their way was institutions. taken part in previous bound to be pulled down.

There were moves to conclaves,said one of the Sleaze in papacy investigate the cases and external characteristics that the church needs is for a person not very advanced in age to be chosen and this is very probable.

Although his age rules him out, he said, “There is a huge difference between a conclave and choosing a country’s prime minister or a president”.

Cardinal Cormac MurphyO’Connor, leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said, “There is no doubt in my mind that there has to be reform and that all contending issues have to be Pope Benedict XVI’s prosecute culprits. It was like a addressed at the highest level, resignation was cover-up taking place and so not only by the pope but by the unprecedented, especially as it there was bottled up subtle bishops and I think that will be came during the Lenten season, anger and the need to open one of the main things the a period which calls for penance church files for the prosecution cardinals will be discussing.

“As you know, there have been and spiritual reflection, fasting of liable clerics. Even with Pope troublesinrecentyearsandscandals, and prayer. But his action has Benedict XVI apologising for andthesehavetobeaddressed.The been linked to series of scandals the abuse and meeting victims pope’s own house has to be put in that seemed to be directly aimed personally in several countries order. I think that the church would at forcing him to quit. to pacify them, the abuse be wise actually to focus on that in But Italian media has gone allegedly persisted. herteaching,ratherthansaying‘we to town with the news that the Before his election as pope in condemn this, we condemn that”. former pope was embarrassed 2005, Benedict XVI was the Chicago Cardinal Francis beyond measures with the head of Vatican’s Doctrinal George said what’s important is report of the three-man Department for many years; it governance. “Can the man govern committee consisting of three was alleged that he knew about the church as a pastor? He has to cardinals, Julian Herranz, Josef these abuses and other the sex be a man who knows the Lord Tomko and Salvatore De Glorgi, scandals rocking the church. because he’s governing in his Tough time which investigated the Butler’s name. But it doesn’t mean he’s Although Benedict XVI was going to be a great saint,” George expositions in the so-called Vatileaks scandal. The 300- sick and frail, many people do added.

Tales of abuses and graft in God’s house

By HUGO ODIOGOR, Foreign Affairs Editor

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he last has not be heard about the exit of Cardinal Joseph Raitzenger from the Vatican as the pope and head of the Catholic Church, but those who understand the power and influence of the religious institution that he rose to head know that the secret, which led to his resignation, will not endure for too long.

What is clear, however, is that there are some geo-political interests at work and there are forces at play as we look forward to the emergence of the new head of the 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church. When the now Bishop of Rome Emeritus emerged in April 2005, there were misgivings in certain quarters as to why should Germany should be given the honour to produce the pope.

The Protestant spirit It was muted then, but now it has emerged as a talking point because Germany is the birth place of Martin Luther, the Catholic monk, who began the reformation movement which challenged the authority and dominance of the church.

Luther was a German reformer who began the move to reform the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church with his 95 theses. His writings spread the ideas of reformation which neither the church nor government could control. The Roman Catholic Church was shaken to its foundation and, in

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1521 AD, it issued the Edict of Worms which led the the excommunication of Luther from the church. This gave birth to the Protestant Church which had the creed that the justification is by “faith” and not by “love or works”. The Protestant movement spread throughout Europe and beyond, to the extent that the Catholic Church responded with its own counter reformation movement.

Historians of Catholic Church and the papacy therefore wondered when a German was chosen as pope to lead the church that one of their own tried to pull it down. It is also known that many European countries, notably France and Italy, distrust Germany. The English broke out completely to form their own church when the pope denied their King Henry the sixth the right to marry a second wife.

Today, the English are only concerned about the activities in the Catholic Church as much as it affects the politics in Northern Ireland.

Gay politics and the papacy The Americans are concerned with the activities of the Vatican as long as it minds its affairs.

America was founded by people who left Europe to avoid religious persecution. They have always distrusted the Catholic Church, which they accuse of being too antagonistic to the liberalism of American lifestyle and their constitution which permits all tendencies

,

*’About half of those coming into priesthood are gay’

As you know, there have been troubles in recent years and scandals, and these have to be addressed. The pope’s own house has to be put in order. I think that the church would be wise actually to focus on that in her teaching, rather than saying ‘we condemn this, we condemn that’

,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 33

We are making cement price affordable—UNICEM Executive Director *Says company places premium on safety

BY NMA UNA

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Javier De Benito, the Executive Director of United Cement Company, UNICEM, Calabar, says the company’s vision is to make cement affordable so that people can build houses without tears. He also speaks on the efforts of the company to ensure health and safety of its staff, contractors and communities.

W

HAT is your assessment of the cement industry in

Nigeria?

The cement industry is growing to maturity. We have Dangote; we have Lafarge and others. Essentially, there is growth in the industry. Lots of people are investing in the cement industry and this is making the price affordable so that everyone who wants to build can do so without pains.

We are building a 20kilometre road from the Odukpani Junction to our factory in Mfamosing to ensure that the infrastructure in the cement industry is adequate.

How do you view the health and safety week organised by your company which had events lined up for a whole week?

Two years ago, precisely in 2011, we initiated the Health and Safety Week Campaign in UNICEM. The initiative was put in place to sharpen our safety consciousness. This year, we had to hold the week to remind ourselves of the place of safety in our daily lives, at work, on the road and at home. The event has essentially become a key programme in our company’s schedule and calendar because of the importance UniCem places on safety as a core business value and top priority in all its business operations.

How does this translate to efficiency in your staff?

As a company, we are committed to the health and safety of our workers because when the workers are safe and healthy, they can be efficient and give their best. We consciously invest resources to promote a health and safety culture among our employees, contractors, transporters, and the communities through initiatives like training, awareness campaigns, adoption of international work place practices, and compliance, with local work place Health and Safety Laws of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and other relevant agencies.

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Lots of people are investing in the cement industry and this is making the price affordable so that everyone who wants to build can do so without pains

Javier De Benito Have there been any benefits to UNICEM from the health and safety campaign since its inception in 2011?

In 2012, as part of our commitment to health and safety, we invested 7708 manhours providing training to staff and contractors. This has paid off in terms of our overall safety compliance rating. From a lowly 37% in 2011, we moved up to 70% in 2012. Again, outside our business operations, we have invested resources raising health and road safety awareness in our local communities and also collaborated with stakeholders like the Cross River State Department of Public Transportation, Federal Roads

Safety Corps as well as donating equipment that support the achievement of the objectives of these organisations which to us is great gain because our roads are made safe and we have less accidents and the attendant hazards that come with it.

It is worthy to note that reports from our external safety auditors in 2012 scored UniCem 70% on safety compliance and standards indicating that we have achieved milestones in our efforts to provide a healthy and safe working environment.

Are these the only agencies you have collaborated with to ensure safety on the road and in the work place?

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UNICEM believes in the ideals of safety of our environment, we also supported the Cross River State Waste Management Agency and Calabar Urban Development Agency through donations and of personal protective equipotent to promote heath and safety of their own employees who are exposed to various operational hazards.

In 2011, you got 37% and, in 2012, you scored 70% in safety standard. What target have you set for 2013 and what measures are you going to adopt to achieve the target?

We are not resting on our oars; so we have set a target of 85% safety compliance to be achieved in 2013. This event is therefore to awaken our consciouness to the realisation of this goal. I recall when we launched this programme in 2011, it was greeted with the same level of fervour and enthusiasm witnessed today.

This was a driving force to where we now in safety standards and I believe that

this launching is necessary to reinforce our commitment to improving our performance.

Early this year, we advanced in our quest to improve on our environment, health, and safety by engaging a Swiss based service provider, EMEX, to provide an automated platform that will facilitate our monitoring, tracking, and reporting of environment, health and safety targets for the year 2013 but not without all of us caring about safety and that of our colleagues, family members, and the communities where we operate.

What is the focus for this year’s campaign?

As I have stated, this year’s focus is on key stakeholders like the contract staff, the communities and transporters.

As important stakeholders, the safety of our contractors remains a top priority and thus the need to promote a safety culture among these contractors who constitute a greater percentage of people around our operations by communicating the need for behavioural change on a positive perspective towards safety through the various programmes we have set on our agenda.

Our communities and transporters also are critical stakeholders that we focus on in the year ’s events.

Importantly, we will be raising awareness for behavioural change from road safety perspective as well as on the prevention and management of critical health conditions like malaria, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, and providing checks for referrals.

We are also carrying out a campaign to discourage drunk driving. To achieve this, we are collaborating with night clubs in Calabar to promote this campaign. Interestingly, we have a reasonable level of acceptance from the club operators.

`Expatriates grab 70% of oil jobs in Nigeria’

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

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HIS could be a wake up call for the Federal Government and officials of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) as investigation revealed that over 70 per cent of jobs in the oil and gas industry are in the hands of expatriates.

The investigation further revealed that some people connive with international oil companies, IOCs, to export job spaces in construction projects contracts meant for Nigerians.

This export, according to findings, has led to loss of millions of job spaces for the past twelve years in Nigerian oil producing areas.

It was learnt the that the lowest paid foreign oil worker receives about $103-105 per hour while supervising project managers earn higher than

their contemporaries.

With the signing of the Local Content Policy in April 2010 into law, President Goodluck Jonathan established a Board to regulate, monitor, evaluate and enforce the implementation of the day-today operations of IOCs operating in Nigeria.

Ordinarily, strict adherence to the Act should produce dividend of full job spaces for Nigerians in all construction project contract documents as signed by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and their joint venture partners.

Also, the Federal Government believes the Act will help in meeting her quest to create about three million job spaces in the next four years and also encourage the local communities surrounding the various project sites achieve all necessary opportunities entrenched in the Local

Content Act. However, with over 70 per cent of local jobs being exported, it is believed that the Act is not allowed to be

properly structured and the mandate aggressively enforced, a situation that has practically not yielded the required target result.

From left: The Head Marketing Intercontinental Distillers Mr. Innocent Oboh , Brand Manager Veleta Frunit Wine Mrs Chioma Alonge , Ace Musician Mr. Jeff Daniel and Brand Manager Teezers Mr. Akintayo Akinseloyin during Variety Nite by Intercontinental Distillers in Lagos

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013 BYMIKE EBONUGWO

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Delta’s foreign investment drive: Exploring the SAFRE option any state in Nigeria, entails that he becomes the official spokesman of Delta State on Foreign Affairs, a position or function synonymous to that of a country ’s foreign affairs minister.

However, the novelty of the office is one fact that has left many curious observers asking questions and wondering how Mr Djebah will be able to weather the storm and make himself a perfect fit for the job in order to achieve or accomplish its envisaged goals. But it would appear that the decision to appoint him to head the Office of SAFRE is believed to have been informed by his principal being impressed with how he was able to creditably discharge his duties as Information Commissioner, bringing the benefit of the zeal and efficacy of a natural and consummate salesman to bear on the job.

His background as an accomplished and thoroughbred journalist with vast knowledge of global affairs also played a part in the consideration that

Oma Djebah informed the appointment. Indeed, it is believed that serving in this new capacity will not be a strange turf for him, given his close romance with international media activities. It is on record that in the course of his job as a journalist, working at different times for the Guardian and Thisday newspapers, he was appointed a representative of the Nigerian media in the team of experts that drew up the policy framework for the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD. He is also a

council member of the International Forum on Global Journalists with headquarters in Sweden as well as the Conflict Resolution and Peace Media Network, London.

But from every indication, G o v e r n o r Uduaghan is in no doubt that SAFRE under Djebah will bring some concrete benefits to Delta State.

In fact, in a recent paper he presented at the School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University, Washington University in the United States of America, he had informed that SAFRE represents the cornerstone of his government’s foreign investment drive, that is the quest to attract foreign and local investors and expertise to the state.

According to him: “Following this step, the state has targeted two constituencies. These are Deltans in the

,

ELTA State government has recently been making foray into the global sphere in a bid to exploit opportunities available there which are considered relevant to its development objective.

Apart from reaching out to relevant foreign governments and corporate bodies to partner with for this purpose, the Dr Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan-led government has also been trying to mobilise Deltans in the Diaspora to cooperate with it in the development of the state.

Indeed when the state government came up with the idea of setting up what has now come to be known as the Office of the Senior Adviser, Foreign Relations, SAFRE, to oversee this foreign affairs of objective, not a few eyebrows were raised as observers wondered aloud on the rationale behind it or the imperative that informed the decision.

Equally arousing some measure curiosity was the appointment of Oma Djebah as the pioneer Senior Adviser, Foreign Relations, to the Governor. Djebah, it will be recalled, is the immediate past Delta State Commissioner for Information. While he served in that capacity, he was more or less the official spokesman of the Delta State government.

It is also interesting that his current office, which is the first of its kind in

The mission of the Office of SAFRE is to ensure that Delta State’s quest for development, investment and positive transformation is fostered and facilitated

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diaspora who are given special incentives to bring investments in their areas of expertise and other foreign investors that are invited to invest in critical sectors of the state’s economy that will generate broad economic activities and e m p l o y m e n t opportunities while securing high returns”.

Picking it from here and elaborating on it during a recent encounter with Sunday Vanguard, Mr Djebah had this to say: “The mission of the Office of SAFRE is to ensure that Delta State’s quest for development, investment

and positive transformation is fostered and facilitated through productive and strategic partnerships”, adding that the idea is to “promote this process of attracting foreign resources, and promoting a strong and positive image for the Governor and the state in foreign lands in order to promote the state’s development”. He did not stop there.

SAFRE, he said, rests on the three critical pillars of Delta State’s Outreach/ Partnership Unit, Delta State’s Diaspora Direct Unit(D3), Delta State’s Global Programmes Unit.

“Through the Delta State’s Outreach/ Partnership Unit, the Office of SAFRE would use its vast foreign networks and global contacts to initiate processes and arrangements to market Delta State as the preferred and desirable investment and hospitality destination in Nigeria and indeed SubSaharan Africa. This is facilitated by building good, credible and highly placed friends, allies and contacts and participating in key outreach programmes and partnership ventures that are critical to the realisation of the Governor’s development agenda. The process will also entail outreach network to all key embassies, all critical foreign and international civil society groups/ networks, foreign media, among others,” he said.

Why Nigeria needs strategic management — ISMN Registrar Mr. Adeyemi Mapaderun is the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, ISMN. In this interview, he sspeaks on why Nigerians must look back and rededicate themselves to changing our value system so that we can have a better society. He also talks about how ISMN, in the last ten years, has been opening ways for both public and private institutions to develop knowledge in strategic m a n a g e m e n t , leadership and governance.

Excerpts:

W

HAT is the Institute of Strategic Management all about?

The Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria, is a nongovernmental and nonprofit, professional management association, devoted to developing

knowledge in strategic management, leadership and governance. These three elements of knowledge are very critical to any nation’s d e v e l o p m e n t , organisational development, and also for personal development. Ten years ago, we came up with this idea of entrenching strategic management as a distinct field of study, particularly for middle and top level managers in organisations. This is because after extensive studies, it became clear to us that the major problem with Nigeria is not the absence of efficient managers but we have failed in setting appropriate strategy for governance in and also permeate other spheres of life in Nigeria. So, we thought that rather than cover this apparent lack, there was the need to take the bull by the horn and begin to develop a critical mass of people, who can be a change agents, in organisations, both in the private and

public sectors.

And these we have been doing in the last ten years with the training of members. As I speak, we have about 25,000 members across different levels of membership, associate, fellow.

Was there any law setting up or making the institute a registered body?

By law, every organisation needs to be registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission. And being a private initiative, the institute was registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act. That is the starting point, the next level is to ensure that we have the Act of parliament as an institute so that we can become more effective in our crusade.

In what way has your institute helped in formulating policy for the government as its name implied?

Everywhere in the world, including the developed countries of the West and Asia, the economy is driven by the

public sector; even in the capitalist world, it is the public sector that sets direction for the

,

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

That is the starting point, the next level is to ensure that we have the Act of parliament as an institute so that we can become more effective in our crusade

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country, and that is why we are strategic in our focus by placing emphasis on intervention programs in the public sector. We do this at different levels, in the public and private sectors to develop human capital, in capacity; capability and competence drive

organisations because there is no need telling an organization the direction to go when you do not have the vehicle that can take them there. So, we already have foot soldiers, and that was the first thing we did. Now, without currying government favour, there is government attraction in what we do, because by the actions of our members in their various organizations, people see the need for strategic development approach in governance. So, a number of government agencies have actually benefited from the expertise of the institute.

Lagos State government has benefited immensely from the expertise of our institute as we organise programmes for their top echelon staff, particularly at the advent of the Raji Fashola administration.

This is because it was clear that no matter how passionate a government is, it needs the public service as the engine room of the system. There is need for civil servants to key into the

government’s agenda to be able to deliver on the promises made by the political class. That is why today in many strategic offices in Lagos, we have our members who are actually doing well there. Also in Osun, when the present government came into office, it recognized the need to key into this.

First and foremost was to identify a strategic focus for Osun State and to ensure that every citizen in the state keys into it.

This led to the current six points agenda of the government in Osun.

That is why the state government went further to ensure that all permanent secretaries attended the three-day workshop the institute organized.

This has led to a seamless function between the civil servants and the public in terms of the implementation of the government policies.

There are other areas where the institute is supportive of the government.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 35

PUBLIC HEARING ON OYERINDE’S MURDER

Nigeria Police Vs State Security z

AGF to House: ‘We have no hand in the matter’

zGov Oshiomhole

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin City

I

n what is turning out to be a tra gi-comedy, the public hearing on the investigation into the mur

der of Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, the late Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, revealed a gaping hole in the police investigation. Pitched against the report by the Department of State Security, DSS, the state government and civil society organizations are seeking to understand why the police are parading some persons different from those arrested by the DSS for the same crime. Worse still, the persons the police are holding responsible for the crime were, according to their own records in the cell, just as the alleged weapon used in the dastardly act was also in the custody of the police. This is the report of the public hearing.

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, led by Hon. Uzo Azubuike, on Wednesday, heard the petition filed by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGOS) in Edo State, which accused the police of coverup and professional misconduct in the investigation of the murder of the late Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde. The hearing, which commenced at about 2pm, lasted till 7:15pm and the disclosures were quite shocking and embarrassing to the nation’s security community. Oshiomhole arrived the complex at 1pm and was eager to present his case before the lawmakers.

The Director General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Mr Ita Ekpenyong; the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the case, Peter Gana; and the investigating police officer, IPO, Deputy Commissioner of Police Chris Ezike, were at the hearing. Mr O, Olatigbe, a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Justice represented the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke. Mr Wole Iyamu, the Solicitor General of Edo State, stood in for the Director ofPublic Prosecution in the state; Femi Falana was there for the civil society organization while Gadzama (SAN) represented the police. Action

zThe late Oyerinde Congress of Nigeria (CAN) members in the House of Representatives, such as the Minority Whip, Samson Osagie, Pally Iriase, Rasaq Bello-Osagie, Jim Adun were on hand to give solidarity to Oshiomhole. Others who witnessed the proceedings include the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwahid Umar, President General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele, and NLC Deputy National Vice President Isa Aremu. The petitioners had alleged an attempt by the police to shield the real killers of Oyerinde by arresting the Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev.David Ugolor, who also was a close friend of the late Oyerinde, as a suspect in the murder case.

A charged Edo governor was the first to speak during the hearing and he took time to narrate his ordeal in the hands of the police during the investigation of the murder of his PPS. While recalling how he was being briefed by the Edo State

z Ugolor informed him that ‘I had had interaction with your DC and, from his narrative, there are lots of contradictions. I ask you to please show more than casual interest in this investigation because you owe that to me as a friend’. Because MD Abubakar, I can call a friend, as I knew him not as a governor and I did not know him as an AIG. I knew him long before he became an AIG. I told him that he could not excuse me that he did not know what his people were saying about the investigation, they could not stand the test of any judicial scrutiny. “Even when I told them what the SSS did, the police dismissed it and became the defense counsel to the suspects instead of saying, `okay, let us go and find out more’. And I told them they could not dismiss what the SSS did. And, incidentally, the suspects had Olaitan’s phone but you (police) have not shown me any thing at all”. While the governor noted that he was satisfied with the DSS investigation “because I interviewed the suspects and I saw Olaitan’s phone with them”, he described as a national embarrassment the disagree-

z Uzo allegedly killed Olaitan was in police custody as of April 24, 2012 but Olaitan was killed in May. Secondly, the weapon that was used, according to the police entry, shows that the weapon was recovered on the 24th of April from an armed robbery operation and it was entered in a diary at the Esigie Police Station and that crime dairy was attached. “I called the AIG, that from the narrative of the DC, it was clear that the police killed Olaitan.

H

e said, `how?’. I said the sus pect ‘according to your own findings was in your custody at the time Olaitan was murdered. It is either the police released him to go and kill and return to cell or some thing like that. Again, the weapon that was used was in your custody according to your own findings’. So if the findings of the police are reliable, it means the police are behind the killing of Olaitan. But if their findings are not reliable even though they were acting on

I believe those who are responsible for the murder of Olaitan had prevailed on the police to help them shield them from possible prosecution and they were deliberately attempting to divert attention by giving the impression that Olaitan was killed by a friend, a human rights activist so as to embarrass the human rights community.

Director of the DSS, on a daily basis, as investigations progressed, Oshiomhole lamented how he was starved of information by the police despite the fact that he was supposed to be the chief security officer of the state.

He disclosed that he started sensing mischief on the part of the police when Oyerinde’s closest friend and a human rights activist, Ugolor, was arrested and detained for 41 days by the security agency over the murder. He told the committee: “When eventually I got DCP Chris Ezike to brief me, after his narration, I discovered a lot of inconsistencies. He told me there was communication between the suspects and Ugolor; infact he said that morning he received the call log of Maisamari (suspect). But he could not show me any call log. I called the IG and

ment between the DSS the police, and insisted that DIG Gana and DC Ezike should be sacked for alleged attempt to shield and the real killers of Oyerinde.

Oshiomhole concluded his submission by saying: “The life of Olaitan is more important to my job and it remains a national embarrassment if two security agencies are coming up with different conclusion on the same case. I believe those who are responsible for the murder of Olaitan had prevailed on the police to help them shield them from possible prosecution and they were deliberately attempting to divert attention by giving the impression that Olaitan was killed by a friend, a human rights activist so as to embarrass the human rights community.

The first police report that was before the magistrate shows that the suspect who

the orders of President Goodluck Jonathan, then Nigeria cannot be safe with people like these in uniform”.

On his part, the Solicitor General of Edo State Iyamu, alleged that the gun that was used to kill Oyerinde was traced to Esigie Police Station, adding that the police had refused to produce the police officer that the gun was issued to on the grounds that he traveled outside the country on an international assignment. “In every statement that the police had made, up till the brief they submitted to this Committee, they have failed to address the question of this gun.

The only thing they said about the gun is that the officer who made the entry traveled on an international assignment.

No name has been given, no details.

The fact that at some point in their own report they acknowledged that this socalled principal actor was in their custody as at the 24th of April, any attempt to attribute it to printer’s devil is negligence and is direct attempt to cover-up the crime.

Again, the police admitted that they had the call log but they have not addressed

Continues on page 36

PAGE 36—SUNDAY

Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

Continuesd from page 35 the issue of call log. We were described as busy bodies by the police whereas the murder was done in Edo State. The fact that they attempted to bypass the office of the DPP to Abuja to receive advice shows the mindset of the police and the contempt in which the police treated the Ministry of Justice in Edo State. They ran to the Federal DPP because it was obvious that they wanted to achieve their own selfish agenda because the murder was committed in Edo State and, as the law demands, the case belongs to the state”. The chairman of the House Committee, Hon. Azubuike, became infuriated when the representative of the Minister of Justice was asked to comment on the disparity between the DSS report and that of the police. Olatigbe, a Deputy Director in the Ministry, admitted that the ministry was in a dilemma as to what to do with the two reports and the parading of different suspects by the DSS and the police.

He said: “We are still weighing the two reports, but we are confused, we don’t know what to do”. Azubuike, who responded angrily, asserted: “It is very shameful and embarrassing that in a situation like this, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation is confused and not in a position to advise. We have two sets of report; in a situation like this where Nigerians are looking up to you to give us a guide on where to go, you are telling us on record that, after reading the two reports, you are confused and don’t know what to do. It is sad and embarrassing to the nation”. Tension in the hall further heightened when the DG of the DSS, Ekpenyong, took his turn to give account of their investigation. He gave a detailed account of their findings and explained how one of the suspects, Abdullahi, admitted shooting Oyerinde after he thought that the deceased was trying to bring out a gun.

He disclosed that after scientific investigations, six of the suspects were handed over to the police for prosecution. Apparently reacting to the complaint by the police of inadequate funding, the DSS DG, said, “It is not how much you are given. That issue is, what did you do with the money you were given? It is a matter of priority.

We have a lot of equipment for tracking criminals and that was what we used to get the suspects”. But DCP Ezike denied receiving any exhibit from the DSS. “None of the exhibit items handed to the police by the SSS related to the items stolen from Oyerinde’s house”.

To also denounce the allegation that the police did a shoddy job, Ezike and his boss, DIG Peter Gana, who led the investigation, made frantic efforts to also narrate the investigation carried out by them.

Gana replied the DSS boss on the issue he raised that security agents need modern gadgets to fight crime and not the “analogue” method which is outdated. Gana said: “We have modern equipment too and I want to say that the police is not analogue.

We tracked the suspects through our own expertise”. Ezike insisted that the DSS never handed over any exhibit or report of their investigation to the police and that among the seven suspects handed over to them by the DSS, only three were involved in the Oyerinde murder. “And it is not as if they were the killers, they bought items stolen from the scene while some of them are criminals terrorizing Benin City, raping people”.

Ezike insisted that the police arrested the real killers after a painstaking investigation that brought 35 crack detectives across the country to Benin City. But, again, in his usual subtle manner of addressing posers from the police at the hearing, Ekpeyong said: “Only four of my men handled the investigation.

the lack of synergy between the police and the DSS in the investigation of the murder and stressed the need for better cooperation between the two security agencies in the interest of national security.

Hon.Azuibuike thanked Oshiomhole for personally attending the hearing and assured that the House will make appropriate recommendations to ensure that no murder goes unpunished in the country.

zDSS DG, Ita Ekpenyong

zIGP Abubakar

PUBLIC HEARING ONOYERINDE’S MURDER

Nigeria P olice Vs S tat e Police Stat tate Security We didn’t need that crowd because everything is scientific now. We can go to my office and I will show you people how the system works. Every thing now about investigation has gone scientific”. While DC Ezike was buttressing his point that the police did a thorough job, the House Committee members observed contradictions in his explanation of the gun traced to Esigie Police Station; consequently he was asked to explain the matter properly. The police officer had said that the gun was found in a compound through the confession of one of the suspects, Danjuma Musa, adding that the landlady of the compound took the gun to a police corporal who took it to Esigie Police Station. He however indicted the officers at the Esigie Police Station, saying they may have doctored the police diary or that the controversial gun was not properly recorded in the police extract.

A

ccording to him, “We went to Esigie and asked after the gun. Initially the DPO said he was on casual leave and that

lice custody since April 24, while Oyerinde was killed on May 4. Which was why Oshiomhole argued that “it is either the police killed Oyerinde by releasing the suspects from police custody to go and kill him and come back or that they are parading innocent Nigerians as suspected killers”. Since the DSS said the suspects were armed robbers and not assassins, Ezike was asked by the Chairman of the House Committee to categorically tell Nigerians the outcome of their investigation. The IPO said, “It was pure assassination. We believed so because there were two men in the house and the gunmen asked the deceased’s wife to identify her husband which she did before Oyerinde was shot”.

Falana quickly observed that while the police said the real suspects were in their custody, “the police took them to the magistrate court in Benin City for prosecution but they are being charged for armed robbery and not murder. Again, the DCP told us that Mrs Oyerinde identified three of the

DISCLAIMER Meanwhile, in a twist to the Oyerinde murder, the Minister of Justice, on Thursday, disclaimed the statement credited to his representative at the hearing, Olatigbe, that his office was confused on the two reports by the police and the DSS on the matter.

According to him, the prosecution of the matter, being a matter within the purview of Edo State, the Federal Ministry of Justice had no hand in it.

“It has been widely reported in the electronic and print media that Mr. Olatigbe while making his presentation to the Committee, stated among other things that the Ministry of Justice was confused as a result of the investigation reports it had received from the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service (SSS) which appeared to have indicted different sets of suspects for the alleged murder of Oyerinde and that the Ministry could not proceed further with the prosecution of the suspects because of the need to harmonise the two reports,”Adoke said in a letter to the House.

He continued: “I wish to completely disassociate myself from the comments purportedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olaitigbe as the comments were at best, a figment of his imagination and very far from the truth. Mr. Olaitigbe was under firm instructions to inform the Committee that: “The Federal Ministry of Justice had examined the powers of the State Security Service as provided by Section 3 of the National Security Act, Cap.N.74 LFN, 2004 and the powers of the Nigeria Police Force as provided by section 4 of the Police Act Cap. P.19 LFN, 2004 and had come to the reasoned conclusion that the power to investigate crimes of the nature under consideration (murder) resides with the Nigeria Police Force while the power to gather intelligence lies with the State Security Service, and “Murder, the offence allegedly committed by the suspects is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the States in the Federation.

The Criminal Procedure Act, Cap., C. 38 LFN, 2004 is very clear on this matter. The Federal Ministry of Justice therefore has no power to prosecute murder cases as murder is a state offence committed against State law and that the matter was already being handled by appropriate authorities in Edo State.

“In view of the foregoing clear instructions and position, I am shocked, embarrassed and utterly disappointed by the representations reportedly allegedly made on my behalf by Mr. Olatigbe. I have accordingly instituted an internal investigation to unravel the mystery and appropriate measures will be taken to discipline any officer found wanting in this deliberate propagation of falsehood.

“In the meantime, I wish to assure your esteemed members and the general public of the principled stance of my office on this matter as already elaborated above and to inform you that my office was never at any material time confused as to the steps to be taken in this matter. I sincerely regret the misrepresentation and the apprehension that it has generated in the minds of Honourable Members of the Committee, as well as the general public”.

The fact that at some point in their own report they acknowledged that this so-called principal actor was in their custody as at the 24th of April, any attempt to attribute it to printer’s devil is negligence and is direct attempt to cover-up the crime he needed to find out about the gun. He got the gun and brought it to the investigation team, we support it with document.

The DPO now gave us an extract. This extract showed 24 April, 2012, as the date the gun was registered at the station. The issue here is that the armed robbers who raided Olaitan’s house went with three guns.

It is not our duty to falsify extracts. Let me also say that the extract in its self had a lot of inconsistencies. Even the timing in the extract made by the police was wrong.

The timing shows that the entry had been made before the gun was brought into the police station”. His answer elicited condemnation from Falana and members of the House Committee who observed that the suspects paraded and the gun were in po-

suspects as those that killed her husband through pictorial.

But, according to the same police report, the robbers used torch light when they came, even while asking Mrs Oyerinde about the husband, they were pointing the torch light on her. So the question is how could she have identified three persons in such darkness? This is funny”.

After Falana made his observation, Ugolor broke down in tears raising the alarm over threat to his life, accusing the police of masterminding his arrest and subsequent detention over the death of his bosom friend, Oyerinde. But the Chairman of the House Committee appealed to him to be calm and assured him that God will protect him.

The House Committee members lamented

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 37

Trouble looms ahead of 2015 if... – Nwabueze, Akinrinade, Ezeife, Achuzia, others FG not against conference —Ben Obi

From left: Col Ben Gbulie, Chief Solomon Asemota, Gen Alani Akinrinade, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Col Joe Achuzia (rtd) at the 14th Annual Convention of the Igbo Youth Movement, , held at Nike Lake Resort, Enugu.

O

N the eve of 100 years of amalgamation of Southern and Northern Protectorates to form Nigeria and ahead of the 2015 general elections, eminent Nigerians, who converged on Enugu for the 14 th National Convention of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, recently, had one demand. They want the Federal Government to organize a national conference for Nigerians to discuss the multifarious challenges facing the country and hammer out solutions. Without this, they feared that the country might implode.

Held at Nike Lake Resort; Enugu, under the theme: “National Conference before 2015 Elections, Only Roadmap to a Truly Greater Nigeria,” among those who shared this view were legal icon and Chair man of The Patriots, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN); Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN); Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; General Alani Akinrinade (rtd); Senator Ben Obi and Col Joe Achuzia.

Hold conference before elections – Ukoh, IYM President IYM National President, Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, set the tone for the call for confab at the gathering. He said the choice of the theme was apt as the survival of Nigeria as one indivisible nation was under threat. Noting the Igbo youths believe in one Nigeria, he averred that such would not be effective without a restructuring of the countr y.

The IYM leader said, as a matter of urgency, the conference should be held before the 2015 general elections. “I want to make it very clear that we so much believe in Nigeria, but what we are saying is that the country must be restructured. For such restructuring to be done, we believe that a national C M Y K

conference is inevitable. I don’t know why they are delaying it.”

After 100 years, we should be able to talk about ourselves – Ezeife Ezeife, a former government of Anambra State, backed the IYM’s call for national conference. “I agree with IYM that Nigeria must have a national dialogue. If not for anything else, after 100 years of our existence, we should be able to talk about ourselves, we will remain together but we have to understand ourselves,” he said.

We’ve a defective constitution – Asemota Asemota said there was need to convene a national conference before the polls, saying: “The constitution we are operating now is very defective.

Even the National Assembly has agreed to that and that is why 60 areas have been short-listed

,

By CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

danger, like national conference before 2015 the country might implode.

His words: “This country is on the verge of becoming a failed state. There are so many failed states in Africa and Nigeria is on the verge of getting that status of a failed state. Before now, we didn’t know about kidnapping, but it has become a way of life. Did we know about bombings before? But today, churches, schools, offices are being bombed on a daily basis; the worst is that the bombers are not coming from outside the countr y, we are bombing ourselves”.

The former secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, said a nation that could not provide a credible election for her people is a

We’ve all agreed to a national conference but, at this time, we should be able to go beyond calling for national conference and initiate action towards realising same

for amendment.

The constitution gave us right to vote but no corresponding right to be voted for, rather political parties have right to be voted for.

So, to have a credible election demands that we have a people’s constitution.”

Conference‘ll halt descent into abyss – Nwabueze On his part, Nwabueze said the convocation of national conference was overdue.

Identifying factors indicating that Nigeria had become a failed state, he said national conference could bring the country back.

According to him, if proactive steps are not taken to checkmate the impending

,

failed state. “In 2003, 2011 we had no credible elections, yet we are talking about democracy. A country that cannot secure social and economic rights for her people is a failed state. Read chapter 2 of Nigeria’s constitution and you will understand what I am talking about, they are not leaders but looters.”

He said corruption was another disturbing issue in the country, “any state that allows this kind of unbridled corruption is f a i l i n g . ” Lamenting that the citizenry were suffering and living in abject poverty while government officials and National Assembly members

have all kinds of allowances running into millions of naira, he said rhetorically: “Tell me if in all these, this country is not on the verge of a failed state?”

He justified the urgent need for a national confab, saying the conference should not be seen as a way of destabilising Nigeria. It is for “us to come together and deliberate; it will lead to peace; it will lead to a constitution whose source of authority is the people, we can’t have any substitute for the people.”

FG not against conference – Ben Obi Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, said President Goodluck Jonathan and indeed the Federal Government were not against the convocation of a national conference, but that the agitators of such conference should organize themselves and meet with both the president and leaders of the National Assembly.

His words: “We’ve all agreed to a national conference but at this time, we should be able to go beyond calling for national conference and initiate action towards realising same. Even the president himself has never said he is opposed to the conference but we need the right calibre of men and women to go to Abuja and demand from both the president who is heading the executive and Senator David Mark who is heading the legislature on the need to convoke a national conference.

“We must move towards solving the problem. Let it be said that there is an eminent delegation demanding for the conference; by then, the ball would have been firmly played into the court of the executive and the legislature, who off course are the proper authorities to convoke such conference.”

He challenged Nigerian youths to rise up to the challenge of helping the nation sail out of her current challenges by refusing being used as thugs by politicians during election but

to ensure that only people with credible and verifiable integrity are elected into positions of authority in the next election.

“President Jonathan has put in place machineries that would help in conducting credible elections in the country henceforth; today, votes are counting. We tried it in Edo, it worked; we tried it in Ondo, it worked. It will be tried in Ekiti and Osun where elections will come up in a matter of months.

It is now left for you, the youths, to equally team up with the president and ensure that your tomorrow is guaranteed,” he added.

Akinrinade, Achuzia concur Akinrinade, a former Chief of the Defence Staff and Achuzia said the situation in the country had gone so bad that our leaders must go beyond rhetoric and seek solution to “ what has obviously become a complex problem for the countr y. ” Akinrinade said a nation state could not be ruled by military fiat and attributed the problem of the country to the constitution which was handed over to the countr y by the militar y.

Achuzia, on his part, said the existence of many nations within the country was becoming a major threat to its continued existence as one nation, explaining that the national conference would help in addressing the challenge.

Nigeria must be anchored on equity, fairness, justice – Mark Odu Prof Mark Odu, in a paper presented at the occasion entitled: “Ndigbo: Identity crisis has ended,” said the era of cash and carry politics was coming to an end and it was time genuine leaders to start leading the people.

He said, “Ndigbo should have no other identity crisis to move on in Nigeria. They should just make up their minds about what is right, proper and in the general good of Nigeria and use their population to move Nigeria there. It is definite that our population is ample enough to guide Nigeria’s positive evolution. Our experience forbids another crash. It also forbids forcible struggle for national leadership. What matters is to identify with the positive volitions of true Nigerians and stick with it for all time.”

While urging Ndigbo to hug an enduring Nigeria irrevocably, he said, “no patchwork should be tolerated in the Nigerian project. It is either a country with fairness and equity based on right principles or we sue for confederation of parts.”

Other eminent Nigerians at the event include Secretary General of The Patriots, Chief Mike Orabator, Col. Ben Gbulie, Amb. J. U Ayalogu, Prince Emeka Onyeso, Chief Guy Ikokwu, Prof. Felix Oragwu and Rev. Ukandu Ucheya.

PAGE 38—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

It’s in South-East’s interest to back APC – Annie Okonkwo •Says doubting Thomases’ll be disappointed

By CLIFFORD NDUJIHE Senator Clement Annie Okonkwo, who represented Anambra Central Senatorial District in the Sixth Assembly, led the delegation of a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the merger talks with other opposition parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a chat with reporters, Okonkwo said it was in the interest of the South-East to join other regions in the push to rescue Nigeria from the shackles of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. OU were quoted as saying that your party, APGA was dead following the formation of APC. What informed that view?

I was misquoted. I made my point clear that the major political parties in the country are surrendering their party to form one strong platform and that if the merger works the political parties involved will cease to exist and this is what the law says. This is the first time that this has happened. What we use to have is alliance and not merger. I never said that APGA is a dead party. But the truth of the matter is that if the merger talk is successful there won’t be anything like APGA. Some people on their own have destroyed the party. To be specific, a sponsored court order by the governor of Anambra State has kept APGA in an impotent condition from the national to state level. Today it has become very difficult for somebody to do anything that will yield good result in APGA. Most of them are in PDP but are still pretending to be in APGA. I will like to thank the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the only governor from the South-East that supported the merger of the major opposition parties into one strong platform, APC because there is no way this country can be rescued from the hands of the greedy and selfish PDP members.

So, to ensure that this does not continue, the people of the North have surrendered their major opposition parties, the oldest political party, the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP and the leading political party in the area, the Congress for Progressives Change, CPC; the South-West has also

Y

C M Y K

Senator Annie Okonkwo.....PDP is a failed party.

They don’t care about the masses and, with the kind of people in APC, PDP is going nowhere. sacrificed their own party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. So, I don’t see any reason we in the South-East should not support the merger talk. I commend Okorocha for his courage to support the

leadership system.

Do you think Ndigbo stand a chance of producing the president on the banner of the APC? When we were talking of the Igbo president, a lot of people

President, Namadi Sambo is from the North, the Senate President, David Mark is from the North and the Speaker of the House of Representatives is also from the North and they are all PDP members. Tell me, is that how we will achieve the Igbo dream of producing the President?

APC is dominated by the South-West and North. With APGA already divided, don’t you think the South-East would be a minority in the party? As the President of C21, how do you hope to convince the Igbo to buy into it?

Our people find it very difficult to believe in reality.

The truth is that it will be difficult to convince people to move in at the same time but when they start seeing result, they will be convinced to join the movement. What we want to do is to put an enlightenment programme to enable them understand our plan. I believe that by the time we are through with that, the Igbo will understand that the only political party where we can achieve our vision is the APC. How are you tackling the problem of logo facing APC, which was occasioned by the crisis in APGA? Everybody is aware that for

I was misquoted. I made my point clear that the major political parties in the country are surrendering their party to form one strong platform and that if the merger works, the political parties involved will cease to exist and this is what the law says merger and this will make APC a strong political party because it has received the support of all the zones in the country.

And each zone also has a governor. The North-Central has a governor; the North-East has a governor, the North-West also has. In the South-West, there are governors, SouthSouth, there is a governor and the South-east cannot be left aside, we also have a governor.

So, people who are thinking that the merger will not work will be disappointed at the end of the day. I see APC as a party that is going to rescue this country from the problem of insecurity, corruption and others that the PDP government has failed to solve because of their selfish

thought we weren’t serious.

As far as I am concerned, I believe that APC is the only party that can compete and defeat the PDP in any election.

So, the opportunity is that as time goes on, we are going to contest the presidential primary election and if we win, we will have the opportunity of producing the president.

One of the policies of the party is that internal democracy must be maintained and once it is maintained we will progress. In PDP, there is no hope for the Igbo nation.

Presently, from the president, vice president, Senate President and the Speaker there is no Igbo representative. The Vice

the past six months, there have been crisis in APGA which has also witnessed several court cases. So, it will be very difficult for any merging political party to accept an APGA logo because they will believe that it will attract a lot of litigations. But we are still making our case very clear to ensure that all the parties are accommodated.

With APC merger talk still in progress, are you still going to contest for Anambra governorship under its platform?

The major thing we are doing is to build the party. For me, I am still in still contesting the election but it is not a door-die affair. The most

important thing is to make sure that APC wins the next election in Anambra State. So, if the party supports my ambition I will fly the flag of the party.

APC fielding candidates, how do you think the 2015 election would look like?

This is the kind of election that Nigerians have been waiting to witness. A lot of unimaginable things will happen. PDP will lose a lot of states. For 14 years of PDP leadership at the federal level, the masses have been suffering one problem or the other. You can imagine how many families that have lost their loved ones either through Boko Haram attacks, Niger Delta militants’ attacks, kidnapping or plane crash. It means that something is wrong somewhere. With the birth of APC, the country will witness another style of leadership that will end the sufferings of the people. A leadership that will provide jobs for the people, a leadership that will provide security for the people, a leadership that will provide electricity for the masses of this country and of course, a leadership that will develop this country in all aspect.

What gives you the confidence that APC will beat PDP at the presidential and state elections?

PDP is a failed party. They don’t care about the masses and with the kind of people in APC, PDP is going nowhere.

What is responsible for the problem that Chief Victor Umeh is facing in APGA? Everybody is aware that the crisis is sponsored and masterminded by Governor Peter Obi who believes that he has nothing to do with APGA again and thinks the best way to pay the people of APGA the good thing they did for him is by destroying the party. Unfortunately for him, we have moved on.

Obi will be rounding up by next year, how would you assess his achievement so far?

I don’t like discussing people. But honestly, people are scared of going to Anambra State because the insecurity there is too high and it was caused by unemployment in the state. We have thousands of graduates roaming the streets of Anambra and the state government is not doing anything about it.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 39

BY BILESANMI OLALEKAN Mr Oseloka Henry Obaze, until mid last year, was a United Nations employee. He is one of those who responded to Governor Peter Obi’s call to Anambra State indegenes in diaspora to come home to assist in building the state. He was appointed secretary to the state government in June last year. In this interview, Obaze speaks on the challenges of changing the mindset of the people in taking ownership of government.

S the coordinating office between the gover nor ’s office and other ministries as well as members of the public, how has it been?

I didn’t know I was coordinating the activities of the governor. I thought I was coordinating activities of government just to ensure that there is coherence in policy, coordination, delivery and implementation which is the running of basic bureaucracy.

The challenge is that every bureaucracy creates its own weakness and what we encounter here is a national issue, one of the mindset where you have to convince people on what they are supposed to do and that is a challenge. Other than that, it is like running any other government. So you have to do what you have to do and hopefully get the rest of the team on board and that is basically what it is. Of course it entails very long hours and, because His Excellency the governor, Mr Peter Obi, works extremely long hours, we just toe the line and that is basically where we are.

At the time you were taking up the appointment, did you envisage it would be this enormous?

Yes. Running a state, no matter how small, is and will always be a big challenge.

Running a state where you have institutional and infrastructural challenges is even a bigger challenge. You must therefore anticipate that such challenge will be enormous but you also hope that you bring some degree of added value to problems solving which is basically what we do. The governor has the vision to do the things he does and our role as technocrats is to assist him to make sure he realizes that vision. But as someone said, the biggest challenge here is that sometimes you encounter a situation where there is a disconnect between the vision of the governor and those of the bureaucrats, even some of the political appointees and where that synergy is lacking or where there is a lacuna , you don’t move as fast as the governor wants you to move, the realization of the vision and the set goals are not articulated and pursued not for lack of vision or wherewithal but for lack of mindset and will of the people. One thing I encountered here, and I am sure the governor knows about it and it is not about the government but about the mind set, is that in trying to run government operation or business, everything has become so transactional. When you say you want to build a road, the contractor, the subcontractor, the consultant, everybody is looking at what is in there for him, financially.

When you say you have a policy to alleviate poverty,

Anambra instituting good governance mindset– Obaze,SSG

A

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people are looking for what is in it for them. When you say you have an MDG grants or programme to run, people are looking for what is in it.

Nobody is talking about what added value does this policy bring. That is a challenge.

Other than that, we do what we need to do and sometimes we have to swim against the tide and still do what we need to do. And the governor is very supportive in what we are doing.

How sacrificial is this job to you as some people said you were practically dragged to Nigeria to take up this appointment?

Chinua Achebe once said that if God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to make him African, Nigerian, Igbo from Ogidi, he has no intention of changing that. Likewise, if God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to make me African, Nigerian, Igbo from Anambra, I don’t intend to change that.

I think I owe a lot to my people in my village, they did not train me, I did not go on scholarship, my parents did but to bring added value by being able to represent them and like wise for every person who comes from Anambra State and for everybody from this country. I have travelled around the world in over 60 countries and I have enjoyed the immense benefits of what developed countries have to offer. I have also gone to countries that are not by any stretch of imagination comparable to Nigeria in terms of access to resources and infrastructure and even governance. And so you begin to ask yourself, those privileges and infrastructure we enjoy abroad did not happen overnight, some people built them. The efficient roads, airports, industries, some people made them happen. But there comes in one’s life and you begin to ask yourself, what have you done for your country? And if one were to paraphrase it, I am here because I grew up at the era when JFK was a role model to us. And remember, getting the Americans to be focused on the greatness of their country and its sustainability had to do with the question he asked, “ask not what your country can do

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for you but what you can do for your country”. What can I do for Nigeria to make it a better place for my children and grand children? There are generations ahead of me who have considered that theirs is a wasted generation. I don’t want to be part of that generation. I have served and have a fulfilled life. And I think a life of contentment will even be richer and better enhanced if you can look back and say, “before my twilight years, I was able to give back to the society that gave me so much”, and that is why I am here. It is not about money, it is about the realization that the elite in this country which I consider myself one have not

The day Isoko PDP leaders returned to the grassroots

BY FESTUS AHON

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C M Y K

Mr Henry Obaze.....Since I was appointed, I think there is better coordination

There are generations ahead of me who have considered that theirs is a wasted generation. I don’t want to be part of that generation. I have served and have a fulfilled life

done sufficiently enough.

They have taken the rights of the masses for granted. And the privileges we have enjoyed, we have not allowed it trickle down to the masses.

I don’t just want to go to bed bearing the burden and the guilt of not having done what I am supposed to do.

What would you say are the high points of this administration?

Since I was appointed, I think there is better coordination, better focal point focused on policy, implementation. There is a better focus on synergy, making sure that there is certain degree of completedness in the things we do. There is better articulation of ensuring that public expenditure is done in such a way that it has added value. We just submitted our budget for 2013 and we are looking at how we can have a result-based budget where what we budgeted for is accomplished and where we do not have the resources to attract grants and the only way you can attract grants is by showing what you are doing and how effective you are before your partners can buy in. Governor Peter Obi is efficient to attract international donors and our job, my job and my colleagues in the executive council is to ensure that every penny we get from outside is accounted for, is

reflected in what we do. The other aspect is to look at where the pitfalls are and begin to plug those holes whether it is policies, in execution or even in every day life. I was swornin, in June last year and on July 2, which was my first executive council meeting, the question I asked the governor was, who was responsible for the cleanliness of Awka?, and we found out that there were a core of people left, right and centre who the issue falls within their purview and they were not taking ownership of the process. Everybody assumed the other person was going to do it. And, at the end of the day, nobody did. And the first thing we did was to make sure that we cleaned up the capital and made sure that the waste management was up to speed in trying to do what they ought to do because they were not being challenged.

Also I found out that we had a television station which had a bloated staff of about 400 and they were running programme from 4pm to 10pm.

They have the transmitter, they had all the necessary equipment but it did not dawn on them that they could run programmes in the morning and, in doing that, attract advertisements. I spoke with the managing director about it and I told him that within a week I was going to be his first guest on the morning show.

And, within the week, they were running programmes in the morning. By the third of the programme, I was the first guest that showed on the programme and ever since they have been running. I also asked them why they were not broadcasting on satellite? I am glad that the challenge I put to them, within six months, Anambra State Television is now on satellite and we would probably go on DSTV which means you can garner revenue from people in Lagos, Ibadan because they can watch you and those abroad too.

OLITICS is a dynamic venture. Before now, when they see politicians, they have come to ask for votes and we felt this is not the right thing to do. You cannot always go to the people only when you need their votes. You must go to the people to tell them ‘thank you’. You must go to the people to give account of your s t e w a r d s h i p .

“You must have time to go out and appreciate people who voted for your government that made you to be in power or that made you to have the position that you are holding.”

With these words, Secretary to the Delta State Government, SSG, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay, captured the essence of the “Thank You Tour ” of thirteen wards recently embarked upon by the Isoko North Local Government Area Chapter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Indeed, for the PDP leadership in the area, it was time to express appreciation to the people for the massive

*The PDP leaders thanking constituents

support they gave to the party during the 2011 general elections. And as attested to by the teeming supporters of the party, the ‘Thank You Tour ’ was unique and unprecedented as it is widely perceived as a step towards bringing to an end, the era when politicians were seen only during campaigns for electoral votes and would soon disappear until it was time for another election.

For Macaulay; Senator James Manager, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta; Hon Leo Ogor, member, representing the

Isoko nation in the House of Representatives and Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives; Hon. Tim Owhefere, member representing Isoko North in Delta State House of Assembly; Sir, Patrick Ferife, Commissioner for Land and Survey; Mr Joseph Ogeh, Commissioner representing the Isoko nation on the Board of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, and a host of others, it was a thing of joy to be at the grassroots level-back to the

Continues on page 40

PAGE 40—SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

The day Isoko PDP leaders returned to the grassroots Continued from page 39 home base.

The visit afforded the people the opportunity of seeing their leaders eyeball to eyeball and the leaders meeting with the elders and members of their communities as well. It affirms the positive changes in the political climate – the emergence of an opportunity for the electorate to interact with the leaders.

The message from the Isoko North PDP as presented by Macaulay was clear: “we have come to say thank you to you for giving us your votes.

The President of the Federal Republic, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, sent

Majority Leader of the House, is here to meet you and interact with you. Hon. Tim Owhefere representing you in the state House of Assembly is also here to greet you as well. Sir Patrick Ferife and Mr Joseph Ogeh are equally here to greet all of you”.

A most significant observation throughout the visit was that Isoko North is fully united for the PDP. All the known notable persons were present in one voice. The unity of the PDP in Isoko North transcends personal or individual political interests. The interests of the people must be first served. All thoughts are focused on how to improve the lot of the people.

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The unity of the PDP in Isoko North transcends personal or individual political interests. The interests of the people must be first served

his greetings. The state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, also sent his greetings to you for voting for him in the last elections.

“Senator James Manager, representing the Delta South is here to say thank you and to meet you one-on-one.

Hon. Leo Ogor, your own son representing you at the House of Representatives, and by God’s grace, the Deputy

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This was why Sir Simeon Efenudu, a former Head of Service and Secretary to the Delta State Government, came out for the two days to team up with other leaders for the visit.

Efenudu is the current Chairman, Delta South Senatorial Zone of the party. Also in this class was Chief Goodnews Agbi, a PDP chieftain and former Delta State hovernorship aspirant,

who was present throughout the tour.

Macaulay did not just introduce his fellow political office holders.

There was a package of democratic dividends for each of the wards. These projects were mapped out for these communities and contracts for them had been awarded.

They range from supply and installation of transformers, fencing and renovation of primary and secondary schools, construction of community roads, provision of water scheme and replacement of wooden electricity polls to concrete ones.

In Owhe-Ologbo, the SSG announced his personal projects in addition to the one by the state government.

In order to expedite action on the projectss, the SSG advised youths not to disturb contractors at site. He also urged parents to ensure that their children and wards imbibe the virtue of peaceful living, saying that “violence does not pay.”

Manager described the visit as unique because “ we have never done this before. We used to gather them t o g e t h e r . ” On his part, Ogor said the party was laying a new foundation by telling the people that “ we appreciate the support they have given to our party.”

The thirteen wards visited were Ellu/ Aradhe/Ovrode, Ofagbe, Okpe-Isoko, Oyede and Iyede, I and II. Others were Emevor, OtorOwhe, Otibio and Owhelogbo and Ozoro I to III.

Ondo community royal tussle deepens

*Stakeholders indict council, appeal to Mimiko

BY ADEOLA ADENUGA

C

ONCERNED citizens of E t i k a n Kingdom in Ilaje local government area of Ondo State have appealed to Governor Olusegun Mimko to set up a panel of inquiry to look into the remote and immediate causes of the crisis rocking the kingdom as a result of attempts allegedly being made by some people to impose a businessman as the community ’s monarch contrary to the wish of the community.

According to a saveC M Y K

our-soul message sent to the governor by four stakeholders, Mr Oluwatobi Mebawondu, Mr Kayode Elumalero, Mr Tosin Oholo and Mr. Thompson Ayo Onikan, they urged the governor to suspend any action relating to approval or installation of any of the contestants to the stool of Olikan pending the time peace would return to the community.

According to the stakeholders, the kingdom has known no peace since about two years ago when some individuals vowed to scuttle the election of

one Busayo Adeola Oroyo as the Olikanelect despite the fact that he was the unanimous choice of kingmakers. “ But it is unfortunate that one of his opponents has refused to accept the popular choice of the community. He has been threatening brimstone , saying the entire community will not know peace unless the kingmakers decision was reversed. We told him this is impossible, but he refused to heed our pleas, and, since that time, peace has eluded our community ”, they stated.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 41

BY JUDITH UFFORD

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hen Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah was confirmed as Minister of Aviation on July 2, 2011, not a few eyelids were raised. But that position did not come on a platter of Gold.

For Stella was an active participant in the political campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan where she served as director of administration and finance.

Born on January 5, 1962, Stella is the daughter of Igwe D.O. Oduah of Akili-Ozizor community in Anambra State.

Focused and clear minded about her goals, she obtained her bachelor ’s and master ’s degree (in accounting and business administration respectively) from the United States before she joined the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 1983.

Her dedication to service gave her the opportunity to receive numerous awards for outstanding achievements. In her continuous search for excellence and service, in 1992, she left the NNPC to establish the Sea Petroleum & Gas Company Limited (SPG), an independent marketer of petroleum products where she was CEO, thus carving a niche for herself as a leading entrepreneur in the oil & gas sector.

Described as a generous employer of labour and philanthropist of exceptional magnitude, she has touched lives and communities in Nigeria.

Some of these efforts include the establishment of a skills acquistion centre, the launching of a farmers loan scheme as well as initiating Echo Heart Foundation amongst others.

It was in recognition of these contributions to national development that President Olusegun Obasanjo rewarded her with a national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

When she came on-board as the Aviation Minister, she admitted that the state of aviation infrastructure, particularly the airport terminals, runways, control towers, cooling systems and conveyor belts were in terrible shape. The sacking of top chief executive officers of some parastatals under her ministry, actually brought her to limelight. The action brought about relative stability in the air transport business.

She says the focus of her ministry is to make air travel the preferred and safest means C M Y K

Stella Oduah:

Expanding the frontiers of aviation transformation

of transportation, increase the growth of tourism industry and drive socio-economic growth in the country. To achieve these objectives, the ministry, after due consultation with industry stakeholders, came out with short, medium and long term strategic initiatives which include e-modeling of 11 airports and provision of airfield lightning, navigational aids, meteorological instruments and other safety measures in all the airports in line with ICAO standards(with some of the remodeled airports already commissioned) as well as strengthen the accident investigation infrastructure.

Apart from deploying few state-of-the-art security measures in some selected airports, Stella has also developed e-governance platform through a website that could provide links to the sites of major airlines to provide information on investment opportunities in the industry. The same platform would enable the ministry to have management oversight on all on-going projects and other activities.

Realising the benefit of global networking, she has mandated all airlines to join the

IATA platform to increase transparency in the revenue collection process and enable inter-airline ticket endorsement. Her intervention on the cost of aviation fuel to reduce operational cost of airline operators has been effective in reducing high air fares.

Her giant strides include the completion of the new control tower, commencement and installation of equipment at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. There is also runway resurfacing at the airports in Calabar, Ibadan, Maiduguri and Sokoto just as low level windshear alert system (LLWAS) was installed at Lagos airports and Doppler weather radar system installed in Abuja.

Most of the country’s airports are undergoing power and water improvement projects including construction of new boreholes and water hydrants for the runway at Lagos, Jos, Abuja, Owerri and Kano.

Perhaps, it was against this backdrop that she was nominated as Champion Newspapers Man of the Year, 2012. In his congratulatory message on the occasion, Mr. Peter Obi, Anambra State governor reminded her that the award was

Chairman of the occasion, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State (left), presenting the Champion Newspapers Limited Man of The Year Award to the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah.

Stella Oduah...Misunderstood on why I turned down awards a call to greater service and dedication toward the sanitisation of the aviation industry.

Receiving the award, Princess Stella explained why she had turned down several awards in the past. Said she: A I have been hesitant to accept awards not only from the media, but also from numerous other groups and bodies within and outside the shores of this country. The reason for this is simple. I hold the strong belief that I do not need to be given any award or honour for doing my job. I think as Aviation Minister, everything I am doing, and everything I am going to do going forward, is within the normal brief of an Aviation Minister.

So I don’t feel I am doing anything extra-ordinary. This principally accounts for why, up till this moment, I have turned down several awards, with all due respect to the groups and organizations that had considered me in the past.

But that was in the past. According to her: A time comes when one begins to see the need to balance personal preferences and public perception.

And the reason for this is not far fetched. She explained it thus: At a point, it was beginning to be misunderstood why I have consistently turned down several nominations for

awards. Many had begun to draw their own wrong conclusions, going as far as insinuating arrogance. But nothing can be farther from the truth.

So when my nomination as it were from a newspaper with such great tradition, I said this was the time.

Continuing, she observed that a lot has been said already about the milestones that have been attained in the transformation drive in the aviation sector. A I only need to add that we are just beginning; the mission is far from being accomplished. This award is therefore significant in one profound respect - it challenges me and my team at the Ministry not to rest on our oars, but to continue to do all we can to expand the frontiers of transformation in the aviation industry beyond what we are seeing today. What this event also symbolises is the fact that the nation is watching us so we cannot afford to fail’’.

To her, the award serves as a tonic to pursue, even more vigorously, the mandate of President Goodluck Jonathan to revolutionise the country’s aviation industry and make it safer, more secure, more customer-friendly and more commercially viable, in accordance with prescribed international standards and practices.

PAGE 42—SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

MARCH 3 , 2013

Junaid Mohammed

FACE-OFF

APC can absolutely win 2015 presidential election — Junaid Mohammed Speaks on Jonathan’s chances ‘Some northerners have no shame’

By SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

S

econd Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, is a fearless man, who shoots straight on matters of national interest without looking back. For that reason, he has come to be admired, and loathed by Nigerians depending on where they stand. Since the controversy over President Goodluck Jonathan’s qualification to contest in 2015 broke out, Mohammed, a Russian-trained medical doctor-turned political commentator and analyst, has maintained his position that Jonathan is not qualified to run in the next election. In this interview, Mohammed also gives reasons why the newlyformed All Progressive Congress (APC) may make waves and why it may fail. hat do you make of the matter, which they should also revelation by the Niger sort out by themselves. It is not State Governor, Babangida a national matter. The entire Aliyu, that President idea of the so-called zoning or Jonathan signed an agree- rotation is an issue that the ment to run for only a term? vast majority of Nigerians To me, the issue is entirely a have never accepted. It was an Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, imposition on the people of

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this country by some notable personalities in the North and South. It was done by people who, ordinarily, would never have won an election. They had to design the system so that they could go on in a democracy to be deciding who would be leaders in smokefilled room.

But this is not democracy.

I believe that this argument should be left for the members of the PDP. They should sort the issue out in order for Nigerians to know the truth about what Babangida Aliyu has said about Jonathan and 2015.

This is about Nigeria and the Office of the President Whatever is the outcome of the debate, whatever is being said by who, the fact remains

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that zoning and rotation has served Nigeria very badly.

Obasanjo was a disastrous as president and when he left, he

ery kobo that comes into the consolidated revenue of Nigeria to him and the Niger Delta governors, there would be no development in Nigeria in the next 100 years. They have not delivered and they are not going to deliver. Anyone of them who finds himself in the position of authority using the zoning and rotation caveat wants to remain in office forever.

Democracy and perpetual leadership are completely incompatible.

As far as I am concerned, these people have to leave and leave they must.

Those who are eating from them can come and say whatever they like because for them, what happens today and what they are getting from the Presidency are what matters most to them and not the future of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Those who think they can continue to play games with the destiny of this country should be wary because, even if they are too old, some people from their own flesh and blood are alive and well and they would not want disaster to befall them. Nigerians are in a foul mood, Nigerians are very angry. People who witnessed the birth of this democracy in 1999 till date are sad, they are not happy because it has not delivered anything positive to the majority of the people at all levels of governance.

So what happens to the socalled pact reached with the governors by Jonathan?

It does not make sense joining issues with a governor or a non-governor on any issue that was agreed or not because such agreements did not work in the past. I am aware that the first time Obasanjo was to be brought out of prison and made the president by four Generals - TY Danjuma, Aliyu Gusau, IBB and and Abdulsalami Abubakar- when he was being brought out, the agreement then with Obasanjo was that he was going to serve for only a year, not even a four-year term. Obasanjo rubbished that, proceeded to serve one term of four years, did a second and wanted to make himself a life president through the infamous Third Term. The Western countries who are shedding crocodile

Whatever is the outcome of the debate, whatever is being said by who, the fact remains that zoning and rotation has served Nigeria very badly

manoeuvred and brought in an incompetent person as his successor. These people have not delivered and they are not going to deliver.

If you leave Goodluck Jonathan to be president of Nigeria and you allocate ev-

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tears about what is happening now did not say anything about Obasanjo’s attempt to abuse the Constitution to stay on for life because they were comfortable with him. He al-

Continues on page 44

SUNDAY

Vanguard , MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 43

FACE-OFF

PDP has the capacity to tame APC — Gulak

Says nobody can stop president in 2015 SONI DANIEL,

Regional Editor, North

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lhaji Ahmed Gulak, a law yer and politician, is a man who does not shy away from his duty. As the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, he is naturally responsible for the political decisions taken by President Goodluck Jonathan. With the emergence of the All Progressive Congress, APC, and the insistence of some politicians that Jonathan should not contest the 2015 election, Gulak says the President is entitled to run in the poll. The presidential aide asserts that it would be wrong for any Nigerian or group to abridge Jonathan’s tenure on account of the fact that he came in by circumstance to serve out the remainder of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Ádua’s tenure.

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ow do you see the for mation of the APC? Well, speaking as a politician who has been around for some time now, let me point out that the APC plus all other political parties in Nigeria are less than the PDP. The totality of what I am saying is that no PDP member will lose sleep over the merger or the coming on board of the APC. All these put together are still less than the PDP. And who are the actors in the APC? They are not new on the scene. Buhari did it three times and we know the results. Politics should be left for the real politicians. We have political bridgebuilders in the PDP who know how to play politics and bring about unity and development of Nigeria as opposed to some elements who continue to contest elections and fail because they do not want democracy to thrive in Nigeria.

They are merely posing as democrats when they are indeed dictators. They can never win election in Nigeria.

Don’t forget that when Buhari came to power through military coup in 1983, he incarcerated those who nurtured democracy in Nigeria, one of them being Dr. Alex Ekweme, who was vice president to Shehu Shagari.

He did not only arrest them, he also sent them to jail. He accused them of corruption.

But when Ekweme was investigated, it was discovered that he did not steal anything and that he was even poorer than when he was in private life.

He was set free.

Gulak...The final decision on 2015 lies with Jonathan Now tell me how somebody like Buhari can win election in Nigeria. The people he tortured and put in jail are in the biggest party in African - the PDP - and the APC formed

by Buhari and others cannot threaten the PDP in any way.

To me, the emergence of APC is a welcome development.

APC is a regional party, but we need a national party like the PDP to build a great country.

Do you think the PDP can still win elections in Nigeria

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agreement, but the beauty of the PDP is that we have always had a way of resolving our differences amicably and moving forward.

As far as I am concerned, there is no problem in the PDP. What about the crisis in Adamawa?

The crisis in Adamawa is not as serious as the one in Ogun and Anambra.

Everybody wants to be in the PDP and that is why we have crisis.

We have had it before and PDP will come out more unit-

no serious issues to be discussed. Nigerians should understand these issues and know that the PDP has a Constitution, which guides its operations. So tell those who are insinuating that there is crisis in the PDP to think of what else to say as our party is waxing stronger and ready to make more progress politically in the years ahead.

As the political adviser to President Jonathan, would you advise him to run in 2015?

Well, even if I advise him,

If you say Jonathan should not contest in 2015, he would have spent only five years. My position is that if Mr. President is not going to contest, let it be on his own volition, but let nobody intimidate him out of office for selfish political reasons

given the crisis within its fold?

There is no crisis in the PDP. What you see is different from the true situation in the party.

PDP is solid, united and strong and will continue to win elections at the national level. The seeming crisis that you are talking about is borne out of the desire for all Nigerians to get a place in the PDP to actualise their dreams of leadership. And don’t forget that when so many people are looking for the same thing, there is bound to be some dis-

ed and stronger at the end of the day.

What about the fact that the crisis has led to a situation

whereby the National Working Committe, NWC, cannot call the NEC meeting for the fear of a showdown with aggrieved members?

What I can tell you is that there is no problem in NWC. NEC is not the highest organ of the party and it does not mean that if NEC has not met the party cannot run effectively. It may even be that NEC has not met because there are

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Jonathan still has the final decision to make on that. So my advice is not automatic. I will not want to say more than that on that matter.

But let me tell you one thing: the president has not made up his mind on running. This is the time to work for Nigeria and deliver on his promises.

In 2014, Nigerians will know whether he will contest. And if he decides to offer himself for election, Nigerians will be

told. Whether I advise him to run or not, he still reserves his constitutional right to run. But,

to me, as a politician that has been around for quite some time, the man has done his first term. If he decides to run, why should it be an issue?

But many are saying that he would have breached the Constitution if he runs.

In law, we deal with facts and not imagination. Jonathan only served out Yar ‘Ádua’s term for only a year and would have served nine years if he serves two terms. His tenure would have been abridged if he does not contest in 2015.

Yar’ Adua was incapacitated and that was not counted for him. Be that as it may, we have crossed that point. If you say Jonathan should not contest in 2015, he would have spent only five years. My position is that if Mr. President is not going to contest, let it be on his own volition, but let nobody intimidate him out of office for selfish political reasons. Secondly, it is a decision President Jonathan and Nigerians at the polls will have to make when the time comes.

Why should people abridge his term as provided for by the Constitution? Tell those who are talking about Jonathan not being qualified to contest in 2015 to do a proper calculation from when he was sworn in as president in 2011 and see if he has committed any infraction. If the president decides not to run, so be it.

Nobody, individual or group can intimidate Jonathan out of the contest if he decides to run in 2015. It is his constitutional right and nobody can stop him. It will not happen and it is not going to happen. It is not APC or Panadol or a combination of all of them. This issue came up in court and the court decided that it did not count. Here is a man who offered himself and Nigerians elected him and if he wants to run, who can stop him? We are not going to lose sleep on this matter.

Many Nigerians are concerned that the president has not done enough to tackle corruption and insurgency in Nigeria. What do you say about that?

There has never been any administration in Nigeria that has exposed and punished corrupt persons like the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. He is not a judge but he empowers the organs to investigate and prosecute.

His powers stop there. All Mr. President can do is to empower the agencies to expose and try these people.

Our laws are clear. Unless we change the Constitution, the problem will continue. Look at the pension and subsidy scams which this government exposed and the actors are being tried in court. This man has given Nigerians a fresh breathe of air. This is a man who says what he means and does what he says. We regret that Jonathan did not come early enough. Those of us who work with him pray that he should have come earlier to salvage this country. *Interview conducted before the court okayed Pesident Jonathan for the next presidential election.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY

Vanguard ,

Continues from page 42 lowed them, like Jonathan is doing now, to plunder our natural resources the way they liked. Nigerians must have to come out and fight to prevent us from going under. We may have found ourselves in a situation whereby some miscreants like the Boko Haram, out of frustration, take up arms and then create mayhem for everyone in the country. We have to continue to fight because the issue is so fundamental.

If Jonathan wins an election on a mandate on certain set of principles and promises as contained in his party’s manifestoes and programmes and, so early in the day, he is thinking not on the terms of the mandate that he has but of post 2015, it clearly shows that he has no programme; he is not ready to move this country forward as a leader and that the PDP is made up of people who do not know what they are talking about.

As far as I am concerned, there should be no two ways about it. People who made promises must be made to abide by such promises. And even without the promises, the reading of the Constitution will indicate that Jonathan cannot avail himself of another term in 2015 simply because the Constitution provides for two terms for anybody, whatever the intervening circumstance. Secondly, the Constitution provides for people taking the oath of office only twice in their lifetime.

T

he constitution talks about being elected to an office twice and not about oath taking?

The president proceeding to take oath of office three times is something I cannot understand and they are unwilling to subject the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation. This shows that they have something to hide and they believe that, by propaganda and through the lies of the people being used they can change the Constitution. To me, the easiest way to amend the Constitution is to follow what the Constitution says.

Nobody wants to do what the law says and they think they can get away with illegality simply because they are in power. It will not work.

Are you not worried that the North’s desire to take over power in 2015 may be scuttled by northerners themselves who are not united on that score?

Well, in politics, you cannot rule out people who are playing to the gallery to be on the side where oil is fatter. One of the tragedies about the North and the whole of Nigeria is that we face solid interventions in our bid to produce credible leadership. Many people feel they can make noise and try to be at the right place at the right time. They can say anything and do anything just to make money no matter what happens to their name and image. Some of these people (northerners) do not have shame. They have no ideology; money is the driving force. But what we should do is to sort out these people

MARCH 3,, 2013

‘Some northerners have no shame’

also need to know that government should initiate programmes to protect and defend the poor at all times.

APC must note that there are certain areas of governance that government must continue to handle because they do not easily subject themselves to market forces like education and health. Infrastructure must be in place before we allow capitalist government.

In any case, such must be regulated capitalism not the kind of the capitalism that people will come to make money because, given our penchant for corruption, we are going to find ourselves in a mess. ut Buhari has been a head of state before and he seems to know what to do if he emerges as president in 2015.

Buhari is still a greenhorn as far as dealing with issues of ideology is concerned because most of the statements he made, which caused him a lot of trouble, were made by people who are right-wingers or more like fascists who wrote things for him and he went ahead to read them and found himself in big trouble.

As long as those people continue to write speeches for Buhari and he continues acting on those speeches without knowing the implications and understanding what they mean in practical governmental terms, there is going to be a lot of problems.

The fact of the matter is that Buhari is being invited and cajoled by the ACN only because he has concrete people on ground, grassroots support.

But Buhari’s grassroots support has never been translated into concrete electoral victory. He can come and join them because they want to reap from what he stands for, but in terms of governance and in terms of driver principles, it is the ACN components that will run the APC show. Unless we have people who are sincere and ready to work for the overall interest of Nigerians, APC may flop.

But can APC win the next election?

APC can absolutely win election in 2015 and take over from the PDP; there is no doubt about that. Buhari alone won all the elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011. The European countries knew that Buhari won those elections, but because they were uncomfortable with him, they denied him the chance to rule Nigeria.

Nigerians must stand up and work with APC, but Buhari must be more knowledgeable and less naïve and those characters in ACN must learn to be more straightforward and they must understand that they can no longer run a tribal party in Nigeria in the 21st century.

They must not try to dominate the new union either in the government or in the party. But whatever happens, it is better to have APC confront PDP than allow small mushroom parties to simply confront it because they will continue to rig election until God’s kingdom comes. * Interview conducted before the court cleared President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday for the 2015 presidential race.

B

Mohammed...Jonathan should keep to promise

and isolate them from damaging our collective interest.

Nigerians must respect the will of the majority of the people and not zoning and rotation. Nigeria is too big and complicated for any take-over.

There is no option to democracy.

You can see what is happening in the army today when the Chief of the Army Staff is saying that it is now their turn and you wonder who was there before. But, clearly, you can see that even the military is cautious in appointing people who have sense of justice, sense of proportion and sense of overall interest of the nation.

Is that why the North is jittery?

Not really, but certain developments in the country give one the feeling that some peo-

,

Southwest are the majority of the people of Nigeria and the army must reflect the composition of the people of Nigeria. Kano has a population of over ten million and Lagos (has much more). But you only give them 200 slots in army recruitment while Abia with a population of two million gets over 400 because the COAS comes from there.

I

disagree! The COAS even gave data to back up the fact that he is not discriminating or there is anything of such as you are alleging?

I’m saying the COAS wants to change the complexion of the Nigerian Army. If he thinks he can continue to do what he is doing and the president cannot call him to order may be because Jonathan may not know much

mote good governance, we don’t need more than two strong parties. But, as far as the APC as it is currently being negotiated is concerned, I have my fears. I am a good friend to both Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Ahmed Tinubu, who are the gladiators in the new party. But the APC must be formed and judged by elites and ordinary people alike not on the basis of personalities in the party; it must be operated on the basis of its own programmes. In all the negotiations so far, I have not heard a single person talking about the programmes of the APC. We have had a history in the past where when almost all Nigerian political parties had very similar political programmes. That was fraudulent. Any attempt to base APC on the basis of extant

The president proceeding to take oath of office three times is something I cannot understand and they are unwilling to subject the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation

ple are out to fight the North for no justifiable reasons.

Look at what the Chief of the Army Staff is doing in the Nigerian Army, which used to be a place of respect. He came in as a junior brigadier and because he is married to the cousin of a power broker, he has been kept there as the COAS and he is trying to turn the Nigerian Army into an Igbo army.

That is not fair. The Chief of Army Staff has explained the changes in the Army? Igbo are the only ones who get promoted; others are not. People of the North and the

about the military and his advisers cannot help him, let us wait and see the result. We have a very serious problem because, even within the South, he is doing a great injustice, even within the five Igbo states and to the people of the Niger Delta, who, in fact, made him the COAS. And in spite of what this man is doing to the armed forces, he is now the defacto minister of defence.

What do you make of the recently formed All Progressive Congress, APC? I believe in democracy and in a democracy that can pro-

,

known capitalist principle, which is now causing problems in the Western world, will not help and will not be of any assistance to Nigeria.

It has failed even in the Western world. Throughout history, capitalism is crisis-prone.

We saw what happened when IBB introduced SAP. Any attempt to manage the economy using known classical capitalism will fail woefully.

APC should come out and make the APC a decidedly left or centre party, that is; the party believes government has an important role to play in the running of the economy. They

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 45 sameyoboka@yahoo.com

08023145567 (sms only)

PFN 12th BIENNIAL CONFAB:

When Pentecostals renewed mandate

By SAM EYOBOKA who was in Uyo

times ask himself one question: What will Nigeria miss if you are not there? Why are you existing, and the devil is not aware?

Rev. Austin Ukachi, who had the onerous responsibility of chronicling the history of revivals from 1914 in different parts of the country, said a Pentecostal is known for his power, a glory carrier; but today the power is declining. He is of the opinion, that revival reminds us of the suffering or commitment of our past leaders.

T

HE much talked about 12th biennial confer ence of the umbrella body of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN ended in the Akwa Ibom State capital, Uyo with a renewed commitment by PFN leaders to use the divine mandate to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to greater heights through the elimination of every weight militating against the spread of the gospel in the country including bad eggs within. The four-day spiritual fiesta with a theme, “A people with a mandate,” is unarguably the best organised biennial conference in the 25-year history of the Fellowship, just as speaker after speaker came down heavily on charlatans within the fold, who parade themselves as pastors.

The programme featured ground breaking prayers for the peace of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria and its leaders, the cessation of religion-induced terrorist acts in parts of the country, unity of the nation based on religious harmony and unity of the Body of Christ in the nation. Eminent Pentecostal ministers including Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, Pastors Wale and Paul Adefarasin as well as the immediate past national president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and his successor, Rev. Felix Omobude among others, took turns to expound on the theme of the event.

Benefits of obedience Right from the opening act on Tuesday, February 5 at the Uyo Township Stadium, it was obvious that the leaders came to Uyo to renew their Godgiven mandate to intensify evangelism and eliminate every un-Godly practices from the nation. Drawing inspiration from Joshua 14:6-15, the ebullient former national president, Bishop Mike Okonkwo urged Christians especially Pentecostals to wake up to their Godly responsibilities to fulfill their God-given mandate in the country, while highlighting the benefits of obedience to the injunctions of God. Pastor Adeboye took the gauntlet from there, explaining every article of the theme, noting that the word mandate is a command from God to His children to go into the uttermost parts of the nations to win souls and nurture them for

No crown without a cross

LEADERS ALL: L-R: Rev. Uma Ukpai, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, newly elected PFN

president, Rev. Felix Omobude, outgoing PFN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and Bishop Mike Okonkwo at the Uyo Township Stadium, Uyo.

Christ. He therefore urged Christians to reignite the fire of evangelism to take over and possess the length and breadth of the nation for Christ, stressing that every individual Christian has a role to play in the task of evangelizing the nation. According to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, every Christian is a representative of Christ and is therefore expected to play a role in fulfilling the mandate, not forgetting to subtlely warn that if the faithful fail to fulfill the divine mandate, God would not have failed, because His purpose stands for ever.

Thereafter every speaker including soft-spoken Pastor Wale Adefarasin, Dr. William Okoye, Evangelist Matthew Owojaye, charismatic Pastor Paul Enenche, Pastor Paul Adefarasin among others beamed the searchlight inward, declaring the counsel of the Lord and condemning the activities of certain wolves in sheep skin who parade themselves as men of God while extorting money from gullible Nigerians.

They vehemently spoke against the activities of certain clergymen who have brought the Church to disrepute.

From Foursquare Gospel Church came Rev. Felix Meduoye who emphasised the need for ministers to curtail their flesh, saying "if we do not deal with our flesh, whatever is left of the flesh will turn around to deal with us," just as Owojaye likened ministry to a tuber of yam which can be eaten in several different ways. He warned ministers against choosing assistants based on titles, instead choose from among those who share your vision, stressing “ we must love God more than we love money, materialism and fame."

The outgoing national secretary, Pastor Adefarasin who spoke on “Mandate for social change”, emphasized the need for ministers to embrace social responsibility by identifying with the plight of environment around them. “Before independence, the Church played a pivotal role for

noting that the next move of God shall be spearheaded by Africans.

Noise-making Church

OLD TO NEW: Outgoing PFN president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor sharing a thought with his successor, Rev. Felix Omobude. the success of the nation in education, healthcare, sanitation and what have you, but soon after independence, the Church suddenly became reactionary,” he averred, noting that the gospel will move faster if “we come alive to the responsibility to the social change in the society”.

To Dr. Paul Emeka of Assemblies of God, one cardinal ingredient lacking in the Church today is obedience and discipline, just as Bishop Paul Nwachukwu believes that the Church has a mandate to explore areas where the gospel has not reached, maintaining that the Middle East is waiting for the gospel. He explained that American and European missionaries would not go there. “They will rather send CIA and other security agencies. Its Africans who have the mandate to evangelize the Middle East,” he stressed,

The incoming national secretary, Prophet Emmanuel Kure also recognized that the key to the nation’s prosperity rests squarely with the shoulders of Christians. “The problem of the nation is the one who calls himself prophet, apostle, bishop or archbishop. Not the government as most people erroneously believe. The problem of the nation is the noise making Church,” he stated and therefore called

forgeneral repentance especially among those, he described as prayer contractors (portmanteau prophets) in Nigeria who are hell bent on giving the Church a bad name.

Rev. Enenche spoke on; “The mandate of ministry”, saying that the worst thing that can happen to any generation is for a people to be under a prophet who is satisfied; prophets who are insensitive to the needs of the people in their generation. He aligned himself with the position of other speakers, saying “the decadence in any society is connected to the pulpit. The ultimate state of the nation is always traceable to the condition of the pulpit. The success of a ministry is not measured by the materialism in the ministry but by the positive impact you make on the society.” According to him, every minister must at all

Pioneer treasurer of PFN, Rev. Elijah Abina would rather see mandate from the perspective of service and sacrifice, saying “we will fail if we don’t have this at the back of our minds. If you are going to ministry for pecuniary reasons you have come to a wrong place. There’s no crown without a cross.”

One of the founding fathers of PFN and the chief host of the 12th biennial conference, Rev. Uma Ukpai who expressed shock that he was pencilled down to speak at the fiesta, said Pentecostals do not appreciate the potentials God had deposited in them, and are therefore pushed about by every wind of doctrine, pointing out that “ when you have a relationship with God, all your enemies would just be wasting their time. Narrating his personal story, he said for several years his first son was a cripple and several persons mocked him, but "the ability to see what others cannot see makes you a hero".

And when newly elected Fellowship president, Rev. Omobude mounted the pulpit to deliver his sermon, he spent greater part of the time to extoll the virtues of the outgoing president, saying “I must appreciate the gift God had given to this nation.

I want to thank the CAN president and the immediate past president of PFN. One of the things that have kept us close over 40 years is that this man (Oritsejafor) kept his word. In his time, PFN was taken to great heights. A few days ago he handed over to me a detailed analysis of PFN accounts during his tenure," he stated and summoned several of the leaders to the platform to pray for the CAN president.

Rev. Omobude who described Pastor Oritsejafor as the voice of the Lord in this hour, also charged Christians not to be weary of current happenings in the country, saying that God will fight forHis people. Speaking on; “In the volume of book”, the new president said evil people will rage against the Church and God people but in spite of all these labour and persecution, God will open a new page for the Church. “God said weep not, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah has risen to open a new chapter for the

Continued on Page 46

PAGE 46 -- SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

*A cross section of ministers at the Biennial conference

*A cross section of choristers listening to a ministration.

When Pentecostals renewed their mandate Continued from Page 45 Church. The devil says it is all over, but after the night comes the daylight,” he stated, adding that a new phase has been opened for the Pentecostal movement in the country.

Won't tolerate criminals The final message of the 12th biennial conference was taken by the outgoing president, Pastor Oritsejafor who used the occasion to extol the virtues of Rev. Ukpai and his team of ministers in the South South for hosting a very wonderful biennial conference and commended the entire members of the Fellowship for the cooperation he enjoined from them all during his tenure.

In his message, he summarized all the messages, saying that the time had come for Pentecostal ministers to rid this country of corruption and other vices that have portrayed the nation in bad light in the Western world. He therefore charged all Pentecostal ministers in the country to scrutinize the source of their members’ wealth.

Turning the mammoth crowd of Pentecostal ministers and the congregation at the Uyo Township Stadium, Pastor Oritsejafor said: “We must be ready to give an account for ourselves and therefore we will no longer tolerate criminals in the Church of God. Men of God, you must be ready to question the source of member’s wealth.”

He expressed disgust on the level of corruption in the country, saying that it was totally disheartening when he read the report of a man who stole about N23 billion Police Pension Fund saying ‘he only stole N23 billion.’ Embarrassed by such effrontery, the CAN helmsman charged all Christians in the country not to compromise their decision to be Christians.

Oritsejafor drew attention to biblical story of Daniel who refused to defile himself with the king’s delicacies, and charged doctors, lawyers, teachers, politicians and all professionals to carry their mandate without any form of compromise, arguing “there is nothing on the king’s table that is worth your God-given mandate.”

According to him, right from the Presidency to the least person at the local government level “ we must be ready to declare that we will not compromise our salvation or the mandate God had given to us.”

Contrary to popular belief, Pastor Oritsejafor declared that the current persecution of the Church in Nigeria did not begin with Boko Haram. According to him, there has been a deliberate act to silence the Church in the North long before the emergence of Boko Haram, stating that it is common knowledge that despite the pretence to one brotherhood in the country, no church in that region has been given a certificate of occupancy in the last 30 years.

“I stand to be corrected, there is no university campus in the North where Christian students are allowed to worship their

God without harassment,” he stated, calling on all delegates from that part of the country not to be frightened out of the place. “They are doing everything to squeeze you out your God-given land in the North, but I urge you to stay. Don’t run

away, the Church in the South will stand by you. Don’t compromise because of persecution. God will stand by you,” he said, adding that as God rose on behalf of Daniel, Joseph and many others in the Bible, so God will stand by the Christians in the

North.

Oritsejafor further encouraged them to be steadfast, saying “no gates of Hell, nor conspiracy from the pit of hell can stop the Church in this country. If they cannot stop the Church, they cannot stop you.”

Uduaghan thanks God, says I never knew I’ll be governor

By EMMAN AMAEZE, Regional Editor, South South

O

N two detach days, last week, Wednesday and Sunday, Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan had cause to go to the First Baptist Church, Warri, where he was enveloped

with tears of joy, as he sang and danced like David, thanking God Almighty for His mercies upon his life and the family He gave him.

The occasion was the 25th anniversary of his marriage. For sure, the First Baptist Church, Warri, holds a special attraction for the governor because it was in same church grounds that he married his wife, Mrs. Roli Uduaghan, in 1988.

Political gladiators, religious leaders and monarchs and in fact, the people that matter in the state stormed Warri for the anniversary, which spilled from the church service to a grandiose reception in his abode in the oil city.

The Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse led the pack of royal fathers, while SouthSouth leader, Chief Edwin Clark shepherded elders of the state to the event.

Of course, the state chairman of the party, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, Senators Ifeanyi Okowa, James Manager and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, who is eyeing the governorship seat along with Okowa in 2015, represented themselves.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, led the oracles of God to the anniversary. He anchored a special prayer for the nation, pleading with the Monarch of the universe to breathe on Nigeria, President Good-luck Jonathan, Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan and all the leaders of the country for the land to blossom.

He did not fail to ask God to touch the hearts of those who live with bombs and guns, saying that the Lord should envelop the country with His peace that passeth all understanding.

From his ventilation, it was obvious that Gov. Uduaghan had not forgotten his humble beginning. Wiping tears from his face after listening to a rendi-

tion of a touching song, Great is thy Faithfulness from a daughter of the chairman of CAN, SouthSouth, Archb i s h o p Goddowell Aw o m a k p a , whom, he was present at her marriage ceremony in Church of God Mission, Benin City, years ago, he concurred, “Indeed, great is the faithfulness of God to me”.

MARRIAGE RENEWAL: Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta Turning to a State and his wife, Roli in a romantic mood shortly after an p r e a c h e r, exchange of rings to renew their wedding vows at the First Uduaghan, a one-time Sunday Baptist Church, Warri. Photo: HENRY UNINI. school teacher, the tale of how his wife would sit in front of further exclaimed: “His mercies the car those days, and with him on the abound forever, we bless Him for His wheels, praying seriously that God should faithfulness to us, to you and to everygive them an air conditioned Mercedez body in Jesus name.”

Benz car and not Bettle, whose air condiHowever, that was not what evoked tioner is the air that come through the tiny emotion of the congregation. windowpane.

Uduaghan, who has also added the act The governor said he was like any other of story-telling to his curriculum vitae, struggling Nigerian at that time, but torecalled the photograph he took with day, the difference is clear. His words: “The his wife, 25 years ago. He said he took good Lord, the One who Heaven is His a good look at the picture before comthrone and the earth His footstool, the One ing to the church that morning and who giveth the power to make wealth and he knew that something marvelous who nobody can question, has moved him had happened to his life. from being a nobody to somebody”.

He said God in His infinite merHe said he could not imagine seeing his cies has not only kept the young, name in the newspaper at that time, but handsome looking man in the photoday, his photographs and name garnish tograph alive till date, He has kept the pages of national newspapers. Accordhis marriage to the damsel in the ing to him, “When I see newspapers today picture, blessed their union with and I see Uduaghan, that is me in the front page, I wonder what God has done for me children and also with a grandchild. and I know that every Uduaghan on the One or two politicians had in the earth planet knows what I am saying”. past tried to mock the governor over Uduaghan confessed that he never knew his Volkswagen Beetle car of those he would be governor of Delta State until days, but Uduaghan spoke about his God did it, adding, “God has blessed me Beetle car with joy. He had no apolbeyond expectation, my colleagues here ogy over his lovely Beetle. He said also know what I am talking. I can see it was his first car and he was proud of it. *Continues on Page 47 In fact, he regaled worshippers with

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013 --- PAGE 47

I never knew I'll be governor, says Uduaghan Continued from Page 46

JESUS IS THE MESSIAH (1)

D

ID the wicked pastors, bishops and general overseers who conspired to have Jesus crucified really know he is the Messiah? Yes they did.

Would they in their right minds dare to kill the son of God? Yes they would. By the end of Jesus’ ministry, everyone knew he is the Messiah. Nevertheless, they still decided to kill him. Those who did not know he is the Messiah did not want to know and were determined not to know.

Herod was not an unbeliever. W hen he heard about the birth of the Messiah, he did not rubbish the idea. He sought confirmation from the religious establishment where the prophesied Messiah would be born. When he was told, he did not waste time. He decided the Messiah must be killed. In effect, a mere man knowingly decided to fight against God by killing his son.

How could he have expected to prevail?

Jesus left no one in doubt he is the Messiah. He demonstrated it repeatedly beyond reasonable doubt.

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus left no one in doubt he is the Messiah. He demonstrated it repeatedly beyond reasonable doubt. When John the Baptist had a crisis of faith in Herod’s prison and sent his disciples to confirm from Jesus if he really is the Messiah, Jesus kept them for a day so they could observe his ministry. Then he sent them back saying: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5).

These acts are the scriptural signs of the Messiah. Isaiah says: “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” (Isaiah 35:4-6). Jesus more than fulfilled these requirements: “And many of the people believed in him, and said, ‘When the Christ comes, will he do more signs than these which this man has done?’”

(John 7:31).

Tradition of the Elders But the Pharisees would not merely rely on the confirmations of scripture.

They believed in the supremacy of the traditions of the elders. In the determination not to go back into captivity by breaking God’s law, the scribes and religious rulers decided to broaden the Law of Moses in order to safeguard obedience. Therefore, they built a set of secondary “fence laws” around the law. These were conceptualised as speed-bumps against breaking the law. If you break the “fence laws” it would alert you and thereby prevent you from breaking the law.

For example, Moses says: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother ’s

milk.” (Exodus 23:19). This was designed to forestall Israel from practicing the fertility rite of the Canaanites where the mother’s milk in which a young goat was boiled was sprinkled superstitiously on farms in the belief this would provoke a big harvest. To safeguard adherence to this Mosaic prohibition, the Pharisees introduced secondary laws for the separation of meat and milk products.

They were concerned that you might eat a goat and afterwards drink goat’s milk. This milk might circumstantially be from the mother of the goat. Since both the goat’s meat and the mother’s milk would then be combined in your digestive system, you would unwittingly break the Law of Moses. Or you might eat goat cheese and then have goat pepper-soup the next day. Although you washed your plate the day before, there might still be little traces of cheese on the plate you used to eat the goat pepper-soup, and you then end up by breaking the law. Therefore, they created laws about using separate plates for eating cheese and meat.

Ridiculous laws To one Sabbath law was added over 1,500 secondary laws. Moses says no work must be done on the Sabbath. The tradition of the elders went further to insist you must not reap on the Sabbath. You must not thresh. You must not blow away the chaff. You must not winnow or store. You must not walk in a field on the Sabbath; otherwise you might accidentally step on a piece of corn and thereby separate it from the shell. That is work. If you step on it you might grind it. That is work. If your garment blows on it, then you are threshing and have violated the Sabbath.

Initially, you could disagree with the secondary law, but not the original Law of Moses. But later, the rabbis built another set of laws around the secondary laws. They then changed the rules of engagement. They canonized the secondary laws and made them the final authority. As a result, they ended up with two final authorities: the Law of Moses and the secondary fence laws.

Soon, the secondary fence laws were compiled into a book called the Mishna. Commentaries were then written on the Mishna. The Mishna and the Commentaries became known as the Talmud. These were now considered supreme authorities. By the time of Jesus, they were ascribing even greater authority to them than to the Law of Moses: “Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ He an-

swered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?’” (Matthew 15:1-3).

Pharisaic requirements Using these non-scriptural tradition of the elders, Pharisaic Judaism believed there are two types of miracles: those that can be performed by anyone through the enablement of the Holy Spirit; and those that can only be performed by the Messiah. Only three miracles were deemed messianic: the healing of a leper; the casting out of a deaf and dumb demon; and the healing of a man blind from birth. Anybody who performed any of these miracles must be the Messiah.

The healing of a leper was put in a special category because it had never happened before in Israel. Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy. However, Naaman was a Syrian; he was not a Jew. Therefore, anyone who heals leprosy must be the Messiah.

The Pharisees also put the casting out of a dumb demon in a special messianic category, according to their tradition of the elders. This was deemed impossible for logistical reasons. Pharisaic exorcism first required the determination of the demon’s name from the demon. It was then cast out using his name. But if the demon happened to be dumb, exorcism was impossible because it could not tell them its name. Therefore, anybody who casts out a dumb demon must be the Messiah.

However, the greatest miracle of all was the opening of the eyes of a man who is blind from birth. “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.”

(John 9:32). Therefore, anyone who succeeds in doing this miracle must be the Messiah.

Jesus alarmed the religious establishment in Israel by performing every single one of these “impossible miracles” in rapid succession.

(To be Continued).

MARRIAGE RENEWAL: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and his wife, Roli (middle) cutting their wedding renewal cake at the First Baptist Church, Warri. They are flanked on the left by the Dein of Agbor and Mrs. Otumara on the right. Photo: HENRY UNINI. Senators Okowa and Manager, they understand because they know when we started politics and how we started.

“If you ask why God has blessed me in this way, I cannot say and when I look at the elections, the court cases, challenges of governance and how He navigates me through them, I just thank Him for He is a great God to me,” he said.

Uduaghan, however, noted there had been trials, as some wanted to scatter their union. His words: “People have tried to separate our marriage with terrible stories and text messages; but the more stories they tell about us, the more our love for each other gets stronger. The more you keep to your wife, the more God will be with you. Women should always pray for their husbands too”.

Earlier on Wednesday, the governor and his wife, dressed like couple getting married for the first time, walked to the altar, renewed their marriage vows; exchanged rings and cut their wedding cake, just as they did in 1988 at the same First Baptist Church, Warri.

The trouble with Delta

He stated that the Good Governance Tour team led by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, just left the state and he was opportuned to take them round the state and would say with all certainty, that Delta with its large terrain, was not a tea party to govern.

Like the biblical Solomon, he said his prayer always was that God should give him wisdom to govern the state to the glory of His name, explaining: “Delta is not a state that has one urban centre, if you are doing anything in Asaba and not doing same in Warri, or Sapele, Ughelli, Agbor and Oleh, it is trouble.

“That is the trouble in Delta where everybody is a born lawyer. Whatever you do, they petition you, whatever you do is trouble and that is why we are asking for prayers to succeed in the state,” he said.

According to him; “That brings me to the unusual thing that is happening in Warri and Effurun at the moment.

Any project you are doing now, people are either taking you to court or attacking you physically.”

He said he was surprised that a man, who identified himself as a lawyer accosted him, last Sunday, while he was inspecting an ongoing flyover project at Ogunu Bridge, claiming that he was the owner of the land.

The governor said he asked the man which right he had over land in the state more than the state government, and the man replied that he bought the land from the federal government.

“Well, I told him that since he is a lawyer, he may have to go to court, we will remove the mechanics, tippers and other things there and develop the place.

I appeal that Deltans should cooperate with us, a lot can still be done in the next two years. We are determined to do a lot, they should cooperate with us and pray for us,” he said.

He said leadership was not an easy affair and asked anybody in doubt in the congregation to find out from the national president of CAN, Pastor Oritsejafor, who led the prayers for the nation, President Jonathan and other leaders of the country what he was passing through now as a leader.

Despite the challenges, he asserted, “I am committed to the development of the state. There is no way one government can do everything, but since we are still around, we will do our best for Deltans before we leave office in 2015. Developing all parts of the state is not easy, but I want to remain focused and committed to good governance in the state. We have done a lot in these past years and we are still ready to do more for the remaining two years.”

He urged CAN and other religion bodies to continue to pray for peace in Delta State and the country in general, saying no position of authority one holds in the country that was easy.

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

chimeena@yahoo.com 08026350360

Conversation Around The Third Wave of Nigerian Poets With Obu Udeozo

O

bu Udeozo, poet, painter and Clinical Psychologist is a lecturer in the Department of English , University of Jos. He is the publisher of landmark critical intervention on the third wave of Nigerian poetry titled, Garderners of Dream. In this interview, he speaks about the project that took him so much time and about other sundry issues. He spoke to McPhilips Nwachukwu.

OBU UDEOZO: McPhilips we thank God for persons like you who key into foundational issues of our national life. I was worried at first- then later alarmed by what I witnessed.

There was a reluctance by the Establishment to validate the new voices in our literary firmament. In Nigeria poetry lots of new works were being published but did not seem to fetch the respect or recognition that will turn them into cultural products in the long term. Simply put; I wondered who was going to save the worlds of Uche Nduka, Ogaga Ifowodo, Esiaba Irobi, Amatoristero Ede, Remi Raji, Izzia Ahmad and say Promise Ogochukwu Okekwe … who were releasing works that accurately portrayed their own seasons: but with a near tragic backdrop!

Constantly, I noticed that the authorities in the field kept evaluating these young persons with other critical parameters and values totally different from their world view and experience.

The monotonous comparison with Okigbo, Soyinka and Clark kept being invoked against the performance of these youth- regardless of what they were saying and against the source of their inspirations.

Great scholars lent stature and prestige to such conversations. And because of my own preparation and familiarity across other forms of the creative process; I easily saw the shortcomings of that kind of mindset- and where it was dragging Nigeria literature. I decided to do something about this by volunteering to document the emergent poetry by the usual métier of critical appraisal

across time. I think it was Monet who said that he wanted to turn Impressionism into the art of the Museums. He was aware the new art form was different from the establishment taste of 19thCentury French official art. I desired for the kind of Nigerian poetry which has the stamp of our national experience - as a biological community of men - with advancing and varied experiences over time!

Where exactly did the idea germinate?

OBU UDEOZO: I embarked on this project quietly at some point in 1995 because I had always been drawn to literary criticism: the genre intoxicated me. I had been immersed in that field for several years during my undergraduate season as a psychology student at The University of Lagos. I remember a fortuitous meeting with Professor Chukwuemeka Ike and his wife, Adebimpe Ike. We had been family friends over the years: and the Madam teased me. She said:” Obu we have seen the poems and the paintings; but we are yet to see the novel?” She was responding to aspirations that I had verbalized as a young person in earlier years. And I realized that the literary community was like a strong fellowship. People kept tabs of even solemn broadcasts and naturally expected delivery times. So, having actually completed three anthologies of poems; I decided to move into the Literary Criticism which I had fortunately not communicated to anybody before. I intended it was going to be ‘a sweet surprise ‘ to those tracking my activities. That was an added incentive. These ideas germinated in Jos, towards the end of my Paintings of The Portraits of all Heads of State and Presidents of Nigeriasince independence. It was a

•Obu Udeozo special commission by the Government of The Federal Republic of Nigeria; which I completed in 1996.

Were you drawn into the project by the work of any particular poet or moved by other extraneous factors?

This is particularly kind of you. Yes, indeed. I had relished the immediacy which African Writers Talking had

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Congratulations Obu Udeozo for completing your sixteen years critique of The Third Wave of Nigeria Poets. Can we start by knowing what motivated you into the project?

Denis Duerden and Cosmo Pieterse could bequeath us and posterity with such abiding charm and illumination in the creative process. I similarly savoured Arthur Powers’ Conversations With James Joyce. In poetry there is Wole Soyinka’s seminal Collected Poems of Black Africa; a peerless compendium at the

I noticed that the authorities in the field kept evaluating these young persons with other critical parameters and values totally different from their world view and experience

on me as a young writer. I was fascinated by the privilege of ‘hearing’ the direct expressions of Christopher Okigbo, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Leopold Sedar Senghour, Denis Brutus, J.P. Clark and several African writers of that dispensation. I was thrilled that the simple decision of

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continental level. I was aware of interrogations on Pablo Picasso by several enthusiasts and devotees. Then stasis. For a very long span of time nothing of a canonical stature happened in our literary horizon. I felt it was an unhealthy hiatus. I decided to step into the burgeoning void.

Why did you call or rather title the project, Gardeners of Dreams Series?

Gardeners of Dreams is one phrase I will never be tired about! Immediately I met those expressions in Toyin Adewale’s Naked Testimonies, I recognized that I had secured the galvanizing metaphor for a historic enterprise. I consciously privileged those cycle of Nigeria poets by a construct from among their own peers! It was important that the defining moment and semiology of their critical appraisal should also belong among and within the poets being chronicled. I gained this insight during my mandate to show case Paintings to represent Federal College of Education Yola, as directed by The Provost, Dr. Gidado Tahir. There was A Joint Trade Fair for Gongola, Bauchi and Borno States in 1988; and I was elected among those representing the Institution. The Dean Obumneke Ibe counselled on the imperative of accurate pictures! We agreed that masquerades are more spectacular when they convey the colours and idioms of the native environment. And I executed that famous Portrait of Dr. Aliyu Mustapha - The Lamido of Adamawa - in that season!

Similarly, Gardeners of Dreamsfrom The Third Wave of Nigeria Poetsvivifies the material and metaphysical conditions which those writers were addressing in their collective works.

What dreams did you have in mind?

The simple dreams of having a stable, decent, safe and predictable existence! The dreams of living in an organized society and having basic amenities of life within one’s reach. The pathetic and prolonged dreams of fulfilling the Nigerian fantasy of having good roads, uninterrupted Power supply, attending well furnished schools with qualified teachers; the right to a health care delivery system that is neither erratic nor prohibitive.

The dreams to live normal lives in a sane nation without the trauma of corruption and compromise.

The dreams of the barest facilities for civilized existence in a global age and communal experience. All these minimum desires of the average Nigerian citizen had become nightmares across our diverse communities.

The Nobel Laureate

Continues on pg 49

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 49

Culture Institute inducts students into Dip, Pg programmes

BY JAPHET ALAKAM

N •Prof. Wole Soyinka (left), Prof. Ben Obumselu in handshake with Obu Udeozo, the publisher of Gardners of Dreams (right) at the event

Conversation Around The Third Wave of Nigerian Poets With Obu Udeozo Continues from pg 48 Professor Wole Soyinka had described theirs as a ‘ wasted generation’. For the Third Wave of Nigeria Writers, the malaise had deteriorated more grossly and perhaps more hopelessly. It was as if, Life itself had stopped: only to continue in DREAMS. Thus: Gardeners ofDreams.

It is a painful tragic condensation.

Can you share your own experiences.

What did you find particularly intriguing about the project?

TIME! When I embarked on translating Chinua Achebe’s Odenigbo Lecture from Igbo Language into English in 1999: I had expected a quick exercise because I had lots of other programs at stake. But I was shocked that the work took nearly 7 weeks to complete. And we are talking about a mere 23 pages of script. Gardeners of Dreams surprised me because of the duration it has lasted, which was not originally countenanced.

And there are several contributing factors to this.

I was amazed at the ‘nature of human nature’ to invoke George F. Will. I had expected spontaneous co-operation from the poets I was dealing with and labouring to immortalize their works. I realized quite late; that such endorsement was not automatic nor even to be taken for granted.

Some of the young persons involved seemed not to comprehend the import of historic documentation. Some appeared out rightly apathetic. Eighty percent of the duration consumed by the work; was over waiting for the respondents to turn in their answers so that I could commence work on the actual critique of the series. It took

me nearly 7 years to realize that I will have a still born baby - with that frame of mind! And immediately I recognized this; I commenced on the Long Walks - which comprised expositions on the material I had already gathered. I am delighted that within a few more years; I completely finished the work I had intended to do.

Professor Femi Osofisan recently complimented me on behalf of The Third Wave of Nigeria Poets. From the published works, you will notice that the majority of these writers were and have remained enthusiastic and helpful. But because you asked - I have been amazed at the few instances of blackmail and betrayal encountered among the species.

Another dimension to the lessons is again the drama of Time. Death has happened in the interval; and that was totally unexpected. My sessions with Izzia Ahmad in Jos, lasted for nearly 16 hours at a stretch - with promises to continue at a later date. It remains unavailing with the Poet’s death some months later. So for Esiaba Irobi. And the Diaspora factor.

You could actually meet most of these writers with firm appointments across Nigerian cities -in that period of composing the series. But not anymore. A majority of The Third Wave Poets are domiciled overseas at the moment. And if you have experienced the logistics of such transactions - that is an additional freight to smooth transactions in the trade. Never mind the ‘promises’ of online correspondences - there is nothing as strong as getting a Maik Nwosu to chat in The Presidential Hotel Port Harcourt, and taking on Onookome Okome in the evening at the same venue! Because time flies or freezes this much is now Lost.

To be Continued .

The pathetic and prolonged dreams of fulfilling the Nigerian fantasy of having good roads, uninterrupted Power supply, attending well furnished schools

ATIONAL Institute for Cultural Orientation’s (NICO) bid to actualising its aim of harnessing Nigeria’s cultural resources to meeting the challenges of social integration, peace, unity and national development got a boost last week when it matriculated about seventy students into its 2012/2013 Diploma and post graduate Diploma programmes.

National Institute of Cultural Orientation’s (NICO), a parastatal in the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation is charged with the vision of energising the various cultural establishments towards serving as a catalysts for economic and technological progress in the country.

The occasion which was attended by scholars, writers, culture administrators, students and their family members and friends of the institution also witnessed the presence of Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Edem Duke, who was the Special Guest of Honour ,while Prof.

Shamsudeen O.O Amali, Vice Chancellor, Nassarawa State University, Keffi was the Guest of Honour.

In his opening remarks, Culture Minister, Edem Duke commended the management and staff of the institute for ensuring that through the platform of the NICO training school, Lagos, cultural officers at the Federal, State and Local government levels are trained to reposition them for effective service delivery.

Duke who was represented

by Mr Johnson Odekina, a director in the ministry reiterated that the present administration attaches priority attention to human development as it is critical in

fostering the desired transformation, adding that it is gratifying that the desired goal is achieved through the training and retraining of the people.

He also commended the institute for modifying its annual workshop on repositioning cultural workers for improved productivity, noting that such has gone a long way in updating their knowledge and skills and in enhancing their professional competence.

On his part, the Guest of Honour, Prof. Shamsudeen O.O Amali, Vice Chancellor, Nassarawa State University, Keffi congratulated the students for the unique privilege of attending the school, which he described as the only institute charged with the important role of training public officers on the rich Nigerian arts and culture.

He disclosed that the Nassarawa State University, Keffi identifies with the mandate of NICO and pointed out that the school has begun the process of affiliation with the training school, adding that as soon as the process is finalized by the NUC and the Federal Ministry of Education, the senate of of the university will award diplomas and postgraduate diplomas to the students of the training school.

The Executive Secretary/ CEO of the institute, Barclays Ayakoroma described the occasion as “ special in the history of the school”, as it marks the first time a delegation from Nassarawa State University, Keffi would grace the occasion.

He stated that the training school was established to providing professional training for the culture sector and that since inception in 2008, that the school has successfully trained a total of two hundred and thirty four cultural officers.

Tangbowei counsels on EGCDC election

A

leader from Gbaramatu kingdom Delta State, Chief Dakoni Vero Tangbowei, has stated that it was the turn of Makaraba-Okoitoru axis to produce the next chairman of the Egbema Gbaramatu Development Council, EGCDC. In a statement, she said the controversy being generated by the yet to be conducted election of new executives of

the council was unnecessary, noting that Kokodiagbene had produced chairman, Dr. Tola, and Benikrukru had produced secretary of the council respectively, therefore they should allow MakarabaOkoitoru axis to produce the next chairman in the interest of peace and justice.

Tangbowei, advised Gbaramatu people to always abide by the truth, saying

that it was unfortunate that some chiefs in Gbaramatu who know the truth that it was the turn of MakarabaOkoitoru axis to produce the next chairman of the council, but are deliberately shying away from the truth, ”We are brothers, and cannot fight ourselves over a mere EGCDC election because of greed and selfish interests”

•Cross section of dignitaries at the event

PAGE 50 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

NAFDAC and the revolution in the drug trade

BY MARTINS F.O. IKHILAE VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF Restructuring the nation’s drug distribution system.

NAFDAC is confronted with the task of evolving and deploying sophisticated combative and scientific measures towards the certification and control of products movements. Established by Decree No 15 of 1993 as amended by Decree No 19 of 1999, its mandate is to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of foods, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, packaged water and chemicals.

Through its mission statement which is to safeguard and promote public health by ensuring that only right quality products are manufactured, imported, advertised, distributed, sold and used, as well as the vision statement which is safeguarding and promoting public health; numerous positive, progressive and dynamic achievements are being regularly recorded for the na-

tion under the leadership of its incumbent Director General, Dr Paul B.Orhii.

Undoubtedly,the task of maximally repositioning the agency in such a manner that it is able to bequeath an enduring standard health boosting organ is a herculian task. Surprisingly, however, dynamic innovations have characterized the agency’s performance over the years. The involvement of modern technology in drug trade sanitisation which encompasses use of true scan machine test, GSM short message service system, the magic tray, pharmacovigilance (ie report of adverse drug reaction to the agency), the Pentesta and black eye machine test to mention but a few, are noteworthy and commendable.

The agency is, however, poised for more dynamic, and patriotic performance having vowed under its current leadership never to rest on its oars in its bid to ensure that counterfeited pharmaceuticals become a thing of the past in the country. With administrative and enforcement presence in all states of the nation including airports and international land borders, intercepting var-

ious consignments of counterfeited NAFDAC regulated products including pharmaceuticals, the agency is not unmindful of the porosity of our borders which makes it penetrable for these detested products.

Just recently, NAFDAC declared its intention to embark

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VIEWPOINT

sector partnership such that while corporate organisations provide the structures, government will fulfill her regulatory responsibilities.

Similarly, the nation’s 36 states are to establish and own drug markets or State Drug Distribution Centres (SDDCs) whose activities will be super-

For the purpose of resources conservation, the government of states may seek partnership with private or corporate organisations or upgrade their central medical stores (CMSs) to meet (SDDC) standard

on the redefinition and restructuring of the nation’s drug distribution system with a view to bringing sanity to bear in the practice. The well thought out technique which is already slated for implementation, will lead to the creation and establishment of large drug markets otherwise known as Mega Drug Distribution Centres (MDDCs) in the six geo-political zones of the country through private

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vised, inspected and certified

by NAFDAC. For the purpose of resources conservation, the government of states may seek partnership with private or corporate organisations or upgrade their central medical stores (CMSs) to meet (SDDC) standard.

Under this arrangement, licenced and NAFDAC certified pharmaceutical products either manufactured domestically, or imported will be compul-

sorily channelled/forwarded to both the regional and states drug markets for thorough reexamination and re-confirmation by the agency officials.

Upon certification of products quality by NAFDAC, the wholesalers will then be allowed to commence sales to the retailers who will in turn sell to the consumers or general public based strictly on prescriptions and recommendation from the appropriate medical experts in line with medical procedures.

Although the desired agency’s resolve to reverse current ugly trend where drugs meant for curative and preventive purposes are accessed and sold by quacks, it also help compel importers, smugglers, producers and marketers of counterfeited or fake pharmaceuticals to desist from flooding the nation’s health centres, hospitals, pharmacies and stores with life terminating substances, thereby entrenching accountability in the trade which will in turn enhance sanity in the system.

* Ikhilae is a public affairs analyst.

Email: martinsikhilae@ymail.com

Imperatives of fulfillment of judicial oath

BY MUTALLUBI OJO ADEBAYO

Extracts from the address delivered by Oyo State Commissioner for Justice, Mutallubi Ojo Adebayo, at the valedictory session for Justice Okanola Akintunde Boade.

H

ON. Justice Okano la Akintunde Boade is a worthy ambassador of the Ministry of Justice of Oyo State on the bench. My first contact with Boade was in 1990 and it was by accident.

I was then a first year student of law at the University of Ibadan. I came to the High Court here to depose to an affidavit. That morning, I saw the legendary Chief Fredrick Rotimi AladeWilliams, SAN, of blessed memory alighting from his car and already dressed for court appearance . I followed him quietly to a courtroom to observe the matter he had on that day. The case, I later learnt, was a suit to challenge the removal of Hon. Justice T. A. Ayorinde as the Chief Judge of Oyo State.

Williams led others to appear for Ayorinde, while Boade appeared for Oyo State government. He was then of the Ministry of Justice.

That day, I was wondering whether My Lord was not attempting the impossible by daring to oppose Timi the Law in court. I was marveled when, at the end of that day’s proceeding, he was commend-

ed by Williams for his spectacular performance .

My Lord was a very versatile and very resourceful counsel in the Ministry of Justice. One can safely argue that he was the most hardworking and most resourceful of his contemporaries at the Ministry of Justice. And if perhaps that assertion is debatable, it is unarguable that he is the most humble of his contemporaries.

My Lord’s humility is unparalleled and second to none.

While on the bench, the integrity of My Lord was never questioned . The perception that was established in the minds of all and sundry about Boade is undoubtedly that of a sincere, thorough, knowledgeable, incorruptible and a workaholic judge.

Although my Lord Boade is retiring from the bench on the attainment of the statutory age of 65, it is evident that he is exiting when the ovation is loudest.

During the special court session in honour of Eso, J.SC., the governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, beckoned to me while the session was still on and asked me to show him that renowned Justice Boade who both formal and informal reports about him always returned a verdict of incorruptibility and impeccable integrity. And I did!

We at the Ministry of Justice are very proud that he is a noble alumnus of our Ministry.

It may interest My Lord Boade to know that as ardent

believers in your doctrine of rectitude and concept of justice, the Ministry has resisted subtle appeals, threats, cheap blackmail and lies orchestrated at influencing us to render legal advice contrary to the facts and the laws as contained in some files before us, even from un-expected quarters. And since we are fully satisfied that we have kept faith to our oath of office to do justice, heavens did not fall.

With the exit today of My Lord Boade from the bench of

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shortfall at the soonest possible time.

The government of Oyo State under the leadership of Senator Abiola Ajimobi has, since assumption of office on 29 May, 2011, not neglected any Ministry, Department, Agency and/any arm of the government in releasing to them the funds they require for capacity and infrastructure developments. I make bold to say that our judiciary is no exception. Allegations of stunted growth and decaying infrastructures at Oyo State ju-

Our retired jurists shall also be fully taken care of as well, as we shall put in place a system that will not deny them the fruits of their years of labour after retirement

Oyo State, the state is left with 16 judges. This will further increase and compound the workload of our serving judges by almost 100% because our judiciary, by the provision of our High Court Rules, should have a full component of 30 judges. We plead for understanding of our judges for this undeserved stress and burden which is not deliberate.

I can assure My Lords, the Bar and the public that we are making efforts to get over this

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diciary should therefore be directed at the appropriate quarters. If the Oyo State Judiciary had been following and executing her budget strictly and transparently, the story of development here would have been otherwise.

I am in full support of full financial autonomy for the judiciary as being canvassed by the Nigerian Bar Association because it will help to promote the independence of the judiciary. However, it needs to be

clearly stated that agitation for that autonomy is not to place the resources of the judiciary in the pockets of Chief Judges.

The current situation whereby some Chief Judges have turned themselves to Purchasing Officers and Contract Awarding organs is not only an aberration but totally against financial regulations and is criminal in nature. Similarly, it is a breach of financial regulations for any Chief Judge to expend, commit, pledge or donate any part of the fund of the Judiciary without the authorization of the Judicial Service Commission.

The present government is truly committed to embarking on infrastructural and capacity developments in the State Judiciary to complement those embarked by the judiciary itself. We will surely enhance the conditions of service of our judicial officers including the Magistrates and the supporting staff of the judiciary. Our target is to make our judiciary a model and indeed return her to her rightful position of the Pace Setter in the country Our retired jurists shall also be fully taken care of as well, as we shall put in place a system that will not deny them the fruits of their years of labour after retirement. Oyo State Government shall implement , upon the passage and assent of the 2013 budget , the provisions of the Judicial Officers Pension Commission Law, 2012.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 51

VIEWPOINT

BY ODION ATUAGIE The need for more investment in the road sector

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EW born democratic admin istrations take time to settle down, and to stabilize such a system depends heavily on invisible restraints of civility, convention and mutual respect. To criticise such a progressive system depends on maturity of high standard, which one Funso Asaolu’s write-up on the return of toll gates to highways in a newspaper of Friday, January 11, 2013 lacks.

Far from providing a constructive criticism in the building of a corrective system, the write up attempted to spread ill feelings through the prism of a man who has an axe to grind.

In the piece, Asaolu criticised the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen’s postulations on the issue of toll on federal highways having a pilot scheme on Lagos - Ibadan Expressway; the commercialisation of the arterial axis of economic triangle of Lagos – Port Harcourt – Kano – Lagos highways; and the creation of a road maintenance scheme. Asaolu contended that as a Nigerian, who has transversed the length and breadth of this country by road in the last ten years, the minister should resign and seek fortune in an academic environment.

Asaolu further said that the minister, as a senior member of the Jonathan government, is equally culpable in the inadequacies of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the non-release of funds to ministries.

Still on the return of toll gates Good talk. As a Nigerian arm chair critic, who is yet to overcome a sudden economic hangover, such criticism is expected. But one thing Asaolu failed to tell Nigerians is the alternative to the current transformation in the road sector.

If private sector participation in road construction that is obtained in America, India and South Africa is good, according to Asaolu, then one wonders what is wrong if the novelty is applied in Nigeria. How will that affect corruption rate in other sectors of our economy?

The importance of road infrastructure to the economic well-being of any nation cannot be over emphasized.

We have come to this sorry state of affairs in our road sector because the leadership of our country in the past decades failed to develop the right attitude.

A look at statistics indicates that Nigeria has an uphill task ahead of her in the road sector. Nigeria has a total of about 194,000km of roads. Comparing this figure to those of the United States(6,506,204km); India (4,109,593km); China (3,806,800km); Brazil (1,751868km); Turkey (352,046km); and South Africa (362,099km), enables one to better appreciate the enormity of the challenge

that we face as a nation in the road sector. For Nigeria to be among the first 20 economies of the world, our road infrastructure needs to grow from 194,000km to about 300,000km. This will require huge investment by both

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VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

We have come to this sorry state of affairs in our road sector because the leadership of our country in the past decades failed to develop the right attitude

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the three tiers of government and the private sector. This kind of investment cannot be possible if there is no attitudinal change in policy formulation, financing and management of road infrastructure in the country, hence the Jonathan administrator is tackling it head on.

It is a well-known fact that we have had to contend with deplorable road network for many years now, due to

lack of adequate investment in road infrastructure by successive governments, a challenge that has impacted the cost of transportation of goods and services in the country.

If not for sheer beer palour criticism, Asaolu cannot claim ignorance of what used to be the state of our roads and what they are today, as the Ministry of Works can boast of construction and dualisation of over 100 roads and other on-going to its credit.

In a democratic setting, criticism is meant to be corrective, to enhance human growth and for infrastructural development. This, one expects Asaolu and his co travelers to realize. If since 1999 our road construction has gone to the dogs, according to him, and now Nigerians are witnessing transformation in the sector, what then is Asaolu’s problem?

Nigerians have seen the rehabilitation of the Benin – Shagamu – Lagos Expressway and repairs of the failed spots thereby reducing travel time from Lagos to Benin City from nine hours to four; and the expansion of the Onitsha head bridge up till upper-Iweka junction from three lanes to six. They are also impressed with the drive for the implementation of public private partnership (PPP) for road development.

I quite agree with Asaolu’s assertion that Onolememen is an intellectual and an emerging political dinosaur who has adhered to due process in the award and execution of his ministry’s projects, but he Asaolu should also agree that more of the Onolememens as trailblazers are needed in the Jonathan’s transformation agenda, as this is the only way we can meet our target to be one of the 20 best developed economies in the world come 2020. *Atuagie is a Benin-City based public affairs analyst

Another look at Petroleum Industry Bill

BY IFEANYI NWABUGU VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The urgent need to pass the bill on the oil sector

I

t is most regrettable that the Pe troleum Industry Bill (PIB) be fore the 7th National Assembly, which ought to have by now formed the blueprint in the management of oil and gas sector in Nigeria, has been unduly politicized and given ethnic coloration by a section of the media .The draft bill, harmonized from different versions (Executive, Senate and House of Representatives), by Senator Udo Udoma-led seven-man special PIB task force set up by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke, on January 18, presents a significant window of opportunity to further redress decades of secretive and ineffective management of the oil and gas sector which has impoverished Nigerians rather than being a blessing. Since oil exploration in the

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VIEWPOINT

The PIB is an attempt to bring and harmonize under one law various legislations, instruments, institutions and conflicting policies that have governed the petroleum industry in the country.

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country began, over half a century ago, no comprehensive law or legislation has been put in place for the administration of the industry. Successive governments have had to enact ad-hoc legislations that best suited not only their purposes but also that of foreign companies who often dictate the terms of contracts and operations . A further look at the bill shows that it will ensure more

transparency in the oil sector; Nigerians can own equity in the new National Oil Company and the National Gas Company; there would be mass employment; the nation would earn more revenue; and the management of the oil sector will have enhanced indigenous outlook than the present dominance by foreigners.

The PIB also advocates reversal of provisions of prior agreements and contracts, and introduces new fiscal regimes even for old petroleum sharing contracts. The new PIB therefore seeks to repeal the existing petroleum legislations and replace them with an all encompassing Act that provides for better fiscal and regulatory management of the oil and gas sector.

The PIB is an attempt to bring and harmonize under one law various legislations, instruments, institutions and conflicting policies that have governed the petroleum industry in the country.

The bill is not intended to wrestle operational or exploration power from the oil majors as erroneously believed but rather make Nigeria a competitive stakeholder, give her an equal alliance with the foreign oil

companies and offer an opportunity for Nigerian oil firms to benefit from transfer of technology from their foreign counterparts. In fact, civil society groups and labour leaders believe the PIB is a landmark opportunity to herald a new era of reform in the oil and gas industry that will maximize Nigeria’s vast potentials, restore transparency and facilitate a thriving industry and overall economy. Failure to pass the PIB, they say, will lead to a reduction of investments in the Nigerian petroleum industry. To date, most of the oil companies have ceased investments in the sector until there is clarity as to what is in the bill for them and how it will affect the industry. With the rise of other attractive petroleum concerns in Africa (Angola, Ghana, etc), Nigeria must understand that investments are fungible and will eventually flow to the alternate countries that are more receptive. Recent efforts to deregulate the downstream sector create an opportunity for lawmakers and other stakeholders to push for the swift passage of the PIB.

*Nwabugu is a Lagos based journalist

Contribution of not more than 800 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com

PAGE 52

SUNDAY VANGUARD, MARCH 3, 2013

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SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013, PAGE 53

C M Y K

54 — SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

Confederations Cup: Aiyegbeni predicts good outing for Eagles •Says Nigeria now target for rivals

T

HE recent CAF Africa Cup of Nations saw Nigeria, under Stephen Keshi, began the year with a bang, going all the way through to claim their third continental title and thus seal a place at this June’s FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013. The feat plunged the entire nation into raptures, and former captain Yakubu Aiyegbeni was quick to pay tribute to the Super Eagles despite not featuring during the African finals. ”It was an exciting campaign for Nigeria,” the 30-year-old Guangzhou R&F striker told

C M Y K

FIFA.com.

“We had a young team but they put in a brilliant performances. The coach has done a good job in moulding the team into a strong unit. It is an achievement which has made all the Nigerian people happy.” The success, according to the former Middlesbrough and Blackburn marksman, provides Keshi’s charges with not only a moralebooster but also challenges heading into the eight-nation global showpiece, where they are grouped alongside Spain, Tahiti and Uruguay. ”The team are expected to

continue their good form in Brazil in June,” continued Aiyegbeni, who is Nigeria’s third highest international goal-scorer with 21 goals from 57 caps.

“But after our triumph in the Africa Cup of Nations, we will become a target for rivals, who will be motivated to defeat us.

And these are the continental champions of the world so the pressure is greater, but it is good for our youngsters to gain international experience.”

It proved to be, though, a campaign harder than expect-

Yakubu Aiyegbeni ed for Nigeria. Keshi’s hopefuls opened with two 1-1 draws against firstly Burkina Faso, and then Zambia, before a pair of late penalties from Victor Moses against Ethiopia sent them to the quarter-finals. They proceeded to edge Côte d’Ivoire 2-1, before routing Mali 4-1 to set up a final re-match with an impressive Burkina Faso, where they prevailed 1-0.

“African football has made

consistent progress over these years, so there were no easy games throughout the campaign. Every rival we played against are strong and our team defied all the odds to win the African title,” Aiyegbeni reflected.

With the entire Nigeria team excelling, it was a pair of striking wonderkids that stood out as the Super Eagles secured African supremacy. Spartak Moscow forward Emmanuel Emenike finished the tournament’s joint top-scorer with four goals, while 22-year-old Chelsea star Moses was twice on target.

“Emenike is a very good striker,” said Aiyegbeni of the 25-year-old, “He performed very well. Although I have never played alongside him, I think he is a very talented player. Moses is equally impressive, and the striking partnership formed by these two players should be one of the best during the tournament (Brazil 2014).”

MARCH 3, 2013 — PAGE 55

Nigeria swimmers target Rio 2016 slots

BY BEN EFE

A

FTER the disappointment of not participating at the London 2012 Olympics despite earning qualification, Nigeria Aquatics Federation president, Babatunde Fatai-Williams declared that Nigeria swimmers will return to the Olympics and make an impact in Rio 2016.

Two Nigerian swimmers qualified for the London 2012 Olympics, but they were prevented from participating by the National Sports Commission on the ground that they will not be able to fetch medals for the country. This was something that infuriated the swimming community, including Nigeria’s Olatokunbo Thomas who is a member of the

executive board of the world swimming governing body, FINA. “Our swimmers gained qualification through the universality slots. This meant that they were not given wild card entry, they earned their qualification by merit having participated in qualification trials.

“We were really taken aback when the two swimmers were left behind. Even we had to answer query from FINA as to why we did not make use of our qualification ticket, when other countries could have benefited,” said Fatai-Williams However, he submitted that the NAF has moved ahead from that let down, arguing that Nigeria has talents that can

hold their heads high at international events.

“The only thing we need to do is to invest in the sport. It takes eight to ten years of continuous training to groom a young talented swimmer to Olympics standard.

“These talents have to train twice a day and six days in a week excluding competitions.

Micheal Phelps didn’t come from nowhere, he was a product of continuous training and development. We can do the same too here in Nigeria. There has to be facilities, coaches need to be trained and there are other related aspects like sports medicine that has to be put in place. We cannot achieve this without funding,” stated FataiWilliams.

•Yellow Yeiyah taking a dive into the pool.

Delta Airline Tennis: Egbuchunam bows out

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

T

HE President of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club (LLTC)), Sam Egbuchunam Friday crashed out of the 1st Delta Airline Tennis Classics holding at the club’s grounds in Onikan, Lagos.

Egbuchunam, competing in the Super Veterans category, for those within the age bracket of

60-69, lost his quarterfinal match against Kunle Sewonikun in two close sets of 4-6, 67.

The match was a very close affair with Sewonikun taking the first set with a break of serve while he needed tie-breaker to clinch the second.

Speaking after the match, Egbuchunam said that he was not bitter with his exit, pointing out

Lawmaker wants security at recreation centres

BY EBUN SESSOU AGOS State House of Assembly has called the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development to beef up security at the recreation centres across the State.

Chairman, House Committee on Youth, Sport and Social Development Babatunde Ayeni made the call during the Committee’s visit to the Orile Agege recreation centre as part of oversight function of the Committee.

According to him, the recreation centre at Orile Agege had been converted to Indian hemp smoking centre which he said was an eye sore to the purpose which the centre

L

was built. He expressed disappoint-ment on the way the sporting facilities are being managed at Orile Agege recreation centre.

He however implored the Nigerian Police through the Ministry to deploy their men to the recreation centres to protect sporting facilities as he also directed the Ministry to ensure that all illegal parkings around the centre are evacuated immediately.

“Some hoodlums and area boys may use this illegal car park as an avenue to perpetrate criminal activities. There is a need for the authority concerned to ensure that no illegal parking is allowed within any recreation centre,” he said.

that the better player won on the night.

Egbuchunam, whose tenure as the President of the LLTC has witnessed a resurgence of tennis activities for club members , junior players and pros, said that he was bowing out of the competition with his head dangling high.

‘It has been an eventful tournament for me and I have no bitter feelings with my loss tonight. It could have gone any way but the fact that I do not see well at night, made me to take the second set easy as my vision was not working well.

“The good thing is that I lost to a better player and I wish the other competitors the best of luck in the final matches”, added Egbuchunam, who is reputed for his hard work and visionary leadership.

Meanwhile, the final matches of the tournament hold Sunday, with winners expected to walk home with exciting prizes like a return air ticket to USA, courtesy of Delta Airlines, the sponsors of the competition.

It is the first time that the American airline firm would be directly bankrolling a tennis tournament in Nigeria and Egbuchunam hopes that the romance will extend to junior and pro players in the years to come.

Clearing the Mba transfer mess N

OT quite long ago, there was this statement from the managers of our football league that the Nigerian Premier League was the best in Africa.

Many questioned the veracity of such a position and if true, the criteria used in judging the various league across Africa.

Their questions ranged from the kind of pitches the Nigeria league matches are played on to the professionalism of the system, but I don’t think they got answers for their questions.

Most of the Nigerian clubs are mere appendages of government ministries or outright propaganda outfit for the various State Governors to massage their ego and make the people believe they are performing.

Players are never engaged professionally nor do they ever get to receive their salaries as at when due. Sign-on fees are always a problem as they keep getting promises. At times it takes the players going on strike for their money to be paid them.

Players of a couple of clubs engaged in continental assignments have embarked on a work-to-rule action to press home their demand for unpaid sign-on fees or accumulated bonuses on the eve of the continental assignments. The result, of course, was that they got knocked out of the competition.

One then wonders the manner of professional league we run in this country. It is not difficult to say then that players who emerge from the Nigerian league are naturally gifted players who made it through sheer determination to succeed and not as result of the so-called ‘goodness’ of the Nigerian league.

It has taken the issue of Sunday Mba to expose the true nature of the Nigerian league, amateurish to put it mildly.

Otherwise why would two clubs be claiming ownership of a player when there are supposed to be records kept on his transfer by three parties, the league organisers, the losing club and the receiving club?

While the Warri Wolves management is claiming he belongs to them on the release of mere papers which neither discloses the signature of the club losing him nor an authentic document from its secretariat, the so-called contract paper is not the official letter of Warri Wolves.

The writing does not look like that of two persons agreeing on something.

The document also stated the basic salary is N100,000 per month but did not state the commencement date. We are told Mba signed it but his signature does not appear anywhere on the paper in circulation. We were also told that his sign-on fee was N500,000 but no mention was made whether it has been fully paid. Warri Wolves spokesman

Moses Etu said Mba was allowed to go back to Rangers because they did not want to scuttle his career. Good. If you allowed him go back to Rangers before the Nations Cup when Stephen Keshi had not named his final list of 23 players, it meant that you were not bothered about him because you were not too sure he would make the team or because you didn’t reckon with him as a player you should hold on to.

Even when he finally made the final Nations Cup list, Warri Wolves did not identify with him or others it said belonged to them in the squad. Mba’s sudden popularity started after his goal helped send the dreaded Cote d’Ivoire out of the Nations Cup. The scramble over who really owns Mba caught fire after his lone strike gave the Eagles the Nations Cup trophy for the third time in history. The rush by Delta State government to reward the Eagles and particularly players of Delta origin or of Warri Wolves could be traced to the urge to claim that it contributed more to the Nations Cup glory than any other state in the country.

Precedence exist here where some Delta State officials were quick to claim that the State contributed more to the training of Team Nigeria athletes to the last London 2012 Olympics. This position was used to campaign against the National Sports Commission, NSC simply because some Delta State sports administrators wanted to get back at the Director General, Chef Patrick Ekeji who refused their call to allow an Open National Sports Festival so they could used elite athletes based in the United States and Europe.

Let it be known to Delta, Enugu and Rivers States that their involement in this ugly scenario is rubbishing whatever gains the Nigerian league may have gained from the exploits of Mba and other home-based players in the victorious Super Eagles squad.

The earlier they put their greed behind and resolve this matter, the better for the image of the country and the future of Maba and all other players in the Nigerian league hoping to have a break-through in their career through the senior national team.

On a final note, when will the NFF stop treating Nigerian coaches with disdain? When will our local coaches be paid as at when due like their foreign counterparts. Like it was with Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia, Christian Chukwu and lately Stephen Keshi, so it is with Flying Eagles handler, John Obuh who had to protest as he was set to lead out his team to a competition before getting part of his unpaid salary. When will this disgrace stop?

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 3, 2013

I’m fit again, Emenike declares I

T is a cheery news for Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi as the team’s top striker, Emmanuel Emenike has returned to action after suffering a hamstring injury at the 2013

Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

The attacker limped off injured in the Super Eagles’ 4-1 semi-

HOME GROWN....

Sunshine Stars’ and Super Eagles defender, Godfrey Oboabana was one of the homebased players Stephen Keshi introduced into the Eagles Nations Cup squad.

Ondo State government gave him a cash donation of N1m and a plot of land for being part of the Eagles success in South Africa.

By BEN EFE

N

IGERIA Premier League management committee officials have brushed off fears that the March 9 date for the resumption of the Nigeria football league will be far from reality.

There were reports that the management committee, was yet to receive a N200m grant promised by the government and there was a possibility the March 9 date will not stand as there will be no funds to drive the process.

But a member of the committee, Mr Mike Idoko said that there was no going back on the resumption date as there were indications all the puzzles will fall into place before the commencement date.

“It is only a force majeure that will stop the league from taking off on March 9. Everything required for the successful take off has been taken care of. The Clubs are are ready, the management committee is ready. Between now and March 9, all the teething problems will be sorted out,” Idoko assured.

He added that there was a lot of goodwill flowing the way of the NPL because of the heroic exploits of the Super Eagles at the South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

“The Eagles winning the Nations Cup with NPL players making notable contributions, have really brought good will to the NPL. We are getting all the support from government to kick start the league” House of Representatives sports committee chairman Kabiru Gaya buttressed this point. On Thursday, there was a session held by the House committee with a view to ironing out all the outstanding issues.

Feuding Rumson Baribote was also in attendance but he refused to back down from his threat to stop the league from taking off. He has been challenging his removal as chairman of the NPL in the law courts.

“NFF President Aminu Maigari does not own the league, the Nigeria Premier League is owned by Nigeria and it is only myself and Senator Bukola Saraki that spend our money for (our clubs) in the Nigerian league today and you cannot push me out of the management of the league just like that because you are not more Nigerian than myself.

“This is not a lawless place. There are rules guiding football. Let the President of Nigeria Football Federation come to tell me where there is in Fifa and Caf statutes where there is Management Interim Committee in a league.

What is provided for in the NPL, NFF statutes is the League Football Committee headed by the First Vice President.

We should not bring ethnic sentiments to football” Baribote argued.

•As Musa scores hat-trick

Real humble Barca again B ARCELONA suffered an other defeat in the hands of bitter rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu yesterday. The 21 win delivered a moral blow to Barcelona, coming four days after they were beaten by Real 3-1 at the Nou Camp in the semi final of the Copa Del Rey. Perhaps the defeat signaled

the end of their dominance of the El-Clasico series by Barcelona. It was even more intesting to Real Madrid faithful that the victory was achieved without much contribution from key players. Ronaldo and Sami Khedira did not start, while Gonzalo Higuain and Mesut Ozil did not taste any action.

final win over Mali on February 6 and was expected to be out of action for two months.

It now appears that he has recovered quicker than anticipated and is now set to make a return to competitive action.

The burly attacker took to the social networking site via his Facebook account to share the good news.

“Am (I am) fine and back playing now. Thank you for all your prayers and wishes,” he wrote.

The attacker is now expected to make a swift return to the first team of Russian club, Spartak Moscow following the latest development.

Emenike finished as top scorer at the 2013 Afcon with four goals.

Meanwhile, his team-mate, Ahmed Musa scored a hat-trick for his Russian club, CSKA Moscow in the 3-0 win against Belarussian club, Bate Borisov in a friendly match on Friday.

The 20–year-old opened the scoring on the stroke of half time and completed his brace 12 minutes after the break.

Two minutes later, he completed his hat-trick to underline his status as one of the cornerstones of CSKA Moscow’s trainer, Leonid Slutsky’s personnel.

RESULTS Chelsea Everton Man Utd S’hampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea Wigan

1 3 4 1 0 2 0 0

West Brom Reading Norwich QPR West Ham Fulham Newcastle Liverpool

Karim Benzema gave Los Blancos an early lead but Lionel Messi levelled just over 10 minutes later to become the joint-top scorer of all time in the Clasico.

It was Messi’s 39th goal of the season in the Primera Division and his 18th in a Clasico, drawing him level with fellow Argentine Alfredo Di Stefano as the player to score the most goals in this fixture.

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1.Nigerian state (4) 3. Niger-Delta tribe (8) 6. W. African country (5) 8. Wind instrument (4) 9. Vast (8) 11. Meadow (3) 12. Smallest part (4) 13. Unemployed (4) 14. Have ambition (6) 16. Attachment (5) 18. Spy (5) 20. Hangs around (7) 22. Irritate jokingly (5) 24. Nigerian state (5) 26. U.S. currency unit (4) 29. Insects (4) 30. Orb (4) 31. Sailor (3) 32. Hoped for (8) 33. Smooth (4) 34. Tox (5) 35. Sun-measuring equipments (8) 36. Consolidates (4)

DOWN 1. Nigerian state (7) 2. Middle Belt tribe (5) 3. Nigerian tribe (6) 4. Distending (7) 5. Examine (7) 7. Stockpile (5) 10. Seize with teeth (4) 14. Engine part (4) 15. Cereal (3) 17. No (Scottish) (3) 18. Enquires (4) 19. Pen tip (3) 21. Maiden name (3) 22. Businessmen (7) 23. Hang (7) 25. Isles (7) 26. U.S. currency unit (4) 27. Sportswear firm (6) 28. Go in (5) 30. Makes beer (5)

SOLUTION on page 15

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